Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a spectrum of behavioral anomalies characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, often accompanied by repetitive and stereotyped behavior. The condition manifests within the first 3 years of life and persists into adulthood. There are numerous hypotheses regarding the etiology and pathology of ASD, including a suggested role for immune dysfunction. While immune system abnormalities have been reported in children with autistic disorder, there is little consensus regarding the nature of these differences which include both enhanced autoimmunity and reduced immune function. It has long been known that extensive interactions occur between the immune system and neuronal system/brain, and that normal neurodevelopment is contingent upon an appropriate interaction with the immune system. Objectives: the aim of the present study was to evaluate the cell mediated and humoral immunity of children with autism through evaluation of the serum antibody levels of immunoglobulin (IgG, IgM, IgA), also we evaluated the T helper and T suppressor cells (CD4 and CD8 T cell subpopulations) and CD4/CD8 ratio in children with autism and compared with the healthy control children. Methods: This study was carried out in the Psychiatry Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Tanta University Hospital. Thirty children with autism (24 males, 6 females) newly diagnosed were included in the study, their age range was (3-9 years) with the mean age of 51.8 years. Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) was used for the diagnosis of autism. Diagnosis of autism was based also, on the criteria for the diagnosis of autism that are set out in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IVTR (Fourth Edition, Text Revision). The intial Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) score for these children was ≥30, as children with a CARS score ≥30 were considered to have autism. Intial CARS score range for children with autism was (31-60). The control group consisted of thirty healthy children (10 females, 20 males). Their age range was (2-10 years) and the mean age was 5.3 ± 2.4 years. Results: Children with autism had significantly lower serum levels of IgG, IgA and IgM compared to the control children p < 0.001. Also children with autism had significantly lower numbers of CD4 cells with increased CD8+ T cell subpopulations and decreased CD4+/CD8+ ratio. Conclusion: Children with autism have significantly reduced levels of serum IgG, IgA and IgM compared to the control children, suggesting an underlying defect in the immune function, also the cell-mediated immunity is impaired as evidenced by low numbers of CD4+ cells and increased CD8+ T cell subpopulations and decreased CD4+/CD8+ ratio. Keywords: autism spectrum disorder (ASD), neurodevelopment, immunity Egypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2012;10(1):25-32.


Variations in the Crumbs homolog-1 (CRB1) gene lead to autosomal recessive retinal dystrophies such as early-onset retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA). No treatment is yet available for these patients. Adeno-associated virus (AAV) mediated gene therapy for hereditary retinal diseases holds great promise proven by the large number of active clinical trials. We here summarized the knowledge about the localization and function of CRB1 in the retina and the main pathological features resulting from loss of CRB1 function in humans and in rodents. This know-how is being applied to design and develop AAV gene therapy vectors for the treatment of CRB1-Hereditary retinopathies. Knowing which cell types express the CRB proteins, the possible redundancy of function between CRB1 and CRB2, and the AAV tropism in the human retina, will allow us to rationalize about the AAV capsid, promoter and route of administration that should be used in the AAV vector in order to efficiently and specifically deliver CRB1 or CRB2 into the human retina.


Some of the best scholars in the field of the anthropology of indigenous systems of theology such as Mary Douglas, Morton Klass, and Edith Turner are represented here. Explorations in Anthropology and Theology treats indigenous systems of religious thought, including 'popular' American secular rituals, with the respect and attention usually reserved for only the 'higher religions,' covering topics such as feminist spirituality, traditional religions and the impact of modernization, alternative approaches to the sacred, implications for fieldwork, and the relationship and relevance of theology and anthropology to one another. The result is a stimulating exploration of a new field of research that is still being shaped and defined, the anthropology of theology. Papers represent most of the major ethnographic areas of the world, including Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, the United States and the Artic. Recommended for various courses in theology , anthropology of religion, symbolic anthropology, and fieldwork.


We propose a novel Large-Scale Direct SLAM algorithm for stereo cameras (Stereo LSD-SLAM) that runs in real-time at high frame rate on standard CPUs. In contrast to sparse interest-point based methods, our approach aligns images directly based on the photoconsistency of all high-contrast pixels, including corners, edges and high texture areas. It concurrently estimates the depth at these pixels from two types of stereo cues: Static stereo through the fixed-baseline stereo camera setup as well as temporal multi-view stereo exploiting the camera motion. By incorporating both disparity sources, our algorithm can even estimate depth of pixels that are under-constrained when only using fixed-baseline stereo. Using a fixed baseline, on the other hand, avoids scale-drift that typically occurs in pure monocular SLAM.We furthermore propose a robust approach to enforce illumination invariance, capable of handling aggressive brightness changes between frames - greatly improving the performance in realistic settings. In experiments, we demonstrate state-of-the-art results on stereo SLAM benchmarks such as Kitti or challenging datasets from the EuRoC Challenge 3 for micro aerial vehicles.


Duress is probably the most controversial defense in criminal law theory. Neither its foundation nor its nature as a justification or mere excuse nor its limits achieves any consensus among criminal law academics. In this paper a foundation of the duress defense is presented that considers that its importance lies in the fact that it allows us to appeal to considerations of justice and fairness that can explain the decision to forgo punishment in circumstances when the conduct performed by the actor cannot be considered socially beneficial or correct according to an objective (impartial) assessment of the act. The proposed account of the defense will also help us understand why duress represents instances of excuse rather than of justification. Finally, a brief discussion of the differences between the necessity and duress defenses will be provided, as well as an analysis of the proper limits of the duress defense.


BACKGROUND
It is contended that models of nursing have lost the momentum and challenge that they promised the profession. Their use, value and purpose have been seriously questioned and new perspectives on their use and implementation in practice, education and research are required. In addition, limited evidence exists on the implementation of models into clinical areas.

AIM
To explore the meaning of models of nursing to practising nurses.

METHODS
Serial interviews with qualified nurses who were undertaking an educational programme or module that explored and examined models of nursing.

FINDINGS
The outcome reveals that the use of the terms, models of nursing or nursing model, are limited and confusing as the terms can encompass a range of meanings. It is suggested that a three-model typology exists that clarifies more fully the present position of nursing models. The three models are Theoretical Model, Mental Model and Surrogate Model.

LIMITATIONS
The focus on data collection through serial interviews with qualified practitioners could have been broadened to include a range of data sources such as teachers and clinical areas, which could have enriched the phenomenon of models of nursing.

CONCLUSIONS
There is a greater need to understand nursing models within the framework of the three-model typology and to reconsider their introduction and use in this context.


The characteristics of ion beam extraction and focused to a volume as small as possible were investigated with the aid of computer code SIMION 3D version 7. This has been used to evaluate the extraction characteristics (accel-decel system) to generate an ion beam with low beam emittance and high brightness. The simulation process can provide a good study for optimizing the extraction and focusing system of the ion beam without any losses and transported to the required target. Also, a study of a simulation model for the extraction system of the ion source was used to describe the possible plasma boundary curvatures during the ion extraction that may be affected by the change in an extraction potential with a constant plasma density meniscus.


Inorganic-organic hybrid resins revolutionarize the biomedical field by virtue of its versatility. In this work, bioactive inorganic-organic hybrid resins containing mixture of alkoxides of calcium/magnesium/zinc with polymerizable tetramethacrylate groups was synthesized using 1,3-bis methacryloxy 2-(trimethoxy silyl propoxy) propane as the precursor. We optimised the processing parameters by investigating the influence of pH of the medium used for the hydrolysis of silane on molecular weight of the resultant resin obtained. Physico-mechanical properties including polymerisation shrinkage of photocured composites prepared from novel inorganic-organic hybrid resins were evaluated and compared. The resin hydrolysed at pH 2 have low molecular weight with high filler loading capacity (325 phr) than the one hydrolysed at pH 10. Photocured polymeric composite fabricated from resin hydrolysed at pH 2 showed lower polymerisation shrinkage, better depth of cure, good diametral tensile strength, non-cytoxic to L929 fibroblasts with good cell viability and cell adhesion. This new biocompatible polymer with low polymerisation shrinkage stands as a potent candidate in biomedical applications, especially in the field of dental, orthopaedic and coating applications. Copyright © 2016 VBRI Press.


Allosteric transition, defined as conformational changes induced by ligand binding, is one of the fundamental properties of proteins. Allostery has been observed and characterized in many proteins, and has been recently utilized to control protein function via regulation of protein activity. Here, we review the physical and evolutionary origin of protein allostery, as well as its importance to protein regulation, drug discovery, and biological processes in living systems. We describe recently developed approaches to identify allosteric pathways, connected sets of pairwise interactions that are responsible for propagation of conformational change from the ligand-binding site to a distal functional site. We then present experimental and computational protein engineering approaches for control of protein function by modulation of allosteric sites. As an example of application of these approaches, we describe a synergistic computational and experimental approach to rescue the cystic-fibrosis-associated protein cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, which upon deletion of a single residue misfolds and causes disease. This example demonstrates the power of allosteric manipulation in proteins to both elucidate mechanisms of molecular function and to develop therapeutic strategies that rescue those functions. Allosteric control of proteins provides a tool to shine a light on the complex cascades of cellular processes and facilitate unprecedented interrogation of biological systems.


Catalytic activity of Pd-polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) colloid for the reaction of H2 and O2 to H2O2 in the presence of H2SO4 and NaBr was greatly enhanced with the addition of a very small quantity of Pt or Ir. In contrast to ordinary alloy catalysts, the activity of Pd was doubly increased with the addition of only 0.5 atom% Pt or Ir, although the selectivity for the H2O2 formation somewhat decreased. Addition of Ru, Rh, or Au affected little the activity. Kinetic analyses of the reactions over modified Pd-PVP indicated that the high H2-activating abilities of Pt and Ir increased the H2–O2 reaction rate, which was supported by DFT study. In contrast, H2O2 hydrogenation rates were almost constant irrespective of Pt or Ir addition, indicating little participation of the hydrogen activated on Pt or Ir in H2O2 destruction. Pt-modified Pd-PVP showed a discontinuous change in catalytic activity in the time dependency measurement, resulting in higher H2–O2 reaction rates and lower H2O2 selectivity. Lower partial pressure of hydrogen under the reaction conditions or higher temperatures in the absence of H2 accelerated the change. Structures of the Pt- and Ir-loaded Pd-PVP catalysts were suggested to change during the reaction; the Pt or Ir atoms would initially be located at coordinatively more unsaturated sites of the Pd particles and move into the surface Pd lattice to be stabilized. It is shown that the amount of H2O2 produced reaches several wt% when estimated using the Pt- and Ir-loaded Pd-PVP catalysts under an O2 partial pressure of 360 kPa.


The book offers concise and essential coverage of the science and engineering of ship hydrodynamics and has been developed for pragmatically inclined readers. Applications are presented to several types of ships, from merchant and military ships, from high speed craft to sailing boats, green ships and icebreakers, from FPSO to hybrid ships like wing in ground effect craft. The present work brings out findings not only in the main topics of ship hydrodynamics but also in such related topics as ship control and marine robotics exemplified by autonomous surface vehicles, autonomous underwater vehicles and their avatars like robotic fishes. The work includes also the last developments of numerical methods. Alumnus of Ecole polytechnique, Jean-Claude Dern had an activity of applied research in the civilian and military marine engineering especially at the DGA. He was Director of a large naval hydrodynamics laboratory and participated in several international working groups in various fields of ship hydrodynamics including the ITTC. Alongside his activities, he was lecturing at several schools of engineering. Alumnus of Ecole polytechnique, Jean-Marc Quenez had an activity of applied research in the civilian and military marine engineering especially at the DGA. He worked successively at Bassin d'essais des carenes (DGA/TH) in the field of Naval Ships hydrodynamics, at DCNS in submarine hydrodynamics more specifically applied to the French attack submarine Barracuda program and at GazTransport&Technigaz in developing new insulation containment systems for Methane Carriers. He is currently working at the DGA in the field of missiles. Professor Philip Wilson of the University of Southampton has been active in the research of seakeeping and ship manoeuvring for more than 40 years thus the majority of his work has involved Marine Hydrodynamics. He has supervised 40 doctoral students in these field of research


Existing research suggests that the first commercialization of a product or service in a new activity domain is a key turning point in the evolution of what we commonly refer to industries. An organization theory logic implies high failure rates among these pioneers: most new firms in most new activity domains will disappear, a phenomenon we call the commercialization gap. A first challenge in understanding this gap is created because the dynamics of new forms are complex. Specifically, the dynamics of building consensus about appropriate ways of organizing with small numbers of firms, limited support from stakeholders, and high rates of mortality are not well understood. Liabilities of newness, made worse because the organizations are in new activity domains, suggest that most attempts at new industries will fail. Given that many may disappear without a trace, possibilities for large sample, empirical study of early phases of industry evolution are limited. Accordingly, we use simulation methodology and begin with a simple organization theory model of the commercialization gap. To apply the model, we derive theoretical questions related to how social information exchange might affect consensus about organizational identity. After discussing the computational algorithms and demonstrating that they produce a consistent commercialization gap, we run simulation experiments to investigate these theoretical questions. Based on clear answers from these experiments, we develop five propositions and close with a discussion of both theoretical and practical implications.


Water reabsorption in the proximal convoluted tubule of the rat kidney was examined by in vivo microperfusion techniques in order to examine the effect of D-glucose within the tubular lumen. When tubules were perfused with a balanced artificial solution containing Na, K, Cl, HCO3, urea, and D-glucose, absolute reabsorption averaged 4.01 +/- 0.24 nl/min per mm. Addition of D-glucose to the NaCl perfusate enhanced water reabsorption to values similar to those obtained with the balanced artificial perfusate. The enhanced water reabsorption consequent to the addition of D-glucose to the NaCl perfusion solution was completely inhibited by addition of phloridzin to the perfusate. The addition of an unabsorbed hexose, 2-deoxy-D-glucose, to the NaCl perfusate failed to enhance water reabsorption, whereas the addition of an incompletely reabsorbed sugar that is not metabolized, 3-O-methyl-D-glucose, resulted in partial enhancement of theabsolute rate of water reabsorption. These studies demonstrate that D-glucose has the specific effect of augmenting water reabsorption in the proximal tubule of the rat kidney.


In this paper, taking the high-power low-speed diesel engine as a study object, aiming at the key components' reliability analysis, a series of methods is proposed based on the finite element analysis. That is, the strength and fatigue analysis of the engine's body, the bending and torsion fatigue analysis of the crankshaft, the thermal fatigue and mechanical fatigue analysis of the cylinder head-piston, the wear analysis of the valve-seat, the structural-thermal coupling analysis and the other methods. The dynamics test system of the valve gear is built to provide the technical preparation for optimizing the diesel engine's structure.


A study on distribution and productivity of Myristicaceae was carried out in a 50-ha plot at Pasoh Forest Reserve, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Data were obtained from Forest Research Institute of Malaysia, of census from 1985 to 2000 with the focus on the 2000 data. Based on the 2000 data, a total of 15,284 stems of Myristicaceae was recorded, representing 5 genera and 30 species. Knema contains 13 species and a total of 391 new individuals were recorded whilst 1,253 individuals were observed dead compared to the 1995 data. Analysis of distribution pattern using Morisita's Index of Dispersion showed random distribution with value Id = 1.02. Estimate of total aboveground biomass for the year 2000 was at 73.35 t/ha. Knema contributed the highest biomass with an estimate of 28.28 t/ha, species-wise, Horsfieldia sucosa indicated the highest biomass estimated at 6.61 t/ha. Total basal area was 44.01 m/50 ha or 0.88 m/ha. Knema contributed the highest total basal area with 19.90 m/50 ha or 0.40 m/ha. The most dominant species in term of basal area was Knema furfuracea with an area of 4.16 m/50 ha or 0.08 m/ha. The most abundant genus was Knema with a total of 11,211 individuals and the most abundant species was Knema laurina with 4,722 stems. Overall, the family consists of high number of small trees based on low estimation of above ground biomass and low basal area.


On April 20th, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine High School and took the lives of twelve fellow students, one teacher, and themselves. The shooting was one of the worst incidents of school violence in American history and therefore generated a lot of media attention. This dissertation examines the media explanations for the incident and then moves on to criminological explanations that can be provided by labelling theory and subculture theory. This has been achieved by examining a number of key sources, including books, journals and relevant internet sources. It can be suggested that, while society is more willing to accept that youths are being negatively influenced through various media forms, the underlying cause for such violent behaviour may in fact be far deeper than this. It has been found that essentially, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold acted in response to social rejection and the effects of it. Bullying, alienation and various controls all contributed to their downward spiral. In the light of a rise in similar incidents, the dissertation ends by questioning what course of action society will take. Will there be concern for tormented youths or will they continue to be perceived as a threat?


[Pseudomonas] echinoides DSM 1805T (= ATTC 14820T, DSM 50409T, ICBP 2835T, NCIB 9420T) has been reinvestigated to clarify its taxonomic position. 16S rDNA sequence comparisons demonstrated that this species clusters phylogenetically with species of the genus Sphingomonas. Investigation of fatty acid patterns, polar lipid profiles, polyamine patterns and quinone systems supported this delineation. Substrate utilization profiles and biochemical characteristics displayed no distinct overall similarity to any validly described species of the genus Sphingomonas. Therefore, the reclassification of [Pseudomonas] echinoides as Sphingomonas echinoides comb. nov. is proposed, based upon the estimated phylogenetic position derived from 16S rRNA gene sequence data, chemotaxonomic data and previously published genomic DNA G+C content data.


The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of interpolation methods, which are used for digital terrain modeling, in transformation of Global Positioning System (GPS) ellipsoid heights to local heights. To test the interpolation methods used in this research, a set of GPS data collected in northern Turkey, 300 km from Istanbul, is used. The data were transformed to a local height system using 11 different interpolation processes, classified in four types of interpolation approaches. The data set includes 109 points, whose heights are known in both GPS and local height systems. Eighteen of them are selected as reference points. The differences between the local and GPS heights at the remaining 91 points were recalculated by using the differences at the 18 reference points. The interpolated (or extrapolated) differences were compared with the known differences for 91 points.


This guide will instruct you on the types of data visualization software you can use to create visual displays of your research data.


Uncertainty prediction for ocean and climate predictions is essential for multiple applications today. Many-Task Computing can play a significant role in making such predictions feasible. In this manuscript, we focus on ocean uncertainty prediction using the Error Subspace Statistical Estimation (ESSE) approach. In ESSE, uncertainties are represented by an error subspace of variable size. To predict these uncertainties, we perturb an initial state based on the initial error subspace and integrate the corresponding ensemble of initial conditions forward in time, including stochastic forcing during each simulation. The dominant error covariance (generated via SVD of the ensemble) is used for data assimilation. The resulting ocean fields are used as inputs for predictions of underwater sound propagation. ESSE is a classic case of Many Task Computing: It uses dynamic heterogeneous workflows and ESSE ensembles are data intensive applications. We first study the execution characteristics of a distributed ESSE workflow on a medium size dedicated cluster, examine in more detail the I/O patterns exhibited and throughputs achieved by its components as well as the overall ensemble performance seen in practice. We then study the performance/usability challenges of employing Amazon EC2 and the Teragrid to augment our ESSE ensembles and provide better solutions faster.


Adverse conditions are a pervasive feature in both natural as well as
agronomic soils. The soil environment is constantly changing with regard
to moisture, temperature and nutrition. In addition, soil properties such
as fertility, pH and aeration are often changed to improve crop yields.
Soils have been unintentionally contaminated as a result of accidents that
occur during agronomic operations or intentionally contaminated in mining
or manufacturing operations by disposal of chemicals that are toxic
to plants and micro-organisms. Mycorrhizal associations in terrestrial
ecosystems influence organic and inorganic nutrient relationships, water
relations and carbon cycling in plants. Relatively little is known about
factors that control the vigour and extent of mycorrhization. This lack of
understanding arises in large part from the difficulty of studying the
intact association, which is a functionally and anatomically distinct structure
comprising two biologically different organisms, e.g., plants and
arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) fungi. The formation and function of
mycorrhizal relationships are affected by edaphic conditions such as soil
composition, moisture, temperature, pH, cation exchange capacity. They
are also affected by anthropogenic stressers such as heavy metals, pesticides
and soil compaction.

An organism's response to stress may involve interactions among
various avoidance and tolerance mechanisms (Taylor, 1978; Tingey and
Taylor, 1982; Tingey and Anderson, 1991). Stress avoidance mechanisms
influence the amount and rate at which stress will reach the target site in
the plant. Stress tolerance is defined as resistance via an ability "to come
to thermodynamic equilibrium to the stress" without being killed (Levitt,
1980). In this chapter, we shall review the effects of a number of soil-associated
stressers, including soil moisture, temperature, pH, heavy
metals, agricultural practices and pesticides on AM development and
function and host plant tolerance to these stresses. Several publications
have reviewed the impact of various stresses on plant-mycorrhizal
interactions (Anderson and Rygiewicz, 1991; Read, 1991; Van Duin et al, 1991;
Sylvia and Williams, 1992), which provide additional information on this subject.


Background: Cancer screening is the main weapon for early detection at a pre-invasive or premalignant stage. It has been reported that over 12 million people use some form of tobacco, which is one of the high risk factors and has hence become an alarming world-wide problem. Aim: To evaluate the effective diagnostic screening of disease in its early stage by inexpensive method and also to evaluate the effect of indigenous mouthrinse on reversal of pre-cancerous lesions. Materials and Methods: The screening for teenagers belonging to low socio-economic status was carried out. Suspected subjects were evaluated for the reversal of the lesions by use of Ayurvedic preparation as a mouthwash. From 13 to19 years working-child population of North India was selected for the study. Screening was performed by new method-visual inspection with acetic acid. The positive subjects were further investigated by pap smear and biopsy was done as a confirmatory histopathological report. In second phase, the subjects showing positive lesions were advised indigenous anti-cancer mouth rinse and its effect was evaluated after 6 month and 9 month of prescribing the rinse. Results: The total 1095 children were screened (831 boys and 264 girls). Out of total 34 teenager boys were diagnosed, as acetowhite positive lesion. All the acetowhite positive lesions were found exclusively in males. Histological findings after 9 month use of Triphala mouth rinse revealed no changes in cells in 23 (85.2%), hyperkeratinization in 2 (7.4%), hyperkeratinization and spongiosis was evident in 1 (3.7%), mild pleomorphism in 1 (3.7%) patient. Comparative evaluation from 0-9 month showed statistically highly significant test (P < 0.01). Conclusion: Use of different forms of tobacco and betel nut showed convincing relationship between developments of oral pre-cancerous lesions. Triphala was found to have great potential for reversal of these lesions.


The study aimed to pilot a grief awareness programme as a health promotion project for young offenders with complicated grief. Seventeen young offenders in custody at HM Prison, Cardiff were opportunistically recruited, interviewed about their bereavement, and offered entry to the programme. Young offenders who reported coping poorly with bereavement were more likely to have used drugs to cope with their emotions, to have had suicidal thoughts, and reported more depression and anxiety. They were also more likely to have been bereaved in late adolescence and to have lost a first degree relative, with death being sudden, violent or by suicide.


The soybean genome hosts a family of several hundred, relatively homogeneous copies of a large, copia/Ty1-like retroelement designated SIRE-1. A copy of this element has been recovered from a Glycine max genomic library. DNA sequence analysis of two SIRE-1 subclones revealed that SIRE-1 contains a long, uninterrupted, ORF between the 3' end of the pol ORF and the 3' long terminal repeat (LTR), a region that harbors the env gene in retroviral genomes. Conceptual translation of this second ORF produces a 70-kDa protein. Computer analyses of the amino acid sequence predicted patterns of transmembrane domains, alpha-helices, and coiled coils strikingly similar to those found in mammalian retroviral envelope proteins. In addition, a 65-residue, proline-rich domain is characterized by a strong amino acid compositional bias virtually identical to that of the 60-amino acid, proline-rich neutralization domain of the feline leukemia virus surface protein. The assignment of SIRE-1 to the copia/Ty1 family was confirmed by comparison of the conceptual translation of its reverse transcriptase-like domain with those of other retroelements. This finding suggests the presence of a proretrovirus in a plant genome and is the strongest evidence to date for the existence of a retrovirus-like genome closely related to copia/Ty1 retrotransposons.


In the industry trend toward third generation (3G) cellular systems, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on packet based transport, especially by adapting the Internet protocol. At the same time, there is a trend across the communications industry to converge voice and data at the transport level. The interests of the major players are accelerating the development of new standards and availability of new products to support the benefits of convergence. It is now possible to employ existing VoIP technology solutions currently available to provide CDMA systems that are based on third generation system architectures. This paper discusses the migration from fundamentally circuit switched solutions for wireless voice toward packet switched, IP based solutions for the cdma2000 system.


The identification and optimization of tunable dielectric materials exhibiting low loss characteristics in the GHz frequencies are essential in the development of low power devices for microwave applications. We have applied a combinatorial synthetic methodology employing multiple atomic evaporative sources to produce compositional gradient thin film (Ba,Sr)(Ti,Mn)O3 perovskites. High throughput screening chips of both capacitive and waveguide structures are used to measure the compositional dependence of the dielectric properties of the fully characterised thin film materials. The co-planar waveguides are shown to allow measurements at frequencies exceeding 10 GHz. Using this methodology, we have identified (Ba,Sr)(Ti,Mn)O3 compositions which exhibit good tunability with low losses at microwave frequencies: for a single device with a 10 V DC bias one can achieve a 12° phase shift with excellent transmission characteristics, and an insertion loss of ∼3.2 dB. We show that small changes in composition can result in a significant change in dielectric characteristics and device performance, and that the experimental protocol developed provides a powerful methodology for the development of materials and microwave devices.


The statistical ensemble formalism of Kim et al [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A4, 433 (1987)] offers a realistic model for characterizing the effect of stochastic nonimage-forming optical media on the state of polarization of transmitted light. With suitable choice of the Jones ensemble, various Mueller transformations-some of which are hitherto unknown-are deduced. It is observed that the ensemble approach is formally identical to the positive-operator-valued measures (POVMs) on the quantum density matrix. This observation, in combination with the recent suggestion by Ahnert and Payne [Phys. Rev. A71, 012330-1 (2005)]-in the context of generalized quantum measurement on single photon polarization states-that linear optics elements can be employed in setting up all possible POVMs enables us to propose a way of realizing different types of Mueller devices.


OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study is to display the significance of early intervention in large vessel injury associated with surgery of herniated lumbar disc and demonstrate how the complications of vessel injuries are evaluated by medical experts. METHODS: Our study was based on a retrospective review of the six cases which were claimed to be associated with large vessel injuries defined as lifethreatening complications during herniated disc surgery among 40 neurosurgical cases presented to the Third Special Board comprising medical experts for medical malpractice in the Institute of Forensic Medicine between 1998 and 2005. RESULTS: The courts referred these six cases to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in order to determine whether the neurosurgeons performing the surgery were negligent in the intraoperative large vessel injuries of herniated disc. The pertinent Special Board of the Institute of Forensic Medicine (IFM) decided that the practice in five of the six cases was not within the range of medically permitted risk, and the neurosurgeon was negligent while no negligence was found in one case. CONCLUSIONS: It is essential for neurosurgeons to always keep in mind that early intervention saves lives when such complications arise and fully inform the patient or the legal representatives about the risk associated with the treatment before the intervention and obtain their informed consent in writing. In case of a medical malpractice which is not included in the medical risks accepted by the medical science of neurosurgery, it is inevitable that the surgeon will be found negligent in spite of the presence of an informed consent.


The effect of marijuana liberalization on crime is object of a large interest by social scientists and policy-makers. However, due to the scarcity of relevant data, the displacement effect of liberalization on the supply of illegal drugs remained substantially unexplored. This paper exploits the unintended liberalization of cannabis light (C-light, i.e. with low THC) occurred in Italy in December 2016 by means of a legislative gap, to assess its effect in a quasi-experimental setting. Although the liberalization interested all the Italian territory, the intensity of liberalization in the short-run varied according to the pre-liberalization market configuration of grow-shops, i.e. shops selling industrial canapa-related products that have been able to first place the canapa flowers (C-light) on the new market. We exploit this variation in a Differences-in-Differences design using a unique dataset on monthly confiscations of drugs at province level (NUTS-3 level) over the period 2016-2018 matched with data on the geographical location of shops and socio-demographic variables. We find that the legalization of C-light led to a reduction of 11-12% of confiscation of marijuana per each pre-existing grow-shop and a significant reduction of other canapa-derived drugs (plants of cannabis and hashish). Back-to-envelope calculations suggest that forgone revenues for criminal organizations amount to at least 160-200 million Euros per year. These results support the argument that, even in a short period of time and with an imperfect substitute, the organized crime's supply of illegal drugs is displaced by the entry of official and legal retailers.


A disjunctive temporal logic programming language, called Disjunctive Chronolog is presented in this paper. Disjunctive Chronolog combines the ideas of both temporal logic programming and disjunctive logic programming. The new language is capable of expressing dynamic behaviour as well as uncertainty, two notions that are very common in a variety of real systems. Minimal model semantics, model state semantics and xpoint semantics are developed for the proposed language and their equivalence is shown.


The giant panda has been restricted to several disjunct montane forest populations, and habitat loss and fragmentation are the primary threats to its survival. For pandas to survive, conservation efforts must focus on larger landscapes rather than individual nature reserves. China recently initiated several policies, including the Natural Forest Conservation Program and Grain-to-Green Policy, which provide a historic opportunity to integrate panda conservation into national policies. Simultaneously, China is promoting the Western China Development Program, which calls for substantial infrastructure and hydropower development and economic investments. Integrating panda conservation into these development policies will be a critical challenge.


Ribonucleotide reductase (RNR), which catalyzes the rate-limiting step for deoxyribonucleotide production required for DNA synthesis, is an alpha2beta2 tetramer consisting of two large and two small subunits. RNR2 encodes a small subunit and is essential for mitotic viability in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We have cloned a second essential gene encoding a homologous small subunit, RNR4. RNR4 and RNR2 appear to have nonoverlapping functions and cannot substitute for each other even when overproduced. The lethality of RNR4 deletion mutations can be suppressed by overexpression of RNR1 and RNR3, two genes encoding the large subunit of the RNR enzyme, indicating genetic interactions among the RNR genes. RNR2 and RNR4 may be present in the same reductase complex in vivo, since they coimmunoprecipitate from cell extracts. Like the other RNR genes, RNR4 is inducible by DNA-damaging agents through the same signal transduction pathway involving MEC1, RAD53, and DUN1 kinase genes. Analysis of DNA damage inducibility of RNR2 and RNR4 revealed partial inducibility in dun1 mutants, indicating a DUN1-independent branch of the transcriptional response to DNA damage.


Crit Care Med 2016 • Volume 44 • Number 12 (Suppl.) head CT revealed a right frontal lesion with edema and he was admitted to the critical care service. An MRI was obtained (Figure 1) revealing a solitary right posterior frontal intra-axial heterogeneously enhancing mass measuring 4cm x 3.5 cm with adjacent vasogenic edema. Further lab abnormalities include elevated phosphorus of 8.9 as well as decreased calcium of 8.1 and an increased uric acid of 13mg/dL. Patient's lactate dehydrogenase levels were also elevated at 271 U/L. The patient was initiated on Rasburicase at 3 mg which was followed by maintenance allopurinol 300 mg daily and was started on hemodialysis. Results: The occurrence of TLS in solid organ malignancies is thought to occur secondary to rapid cellular proliferation that exceeds the available blood supply for a tumor, leading to tumor ischemia and diffuse tumor cell necrosis. Treatment is directed towards minimizing end organ damage by lowering uric acid levels, improving hydration, and preventing additional tumor lysis.


: The case of a 35 year old female who had paraneoplasic syndrome during a period of one year, together with abdominal pain, is presented. Owing to the aforementioned, she was operated under the suspicion of lymphoma. The intraoperatory diagnosis was of retroperitoneal fibrosis. Physical examination showed important ascites and cachexia. Mild anemia and high sedimentation rate were found in blood test. A barium intestinal X-ray showed loop distention and a CT scan showed ascites and mesenteric thickening which were confirmed by a laparotomy. The histological study showed substantial cholagen and inflammatory infiltrate, together with giant cells of foreign body type. The different clinical presentations were reviewed as well as diagnoses, treatments, and the evolution of the disease.


Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of pharmacological resistance to aspirin therapy by measuring platelet functions using the technique of light transmission aggregometry. Background: Aspirin is the cornerstone of antiplatelet therapy in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). However, a substantial proportion of patients manifest breakthrough thrombotic events despite regular intake of aspirin suggesting therapeutic resistance to aspirin. Methods: We prospectively studied 126 patients with stable coronary artery disease at a tertiary center, who were recruited after ensuring compliance with a single formulation of aspirin (enteric coated aspirin 150 mg). Platelet aggregation was measured using light transmission aggregometry with ADP (10 mM) and Arachidonic acid (0.5 mg/mL). Pharmacological aspirin resistance was defined as the combined demonstration of mean platelet aggregation of 70% with 10 mM ADP and a mean aggregation of 20% with 0.5 mg/mL A.A. Patients satisfying either one of the above criteria were defined as semi-responders. Patients satisfying neither criterion were defined as "aspirin responders". Results: Out of 126 patients with stable CAD, 64 % were responders, 36% were non responders (semi-responders 5 34% and resistant 5 2%). Of the laboratory parameters, only the total leukocyte count was significantly associated with the presence of aspirin resistance (P < 0.03). Conclusion: Pharmacological resistance to aspirin is noted in 36% (semi-responders 5 34% and resistant 5 2%) of Asian Indian patients with stable CAD. Long-term follow up of these patients will assist in determining the clinical importance of this phenomenon. VC 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


This article traces my struggles with psychosis, arrest, psychiatric institutionalization, and recovery. Mobilizing a cathartic approach to autoethnography, I reveal my resistances, resiliencies, oppressions, nightmares, and recovery processes in the mental health system as I became entangled in another, darker reality and tried desperately to escape it. This work is a contribution to the emerging field of Mad Studies that seeks to privilege lived experiences with madness and the mental health system as a way of knowing. I found that doing an autoethnography of the mind helps recover the pieces of a fragmented identity and heals some of the visceral horrors that haunts us through and beyond experiences with mental illness.


This study proposed a novel fault-location algorithm for a series capacitor (SC) compensated transmission lines under power oscillation conditions. Synchronous voltage and current phasors from both terminals of the transmission line are employed to estimate the fault location while considering the distributed parameter line model. An iterative method is proposed to obtain the voltage across the SC under power oscillation conditions. The fault-location algorithm includes three stages. Firstly, the distributed parameters of the transmission line are estimated by the dynamic parameters estimate method. Secondly, the voltage of the SC can be solved by the iterative method based on the phasor measurements and the transmission line parameters. Finally, the fault location can be attained via Newton iteration method. A 300 km/500 kV transmission compensated by SC simulated in PSCAD/EMTDC has been employed to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm under various power oscillation situations. The simulations have demonstrated that the proposed method independent of fault types, fault resistance and fault distances under power oscillation conditions. The accuracy of the proposed algorithm is far higher than that of the conventional fault location algorithms in most cases.


AIM
To investigate whether DNA vaccine encoding herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) glycoprotein C (gC) and glycoprotein D (gD) will achieve better protective effect against herpes simplex keratitis (HSK) than DNA vaccine encoding gD alone.

METHODS
DNA vaccine expressing gD or gC combined gD (gD.gC) were constructed and carried by chitosan nanoparticle. The expression of fusion protein gD and gC were detected in DNA/nanoparticle transfected 293T cells by Western-blot. For immunization, mice were inoculated with DNA/nanoparticle for 3 times with 2wk interval, and two weeks after the final immunization, the specific immune responses and clinical degrees of primary HSK were evaluated.

RESULTS
Fusion protein gD.gC could be expressed successfully in cultured 293T cells. And, pRSC-gC.gD-IL21 DNA/chitosan nanoparticle could effectively elicit strongest humoral and cellular immune response in primary HSK mice evidenced by higher levels of specific neutralizing antibody and sIgA production, enhanced cytotoxicities of splenocytes and nature killer cells (NK), when compared with those of gD alone or mocked vaccine immunized mice. As a result, gC-based vaccine immunized mice showed least HSK disease.

CONCLUSION
gC-based DNA vaccine could effectively prevent the progress of primary HSK, suggesting that this DNA vaccine could be a promising vaccine for HSK treatment in the future.


UNLABELLED
We investigated the usefulness of 99mTc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile scintigraphy in patients with known or suspected pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in comparison with radiological and bacteriological findings.

METHODS
Thirty-six patients aged 13-59 yr were scanned 15 and 60 min after intravenous injection of 370 MBq (10 mCi) 99mTc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile. Twenty-four patients had active PTB proven by chest radiograph and sputum examinations, two had miliary tuberculosis and ten were suspected of having relapsed PTB with negative sputum examinations and indeterminate chest radiographs. In 12 patients 99mTc-MIBI imaging was repeated 1-3 mo after chemotherapy.

RESULTS
Of 24 patients with active localized PTB, 22 (92%) showed increased focal uptake of 99mTc-MIBI, but two patients with minimal infiltration on chest radiographs had no accumulation of 99mTc-MIBI. Both patients with miliary PTB showed diffuse 99mTc-MIBI uptake in the lungs. Among 10 patients with suspicion of relapse, 99mTc-MIBI scans were true-positive in 4 of 5 patients (80%) with culture-proven tuberculosis and false-positive in 2 of 5 (40%) patients with negative sputum cultures. For repeat imaging, 6 of 10 patients with active localized PTB showed reduced MIBI uptake, which correlated with chest radiograph findings, and one patient had increased MIBI uptake again concordant with clinical and radiological findings which were suggestive of resistance to first line chemotherapy of tuberculosis. The other three patients showed no significant scintigraphic changes despite clinical and partial radiological regression.

CONCLUSION
Active PTB granulomas generally present considerable 99mTc-MIBI uptake that is most probably related to disease activity. Therefore, 99mTc-MIBI scanning could be used in the detection and follow-up of active PTB as a complement to routine techniques.


Background: Continuous professional development (CPD) trainings have been reported to enhance health care workers' knowledge and skills, improve retention and recruitment, improve quality of patient care and reduce patients' mortality. This calls for validated training needs assessment tools for facilitating the design of effective CPD programs. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using self-administered questionnaires. The survey involved selected Reproductive, Maternal and Neonatal Health (RMNH) health care workers from 7 hospitals, 12 of 51 health centers and 17 of 292 dispensaries within eight districts of Mwanza Region, Tanzania. The training needs assessment (TNA) tool adapted from the Hennessy-Hicks' Training Needs Assessment Questionnaire (TNAQ) was used for data collection. Results: A total of 153 healthcare workers participated in this study. The majority of participants were females 83% (127) with average age of 39 years. Nurses formed a majority of participants 76% (n=115) with relatively similar mean duration in service or in RMNH of 7.9 years. The reliability of the adapted TNAQ was found to be 0.954. Relatedly, indexes for construct validity indicated that CFI was equal to 1, Chi-square Mean/Degree of Freedom (CMIN/DF) was equal to 0.000 and Mean Square Error Approximation (RMSEA) was equal to 0.185. Conclusion: The adapted TNAQ appear to be reliable and valid for identifying professional training needs of health care workers in RMNH health care settings. The tool has a considerable level of psychometric properties that makes it suitable for assessing the training needs among health care workers of different cadres. However, the applicability of the TNAQ in the wider health care systems remains unclear. Future studies with a large sample size are required to test the use of TNAQ in wider health care systems and learning opportunities.


To determine the role of lateral internal sphincterotomy under local anesthesia in patients with anal fissures, a retrospective review of 133 patients (62 men, 71 women) was conducted. They ranged in age from 19 to 79 years. The open technique described by Sir Alan Parks was adopted, except that the operation was performed under local anesthesia as an outpatient procedure. Associated operations were performed in nine patients (6.5%). Complications, which occurred in seven patients (5.3%), included difficulty controlling flatus, incomplete wound healing and thrombosed external and prolapsing internal hemorrhoids. Relief of pain was prompt. The advantages of this operation are that hospitalization is not necessary, it can be performed under local anesthesia, postoperative discomfort is of short duration and wounds heal quickly. This report supports the use of lateral internal sphincterotomy for patients with a chronic anal fissure.


In Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971), the Supreme Court held that federal law creates a right to sue federal officials for Fourth Amendment violations. On introducing the Bivens action, the Court described the award of damages for the violation of constitutional rights as a central feature of a liability rule that focused on deterring misconduct by individual officers. But for the last three decades Bivens' personal liability rule, presumed to directly burden individual officers, has played a central role in the Court's growing hostility to the Bivens doctrine. During this time, the Court has emphasized the threat of individual liability and the burden of government indemnification on agency budgets as twin bases for narrowing the right of victims to secure redress. In its decision two Terms ago in Ziglar v. Abbasi, the Court said much to confirm that it now views personal liability less as a feature of the Bivens liability rule than as a bug. But, to date, there has been no empirical examination of who pays when Bivens claims succeed.

This Article reports on the first study of its kind to assess the financial threat that successful Bivens claims pose to federal officers and their employing agencies. Information supplied by the Federal Bureau of Prisons in response to a Freedom of Information Act request identified successful Bivens actions over a ten-year period; in the vast majority of cases (over 95%), individual defendants contributed no personal resources to the resolution of the claims. Nor did the responsible federal agency pay the claims through indemnification. The data suggest, in short, that recent hostility to Bivens litigation rests on a perceived threat of personal liability that is much more theoretical than real. The data also raise important questions about the adequacy of existing constitutional remedies and the manner in which the Department of Justice exercises its settlement authority under the Federal Tort Claims Act and the Judgment Fund.


In this paper, a product color planning method based on multi-emotion was proposed. This method can generate the optimal product color-combination schemes which satisfy user's multiple image requirements. A mathematical model was developed to generate product color-combination schemes which most closely meet the required images. Then Difference Evolution (DE) was employed to search for the optimal color-combination schemes. The application on a two-colored sofa was provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the product color planning method based on multi-emotion, which meets the desired result using this method proposed.


We compared past and current limits of the distribution range of the southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula (L.) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), in central Japan. In the early 1960s, the northern limit of the range was in Wakayama Prefecture and was limited by a +5 °C isothermal line for the mean January temperature. In 2006–2007, a new survey demonstrated that this northern limit had shifted northwards by 85 km (i.e., at a mean rate of 19.0 km per decade). The shift was most likely promoted by milder winter conditions. The mean January to February temperature in the region was 1.03–1.91 °C higher in 1998–2007 than in 1960–1969. The number of cold days (with the mean temperature below +5 °C) also significantly decreased, while the annual lowest temperature significantly increased. Nezara viridula was found mostly close to those locations where (i) the mean January temperature exceeded +5 °C, (ii) the mean number of cold days did not exceed 26 in January to February, and (iii) where the mean annual lowest temperature did not drop below –3.0 °C. The general linear model shows that the mean January temperature and number of cold days are the most important factors controlling the northern limit of distribution of N. viridula. All the climatic data suggest that over the last 45 years, environmental conditions have become more favourable for overwintering of N. viridula at many locations in central Japan. This has probably promoted the northward spread of the species, representing a direct response to climate warming. A sympatrically distributed congeneric, Nezara antennata Scott, seems to respond to the warming by a retreat from the ocean coast towards cooler elevated habitats, which might be a complex response to elevated temperature and interspecific mating with N. viridula. It is suggested that the range changes in both species will continue in response to further climate change.


In my letter, "College math for 11-years-olds" (28 July), I stated that "it was apparent after a while that parabolas and hyperbolas could sometimes fall into circles and ellipses or vice versa." This is not true! Under any nonsingular linear transformation parabolas become parabolas, hyperbolas become hyperbolas, and ellipses become ellipses become ellipses (or circles).


Information extraction is a process of extracting relevant data in a specified structured format from semi-structured and unstructured data sources. Extracting information from a collection of unstructured documents allowing reasonable range of fault tolerance is a challenging problem. Existing methodology includes statistical training methods that require enormous training time, and which yield trained models biased to erroneous data. To avoid these weaknesses, we propose a similarity maximization methodology that requires a very small amount of human coding and uses an integer-progr amming (IP) framework to extract appropriate information.


Gallium nitride (GaN), grown by HVPE, was implanted with 300 keV Eu ions and then annealed at 1000 oC . Deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and Laplace DLTS (L-DLTS) were used to characterise the ion implantation induced defects in GaN. Two of the implantation induced defects, E1 and E2, with DLTS peaks in the 100 – 200 K temperature range, had DLTS signals that could be studied with L-DLTS. We show that these two defects, with energy levels of 0.18 eV and 0.27 eV below the conduction band, respectively, are two configurations of a metastable defect. These two defect states can be reproducibly removed and re-introduced by changing the pulse, bias and temperature conditions, and the transformation processes follow first order kinetics.


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The variation of the electrical conductivity of ytterbium bisphthalocyanine 25-layer Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films with temperature, time and in the presence of air, N2 and 5 ppm Cl2 in N2, has been investigated and compared with the variation of optical absorbance in the visible region under the same conditions. An activation energy of 0.31 eV has been measured for the carriers. A 200% increase in conductivity has been observed on the addition of 5 ppm Cl2 to a nitrogen atmosphere at a sample temperature of 120 °C. A pyrovoltage has also been measured with an activation energy of 3.0 eV associated with reordering of molecules within the layers.


This paper evaluates the effect of Paid Family Leave (PFL) on breastfeeding, which we identify using California's enactment of a 2004 PFL policy that ensured mothers up to six weeks of leave at a 55 percent wage replacement rate. We employ synthetic control models for a large, representative sample of over 270,000 children born between 2000 and 2012 drawn from the restricted-use versions of the 2003 – 2014 National Immunization Surveys. Our estimates indicate that PFL increases the overall duration of breastfeeding by nearly 18 days, and the likelihood of breastfeeding for at least six months by 5 percentage points. We find substantially larger effects of PFL on breastfeeding duration for some disadvantaged mothers.


Cloud classification using satellite images has been done for many years, while the study of ground-based cloud classification is still underway. This seems to be difficult because of their local characters, complex shapes and quickly changes. In resent years, sky condition classification was suggested instead of cloud classification. In this research, a method using Fuzzy Uncertainty Texture Spectrum to classify sky conditions is proposed. The method is firstly applied to 200 simplex sky conditions images obtained from the whole sky infrared cloud measuring system in Nanjing, China. The classification accuracy rates of stratiform, cumuliform, waveform, cirriform clouds and clear sky compared with human observations are 100%, 82.5%, 80%, 82.5%, and 100% respectively, the average accuracy rate is 89%. While the method is applied to 217 complex sky conditions, the accuracy rates are reduced to 78.6%, 61.8%, 66.7%, 57.7%, and 82.0% respectively, and the average accuracy rate is only 69.6%. It shows that the complex sky conditions are still difficult to be classified only by using the texture-based feature extraction methods.


System theory, and most particularly hierarchy theory, must be consistent with philosophy. In his book "Logic in Reality", Brenner reinforces the traditional philosophic position that an entity can only exist in relation to its non-existence. This leads to a duality in system theory which is consistent with the selective division of Nature into entity and ecosystem, where the two depend on different criteria and even different logics. A fascinating aspect of such a birational approach is that representations and properties only exist as intermediates between pairs of ideal extremes. Quantum logic, for example, no longer replaces post-Newtonian classical logic; it complements it, identifying all real entities as compromises between the two. This albeit philosophically non-traditional included middle is identical to that of the philosophical logic of Stephane Lupasco, and to the implications of Brenner's "Logic in Reality". This presages a major philosophical change in the way Science can be carried out. What we wish to do is to bring all of Science under a generalized umbrella of entity and ecosystem, and then characterize different types of entity by their more or less important relationships with their relevant ecosystems. The most general way to do this is to move the ecosystemic paradigm up to the level of its encompassing logic, creating a complementary pair of conceivably different logics – one for the entity we are focusing on; one for the ecosystem within which it exists – and providing for their quasi-autonomous birational interaction. We present a representation of natural hierarchy which is itself dual in character, and counsel that monorational constructions are ineffective. As an example, we present a dual formulation of entropy. We conclude with an application of the model to large Organizations.


Our world is the only planet, as far as we know, which harbors life. The number of humans on our planet has grown tremendously in recent centuries. In 1800 one billion humans occupied our earth; on 15 November 2022, this number reached 8 billion. A result of this growth, the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary greenhouse gas emitted by human activities, drastically increased. The increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere foster the long-term increase of our earth's temperatures, also referred to as global warming. While the earth's population grew, so did our mass consumption society. After the Second World War humanity witnessed gigantic global economic development with great technological improvements. Computers, laptops, airplanes, tablets and Internet of Things connected humans all over the world. The hunger for plastics and steel grew as all products had to be manufactured in ever-increasing volumes. As the economy developed, our consumption grew apace. The healthcare sector has seen the same increase of consumption. The number of patients grew, and so did the number of single-use medical products. As products become more complex and more different materials were combined., recycling became more difficult. Thus, hospitals transformed into waste factories with ever-growing waste streams. The consumption of (disposable) medical devices takes up scarce raw materials and contributes to the growing CO2 emissions. In this book, Van Straten, Alvino and Horeman present their findings on how to create a sustainable healthcare economy by introducing different circular strategies. In 9 chapters, they present a wide variation of studies as practical cases to show what strategies and actions can be taken in order to implement sustainable strategies for a circular healthcare. This book was written in line with the courses the authors developed at TU Extension School, the open online education edX platform of Delft University of Technology/TU Delft, a leading university in science and technology, recognized for its world-class research. This book is a manual for everyone who follows the online course 'Circular strategies for a sustainable healthcare', but certainly also for everyone who wants to discover more about circular strategies and wants to understand the principles and practices of circular economy and urban mining. This book is suitable for students, researchers, policymakers and practitioners in the fields of healthcare sustainability, management, business and economics.


Precision farming technology in irrigated cotton production has the potential to precisely manage inputs and outputs.  This success of this technology depends on the economic efficiencies gained over traditional whole-field farming.  The overall objective of this study was to evaluate the profitability of precision farming and optimal decision rules for production of cotton in the Southern High Plains of Texas.  A dynamic optimization model with a nitrate-nitrogen carryover function allowed for the derivation of optimal input application levels, yield, and net present value of returns (NPVR).  On the average, precision farming increased yield and NPVR by 4.01% and 4.50%, respectively, as compared to whole-field farming.  However, precision farming also used 0.1564% more nitrogen application on the average.  Yield and net present value of returns also had less variability under precision farming management practices.  This study suggests that nitrogen fertilizer can be used more efficiently to maximize NPVR under precision farming.


This is a comprehensive volume on robot teams that will be the standard reference on multi-robot systems. The volume provides not only the essentials of multi-agent robotics theory but also descriptions of exemplary implemented systems demonstrating the key concepts of multi-robot research. Information is presented in a descriptive manner and augmented with detailed mathematical formulations, photos, diagrams, and source code examples.


Lamotrigine (LTG) is an antiepileptic drug which is widely used in treatment of epilepsy. It is effective as an adjunctive treatment of refractory partial seizures and idiopathic generalized epilepsy in adults and children. However, patients are subject to some adverse effects with ongoing medication of LTG. Rare events associated with LTG medication such as hematological abnormalities and skin lesions have utmost clinical importance and often cause drug withdrawal. We present a case of a 23-year-old male who had leukopenia, thrombocytopenia and rash associated with LTG treatment. Clinician must be aware of serious side effects of LTG especially at the beginning of the treatment. Serious adverse effects such as leukopenia, thrombocytopenia and rash should be considered along with the other insignificant complaints such as nausea, dizziness and malaise. J Neurol Res. 2018;8(1-2):10-12 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jnr442w


This paper presents some preliminary results of an ongoing investigation about how different algorithmic building blocks contribute to solving the Maximum Clique problem. In detail, we consider greedy constructions, plateau searches, and more complex schemes based on dynamic penalties and/or prohibitions, in particular the recently proposed technique of Dynamic Local Search and the previously proposed Reactive Local Search. The experimental results consider both the empirical hardness, measured by the iterations needed to reach empirical maxima, and the CPU time per iteration.


CNTD, and to provide further diagnostic and potentially prognostic parameters. Methods: Orthogonal T2-weighted MR sequences, acquired during clinically indicated MR examinations (1.5 Tesla) of fetuses without spinal dysraphism (n = 81; 17–39 GW), with ONTDs (n = 18; 21 examinations; 19–34 GW) and with CNTDs (n = 6; 9 examinations; 19–32 GW), were used to measure the clivus-occiput angle (α) and the maximum transverse diameter of the posterior fossa (DMPF). For statistical camparison of foetuses with normal brain development with those foetuses with spinal dysraphisms fetuses were age and sex matched. Results: In fetuses without NTDs a significant positive correlation between gestational age and α (r = 0.952; P < 0.001) as well as DMPF (r = 0.601; P < 0.001) was found. No significant sex specific differences concerning α or DMPF were found. In fetuses without spinal dysraphisms α was significantly different from fetuses with ONTDs (P < 0.001) but not with CNTDs (P = 0.327) and α was also significantly different between fetuses with ONTDs and CNTDs (P = 0.029). DMPF of fetuses without spinal dysraphisms was significantly different from DMPF of fetuses with ONTDs or CNTDs (both P < 0.001). Between these fetuses with ONTDs and CNTDs no significant difference in DMPF was found (P = 0.618). Conclusions: The morphology and size of the posterior fossa and especially the clivus-occiput angle (α) depends on the absence or presence of an ONTD or CNTD. In contrast to a published ultrasound study α does not remain constant during pregnancy but in our study correlates positively with gestational age. The clivusocciput angle (α) more than the maximum transverse diameter of the fetal posterior fossa (DMPF) may allow to differentiate between these conditions and may aid in the evaluation of the postnatal prognosis.


Chips are the most popular variety of snacks and they are consumed round the year by people of all age groups. A central composite face cantered design was applied to determine the effects of chips thickness (mm), frying temperature (°C) and frying time (min) on moisture content, fat content, hardness, color and overall acceptability. A second-order polynomial model was used for predicting the response. Chips thickness (1.5, 2 and 2.5 mm), frying time (2.0, 2.5, 3.0 min) and frying temperature (160, 170 and 180°C) were the parameters used in the study. Result indicated that moisture content decreased whereas oil content increased with increasing frying time and chips thickness. Hardness increased with increasing chips thickness and frying temperature. Color (ΔE) of chips became darker yellow with longer frying time. Increased frying time increases the sensory characteristics of the product and vice versa for frying temperature. The optimum conditions for fried banana chips were obtained at a temperature of 160°C, time 2.69 min and slice thickness of 1.5 mm. Therefore, quality banana chips could be developed using theses optimum conditions


This paper presents a customer-centric strategy for e-manufacturing in apparel industry. This strategy integrates 3D body scanning and 3D visualising techniques to allow automatic pattern alterations, based not only on human body measurements, but also on the fabrics' dynamic properties and features. The 3D virtual try-on integration will actually present the exact idolised avatar of the customer virtually dressed. Scan data and patterns will be automatically transferred through ERP web-enabled interfaces direct to the enterprise's manufacturing operations and facilities, and will be stored separately for each customer in order to create its ID profile which will be applicable for future purchases or reorders.


This paper deals with the effects of accumulated timing-jitter on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of real sine waves. Such a problem was recently investigated by the author, using the discrete-Fourier method. However, the frequency-domain analysis has some limitations due to the fact that some of the accumulated timing-jitter noise power, found at the fundamental frequency component, would be added to the power of the input signal itself. Thus, in this paper, the analysis is performed in the time-domain and is restricted to the SNR measurement. An expression for the SNR in terms of timing-jitter distribution parameters, and the number of samples of the input signal, is developed. Computer simulations are presented, which showed excellent agreement with the developed expression. Also, a comparison between the results obtained from the time-domain analysis and the frequency-domain, is presented.


The Internet is an amazing achievement - any of the thousand million
hosts can freely use any of the resources anywhere on the public
network. At least that was the original theory. Recently issues with
how these resources are shared among these hosts have come to the
fore. Applications are innocently exploring the limits of protocol
design to get larger shares of available bandwidth. Increasingly we
are seeing ISPs imposing restrictions on heavier usage in order to try
to preserve the level of service they can offer to lighter customers.
We believe that these are symptoms of an underlying problem: fair
resource sharing is an issue that can only be resolved at run-time,
but for years attempts have been made to solve it at design time. In
this document we show that fairness is not the preserve of transport
protocols, rather the design of such protocols should be such that
fairness can be controlled between users and ISPs at run-time.


This work identifies the combining ability of 10 hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) parents and 45F1 hybrids obtained from 10 x 10 half diallel. The work aims to identify the parents with the best general combining ability (gca) and crosses with high specific combining ability (sca) for yield, quality and nature of gene action involved. The study was conducted during 2015-2016 at six environments in Southern Ethiopia using RCBD with three replications. The combined analysis of variance showed that variance for gca and sca was highly significant for all the traits studied. This indicates that both additive and non-additive gene actions were operating in the inheritance of these traits. Parental level of gca revealed that introduced genotype (AVPP0514) had highest (1843.87) effect followed by Ethiopian variety 'Mareko fana' (930.97) for fresh pod yield and other related traits. The highest sca for hybrids was exhibited by AVPP0514 x AVPP59328, 'Marekofana' x AVPP0514, 'Melkaawaze' x AVPP0206 and AVPP9813 x AVPP0105 for yield and quality traits. This indicates the existence of immense potential for population improvement and heterosis breeding for enhancing productivity and qualities. The ratios of gca mean square to sca mean square were higher than unity for traits, indicating that additive gene action plays a predominant role in the inheritance of most of the traits.

 Key words: Additive gene action, hybrid, improvement, parents, quality, yield.


Marine nitrogen (N2) fixation supplies "new" nitrogen to the global ocean, supporting uptake and sequestration of carbon. Despite its central role, marine N2 fixation and its controlling factors remain elusive. In this study, we compile over 1,100 published observations to identify the dominant predictors of marine N2 fixation and derive global estimates based on the machine learning algorithms of random forest and support vector regression. We find that no single environmental property predicts N2 fixation at global scales. Our random forest and support vector regression algorithms, trained with sampling coordinates and month, solar radiation, wind speed, sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity, surface nitrate, surface phosphate, surface excess phosphorus, minimum oxygen in upper 500 m, photosynthetically available radiation, mixed layer depth, averaged photosynthetically available radiation in the mixed layer, and chlorophyll‐a concentration, estimate global marine N2 fixation ranging from 68 to 90 Tg N/year. Comparison of our machine learning estimates and 11 other model outputs currently available in literature shows substantial discrepancies in the global magnitude and spatial distribution of marine N2 fixation, especially in the tropics and in high latitudes. The large uncertainties in marine N2 fixation highlighted in our study argue for increased and more coordinated efforts using geochemical tracers, modeling, and observations over broad ocean regions.


OBJECT
Adenovirus vector (AdV)-mediated gene delivery has been recently demonstrated in clinical trials as a novel potential treatment for malignant gliomas. Combined coxsackievirus B and adenovirus receptor (CAR) has been shown to function as an attachment receptor for multiple adenovirus serotypes, whereas the vitronectin integrins (alphavbeta3 and alphavbeta5) are involved in AdV internalization. In resected glioma specimens, the authors demonstrated that malignant gliomas have varying levels of CAR, alphavbeta3, and alphavbeta5 expression.

METHODS
A correlation between CAR expression and the transduction efficiency of AdV carrying the green fluorescent protein in various human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cell lines and GBM primary cell lines was observed. To increase transgene activity in in vitro glioma cells with low or deficient levels of CAR, the authors used basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2) as a targeting ligand to redirect adenoviral infection through its cognate receptor, FGF receptor 1 (FGFR1), which was expressed at high levels by all glioma cells. These findings were confirmed by in vivo study data demonstrating enhanced transduction efficiency of FGF2-retargeted AdV in CAR-negative intracranial gliomas compared with AdV alone, without evidence of increased angiogenesis.

CONCLUSIONS
Altogether, the results demonstrated that AdV-mediated gene transfer using the FGF2/FGFR system is effective in gliomas with low or deficient levels of CAR and suggested that FGF2-retargeting of AdV may be a promising approach in glioma gene therapy.


In a comparative kinetic study of the serum concentrations of two penicillin complexes--medium-long-acting (benethamine penicillin) and long-acting (benzathine bipenicillin)--after a single injection in young adults and elderly people, the following results were confirmed statistically: (a) age was a major factor in the variations in serum penicillin concentrations and in their persistence in the serum; (b) the penicillin was absorbed faster in young than in elderly subjects even when a long-acting complex was used; (c) serum concentrations below the level regarded as lethal for treponemes appeared much earlier and more frequently in young than in old people; and (d) the bioequivalence between penicillin preparations could not be estimated solely for the number of units of the agent used but from the bioavailability of the chosen formulation. Thus a uniform and standard penicillin dosage allowing no safety margin may help in the superficial healing of a syphilitic chancre or the resolution of a roseola but it will certainly be insufficient to kill Treponema pallidum. It seems essential therefore to provide an antibiotic cover at high dosage over a long period of time.


Cholestasis results in the intrahepatic retention of cytotoxic bile acids (BA) and it can thus lead to liver injury. Hydrophilic BA ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is currently used to treat cholestasis but its efficacy is limited. Nuclear receptors are key regulators of various processes including metabolism of xeno- and endobiotics such as BA and drugs. Recent studies have made significant progress in elucidating the mechanisms which regulate the BA metabolism by nuclear receptors. The nuclear receptor FXR plays the role of master regulator of BA homeostasis and is a promising drug target for cholestatic liver disease. In addition to FXR, the nuclear receptors CAR and PXR function as sensors of toxic byproducts and regulator of BA homeostasis. Ligands for both receptors including phenobarbital have been used to treat cholestatic liver diseases before the mechanisms of these receptors were revealed. Novel compounds targeting CAR and PXR with specific effects and fewer side effects will therefore be useful for the treatment of cholestatic liver diseases. This article will review the current knowledge of the xenobiotic-sensing nuclear receptors CAR and PXR, while also discussing their potential role in the treatment of cholestatic liver diseases.


We report on the performance of a 4.7-THz local oscillator (LO) for the heterodyne spectrometer GREAT (German REceiver for Astronamy at Terahertz frequencies) on SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy). The design of the LO and its performance in terms of output power, frequency accuracy, frequency stability, and beam profile as well as its implementation in GREAT will be presented.


Background: Numerous studies suggest preterm birth is associated with cognitive deficit. However, less is known about cognitive outcomes following post-term birth, or the influence of weight variations within term or postterm populations. We examined associations between gestational age (GA) and school performance, by weight-for-GA, focusing on extremely pre- and post-term births. Method: Record linkage study of Swedish children born 1973-1994 (n=2 008 102) with a nested sibling comparison (n=439 629). We used restricted cubic regression splines to examine associations between GA and the grade achieved on leaving secondary education, comparing siblings to allow stronger causal inference with regard to associations between GA and school performance. Results: Grade averages of both pre- and post-term children were below those of full-term counterparts and lower for those born small-for-GA. The adjusted grades of extremely preterm children (at 24 completed weeks), while improving in later study periods, were lower by 0.43 standard deviations (95% confidence interval 0.38 to 0.49), corresponding with a 21 point reduction (19 to 24) on a 240-point scale. Reductions for extremely postterm children (at 45 completed weeks) were lesser (-0.15 SD (-0.17 to -0.13) or -8 points (-9 to -7)). Among matched siblings, we observed weaker residual effects of preterm and post-term GA on school performance. Conclusions: There may be independent effects of fetal maturation and fetal growth on school performance. Associations among matched siblings, although attenuated, remained consistent with causal effects of pre- and post-term birth on school performance.


Faecal soiling is one of the welfare indicators in the AWIN welfare assessment protocol for sheep (Ovis aries) and is measured by dag scores. Studies on dag scoring for ewes with docked and undocked tails have given rise to contradictory results. The aim of this study was to compare faecal soiling between ewes with docked and undocked tails and evaluate inter-rater reliability for faecal soiling of ewes. This study was conducted on a farm in Southern Brazil and included 66 undocked and 94 docked ewes. Dag score was recorded by three assessors on a scale of 1 to 5. There was no significant difference on faecal soiling for docked compared to undocked ewes and the median dag score was 3 (1–5). Repeatability amongst assessors by intra-class correlation coefficient of dag scores on docked and undocked ewes was 0.49 and 0.40, respectively; however, these repeatabilities showed no significant differences. The modest repeatability between three assessors on dag scoring indicates caution as regards the use of faecal soiling as an indicator and suggests a need for further studies. The best field results may be obtained by increasing the assessment sample to at least 160 ewes or by raising the number of assessors to five to promote better inter-observer repeatability. Results suggest that taildocking did not promote cleanliness on the breech area. Considering the negative impact on welfare, it seems reasonable to reverse the burden of proof and desist from recommending tail-docking in the absence of clear scientific evidence of any benefit.


Cloud computing has significantly enhanced the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) by ensuring and supporting the Quality of Service (QoS) of IoT applications. However, cloud services are still far from IoT devices. Notably, the transmission of IoT data experiences network issues, such as high latency. In this case, the cloud platforms cannot satisfy the IoT applications that require real-time response. Yet, the location of cloud services is one of the challenges encountered in the evolution of the IoT paradigm. Recently, edge cloud computing has been proposed to bring cloud services closer to the IoT end-users, becoming a promising paradigm whose pitfalls and challenges are not yet well understood. This paper aims at presenting the leading-edge computing concerning the movement of services from centralized cloud platforms to decentralized platforms, and examines the issues and challenges introduced by these highly distributed environments, to support engineers and researchers who might benefit from this transition.


OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the consultations referred to the pediatric cardiology, in order to improve the quality of cardiac care in children.
Setting: Pediatric cardiology clinic, at Queen Alia Heart Institute and King Abdullah University Hospital.
Patients and Methods : This is a prospective study conducted over a one year period from the first of May 2008to the first of May 2009.All patients included in the study were referred by the pediatricians for further evaluation.Cardiac evaluation were done by cardiologist and included: clinical assessment in addition to noninvasive and invasive diagnostic tests whenever indicated.
Patients' data and results of consultations were obtained and tabulated by the sites of referral and indications. The data then were sutabulated by the diagnosis.
Result: A total of 1864 consults were seen over the study period: 725 (38.9%) from the pediatric ward, 763(40.9%) from the pediatric clinics, 314(16.8%) from the nursery, and 62(3.3%) consults from the pediatric intensive care unit.
The most common indications for consultations were: heart murmur (368/1864:19.7%), inter current illnesses of cardiac patients (289/1864:15.5%), cyanosis (277/1864:14.9%), assessment of the ventricular function (165/1864:8.9%) and respiratory symptoms (159/1864:8.5%).
Conclusion: A wide spectrum of clinical problems which needed a cardiology opinion have been addressed .There were certain clinical conditions encountered more frequently and should be given emphasis in curricula developed for pediatric residency training program, especially how to elicit cardiac findings accurately.


Background : Andropause is a syndrome of aging that can be interpreted by the cessation of physiological processes in men. It is estimated there are at least 25 million men in America between 40 and 55 years have some degree of andropause. The loss of testosterone can occur in men age 35 years , gradually , with testosterone levels decreased only 1 % to 1.5 % per year. Coronary heart disease is a pathological condition of the coronary arteries ( atherosclerosis ) that causes changes in the structure and function of arteries and decrease blood flow to the heart. Coronary heart disease is a major health problem in developed countries . While the cause of death remains ranked No. 3. Study aimed to analyze the correlation between andropause with coronary heart disease in Dr . Moewardi hospitals Surakarta. Methods : This study was an observational analytic cross sectional approach . Subjects were patients with coronary heart disease and who do not suffer from coronary heart disease who present in Cardiac clinic Dr . Moewardi hospital Surakarta . A total of 104 subjects were selected using purposive sampling method . Data were collected by direct interviews and questionnaires . Data were analyzed by multiple logistic regression analysis and processed with the Statistical Product and Service Solutions ( SPSS ) 16.0 for Windows . Results : Patients with coronary heart disease have a risk of andropause with moderate levels of correlation of 0.32 with the use of contingency correlation test. Conclusions : There is a significant association between andropause with coronary heart disease in elderly men in Surakarta Moewardi Hospital with moderate levels of correlation. Keywords : Andropause , Coronary Heart Disease


Titanium alloys which exhibit excellent material properties like a high strength to weight ratio and good corrosion resistance have become the important structural materials in the applications of the aerospace. However, it's quite difficult to repair the damages of the titanium alloy parts such as fatigue crack and erosion resulted from poor working environment using the traditional manufacturing technology while the problem can be easily solved with the help of laser cladding technology. For the excellent quality of the fixed parts, it is extraordinarily significant to obtain the rule of the temperature and thermal stress distribution in the cladding process. To investigate the influencing rule of cladding coating's temperature and stress on laser cladding process parameters, the model of laser cladding based on TC4 titanium alloy is built by the way of finite element method (FEM). This model encompasses the effects of the temperature-dependent thermal conduction and radiation as well as the latent heat of fusion. Different laser processing parameters are chosen to calculate the temperature and stress of cladding layer.The result shows that the temperature of the clad coating is positive correlation with the raise of laser power and the depth of the powder layer, and negative correlation with the raise of scanning speed and the laser spot diameter. In addition, the transient stress of clad coating is augmented with the increase of laser scanning velocity, laser spot diameter and the depth of the clad coating while it's negative correlation with the raise of laser power. The numerical results provide the theoretical guidance for optimization of the laser cladding parameters on TC4 titanium alloy.


With the development of single-cell technology, many cell traits (e.g. gene expression, chromatin accessibility, DNA methylation) can be measured. Furthermore, the multi-omic profiling technology could jointly measure two or more traits in a single cell simultaneously. In order to process the various data accumulated rapidly, computational methods for multimodal data integration are needed. Previously, we developed inClust, a flexible all-in deep generative framework for transcriptome data. Here, we extend the applicability of inClust into the realm of multimodal data by adding two mask modules: an input-mask module in front of the encoder and an output-mask module behind the decoder. We call this augmented model inClust+, and apply it to various multimodal data. InClust+ was first used to integrate scRNA and MERFISH data from similar cell populations and to impute MERFISH data based on scRNA data. Then, inClust+ is shown to have the capability to integrate a multimodal data contain scRNA and scATAC or two multimodal CITE datasets with batch effect. Finally, inClust+ is used to integrate a monomodal scRNA dataset and two multimodal CITE datasets, and generate the missing modality of surface protein in monomodal scRNA data. In the above examples, the performance of inClust+ is better than or comparable to the most recent tools to the corresponding task, which prove inClust+ is a suitable framework for handling multimodal data. Meanwhile, the successful implementation of mask in inClust+ means that it can be applied to other deep learning methods with similar encoder-decoder architecture to broaden the application scope of these models.


Hilary Stauffer is a Visiting Fellow at LSE's Centre for the Study of Human Rights. She is an international lawyer with extensive experience working on projects in the U.S., Europe, Africa, and Asia. Her specialties include International Law, Rule of Law, Human Rights, Humanitarian Affairs and Diplomacy.


A 55‐year‐old patient was admitted to the hospital with severe acute back pain. Thoracolumbar magnetic resonance (MR) imaging showed hemorrhage in subarachnoidal‐subdural space. On cranial MR imaging and MR angiography, an aneurysm was suspected in the V4 segment of the right vertebral artery. Angiography showed a fusiform dissecting aneurysm in the V4 segment of right vertebral artery. The final diagnosis was ruptured V4 segment aneurysm with subsequent symptomatic migration of hemorrhage into the spinal subarachnoidal‐subdural space. The patient was treated endovascularly by coil occlusion of both the aneurysm and vertebral artery. This rare cause and possible mechanisms for spinal migration of intracranial hemorrhage after aneurysmal rupture is discussed.


Low income, poor diet, obesity, and a lack of exercise are interrelated lifestyle factors that can profoundly alter our biologic make up to increase cancer risk, growth, and development. We recently reported a potential mechanistic link between carbohydrate-derived metabolites and cancer, which may provide a biologic consequence of lifestyle that can directly affect tumor biology. Advanced glycation end-products (AGE) are reactive metabolites produced as a by-product of sugar metabolism. Failure to remove these highly reactive metabolites can lead to protein damage, aberrant cell signaling, increased stress responses, and decreased genetic fidelity. Critically, AGE accumulation is also directly affected by our lifestyle choices and shows a race-specific, tumor-dependent pattern of accumulation in cancer patients. This review will discuss the contribution of AGEs to the cancer phenotype, with a particular emphasis on their biologic links with the socioeconomic and environmental risk factors that drive cancer disparity. Given the potential benefits of lifestyle changes and the potential biologic role of AGEs in promoting cancer, opportunities exist for collaborations affecting basic, translational, epidemiologic, and cancer prevention initiatives.


Since many processes in logistics are difficult to automate, employees will continue to be a crucial part of the logistics ecosystem. Allocating employees to tasks on the shop floor continues to be essential, but should focus more on personal preferences. Traditional allocation systems have hardly taken employee preferences into consideration. We ensure that workers can specify their preferences in more detail, and enable best-fit allocation of workers and tasks. To gather information about employee preferences, we designed a survey that can be completed quickly and allows us to get information about employee preferences. We have developed a solution for our preference-based scheduling, namely a hybrid AI algorithm. The solution is discussed for our use case: matching employees to workplaces in logistics. With this work we contribute to a transparent consideration of preferences in scheduling and show details of the algorithm. We aim to extend research in this area with our open source code on github.


Diffusion-induced recrystallization (DIR) is investigated in Au/Cu and Ag/Pd thin-film interdiffusion couples. It is experimentally demonstrated that several generations of new grains are formed inside the diffusion zone by a cascade-like process. Each generation is distinguished by a characteristic composition level. In order to understand the observed composition levels quantitatively, a thermo-mechanic model has been derived, which determines the thermo-elastic driving force to the grain boundary. By the model, it is shown that those grains dominate the diffusion zone, which develop the maximum possible stress in front of the moving boundary.


Aim: The aim of this study to compare the relative bioavailability of baclofen as a peroral tablet with the new formulations (transdermal and buccal films). Materials and Methods: Rapid and simple high-performance liquid chromatography/ultraviolet method has been adopted and validated for the determination of baclofen in human plasma with acceptable linearity, precision and accuracy. The study was performed on six human volunteers divided into three groups each contained two individuals. The first group was dosed with 20 mg of baclofen tablet (Lioraz®) as a reference, the second group received 40 mg baclofen transdermal film, and the third group received 20 mg baclofen buccal film. Transdermal and buccal films were subjected to in vivo study to evaluate the bioavailability parameters and then compared to the reference. Results and Discussion: Following Lioraz® tablet, the maximum concentration was achieved after 3.0 h unlike, after transdermal film with a double dose, it was at 6.0 h whereas, following buccal film, maximum time was 3.0 h post-dosing. Thus absorption from buccal films was faster, whereas transdermal spent longer times to reach the maximum concentration in systemic circulation. The mean values of pharmacokinetic parameters were significantly higher from transdermal than oral, demonstrating prolongation of baclofen action, whereas with buccal was lower. Taking Lioraz® as a reference, the % relative bioavailability from transdermal and buccal film was 78.99% and 89.22%, respectively. Conclusion: Study indicates that the absorption from buccal films was faster, whereas the transdermal spent longer times to reach the maximum drug concentration. Transdermal film of baclofen was successful in all the established studies by improving the prolongation of action and increasing the half-life of baclofen.


Software defect(bug) repositories are great source of knowledge. Data mining can be applied on these repositories to explore useful interesting patterns. Complexity of a bug helps the development team to plan future software build and releases. In this paper a prediction model is proposed to predict the bug's complexity. The proposed technique is a three step method. In the first step, fix duration for all the bugs stored in bug repository is calculated and complexity clusters are created based on the calculated bug fix duration. In second step, bug for which complexity is required its estimated fix time is calculated using bug estimation techniques. And in the third step based on the estimated fix time of bug it is mapped to a complexity cluster, which defines the complexity of the bug. The proposed model is implemented using open source technologies and is explained with the help of illustrative example.


The high stability of the GPS signals makes it possible to determine differential position over short baselines with an accuracy of the order of centimeters. This has been demonstrated using very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) methods of radio astronomy. This paper presents an alternative approach using Kalman filter methods. It is based on an adaptive filter concept developed by D. T. Magi11 in 1965.
The scheme employs parallel Kalman filters with each filter being modeled for a different integer wavelength assumption. As the phase measurement sequence progresses, the adaptive scheme "learns" which Kalman filter corresponds to the correct hypothesis, and thus it both resolves the wavelength ambiguity and estimates differential position simultaneously. Simulated results are presented which indicate convergence in about 10 minutes of satellite observation time.