The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate British South Asian consumer's attitudinal loyalty to professional football in Britain. Few consumers with South British Asian heritage spectate at professional football matches in England. According to Bano (2013) less than 1% of fans of teams in the North West of England have South Asian heritage, despite making up 20% of the population. This dissertation aims to evaluate the factors that influence attitudinal loyalty, specifically those that raise awareness of the sport, attract British South Asian consumers to the terraces of professional football clubs and the barriers that deter South Asian consumers from attending professional football matches in Britain.
This exploratory study evaluates academic sports literature to establish a comprehensive range of factors that influences sports consumers' attitudinal loyalty towards professional sport. The dissertation considers these factors and the cultural values of British South Asian consumers, to identify what influences and deters their attitudinal loyalty towards professional football.
The findings from the dissertation suggest that socialising factors of friends discussing the sport, social media communication and mainstream television play a significant role in raising the awareness of professional football. South Asian consumers are attracted to the game through star players, the beauty and skill attributed to the sport and the atmosphere at professional football games, which correlate with existing academic literature. However, the dissertation raises new themes pertinent to British South Asian consumers, suggesting that the most successful and prestigious football teams have a social value attributed to them, which influences South Asian's attraction to the sport.
The finding suggest that there are many barriers that deter South Asians from accessing the sport and attendance at football games, such as the price of tickets, the management of alcohol during games, perceived racism at football grounds and poor integration and inclusion of South Asians in mainstream football leagues. These barriers suggest that acculturation to professional football may occur if football clubs and governing bodies recognise and consider the cultural values of South Asian consumers. The findings are presented as theoretical and managerial contributions.


Taking the waterless tap-hole clay in the 1750m3 blast furnace of Jinan Steel Corporation for example, thermal processing at temperatures ranging from 200°C to 1400°C has been performed. The authors systematically investigated the main features of the clay such as bending strength, compressive strength, porosity and density after thermal processing, the microstructure evolution of the clay with increasing temperature were also studied in brief. Research results provide theoretical information for the practical application of tap-hole clay in the blast furnace and are also helpful for understanding the possible property transition of the tap-hole clay in the tap-hole.


Background: Dysphagia is assciated with numerous medical conditions including stroke, and there are wide variations in reported frequency of dysphagia in stroke survivors in the literature. Dysphagia has been shown to be an important risk factor for aspiration pneumonia and has profound impact on survivors. Aims: This study aims to determine the frequency of dysphagia in stroke survivors and its effects on short-term outcome. Methods: Consecutive patients hospitalised for first-ever acute stroke at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria, Nigeria, were prospectively enrolled from April 2015 to January 2017. Stroke severity was assessed using the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Water swallowing test was used to screen patients for the presence of dysphagia. This was followed by swallowing provocative test which was aimed at evaluating swallowing reflexes. All the patients were then followed up till day 30. Outcome measures applied were 30-day mortality and functional impairment on the Modified Rankin Scale. Results: Ninety-four patients (53 males and 41 females) with acute stroke were studied. Mean age of patients was 55.51 ± 15.7 years and 32 (34.4%) patients had dysphagia at presentation. Mean NIHSS score of patients with dysphagia was significantly higher than those without dysphagia. Aspiration pneumonia occurred more significantly in those with dysphagia. In multivariate logistic regression, only aspiration pneumonia was independently associated with 30-day mortality. Conclusion: The prevalence of dysphagia in this cohort of stroke patients was 34.4%, and the major independent determinant of 30-day mortality was development of aspiration pneumonia.


The reaction of substituted benzoic acid hydrazide with carbondisulfide and potassium hydroxide followed by treatment with hydrazinehydrate afforded 4-amino-5-aryl-4H-1, 2, 4-triazole-3-thiol (4). Condensation of (4) with various aromatic carboxylic acids in the presence of phosphorus oxy chloridegives 3,6disubstituted- [1,2,4]triazolo[3,4b][1,3,4]thiadiazoles(5) and with various aroylthiocyanate in the presence of ethanol gives N,3 disubstituted-[1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thiadiazol-6-amine (6). The structure of these newly synthesized compounds was characterized by elementalanalysis, IR, 1H NMR studies. All the synthesized compoundswere screened for their antibacterial activity against H.pylori, P.aeroginosa, E.coli, S.aureus and Methcyclin resistant strain(MRSA) and antifungal activity against A.niger, A.foeniculum and P.chrysogenum. Some of compounds exhibited promising antibacterial and antfungal activities.Most active antifungalcompound was4a (4-amino-5- phenyl-4H-1, 2, 4-triazole-3-thiol) with MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) 57.14 μg/ml and Zone of inhibition 14 mmagainst A.foeniculum. Most potent antibacterial compound was5b (3-(4-nitrophenyl)-6-phenyl-[1, 2, 4]-triazolo [3, 4-b] [1, 3, 4] thiadiazole) with MIC 10 μg/ml, Zone of inhibition 8mmagainst H.pylori.


Prey selection was assessed based on 116 experimental trials in which six kestrels were presented pairs of mice. Independent variables included pelage color (black and white), morphology (familiar and unfamiliar), and movement (aberrant, normal, and none). Each prey item represented a combination of three treatments, i.e., one per variable. In general, black pelage was preferred to white and familiar morphology was preferred to unfamiliar. An important interaction occurred between movement and morphology. Kestrel selection was low for moving unfamiliar prey but high for nonmoving unfamiliar prey. The highest rates of attack were elicited by moving familiar prey. It was concluded that movement renders unfamiliar stimuli less acceptable to kestrels while rendering familiar stimuli more acceptable. The acceptability of familiar stimuli was enhanced the greatest when accompanied by aberrant movement. A summary of kestrel selection preferences with regard to these variables was presented as a prey selection model. When the influence of learning (differential experimental experience) was partially omitted from this independent data set, model accountability increased to 85%. Learning was therefore implicated as an important factor in this kind of experimental research. Experimental observations were discussed in terms of novelty, and semantic implications of novelty and oddity were considered. The transition of a stimulus from novel to familiar was discussed as a function of learning via experience on the part of the predator.


Resistance is often defined as a lack of therapeutic response. Cellular resistance involves a decrease in intracellular levels of the antitumor agent due to a variety of mechanisms. These mechanisms are active in tumors with initial resistance as well as in those which respond initially but fail to be completely destroyed by chemotherapy. Although acquired forms of resistance seem to be the result of selection, some studies suggest that antitumor agents may induce resistance. Four main mechanisms of resistance are currently being investigated: 1) multidrug resistance, involving expression of a membrane P-glycoprotein, responsible for resistance to hydrophobic cationic agents; 2) detoxification of hydrophilic agents by the enzyme glutathione-S-transferase; 3) increased production of enzymes targeted by antimetabolites; 4) mutation or decreased synthesis of topoisomerases I and II which are the targets of very recent antitumor agents. New data were presented at the 1992 symposium of the American Association for Cancer Research; expression of P-glycoprotein is controlled by the mutant protein P53, the oncogene ras and differentiation agents. Physiological effects of this molecule are related to the chloride pump. Bone marrow stem cells from transgenic mice obtained by transfection of the gene MDR1 in germ cells exhibit resistance. Many agents can reverse P-glycoprotein-related resistance. Results from three phase I trials with Cyclosporin A as reversion agent were reported. It is essential to conduct clinical trials in order to assess the true value of these new data which hold promise for improving the performance of antitumor agents.


The nuclear gene sequences encoding RBCS, the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (EC 188.8.131.52) from several plants show extensive interspecific divergence but little intraspecific divergence, suggesting that these genes are evolving in concert within a genome. In this study, the nucleotide sequences of two tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) RBCS genes and a cDNA clone containing the entire coding region of a third tomato RBCS gene were determined. The three genes, designated Rbcs-1, Rbcs-2A, and Rbcs-3A, each belong to a different one of the three RBCS loci in the tomato genome. The nucleotide sequence of Rbcs-1 differs from that of Rbcs-2A and Rbcs-3A by 13.9% and 13.1%, respectively. Rbcs-2A and Rbcs-3A differ from each other by 10.7%. A recently published RBCS gene sequence from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) [Mazur, B. J. & Chui, C.-F. (1985) Nucleic Acids Res. 13, 2373-2386] differs by 10.6% and 11.3% from Rbcs-2A and Rbcs-3A, respectively, and by 15.0% from Rbcs-1. Thus the tobacco gene seems to be phylogenetically as closely related to the tomato genes Rbcs-2A and Rbcs-3A as the latter two are to each other, and more closely related to them than Rbcs-1 is. However, the mature part of the polypeptide encoded by the tobacco RBCS gene differs by five and six amino acids from the corresponding region in the polypeptides encoded by Rbcs-2A and Rbcs-3A, respectively, while these two tomato RBCS polypeptides differ from each other in the mature part by a single amino acid. Rbcs-1, whose nucleotide sequence shows higher divergence from both the tobacco RBCS gene and Rbcs-2A and Rbcs-3A, encodes a polypeptide whose mature part differs by eight amino acids from the corresponding region in the tobacco polypeptide but only by three and four amino acids from the corresponding regions of Rbcs-2A- and Rbcs-3A-encoded polypeptides, respectively. Thus, it appears that in the tomato selection has maintained near uniformity of the coding information in the portion of the RBCS genes encoding the mature polypeptides.


The statistical properties of daily closing futures prices for nine commodities are studied. Two hypotheses are examined: Price changes are normally distributed, and prices follow a random walk process. Normality is tested by estimating kurtosis, the R/S statistic, and characteristic exponents. The Gaussian hypothesis is rejected in a large proportion of cases. Randomness is tested by using the turning point test and the phase length test. Both tests reject the random walk hypothesis.


BACKGROUND
People who are prescribed self-administered medications typically take less than half the prescribed doses. Efforts to assist patients with adherence to medications might improve the benefits of prescribed medications, but also might increase their adverse effects.

OBJECTIVES
To update a review summarizing the results of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of interventions to help patients follow prescriptions for medications for medical problems, including mental disorders but not addictions.

SEARCH STRATEGY
Computerized searches were updated to September 2004 without language restriction in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, The Cochrane Library, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (IPA), PsycINFO and SOCIOFILE. We also reviewed bibliographies in articles on patient adherence and articles in our personal collections, and contacted authors of original and review articles on the topic.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Articles were selected if they reported an unconfounded RCT of an intervention to improve adherence with prescribed medications, measuring both medication adherence and treatment outcome, with at least 80% follow-up of each group studied and, for long-term treatments, at least six months follow-up for studies with positive initial findings.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Study design features, interventions and controls, and results were extracted by one reviewer and confirmed by at least one other reviewer. We extracted adherence rates and their measures of variance for all methods of measuring adherence in each study, and all outcome rates and their measures of variance for each study group, as well as levels of statistical significance for differences between study groups, consulting authors and verifying or correcting analyses as needed.

MAIN RESULTS
For short-term treatments, four of nine interventions reported in eight RCTs showed an effect on both adherence and at least one clinical outcome, while one intervention reported in one RCT significantly improved patient compliance, but did not enhance the clinical outcome. For long-term treatments, 26 of 58 interventions reported in 49 RCTs were associated with improvements in adherence, but only 18 interventions led to improvement in at least one treatment outcome. Almost all of the interventions that were effective for long-term care were complex, including combinations of more convenient care, information, reminders, self-monitoring, reinforcement, counseling, family therapy, psychological therapy, crisis intervention, manual telephone follow-up, and supportive care. Even the most effective interventions did not lead to large improvements in adherence and treatment outcomes. Six studies showed that telling patients about adverse effects of treatment did not affect their adherence.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Improving short-term adherence is relatively successful with a variety of simple interventions. Current methods of improving adherence for chronic health problems are mostly complex and not very effective, so that the full benefits of treatment cannot be realized. High priority should be given to fundamental and applied research concerning innovations to assist patients to follow medication prescriptions for long-term medical disorders.


OBJECTIVE
To identify dietary trends among low socioeconomic status women of childbearing age from three ethnic groups from 1977 to 1996.

METHODS
The sample consisted of 19- to 44-year-old women at 185% of poverty with 12 years of education or less (n = 4682) from three US Department of Agriculture surveys. The Revised Diet Quality Index (DQI-R) and level of folate were the main outcomes measured. Changes in food consumption for several food groups were also examined.

RESULTS
Diet quality significantly improved between 1977 and 1996 for Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites. All groups had significant decreases in saturated fat intake by 1996, but only Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women significantly decreased their total fat and cholesterol intakes. Fruit and vegetable intakes remained stable. Mean intakes of calcium, iron, and folate were below recommendations at every time point for all ethnic groups. All three groups decreased their intakes of butter, margarine, egg items, bacon, high-fat red meats, and low-fiber/high-fat breads and increased their intakes of high-fiber cereals, all of which are positive. These trends were balanced, however, by decreases in medium-fiber vegetables, soy, and legumes and increases in high-fat/high-fiber breads, high-fat desserts, high-fat salty snacks, and high-fat grain-based mixed dishes.

CONCLUSIONS
This study highlights problem dietary habits that public health professionals need to address in order to reduce the prevalence of diet-related chronic diseases.


Using the ellipsoid method, both Deng et al. [Deng, X., Q. Fang, X. Sun. 2006. Finding nucleolus of flow game. Proc. 17th ACM-SIAM Sympos. Discrete Algorithms. ACM Press, New York, 124--131] and Potters et al. [Potters, J., H. Reijnierse, A. Biswas. 2006. The nucleolus of balanced simple flow networks. Games Econom. Behav.54 205--225] show that the nucleolus of simple flow games (where all edge capacities are equal to one) can be computed in polynomial time. Our main result is a combinatorial method based on eliminating redundant s--t path constraints such that only a polynomial number of constraints remains. This leads to efficient algorithms for computing the core, nucleolus, and nucleon of simple flow games. Deng et al. also prove that computing the nucleolus for (general) flow games is NP -hard. We generalize this by proving that computing the f-nucleolus of flow games is NP -hard for all priority functions f that satisfy f(A) > 0 for all coalitions A with worth v(A) > 0 (so, including the priority functions corresponding to the nucleolus, nucleon, and per-capita nucleolus).


Let ? act on a countable set V with only nitely many orbits. Given a ?-invariant random environment for a Markov chain on V and a random scenery, we exhibit, under certain conditions, an equivalent stationary measure for the environment and scenery from the viewpoint of the random walker. Such theorems have been very useful in investigations of percolation on quasi-transitive graphs.


The study was based on the emerging issues discussed about illegal logging and forest tree scheme lacked the Pulp and Paper Tjiwi Kimia. This issue has been exhaled by the WWF and Greenpeace, they accuse the basic ingredient of paper, wood taken from the wild forests in Indonesia. So that resulted in the destruction of ecosystems that exist in the forest. The emergence of the issue to invite a number of customer complaint via email. Most of them ask for corporate accountability on the issue. Concrete evidence that the wood used far from illegal logging and forest tree has a scheme. Therefore, the main capital Tjiwi Kimia Pulp and Paper in addressing these issues is restoring confidence, rebuilding the image of the company, in
collaboration with third parties whose credit has been recognized to be very important performed. By utilizing the communication media and penghubunnya using email. So
researchers are interested in lifting how to use email as Guerilla PR in maintaining corporate image?
A media liaison between the users who have a user ID and password that is owned by a sense of the email. Where email is an application that is in the internet services that can be used as a medium of the message. Media liaison when companies Guerilla PR, activities that use third parties to restore customer confidence. Pulp and Paper tjiwi CHEMICAL using email device itself is on call Lotus no longer useyahoo or gmail. It's just that these devices have the capacity to receive messages is minimal. So that when in a state out off the quotas, the Quality Assurance Department (QA Department) was not able to open and view incoming email due to its full quota.
Through a qualitative research strategy with research techniques by conducting indepth interview questions and answers as he comes face to face with the leaders of the QA Department.
Thus found to be complete and indepth data. Observations are made directly useful to researchers in the Department mengetahuti QA activities utilizing email as a guerilla public relations and documentation. In the last stages of the data obtained were analyzed using content analysis, which is then tested the validity of their data using triangulation of data sources.
Conclusion The researchers conclude that these activities are conducted utilizing the QA Department by email is: internal communication (within the enterprise environment), external communication (customers, media and government audiences), publications, capturing customerfeedback, fact finding, complaint handling and evaluating the results of activities. Also QA activities within the Department conducted Guerilla PR related issues, in collaboration with the surveyor who has been recognized by many customers credibility. Furthermore, convincing customers that the issues emerging with the release of evidence is not properly certified. The role of email very effectively helped smooth relations activities undertaken Guerrilla QA
Department for certification issued by the surveyor is the evidence that will be sent via email to the customer. Therefore, researchers concluded that the role of QA Department Tjiwi Kimia Pulp and Paper is doing handling the issue of illegal logging and forest tree scheme to maintain the company image. Where the role of emails in case of handling these issues as a medium of evidence given by agency surveyors certification of consumer complaints that are outside the country. While the role of surveyors body itself acts conducting surveys, research, verification
and certification to assure consumers that are d abroad.


Shapley (1953a) formulates his proposal of a value for cooperative games with transferable utility in characteristic function form, that is, for games where the re- sources every group of players has available to distribute among its members only depend on the members of the group. However, the worth of a coalition of agents often depends on the organization of the rest of the players. The existence of exter- nalities is one of the key ingredients in most interesting economic, social, or political environments. Thrall and Lucas (1963) provide the first formal description of set- tings with externalities by introducing the games in partition function form. In this chapter, we present the extensions of the Shapley value to this larger set of games. The different approaches that lead to the Shapley value in characteristic function form games (axiomatic, marginalistic, potential, dividends, non-cooperative) provide alternative routes for addressing the question of the most suitable extension of the Shapley value for the set of games in partition function form.


The objective of the present work was to study the shape, size, and morphological features of stab-and-slash skin wounds inflicted by the blades with differently shaped tips taking into consideration the direction of stab through multiple garments (1, 2, and 3 layers). The injuries were inflicted by kitchen knives having the blades of practically identical length and width but differently shaped tips. A total of 480 skin wounds and 720 damaged cloth specimens were available for the examination. The analysis of the data obtained revealed differences between morphological features of the skin wounds. Injuries to the skin unprotected by the cloths had different shape and length of the edge and end portions depending on the shape of the blade tip and the direction of the stab. The length of all wound inflicted through the barrier decreased as the number of layers increased. The wounds had the linear shape, their contusion collar and flattened area became narrower; the shape of the back edges of the wounds inflicted through a three-layer barrier altered. It is concluded that the result of the present study may be useful for the improvement of diagnostics of stab-and-slash skin wounds.


The objective was to describe the health literacy of a sample of Canadian men with prostate cancer and explore whether sociodemographic and health factors were related to men's health literacy scores. A sample of 213 Canadian men (M age = 68.71 years, SD = 7.44) diagnosed with prostate cancer were recruited from an online prostate cancer support website. The men completed the Health Literacy Questionnaire along with demographic, comorbidity, and prostate cancer treatment–related questions online. Of the 5-point scales, men's health literacy scores were highest for "Understanding health information enough to know what to do" (M = 4.04, SD = 0.48) and lowest for "Navigating the health care system" (M = 3.80, SD = 0.58). Of the 4-point scales, men's scores were highest for "Feeling understood and supported by health care professionals" (M = 3.20, SD = 0.52) and lowest for "Having sufficient information to manage my health" (M = 2.97, SD = 0.46). Regression analyses indicated that level of education was positively associated with health literacy scores, and men without comorbidities had higher health literacy scores. Age and years since diagnosis were unrelated to health literacy. Support in health system navigation and self-management of health may be important targets for intervention.


In this personal commentary, we will describe the 'what', 'why', and 'how' of a visionary system we believe could improve the diagnosis and management of infectious disease in primary care.

Consider Ahmed: a 4-year-old brought to see you on Friday evening with a 5-day history of runny nose, chesty cough, fever (described by his mother as severe and not improving), 1/2 normal fluid intake, loose stools, and not eating. The family are exhausted from the sleepless nights, but mostly his mother is worried about the chesty cough and fever, and asks if Ahmed needs antibiotics.

You complete the history — no vomiting, no rash, up-to-date with immunisations, no chronic diseases — and you examine Ahmed. He is listless and looks at you warily with red (conjunctivitis?) eyes while clinging to his mother. His breathing rate is normal (30 breaths per minute) and he does not have any cyanosis, respiratory recession, or rash. He has a temperature of 38.2°C, a pulse of 135 beats per minute, and oxygen saturation of 98%. His peripheries are well perfused with a capillary refill rate of <2 seconds. On auscultation, you hear some moist crackles with expiratory wheezing (bilaterally and not confined to a single zone); and, finally risking his wrath, you check Ahmed's ears and throat: normal tympanic membranes and some redness of his pharynx, but no pus or enlarged tonsils.

Summing up, you know he has an infectious disease affecting mainly his respiratory tract (coryza, chesty cough, pharyngitis, …


Specific inhibitors of three lysosomal proteinases are present in the cytosolic and lysosomal compartments of rabbit liver. The cytosolic inhibitors, purified by chromatography on DEAE-Trisacryl and Sephadex G-75, show specificities toward ca- thepsin M, cathepsins B and L, and fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase converting enzyme (CE), respectively, and are designated IM, IB/L, and ICE. Inhibitors with similar specificities have been isolated from the intralysosomal compartment. Two of these inhibitors, IM and ICE, are also present in the lysosomal membranes. The lysosomal distribution parallels that of the respective proteinases. The in- hibitors are polypeptides with molecular weights of 5,000-10,000 for the two forms of IB/L, 12,500 for IM, and 10,000-40,000 for the ICE species.


SIR,-The report by Dr. Isobel G. Furnival and others, "Accuracy of Screening Methods for the Diagnosis of Breast Disease," published in your issue of 21 November (p. 461) rightfully brings to the attention of the profession that no single type of examination should be relied upon as a screening method for the detection of early breast cancer. The sensitivity and specificity of such diagnostic measures as physical examination, mammography, and thermography were recently appraised in 862 patients with breast cancer in six large American medical centres on the East coast. This was a conjoint effort under the auspices of the American Cancer Society, and the results were analysed by expert statisticians. All three disciplines were found to have approximately the same degree of diagnostic accuracy: in the neighbourhood of 70%. The combination of all three methods, however, raises the diagnostic accuracy above 90%. It seems obvious to us that the latter is the only tenable approach. In one of our recent reports we furthermore brought attention to the fact that in exceptional instances one or another of these methods of evamination will reveal pathognomonic evidence not otherwise appreciated. In America 95%' of women operated on for breast cancer have themselves been responsible for the initial discovery of the lesion. We have long urged that responsibility for the detection of cancer should be taken out of the hands of women and returned to the physician. Periodic examinations of all women over 35 years of age by all modalities available is the only avenue by which we can expect to make a satisfactory impact on the mortality statistics for cancer of the breast.-I am, etc.,


I present a new method for identifying historic tropical cyclone activity utilizing frequencies of intra-annual density fluctuations in longleaf pine in western Florida. In addition, in this work I provide information about the causal factors that determine the formation of intra-annual density fluctuations (IADFs) in longleaf pine latewood. Specifically, I test the viability of using L+ IADFs in longleaf pine latewood as a proxy for historic tropical cyclone frequency and precipitation for the period 1950–2017. The stabilized frequency of L+ IADF occurrence is significantly ( p < 0.01) associated with PDSI for the months June through October indicating that high amounts of late growing-season moisture promote the formation of IADFs in latewood. I find the strongest relationships between PDSI and IADF occurrence during September and October, indicating the influence of tropical cyclone (TC)-sourced precipitation on IADF formation. High IADF stabilized frequencies (i.e., > 0.50) nearly always (88%) coincide with a TC tracking into the study area, and I find a significant ( p < 0.01) relationship between TC-sourced precipitation and the stabilized frequency of L+ IADFs. Via this relationship, reconstruction of historic tropical cyclone frequency and precipitation is


Termite-induced injuries to maize and baby corn were evaluated in on-going comparison experiments on organic and conventional farming systems at two trial sites in the Central Highlands of Kenya (Chuka and Thika). The farming systems were established in 2007 at two input levels: Low input level, representing subsistence farming (Conv-Low, Org-Low) and high input level, representing commercial farming (Conv-High, Org-High). Termite-induced injuries to maize and baby corn, such as tunneling the stem or lodging the whole plant were assessed over two cropping seasons. The lodging occurred exclusively at Thika. It first became apparent in the Org-Low system, with most of lodging occurring during the vegetative stage. Baby corn grown under high input systems showed increasing lodging from the late vegetative crop stage and peaked before the final harvest. Tunneling was recorded at both sites, but was generally below 5%, with no significant differences between the farming systems. Overall, the injury patterns caused by termites appear to be a function of the plant growth stage, termite colony activities, trial site, and the types and levels of fertilizer input. Thus, the management practice used in each farming system (organic or conventional) might have greater influence on crop injuries than the type of farming system itself or the termite abundance within each system.


The Earth has entered the anthropocene era; the era in which human activities have begun to have a significant global impact of the Earth's climate and ecosystems. Covering more than 60% of the Earth's surface, the oceans comprise a complex, dynamic and vast component of the Earth's ecological system, second in size only to the global atmosphere. The oceans are a major provider of ecosystem services, food, mineral and other resources, and a major medium for global transportation and communication. Nevertheless, while once thought inexhaustible, unlimited and capable of supporting any human activity or use, it is now clear that the oceans are exhaustible and that increasing and intensifying human activities and uses are pushing the oceans to the limits of their carrying capacity. The Law of the Sea Convention establishes a legal order for the oceans intended to 'facilitate international communication, [and] promote peaceful uses of the seas and oceans, the equitable and efficient utilisation of their resources, the conservation of their living resources, and the study, protection and preservation of the marine environment'. However, particularly as regards areas beyond national jurisdiction, the law of the sea regime is fragmented both sectorally and geographically, leaving a large range of governance, regulatory, substantive and implementational gaps which serve to limit its effectiveness in securing a sustainable future for the oceans in areas beyond national jurisdiction. The new reality of the context in which the legal regime for areas beyond national jurisdiction operates is one of increasing and increasingly unbridled human activity resulting in damage, both potential and real, from over-use, over-consumption and over-exploitation. This new reality has altered the fundamental balance between the context in which the law of the sea operates and the law of the sea itself. New legal developments are being called for to re-establish that equilibrium.


Despite recent advances, the extraction of optical flow with large displacements is still challenging for state-of the-art methods. The approaches that are the most successful at handling large displacements blend sparse correspondences from a matching algorithm with an optimization that refines the optical flow. We follow the scheme of Deep-Flow [33]. We first extract sparse pixel correspondences by means of a matching procedure and then apply a variational approach to obtain a refined optical flow. In our approach, coined 'Sparse Flow', the novelty lies in the matching. This uses an efficient sparse decomposition of a pixel's surrounding patch as a linear sum of those found around candidate corresponding pixels. As matching pixel the one dominating the decomposition is chosen. The pixel pairs matching in both directions, i.e. in a forward-backward fashion, are used as guiding points in the variational approach. Sparse-Flow is competitive on standard optical flow benchmarks with large displacements, while showing excellent performance for small and medium displacements. Moreover, it is fast in comparison to methods with a similar performance.


Fish assemblages on four large (100 m 2 ) artificial reefs were censused in May, June and July, 1986 and again in May 1988. The mean coefficient of variation of species' relative density decreased from 1986 to 1988, while the mean percent similarity of fish assemblages increased from 1986 to 1988. Fish assemblages on two of the large artificial reefs and on equal areas of the nearest natural coral reef were censused biweekly for 12 mo. Neither reef type (artificial or natural) nor reef location appeared to have an effect on assemblage structure. Fish assemblages on six small (1 m 2 ) concrete block reefs were censused biweekly for 12 mo; three of the six reefs were denuded at 3-mo intervals. Assemblages on these small reefs were less predictable than those on the large artificial and natural reefs. Predictability of fish assemblages on large and small reefs generally increased with number of species present, but was not consistently related to total number of individuals present. Values of assemblage similarity varied from agreement with Australian studies, which generally espouse recruitment-limited, non-equilibrial assemblage structure, to agreement with other Caribbean studies, which generally espouse stable, resource-limited assemblage structure. It is concluded that the dichotomy of results between Australian and Caribbean studies of reef fish assemblage structure is primarily a result of different sampling methodology and analysis coupled with different species pools, and requires no difference in biological mechanism.


In hybrid wireless sensor networks, where trusted and un-trusted nodes coexist, it becomes important to allow trusted nodes to share information, especially, location information and prevent un-trusted nodes from gaining access to this information. We focus on anchor-based localization algorithms in WSNs, where a small set of specialized nodes, that is, anchor nodes, broadcast their location to the network and other nodes can use the broadcast information to estimate their own location. The main challenge is that both trusted and un-trusted nodes can measure the physical signal transmitted from anchor nodes and use it to estimate their locations. In this paper, we propose Hidden Anchor, an algorithm that provides anchor physical layer location privacy for different classes of localization algorithms. The Hidden Anchor algorithm exploits the inherently noisy wireless channel and uses identity cloning of neighboring trusted nodes to make anchors unobservable to un-trusted nodes while providing complete information to trusted nodes. Evaluation of the Hidden Anchor algorithm through analysis and simulation shows that it can hide the identity, and hence the location, of anchor nodes with very low overhead. In addition, the results show that by adding artificial noise, we can achieve significant improvement in anchor's location privacy.


The search for new antibacterial agents has become urgent due to the exponential growth of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Nitrogen-containing heterocycles such as 1,8-naphthyridine derivatives have been shown to have excellent antimicrobial properties. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial and antibiotic-modulating activities of 1,8-naphthyridine derivatives against multi-resistant bacterial strains. The broth microdilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the following compounds: 7-acetamido-1,8-naphthyridin-4(1H)-one and 3-trifluoromethyl-N-(5-chloro-1,8-naphthyridin-2-yl)-benzenesulfonamide. The antibiotic-modulating activity was analyzed using subinhibitory concentrations (MIC/8) of these compounds in combination with norfloxacin, ofloxacin, and lomefloxacin. Multi-resistant strains of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus were used in both tests. Although the compounds had no direct antibacterial activity (MIC ≥ 1.024 µg/mL), they could decrease the MIC of these fluoroquinolones, indicating synergism was obtained from the association of the compounds. These results suggest the existence of a structure–activity relationship in this group of compounds with regard to the modulation of antibiotic activity. Therefore, we conclude that 1,8-naphthyridine derivatives potentiate the activity of fluoroquinolone antibiotics against multi-resistant bacterial strains, and thereby interesting candidates for the development of drugs against bacterial infections caused by multidrug resistant strains.


Practical realizations of 2D (planar) photonics crystal (PhC) are either on a membrane or etched through a conventional heterostructure. While fascinating objects can emerge from the first approach, only the latter approach lends itself to a progressive integration of more compact PhC's towards monolithic PICs based on InP. We describe in this talk the various aspects from technology to functions and devices, as emerged from the European collaboration "PCIC." The main technology tour de force is deep-etching with aspect ratio of about 10 and vertical sidewall, achieved by three techniques (CAIBE, ICP-RIE, ECR-RIE). The basic functions explored are bends, splitters/combiners, mirrors, tapers, and the devices are filters and lasers. At the end of the talk, I will emphasize some positive aspects of "broad" multimode PhC waveguides, in view of compact add-drop filtering action, notably.


The parasitic side reaction on Zn anode is the key issue which hinders the development of aqueous Zn-based energy storage systems on power-grid applications. Here, a polymer additive (PMCNA) engineered by copolymerizing 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) and N-acryloyl glycinamide (NAGA) was employed to regulate the Zn deposition environment for satisfying side reaction inhibition performance during long-term cycling with high Zn utilization. The PMCNA can preferentially adsorb on Zn metal surface to form a uniform protective layer for effective water molecule repelling and side reaction resistance. In addition, the PMCNA can guide Zn nucleation and deposition along 002 plane for further side reaction and dendrite suppression. Consequently, the PMCNA additive can enable the Zn//Zn battery with an ultrahigh depth of discharge (DOD) of 90.0% for over 420 h, the Zn//active carbon (AC) capacitor with long cycling lifespan, and the Zn//PANI battery with Zn utilization of 51.3% at low N/P ratio of 2.6.


Service reliability is a key determinant of public transport performance. In the context of high-frequency urban lines, irregular service results with long waiting times, bunched vehicles, long delays, uneven passenger loads, poor capacity utilization and higher operational costs. Field experiments were conducted in Stockholm in order to test the feasibility and implications of a regularity-driven operations scheme designed to mitigate bus bunching and facilitated by a real-time control strategy. The results led to an investigation of alternative service indicators and business models that could best support the long-term implementation of operations geared towards better regularity performance. A shift towards regularity-based service requires the consideration of a series of measures along the service chain as it involves a paradigm shift in production planning, operations, control center and performance monitoring.


An ornithopter (from Greek ornithos "bird" & pteron "wing") is an aerial vehicle that flies by flapping its wings, i.e. it can also be defined as an aircraft that produces its thrust & lift by virtue of flapping wings. In other words, an ornithopter seeks to imitate flapping wing flight of insects, birds, bats & other flying creatures. The principle of operation of an ornithopter is the same as an airplane; forward motion through the air lets the wings to deflect air in the downward direction, producing lift but the flapping motion of the wings takes the place of a rotating propeller. On the contrary, the aerofoils of an ornithopter have a flapping or oscillating motion, instead of a rotary motion as airplanes & helicopters employ. The wings of an ornithopter have a combined function of providing both lift & thrust.


Abstract Nitrogen availability is considered to be a key limiting factor for plant growth in arctic tundra. Freeze-thaw cycles, which can produce patterned-ground features, may also limit the establishment and growth of arctic plants. In this experiment, we fertilized nonsorted circles, a type of patterned-ground feature, and the surrounding more stable vegetation in moist nonacidic tundra of northern Alaska to determine if nitrogen availability limited plant communities on these disturbance-dominated features. Similar to other studies in moist nonacidic tundra, the fertilized stable vegetation showed an increase in graminoid biomass and a decrease in moss biomass, but no total biomass response. The plant communities on nonsorted circles were less responsive to the addition of nitrogen as compared to the well-vegetated rims. The nonsorted circle vegetation may be limited by additional factors, such as frost heave disturbance, availability of buried seeds, and/or other nutrients. This difference in fertilization response shows that the presence of these features creates spatial heterogeneity in tundra plant community dynamics that should be taken into account when studying tundra responses to environmental change.


The study examines the effects of sociological and psychological factors on migrant and non-migrant children in Kosi basin. The data obtained by random sampling was based on two sub-groups of Religion (Hindu-Muslim), Gender (Female-Male) and Socio Economic Status (High-Low). A 2x2x2x2 factorial design was used to study the effect of above mentioned factors on migration of children. General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)-12 was applied to study the mental health of migrant and non-migrant children sample. For Analysis of the obtained data, calculation of percentages was applied. The findings indicate that percentage values of mental health scores of Hindu-Muslim low socio-economic status male-female migrant children sample were much lower than their counterparts. It proves that socio-economic status factors have strong impact on mental health of migrant children.


The emerging technology of spectral filter array (SFA) cameras has great potential for clinical applications, due to its unique capability for real time spectral imaging, at a reasonable cost. This makes such cameras particularly suitable for quantification of dynamic processes such as skin oxygenation. Skin oxygenation measurements are useful for burn wound healing assessment and as an indicator of patient complications in the operating room. Due to their unique design, in which all pixels of the image sensor are equipped with different optical filters, SFA cameras require specific image processing steps to obtain meaningful high quality spectral image data. These steps include spatial rearrangement, SFA interpolations and spectral correction. In this paper the feasibility of a commercially available SFA camera for clinical applications is tested. A suitable general image processing pipeline is proposed. As a 'proof of concept' a complete system for spatial dynamic skin oxygenation measurements is developed and evaluated. In a study including 58 volunteers, oxygenation changes during upper arm occlusion were measured with the proposed SFA system and compared with a validated clinical device for localized oxygenation measurements. The comparison of the clinical standard measurements and SFA results show a good correlation for the relative oxygenation changes. This proposed processing pipeline for SFA cameras shows to be effective for relative oxygenation change imaging. It can be implemented in real time and developed further for absolute spatial oxygenation measurements.


Whether or not to differentiate - or track - students according to ability has been debated over the years. In Sweden, secondary schools that practiced tracking and schools that did not practice tracking existed simultaneously from 1980 to 1997. This variation in tracking status between schools is used in a differences-in-differences approach. I estimate whether tracking math, or not, in Swedish secondary school had any effect on the probability of having graduated upper-secondary school, but also whether tracking had any consequence for the math grade in upper-secondary school. The results show that when considering the attainment of upper-secondary education and the mean achievement in math, there are no effects of tracking. However, there are effects when estimating the probability of receiving a specific grade, i.e. fail, pass, pass with distinction or pass with special distinction. Tracked students, from families with low-educated parents, are more likely to fail math than similar students in a non-tracked environment.


ABSTRACT Objective: Children with early-onset behavioral issues are at high risk for ongoing behavioral, psychological, and social issues. Method: This study examined the efficacy of the first phase of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy with Toddlers, Child-Directed Interaction – Toddler, using a randomized control design. Sixty-six mother-toddler dyads (Child Mage = 19.13 months; 63% male; 34% from a non-English speaking background) referred to a community-based child behavior clinic in Australia received CDI-T immediately or were assigned to a waitlist control condition. At baseline (Time 1) and post-treatment/post-waitlist (Time 2), mothers completed questionnaires (Child Behavior Checklist, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Parenting Stress Index – Short Form) and participated in a structured parent–child dyadic play-based interaction later coded using the Dyadic Parent–Child Interaction Coding System and the Emotional Availability Scales. Results: Compared to those who did not receive treatment, mother-child dyads who received the intervention showed significantly better parenting skills (increases in positive parenting skills and decreases in negative parenting skills), emotional availability (increases in parental sensitivity and parental non-intrusiveness), child behavior (decreases in externalizing and internalizing behaviors) and parental perceptions of child difficulty. Conclusions: Results suggest that the CDI-T phase of PCIT-T is a promising intervention for toddlers presenting with behavioral issues. Future studies should be conducted to assess efficacy in other settings and to assess longer-term outcomes.


Described in this dissertation are systematic studies designed to correlate the physico-chemical properties of dry powder inhalation formulations to the in vitro deposition patterns. Two model asthmatic drugs were selected for investigation: the hydrophilic β2 adrenoreceptor agonist, salbutamol sulphate (SS) and the hydrophobic synthetic steroid, beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP). To examine deposition differences between carrier particles from different sources, three different marketed grades of lactose were evaluated. In vitro assessment of the deposition using the Clickhaler®, as a device displayed significant differences depending on the carrier chosen. In particular BDP seemed to be positively influenced by the presence of fine lactose, whereas SS seemed to be more linked to the surface energetics of the coarse lactose. The influence played by the fines was further evaluated by using crystalline lactose/polyethylene glycol 4000 (PEG 4000 g mol-1) particles that were prepared by spray drying. Different parameters such as the chemical nature and the proportion of fines, the mixing sequence, and the drug to carrier ratio all influenced the deposition patterns of the drugs. Significant standardisation in the performances of BDP was achieved by modifying the surface of the coarse lactose. Improvements in SS deposition were also achieved using a new type of carrier surface modification. Partially amorphous lactose/PEG 4000 fines were allowed to crystallise onto air-jet sieved lactose surfaces. Parameters such as particle morphology and surface energetics appeared to play a key role in the drug deposition. PEG 4000 [45-90] μm was also studied as a probe carrier using the Aerolizer® This study also represented an opportunity to consider the device implication on the Twin Stage Impinger (TSI) deposition. Finally, the possibility of modifying the surface properties of the drug substance was investigated by a spray drying process. It was found by inverse gas chromatography (IGC) that PEG modified the surface energy parameters of the drug. Different solutions and suspensions were studied in order to generate crystalline particles with suitable properties for pulmonary administration.


We present a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) study of metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy grown GaN layers on m-sapphire with Al(Ga)N interlayers. The interlayers are demonstrated to be beneficial in reducing the stacking fault (SF) density by more than 2.5 orders of magnitude from >2 × 106 cm−1 to <5 × 103 cm−1 as determined by TEM. XRD measurements along the GaN to the GaN reflection reveal a diffraction component originating in the basal plane SFs. Fitting the XRD signal enables a fast and simple determination of SF type and density which can even distinguish between the GaN buffer and the upper GaN layers and which is in reasonable agreement with TEM measurements.


We study the energy efficiency for a wireless sensor network, in which multiple sensors having identical information cooperatively transmit signals to a fusion center. To facilitate the cooperation, we propose a transmission scheme consisting of four phases: channel state information acquisition phase, sensor selection phase, beamforming phase, and cooperative transmission phase. Analyses show that there is tradeoff between the energies for sensor selection plus beamforming phases and cooperative transmission phase in deciding the number of sensors to be selected. This observation is captured by numerical and simulation results, which can provide a design guideline for energy saving and prolonging of network lifetime.


This paper is concerned with the properties of antennas which are small relative to their operating wavelength. A brief analysis based upon quasi-static principles is presented, and two experimental procedures suggested by the nature of the analytical results are described. The application of these experimental procedures is illustrated with examples of measurements made in connection with the design of low-frequency aircraft antennas.


Background Despite significant progress in treating methanol poisoning, the lack of training, hazard communication, and occupational safety protection education contributes to the risk of occupational exposure and methanol toxicity. In addition, early diagnosis and timely medical care are essential to reduce the risk of morbidity and mortality, yet it remains a challenging procedure. Case Report A 35-year-old man working in a fireworks factory came to our emergency department with acute mental change and progressive disturbance of consciousness. The patient's vital signs were stable, and he presented with enlargement of both pupils with a weak reaction to light. Head computed tomography showed low signal intensities in the bilateral basal ganglia. He was admitted to the neurologic intensive care unit, where additional laboratory workup showed high anion-gap metabolic acidosis. Methanol poisoning was thus considered. Before being treated with sodium bicarbonate infusion, hemodialysis, folate, and high-dose vitamin B, the blood and urine samples were collected for toxicity tests, which turned out to be methanol poisoning. After 8 hours of hemodialysis, the patient's consciousness recovered, but he complained of a complete loss of vision in both eyes. Brain and optic nerve magnetic resonance images showed bilateral symmetric putamen lesions and optic neuropathy. Ophthalmic tests indicated visual pathway impairment and optic disc swelling but no fluorescein leakage. The right eye's vision was partially restored on the third day, but he could only count fingers at 20 cm. Unfortunately, his eyesight ceased to improve during the 6 months of follow-up. Conclusions Early diagnosis and prompt treatment will improve the prognosis of methanol poisoning in terms of vision and patient survival. Awareness and supervision of commercial alcohol use are indispensable for similar industrial processes.


In the 5th edition of the UBS Center Public Paper Series, Dominic Rohner shows how conflict-torn countries can escape the vicious cycle of war and destruction. Much of the economics and political science literature on wars and conflict has focused on things that are hard for policymakers to change (natural resources, ethnic composition, and weather shocks). While this paper also touches on them, the focus clearly lies on the parts that policymakers can affect. Reading this paper will make you realize that getting the institutions and policies right can bring peace and prosperity, while getting them wrong can bring war and destruction.


Incubation by both parents is a common parental behaviour in many avian species. Biparental incubation is expected if the survival prospects of offspring are greatly raised by shared care, relative to the costs incurred by each parent. We investigated this proposition in the Kentish plover Charadrius alexandrinus , in which both parents incubate the clutch, but one parent (either the male or the female) usually deserts after hatching of the eggs. We carried out a mate-removal and food supplementation experiment to reveal both the role of the sexes and food abundance in maintaining biparental incubation by removing either the male or the female from the nest for a short period of time. In some nests we provided supplementary food for the parent that remained at the nest to reduce the costs of incubation, whereas other nests were left unsupplemented. Although males spent more time on incubation after their mate had been removed, females' incubation did not change. Notwithstanding the increased male incubation, total nest attentiveness was lower at uniparental nests than at biparental controls. However, incubation behaviour was not influenced by food supplementation. We conclude that offspring desertion during incubation is apparently costly in the Kentish plover, and this cost cannot be ameliorated with supplementary food.


Examining how variability in population abundance and distribution is allotted among different spatial scales can inform of processes that are likely to generate that variability. Results of studies dealing with scale issues in marine benthic communities suggest that variability is concentrated at small spatial scales (from tens of centimetres to few metres) and that spatial patterns of variation are consistent across ecosystems characterized by contrasting physical and biotic conditions, but this has not been formally tested. Here we quantified the variability in the distribution of intertidal rocky shore communities at a range of spatial scales, from tens of centimetres to thousands of kilometres, both in the NE Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and tested whether the observed patterns differed between the two basins. We focused on canopy-forming macroalgae and associated understorey assemblages in the low intertidal, and on the distribution of Patella limpets at mid intertidal levels. Our results highlight that patterns of spatial variation, at each scale investigated, were consistent between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, suggesting that similar ecological processes operate in these regions. In contrast with former studies, variability in canopy cover, species richness and limpet abundance was equally distributed among spatial scales, possibly reflecting the fingerprint of multiple processes. Variability in community structure of low intertidal assemblages, instead, peaked at the largest scale, suggesting that oceanographic processes and climatic gradients may be important. We conclude that formal comparisons of variability across scales nested in contrasting systems are needed, before any generalization on patterns and processes can be made.


This article draws a perceptual approach to audiovisual mapping. Clearly perceivable cause and effect relationships can be problematic if one desires the audience to experience the music. Indeed perception would bias those sonic qualities that fit previous concepts of causation, subordinating other sonic qualities, which may form the relations between the sounds themselves. The question is, how can an audio-visual mapping produce a sense of causation, and simultaneously confound the actual cause-effect relationships. We call this a fungible audio-visual mapping. Our aim here is to glean its constitution and aspect. We will report a study, which draws upon methods from experimental psychology to inform audio-visual instrument design and composition. The participants are shown several audio-visual mapping prototypes, after which we pose quantitative and qualitative questions regarding their sense of causation, and their sense of understanding the cause-effect relationships. The study shows that a fungible mapping requires both synchronized and seemingly non-related components – sufficient complexity to be confusing. As the specific causeeffect concepts remain inconclusive, the sense of causation embraces the whole.


In the past decade, immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has become standard of care for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC). Biomarkers of response to ICB, such as PD-L1 status, help identify suitable candidates for ICB. However, differences in the underlying clinical features of patients and the association of such features with ICB outcomes has not received significant attention. We sought to evaluate clinical features in mNSCLC patients and determine their prognostic value in predicting response to ICB. We retrospectively analyzed 1,903 patients with mNSCLC using real-world clinical data from the Tempus platform and generated a training and held-out test set with 1,351 and 552 patients, respectively. Clinically relevant features such as age, sex, comorbidity information, smoking status, and self-reported race/ethnicity were selected as clinical features and potential prognostic factors. We used a survival-SVM algorithm to model progression risk based on time to progression (TTP) from the start of first-line, FDA-approved treatment. The predicted risk output of the survival-model was used as a prognostic score for new or held-out patients. We evaluated the prognostic score on an independent clinical-only cohort from ASCO CancerLinQ (n = 3,217). We also examined the utility of the prognostic score by combining it with established biomarkers, such as PD-L1 status , using held-out clinicogenomic data from ICB-treated patients (n = 513). To evaluate model robustness, we examined performance on our held-out test set. We found the combined use of all clinical features produced a more accurate prognostic score for predicting TTP (hazard ratio [HR] = 5.78, P = 1.20e-5) compared to individual clinical features (max individual HR from feature inputs = 1.22, P = 2.55e-3). Next, to evaluate the accuracy of the prognostic score more broadly in mNSCLC irrespective of treatment type, we analyzed an independent cohort of mNSCLC patients from ASCO CancerLinQ. We defined the top 15th percentile as high-risk for progression. We observed a significant stratification between high-risk and other patients (log-rank statistic = 101.68, P = 6.53e-24). Finally, we evaluated the model in the context of predicting ICB outcomes in mNSCLC. We found ICB-treated patients stratified based on prognostic score (15th percentile separation; log-rank statistic = 4.73, P = 0.029). However, when combined with PD-L1 status, we found better stratification of patients (15th percentile separation and PD-L1 positive; log-rank statistic = 14.653, P =1.29e-4) relative to PD-L1 status alone (PD-L1 positive; log-rank statistic = 9.671, P = 1.87e-3). These results suggest that clinical and prognostic factors may augment established biomarkers and improve prediction of response to immune checkpoint blockade in mNSCLC patients. Citation Format: Prerna Jain, Michelle Stein, Yinjie Gao, Denise Lau, Aly A. Khan. Evaluating clinical features and prognostic factors associated with response to immune checkpoint blockade in mNSCLC patients [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 773.


The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on economic growth.,Using data from 2005–2014, the study examined whether the mandatory adoption of IFRS increases economic growth synchronicity in the European Union (EU) context. The study utilizes a sample of 28 countries containing 10-year observations in the EU market where IFRS have been adopted since 2005. The empirical model, relating to economic growth synchronicity with the adoption of IFRS, and other country-specific control variables were analyzed using the dynamic panel data technique.,Different specifications of the model results showed that IFRS adoption improves the economic growth and that IFRS adoption matters for developing economies than developed ones. It is, therefore, recommended that authorities in Europe should try to enforce the adoption and implementation of IFRS, especially among the developing economies.,The paper's investigation of the impact of IFRS on economic growth expands the extant literature. Studies that dealt with IFRS impacts mostly fixate on the accounting benefits of IFRS adoption to institutional investors and fail to capture the commensurate impact of IFRS adoption on macroeconomic indicators. This little attention is because prior researchers suggest IFRS adoption is important in shaping financial reporting characteristics which provide useful information to the prime users of financial reports. Also, separating the study's countries into developed and developing countries would help delineate the impact of IFRS adoption on economic growth based on the stage of development.


ESR spectra of gamma-irradiated and frozen at 77 K human oxyhemoglobin and partially denaturated methemoglobin solutions were analysed. The quartet signal ascribed to the anion-radical of proximal histidine was shown to dominate in the spectra of both solutions. The spectra of methemoglobin solution irradiated with relatively small doses have an intensive singlet ascribed to the stabilized electron. The formation mechanism of free radicals is discussed.


The present work is a corpus-based study of Middle Low German adverbs. The corpus covers the period from c. 1225 to c. 1600 and comprises several text categories (e.g. legal documents and literary texts) from the three main Middle Low German regions, Westphalia, Eastphalia and northern Lower Saxony. The extralinguistic parameters investigated are time, region, and text category. In addition, some semantic factors are taken into account, such as the type of adjective to which the derivational suffixes are added. The distinction between adjectives and adverbs and the concept of the suffix are discussed in some detail.The presentation of results is divided into three main parts. The first part investigates variation in the distribution of adverbial derivational suffixes such as -inge(s), -like(n) and -linge(n). The second part analyses variation in the distribution of a number of temporal adverbs, e.g. heute, immer/stets, jetzt/nun, nie, niemals and oft. In the third part, some syntactic aspects of Middle Low German adverbs are considered. In this context, the development of adverbs derived from adjectives in North Sea Germanic languages and in High German is compared.The present study shows that the distribution of both adverbial derivational suffixes and temporal adverbs exhibits variation across time and region. In contrast, the parameter of text category is shown to be of lesser importance.


The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of polylactide (PLA)-based materials shaped by the traditional injection molding technique versus three-dimensional (3D)-printing additive manufacturing. Comparisons were performed not only for neat PLA but also for its thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer (TPU) blend and for its E-glass fiber (GF)-reinforced composites. Performance comparison of the injection-molded and 3D-printed specimens was especially conducted to compare their mechanical properties (strength–modulus–toughness) by tensile, flexural, and fracture toughness tests. Other comparisons such as their macro-level appearances, fracture surface morphology, and thermal behavior were also performed by photographic images, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis. It can be concluded that the use of 3D-printing in the shaping of neat PLA and PLA/TPU blend was generally very beneficial; on the other hand, due to the differences in the orientation of the GF reinforcements, there could be certain reductions in the mechanical performance of PLA/GF and PLA/TPU/GF composite specimens.


: Tension is often responsible for the symptoms with which the patient presents to the doctor. By taking into account the age, sex, social standing and marital status of the patient, the doctor should have some idea of what the underlying causes might be.


Is a plea bargain a type of confession? Plea-bargaining is often justified as at its core a process involving in-court confession. The U.S. Supreme Court's early decisions approved plea bargains as something "more than a confession which admits that the accused did various acts." I argue in this Article that plea bargains are not confessions — they do not even typically involve detailed admissions of guilt. The defendant generally admits to acts satisfying elements of the crime — a legally sufficient admission to be sure, but often not under oath, and often not supported by an extensive factual record. Because plea bargains typically contain only formulaic admissions, they have limited preclusive impact in future cases. The modern trend is to find issues not precluded by a guilty plea, except perhaps as to elements of the charged offense. The problem with the lack of adjudicated facts arises when other actors later seek to attach collateral consequences on that conviction. More careful development of the factual record could help to prevent at least some guilty pleas by innocent defendants, but also important, it could produce reforms to more narrowly target the collateral consequences that now attach to entire categories of convictions. That is why I view it as particularly important to understand precisely why plea bargains are not "more than" and are in fact much less than confessions.


Gender stereotyping is, it seems, as old as the study of "man" and archaeologists are as guilty of it as any other section of the community. Labels such as "man the hunter" and "woman the child nurturer" had the effect of rendering women invisible in the archaeological record. Awareness of gender issues in southern African archaeology is relatively new and few publications have attempted to engender the past. The research documented here reveals that changes in gender roles and ideologies have been a natural part of southern African history for thousands of years and will continue to be a natural part of the historical process. The book focuses on the variability of gender roles through time, and on how these roles have played their part in shaping or maintaining social mores. It is a study which is of direct relevance to contemporary southern Africa where, through timidity, scepticism or ignorance, some still argue that "traditional" gender roles are "proper" and therefore immutable.


This paper presents a testability analysis and improvement technique for the controller of an RT level design. It detects hard-to-reach states by analyzing both the data path and the controller of a design. The controller is modified using register initialization, branch control, and loop termination methods to enhance its state reachability. This technique complements the data path scan method and can be used to avoid scanning registers involved in the critical paths. Experimental results show the improvement of fault coverage with a very low area overhead.


Understanding the causes of cancer is one key part of the battle against this devastating disease. Environmental and genetic factors are commonly used to explain who gets cancer and in which tissues it develops. A study by Tomasetti and Vogelstein in January this year put forth a third factor—the total number of stem cell divisions in a given tissue—which they believe accounts for the majority of cancer risk (1). The underlying concept is that oncogenic changes to DNA can occur randomly, rather than as a result of environmental factors, and a greater number of cell divisions increase the risk of error. Plotting the lifetime risk of cancer in a particular tissue type against the total number of stem cell divisions in that tissue during the average lifetime of a human, they found a correlation of 0.81, and this correlation extended across five orders of magnitude. This led some in the general public to conclude that cancer is due merely to "bad luck". The study identified cancers that are deterministic (influenced by an environmental component) or replicative (due mainly to random errors and representing the majority of cancers). While deterministic tumors can be prevented by vaccines and lifestyle choices, replicative tumors are best combated through secondary measures such as early detection.


Background : This study was conducted to investigate the relation between risk factors related to lifestyle and coronary artery disease (CAD) in residents of Yazd province. Methods: In this hospital-based case-control study performed in Yazd province, 250 patients with CAD were compared with 250 controls matched for age and sex. Data were collected by using a researcher- made questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using Chi-square and Conditional Multiple Logistic Regression and through SPSS16. Results: History of Consumption of less than three servings of fruit in week, with an odds ratio of 8.4 (95%CI: 1.56-45.18) and more than three times egg in week with an odds ratio of 4.05 (95%CI: 1.13-14.5, P=0.03) increased the chance of getting CAD. However, no significant relationship was found for history of consumption of oil, dairy, red meat, fried foods and fast foods. The number of daily smoked cigarettes was the only non-nutritional factor that showed significant relationship with CAD (P=0.01) . Conclusion: Overall, insufficient intake of fruits, high consumption of egg and the number of cigarettes smoked daily were identified as the most important life style-related risk factors for getting CAD. Therefore, measures for decreasing these risk factors in Yazd Province are necessary.


Autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs), affecting ~1–1.5% of all humans, are associated with considerable life long morbidity and early mortality. Early studies in the 1990s showed numerical changes of the recently discovered γδ T cells in the peripheral blood and in affected tissues of patients with a variety of ARDs, kindling interest in their role in the immuno-pathogenesis of these chronic inflammatory conditions. Indeed, later studies applied rapid developments in the understanding of γδ T cell biology, including antigens recognized by γδ T cells, their developmental programs, states of activation, and cytokine production profiles, to analyze their contribution to the pathological immune response in these disorders. Here we review the published studies addressing the role of γδ T in the major autoimmune rheumatic diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, systemic lupus erythematosus and scleroderma, and animal models thereof. Due to their unique properties spanning adaptive and innate immune functions, the ever deeper understanding of this unique T cell population is shedding new light on the pathogenesis of, while potentially enabling new therapeutic approaches to, these diseases.


Application Maintenance Services (AMS) is essential for applications executed on servers to function properly. Its objective is to reduce the application incidents happened and quickly recover services from application failures/issues. The application incidents defined as events when there are some application failures/issues happened are major concerns of AMS, therefore we propose a second order-based anomaly detection method to describe and predict application incidents based on analysis of monitored server traffic metrics. The proposed method first detects anomalies for each metric, second builds the linkage between detected anomalies for all metrics of the server and application incidents, and then predicts potential application incidents. Through the experiments, we find that the presented method provides satisfactory results for identify application incident, which gives more than 90 percentage recall rate while about 65 percentage precision rate.


AIMS
To ask: (i) is it feasible to include Twitter as an assessed element of the first-year nursing curriculum; (ii) how should it be introduced and assessed; and (iii) do students think it worthwhile and learn anything from its use?

BACKGROUND
Nursing students need to use social media professionally, avoiding pitfalls but using learning opportunities.

DESIGN
This case study (2014-2015) comprised: (i) pilot introduction of Digital Professionalism (including Twitter) with second- and third-year students; (ii) introduction and assessment with a first cohort of 450 first-year students. Based on feedback, methods were revised for; (iii) a second cohort of 97.

METHODS
Students received a face-to-face lecture, two webinars, used chat rooms and were asked to create course Twitter accounts and were assessed on their use.

RESULTS
Few second and third year students started optional Twitter use whereas nearly all first years used it. Most students (70·1% first, 88·0% second cohort) thought inclusion of Twitter was worthwhile. Changes from first to second cohort included better peer-peer support, more contextualization and more emphasis on nursing communities. More second cohort students learned from Twitter (44·4% vs. 70·8%) and used Twitter recently (43·3% vs. 81·6%). Students gained wider perspectives on nursing, better understanding of social media, 'being student nurses' and topics like health promotion. Students mostly followed not only online nursing communities but also patient organizations.

CONCLUSION
Including Twitter as an assessed element for first-year nursing students was feasible, students think it worthwhile and other nursing schools should consider introducing it in the broader context of Digital Professionalism.


In recent years, the Palestinian city of Nablus has experienced great suffering due to attacks by the Israeli forces. Strict curfews imposed on the city did not only affect daily life and lead to deteriorating economic conditions, but also had an impact on the psychological well-being of the inhabitants. The peak of the violence was in 2002 when Israeli forces occupied Nablus city and ordered a curfew for three months. The suffering that people faced during this period took on different dimensions - most notably immobility - as a result of the continuous siege and the constant threat of being shot at when breaking the curfew. This article will be examining the ways in which religious belief contributed to creating resilience which had a major influence on the inhabitants' steadfastness (ṡumud) during the siege and its aftermath.


This study investigates the thermal elastic residual stresses occurring in Ni–Al2O3, Ni–TiO2, and Ti–SiC functionally graded plates due to uniform, linear, and parabolic temperature fields through the plate thickness. A 3D eight-noded isoparametric layered (no limit layer number) finite element with three degrees of freedom at each node was implemented to the residual stress problem analogous to the shell elements proposed by Ahmad et al. (Ahmad, S., Irons, B.M. and Zienkiewicz, O.C. (1970). Analysis of Thick and Thin Shell Structures by Curved Finite Elements, Int. J. of Numerical Methods in Engineering, 2: 419–451.) and Yunus and Khonke (Yunus, S.M. and Khonke, P.C. (1989). An Efficient Through-Thickness Integration Scheme in an Unlimited Layer Doubly Curved Isoparametric Composite Shell Element, Int. J. of Numerical Methods in Engineering, 28: 2777– 2793.). The longitudinal stresses (11, 22) and transverse shear stresses (13, 23) were dominant. The shear stresses become important especially at the free edges of the plate. As the compositional gradient was increased the normal and shear stresses increased. Whereas the normal stresses become tensile in both ceramic-rich and metal-rich regions; the shear stresses, which are not severe in both the regions, change their directions and become a maximum inside the plate. The thermal and mechanical properties of constituents played an important role on the stress magnitudes rather than on the profiles of the through-thickness variations of normal and shear stresses. Thus, the difference of the coefficients of thermal expansion of the ceramic and metal phases affected the magnitudes of the normal and shear stresses. In addition, the continuous temperature fields through the plate thickness resulted in similar normal and shear stress variations.


As an alternative source of financing the assets, bank credits have ever been on the spot of business finance and financial analysis. Those sources of financing have mostly compared with the short-term appearance of either liabilities or liquidity. The relevant finance literature ensures that the long-term appearance of bank credits in the balance sheets of businesses is not only affected by the composition of short-term liabilities but also the liquidity. Nevertheless, bank credit usage, especially in the long-term, may have different characteristics amongst sectors. Some sectors may even deserve a thorough analysis in their challenge of bank credit finance. The fishing sector and the businesses which it contains may have been neglected in terms of revealing the causalities which might have been hidden by considering its aspects as a supplement in the aggregate figures of the agriculture sector in Turkey. Thus, this study aims at the core debt and liability variables along with a liquidity control variable, cash and cash equivalents or cash, to reveal the causality and cointegration aspects on the long-term bank credit potential in the nexus of these two inter-related sectors. We hereby compare the results of the model designed for the study in between fishing and agriculture sectors in Turkey for the time span of available and comparable data which has been represented by the Central Bank of Turkey as a part of nonfinancial or real sector data from 1996 up to 2009. The findings depict that fishing sector, unlikely to agriculture sector in which it is generally added and forced to share the same investment atmosphere of incentives, policy implications, and attitudes of the creditors, does have different features in terms of long-term bank credit usage. Cash and cash equivalents are not significant regressors for the agriculture sector, however, fishing sector has evidence in the long-run that cash and cash equivalents have noteworthy impact in the long-term bank credits. The results of the study will therefore help both the decisions on the creditors' and fishing sector sides enriching the profound details and sector specific reasoning for which an aggregate point of view where fishing sector is seen as a part of agriculture sector could not reflect the sector's characteristics on the path to develop the fishing sector and the businesses therein. We also believe that this study will present evidence for any policies and incentives in promoting new investments in the fishing sector of Turkey.


One way of furthering our understanding of suicidal behaviour is to examine people's attitudes towards it and how they conceive the act. The aim of this study was to understand how lay persons conceive the impact of suicide on others and how that influences their attitudes towards suicide; and discuss the implications for suicide prevention in Ghana. This is a qualitative study, using a semi-structured interview guide to investigate the attitudes and views of 27 lay persons from urban and rural settings in Ghana. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings showed that the perceived breach of interrelatedness between people due to suicidal behaviour influenced the informants' view of suicide as representing a social injury. Such view of suicide influenced the negative attitudes the informants expressed towards the act. The negative attitudes towards suicide in Ghana are cast in consequential terms. Thus, suicide is an immoral act because it socially affects others negatively. The sense of community within the African ethos and The Moral Causal Ontology for Suffering are theoretical postulations that are used to offer some explanations of the findings in this study.


The effects of many chemicals on cellular processes are governed by their ability to enter the cell, which is in turn a function of the composition of the cell's external environment. To examine this relationship, the effect of serum in cell culture medium on the bioavailability of cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A)-inducing compounds was determined in PLHC-1 (Poeciliopsis lucida hepatocellular carcinoma) cells. The presence of 10% calf serum in the medium increased the EC50 (effective concentration to achieve 50% maximal response) for induction of ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) 20-fold as compared to treatment in serum-free medium. Measurement of [3H]TCDD uptake and Ah receptor binding indicated that the apparent difference in potencies was a result of decreased bioavailability in the presence of serum, effectively reducing the concentration of TCDD within the cells. Induction of EROD and CYP1A protein in response to treatment with each of three coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB congeners 77, 126, and 169) was similarly affected by serum, although the magnitude varied among inducers and assays. Relative potencies (calculated as EC50TCDD / EC50PCB) for EROD induction by the three PCBs were significantly higher in the absence of serum. However, serum showed no significant effect on the relative potencies for CYP1A protein induction. These results demonstrate that measured inducing potencies, and relative potencies for EROD induction, by halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons are strongly dependent on the composition of culture medium, which can lead to artificial differences in comparisons among cell types.


International migration is characterized by two puzzling facts: First, only a small share of the population tends to migrate although substantial and persisting income differences across countries exist. Second, net migration rates tend to cease over time despite persisting income differences. This paper addresses these issues in a migration model with heterogeneous agents that features temporary migration. In equilibrium a positive relation exists between the stock of migrants and the income differential, while the net migration flow becomes zero. Consequently, existing empirical migration models, estimating net migration flows instead of stocks, may be misspecified. This suspicion appears to be confirmed by our empirical investigation of the cointegration relationships of German migration stocks and flows since 1967. We find that (i) panel-unit root tests reject the hypothesis that migration flows and the explanatory variables are integrated of the same order, while migration stocks and the explanatory variables are all I(1) variables, and (ii) the hypothesis of cointegration cannot be rejected for the stock model.


Introduction Nowadays there is an important distance between generations in our society, especially between senior citizens and young people, who do not regularly live together. In addition, it has been demonstrated that the transfer of knowledge and experience, are the keys to sustainability of culture and tradition, as well as the transfer of values. In this context, it is necessary to promote actions and programmes that bring together these two generations, establish both time and space to share. Description The Intergenerational Viure i Conviure Programme of Caixa Catalunya, of homeshare between senior citizens and young university students, as well as other similar European programmes, provide participants the necessary time and space for knowledge transfer. The experience gathered in this programme has shown us the importance of the relation between generations and the numerous values and benefits obtained by its participants. Values such as solidarity, tolerance, respect for other cultures and political views, among others, are clear examples. For over 12 years, more than 2000 homeshare couples in the Viure i Conviure programme have been formed and the programme's positive effect on senior citizens and young university students has been proven. Conclusion This experience of living together among generations, and other similar ones in Europe, as well as other experiences between different groups (for example, with persons with Down Syndrome) demonstrate the relevance of the intergenerational programmes in long-term care in Europe.


Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are inherently immunomodulatory through production of inhibiting soluble factors and expression of immunosuppressive cell surface markers. We tested whether activated MSCs qualify for the induction of antigen-specific immune regulation. Bone marrow derived human MSCs were activated by interferon-γ and analyzed for antigen uptake and processing and immune regulatory features including phenotype, immunosuppressive capacity, and metabolic activity. To assess whether activated MSC can modulate adaptive immunity, MSCs were pulsed with islet auto-antigen (GAD65) peptide to stimulate GAD65-specific T-cells. We confirm that inflammatory activation of MSCs increased HLA class II, PD-L1, and intracellular IDO expression, whereas co-stimulatory molecules including CD86 remained absent. MSCs remained locked in their metabolic phenotype, as activation did not alter glycolytic function or mitochondrial respiration. MSCs were able to uptake and process protein. Activated HLA-DR3-expressing MSCs pulsed with GAD65 peptide inhibited proliferation of HLA-DR3-restricted GAD65-specific T-cells, while this HLA class II expression did not induce cellular alloreactivity. Conditioning of antigen-specific T-cells by activated and antigen-pulsed MSCs prevented T-cells to proliferate upon subsequent activation by dendritic cells, even after removal of the MSCs. In sum, activation of MSCs with inflammatory stimuli turns these cells into suppressive cells capable of mediating adaptive regulation of proinflammatory pathogenic T-cells.


The main objective of this mini-workshop is to bring together recent developments in constructive homological algebra. There, the cur- rent state already reached a level of generality which allows simultaneous application to diverse fields of applied and theoretical mathematics. In this workshop, we want to focus on simultaneous applications to system theory on the one side and to coherent sheaves and their cohomology on the other side. Surprisingly, these apparently remote fields share a considerable amount of common constructive methods. Bringing category theory and homological algebra to the computer leads to questions in logic and type theory. One goal of this workshop is to promote and enlarge this overlap.


The objective of this paper is to describe the role that reluctance plays in interior permanent magnet (IPM) starter-generator (SG) analytically. 4-pole and 6-pole models of SG including the radial and tangential flux are analyzed. For increasing the value of q -axis reactance, several possible factors are considered. The stationary torque versus control angle was predicted by finite element analysis (FEA). The permanent magnet and the reluctance components of the torque were analyzed and computed. The results show that the rotor shape, magnet length, magnet thickness and the amount of poles etc., will observably affect the component of the reluctance. One working prototype of the SG-1 was built and fully tested. The motoring torque within 1700 rpm and the generating power within 6000 rpm were measured. The motoring power can supply 8 kW at 1700 rpm and the torque can keep constantly with 45 Nm; Generating results have proven that the ISG is capable of meeting the specification for output power 4 kW up to 6000 rpm and the maximal speed can reach to 7927 rpm. In addition, the efficiency contour maps of motoring and generating are obtained by experiment. The results show that the prototype has wide high efficiency region. The FEA prediction and experiment results were proved well. The improved prototype SG-2 was simulated by FEA. SG-2 is a radial-flux structure machine, and its utilization of permanent magnet and the saliency ratio are both higher than SG-1. The results show that no matter constant torque ability or the constant power range, compared with SG-1, SG-2 both has an improvement to a large extent.


Background and Aim: Traumatic subdural hygroma is the accumulation of CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) in subdural space following head trauma. The mass effect of hygroma on brain can impinge on consciousness. There are still many ambiguities on indications of hygroma surgery. This is an 11-year follow-up study which involves the patients suffering traumatic subdural hygroma who underwent surgery. Methods & Materials/Patients: In this retrospective study, clinical records of 16 patients who were operated due to traumatic subdural hygroma were studied. The data from existing records in the hospital were collected and analyzed. They were then analyzed by Repeated Measures ANOVA using SPSS (Version 18). The differences were considered statistically significant at P≤0.05. Results: In this study, there were 13 men (81.3%) and 3 women (18.7%) (Mean age=62 years old). In 87.75% of patients, hygroma was diagnosed 6 days after head injury. It wasunilateral in majority of patients (56.3%) and located in fronto-parietal area (81.3%). The most frequent concomitant injuries were contusions (25%) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (18.8%), respectively. GCS trend on admission and at discharge was significantly different fromthat of hygroma formation (P<0.05). One-fourth of patients had recurrence of hygroma after surgery. All patients (except one) had good outcome. Conclusion: Subdural hygroma is a delayed lesion and surgical treatment improves the level of consciousness (LOC) in afflicted patients.


In a celebrated humanitarian move, wartime regulation has evolved from a predominantly state-oriented set of obligations — which viewed war as an inter-collective effort — to a more individual-focused regime. In fact, the regulation of armed conflict increasingly resembles, at least in aspiration, the regulation of police activities, in which it is the welfare of individuals, rather than the collective interest of the state, that takes center stage. I demonstrate that many contemporary debates over the laws of war, including the distinction between the jus ad bellum and jus in bello, proportionality, detention of combatants, and reparations for victims implicate exactly the tension between collectivism and individualism in the regulation of armed conflict. I further argue that notwithstanding the humanitarian benefits of the move to greater concern over the human rights of those affected by war, reimagining war as a policing operation harbors real dangers that must not be overlooked. These include imagining more of policing as war, inhibiting military action for the protection of others, and inviting more aggressive acts "short of war" against targets around the world.


Herein, we report a nickel catalyzed carbonylative cross coupling of alkyl zinc reagents and α,α-difluorobromoaceamides to obtain α,α,-difluoro-α-ketoamides in moderate to good yields. The reaction is catalyzed by a bench stable nickel(II) pincer complex, in contrast to other reports based on palladium catalysts. The carbonylative reaction is performed in a two-chamber system (COware®), in which carbon monoxide (CO) is generated ex situ from the solid precursor, SilaCOgen, and consumed in the adjacent chamber. The reaction operates at low temperatures using near stoichiometric amounts of CO, and isotopically labeled products are effortlessly accessed as demonstrated using 13C-labeled SilaCOgen.


Traditional evaluation of fetal weight is performed by means of ultrasonography and mathematical formulas using combinations of biometric parameters, like abdominal circumference (AC), head circumference (HC), biparietal diameter (BPD), femur length (FL). It was recently shown that mentioned parameters and intrauterine growth patterns demonstrate gender-related differences. These reports were used to develop new formulas which take into account the influence of fetal sex. The aim of this paper was to determine the accuracy of ultrasound fetal weight estimations with use of many different formulas, test sex-specific formulas against established methods and to compare their precision in different weight groups. This retrospective study included 97 singleton fetuses with birth weight (BW) between 1040 g and 4740 g and ultrasound examination within 7 days before delivery. Estimated fetal weight (EFW) was calculated by Hadlock, Shepard, Campbell and Merz formulas and sex-specific models of Schild and Melamed. EFW was confronted with actual BW. Achieved results were compared in a few groups considering gender and BW. The accuracy of fetal weight estimations turned out to be higher for males regardless of the used formula. For the whole study population, the best accuracy was proved for Melamed formulas and the worst for models of Shepard and Merz. The highest precision of predictions was revealed in the group of newborns with BW 2500 – 3999 g. Estimated errors for low birth weight (LBW) infants and macrosomic fetuses were more significant. In most cases, new sex-specific formulas provide smaller mean errors than established methods.


ABSTRACT This paper proposes a new method for urban population density prediction at 30 m resolution. Using data for Bangalore, the paper demonstrates that population within each 30 m residential built-up cell can be modeled as a function of cell-level data on street density and building heights and ward-level data on car ownership. Building-height data were generated from Cartosat-1 stereo imagery using an open-source satellite stereo image processing software. Using this building-height data in conjunction with the other datasets, the paper demonstrates that a 30 m resolution population density surface can be generated such that, when summed to the ward level, the median absolute percentage error between predicted population and known census population at the ward level is 8.29%. The paper also shows that the relationship between population density, street density, building height, and ward level car ownership is spatially non-stationary. A fine-grained understanding of urban population densities, as enabled by the proposed method, can be beneficial to research, policy, and practice related to cities.