Despite the large body of knowledge gathered over the last decade regarding pathophysiology and treatment of chronic pain, many pain specialists and primary care physicians experience frustration with the lack of effective therapeutic options facing our patients. Treating chronic pain is difficult and challenging. Even experienced pain physicians occasionally exhaust all available treatment options without success. In an attempt to find something that might help, we may resort to unproven treatments that have anecdotally helped others with similar conditions, or we escalate doses of medications hoping that higher doses will have some effect in controlling our patient's pain. However, many times by doing so, we find ourselves with diminishing returns. An example of this is the escalation of opioid analgesics to the point of severe side effects or states of hyperalgesia. Clearly, increasing doses of approved analgesics beyond reasonable levels is not advisable, since the consequences can create new problems that are often harder to manage than the presenting complaint. Experienced pain practitioners will often resort to adjuvant medications and coanalgesics to add to the effects of currently acceptable medication in the treatment of pain and at the same time limit the side effects caused by higher doses of these agents. However, until now it has been difficult to find a concise source that lists and describes the clinical application of effective analgesics that do not have formal approval for the treatment of pain. Dr. McCleane, in his book Pain Management: Expanding the Pharmacological Options, provides the rationale and scientific evidence as to why medications not initially intended for the treatment of pain may be useful and, at times, necessary as part of the overall management of patients. In Part 1 of his book he shares a number of pharmaceutical agents ranging from topical compounds and oral preparations to those used intravenously in severe or persistent pain. Drugs not usually viewed as analgesics such as antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and local anesthetics are discussed, as well as other less conventional agents such as nitrates, L-carnatine, Baclofen, and botulinum toxin. Part 2 of his book is dedicated to the discussion of different commonly encountered pain conditions such as neuropathic pain, complex regional pain syndrome, postoperative pain, low back pain, and cancer pain. For each, he provides an overview of the problem and treatment options. In addition, algorithms are provided to guide one through the treatment of difficult pain conditions. These algorithms take the physician beyond accepted and conventional treatments and provide ideas on how alternative pharmaceuticals can be used in the treatment of refractory pain conditions. A particularly useful section is the appendix, which lists the medications discussed throughout the book. This section has a table format that clearly outlines suggested doses, formulations, unit doses, dose escalations, times to effect, and predominant side effects of various medications. This concise table is easily accessible for immediate and future reference in the pain clinic, making this a handy book for busy practitioners. For those who practice in the field of pain medicine, this book provides good information on additional pharmacological options and alternatives to the conventional treatment of pain. I recommend this book to physicians who have ever experienced the frustration of having exhausted their treatment options and wished there was something else that could be done to help their chronic pain patients.


Artificial intelligence (AI) remains a crucial aspect for improving our modern lives but it also casts several social and ethical issues. One issue is of major concern, investigated in this research, is the amount of content users consume that is being generated by a form of AI known as bots (automated software programs). With the rise of social bots and the spread of fake news more research is required to understand how much content generated by bots is being consumed. This research investigates the amount of bot generated content relating to COVID-19. While research continues to uncover the extent to which our social media platforms are being used as a terrain to spread information and misinformation, there still remain issues when it comes to distinguishing between social bots and humans that spread misinformation. Since online platforms have become a center for spreading fake information that is often accelerated using bots this research examines the amount of bot generated COVID-19 content on Twitter. A hybrid approach is presented to detect bots using a Covid-19 dataset of 71,908 tweets collected between January 22nd, 2020 and April 2020, when the total reported cases of Covid-19 were below 600 globally. Three experiments were conducted using user account features, topic analysis, and sentiment features to detect bots and misinformation relating to the Covid-19 pandemic. Using Weka Machine Learning Tool, Experiment I investigates the optimal algorithms that can be used to detect bots on Twitter. We used 10-fold cross validation to test for prediction accuracy on two labelled datasets. Each dataset contains a different set (category 1 and category 2) of four features. Results from Experiment I show that category 1 features (favorite count, listed count, name length, and number of tweets) combined with random forest algorithm produced the best prediction accuracy and performed better than features found in category 2 (follower count, following count, length of screen name and description length). The best feature was listed count followed by favorite count. It was also observed that using category 2 features for the two labelled datasets produced the same prediction accuracy (100%) when Tree based classifiers are used. To further investigate the validity of the features used in the two labelled datasets, in Experiment II, each labelled dataset from Experiment I was used as a training sample to classify two different labelled datasets. Results show that Category 1 features generated a 94% prediction accuracy as compared to 60% accuracy generated by category 2 features using the Random Forest algorithm. Experiment III applies the results from Experiment I and II to classify 39,091 account that posted Coronavirus related content. Using the random forest algorithm and features identified Experiment I and II, our classification framework detected 5867 out of 39,091 (15%) account as bots and 33,224 (85%) accounts as humans. Further analysis revealed that bot accounts generated 30% (1949/6446) of Coronavirus misinformation compared to 70% of misinformation created by human accounts. Closer examination showed that about 30% of misinformation created by humans were retweets of bot content. In addition, results suggest that bot accounts were involved in posting content on fewer topics compared to humans. Our results also show that bots generated more negative sentiments as compared to humans on Covid-19 related issues. Consequently, topic distribution and sentiment may further improve the ability to distinguish between bot and human accounts.


Background Iterative reconstruction (IR) is a novel but significant development in CT image acquisition. There have been a number of studies that have reported on the potential of IR in cardiac CT. These retrospectively applied IR in the image domain to images acquired with standard filtered back projection (FBP) techniques. This study was part of an ongoing randomised control trial [ISRCTN52480460] evaluating the cost effectiveness of cardiac CT. Methods 250 patients were prospectively enrolled to have a cardiac CT for the investigation of stable chest pain. Written and informed consent was obtained. Data acquisition were performed on a Philips Brilliance 64. The patients were divided into two groups. Cohort A underwent standard FBP imaging, and Cohort B underwent IR with Idose® (Philips, Cleveland, Ohio, USA). Within each cohort the scan parameters (kv, mAs, pitch) and reconstruction protocols (prospective or retrospective) were determined by patient characteristics. Images were assessed for noise and signal quality within regions of interest (ROI) on axial images, and subjectively for image quality by two experienced readers. Noise was defined as the SD of the measured HU, and signal as the HU mean attenuation value. The ROIs were in the ascending aorta, interventricular septum and left ventricular cavity. Subjective image quality was rated blindly using a 5-point Likert scale. Effective radiation dose (ED) of each CTCA was estimated by multiplying the dose-length product by a chest-specific conversion coefficient (κ=0.014 mSv×mGy−1×cm−1). Results Of the 250 patients enrolled 3 withdrew. 146 of the 247 subjects were male with a mean age of 57.93 (SD 9.93). Cohort A consisted of 124 patients, and cohort B 123, with no significant difference in baseline demographics. The mean dose of all FBP was 6.09 mSv, (SD 3.16) compared to an IR mean of 4.23 mSv, (SD 2.01) which was a dose saving of 1.86 mSv (30.54%). This was a significant dose reduction (p value <0.0001.) Mean image quality score obtained from the IR images was 3.67 (SD 1.04) compared to the FBP images of 3.29 (SD 1.17) p value of 0.0067. There was good agreement between the readers—κ coefficient 0.83. Cohort A consisted of 74 retrospective images and 50 prospective. Cohort B had 116 with retrospective and 7 with prospective. The mean ED for a prospective FBP was 3.50 mSv (SD 1.15), with the IR equivalent being 2.00 mSv (0.72), giving a mean dose saving of 1.50 mSv (42.86%). The mean ED for FBP retrospective studies was 7.85 mSv (SD 2.87), with the IR equivalent being 4.36 mSv (SD 1.99), with a mean dose saving of 3.49 mSv (44.46%). There was no statistical difference in noise or mean attenuation between the IR and FBP images in all three areas of interest Abstract 096 table 1.Abstract 096 Table 1 Region of interest Image noise Attenuation FBP IR p Value FBP IR p Value Ascending aorta 29.76±32.00 27.33±10.10 0.42 505.85±95.64 520.72±103.07 0.24 Interventricular septum 28.96±9.63 28.27±7.53 0.53 154.76±35.28 153.63±32.41 0.79 Left ventricle 29.78±9.36 28.55±12.39 0.38 464.27±92.50 484.07±99.38 0.11 Conclusions To our knowledge this is the first study to prospectively compare FBP with IR. It suggests that cardiac IR protocols confer a substantial radiation dose reduction without a compromise in diagnostic quality.


In this paper, a numerical modification is carried out on the Layer Equation Method (LEM) of El Gendy and Herrmann to be applicable for analyzing 1-D consolidation of soft clay subjected to cyclic loading. The LEM is applicable for multilayered soil system subjected to variable initial stress along depth. The proposed solution is used for normally and over consolidated clays subjected to different types of cyclic loading considering the basis of the method of Toufigh and Ouria. The LEM is incorporated by the authors into the geotechnical software ELPLA and is verified with two verifications. The results of the verifications are close to the references results. The proposed solution is applied for circular storage tanks as a structure subjected to cyclic loading from filling and discharging cycles. An application was held to study the effect of cyclic loading on two zones located at Port-Said city in Egypt using real soil data from real sites. The results of the average degree of consolidation and consolidation settlement versus time are presented for both zones.


Renewable energy sources (RES) are very likely to continue the upward capacity trend witnessed in the past years. The reasons for adoption are varied and respond to both market pressures, influence of government intervention and a raised awareness of the consequences on the environment of the current generation fleet. The change from dispatch able generation to an environment in which Independent System Operators (ISO's), Regional Transmission Operators (RTO's) and consumers, among others, accommodate the demand to the available generation, requires fundamental changes in the way the system is managed. Also, to better harness the energy from renewable sources, both new methods and technologies need to be adopted, counteracting for the sometimes unpredictable behavior of these sources. This study proposes a method with multi-period optimization to help prescribe the optimal placement and usage of RES and Energy Storage Systems (ESS) with full information of the system. Four cases are analyzed in their dispatches, as well as the benefits to the participants in the wholesale market, for a reduced 30-bus network. While the data requirements are high, and the use of a reduced system limits the applications herein proposed, the policy implications from the results obtained provide useful insights into an ongoing debate regarding on how to direct investment in the electrical system.


The increase in the prevalence of atopic diseases has recently been linked to altered consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). As typical Western diets contain almost 10 times more linoleic acid (18:2 omega-6) than alpha-linolenic acid (18:3 omega-3), it is the metabolism of the former that predominates. Subsequently produced arachidonic acid-derived eicosanoids alter the balance of T-helper cells type 1 and type 2 thus favouring the production of immunoglobulin (Ig)E. In atopic subjects, the impact of this excessive eicosanoid production may be further strengthened as a result of changes in cyclic nucleotide metabolism exacerbated by substrate availability. Dietary omega-3 fatty acids can have marked influence on both specific and nonspecific immune responses in modifying eicosanoid production and replacing omega-6 fatty acids in cell membranes. Therefore, it is concluded that careful manipulation of dietary PUFAs may play a key role in the successful management of inflammation associated with atopic diseases.


The investigation of human remains has always been central to archaeological, but archaeologists are not the only ones with an interest in their treatment. Political groups, religious organisations, descendant communities and disenfranchised interest groups are all becoming more vocal in expressing their opinions on this subject on a world stage.

This book sets a new agenda for ethical studies in mortuary investigation, adducing a series of case studies which can be used to understand the questions facing burial archaeology. Who owns the dead – not just their bodies but also their stories? Do the remains themselves matter or are there other political agendas which influence interest groups? The author encourages archaeologists to be more open and inclusive when conducting mortuary projects, as it is often the perception of secrecy or interference with the dead that raises concern about the treatment of historical and scientifically important skeletal remains.


The article is focused on the total historical and future costs of supporting photovoltaic electricity generation in the Czech Republic. The model estimation of these costs is accompanied by methodologically unified comparison with cost of the support of other renewable energy resources. We find that as long as the goals of Czech National Action Plan for Renewable Energy will be implemented, the costs on photovoltaics support will account for more than one half of all costs on renewable energy, combined production of electricity and heat and other secondary resources. The article also provides brief overview of the photovoltaic market in the Czech Republic with its past, present and possible future developments.


In this paper, we develop the notion of bricolage by paying attention to the role of chance in the same, rather than approaching it from the perspective of control and agency. We argue that the concept of chance can be used to downplay the common tendency to focus on individual agency in bricolage, proposing an alternative understanding of the latter as constellations of resources coming together in unexpected combinations. We situate our theoretical argument in the for bricolage understudied context of a declining industry, where we focus on the role of chance in how resources are combined and separated in state interventions, connecting to the literature on the 'state as entrepreneur'. Three episodes from the Swedish state-owned shipping companies Zenit and Uddevalla Shipping during the shipping crisis of the 1970s and 1980s are used to illustrate how state intervention can be imbued with chance and serendipity.


OBJECTIVES
Guidelines advocate that patients being considered for thoracic surgery should undergo a comprehensive preoperative risk assessment. Multiple risk prediction models to estimate the risk of mortality after thoracic surgery have been developed, but their quality and performance has not been reviewed in a systematic way. The objective was to systematically review these models and critically appraise their performance.

METHODS
The Cochrane Library and the MEDLINE database were searched for articles published between 1990 and 2019. Studies that developed or validated a model predicting perioperative mortality after thoracic surgery were included. Data were extracted based on the checklist for critical appraisal and data extraction for systematic reviews of prediction modelling studies.

RESULTS
A total of 31 studies describing 22 different risk prediction models were identified. There were 20 models developed specifically for thoracic surgery with two developed in other surgical specialties. A total of 57 different predictors were included across the identified models. Age, sex and pneumonectomy were the most frequently included predictors in 19, 13 and 11 models, respectively. Model performance based on either discrimination or calibration was inadequate for all externally validated models. The most recent data included in validation studies were from 2018. Risk of bias (assessed using Prediction model Risk Of Bias ASsessment Tool) was high for all except two models.

CONCLUSIONS
Despite multiple risk prediction models being developed to predict perioperative mortality after thoracic surgery, none could be described as appropriate for contemporary thoracic surgery. Contemporary validation of available models or new model development is required to ensure that appropriate estimates of operative risk are available for contemporary thoracic surgical practice.


Genome research on oat (Avena sativa L.) has received less attention than wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) because it is a less prominent component of the human food system. To assess the potential of the model grass Brachypodium distachyon (L) P. Beauv. as a surrogate for oat genome research, the whole genome sequence (WGS) of B. distachyon was employed for comparative analysis with oat genetic linkage maps. Sequences of mapped molecular markers from one diploid Avena spp. and two hexaploid oat maps were aligned to the B. distachyon WGS to infer syntenic relationships. Diploid Avena and B. distachyon exhibit a high degree of synteny with 18 syntenic blocks covering 87% of the oat genome, which permitted postulation of an ancestral Avena spp. chromosome structure. Synteny between oat and B. distachyon was also prevalent, with 50 syntenic blocks covering 76.6% of the 'Kanota' × 'Ogle' linkage map. Coalignment of diploid and hexaploid maps to B. distachyon helped resolve homeologous relationships between different oat linkage groups but also revealed many major rearrangements in oat subgenomes. Extending the analysis to a second oat linkage map (Ogle × 'TAM O‐301') allowed identification of several putative homologous linkage groups across the two oat populations. These results indicate that the B. distachyon genome sequence will be a useful resource to assist genetics and genomics research in oat. The analytical strategy employed here should be applicable for genome research in other temperate grass crops with modest amounts of genomic data.


In contrast to traditional rule-based approaches to building spoken dialogue systems, recent research has shown that it is possible to implement all of the required functionality using statistical models trained using a combination of supervised learning and reinforcement learning. This approach to spoken dialogue is based on the mathematics of partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) in which user inputs are treated as observations of some underlying belief state, and system responses are determined by a policy which maps belief states into actions. Virtually all current spoken dialogue systems are designed to operate in either a specific carefully defined domain such as restaurant information and appointment booking, or they have very limited conversational ability such as in Siri and Google Now. However, if voice is to become a significant input modality for accessing web-based information and services, then techniques will be needed to enable conversational spoken dialogue systems to operate within open domains. This talk will discuss methods by which current statistical approaches to spoken dialogue can be extended to cover much wider domains. It will be argued that unlike many other areas of machine learning, spoken dialogue systems always have a user on-hand to provide supervision. Hence spoken dialogue systems provide a unique opportunity to automatically adapt on large quantities of speech data without the need for costly annotation.


Swiss 3T3 cells incubated for 60 h with [3H]inositol incorporated radioactivity into phosphatidylinositol (PI) and the two polyphosphoinositides phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PIP) and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2). On stimulation with platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) there were significant increases in the levels of inositol 1-phosphate (IP1), inositol 1,4-bisphosphate (IP2) and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3). The effect of PDGF and IP3 on Ca2+ mobilization was studied in both intact cells and in 'leaky' cells that had been permeabilized with saponin. In intact cells, PDGF stimulated the efflux of 45Ca2+, whereas IP3 had no effect. Conversely, IP3 stimulated 45Ca2+ efflux from 'leaky' cells, which were insensitive to PDGF. 'Leaky' cells, which accumulated 45Ca2+ to a steady state within 20 min, were found to release approx. 40% of the label within 1 min after addition of 10 microM-IP3. This stimulation of 45Ca2+ release by IP3 was reversible and was also dose-dependent, with a half-maximal effect at approx. 0.3 microM. It seems likely that an important action of PDGF on Swiss 3T3 cells is to stimulate the hydrolysis of PIP2 to form IP3 and diacylglycerol, both of which may function as second messengers. Our results indicate that IP3 mobilizes intracellular Ca2+, and we propose that diacylglycerol may act through C-kinase to activate the Na+/H+ antiport. By generating two second messengers, PDGF can simultaneously elevate the intracellular level of Ca2+ and alkalinize the cytoplasm by lowering the level of H+.


The carcinogenic effects of long-wave ultraviolet radiation (UV-A) (320 to 400 nm) irradiation followed by exposure to broad-spectrum ultraviolet (UV) irradiation were studied in 200 lightly pigmented, hairless, hr/hr C3H/Tif mice. No skin tumors were observed in the group irradiated with UV-A for four weeks (total dose, 4050 kJ/m2, observed for 57 weeks). Ultraviolet exposure induced skin tumors in a dose-dependent manner. In a group exposed to UV irradiation for 13 weeks, 35% of the mice had developed tumors after 57 weeks. Twenty-six weeks of exposure resulted in 88% of the animals being affected. In contrast it was found that treatment with UV-A irradiation (four weeks, total dose up to 4200 kJ/m2) preceding exposure to UV irradiation (13 or 26 weeks) resulted in a significantly delayed tumor development. Exposure with UV-A induced no visible changes of the skin, and subsequent microscopic examination revealed no measurable changes in epidermal thickness or melanin content. Our results suggest that, depending on the exposure schedule, UV-A in addition to previously reported carcinogenic properties also may act as an antitumor agent.


Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a well characterized sleep-regulatory substance. To study receptor mechanisms for the sleep-promoting effects of TNF, sleep patterns were determined in control and TNF 55 kDa receptor knock-out (TNFR-KO) mice with a B6 × 129 background after intraperitoneal injections of saline or murine TNFα. The TNFR-KO mice had significantly less baseline sleep than the controls. TNFα dose-dependently increased non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREMS) in the controls but did not influence sleep in TNFR-KO mice. Although TNFR-KO mice failed to respond to TNFα, they had an increase in NREMS and a decrease in rapid eye movement sleep after interleukin-1β treatment. These results indicate that TNFα affects sleep via the 55 kDa receptor and provide further evidence that TNFα is involved in physiological sleep regulation. Current results also extend the list of species to mice in which TNFα and interleukin-1β are somnogenic.


BACKGROUND
Community levels of air pollution have been associated with variability in mortality rates, but previous studies have inferred exposure to pollutants on a citywide basis. We investigated mortality in relation to neighbourhood levels of income and air pollution in an urban area.

METHODS
We identified 5228 people in the Hamilton-Burlington area of southern Ontario who had been referred for pulmonary function testing between 1985 and 1999. Nonaccidental deaths that occurred in this group between 1992 and 1999 were ascertained from the Ontario Mortality Registry. Mean household income was estimated by linking the subjects' postal codes with the 1996 census. Mean neighbourhood levels of total suspended particulates and sulfur dioxide were estimated by interpolation from data from a network of sampling stations. We used proportional hazards regression models to compute mortality risk in relation to income and pollutant levels, while adjusting for pulmonary function, body mass index and diagnoses of chronic disease. Household incomes and pollutant levels were each divided into 2 risk categories (low and high) at the median.

RESULTS
Mean pollutant levels tended to be higher in lower-income neighbourhoods. Both income and pollutant levels were associated with mortality differences. Compared with people in the most favourable category (higher incomes and lower particulate levels), those with all other income-particulate combinations had a higher risk of death from nonaccidental causes (lower incomes and higher particulate levels: relative risk [RR] 2.62, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.67-4.13; lower incomes and lower particulate levels: RR 1.82, 95% CI 1.30-2.55; higher incomes and higher particulate levels: RR 1.33, 95% CI 1.12-1.57). Similar results were observed for sulfur dioxide. The relative risk was lower at older ages.

INTERPRETATION
Mortality rates varied by neighbourhood of residence in this cohort of people whose lung function was tested. Two of the broader determinants of health--income and air pollution levels--were important correlates of mortality in this population.


The process of transition and, within it, the agricultural transformation in the Western Balkan countries resulted, in the first phase, in the weakening of the developmental performances in agriculture. Such tendencies widened the gap between the countries of the Western Balkans and the EU countries, which continued their steady increase in agricultural productivity. Unfavorable tendencies in agricultural productivity adversely affected its competitiveness, and, consequently, the competitiveness of the rural economy as a whole. The effect of the low agricultural competitiveness on the competitiveness of the rural economy is determined by the importance of agriculture in the rural economy, which is substantial in the West Balkan countries.


Are comparative political scientists divided over the goals, methods, and results of their field? This article attempts to answer this question, drawing on an original survey of US-based political scientists. The main conclusion is that there is relative consensus on the goals of research—comparativists favor broad generalizations and causal inference—but there is also acceptance of a variety of methodological approaches, both qualitative and quantitative, in pursuing this goal. Comparativists, however, show less agreement on substantive findings in the areas of democracy and democratic politics, economy and society, and political institutions. Interestingly, generational differences are relatively infrequent, but gender differences on issues such as rational choice and causal inference are more prominent, possibly contributing to gendered citation bias. The findings suggest that comparative politics may not have accumulated a large amount of agreed-upon knowledge, but that there is substantial agreement on the path forward.


ABSTRACT
Background and Purpose: Chronic illnesses and non-communicable diseases are consequences of risky health behaviors established during childhood and adolescence and carried out into adulthood. These health behaviors which include alcohol use, poor dietary habits, smoking and use of psychoactive substances impact on the quality of life negatively. This study was therefore designed to investigate the health behaviors, self-efficacy and quality of life of University students.
Methodology: A crosss sectional survey which involved 320 (140 males, 183 females) conveniently sampled particpants. Data was collected on health behaviors using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, Alcohol Use Identification Test 10, Nigeria Composite and Lifestyle CVD Risk Factors Questionnaire, General self-efficacy scale, the World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF and the Drug Use questionnaire DAST-10. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics of means, percentages, frequencies, pie charts, independent t-test and Chi square with α set at = 0.05.
Results: The study revealed that 31.2% of the participants reported low physical activity level. Psychoactive substance use was reported in 16.4% of both populations while 9% of the entire population smoked. Most participants (53.5%) reported high consumption of carbohydrate rich foods while there was low consumption of vegetables and fruits among the students. The study revealed that clinical students had higher average scores for self-efficacy and quality of life than non-clinical students. There was a significant difference in the physical activity level (p=0.04), alcohol use (p=0.001), psychoactive substance use (p=0.003), self-efficacy (p-0.007) and quality of life (0.001) between clinical and non-clinical students.
Conclusion and Recommendation: Clinical students had better self-efficacy and quality of life than non-clinical students. Both student populations engaged in risky behaviors (smoking, alcohol and psychoactive substance use) and most had poor dietary habits. Provision of enlightenment programs on the consequences of health risk behaviors to clinical and non-clinical students. Similar studies should be carried out in other geopolitical zones and on other health behaviors.


The objective of this study was to evaluate differences in sire genetic values obtained by a conventional animal model (AM) and by a reaction norms hierarchical model (RNHM) that considers the genotype by environment interaction. A total of 25,500 records was used collected by PROMEBO - beef cattle improvement program of the National Breeders Association "Herd Book Collares" on Devon cattle born from 1980 though 2005. Post weaning gain 345 adjusted (PWG345) was the evaluated trait and the INTERGEN program was employed for data analysis. Reaction norms of the 25 sires with larger offspring showed ranking exchanges and scale effect in the environmental gradient. Spearman rank correlations between genetic values obtained by AM and RNHM at low, medium and high environmental levels were used to assess selection decision based on the different models. These correlations ranged from 0.12 and 0.99, therefore showing substantial changes in ranking, particularly between those genetic values obtained by the RNHM at low level compared to the same RNHM at medium and high levels and to AM, when considering the top 5% bulls. The results indicated that the selection process should consider the genotype by environmental interaction to maximize genetic gain and production of this population in each specific environment.


Background Persistent postconcussional symptoms (PCS) can be a source of distress and disability following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Such symptoms have been viewed as difficult to treat but may be amenable to psychological approaches such as cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT). Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness of a 12-session individualised, formulation-based CBT programme. Method Two-centre randomised waiting list controlled trial with 46 adults with persistent PCS after predominantly mild-to-moderate TBI (52% with post-traumatic amnesia (PTA)≤24 hours), but including some with severe TBIs (20% with PTA>7 days). Results Improvements associated with CBT were found on the primary outcome measures relating to quality of life (using the Quality of Life Assessment Schedule and the Brain Injury Community Rehabilitation Outcome Scale). Treatment effects after covarying for treatment duration were also found for PCS and several secondary outcomes, including measures of anxiety and fatigue (but not depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)). Improvements were more apparent for those completing CBT sessions over a shorter period of time, but were unrelated to medicolegal status, injury severity or length of time since injury. Conclusions This study suggests that CBT can improve quality of life for adults with persistent PCS and potentially reduce symptoms for some, in the context of outpatient brain injury rehabilitation services. Trial registration number ISRCTN49540320.


ABSTRACT The treatment, diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of hematogenous Candida meningoencephalitis (HCME) are not well understood. We therefore studied the expression of (1→3)-β-d-glucan (β-glucan) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma in a nonneutropenic rabbit model of experimental HCME treated with micafungin and amphotericin B. Groups studied consisted of micafungin (0.5 to 32 mg/kg) and amphotericin B (1 mg/kg) treatment groups and the untreated controls (UC). Despite well-established infection in the cerebrum, cerebellum, choroid, vitreous humor (102 to 103 CFU/ml), spinal cord, and meninges (10 to 102 CFU/g), only 8.1% of UC CSF cultures were positive. By comparison, all 25 UC CSF samples tested for β-glucan were positive (755 to 7,750 pg/ml) (P < 0.001). The therapeutic response in CNS tissue was site dependent, with significant decreases of the fungal burden in the cerebrum and cerebellum starting at 8 mg/kg, in the meninges at 2 mg/kg, and in the vitreous humor at 4 mg/kg. A dosage of 24 mg/kg was required to achieve a significant effect in the spinal cord and choroid. Clearance of Candida albicans from blood cultures was not predictive of eradication of organisms from the CNS; conversely, β-glucan levels in CSF were predictive of the therapeutic response. A significant decrease of β-glucan concentrations in CSF, in comparison to that for UC, started at 0.5 mg/kg (P < 0.001). Levels of plasma β-glucan were lower than levels in simultaneously obtained CSF (P < 0.05). CSF β-glucan levels correlated in a dose-dependent pattern with therapeutic responses and with Candida infection in cerebral tissue (r = 0.842). Micafungin demonstrated dose-dependent and site-dependent activity against HCME. CSF β-glucan may be a useful biomarker for detection and monitoring of therapeutic response in HCME.


Purba A, Hayati R, Putri LAP, Chalil D, Afandi D, Syahputra I, Basyuni M. 2020. Genetic diversity and structure of Ganoderma boninense isolates from oil palm and other plantation crops. Biodiversitas 21: 451-456. Oil palm is an economically important plant, which one of the most important sources of vegetable oil in the world. However, oil palm plantation and other crops face the treat basal stem rot (BSR) disease by Ganoderma boninense. A study on genetic diversity and structure of G. boninense is therefore needed in order to formulate improved control strategies for this disease. This work aimed to analyze the genetic diversity and structure of the G. boninense isolates derived from different hosts, 131 oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), six rubber (Hevea brasiliensis), three coconuts (Cocos nucifera), and three lontar palm (Borassus flabellifer). Genetic diversity and population structure of G. boninense isolates were investigated using six SSR markers with GenAlex 6.502 software. Results showed that several microsatellite loci indicated specific primary success rates, such as KT124402, KT124399, and KT124394, depicting high polymorphism content (>75%). This result suggested that these markers were equally effective in determining the polymorphisms of G. boninense isolates. A hierarchical analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that genetic diversity mostly found among individuals within a population (88%), then among populations (8%), and within individuals (4%).. Phylogeny analysis showed two clusters of Ganoderma isolates. which was considered variation as dissimilar across with origin. The present study indicated that G. boninense from oil palm was predominantly comprised of a genetically distinct individual.


This paper shows the results of the implementation of two widely used bulk microphysics parameterizations (BMP) into the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System to improve the Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (QPF). The schemes are the WSM5 and WSM6 (WRF-single-moment-microphysics classes 5 and 6). The RAMS is run at high horizontal resolution (4 km) over the whole Italian territory and, to mimic the operational context, it is initialized by the analysis/forecast cycle issued at 12 UTC by the European Centre for Medium Weather Range Forecast (ECMWF). The performance of the BMP is analysed for the period of September 11 to October 31, 2012, which span most of the Special Observing Period 1 (SOP1) of the hydrological cycle in the Mediterranean experiment (HyMeX). For this period a database of daily precipitation of thousands of rain gauges over the Italian territory is available. In SOP1 few hazardous events occurred over Italy and, for one of them, the model performance is shown in detail. The potential improvement gained by combining the model outputs with different BMP in a single forecast is finally explored.


OBJECTIVEWe sought to analyze the regional concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines in the acute period of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and to test the hypothesis that ICH is associated with the expression of proinflammatory cytokines in the acute period. Although the expression of cytokines and their role in neuronal injury and inflammation is well characterized in cerebral ischemia and head injury, no information exists regarding expression of cytokines in ICH. METHODSWe introduced ICH in eight anesthetized mongrel dogs by autologous blood injection (6 ml) under arterial pressure in the deep white matter adjacent to the left basal ganglia. Samples of arterial blood and cerebrospinal fluid were collected, and tissue extracts were prepared from different regions of the brain for immunoassay of tumor necrosis factor &agr;, interleukin (IL)-1&bgr;, and IL-6 concentrations in animals with and without ICH. RESULTSThe tumor necrosis factor &agr; levels (± standard error) in the cerebrospinal fluid 1 hour after ICH did not differ significantly between the ICH group and the control group (7.1 ± 1.3 pg/ml versus 10.8 ± 2.3 pg/ml, P = 0.22). Levels in the perihematoma region in the ICH group (96.6 ± 3.1 pg/ml) were not significantly different from those in the control group (93.4 ± 6.7 pg/ml, P = 0.7). IL-6 levels (± standard error) in the perihematoma region in the ICH group (116.3 ± 13.3 pg/ml) did not differ significantly from those in corresponding regions in the control group (122.3 ± 12.8 pg/ml, P = 0.7). IL-1&bgr; levels were below 5 pg/ml in serum, cerebrospinal fluid, and extracts of different brain regions. CONCLUSIONThe early pathophysiology of ICH does not involve significant expression of tumor necrosis factor &agr; either in the perihematoma region or other regions of the brain. The observation suggests that the pathophysiology of ICH in the acute period is different from both cerebral ischemia and traumatic brain injury.


The effects of a novel beta3-adrenoreceptor agonist, UL-TG 307, on insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion, lipid metabolism, and body weight were investigated. Thirteen diet treated male Type 2 diabetic patients participated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled cross-over trial with two 14 day administration periods with placebo and UL-TG 307 (24 mg daily). After each administration period insulin secretion was assessed by means of an OGTT and insulin sensitivity was measured by an hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic glucose clamp. Lipid metabolism was evaluated by measuring non-esterified fatty acid, glycerol, and triglyceride serum concentrations at the end of each administration period. Treatment with UL-TG 307 did not improve insulin sensitivity (insulin sensitivity index (S(I)): UL-TG 307 2.5 -/+ 0.6 (mean +/- SD) vs. placebo 2.2 +/- 0.8 ml/min*m2 per microU/ml) nor increased insulin secretion (area under the serum insulin profile AUC0-240/plasma glucose AUC0-240: UL-TG 307 8.8 +/- 7.4 vs. placebo 8.3 +/- 6.4 microU/ ml/mmol/l). No differences in lipid metabolism, metabolic control, and body weight were observed. We conclude that two weeks' administration of the beta3-adrenoreceptor agonist UL-TG 307 in a daily dose of 24 mg did not lead to any significant effect in diet treated type 2 diabetic patients.


As of 1999, 28 BWR units and 23 PWR units are operated, and the generation of electric power by light water reactors accounts for 35 % of the total electric power generation in Japan. However, light water reactors have experienced many corrosion problems since the first commercial operation started in 1970. To cope with these corrosion problems, variour countermeasurements have been developed and employed. In the case of BWRs, nuclear grade 316 LC stainless and new weld methods were developed in order to prevent pipe cracking in recirculation system. Hydrogen injection are also employed to prevent the SCC of in-reactor materials. On the other hand, in the case of PWRs, thermally treated alloy 690 (690TT) was developed and employed to prevent the IGA/SCC for Steam Generator tubing. Zinc injection has been investigated to control the radiation build-up in both BWRs and PWRs. In this report, the status of advancement of reliability in nuclear power plant by the improvement of materials performance, water chemistry and design in Nuclear Power Plant is reviewed, and the subjects which will be dealed with in the future are discussed.


The ionized calcium concentration in blood is maintained within narrow limits by a complex hormonal system that includes parathyroid hormone (PTH) and vitamin D. The kidney plays a pivotal role in the physiologic action of PTH, as this peptide hormone increases tubular calcium reabsorp tion, decreases tubular phosphate reabsorption, and stimulates the renal 25-hydroxy-1-hydroxylase to convert 25-hydroxyvitamin D to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, the hormonal form of the vitamin that stimulates intestinal calcium absorption. Inherited and acquired disorders of tubular function and acute and chronic renal failure may disturb normal renal handling of calcium and phosphorus and the hydroxylation of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. As a result, decreased intestinal calcium absorption and hypocalcemia cause parathyroid hyperplasia and metabolic bone disease.


Background: Rodents with a population greater than the entire population of other mammals on earth are the source of economic losses and health conflicts. One of the major health problems with the rodents is their role as reservoir hosts of zoonotic diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the infestation of commensal rodents with ectoparasites in Hamedan City, Western Iran. Methods: The samples were collected by live traps during years 2012–2013. After transferring the samples to the Entomological Laboratory of Hamedan University of Medical Sciences, their ectoparasites were collected and identified. Results: A total of 171 slides were prepared from 105 captured commensal rodents: Mus musculus, Rattus rattus and R. norvegicus comprising three orders namely Mesostigmata: Hypoaspis (Laelaspis) astronomica, Dermanyssius sp, Pachylaelapidae (male). Metastigmata: Rhipicephalus sp and Anoplura: Polyplax spinulosa were recovered in Hamedan City. Seventy (66.6%) rodents were found infested with at least one species of ectoparasites. Conclusion: The results of our study indicate that ectoparasites infestation in commensal rodents of Hamedan city is high and more attention by local health authorities is needed to prevent zoonotic diseases.


Purpose
To investigate and compare the oral narrative of individuals with FASD and individuals with typical language development (TLD), as well as to correlate the narrative performance with the score from 4-Digit Diagnostic Code.

Methods
Participants were 20 individuals with FASD, of both genders, with chronological age between 6 and 16 years, and 20 individuals with TLD, same gender and similar to the FASD group in age and socioeconomic status. The oral narrative was elicited using the book Frog, where are you? and the data were analyzed in terms of macrostructure, microstructure and global coherence level. Measures regarding the macrostructure included the presence of typical structural elements of storytelling, while the microstructural aspects included words (total and different words), communication units (C-Units), lexical diversity, and mean length of C-Units.

Results
Low performance was found in the FASD group for all macrostructural aspects, with the exception of linguistic markers. Among the microstructural aspects, lexical diversity and incomplete C-Units were different between the FASD and TLD groups. The FASD group presented lower global coherence level compared to the TLD group. Negative correlations were found between macrostructural aspects, facial characteristics, and Central Nervous System impairment.

Conclusion
Restricted use of typical structural elements of storytelling with lower levels of coherence and reduced vocabulary distinguished the FASD from the TDL group. Future studies may explore whether the association between narrative performance and the 4-Digit Diagnostic Code items present predictive values in the narrative performance of individuals with FASD.


A new mutant, which was sensitive to both methyl-methanesulfonate (MMS) and ultra-violet light (UV) and defective in meiotic recombination, was isolated from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The gene, ESR1, was cloned by complementation of the MMS sensitivity of the mutant and found to be essential for cell growth, as the deleted haploid strain was lethal. The ESR1 gene was adjacent to the CKS1 gene on chromosome II and encoded a putative 2368-amino acid protein with a molecular weight of 273 k. The ESR1 transcript was 8.0 kb long and was induced during meiosis. The predicted Esr1 protein had a mosaic structure composed of homologous regions and showed amino acid sequence similarities to Schizosaccharomyces pombe rad3+ protein, which monitors completion of DNA repair synthesis, and cut1+ protein, which is required for spindle pole body (SPB) duplication. The Esr1 protein was also similar to phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinases, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae TOR2 (and DRR1), which are involved in G1 progression. These results suggest that ESR1 is multi-functional throughout mitosis and meiosis.


A discourse of reform claims that schools must be transformed to take full advantage of computers, while a competing discourse of inequality warns that technology-enhanced reform is taking place only in wealthy schools, dooming poor and minority students to the wrong side of a digital divide. A qualitative study at an elite private school and an impoverished public school explored the relationship between technology, reform, and equality. The reforms introduced at the two schools appeared similar, but underlying differences in resources and expectations served to reinforce patterns by which the two schools channel students into different social futures.


Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic and the coming transition to a post-pandemic world where COVID-19 will likely remain as an incident disease present a host of challenges and opportunities in epidemiologic research. The scale and universality of this disruption to life and health provide unique opportunities to study phenomena, and health challenges, in all branches of epidemiology, from the obvious infectious disease and social consequences, to less clear impacts on chronic disease and cancer. If we are to both take advantage of the largest natural experiment of our lifetimes, and provide evidence to inform the numerous public health and clinical decisions being made every day, we must act quickly to ask critical questions and develop new methods to answer them. In doing so we should build on each of our strengths and expertise, and try to provide new insights rather than becoming yet another voice commenting on the same set of questions with limited evidence.


: Blood tests and examination of bone marrow in 2-3 week guinea pigs under conditions of a long-term phenol intoxication (0.5 mg/kg perorally) showed the presence of thrombocytopenia and eosinophilia in peripheral blood and a decrease of the erythroblast maturation index in bone marrow. In the experiment with animals treated with a high dose of phenol there was an evidence of thrombocytopenia accompanied by reticulocytosis and a nuclear shift of neutrophils to the right. Erythroblast maturation index in bone marrow increase (the immature forms are quite probable to be formed due to ineffective division).


Software is becoming a larger fraction of engineering effort. Aggressive compiler optimization, in particular those that address loops, can significantly improve the performance of the software, thus justifying the additional compilation time requirements. This is in particular true in the embedded system domain where software has become a key element of the design process and performance/energy is of a critical concern. A particular area in software optimization, where little work has been established, is control flow performance and energy optimization, which is the main focus of this thesis.
Arithmetic expressions are the fundamental building blocks of hardware and software systems. In this thesis we first propose a method for solving the arithmetic expression equivalence problem using partial evaluation. In our method, we use interval analysis to substantially prune the domain space of arithmetic expressions and limit the evaluation effort to a sufficiently limited set of subspaces. Using this technique, we present three novel control flow optimization techniques to improve performance and energy in software.
In the first technique, we present a short-circuit code transformation method to optimize conditional blocks in high-level programs. Specifically, the transformation takes advantage of the fact that the Boolean value of the conditional expression, determining the true/false paths, can be statically analyzed to determine cases when one or the other of the true/false paths are guaranteed to execute. In such cases, code is generated to bypass the evaluation of the conditional expression. In instances when the bypass code is faster to evaluate than the conditional expression, a net performance gain is obtained.
In the second technique, we present a loop transformation method to optimize loops containing nested conditional blocks. Results from conditional expression evaluation combined with loop dependency information are used to partition the iteration space of the nested loop. As a result, the loop nest is decomposed such as to eliminate the conditional test, thus substantially reducing the execution time. Our technique completely eliminates the conditional from the loops (unlike previous techniques) thus further facilitating the application of traditional optimizations and improving the overall speedup.
In the third technique, we present a method to lower the software energy consumption using the technique mentioned above for loop transformation. In essence, each of the smaller loops can be executed at a lower voltage/frequency setting, yielding overall energy reduction.
Applying the proposed transformation techniques on kernels taken from different application domains, we measured a substantial performance and energy improvement.


Industries go through different phases of evolution where old skills become obsolete and new skills arecrucial for the industrial renewal process. Industry evolution is usually addressed from the perspectives of production and exports, leaving one factor largely unexplored: human capital. Industry restructuring isa dynamic process where skills developed in one industry move to other industries as individuals change employers. We argue that the labor flows between industries reveal skill relatedness because individuals move to industries that value their existing skills. We also argue that the labor flows differ between highand low-skill labor. By examining these flows, we can identify spillover effects between industries during restructuring. To address this argument, we analyze all individual-level labor flows originating from the Finnish ICT sector for 1989-2010. This industry sector-level study focuses on three ICT industries (manufacturing, services and software), and we address the differences in labor mobility between the individuals with different professional skill levels. We find several differences in the labor market dynamics over time for each ICT industry and for the different skill levels.


Compaction test is one of the important laboratory tests to determine the soil characteristic properties , as well as standard penetration test is the standard field test for identifying many properties of the soil of which are confined compressive strength and bearing capacity of the foundations . In this study, a manufactured mechanical device is used to make a simplified simulation of a standard compaction Proctor test through a mechanism to facilitate an equivalent energy in a simpler way. A number of laboratory tests are implemented on different soils and a comparison between the results of examination of the new compaction device was made. The results of the standard compaction Proctor test and the results of the new apparatus are very encouraging.


Model Carrying Code(MCC) provides a way to safe execution of untrusted code by taking both mobile code producer and consumers into consideration, where it checks mobile code security by comparing security related program behavior model with security policies. In this paper an enumeration based algorithm to checking security related behavior with respect to security policy has been given, where security behavior has been modeled as extended context free grammar and the security policy has been specified as extended FSA. Solutions to dealing with loops and recursions have been introduced. A program has been developed for implementing the algorithm, and several experiments have been done. It has been indicated that our algorithm can effectively check small scale security behavior models on the basis of simple security policies.


Everyone has heard that an asteroid or comet slammed into Earth 65 million years ago, but did this impact really kill off thousands of species, including the dinosaurs? For many species, the record suggests gradual, not catastrophic, extinction, so paleontologists have been skeptical. But on page 1360, researchers using statistical analyses of the fossil record suggest that at least one type of sea creature, the ammonites, was indeed snuffed out quickly at the time of the impact.


The surface crack opening displacements are characterised by digital image correlation for a (thin) plane stress 316 stainless steel compact tension sample subjected to an overload event. This supports a traditional plasticity-induced closure interpretation showing a knee in the closure response prior to overload, an absence of closure in the accelerated growth regime followed by accentuated closure in the retardation regime. By contrast, measurement of the mid-thickness elastic strain field behind and ahead of the crack made by synchrotron X-ray diffraction shows no evidence of significant crack face contact stresses behind the crack tip on approaching minimum loading. Rather the changes during loading and overloading can mostly be explained by a simple elastic plastic analysis using a value of the yield stress intermediate between the initial yield stress and the UTS. This shows very significant compressive reverse plastic strains ahead of the crack that start to form early during unloading. At the moment it is not clear whether this difference is because of the increasing stress intensity applied as the crack grows, or for some other reason, such as prevention of the crack faces closing mid-thickness due to the reverse plastic zone.


This Study of Superstitious Beliefs among Selected Racket Game Players was used to assess the behaviour and attitude of sports persons. For this purpose of examine the prevalence of superstitious beliefs among players of racket games, 45 male players of inter-university and state level tournament were randomly selected to serve as subjects. The selected racket games were Table-Tennis, Badminton, and Tennis. The superstitious beliefs and behavior scale was originally prepared by Hans G. Buhramann, B. Brouch and Maxwell K. Zaugg on seven areas containing forty items. On the basis of original scale, a new scale was constructed by consulting various aspects of psychology and sociology. The questionnaire was administered individually to all the subjects. All the subjects had answered the questionnaire separately, without consulting others. To analysis the data, collected by administering the questionnaire to all the subjects in different inter-university competitions and state tournaments, descriptive statistics was used for each selected characteristics and the responses of the questionnaire were analysed in percentage and compared among racket games. The study had revealed that the superstitious beliefs are most common among the players of selected racket games. There was a prevalence of superstitious beliefs among selected racket game players since the responses have showed significant results. The prevalence was believed to be because of myths social customs and traditions and to some extent to supernatural powers among players of racket games. They believe that it gives them strength to perform well. Indian culture with various traditions also helps to add to superstitious beliefs which are common among the population since the time immemorial and also generously reflect in the behaviour of players of racket games. ---------------------------♦-----------------------------


Employment protection systems are known to generate significant distortions in firms' hiring and firing decisions. We know much less about the impact of these regulations on worker effort. The goal of this paper is to fill in this gap and in particular to assess whether the provision of employment protection induces less effort among workers in the form of absenteeism. Our analysis is based on weekly observations for the 858 white collar workers hired by a large Italian bank between January 1993 and February 1995. These workers begin to be protected against firing only after the twelfth week of tenure and we observe them for one year. We show that the number of days of absence per week more than doubles once employment protection is granted, thus confirming what is suggested by our theoretical model and what is typically assumed in the literature. We also discuss how this evidence can be used to estimate what the absenteeism rate would be in Italy if employment protection were eliminated.


Importance
Prospective studies of the disease course in patients with morphea are lacking, particularly those comparing adults and children.

Objective
To investigate the disease course in patients with morphea treated with standard-of-care therapy using validated clinical outcome measures.

Design, Setting, and Participants
Prospective cohort study of 130 adults and children from the Morphea in Adults and Children cohort with at least 2 years of clinical follow-up and Localized Scleroderma Cutaneous Assessment Tool scores recorded at each study visit. Study patients were seen at a tertiary referral center (UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas) from November 1, 2008, through April 1, 2016. The dates of analysis were May 2016 through July 2019.

Exposures
All patients received standard-of-care therapy.

Main Outcomes and Measures
Patterns in disease activity and recurrence were examined. The time to recurrence of morphea disease activity from the first visit with inactive disease was assessed using survival analysis with the log-rank test to compare differences between morphea subtypes.

Results
In total, 130 adults and children (663 study visits) were included in this study. The mean (SD) age of patients was 34.4 (23.8) years, and 101 of 130 (78%) were female. The mean (SD) follow-up was 4.3 (1.7) years. Fifty patients had at least 5 years of follow-up. Most patients were white individuals (96 of 130 [74%]) and had linear subtype (72 of 130 [55%]) or generalized subtype (40 of 130 [31%]). Overall, 13 of 30 (43%) with generalized subtype had recurrence of disease activity compared with 14 of 66 (21%) with linear subtype (hazard ratio, 3.28; 95% CI, 1.38-7.79). The median (interquartile range) time to first recurrence of disease activity after initial resolution of disease activity was 1.1 (0.8-1.9) years for generalized subtype and 2.3 (1.0-3.3) years for linear subtype. Of the 50 patients followed up for at least 5 years, 18 (36%) had recurrence of disease activity.

Conclusions and Relevance
Disease activity appeared to improve in most patients with morphea over 6 to 12 months using previously published treatment plans, underscoring their effectiveness. Sclerosis improved more slowly (over 2-5 years), often after discontinuation of treatment, but atrophy increased slightly as sclerosis subsided. Standard-of-care therapy appears to improve disease activity, which allows sclerosis to improve, and provides relative stability of other features of disease damage. A substantial number of patients, particularly those with generalized subtype, have a relapsing-remitting course over many years. Patients with morphea should be monitored for recurrent disease activity over extended periods.


Abstract Background: In 2012, the Atrium Medical Center (AMC) embarked on a merger proposition with another hospital, the Orbis Medical Center (OMC). For the merger to succeed, a comprehensive reorganization of services was required to reduce operational costs. This resulted in cutbacks in the number of employees and generated resentment and the perception of increased workload among the nurses. Method: In response to this problem, a web-based application (workload Intens-o-meteR) was developed to help measure the intensity of nursing workload and the adequacy of staffing, objectively. The development process involved designing an easily accessible and user-friendly instrument and testing its feasibility and acceptability after implementation. Results: Preliminary evaluations of the instrument's utility after implementation showed high acceptance and satisfaction with the web-based format. The nurses described the Intens-o-meteR as simple, efficient, easily accessible and very user-friendly. There was also satisfaction with the reliability and transparency of information generated regarding intensity and adequacy of workload. Conclusion: The process described in this paper represents a proof of concept of the instrument's capability to manage nurse staffing dilemmas in the clinical workplace.


As a result of the economic reform which took place three decades ago, imported American family entertainment had gradually become an important part of the everyday entertainment for Chinese consumers. During the same period, a particular group of Chinese people, generally referred to as the post-80s or the only child generation, had emerged, grown up and become the main contributors to China's media consumption.
In this thesis, a study of the only child generation and the American family entertainment will be presented. The study sees the only child generation as groups of audience exposed to American family entertainment as the media, and the focus of this study is to understand the audience-media relationship between the two. As they are two objects emerged within their own social and cultural boundaries, the thesis will first tackle how the connection between the audience and the media was established. Then, the only child generation will be approached as a social creation. Findings on their social sophistications that are able to influence their relationship to media will be presented. Four case studies form the reset of the thesis. Each of the case studies will focus on one significant aspect of the generation's social characteristics and how it is connected to the group's receptions to media texts.


Capture-recapture data are often collected when abundance estimation is of interest. In the presence of unobserved individual heterogeneity, specified on a continuous scale for the capture probabilities, the likelihood is not generally available in closed form, but expressible only as an analytically intractable integral. Model-fitting algorithms to estimate abundance most notably include a numerical approximation for the likelihood or use of a Bayesian data augmentation technique considering the complete data likelihood. We consider a Bayesian hybrid approach, defining a "semi-complete" data likelihood, composed of the product of a complete data likelihood component for individuals seen at least once within the study and a marginal data likelihood component for the individuals not seen within the study, approximated using numerical integration. This approach combines the advantages of the two different approaches, with the semi-complete likelihood component specified as a single integral (over the dimension of the individual heterogeneity component). In addition, the models can be fitted within BUGS/JAGS (commonly used for the Bayesian complete data likelihood approach) but with significantly improved computational efficiency compared to the commonly used super-population data augmentation approaches (between about 10 and 77 times more efficient in the two examples we consider). The semi-complete likelihood approach is flexible and applicable to a range of models, including spatially explicit capture-recapture models. The model-fitting approach is applied to two different datasets corresponding to the closed population model $M_h$ for snowshoe hare data and a spatially explicit capture-recapture model applied to gibbon data.


Organic hole transport layers (HTL) play a very important role for realizing high performance and low-cost planar p–i–n perovskite solar cells (pero-SCs). In this work, we synthesized two X-shaped organic HTL materials, Si-OMeTPA and SiTP-OMeTPA, with silicon cores and triphenylamine (TPA) derivative branches. This molecular design strategy can substantially simplify synthetic procedures making them available for reducing device costs. This is particularly applicable for Si-OMeTPA since it can be synthesized by two steps from commercial raw materials showing a total yield of over 60%. This molecularly designed Si-OMeTPA possesses advantages of high thermal stability, high crystallinity with a long range ordered lamellar structure, and excellent hole mobility. The resulting HTL can also facilitate the sequential growth of high-quality perovskite films, giving a significantly enhanced photovoltaic performance with a best power conversion efficiency of 19.06%, which is one of the highest PCE among the planar p–i–n pero-SCs to date. In addition, the devices exhibit negligible hysteresis, good reproducibility, and stability. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of an easily synthesized HTL material in planar p–i–n pero-SCs that shows superior performance relative to the well-known poly(bis(4-phenyl)(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)amine) (PTAA) HTL.


It's not easy being a dictator these days. From Tahrir Square to the Kremlin, downtown Caracas to the Forbidden City, we have witnessed an incredible moment in the war between dictators and democracy. The problem is that today's authoritarians are not like the frozen-in-time, ready-to-crack regime of North Korea. They are ever-morphing, technologically savvy, and have replaced more brutal forms of intimidation with subtle coercion. But as dictators have become more nimble, so have the inspiring people who oppose their rule. The Dictator's Learning Curve explains this historic moment and offers hope for the future of freedom.


ABSTRACT Climate drives ecosystem processes and impacts biodiversity. Biodiversity patterns over large areas, such as Canada's boreal, can be monitored using indirect indicators derived from remotely sensed imagery. In this paper, we characterized the historical space–time relationships between climate and a suite of indirect indicators of biodiversity, known as the Dynamic Habitat Index (DHI) to identify where climate variability is co-occurring with changes in biodiversity indicators. We represented biodiversity using three indirect indicators generated from 1987 to 2007 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer images. By quantifying and clustering temporal variability in climate data, we defined eight homogeneous climate variability zones, where we then analyzed the DHI. Results identified unique areas of change in climate, such as the Hudson Plains, that explain significant variations in DHI. Past variability in temperatures and growing season index had a strong influence on observed vegetation productivity and seasonality changes throughout Canada's boreal. Variation in precipitation, for most of the area, was not associated with DHI changes. The methodology presented here enables assessment of spatial–temporal relationships between biodiversity and climate variability and characterizes distinctive zones of variation that may be used for prioritization and planning to ensure long-term biodiversity conservation in Canada.


Climate change science is increasingly concerned with methods for managing and integrating sources of uncertainty from emission storylines, climate model projections, and ecosystem model parameterizations. In tropical ecosystems, regional climate projections and modeled ecosystem responses vary greatly, leading to a significant source of uncertainty in global biogeochemical accounting and possible future climate feedbacks. Here, we combine an ensemble of IPCC‐AR4 climate change projections for the Amazon Basin (eight general circulation models) with alternative ecosystem parameter sets for the dynamic global vegetation model, LPJmL. We evaluate LPJmL simulations of carbon stocks and fluxes against flux tower and aboveground biomass datasets for individual sites and the entire basin. Variability in LPJmL model sensitivity to future climate change is primarily related to light and water limitations through biochemical and water‐balance‐related parameters. Temperature‐dependent parameters related to plant respiration and photosynthesis appear to be less important than vegetation dynamics (and their parameters) for determining the magnitude of ecosystem response to climate change. Variance partitioning approaches reveal that relationships between uncertainty from ecosystem dynamics and climate projections are dependent on geographic location and the targeted ecosystem process. Parameter uncertainty from the LPJmL model does not affect the trajectory of ecosystem response for a given climate change scenario and the primary source of uncertainty for Amazon 'dieback' results from the uncertainty among climate projections. Our approach for describing uncertainty is applicable for informing and prioritizing policy options related to mitigation and adaptation where long‐term investments are required.


Although high rates of attachment disorganization have been observed in infants of depressed mothers, little is known about the role of antenatal depression as a precursor to infant attachment disorganization. The primary aim of this study was to examine associations between maternal antenatal depression and infant disorganization at 12 months in a sample of women (N = 79) at risk for perinatal depression. A secondary aim was to test the roles of maternal postpartum depression and maternal parenting quality as potential moderators of this predicted association. Among women with histories of major depressive episodes, maternal depressive symptoms were assessed at multiple times during pregnancy and the first year postpartum, maternal parenting quality was measured at three months postpartum, and attachment disorganization was assessed at 12 months postpartum. Results revealed that infants classified as disorganized had mothers with higher levels of depressive symptoms during pregnancy compared to infants classified as organized. Maternal parenting quality moderated this association, as exposure to higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy was only associated with higher rates of infant disorganized attachment when maternal parenting at three months was less optimal. These findings suggest that enhancing maternal parenting behaviors during this early period in development has the potential to alter pathways to disorganized attachment among infants exposed to antenatal maternal depressive symptoms, which could have enduring consequences for child wellbeing.


We propose a conceptually simple oblivious sort and oblivious random permutation algorithms called bucket oblivious sort and bucket oblivious random permutation. Bucket oblivious sort uses $6n\log n$ time (measured by the number of memory accesses) and $2Z$ client storage with an error probability exponentially small in $Z$. The above runtime is only $3\times$ slower than a non-oblivious merge sort baseline; for $2^{30}$ elements, it is $5\times$ faster than bitonic sort, the de facto oblivious sorting algorithm in practical implementations.


Commonly used transgenic mouse models mimic Alzheimer´s disease (AD) to some extent but do as well display differences compared to the human AD phenotype. Growing evidence indicates that N-terminally truncated isoforms, which are underrepresented in common murine models, represent a key player in AD. These peptides are abundant in AD brains and have increasingly gained attention during the past years. It has been suggested that the equilibrium of aggregation is shifted towards the more toxic low-molecular weight oligomeric assemblies due to N-terminal truncation of Aβ, thereby triggering neurodegenerative processes. In this study, characterization of a recently developed monoclonal antibody, NT4X-167, revealed its engagement with N-terminally truncated AβpE3-x and Aβ4-x. We also showed the propensity of Aβ4-x to adopt a distinct oligomeric conformation. Analysis of a newly created homozygous 5XFAD mouse strain with NT4X-167 revealed early intracellular accumulation of Aβ4-x in this model, preceding other N-truncated isoforms, AβpE3-x and Aβ5-x. Investigation of homozygous 5XFAD mice revealed a gene-dose dependence of the neuropathological and behavioral phenotype. Homozygous 5XFAD might especially facilitate the analysis of intracellular Aβ, truncated isoforms in particular. Considering the consensus that Aβ is a key player on one hand, and the failure of recent anti-Aβimmunotherapeutic trials in AD on the other hand, there is an urgent need to find new therapeutic targets and strategies. In the course of this, it has been proposed that targeting N-truncated Aβ might offer therapeutic advantage. In order to explore the therapeutic potential of passive anti-N-truncated Aβ immunization, a comparative study with three monoclonal antibodies (NT4X-167, 9D5, 1-57) in 5XFAD was conducted in this study. As NT4X-167 showed a significant effect, it can be concluded that this antibody might offer therapeutic advantage over antibodies specific for AβpE3-x.


Non-class, show neither, is thereby lost, and we are left with a co-equal classification on the IA model. This despite the fact that the author himself suggests such ranking by his tables on p. 19 wherein, nevertheless, he uses the term Neu(ter). That there is in fact no morphological termination for Non-class singular is implied by the absence thereof from Dr. Shanmugam's numerous tables, only ' neuter plural' being tabulated. ' Human ' and ' Non-human ' (ibid.) again hardly meet the case for describing uyartinai and ahriytai, since gods and demons are included in uyartiy,ai, but animals are not. This has been the case ever since Tolkdppiyam (see: Tol., Cdllatikdram, cuttirarn 4). There is an adequate bibliography, but unfortunately no index. A large corpus of data is well-tabulated in this book, and will furnish much material for future research.


Classic ethnographic studies focusing on traditional chieftaincy in Ghana, West Africa, have revolved around issues such as succession rules, installation rituals, or competition for positions of power. However, becoming and being a chief in a predominantly Christian society, like present-day Ghana, has raised new kinds of concerns. Many churches, particularly those that belong to the Pentecostal-charismatic movement, reject traditional ritual life aimed at ancestors and other kinds of spirits as immoral. Since chiefs are fundamentally ritual leaders, who perform sacrifices on behalf of their communities, chieftaincy has assumed an increasingly negative character in Pentecostal discourses. In them chieftaincy is often equated with 'idol worship' and thus in direct conflict with the Ten Commandments. Ethical rules of 'world religions', such as the Ten Commandments, transcend particularity and their strength is based on an impression that they are applicable everywhere. As pointed out by Webb Keane, this requires mediation work that makes the rules transportable and gives them a potential to be re-contextualized in different places. The article looks at how different interpretations of religious rules are used by Ghanaian Christians and chiefs when debating the in/compatibility of traditional chieftaincy with Christianity. These debates are understood as a part of a process of historical and cultural recontextualization, that is, determining what the commandments mean in the particular time and place that they inhabit.


The Xuyi Schmidt Telescope Photometric Survey of the Galactic Anti-center (XSTPS-GAC) is a photometric sky survey that covers nearly 6000 deg2 towards the Galactic Anti-center (GAC) in the g, r, i bands. Half of its survey field is located on the Galactic Anti-center disk, which makes XSTPS-GAC highly suitable to search for new open clusters in the GAC region. In this paper, we report new open cluster candidates discovered in this survey, as well as properties of these open cluster candidates, such as age, distance and reddening, derived by isochrone fitting in the color-magnitude diagram (CMD). These open cluster candidates are stellar density peaks detected in the star density maps by applying the method from Koposov et al. Each candidate is inspected in terms of its true color image composed from three XSTPS-GAC band images. Then its CMD is checked, in order to identify whether the central region stars have a clear isochrone-like trend differing from background stars. The parameters derived from isochrone fitting for these candidates are mainly based on three band photometry of XSTPS-GAC. Moreover, when these new candidates are able to be seen clearly in 2MASS data, their parameters are also derived based on the 2MASS (J – H, J) CMD. There are a total of 320 known open clusters rediscovered and 24 new open cluster candidates discovered in this work. Furthermore, the parameters of these new candidates, as well as another 11 previously known open clusters, are properly determined for the first time.


This paper is part of a two-part publication that aims to design, simulate and test an internally air cooled radial turbine. To achieve this, the additive manufacturing process, Selective Laser Melting (SLM), was utilized to allow internal cooling passages within the blades and hub. This is, to the authors' knowledge, the first publication in the open literature to demonstrate an SLM manufactured, cooled concept applied to a small radial turbine. In this paper, the internally cooled radial turbine was investigated using a Conjugate Heat Transfer (CHT) numerical simulation. Topology Optimisation was also implemented to understand the areas of the wheel that could be used safely for cooling. In addition, the aerodynamic loss and efficiency of the design was compared to a baseline non-cooled wheel. The experimental work is detailed in Part 2 of this two-part publication. Given that the aim was to test the rotor under representative operating conditions, the material properties were provided by the SLM technology collaborator.
 The boundary conditions for the numerical simulation were derived from the experimental testing where the inlet temperature was set to 1023 K. A polyhedral unstructured mesh made the meshing of internal coolant plenums including the detailed supporting structures possible. The simulation demonstrated that the highest temperature at the blade leading edge was 117 K lower than the uncooled turbine. The coolant mass flow required by turbine was 2.5% of the mainstream flow to achieve this temperature drop. The inertia of the turbine was also reduced by 20% due to the removal of mass required for the internal coolant plenums. The fluid fields in both the coolant channels and downstream of the cooled rotor were analyzed to determine the aerodynamic influence on the temperature distribution. Furthermore, the solid stress distribution inside the rotor was analyzed using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) coupled with the CFD results.


The consumption of fish in Croatia is relatively low for a Mediterranean country. One of the main reasons for this is the inadequate supply of fish. The supply of fish is usually limited to expensive species of whitefish, while the supply of pelagic fish is very scarce. Pelagic fish can rarely be found in restaurants, and in the fish- markets it reaches very high prices. The basic goal of the project "Srdela Snack" (srdela - Croatian word for sardine) was to set up and test a new model of commercialization of pelagic fish through franchise "fast - food" outlets. In the paper we will describe the concept of this new model which includes the whole distribution channel, from fishermen, through processors, restaurants to consumers. In this model fishermen supply fresh pelagic fish to approved restaurant s (members of the franchise) which prepare the fish according to traditional recipes. In this way a completely new product is introduced in the Croatian market. The main idea was to offer a high- quality, simple and convenient meals made of pelagic fish from the Croatian Adriatic. This model of commercialization of pelagic fish was tested through a pilot project. In the pilot project the standards of food quality were determined, the traditional recipes for preparing the food were selected, and the menu, consisting entirely of pelagic fish dishes was made. Finally, the logo of the franchise restaurant was designed. The test restaurant was opened in the summer 2004. The visitors of the restaurant participated in a survey which was used to determine the degree of their satisfaction with the new product and the new model of pelagic fish commercialization. The results of the survey showed that there is a strong demand for pelagic fish in the Croatian market. Most of the interviewed consumers liked the new product; they consider it very healthy, affordable, tasty, and typical for Mediterranean and Croatia. Fishermen and restaurant - owners also showed a great interest for this new model of commercialization because it could provide them with a bigger income. Since the results of the pilot project showed that this kind of innovation in the distribution channel is very successful, this model of franchise restaurants offering pelagic fish "fast - food" can be implemented on the national level.


Objective. In systemic lupus erythematosus, socioeconomic status (SES) affects outcomes. SES can modify outcomes by altering timing of access to care and adherence. It is unknown whether SES affects systemic sclerosis (SSc) outcomes. Disease can affect income and cause work disability, thus education (completed long before SSc onset) may be a proxy for SES. Methods. The Canadian Scleroderma Research Group collects annual data on patients with SSc. Baseline data were used from a prevalent cohort. Education was stratified by whether participants completed high school. Regression models assessed effects of education on organ complications and survival. Results. In our study, 1145 patients with SSc had 11.0 ± 9.5 years' disease duration; 86% were women, with a mean age of 55.4 ± 12.1 years. About one-quarter did not complete high school; this was more common in older patients (p < 0.0001), men (p = 0.017), those with lower income (p < 0.0001), the unemployed (p < 0.054), smokers (p < 0.001), where DLCO was < 70% predicted (p = 0.009), in those with arthritis (p = 0.047), higher Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (p = 0.017), elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (p = 0.019), median C-reactive protein (p = 0.002), proteinuria (p = 0.016), steroid use ever (p = 0.039), and those more likely to have died in followup (12.7% vs 8.0%; p = 0.024). However, adjusting for confounders, there was no effect of education on mortality; whereas mortality was related to age, diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc) subset, elevated pulmonary arterial (PA) pressure on echocardiography, low forced vital capacity expressed as percentage of predicted, and proteinuria (similar in the dcSSc subset and in limited cutaneous SSc), mortality was increased in older patients, those with elevated PA pressure, and those with low DLCO. Conclusion. Completing less education than high school was not associated with a worse prognosis in SSc after adjustment for confounding characteristics.


Fine-grained communication in supercomputing applications often limits performance through high communication overhead and poor utilization of network bandwidth. This paper presents Topological Routing and Aggregation Module (TRAM), a library that optimizes fine-grained communication performance by routing and dynamically combining short messages. TRAM collects units of fine-grained communication from the application and combines them into aggregated messages with a common intermediate destination. It routes these messages along a virtual mesh topology mapped onto the physical topology of the network. TRAM improves network bandwidth utilization and reduces communication overhead. It is particularly effective in optimizing patterns with global communication and large message counts, such as all-to-all and many-to-many, as well as sparse, irregular, dynamic or data dependent patterns. We demonstrate how TRAM improves performance through theoretical analysis and experimental verification using benchmarks and scientific applications. We present speedups on petascale systems of 6x for communication benchmarks and up to 4x for applications.


The proliferation and activation of microglia, the resident macrophages in the brain, is a hallmark of many neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer´s disease (AD) and prion disease. Colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) is critically involved in regulating microglial proliferation, and CSF1R blocking strategies have been recently used to modulate microglia in neurodegenerative diseases. However, CSF1R is broadly expressed by many cellular types and the impact of its inhibition on the innate immune system is still unclear. CSF1R can be activated by two independent ligands, CSF1 and interleukin 34 (IL-34). Recently, it has been reported that microglia development and maintenance depend on IL-34 signalling. In this study, we evaluate the inhibition of IL-34 as a novel strategy to reduce microglial proliferation in neurodegenerative diseases, using the ME7 model of prion disease. Selective inhibition of IL-34 showed no effects on peripheral macrophages populations in healthy mice, avoiding the side effects observed after CSF1R inhibition on the systemic compartment. However, we observed a reduction in microglial proliferation after IL-34 inhibition in prion-diseased mice, indicating that microglia could be more specifically targeted by reducing IL-34 and that this ligand plays an important role in the modulation of microglia population during neurodegeneration. Overall, our results suggest that control of microglial response through IL-34 blockade could be a potential therapeutic approach in neurodegenerative diseases. organs, potentially reducing unwanted side effects caused by therapeutic intervention targeting the CSF1R pathway. We propose that IL-34 inhibition could be a viable strategy to decrease proliferation of microglia in the context of neurodegenerative disease, with restricted impact on peripheral myeloid cells.


Calls for more effective and modern teaching practices, higher research outputs, leaner administrative processes, greater community engagement, and more student-centred approaches to the business of higher education have intensified the challenges of working in a university. These challenges have added considerable complexity to the roles of academic staff, many of whom are facing increasing demands for which they are ill equipped to deal in terms of their formal education. To succeed in the highly competitive and changing environment that is higher education today, universities need to ensure that the requisite capabilities are developed in their academic staff. The key question underpinning this study is: how can the provision of professional development for academic staff be optimised to enhance university performance? The focus of the research is on identifying the ways in which higher education institutions provide formal offerings of professional development to academic staff, how they are organised to do this, who is entrusted with the task, and what are the strengths and limitations of the approaches taken. The research is informed by literature concerning higher education management, academic development, and strategic human resource management. Taking a critical realist ontological perspective, case studies of professional development provision in two Irish universities are presented. Findings reveal that while effective professional development is an espoused priority it is not a managed priority. While there is some evidence of good practice, the fragmented organisational structures in place for delivery of professional development reveal an absence of coordination and gaps in provision. The connection between professional development and organisational performance is loose. Recommendations are made on how the provision of professional development for academics can be managed to enhance university performance. A framework for designing performance-led professional development activities that aligns organisational and individual goals is proposed. An organisational structure that takes a more conscious approach to the management of the full range of professional development provision is put forward.


Managers make different decisions in countries with poor protection of investor rights and poor financial development. One possible explanation is that shareholder-wealth maximizing managers face different tradeoffs in such countries (the tradeoff theory). Alternatively, firms in such countries are less likely to be managed for the benefit of shareholders because the poor protection of investor rights makes it easier for management and controlling shareholders to appropriate corporate resources for their own benefit (the agency costs theory). Holdings of liquid assets by firms across countries are consistent with Keynes' transaction and precautionary demand for money theories. Firms in countries with greater GDP per capita hold more cash as predicted. Controlling for economic development, firms in countries with more risk and with poor protection of investor rights hold more cash. The tradeoff theory and the agency costs theory can both explain holdings of liquid assets across countries. However, the fact that a dollar of cash is worth less than $0.65 to the minority shareholders of firms in such countries but worth approximately $1 in countries with good protection of investor rights and high financial development is only consistent with the agency costs theory.


The authors adopt the perspective of a portfolio manager simultaneously holding long and short equity positions and investigate whether portfolio standard deviation is reduced by calibrating the overall portfolio duration to be zero. Although numerous studies have suggested that equity duration may be useful in portfolio risk management, this study directly tests this proposition. The authors first identify some methodological issues involved with measuring equity duration and then explore the use of equity duration as a tool in portfolio risk management. They present strong evidence that equity duration can be used in equity portfolios to reduce volatility and introduce a novel test that involves the comparison of market-neutral portfolios that are duration hedged with those that are duration exposed. Portfolio standard deviations form a "volatility smile" that reaches a minimum when duration is fully hedged. The results suggest that duration may be measuring risk not captured by beta.


T he Puget Sound Nearshore Partnership (PSNP) has developed a list of valued ecosystem components (VECs). The list of VECs is meant to represent a cross-section of organisms and physical structures that occupy and interact with the physical processes found in the near-shore. The VECs will help PSNP frame the symptoms of declining Puget Sound nearshore ecosystem integrity, explain how ecosystem processes are linked to ecosystem outputs, and describe the potential benefits of proposed actions in terms that make sense to the broader community. A series of " white papers " was developed that describes each of the VECs. Following is the list of published papers in the series. All papers are available at www.pugetsoundnearshore.org.


Background: Gonad shielding has been recommended during pelvic x-rays since the 1950s. The popular method of gonad shielding is placement a lead shield in the midline of the pelvis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and utility of gonad shielding in pediatrics undergoing pelvic x-rays.Materials and MethodsFollowing study approval, we retrospectively retrieved data from the digital image library of ten radiology depertments of Khuzestan provience-Iran to identify pediatric patients who underwent pelvic x-ray (anteriorposterior [AP] view). All the images were reviewed for the probable evidence of gonad shield. If there was evidence of shielding, the accuracy positioning of the shield was also investigated by a single assistant radiologist.ResultsIn all 1745 pelvic x-rays (942 girls and 803 boys) were identified of which the shield was present in 51 (5.41%) radiographs of girls and 132 (16.43%) radiographs of boys. When a shield was present; the shields has adequate positioning only in 8 (15.68%) radiographs in girls and 59 radiographs in boys. Inaccurate placement and absence of gonad shields were more common in girls than the boys. Due to the shield has concealed the anatomical criteria of the pelvis, retakes of the examination was required in 11 (21.56%) radiographs of girls and 14 (10.6%) radiographs of boys.ConclusionThe current methods of gonad shielding in girls pelvic x-ray was not effective nor is justifiable. We  no longer advocate of gonad shielding during girls pelvic x-ray. However in boys it is controversial and depends on the skill and effort of radiographers.


Decision feedback equalizers (DFEs) are widely used in modern local network digital transmission systems to remove the intersymbol interference caused by slowly decaying pulse tails. A gradient descent algorithm for adapting a coefficient to model the slowly decaying portion of the tail is described. An equalization strategy is described that exploits prior knowledge of the nature of the subscriber loop channel, together with the new adaptation algorithm, to give reduced complexity DFE structures. The use of this algorithm in FIR and IIR equalizer structures is described. The use of this algorithm in FIR and IIR equalizers is quantitatively compared to a conventional DFE in terms of performance and implementation complexity. An analysis is presented describing the operation of the adaptation algorithm in the presence of noise. Simulation results illustrate the training of the algorithm and its stability in the presence of near-end crosstalk noise. >


It can be said that today's civil aviation basics began to be laid in the 1950s. This date is also important as the period in which the rules are being written and at the same time, some system solutions are produced by testing the methods of cargo loading. The cargo clip used in these cargo loading systems will be the subject of our article. In this context, the development process of the clip, which started in 1953 until today, will be examined in the light of the patent applications of the period; Afterwards, alternative clip -on work to the current cargo clip, V2 and V3 models design and analysis of V3 model will be included. Nowadays, our natural resources are rapidly depleted, we think that we will contribute to fuel saving on airplanes with V3 design which we designed lighter than the standard product. In the analysis study, the functional efficiency of the new design which is lighter than the standard product will be determined.