Abstract.  Recent independent phylogenetic analyses of membracid relationships based on molecular and morphological data have identified monophyletic lineages within the family. However, the results of these studies have not fully resolved treehopper phylogeny, and relationships among some higher membracid lineages remain in doubt. Portions of three datasets (958 aligned nucleotides from elongation factor‐1α, 2363 aligned nucleotides from 28S ribosomal DNA, and eighty‐three morphological features of adults and nymphs) introduced in recent studies were reanalysed separately and in combination with two new molecular datasets (321 aligned nucleotides from wingless and 1829 aligned nucleotides from 18S ribosomal DNA). The results of the combined data analyses, contrary to previous analyses of morphological data alone, grouped membracids into two well‐supported lineages, one comprising Stegaspidinae and Centrotinae, the other comprising Membracinae, Darninae and Smiliinae. The analyses recovered Centrotinae, Membracinae and Darninae as monophyletic groups, but Stegaspidinae was paraphyletic with respect to Centrotinae, and Smiliinae was polyphyletic with Micrutalini placed as a sister group to the clade comprising Membracinae, Darninae and Smiliinae. These results are consistent with the following hypotheses, proposed previously based on an analysis of morphological data: (1) the posterior pronotal process was derived and lost multiple times during the evolution of Membracidae; (2) Membracidae originated in the New World and reached the Old World subsequently via dispersal; (3) maternal care evolved independently multiple times and may or may not have been preceded by the acquisition of ant mutualism.


An experimental study is realized in order to verify the mini heat pipe concept for cooling high power dissipation electronic cards. Two kinds of card substrates are considered: alumina and FR4 epoxy, and the chip on board technology is used. Different prototypes of configurations on reporting the chip on the card are tested. The thermal measurements show that the use of heat pipes allows for significantly reduced temperature gradients and maximum chip temperature decrease.


The World Trade Organization (WTO) was set up in 1995 and has been the custodian of all matters related to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement endorsed by 153 member countries. WTO is therefore the most important body which monitors and influences working of global intellectual property rights protection in all its member countries. This opinion discusses the critical issue of biodiversity protection.


Although some challenge the value of open source software development, its popularity cannot be disputed. This overview of open source licensing and development models describes some of the movement's main principles. We also clarify some of the main principles underlying the resulting software. Because so much has already been written about open source software, we only touch on some of its major themes and provide pointers to essential information about the movement and its general licensing structures.


This paper applies neural network methodology to inflation forecasting in the Euro-area and the USA. Neural network methodology outperforms linear forecasting methods for the Euro Area at forecast horizons of one, three, and six month horizons, while the linear model is preferable for US data. The nonlinear estimation shows that unemployment is a significant predictor of inflation for the Euro Area. Neither model detects a significant effect of unemployment on inflation for the US data.


In order to satisfy the growing demand for the reduction of fuel consumption and pollutant emissions, various technologies have been employed in diesel engines. Consequently, to determine the optimal combustion control strategy, many parameters such as injection pressure, nozzle diameter, injection timing, injection quantity, and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rate should be selected properly corresponding to the engine operating conditions. It is difficult to obtain the appropriate strategies without understanding the change in combustion process when varying these parameters. To realize parametric studies on combustion control strategy of modern diesel engines, a phenomenological combustion model based on stochastic method was developed. In this model, the modeling of the spray tip and tail penetration after the end of injection, and interaction between the sprays of sequent injection stages were focused on to modify the stochastic combustion model for combustion simulation with multiple injection. The effects of swirl, wall impingement, and adjacent spray interaction are formulated simply to make the combustion model more accurate and computationally efficient. The simulation results were compared with experimental data from a singlecylinder test engine for pilot/main two-stage injection. The results reveal that the model has capability to accurately predict the combustion characteristics and emissions of diesel engine with pilot/main two-stage injection.


Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is one of common form of chronic inflammatory arthritis. Methotrexate has remained anchor treatment because of its potent efficacy1. Intolerance to Methotrexate is a common cause of non-compliance2&3. Objectives: To investigate the effect of adding caffeine orally as Methylxanthines (Caffeine), act as adenosine receptor antagonists4 to reduce symptoms of moderate to severe methotrexate intolerance in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis5. Methods: A prospective, randomized controlled study conducted at Aswan University Hospital, Egypt from Jan 2018 till may 2019. Sixty patients with Rheumatoid arthritis who have had experienced moderate to severe methotrexate intolerance was enrolled in the study. The methotrexate intolerance severity score (MISS)6was evaluated at base line before initiation of study then at the next three months consecutively. Patients were randomly assigned by closed envelope method into 2 groups each containing 30 patients: Group (A); 30 patients was prescribed caffeine (coffee or dark chocolate) as an antidote to methotrexate intolerance7. Group (B); 30 matched patients acted as control group that included who will continue methotrexate regimen without addition of any extra caffeine. Results: Twenty four patients (80%) at time three follow up visit showed full improvement of symptoms of methotrexate-intolerance compared to ten patients (33.3%) at 2nd month follow up visit and seven patients (23%) at 1st month follow up visit with statistically significant difference all over the study period (P=0.005). half of study group patients discontinued anti-emetic and other drugs while none in control group did. Conclusion: Adding caffeine to management regimen can reduce the symptoms of severe methotrexate-intolerance in Rheumatoid Arthritis patients. References: [1]Friedman, B., & Cronstein, B. (2019). Methotrexate Mechanism in Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Joint Bone Spine, 86(3):301-307 [2]Wang, W., Zhou, H., & Liu, L. (2018). Side effects of methotrexate therapy for rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review. European journal of medicinal chemistry. Volume 158, 502-516 [3]Bulatovic, M., Heijstek, M. W., Verkaaik, M., van Dijkhuizen, E. P., Armbrust, W., Hoppenreijs, E. P., ... & Rademaker, C. M. (2011). High prevalence of methotrexate intolerance in juvenile idiopathic arthritis: development and validation of a methotrexate intolerance severity score. Arthritis & Rheumatism, 63(7), 2007-2013. [4]Malaviya, A., Baghel, S., Verma, S., Thakran, R., & Messi, C. (2019). Use of coffee for alleviating methotrexate intolerance in rheumatic diseases. Indian Journal of Rheumatology, 14(1), 79-79. [5]Ribeiro, J. A., & Sebastiao, A. M. (2010). Caffeine and adenosine. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 20(s1), S3-S15. [6]Fatimah, N., Salim, B., Nasim, A., Hussain, K., Gul, H., & Niazi, S. (2016). Frequency of methotrexate intolerance in rheumatoid arthritis patients using methotrexate intolerance severity score (MISS questionnaire). Clinical rheumatology, 35(5), 1341-1345. [7]Malaviya, A. N. (2017). Methotrexate intolerance in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA): effect of adding caffeine to the management regimen. Clinical rheumatology, 36(2), 279-285. Disclosure of Interests: None declared


The main challenge in applying state-of-the-art deep learning methods to predict image quality in-the-wild is the relatively small size of existing quality scored datasets. The reason for the lack of larger datasets is the massive resources required in generating diverse and publishable content. We present a new systematic and scalable approach to create large-scale, authentic and diverse image datasets for Image Quality Assessment (IQA). We show how we built an IQA database, KonIQ-10k, consisting of 10,073 images, on which we performed very large scale crowdsourcing experiments in order to obtain reliable quality ratings from 1,467 crowd workers (1.2 million ratings). We argue for its ecological validity by analyzing the diversity of the dataset, by comparing it to state-of-the-art IQA databases, and by checking the reliability of our user studies.


The decision taken by the Tanzanian government to relocate its capital from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma in 1973 and the subsequent attempts to implement it is an important event that has not been thoroughly discussed by historians. Most of the knowledge of this event is in the form of the reports prepared by town planning experts during the 1970s. This paper addresses this lacuna by reconstructing a comprehensive history of the event in question. It examines, among other issues, the extent to which the decision to move the capital to Dodoma after independence was justified by the concepts of socialism (Ujamaa), national identity and the colonial legacy. An attempt is made to piece together the disjointed accounts from the various sources of information on the decisions and measures that were taken to move the capital after independence. This paper, unlike other studies, traces the idea of relocating the capital to the colonial period. It makes intensive use of archival information gathered from London and Dar es Salaam, and also benefits from the vast amount of information collected from newspapers and parliamentary records.


The present research is a part of project which concerns a deformation behavior of duplex type ferritic-austenitic stainless steels. This paper focuses on the examination of ferrite and austenite textures formed upon thermo-mechanical treatment and deformation textures developed during cold-rolling of super-duplex stainless steel sheet. The character and stability of the textures observed in both phases over a wide deformation range are the result of two-phase morphology formed upon hot- and subsequent cold-rolling. The specific band-like morphology of the ferrite-austenite structure creates different conditions for plastic deformation due to the interaction of both phases and considerably constrained lattice rotations. That is why the processes governing the texture formation in duplex steels are supposed to change in comparison to single phase steels affecting final rolling textures of ferrite and austenite.


Whether blood plasma from 63 pyelonephritis patients can inhibit Ca-ATPase activity when compared to known toxicity marker (middle-sized molecule number) was studied. This was done to assess diagnostic potentialities of the test based on the ability of plasma from pyelonephritis patients to inhibit the test enzymatic system, i. e. Ca-ATPase activity of the microsome fraction from renal cortex in intact rats. The inhibition of Ca-ATPase activity by the plasma is shown to correlate with inflammation activity and the patients condition. In pyodestructive acute pyelonephritis this inhibition reached 60.6 +/- 3.86%, in acute serous pyelonephritis 36.02 +/- 1.54%. It follows, that the above parameter is more informative than the number of middle-sized molecules and can be introduced as one of the criteria of the patients' condition and for choice of treatment.


RATIONALE
Pandemic influenza viruses historically have had few potential sites for N-linked glycosylation on the globular head of the hemagglutinin (HA) on emergence from the avian reservoir. Gain of glycans within antigenic sites of the HA during adaptation to the mammalian lung facilitates immune evasion.

OBJECTIVES
In this study, we sought to determine in mice how exposure to highly glycosylated viruses affects immunity to poorly glycosylated variants to model the emergence of a novel pandemic strain of a circulating subtype.

METHODS
We engineered the 1968 H3N2 pandemic strain to express an additional two or four potential sites for glycosylation on the globular head of the HA. Mice were infected sequentially with highly glycosylated variants followed by poorly glycosylated variants and monitored for immune responses and disease.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
The mutant with four additional glycosylation sites (+4 virus) elicited significantly lower antibody responses than the wild-type or +2 virus and was unable to elicit neutralizing antibodies. Mice infected with the +4 virus and then challenged with wild-type virus were not protected from infection and experienced significant T-cell-mediated immunopathology. Infection with a recent seasonal H1N1 virus followed by infection with the 2009 pandemic H1N1 elicited similar responses.

CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that sequential infection with viral strains with different surface glycosylation can prime the host for immunopathology if a neutralizing antibody response matching the T-cell response is not present. This mechanism may have contributed to severe disease in young adults infected with the 2009 pandemic virus.


We have studied the infrared properties of the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) located in the cores of X-ray-luminous clusters at 0.15 < z < 0.35. The majority of the BCGs are not particularly infrared-luminous compared with other massive early-type galaxies, suggesting that the cluster environment has little influence on the infrared luminosities of the BCGs. The exceptions, however, are the BCGs in the three X-ray-brightest clusters in the sample, A1835, Z3146, and A2390. These BCGs have a prominent far-infrared peak in their spectral energy distributions (SEDs), and two of them (those in A1835 and Z3146) can be classified as luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs: LIR > 1011 L☉). Although radio AGNs (active galactic nuclei) are found to be prevalent among the BCGs, the infrared luminosities of these three BCGs, judged from the infrared SED signatures, are likely to be powered by star formation. Considering the overall trend that clusters with shorter radiative gas cooling times harbor more infrared-luminous BCGs, the enhanced star formation may be caused by the cooling cluster gas accreting onto the BCGs.


Evidence-based Dentistry (EBD), like Evidence-based Medicine (EBM), was born in order to seek the "best available research evidence" in the field of dentistry both in research and clinical routine. But evidence is not clearly measurable in all fields of healthcare: in particular, while drug effect is rather independent from clinician's characteristics, the effectiveness of surgical procedures is strictly related to surgeon's expertise, which is difficult to quantify. The research problems of dentistry have a lot in common with other surgical fields, where at the moment the best therapeutic recommendations and guidelines originates from an integration of evidence-based medicine and data from consensus conferences. To cope with these problems, new instruments have been developed, aimed at standardizing clinical procedures (CAD-CAM technology) and at integrating EBM achievements with the opinions of expert clinicians (GRADE System). One thing we have to remember however: it is necessary to use the instruments developed by evidence-based medicine but is impossible to produce sound knowledge without considering clinical expertise and quality of surgical procedures simultaneously. Only in this way we will obtain an evidence-based dentistry both in dental research and clinical practice, which is up to third millennium standards.


In this paper, we explain main concepts of Prospect Theory and Cumulative Prospect Theory within the rational dynamic asset pricing framework. We derive option pricing formulas when asset returns are altered by a generalized Prospect Theory value function or a modified Prelec's weighting probability function. We introduce new parametric classes for Prospect Theory value functions and probability weighting functions consistent with rational dynamic pricing theory. After the behavioral finance notion of "greed and fear" is studied from the perspective of rational dynamic asset pricing theory, we derive the corresponding option pricing formulas when asset returns follow continuous diffusions or discrete binomial trees. We define mixed subordinated variance gamma process to model asset return and derive the corresponding option pricing formula. Finally, we apply the proposed probability weighting functions to study the greedy or fearful disposition of option traders when asset returns follow a mixed subordinated variance gamma process. The results indicate availability bias and diminishing sensitivity of option traders.


Abstract This study investigates whether English-medium instruction (EMI) has an impact on Chinese undergraduates' English proficiency and affect in English learning and use. A cross-section of 136 sophomores and juniors were drawn from an English-medium and a parallel Chinese-medium program. Data included: (a) participants' scores on two national standardized English proficiency tests; (b) their English-related affect as measured by three scales adapted from Gardner's (2004) Attitude/Motivation Test Battery; (c) their perceptions of EMI in Chinese tertiary education elicited with a survey developed by the Chinese Ministry of Education (2006), and (d) interviews with 10 focal students from the English- and Chinese-medium programs. Results showed no statistically significant effect of medium of instruction on English proficiency or affect in English learning and use. However, extent of satisfaction with EMI, perceived necessity for EMI, and perceived increases in study burden had statistically significant effects on the outcome measures. Additionally, prior English proficiency was the strongest predictor of subsequent English proficiency and English-related affect. These findings raise concerns about the quality of the focal English-medium program and point to students' perceptions of EMI and prior English proficiency as crucial influences on further language learning and use.


Contemporary Australia has clearly become a multi-faith and multi-cultural society. Even within the mainstream Christian religions there are many new arrivals whose countries of origin are non Euro-centric, and they have brought with them a wide variety of cultural practices that are different from the Anglo-Saxon/Celtic culture that has dominated religious practice in this country. Consequently, the 'face' of Australian Christians has been slowly changing. In particular, young Australians have been exposed to a wide range of cultural and religious practices through both community interaction and a highly influential media. Within this framework, the Copts are a small growing ethnic community who are focused on handing on their cultural and religious heritage to their younger members. This paper will explore the transmission of the Coptic religious heritage, and discuss what some school-going Copts say about the various influences on their religiosity and spirituality.


Introduction: RET/PTC1 was one of the first gene fusions identified from a solid tumor. In the past 3 years, oncogenic RET fusions have been identified in additional cancer types, most notably NSCLC and colon carcinomas. Activating germline RET mutations are also well established drivers of multiple endocrine neoplasia while somatic RET mutations are the most prevalent alterations in sporadic medullary thyroid cancers. In light of these findings, a number of approved multi-kinase inhibitors (mKIs) with in vitro activity against wild-type (WT) RET, such as cabozantinib, vandetanib, and lenvatinib, have been repurposed for treating RET-driven diseases. We have designed a next-generation inhibitor specifically tailored to target RET, while sparing other closely-related kinases, such as KDR/VEGFR2. Given that secondary mutations are a common resistance mechanism to kinase inhibitors, we prospectively identified resistance mutations that abrogate mKI activity and crafted our RET-selective inhibitors to also target these mutations. The structures of several mKIs bound to RET were analyzed and amino acid substitutions that would disrupt the protein-inhibitor interactions were predicted. In vitro resistance screens with cabozantinib, ponatinib, and vandetanib in a Ba/F3 KIF5B-RET cell line were conducted and confirmed these predictions. The proprietary Blueprint Medicines' kinase inhibitor library was used to identify inhibitors of WT and resistance mutant RET as starting points for lead optimization. Results: Both structural analysis and in vitro screening revealed that only a handful of positions within the RET kinase domain enable resistance mutations to mKIs, suggesting a narrow mutational spectrum. Using our library of kinase inhibitors, we identified potent, orally bioavailable inhibitors of RET that target both the WT and resistance mutants in KIF5B-RET-driven cell lines while sparing the majority of the kinome. These inhibitors also suppressed the proliferation of thyroid cancer cell lines harboring RET fusions or activating RET mutations and demonstrated in vivo activity in xenograft models. Our analysis of the PK-PD-efficacy relationship revealed that over 70% target suppression is required for maximal efficacy. Finally, our RET-selective inhibitors induced dose-dependent tumor growth inhibition in a KIF5B-RET fusion positive lung adenocarcinoma PDX model at well-tolerated doses, further validating RET fusions as oncogenic drivers in NSCLC. Conclusion: This work describes the identification of potent inhibitors that specifically target WT RET and resistance mutations predicted to arise upon mKI treatment. By sparing kinases with known toxicity profiles, these molecules are predicted to robustly inhibit RET at tolerated doses and may provide patients with RET-driven diseases an opportunity for more durable and effective therapies. Citation Format: Rami Rahal, Erica K. Evans, Wei Hu, Michelle Maynard, Paul Fleming, Lucian DiPietro, Joseph L. Kim, Michael P. Sheets, Doug P. Wilson, Kevin J. Wilson, Nicolas Stransky, Jason D. Brubaker, Timothy Guzi, Nancy E. Kohl, Christoph Lengauer. The development of potent, selective RET inhibitors that target both wild-type RET and prospectively identified resistance mutations to multi-kinase inhibitors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2641.


Raised cold agglutinin titres were observed in 16 patients with atypical pneumonia. In 7 cases serological demonstration of antibodies against Mycoplasma pneumoniae (complement binding reaction) was possible. In 4 cases the causative organism could not be demonstrated serologically and in 5 cases the demonstration of antibodies was not possible. There were 11 sporadic single cases and 5 patients from a mycoplasma family infection. The incubation time was between 7 and 16 days. History, clinical symptoms and the auscultatory findings in connection with the radiograph allow a preliminary diagnosis of primary atypical pneumonia which can be finally proved by the demonstration of cold agglutinins. The titres reach their highest levels within 2-3 weeks and fall again within 4-6 weeks. As the complement binding reaction with Mycoplasma pneumoniae is still positive after several weeks the diagnosis can also be proved retrospectively. Reconvalescence is markedly delayed and lasts several weeks. Clinically and therapeutically the cold agglutinin positive atypical pneumonias cannot be differentiated from mycoplasma pneumonias.


Anomaly detection is one of the frequent and important subroutines deployed in large-scale data processing systems. Even being a well-studied topic, existing techniques for unsupervised anomaly detection require storing significant amounts of data, which is prohibitive from memory and latency perspective. In the big-data world existing methods fail to address the new set of memory and latency constraints. In this paper, we propose ACE (Arrays of (locality-sensitive) Count Estimators) algorithm that can be 60x faster than the ELKI package~\cite{DBLP:conf/ssd/AchtertBKSZ09}, which has the fastest implementation of the unsupervised anomaly detection algorithms. ACE algorithm requires less than $4MB$ memory, to dynamically compress the full data information into a set of count arrays. These tiny $4MB$ arrays of counts are sufficient for unsupervised anomaly detection. At the core of the ACE algorithm, there is a novel statistical estimator which is derived from the sampling view of Locality Sensitive Hashing(LSH). This view is significantly different and efficient than the widely popular view of LSH for near-neighbor search. We show the superiority of ACE algorithm over 11 popular baselines on 3 benchmark datasets, including the KDD-Cup99 data which is the largest available benchmark comprising of more than half a million entries with ground truth anomaly labels.


The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is one of Africa's most brutal militia forces.(1) It has plagued Central Africa, particularly northern Uganda, for over two decades. The group's tactics provide textbook examples of war crimes and crimes against humanity. When attacking civilians, the LRA instills fear by selecting random individuals for brutal executions. Children are abducted to serve as porters, sex slaves, and new militia. In order to indoctrinate child soldiers, young abductees are routinely forced to kill their own family members and other children, or be murdered themselves. Anyone caught trying to escape from the LRA is summarily executed. By contrast with other African rebel groups, which occasionally adopt such brutal tactics, the LRA has conducted such atrocities on a systematic and prolonged basis. With intelligence and operational planning support from the United States, in December 2008, the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) launched Operation Lightning Thunder to attack LRA bases in the Garamba National Park of northeastern Congo, where the LRA had been located since 2005. The initial attack was intended to overwhelm the LRA and decapitate its leadership with a combination of airborne assaults and ground troop movements.(2) However, the top LRA leadership survived this initial attack, and LRA forces separated into small groups of dozens of fighters. Nearly 2 years later, the LRA's area of operations has extended deep into the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic (CAR), southern Sudan, and Sudan's Darfur region even though the LRA is now comprised of only several hundred members using small arms and light weapons. While pursued across the region by the UPDF, the LRA avoids direct confrontations and has sustained itself by attacking and pillaging villages in remote rural areas. Working with and prompted by nongovernmental relief and advocacy groups, the U.S. Congress passed the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, requiring the Obama administration to develop a strategy to "mitigate and eliminate the threat to regional stability" posed by the LRA. While the LRA does not present a direct threat to the United States, its territory, or its citizens, the group's operations have become a recurring concern for U.S. policymakers focused on peace-building and regional security in Africa. LRA attacks have exacerbated African civil wars, contributed to the enormous humanitarian crisis facing Central Africa, fueled tense regional relations, and challenged U.S. efforts to promote accountability for human rights abuses.(3) On November 24, 2010, President Obama delivered his administration's counter-LRA strategic plan to Congress. The four highlighted objectives are to "(a) increase protection of civilians; (b) apprehend or remove from the battlefield Joseph Kony and senior commanders; (c) promote the defection, disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of remaining LRA fighters; and (d) increase humanitarian access and provide continued relief to affected communities."(4) This strategy is in line with a strong international consensus on the way forward to counter the LRA. While the United States is not committing its own forces to attack the LRA directly, and identifying resources to implement the strategy is an ongoing challenge, the extent to which the Obama strategy will improve anti-LRA efforts on the ground is not yet clear. In order to assess the opportunities, challenges, and role that U.S. efforts can play in combating the LRA, this paper begins with an in-depth analysis of the militia, including its historical development, the inability of past offensives to succeed against it, and the current force disposition of the group. The paper then examines current U.S. and international thinking on how expanded efforts to counter the LRA could work best in the field. It highlights how U. …


The BMA has endorsed the following guidance on patients' access to medical care:

"Doctors owe a duty of care to all their patients whatever their lifestyle. Each patient must be assessed individually and share in decisions about treatment options. Treatment offered must be based on clinical judgment and sound scientific evidence of likely benefit. It is unethical to refuse an available treatment to any patient who might benefit from it.

"In a supportive manner, doctors should assist patients to maximise their chances of improved health. Appropriate measures and counselling should be offered to patients willing to consider these as a step to a healthier life. Patients must not be left with the impression that their inability or unwillingness to follow an advised course of action will deprive them of medical attention."

The association's medical ethics committee had been asked to produce guidance after some well publicised reports of patients being denied treatment. In most cases the doctors had advised that the patients would not have benefited from treatment at the time because - for example - they were overweight or they smoked. Advice to change their habits was part of the treatment process and not an ethical or rationing judgement.

The council had opposed previous drafts of the guidance because they implied that if a person's lifestyle materially affected the outcome of treatment for a specific condition it might be ethical to withhold that treatment until the lifestyle was changed. Furthermore, the council did not want to imply that resources had a role to play.

The BMA will challenge the secretary of state for health to ensure that health departments give the profession sufficient time to comment when asked for its views. She will be told that the government cannot expect doctors to cooperate if they are not consulted properly. …


Objective To evaluate the general safety of zoster vaccine (ZV) in adults ≥60 years old. Patients/Methods Subjects were enrolled in a 1:1 ratio to receive 1 dose of ZV or placebo. Subjects were followed for serious adverse experiences (SAEs) for 42 days (primary follow-up period) and 182 days (secondary follow-up period) postvaccination. Relative-risks (ZV/placebo) for SAEs during both safety periods were calculated. Study period: 17-Sep‑2007 to 09-Jan-2009. Results Overall, 5,983 subjects received ZV and 5,997 received placebo. Within the primary 42-day follow-up period, 84 ZV subjects and 67 placebo subjects reported SAEs. The estimated risk of SAEs within 42 days was 1.41% for ZV versus 1.12% for placebo, with a relative-risk of 1.26 (95% CI 0.91,1.73); indicating no statistically significant difference between groups, meeting the pre-specified success criterion. During the 182-day follow-up period, 340 ZV subjects and 300 placebo subjects reported SAEs. The estimated risk of SAEs within 182 days was 5.68% for ZV versus 5.01% for placebo, with a relative-risk of 1.13 (95% CI 0.98,1.32), indicating no statistically significant difference between groups. Two subjects in the ZV group reported SAEs deemed by the investigator to be vaccine-related (uveitis and sciatica; onset Day 5 and 4, respectively). One subject in the placebo group reported a SAE deemed by the investigator to be vaccine-related (lumbar radiculopathy; onset Day 51). There were 24 fatal SAEs in the ZV group and 17 in the placebo group (relative risk = 1.41; CI: 0.77, 2.60); 6 and 5, respectively, with SAE onset during the primary 42-day follow-up period. No deaths were deemed vaccine-related. Conclusions ZV and placebo groups had similar safety profiles in terms of SAEs during the primary (Day 1 to 42) and secondary (Day 1 to 182) follow-up periods.


Regression models based on spectral indices are typically empirical formulae enabling the mapping of biophysical parameters derived from Earth Observation (EO) data. Due to its empirical nature, it remains nevertheless uncertain to what extent a selected regression model is the most appropriate one, until all band combinations and curve fitting functions are assessed. This paper describes the application of a Spectral Index (SI) assessment toolbox in the Automated Radiative Transfer Models Operator (ARTMO) package. ARTMO enables semi-automatic retrieval and mapping of biophysical parameters from optical remote sensing observations. The SI toolbox facilitates the assessment of biophysical parameter retrieval accuracy of established as well as new and generic SIs. For instance, based on the SI formulation used, all possible band combinations of formulations with up to ten bands can be defined and evaluated. Several options are available in the SI assessment: calibration/validation data partitioning, the addition of noise and the definition of curve fitting models. To illustrate its functioning, all two-band combinations according to simple ratio (SR) and normalized difference (ND) formulations as well as various fitting functions (linear, exponential, power, logarithmic, polynomial) have been assessed. HyMap imaging spectrometer (430–2490 nm) data obtained during the SPARC-2003 campaign in Barrax, Spain, have been used to extract leaf area index (LAI) and leaf chlorophyll content (LCC) estimates. For both SR and ND formulations the most sensitive regions have been identified for two-band combinations of green (539–570 nm) with longwave SWIR (2421–2453 nm) for LAI (r2: 0.83) and far-red (692 nm) with NIR (1340 nm) or shortwave SWIR (1661–1686 nm) for LCC (r2: 0.93). Polynomial, logarithmic and linear fitting functions led to similar best correlations, though spatial differences emerged when applying the functions to HyMap imagery. We suggest that a systematic SI assessment is a strong requirement in the quality assurance approach for accurate biophysical parameter retrieval.


We propose a pathogen dynamics model with CTL immune response and both pathogenic and cellular infections. Both actively infected cells and latently infected cells are incorporated into the model. The infected-susceptible and pathogen-susceptible infection rates are given by saturated incidence. Three distributed time delays are considered. The existence and global stability of the equilibria are determined by two threshold parameters, the basic reproduction number and the CTL response activation number. The global stability of the three equilibria are proven using Lyapunov method. We solve the system of delay differential equations numerically to support the theoretical results.We propose a pathogen dynamics model with CTL immune response and both pathogenic and cellular infections. Both actively infected cells and latently infected cells are incorporated into the model. The infected-susceptible and pathogen-susceptible infection rates are given by saturated incidence. Three distributed time delays are considered. The existence and global stability of the equilibria are determined by two threshold parameters, the basic reproduction number and the CTL response activation number. The global stability of the three equilibria are proven using Lyapunov method. We solve the system of delay differential equations numerically to support the theoretical results.


Objectives: Diabetic sensory neuropathy is a common complication of diabetes mellitus causing considerable morbidity and disability. The objectives were to determine the proportion of diabetic neuropathy among the patients attending the diabetic clinic of the Colombo South Teaching Hospital and the use of Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI) in screening for diabetic neuropathy. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was done on 384 subjects diagnosed with having Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) attending the diabetic clinic of the Colombo South Teaching Hospital. An interviewer administered questionnaire assessed socio demographic data. MNSI, Diabetic Neuropathy Index (DNI) and Monofilament tests were used in the assessment of neuropathy. Diabetic neuropathy was confirmed by a positive score of two of the above three tests. Data analysis was done by using the SPSS 16 version software. Results: 175(45.6%) of the subjects had diabetic neuropathy according to the diagnostic criteria. On study of clinic records only 16% of patients had been previously diagnosed with neuropathy. 165(43%) subjects of the neuropathy group were diagnosed positive for both MNSI and DNI. The MNSI score was positively correlated with the PPBS level of the diabetic subjects (correlation coefficient 0.235, p=0.011). Conclusions: The data reveals a high frequency of diabetic neuropathy in this study. All diabetic patients should be screened for neuropathy annually in Sri Lanka as recommended by the American Diabetes Association. MNSI was confirmed as a useful, easily implementable tool to screen for neuropathy in diabetic clinics in Sri Lanka.


Introduction Copepods present the largest and most diverse group of zooplankton and their feeding behavior can affect top-down and bottom-up processes. Thus, how efficient feeding is executed determines the abundance of copepods' prey and their predators and, with that, carbon transfer and storage in ecosystems. The rise of anthropogenic underwater noise from shipping, oil exploration and exploitation, wind farm construction and operation, and more, is increasingly changing the marine acoustic environment. This acoustic pollution can have detrimental effects on biological life. Studies on this topic increasingly indicate that anthropogenic underwater noise adversely affects primary producers, marine mammals, fish, and invertebrates. However, little data exist on the effects of anthropogenic underwater noise on the feeding behavior of zooplankton. Methods Here, we investigated the ingestion and clearance rates of the copepod Acartia tonsa on a motile phytoplankton as a function of prey density under ambient aquarium sound conditions and, when exposed to playback, harbor traffic noise. Results We measured significantly decreased ingestion rates and clearance rates of A. tonsa when exposed to harbor noise compared to ambient conditions. The negative impact of noise on the ingestion rates was found at all given phytoplankton cell densities between 1k to 10k cells ml−1. Clearance rates were fitted to the Rogers random predator equation which revealed significantly decreased capture rates on phytoplankton under the exposure of harbor noise while handling times remained the same in both sound treatments. Discussion Our results call for follow-up studies to focus on noise driven community-effects in field experiments to confirm laboratory results and to predict the outcome of a changing world with multiple stressors. Further, the underlying mechanism on how noise affects the feeding behavior of copepods is still unknown. Noise may distract copepods or mask hydromechanical cues of the prey. Noise may also adversely affect copepod physiology or morphology that would lead to changes in the feeding behavior. All potential mechanisms need to be investigated rigorously in future experiments.


The pervasiveness of social media and the pressure for corporates to be more agile in delivering to customer needs and expectations has led organisations to more business process improvement initiatives. Social Media's features can drive organisation responsiveness to customer needs and change. Although social media is used aggressively in many businesses across the world, integration with business process improvement has not be been researched. This research focuses on the integration of social media into the business process improvement lifecycle to alleviate the current problems experienced in business process improvement. This research explores the current business process improvement issues and challenges and the value propositions of social media. A qualitative approach was used to collect data via multiple rounds of questionnaires with experts in business process improvement and social media. A conceptual research framework is proposed. Results are interpreted against the framework, leading to findings that include challenges and limitations. In practical terms, the research shows the possibilities and potential of social media in business process improvement by facilitating transparency, ease of communication and reducing cost during economic downturns. Despite extensive research in social media and business process improvement in their own right, there has been little progress on how the social media can be used as a tool in delivering business process improvements for organisations. Social media is an excellent collaboration tool for collecting valuable information for analysis and design from a larger stakeholder group. This paper addresses a gap in the literature relating to some of potential benefits of social media in business process improvement.


We present a novel visual exploration method based on small multiples and large singles for effective and efficient data analysis. Users are enabled to explore the state space by offering multiple alternatives from the current state. Users can then select the alternative of choice and continue the analysis. Furthermore, the intermediate steps in the exploration process are preserved and can be revisited and adapted using an intuitive navigation mechanism based on the well-known undo-redo stack and filmstrip metaphor. As proof of concept the exploration method is implemented in a prototype. The effectiveness of the exploration method is tested using a formal user study comparing four different interaction methods. By using Small Multiples as data exploration method users need fewer steps in answering questions and also explore a significantly larger part of the state space in the same amount of time, providing them with a broader perspective on the data, hence lowering the chance of missing important features. Also, users prefer visual exploration with small multiples over non-small multiple variants.


ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to estimate prevalence of patients with asthma in Greenland according to age, gender and residence and to investigate the associated quality of care. The study was performed as a cross-sectional study with data extracted from the Greenlandic electronical medical record. A total of 870 patients aged 12 years or above were diagnosed with asthma at the end of 2022, corresponding to a prevalence of 1.9%. In 2020, the total prevalence was 0.2%. The prevalence of patients aged 12 years or above with asthma was highest among patients in Nuuk (3.3%) compared with patients in the remaining parts of Greenland (1.1%). More women than men were diagnosed with asthma, and the prevalence increased with age from 20 to 59 years. The prevalence of current smokers was high among the asthma population. The quality of care was significantly higher among patients living in Nuuk for all process indicators compared with patients from the remaining parts of Greenland. The prevalence of asthma in Greenland is low compared to other comparable populations and might be underestimated. Initiatives supporting increased focus on diagnosing asthma are thus warranted.


User Experience (UX) is gaining momentum as a critical success factor across all industries and sectors, including libraries. While usability studies of library websites and related digital interfaces are commonplace, UX is becoming an increasingly popular topic of discussion in the community and is emerging as a new specialization for library professionals. To better understand this phenomenon, this paper reports the results of a qualitative study involving interviews with 16 librarians who have "User Experience" in their official job titles. The results show that UX Librarians share a user‐centered mindset and many common responsibilities, including user research, usability testing, and space/service assessments, but each individual UX Librarian is also somewhat unique in how they approach and describe their work. As a whole, the research sheds light on an emerging library specialization and provides a valuable snapshot of the current state of UX Librarianship.


The non-destructive testing and diagnosis of transport infrastructures is essential because of the need to protect these facilities for mobility, and for economic and social development. The effective and timely assessment of structural health conditions becomes crucial in order to assure the safety of the transportation system and time saver protocols, as well as to reduce excessive repair and maintenance costs. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is one of the most recommended non-destructive methods for routine subsurface inspections. This paper focuses on the on-site use of GPR applied to transport infrastructures, namely pavements, railways, retaining walls, bridges and tunnels. The methodologies, advantages and disadvantages, along with up-to-date research results on GPR in infrastructure inspection are presented herein. Hence, through the review of the published literature, the potential of using GPR is demonstrated, while the main limitations of the method are discussed and some practical recommendations are made.


ABSTRACT To cope with the fast urbanisation and population growth, the public and private sector housing developments in Kuala Lumpur have prioritised the high-rise apartment building. After decades' massive development, this housing type became the most dominant dwelling form in the city. For centuries, the traditional Malay house has evolved to suit to the vernacular lifestyle, but now the urban life mandates that people adapt themselves to this alien concrete house. This paper investigated the hidden cultural link between these two seemingly different house forms. Using graph-theoretic methods, we traced how old domestic activities were transferred to the modern housing and revealed how the old spatial order of front/back and high/low distinctions could be re-configured inside the high-rise apartment housing in a creative way by Malaysian architects. There have been frictions and compromises between the past and present, but the outcomes of this research clearly indicate that there exists a cultural DNA of Malay housing that guides the whole process of housing evolution.


BACKGROUND
Oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and essential hypertension (EHTN). However, the role of hypertension in causing increased oxidative stress in patients with CKD is unknown.

METHODS
We performed a case control study in patients with EHTN and those with equal blood pressure assessed by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring but with concomitant CKD. Those with diabetes mellitus and those taking renin angiotensin inhibitors were excluded. Biomarkers of oxidative stress, malondialdehyde (MDA) and protein carbonylation and total glutathione levels were measured.

RESULTS
Average (SD) 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure in 12 patients with CKD was 134 (17)/75 (16) compared to 134 (10)/80 (9) in 11 patients with EHTN (p = NS). Plasma MDA in CKD was 0.89 +/- 0.38 micromol/l compared to 0.68 +/- 0.16 micromol/l in EHTN (p = 0.07). Urinary MDA/creatinine ratio was 1.78 (0.31) in CKD vs 1.43 (0.69) micromol/g in those with EHTN (p = 0.04). Thus, lipid peroxidation was increased in urine of CKD patients. Patients with CKD had higher (1.04 (0.20) nmol) carbonyl/mg protein compared to those with EHTN (0.80 (0.21) nmol carbonyl/mg protein) (p = 0.03). Thus, protein carbonylation was increased in CKD patients. Total glutathione in CKD and EHTN patients was 6.6 (1.8) ng/ml and 7.3 (3.1) ng/ml (p = NS). There was a good correlation between biomarkers of lipid (MDA) and protein oxidation (protein carbonyls) (r = 0.6, p = 0.004).

CONCLUSIONS
Biomarkers of lipid and protein oxidation are higher in patients with CKD compared to EHTN despite similar blood pressure. Thus, nonhemodynamic factors such as inflammation and altered cellular redox state may play a greater role in the generation of oxidative stress in CKD.


Angiomyolipoma is a benign renal tumor that tends to grow with time We report a case of giant renal angiomyolipoma treated with complete  nephreouretrectomy. A 55-year-old woman presented with abdominal lump since 2yrs  . Subsequent computed tomography scan of the abdomen showed large well circumscribed mainly fat attenuated round lesion in left side of abdomen suggestive of a large exophytic left renal angiomyolipoma with left hydroureteronephrosis . Decision to proceed with nephrouretrectomy was taken  because of the risk of spontaneous bleeding, the tumor size, and the patient's symptoms. The patient underwent successful left total nepherouretrectomy. The mass grossly measured 25 × 18 x 12 cms and weighed 6.5 kgs . To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest angiomyolipoma treated with total nepherouretrectomy surgery to date.


Building on the Court's heightened interest in class action litigation, the Court during the 2012-13 term issued an unprecedented six decisions dealing with class action issues. However, scholars searching for coherent class action jurisprudence will have to await another day (maybe another decade); consistent with its other recent decisions, the Court rendered class action opinions that favored both sides of the docket. Plaintiff and defense counsel both may claim some large and small victories in this term's class action decisions. Nonetheless, the Court continues its plodding case-by-case approach to class litigation that fails to illuminate any overarching abstract theory of aggregate litigation. Instead, the Court's attitude towards class action litigation is chiefly characterized by pragmatism and not-so-veiled policy concerns. Moreover, the 2012-13 class action decisions highlight the Court's liberal and conservative division, with the Court's conservative wing prevailing generally in its antipathy toward class litigation. As the Court's conservatives incrementally make it more difficult to pursue class litigation, the Court's liberals have become more vociferous in expressing their dismay over shrinking access to justice for large groups of claimants. The Court's six class action cases embraced a grab bag of issues. The two most closely watched cases, Amgen, Inc. v. Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds (Docket No.11-1085) and Comcast v. Behrend (Docket No.11-864), dealt with class certification requirements. In another pair of appeals the Court again returned to its fascination with problems of class-wide arbitration clauses: Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter (Docket No.12-135) and American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant (Docket No.12-133). Finally, two appeals addressed jurisdictional requirements for class actions: in Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles (Docket No.11-1450), the Court considered pleading issues under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, and in Genesis HealthCare Corp. v. Symczyk (Docket No.11-1059) the Court focused on standing issues for collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act. This article evaluates the significance and impact of the Court's six class action decisions during the 2012-13 term, commenting on the Court's incremental refinement of Rule 23 as well as the Court's failure to address significant class action issues.


This article describes the consultancy provided by the UTEC-UNED-TECSUP University Consortium to six national universities in Peru, during the COVID-19 state of emergency. This action aims to promote the techno-pedagogical change from a face-to-face to a virtual/online educational context. The process consists of three stages that ensured the continuity of the virtual/online educational service: diagnosis, design, and training, to strengthen instructional and digital competencies, support, and techno-pedagogical monitoring. It includes the basic principles of constructivist and constructionist learning theories for active and quality teaching and learning for the agents involved, and, in addition, the guidelines set by the emerging Peruvian regulations during the pandemic to move towards a digital university model according to the times. After a 157-day intervention, the analysis of the results raises some reflections: the importance of the socio-cultural context and its influence on the concept and development of the instructional act; the concept of distance learning in territories where connectivity is the main difficulty, and the university institution, in terms of a non-presential educational model with open and versatile methodologies, which anticipates a long process, involves a scheduled follow-up, requires fluid communication and demands continuous feedback.


Abstract We propose a simple modification of Hamilton's time series filter that yields reliable and economically meaningful real-time output gap estimates. The original filter relies on 8 quarter ahead forecast errors of a simple autoregression of real GDP. While this approach yields a cyclical component that is hardly revised with new incoming data due to the one-sided filtering approach, it does not cover typical business cycle frequencies evenly, but mutes short and amplifies medium length cycles. Further, as the estimated trend contains high-frequency noise, it can hardly be interpreted as potential GDP. A simple modification based on the mean of 4 to 12 quarter ahead forecast errors shares the favorable real-time properties of the Hamilton filter, but leads to a much better coverage of typical business cycle frequencies and a smooth estimated trend. Based on output growth and inflation forecasts and a comparison to revised output gap estimates from policy institutions, we find that real-time output gaps based on the modified and the original Hamilton filter are economically much more meaningful measures of the business cycle than those based on other simple statistical trend-cycle decomposition techniques, such as the HP or bandpass filter, and should thus be used preferably.


Many studies have examined how people recall the locations of objects in spatial layouts. However, little is known about how people monitor the accuracy of judgments based on those memories. The goal of the present experiments was to examine the effect of reference frame characteristics on metacognitive accuracy for spatial judgments. Reference frame characteristics include the alignment of one's viewpoint with the structure of the environment (allocentric alignment), direction of the target with respect to one's current viewpoint (egocentric direction), and the type of perspective used to solve the task (egocentric vs. allocentric). Participants were tested on their knowledge of a well-known location in which they had experience navigating. They were asked to orient themselves toward a particular heading and point to target landmarks from this heading. They then rated their confidence in their pointing judgments. Confidence judgments were sensitive to the effects of allocentric alignment and egocentric direction on performance. However, they underestimate the magnitude of these effects. Follow-up regression analyses indicate that confidence in individual landmarks was a stronger predictor of confidence than reference frame characteristics. Overall, the results suggest that people use reference frame features and landmark confidence when monitoring performance in directional judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record


reference care of worried and "difficult" patients and the handling of particular problems such as the social and psychological management of terminal cases, we need the services of trained social workers whose jdb is primarily personal contact with the patient. We should value the essential and excellent help that they can give in overall patient care when encouraged in this function by members of the medical profession who do not find their presence threatening. -We are, etc., GILLIAN STRATFORD Department of Psychiatry, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham H. A. WALDRON Department of Social Medicine, The Medical School, Birmingham


In this study, the MRE was manufactured, and the sandwich beam was also fabricated by treating with MRE between two thin aluminum layers. The experiment test rig was set up to investigate the vibration response of the MRE sandwich beam under non-homogeneous magnetic field. The experimental results show that the MRE sandwich beam had the capabilities of left shifting first natural frequency when the magnetic field was increased in the activated regions. It is also obvious that the first natural frequency of the MRE sandwich beam decreased as the magnetic field that applied on the beam was moved from the clamped end of the beam to the free end of the beam.


ABSTRACT This paper investigates the responsibilities and membership of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in England in the light of devolution of employment and skills responsibilities. Through the theoretical lens of 'hollowing out' and a direct comparison with the late-Thatcherite Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) of the 1990s, the paper argues that LEPs represent a fresh, market-driven attempt by the government to alter the institutional framework for meeting local labour market needs through 'local business leadership'. However, through a synthesis of publicly available data across all LEPs, the paper shows that while LEPs assume important strategic and practical roles, their structure, resourcing and sectoral affiliations are poorly aligned for the engagement of local employers. Rather, it is argued, LEPs may be characterised as distant business elites, with only weak connections to local employment and skills priorities. Conclusions are drawn about the implications of distant and elite LEPs boards for future employment and skills policy.


The first documented cattle artificial insemination (AI) in Nigeria dated back to 1949. Other recorded cattle artificial insemination in the country could be traced to when the federal Government of Nigeria under the auspices of Ahmadu Bello University. Zaria, established Artificial Insemination Unit at the National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) IN 1976. Various limiting factors and constraints that prevented artificial insemination from being popular in the country were mentioned. Various causes of infertility in animals were listed. The success or failure of artificial insemination practice as could be affected by microorganisms in the semen, semen preservatives, semen extenders and storage temperatures were discussed in relation to work already done in Nigeria and other countries.


BACKGROUND/AIM
Atherosclerotic-occlusive changes could be observed in orofacial branches of the external carotid artery. Atherosclerosis-induced ischemia caused alteration in production and release of endothelial factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of carotid artery occlusion (10, 30 and 60 min) on vascular effects of norepinephrine (NOR) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the isolated glandular branch of the rabbit facial artery, the main feeding artery for the submandibular gland.

METHOD
Changes in isometric tension were recorded in organ bath studies with arterial rings, before and after carotid artery occlusion.

RESULTS
Concentration-dependent vasocontractile effect of NOR was significantly augmented after 30 and 60 min of carotid occlusion, but only in the rings with intact endothelium. Given alone, NPY showed no effect in isolated glandular branch of the rabbit facial artery, but enhanced NOR vasoconstriction in all the investigated rings. NOR vasocontractile effect enhancement in the presence of NPY was attenuated after 30 and 60 min of carotid occlusion. Also, enhancement of NOR vasoconstriction by NPY was significantly higher in endothelium-intact rings compared to endothelium-denuded rings obtained after 30 and 60 min of carotid occlusion.

CONCLUSION
The present investigation provides results of increased vasocontractile effect of NOR and decreased enhancing effect of NPY on NOR vasoconstriction in the rabbit facial artery after carotid occlusion that is related to altered endothelium function.


The purpose of this special issue is to demonstrate the depth and breadth of the ways that sound considerations can significantly contribute to the field of Educational Foundations. An interdisciplinary and international field, Sound Studies has tackled subfields and themes familiar to those who work in educational foundations. For example, there has been work on sound histories, sound philosophies, sound culture, sound/race, and sound methodologies. As noted in a recent article in the twentieth anniversary issue of Qualitative Inquiry, there has also been a burgeoning attention to sound scholarship in education. Not dissimilar to a similar move made in curriculum studies, contributors to this issue will attend to and otherwise explore sound possibilities for educational theory, policy and practice. To these ends contributors will interrupt both everyday, commonsense understandings and longstanding theoretical foundations that tend to be predicated on the ocular. This special issue is open to the many forms for documenting contradictions and trends, theoretical elaboration, empirical scholarship, and methodological innovation with and through sound concepts and tools.


A new receiver for Miller-squared encoded signals that has a 50% lower operating speed than its predecessors, which reconstruct the encoded signal before decoding the original data, is described. The reduction is achieved by using partial-response techniques to detect a linearly transformed and decimated version of the encoded signal, from which the original data can be recovered by means of a simple decoder. Simulation results for stylized recording systems with differentiating and magnetoresistive playback heads are presented. Simulations confirm the feasibility of the proposed approach and indicate that the performance of the receiver improves upon that of its conventional counterpart under certain conditions. >


Draws parallels between the problematic use of GDP to evaluate economic success with the use of global university rankings to evaluate university success. Inspired by Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics, this perspective argues that the pursuit of growth as measured by such indicators creates universities that 'grow' up the rankings rather than those which 'thrive' or 'mature'. Such growth creates academic wealth divides within and between countries, despite the direction of growth as inspired by the rankings not truly reflecting universities' critical purpose or contribution. Highlights the incompatibility between universities' alignment with socially responsible practices and continued engagement with socially irresponsible ranking practices. Proposes four possible ways of engendering change in the university rankings space. Concludes by calling on leaders of 'world-leading' universities to join together to 'lead the world' in challenging global university rankings, and to set their own standards for thriving and maturing universities.


Right from the very beginning, the founders of the Red Cross were interested in improving military medical equipment; this remained a concern of the movement for many years (1863–1925). Later, attention was devoted to standardizing this equipment (1925–1934). Then, at a third stage, the Red Cross concentrated on studying and developing military medical equipment (1934–1938).


Background/Aims Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global challenge due to little available knowledge and treatment protocols. Thus, there is a great need for collecting data related to COVID-19 from all around the world. Hence, we conducted this study, collecting daily data on COVID-19, to map the epidemiology outbreak and forecast its trajectory for May 2020. Methodology The data was collected from the officially released reports of the National Institute of Health (NIH), Pakistan, and the World Health Organization (WHO). The analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY), and forecasting was done using a simple moving average in time series modeler/expert modeler. Results The purpose of this study is to draw the attention of international, as well as national, governing bodies to the rapidly rising number of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan, and the urgency of evaluating the efficacy of the currently implemented strategy against COVID-19. According to this study, there is now an alarming increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in Pakistan, despite a contained spread in the beginning. The predicted number of COVID-19 cases can go over 35,000 by the end of May 2020. Conclusion It is crucial for governing bodies, administrators, and researchers to re-evaluate the current situation, designed policies, and implemented strategies.


Moxifloxacin (MFX) is a potential oral agent use in the treatment of multidrug-resistance tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Due to variability in pharmacokinetics and in vitro susceptibility of causative bacteria, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of MFX is recommended. Conventional plasma sampling for TDM is facing logistical challenges, especially in limited resource areas, and dried blood spots (DBS) sampling may offer a chance to overcome this problem. The objective of this study was to develop a LC–MS/MS method for determination of MFX in dried blood spots (DBS) that is applicable for TDM. The influence of paper type, the hematocrit (Hct) and the blood volume per spot (Vb) on the estimated blood volume in a disc (Vest) was investigated. The extracts of 8 mm diameter discs punched out from DBS were analyzed using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) with cyanoimipramin as internal standard. The method was validated with respect to selectivity, linearity, accuracy, precision, sensitivity, recovery and stability. The effect of Hct and Vb on LC–MS/MS analytical result was also investigated. The relationship between MFX concentrations in venous and finger prick DBS and those in plasma was clinically explored. Vest was highly influenced by Hct while the effect of Vb appeared to be different among paper types. Calibration curves were linear in the range of 0.05–6.00 mg/L with inter-day and intra-day precisions and biases of less than 11.1%. The recovery was 84.5, 85.1 and 92.6% in response to blood concentration of 0.15, 2.50 and 5.00 mg/L, respectively. A matrix effect of less than 11.9% was observed. MFX in DBS was stable for at least 4 weeks at room condition (temperature of 25 ◦C and humidity of 50%). A large range of Hct value produced a significant analytical bias and it can be corrected with resulting DBS size. A good correlation between DBS and plasma concentrations was observed and comparable results between venous DBS and finger prick DBS was attained. This fully validated method is suitable for determination of MFX in dried blood spot and applicable for TDM.


Accumulation of molecular alterations, including EGFR overexpression and mutations in KRAS and BRAF, contribute to colorectal carcinogenesis. Since intestinal-type adenocarcinoma (ITAC) of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinus has morphologic and phenotypic features that are usually indistinguishable from colorectal cancer (CRC), it is likely that both tumor types share equivalent genetic alterations. Data from a series of 43 patients treated surgically for ITAC in Montpellier, France between November 1998 and December 2012 were collected. Tumors were characterized for mutations in KRAS and BRAF as well as EGFR overexpression. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were constructed using overall survival as the primary end points. Patient survival was analyzed using the hazards ratio. Twenty seven tumors (63%) showed EGFR positivity and 30% exhibited a high expression level (+2/+3). KRAS mutations were detected in 43% of cases. BRAF mutations were identified in 3.6% of specimens. Patients with age superior to 60 years, metastatic status, and KRAS mutations had significant overall survival values (p = 0.026, p = 0.001 and p = 0.03, respectively). Our results indicate that KRAS mutations and EGFR expression are frequent in ITAC and that KRAS mutations predict good patient prognosis in ITAC. Finally, EGFR directed molecular treatments could be investigated in a subset of patients affected by ITAC.


Aim Ecological niche modelling is being widely applied to help us understand the geographic distributions of species, despite challenges regarding the estimation of fundamental niches that limit model transferability over time and space. Mechanistic models are an alternative,but they can be difficult to implement owing to the detailed knowledge that they require about the organism for full parameterization. In this paper we explore the geographic projection of physiological measurements of optimal temperature,precipitation and relative humidity requirements,as measured under controlled conditions using a climate dataset with high temporal resolution,as a case study for Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides),and compare scaling effects with correlative niche models calibrated in Maxent. Location The Americas. Methods We used climate data with a high temporal resolution to understand how often and where populations of Spanish moss occur under optimal and suboptimal conditions with respect to different environmental variables across their geographic range. We used weather station data for the United States with higher spatial resolution to provide a finer-grained view. We also developed an ecological niche model to show how averaged climate data can present inaccurate views of physiological thresholds for the species. Results Few populations of Spanish moss are located at sites that present suboptimal conditions for more than two environmental parameters. The northern distributional limit of Spanish moss is set by minimum temperature requirements, whereas maximum temperatures are less limiting. However, when the same occurrences are analysed with respect to averaged climate data, 95% of populations appear to fall within the optimal physiological intervals. Main conclusions Our analyses revealed that most populations of Spanish moss do not experience optimal ecophysiological conditions for all environmental variables, even over long time-scales. Physiological data may be of limited utility in delimiting suitable areas for populations of species, but they offer unique perspectives on the causes of range limitation.


Progressive valgus ankle deformity is a problematic postoperative donor-site morbidity of a vascularized fibular graft in children. To prevent this complication, tibiofibular metaphyseal synostosis (the Langenskiöld procedure) has been recommended. The authors objectively evaluated the preventive and therapeutic effects of this procedure on five children who had received free vascularized fibular grafts.Their average age at the time of operation was 3 years (range: 1 to 9 years).The Langenskiöld procedure was performed primarily in four patients, and not in one patient. The anteroposterior (A-P) mortise angle and the empirical axis of the donor-site ankle were measured radiographically. With regard to the A-P mortise angle, four of five patients showed valgus with a mild lateral wedging of the distal tibial epiphysis. The patient who did not receive the operation showed the largest A-P mortise angle and mild osteoarthritic changes. The empirical axis exceeded normal range in all of the five patients. These observations indicated that valgus deformity of the ankle in children after harvesting a vascularized fibular graft is inevitable, even if the Langenskiöld procedure is performed. The procedure can delay the ankle valgus. The authors recommend close follow-up of the children who receive the Langenskiöld procedure after harvesting a vascularized fibular graft.


Clamping Down Crystal structures of RNA polymerase show that a "clamp" region which surrounds the DNA binding site can adopt conformations ranging from a closed to an open state. Chakraborty et al. (p. 591) used single-molecule fluorescence energy transfer experiments to detect the clamp's conformational changes in solution during the transcription cycle. The results support a model in which a clamp opening allows DNA to be loaded into the active-center cleft and unwound. Direct interactions with DNA likely trigger clamp closure upon formation of a catalytically competent transcription initiation complex. Single-molecule fluorescence measurements define the clamp conformation during transcription initiation and elongation. Using single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer, we have defined bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP) clamp conformation at each step in transcription initiation and elongation. We find that the clamp predominantly is open in free RNAP and early intermediates in transcription initiation but closes upon formation of a catalytically competent transcription initiation complex and remains closed during initial transcription and transcription elongation. We show that four RNAP inhibitors interfere with clamp opening. We propose that clamp opening allows DNA to be loaded into and unwound in the RNAP active-center cleft, that DNA loading and unwinding trigger clamp closure, and that clamp closure accounts for the high stability of initiation complexes and the high stability and processivity of elongation complexes.


Introduction: The most appropriate treatment for parapneumonic effusion (PPE), including empyema, is controversial. We analyzed the experience of our center and the hospitals in its reference area after adopting a more conservative approach that reduced the use of chest tube pleural drainage (CTPD). Methods: Review of the clinical documentation of all PPE patients in nine hospitals from 2010 to 2018. Results: A total of 318 episodes of PPE were reviewed; 157 had a thickness of <10 mm. The remaining 161 were 10 mm or thicker and were subdivided into three increasing sizes: PE+1, PE+2, and PE+3. There was a strong relationship between the size of the effusion and complicated effusion/empyema, defined by its appearance on imaging studies or by the physical or bacteriological characteristics of the pleural fluid. The size of effusion was also strongly related to the duration of fever and intravenous treatment and was the best independent predictor of the length of hospital stay (LHS) (p < 0.001). CTPD was placed in 2.9% of PE+1 patients, 19.3% of PE+2, and 63.9% of PE+3 (p < 0.001). The referral of patients with PE+1 decreased over time (p = 0.033), as did the use of CTPD in the combined PE+1/PE+2 group (p = 0.018), without affecting LHS (p = 0.814). There were no changes in the use of CTPD in the PE+3 group (p = 0.721). Conclusions: The size of the PPE is strongly correlated with its severity and with LHS. Most patients can be treated with antibiotics alone.


The solar radiation regime on differently oriented surfaces of the shallow-water coral Goniastrea aspera is markedly different Field experiments involving rotation of small (20 cm diameter) hemispherical colonies exposed hitherto protected surfaces of the colonies to high levels of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) whilst reducing PAR on the opposite surface. Photodamage and recovery, respectively, were recorded in the symbiotic algae using non-invasive chlorophyll fluorescence techniques. Measurements of photochemical efficiency (FJF,) indicated that the Photosystem I1 (PSII) reaction centres of algae in previously protected surfaces suffered 'chronic' photoinhibition, probably on a timescale of 3 h, as a result of exposure to elevated solar PAR. Furthermore, evidence from this study corroborates earlier findings that this photodamage is a function of high PAR irradiance for short periods rather than a similar dose accumulated more slowly. Sin~ultaneously, algae on the opposite surfaces were observed to recover their photochemical efficiency, but this recovery was at a much slower rate involving several days at reduced PAR. The photodamage was sufficiently severe to lead to the formation of visible lesions (bleached areas). Observations of coral polyp retraction and nleasurements of the protective xanthophyll pigments in the algae showed behavioural and photoprotective mechanisms being deployed to mitigate the photodamage.


We investigate the determinants of application for Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) benefits in approximately 45 jurisdictions between 1981 and 1999. We reproduce findings of previous studies of the determinants of DI application then test the additional influence of changes to workers' compensation program benefits and rules on DI application rates. Our findings indicate that the programs are interrelated: When workers' compensation benefits declined and eligibility rules tightened in the 1990s, the DI application rate increased.


Current technological innovations and continuous change in the labor market have generated new challenges for higher education, and thrown new light upon the importance of competency development in engineering education. Responsibility, flexibility, communication and collaborative skills, self-motivation, problem-solving and innovation are the most required skills by employers. However, individual differences like personality traits or interpersonal skills of students can also be considered relevant factors influencing teachers' attitudes towards integration of effective methods into engineering education. The purpose of this paper is to examine the competencies of undergraduates attending Engineering Informatics education, and to identify their personal needs for development in the light of workplace demands. Personality characteristics of Engineering Informatics students are also addressed in this research in order to reveal possible ways of involving them into the teaching and learning process by implementing new methods or approaches in Engineering Informatics education in Hungary.


The increasing penetration of wind energy in power systems has forced operators worldwide to develop new grid codes to integrate this form of generation. One important aspect of the problem is the low-voltage ride-through capability of wind generators. This paper describes a solution for wind farms with squirrel-cage asynchronous generators based on the use of a dynamic voltage restorer. Along with a specifically developed control scheme, it provides the wind generator the ability to remain connected during a voltage disturbance and, at the same time, to fulfill the demanding reactive power requirements imposed by recent grid codes. The main experimental results of extensive laboratory tests on system performance are also presented.


We report the preliminary results of a survey for water vapor in a sample of eight C stars with large mid-IR continuum fluxes: V384 Per, CIT 6, V Hya, Y CVn, IRAS 15194-5115, V Cyg, S Cep, and IRC+40540. This survey, performed using the HIFI instrument on board the Herschel Space Observatory , entailed observations of the lowest transitions of both ortho- and para-water: the 556.936 GHz 1 10 − 1 01 and 1113.343 GHz 1 11 − 0 00 transitions, respectively. Water vapor was unequivocally detected in all eight of the target stars. Prior to this survey, IRC+10216 was the only carbon-rich AGB star from which thermal water emissions had been discovered, in that case with the use of the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) . Our results indicate that IRC+10216 is not unusual, except insofar as its proximity to Earth leads to a large line flux that was detectable with SWAS . The water spectral line widths are typically similar to those of CO rotational lines, arguing against the vaporization of a Kuiper belt analog (Ford & Neufeld 2001) being the general explanation for water vapor in carbon-rich AGB stars. There is no apparent correlation between the ratio of the integrated water line fluxes to the 6.3 micron continuum flux – a ratio which measures the water outflow rate – and the total mass-loss rate for the stars in our sample.


With the starting point in a story about a dancer with a profound disability, the topic for critical discussion in this article is prenatal diagnosis in the Nordic countries in light of concepts of what it means to be human and human fulfilment. More specifically, the focus is on human life with limited capabilities and how a widened view of such a life is crucial in the task of creating a society where all human beings can be perceived as desirable and of equal worth. In the first part of this article the practice of prenatal diagnosis is showed to be filled with narrow conceptions of what it means to be human and perspectives are brought to light that can be argued to have been made invisible in the introduction and implementation of prenatal diagnosis in the Nordic countries as well as in the ethical debate. In the second part, the vision and actualization of L'Arche is discussed as an example of how befriending people with disabilities can challenge mainstream ethical narratives and widen a narrow view of morality and what it means to be human.


Water is essential for life, but in many cases the water used was not always in accordance with the requirements of health because of the pollution that occurs in water, especially groundwater contaminated by heavy metal pollutants cadmium (Cd) due to excessive use of fertilizers in farming. The objective of the research is to determine the content of cadmium (Cd) in the wells water and construction of the wells around the rice fields in Desa Mompang Kecamatan Padangsidimpuan Angkola Julu Kota Padangsidimpuan. This research used a descriptive survey design to describe the content of cadmium (Cd) in wells water around the rice fields in qualitative and quantitative results obtained from laboratory tests based Permenkes RI No. 416/MEN/KES/IX/1990 about terms and Water Quality Monitoring, and used the Hit Chain. Sample was selected by purposive sampling about 30 wells. The results showed that all of the well was cadmium (Cd) contented. There as many as 17 wells (56.7%) did not qualified. Quantitatively in the lowest well water contained in the well 24 was 0.00276 mg/l and the highest content found in wells 4 was 0.00684 mg/l. Water conditions and wells construction were in the intermediate level of contamination of cadmium (Cd) with 60,0% Researchers had assumed that the entry of cadmium (Cd) into the wells public in Desa Mompang tanded to increase in wells within l10 meters from the rice fields to obtain quite high runoff pollution burden derived from the remnants of phosphate fertilizers that settled and accumulated on the ground then influenced by the construction of dug wells were unstandarized made perfect pollutants into wells. It was recommended to the farmers in Desa Mompang Kecamatan Padangsidimpuan Angkola Julu Kota Padangsidimpuan to use fertilizer according to the recommended dosage so it didn't impact on the environment, especially water well contamination.


In 1999, a non-government school with a long tradition of "boys only" education in South Australia introduced co-education at the secondary school level. The following year, girls were admitted at the primary school level. Educational achievement and perceptions of the psychosocial climate of the school's learning environment were measured in all primary and secondary students at the end of this momentous year and again one year later. Questionnaires measuring students' perceptions of the relationship dimensions of cohesiveness, friction and satisfaction and the personal dimensions of competitiveness and difficulty were administered, together with a test of achievement. Interesting differences were found in student achievement and perceptions of the school's climate, over time and across the grade levels.


This review focuses on molecular ensemble junctions in which the individual molecules of a monolayer each span two electrodes. This geometry favors quantum mechanical tunneling as the dominant mechanism of charge transport, which translates perturbances on the scale of bond lengths into nonlinear electrical responses. The ability to affect these responses at low voltages and with a variety of inputs, such as de/protonation, photon absorption, isomerization, oxidation/reduction, etc., creates the possibility to fabricate molecule-scale electronic devices that augment; extend; and, in some cases, outperform conventional semiconductor-based electronics. Moreover, these molecular devices, in part, fabricate themselves by defining single-nanometer features with atomic precision via self-assembly. Although these junctions share many properties with single-molecule junctions, they also possess unique properties that present a different set of problems and exhibit unique properties. The primary trade-off of ensemble junctions is complexity for functionality; disordered molecular ensembles are significantly more difficult to model, particularly atomistically, but they are static and can be incorporated into integrated circuits. Progress toward useful functionality has accelerated in recent years, concomitant with deeper scientific insight into the mediation of charge transport by ensembles of molecules and experimental platforms that enable empirical studies to control for defects and artifacts. This review separates junctions by the trade-offs, complexity, and sensitivity of their constituents; the bottom electrode to which the ensembles are anchored and the nature of the anchoring chemistry both chemically and with respect to electronic coupling; the molecular layer and the relationship among electronic structure, mechanism of charge transport, and electrical output; and the top electrode that realizes an individual junction by defining its geometry and a second molecule–electrode interface. Due to growing interest in and accessibility of this interdisciplinary field, there is now sufficient variety in each of these parts to be able to treat them separately. When viewed this way, clear structure–function relationships emerge that can serve as design rules for extracting useful functionality.


"In northwest Australia fourteen species and subspecies of Globotruncana, ranging in age from Cenomanian or Turonian to Maestrichtian, have been found in surface and well samples from the Carnarvon basin. Many species that are common in the European upper Cretaceous also appear in the upper Cretaceous of northwest Australia, where their stratigraphic distribution is likewise of considerable value in correlation. Quantitative analysis of microfaunas containing Globotruncana suggests that the members of this genus are benthonic, at least in the adult stages, and not entirely planktonic as formerly supposed." The systematic descriptions include a description of G. (Globotruncana) planata n.sp.


IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) which is characterized by an autoimmune abnormality and elevated serum IgG4 level often presents as swelling, nodules, and the thickening of multiple organs. It typically occurs in middle-aged to elderly patients, but its pathogenesis remains unclear. Lymphadenopathy is frequently seen in IgG4-RD, which clinically requires a differential diagnosis from malignant lymphoma. We herein report a case of malignant lymphoma with IgG4-RD arising in a very elderly man.An 85-year old man with a 6-year history of autoimmune pancreatitis was diagnosed as IgG4-related hypophysitis 13 months prior to admission. Hydrocortisone was prescribed for secondary adrenal insufficiency after this presentation. At 9 months before admission, he began to suffer from central diabetes insipidus, and desmopressin was also prescribed at that time. However, 9 months later, he presented with fever, weight loss, and systemic lymphadenopathy while demonstrating elastic hardness, flexibility, and no tenderness. A pathologic specimen obtained from a right axillary lymph node biopsy revealed diffuse large B cell lymphoma. Considering his age and performance status, palliative therapy was chosen, and thus prednisolone was administered. He was transferred to another hospital to receive palliative care on the 55th day after hospitalization.We should consider the clinical course, pathological findings, serum IgG4 level, and other involved organs in order to differentiate malignant lymphoma from IgG4-related lymphadenopathy. To our knowledge, this case is the oldest known patient to have ever been reported. Both IgG4-RD and malignant lymphoma are frequently seen in elderly people, therefore, we should deepen our knowledge of these diseases.


Abstract A systematic collation of geotechnical information has given engineering geology an important role in the renewal of London's docklands. It has provided a ready source of information to other parties and allowed an improvement in the understanding of the regional engineering geology of the area. A microcomputer database, termed GEODASY, was devised specifically to store the data. This allowed for a projected 10 000 boreholes and holds both stratigraphic as well as field and laboratory test data. The data can be retrieved in a variety of formats. The basic output is a tabulated format which collates and unifies the presentation of the data. Other graphical output produces scaled plans or long sections while preprocessing by the system during enquiry gives X-Y plots allowing a high level of interpretation of the data. The approach could be similarly used wherever there is a strongly defined area of interest.


This study investigated the cross-cultural social skills use of international students in Japan. One hundred and forty questionnaires were sent out and 102 were returned. Participants evaluated their skills use with 21 items pertaining to cross-cultural social skills in Japan, which were considered useful in forming interpersonal relationships with their Japanese hosts. They also evaluated how common such skills were in their own countries. The skills were divided into the following four categories: (a) skills used in Japan and recognized as being used in home countries, which seemed to be applications of original behavior repertory (Maintained skills); (b) skills used in Japan but not recognized in their own countries, which seemed to be developed in the Japanese sociocultural context (Acquired skills); (c) skills recognized in their home countries but not used in Japan, which seemed to be somehow suppressed in Japan (Avoided skills); and (d) skills rarely used in Japan and rarely recognized in their home countries, which seemed to be undesired (Neglected skills). Some skills were relatively common in their own countries but not always highly used in Japan. Students with higher Japanese proficiency or a longer duration of stay in Japan tended to show higher skills use. However, the assumption that students from neighboring countries were more skillful was not supported. The psychological background of cross-cultural social skills use was also discussed.


Background: The most common method used to identify performance determining biomechanical factors has been to compare differences between individuals. This group analysis approach assumes that the movement strategy for all individuals is the same. However, not every athlete has the same neuromuscular capacity, anthropometries and muscle morphology. It may be more appropriate to make inferences about an individual's movement strategy by treating each individual as their own experiment group, examining differences between repetitions of an individual's own performance, referred to as individual analysis. The aim of the study is to identify the performance determining biomechanical factors of countermovement vertical jumping, at both a group level and individual level and to highlight the commonality and differences between the two approaches. The study also aims to determine whether drop jumps (DJs) overload the performance driving kinetic factors of the countermovement jump (CMJ), thereby assessing the appropriateness of DJs as a training method.

Experiment: Eighteen male university students performed 15 countermovement jumps (CMJ), 15 drop jumps from 0 30m (DJ30) and 15 from 0 50m (DJ50). From ground reaction force and motion data, kinematic, kinetic and coordination parameters were calculated for the whole body, hip, knee and ankle Correlation analysis was used to identify the biomechanical factors that may explain differences in jump height achieved, both between individuals (inter-subject) and within repetitions of an individual (intra-subject). Differences in kinetic factors between the CMJ, the DJ30 and the DJ50 at a group level was assessed using a two-way repeated measures ANOVA, and at an individual level using a single subject repeated measures ANOVA.

Results: A number of biomechanical factors were found to be significantly correlated with CMJ height at a group level. These however, were not always correlated at the individual level, and visa versa Opposing relationships were evident at the individual level, both between individuals and compared to the group analysis Knee kinetic parameters were significantly greater in the DJ than the CMJ at a group level and for the majority of subjects at an individual level. In contrast, both ankle and hip kinetics were not overloaded in the DJ at the group level, although an overload of ankle kinetic parameters was achieved by a number of individuals.

Conclusion: Results from a group and individual analysis are not always comparable. A considerable amount of important information may be lost regarding individual performance strategies when only a group analysis is employed. However, the use of solely an individual analysis based approach would not reveal any performance factors relating to differences between subjects, and a case for a group based analysis to be used to supplement an individual analysis therefore exist. Knee kinetic factors were overloaded in the DJ compared to the CMJ, while hip kinetics factors were not and the overload of ankle kinetic factors was found to be dependent on the DJ technique employed.

Key words vertical jump performance, countermovement jump, drop jump, mtrasubject variability, individualised technique, rate of force development.


A methodology of damage identification for the circumferentially cracked pipe is presented by using the quantitative relationship between crack size and reflection characteristics of guided waves. Firstly, the reflection characteristics and mode conversion behavior were theoretically studied by the 3-D finite element (FE) analysis. It is found that the reflection coefficients (RCs) of longitudinal L(0,2) and F(1,3) modes quantitatively is related to the circumferential length and radial depth of the crack. Then we present a novel method to quantitatively identify the crack. The feasibility of the proposed method was numerically investigated. The method only requires the longitudinal excitation mode of guided wave in the pipe, which shows the good potential for real application or in-situ damage monitoring. Introduction


Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is an international climate policy instrument that is expected to tap into the large mitigation potential for conservation and better management of the world's forests through financial flows from developed to developing countries. This paper describes the results and lessons learned from a pioneering REDD+ pilot project in Nepal, which is based on a community forest management approach and which was implemented from 2009–2013 with support from NORAD's Climate and Forest Initiative. The major focus of the project was to develop and demonstrate an innovative benefit-sharing mechanism for REDD+ incentives, as well as institutionally and socially inclusive approaches to local forest governance. The paper illustrates how community-based monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) and performance-based payments for forest management can be implemented. The lessons on REDD+ benefit sharing from this demonstration project could provide insights to other countries which are starting to engage in REDD+, in particular in South Asia.


Szymon Machajewski is an Affiliate Professor in the School of Computing and Information Systems at Grand Valley State University. An instructor for eight years, he currently teaches eight sections of Introduction to Computing annually. Szymon uses SAM (Skills Assessment Manager) — an interactive online learning environment that helps students master Microsoft® Office and other computer skills and concepts that are essential to academic and career success — in conjunction with the textbook Discovering Computers. Szymon discovered SAM in 2013 and saw the advantage in using a learning solution that gives students a self-paced, hands-on experience. "I was surprised at how successful SAM is at really bringing out what we've known now for a while, based on the research of Dr. Benjamin Bloom, that one-on-one instruction is most effective."