DavidHume, a member of the well-known Border family of Home, was born on April 26, 1711. After a period of preparatory training he matriculated at Edinburgh College in 1723, although he may have entered earlier. His course during this period is obscure; according to his own statement the curriculum was mainly literary; on leaving College he records that his interests lay predominantly in this direction, and, being left to his own choice, he was able to indulge his inclinations. An attempt to train him for a legal career ended in failure; and he continued to live at his ancestral home of Ninewells, to the west of Berwick, for some years, devoting himself


Regardless of its political couleur, every dictatorship seeks to control the literary scene in order to instrumentalize it for ideological purposes, to censor it, or to silence its voices of opposition. By recreating the background for the publication of Eça de Queirós' novels by the GDR publishing house Aufbau this article investigates whether state-controlled censorship also interfered with literary translations or even with the concrete work of the translators. The archives of the Aufbau Publishing House, interviews with contemporary witnesses, the analysis of selected original texts as well as of their translations serve to answer the question whether the censors' influence was limited to the state authorities' interference in the preselection process of book titles by the publishing house, or if hidden censorship could also be detected at the linguistic level, i.e., in ideologically justified manipulations of literary expressions in the translations themselves. (AK; in German)


Virtually from the inception of computers, the von Neumann model of computation has gone unchallenged as the accepted general purpose mechanism of computation. A Web-search on computational models does not reveal any alternatives to compete with it. Ideas like data-flow architectures and the biological computer have had little impact. Few have done any critical assessment of the von Neumann model. Backus stirred considerable interest in his paper questioning its merits. However twenty five years later on little has changed. A different angle is taken here in trying to make a critical assessment by considering addressing: a fundamental underpinning of the model. Firstly we need to establish if addressing is inherent to computation. Having established it is not, a brief study is critical analysis is made of addressing. Concluding that there can be significant benefits if alternative to addressing can be found.


Supernova (SN) cosmology without spectroscopic confirmation is an exciting new frontier, which we address here with the Bayesian Estimation Applied to Multiple Species (BEAMS) algorithm and the full three years of data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II Supernova Survey (SDSS-II SN). BEAMS is a Bayesian framework for using data from multiple species in statistical inference when one has the probability that each data point belongs to a given species, corresponding in this context to different types of SNe with their probabilities derived from their multi-band light curves. We run the BEAMS algorithm on both Gaussian and more realistic SNANA simulations with of order 104 SNe, testing the algorithm against various pitfalls one might expect in the new and somewhat uncharted territory of photometric SN cosmology. We compare the performance of BEAMS to that of both mock spectroscopic surveys and photometric samples that have been cut using typical selection criteria. The latter typically either are biased due to contamination or have significantly larger contours in the cosmological parameters due to small data sets. We then apply BEAMS to the 792 SDSS-II photometric SNe with host spectroscopic redshifts. In this case, BEAMS reduces the area of the Ωm, ΩΛ contours by a factor of three relative to the case where only spectroscopically confirmed data are used (297 SNe). In the case of flatness, the constraints obtained on the matter density applying BEAMS to the photometric SDSS-II data are ΩBEAMSm = 0.194 ± 0.07. This illustrates the potential power of BEAMS for future large photometric SN surveys such as Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.


The implementation of a turbulent gas-kinetic scheme into a finite-volume RANS solver is put forward, with two turbulent quantities, kinetic energy and dissipation, supplied by an allied turbulence model. This paper shows a number of numerical simulations of flow cases including an interaction between a shock wave and a turbulent boundary layer, where the shock-turbulent boundary layer is captured in a much more convincing way than it normally is by conventional schemes based on the Navier-Stokes equations. In the gas-kinetic scheme, the modeling of turbulence is part of the numerical scheme, which adjusts as a function of the ratio of resolved to unresolved scales of motion. In so doing, the turbulent stress tensor is not constrained into a linear relation with the strain rate. Instead it is modeled on the basis of the analogy between particles and eddies, without any assumptions on the type of turbulence or flow class. Conventional schemes lack multiscale mechanisms: the ratio of unresolved to resolved scales – very much like a degree of rarefaction – is not taken into account even if it may grow to non-negligible values in flow regions such as shocklayers. It is precisely in these flow regions, that the turbulent gas-kinetic scheme seems to provide more accurate predictions than conventional schemes.


This study aimed to elucidate the rate and predictors of early (6 months) therapeutic responses to lamivudine, the rate of early mortality and the use of the model for end‐stage liver disease (MELD) and Index in predicting the survival in patients with a clinical diagnosis of non‐cirrhotic chronic hepatitis B with decompensation. Ninety‐eight patients with lamivudine therapy were enrolled and MELD and Index scores were calculated. Surviving patients were treated with lamivudine for more than 6 months. Four (4.1%) of the 98 patients died after initiation of lamivudine therapy. After a 6‐month lamivudine therapy, 80 (85.1%) patients and 71 (75.5%) patients had normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) values and negative hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA (<200 copies/mL), respectively, and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)‐negative patients had a significantly higher rate of negative HBV DNA than HBeAg‐positive patients (P=0.002). The rates of HBeAg seroconversion and negative HBV DNA were 28.8 and 63.5%, respectively, and patients with HBeAg seroconversion had a significantly higher rate of negative HBV DNA (P=0.004). By multivariate analyses, older age, HBV nongenotype B infection, negative HBeAg and higher ALT levels were factors associated with negative HBV DNA, and a higher ALT level was associated with HBeAg seroconversion at month 6 after lamivudine therapy. MELD score and Index score were significantly associated with death and areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve for predicting survival were 0.936 and 0.907 respectively. We concluded that after 6‐month lamivudine therapy, the patients who survived achieved favourable biochemical, virological responses and rate of HBeAg seroconversion. Both MELD and Index scoring systems are good models to predict the 6‐month survival.


Initial stages of the epitaxial growth of CdTe and CdS film on substrates cooled to the temperatures below 0 ∞C are experimentally investigated. Electron diffraction patterns corresponding to the early stages of growth and photographs of the surface are presented. The experimentally revealed features (island size 20-25 nm, a δ-function size distribution of the islands, and a monotonic orientation process of the islands) are explained in the framework of a phenomenological theory of heterophase fluctuations and nucleation with the use of migration of solitons initiated by the misfit dislocations of crystal lattices.


Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) is correlated with cancer progression. In vitro detection methods using extracts from cell lysis cannot provide information about the spatial distribution of miRNAs. Due to the development of miRNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), increasing amounts of intracellular expression information are being obtained. However, miRNA FISH suffers from weak signals and complex steps and thus remains very challenging. Herein, a strategy based on DNA-templated silver nanoclusters (AgNCs/DNAs) and their G-rich fluorescence enhancement effect was developed for FISH detection of miRNAs in gastric cancer cells. The method combines hybridization and signal amplification into one step, which allows imaging of intracellular miRNAs immediately after hybridization. Most importantly, using the method based on our design, miR-101-3p, miR-16-5p and miR-19b-3p were found to be located in the nuclei of MGC803 cells with granulated shapes, indicating an unanticipated distribution pattern. In addition, before the final miRNA FISH, we performed an optimization of AgNCs/DNAs and their G-rich fluorescence enhancement effect; we found that the effect occurred at shorter wavelengths emitting green fluorescence, with weakened red fluorescence at longer wavelengths. However, the components involved in the FISH process impacted the fluorescence properties so greatly that the probes finally exhibited slightly strengthened red fluorescence signals. Our method enables facile visualization of miRNAs at the subcellular level, which may benefit the precise localization of miRNAs in single cells in the future.


Film culture in Nigeria has become very popular among Nigerian and transnational audiences especially in Africa to the extent that there is hardly a day people do not look for new films produced by Nollywood. In the same light, there is hardly a street in the country where one cannot find at least a video shop that distributes these films. Young and old people especially those in the rural areas are often found hanging around these shops to catch a glimpse of any of the films advertised by retail outlets. This has therefore proven the popularity of Nollywood productions among the people, who see in these films issues of culture that engage their attention and also try to give them awareness about socio-cultural practices that are common in the society. A major problem of concern is that although these films expose and treat cultural issues that affect the society, their promotion of a true national identity is questionable. In this regard, this paper is an attempt to examine how the films produced by Nollywood have been able to promote national identity vis-à-vis showcasing the cultural values of the people that can be cherished in the Nigerian society and beyond. Arguments on this will be done through qualitative (interview) method and supported by Kantian morality theory, which will help in concluding that as popular culture, Nigerian films have created among Nigerians and the world some cultural practices that tend to give the Nigerian people a negative identity.


This paper examines a class of real-time control systems in which each control task triggers its next release based on the value of the last sampled state. Prior work used simulations to demonstrate that self-triggered control systems can be remarkably robust to task delay. This paper derives bounds on a task's sampling period and deadline to quantify how robust the control system's performance will be to variations in these parameters. In particular we establish inequality constraints on a control task's period and deadline whose satisfaction ensures that the closed-loop system's induced L 2 gain lies below a specified performance threshold. The results apply to linear time-invariant systems driven by external disturbances whose magnitude is bounded by a linear function of the system state's norm. The plant is regulated by a full-information H infin controller. These results can serve as the basis for the design of soft real-time systems that guarantee closed-loop control system performance at levels traditionally seen in hard real-time systems.


A model describing the process of waiting's duration judgment is described and tested. The suggested model is based on attentional models of prospective duration judgment. It is assumed that in a waiting situation, an automatic process of prospective waiting judgment is activated, because while waiting both temporal relevance and temporal uncertainty are high. The degree to which attentional resources are allocated for prospective timing is determined by several factors like waiting expectations, social justice and the waiter's degree of impatience. 491 participants judged waiting's duration and degree of a waiter's impatience after reading a scenario in which a waiting situation was described. Sixteen scenarios in which waiting situational parameters were manipulated according to the suggested model, were presented. The results supported the hypothesized model of waiting's duration judgment.


: The report deals with an evaluation of the data on primary disability caused by malignant tumors in factory and office workers of the Republic within 20 years (1960-1979). The number of the disabled doubled in that period. However, the intensive indices of primary disability had remained practically unchanged until 1975 and showed a slight increase within the last years only. It is noteworthy that the percentage of Group I--II invalids in the overall structure of primary disability from malignant tumors is very ligh (95%).


Path computation is always the core topic in networking. The target of the path computation is to choose an appropriate path for the traffic flow. With the emergence of Software-defined networking (SDN), path computation moves from the distributed network nodes to a centralized controller. In this thesis, we will present a load balancing algorithm in SDN framework for popular data center networks and a fault management approach for hybrid SDN networks. The proposed load balancing algorithm computes and selects appropriate paths based on characteristics of data center networks and congestion status. In addition, a solution that supports proper operations of a hybrid SDN network will also be proposed. The evaluation shows the proposed load balancing algorithm performs better than classic shortest path algorithms. We also demonstrated that the proposed solution for hybrid SDN networks can support proper operations in complicated hybrid SDN networks.


The number of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the peripheral blood of metastatic breast cancer patients is now an established prognostic marker. While the central nervous system (CNS) is a common site of metastasis in breast cancer, the standard marker for disease progression in this setting is cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytology. However, the significance of CSF cytology is unclear, requires large sample size, is insensitive and subjective, and sometimes yields equivocal results. Here, we report the detection of breast cancer cells in CSF using molecular markers by adapting the CellSearch system (Veridex). We used this platform to isolate and enumerate breast cancer cells in CSF of breast cancer patients with central nervous system metastases. The number of CSF tumor cells correlated with tumor response to chemotherapy and were dynamically associated with disease burden. This CSF tumor cell detection method provides a semi-automated molecular analysis that vastly improves the sensitivity, reliability, objectivity, and accuracy of detecting CSF tumor cells compared to CSF cytology. CSF tumor cells may serve as a marker of disease progression and early-stage brain metastasis in breast cancer and potentiate further molecular analysis to elucidate the biology and significance of tumor cells in the CSF.


This article considers the recent trends in the palm oil market balance and the future prospects for palm oil fundamentals. The article finds that there exists potential for the demand for palm oil and its products to increase quite steeply, partly due to emerging demand as a relatively cheap biofuel (whether as palm biodiesel or for direct burning), and partly due to its price advantages in edible applications. In terms of supply, as long as there is willingness to plant more area with oil palm in environmentally sensitive areas, there will be continued growth in the oil palm industry. This development is likely to be led primarily by Indonesia with increasing areas planted with oil palm, notably in Kalimantan, and by continued yield improvements in Malaysia.


Seasonal plankton dynamics in the Darss Zingst Bodden Chain (DZBC), a southern Baltic estuary, are characterised by summer cyanophyte/chlorophyte dominance, but with winter blooms of mixotrophic cryptophytes, particularly associated with periods of ice cover. Analysis and simulation of a mixotrophic Lotka-Volterra competition model shows that coexistence of algae and cryptophytes is unlikely under static conditions, with seasonal or stochastic variation in parameters, as well as with time lags. However, incorporating production by cyanophytes/chlorophytes of non- toxic allelopathic substances allows stable coexistence of algae and mixotrophs. When parameterised using empirical DZBC data for light, temperature and ice cover, the model gives a good represen- tation of cryptophyte dynamics and bloom formation. We conclude that both mixotrophy and allelopathy are necessary ingredients of community coexistence and dynamics in the DZBC.


Given learning samples from a raster data set, spatial decision tree learning aims to find a decision tree classifier that minimizes classification errors as well as salt-and-pepper noise. The problem has important societal applications such as land cover classification for natural resource management. However, the problem is challenging due to the fact that learning samples show spatial autocorrelation in class labels, instead of being independently identically distributed. Related work relies on local tests (i.e., testing feature information of a location) and cannot adequately model the spatial autocorrelation effect, resulting in salt-and-pepper noise. In contrast, we recently proposed a focal-test-based spatial decision tree (FTSDT), in which the tree traversal direction of a sample is based on both local and focal (neighborhood) information. Preliminary results showed that FTSDT reduces classification errors and salt-and-pepper noise. This paper extends our recent work by introducing a new focal test approach with adaptive neighborhoods that avoids over-smoothing in wedge-shaped areas. We also conduct computational refinement on the FTSDT training algorithm by reusing focal values across candidate thresholds. Theoretical analysis shows that the refined training algorithm is correct and more scalable. Experiment results on real world data sets show that new FTSDT with adaptive neighborhoods improves classification accuracy, and that our computational refinement significantly reduces training time.


Firms and individuals who sell opinions may bias their reports for either behavioral or strategic reasons. This paper proposes a methodology for measuring these biases, particularly whether opinion producers under or over emphasize their private information, i.e. whether they herd or exaggerate their differences with the consensus. Applying the methodology to I/B/E/S analysts reveals that they do not herd as is often assumed, but rather they exaggerate their differences with the consensus by an average factor of about 2.4. Analysts also overweight their prior-period private information and thus under-update based on last period's forecast error; this under-updating helps explain the apparently conflicting over and under-reaction results of DeBondt and Thaler (1990) and Abarbanell and Bernhard (1992). A useful by-product of the methodology is a measure of the incremental information content of an analyst's forecasts. Using this measure reveals that analysts differ greatly in performance: the information content of the future forecasts of the top 10 percent of analysts is roughly six times that of the bottom 40 percent.


A progressive shift away from traditional healthy dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet), has been observed in recent decades. The aim of this study was to assess determinants of optimal adherence to the MedDiet in Spanish children and adolescents. A cross-sectional analysis was included in the PASOS nationwide representative study in Spain. Participants were 3607 children and adolescents; 8–16 years old. Primary and secondary outcome measures of weight and height were measured. Adherence to the MedDiet, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in children and adolescents, as well as parental physical activity and dietary habits, were assessed. Optimal adherence to the MedDiet was observed in 45.5% of primary school students and 34.8% of secondary school students (OR: 0.65; 95%CI: 0.56–0.75). Optimal adherence to the MedDiet was higher in children/adolescents meeting daily recommended moderate and vigorous physical activity (OR: 2.39, 95%CI: 1.97–2.89) and in those meeting daily recommended screen time on weekdays (OR: 2.05, 95%CI: 1.77–2.38) and weekends (OR: 1.76, 95%CI: 1.48–2.10). Participants with optimal adherence to the MedDiet were more likely to have mothers with a high-level education and high-tercile of SDQS, mothers who never smoked or were former smokers, and mothers who met the recommended physical activity and screen time. It can be concluded that a low prevalence of optimal adherence to the MedDiet was found among current Spanish children and adolescents. Optimal adherence to the MedDiet was associated with reaching the recommendations on physical activity and screen time, with the highest maternal educational level, and healthier maternal lifestyles.


IFN-α production by plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDCs) is critical in antiviral immunity. In the present study, we evaluated the IFN-α-producing capacity of PDCs of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in treatment-naive, sustained responder, and nonresponder patients. IFN-α production was tested in PBMCs or isolated PDCs after TLR9 stimulation. Treatment-naive patients with chronic HCV infection had reduced frequency of circulating PDCs due to increased apoptosis and showed diminished IFN-α production after stimulation with TLR9 ligands. These PDC defects correlated with the presence of HCV and were in contrast with normal PDC functions of sustained responders. HCV core protein, which was detectable in the plasma of infected patients, reduced TLR9-triggered IFN-α and increased TNF-α and IL-10 production in PBMCs but not in isolated PDCs, suggesting HCV core induced PDC defects. Indeed, addition of rTNF-α and IL-10 induced apoptosis and inhibited IFN-α production in PDCs. Neutralization of TNF-α and/or IL-10 prevented HCV core-induced inhibition of IFN-α production. We identified CD14+ monocytes as the source of TNF-α and IL-10 in the HCV core-induced inhibition of PDC IFN-α production. Anti-TLR2-, not anti-TLR4-, blocking Ab prevented the HCV core-induced inhibition of IFN-α production. In conclusion, our results suggest that HCV interferes with antiviral immunity through TLR2-mediated monocyte activation triggered by the HCV core protein to induce cytokines that in turn lead to PDC apoptosis and inhibit IFN-α production. These mechanisms are likely to contribute to HCV viral escape from immune responses.


Thymic tumours are rare neoplasms which generally follow a slow pattern of growth, showing their aggressiveness locally through the infiltration of adjacent organs and they rarely metastasise hematogenically. In the presence of locally advanced, metastatic or inoperable disease, combined strategies including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery are now being evaluated. Scintigraphy with 111In DTPA-D-Phe 1 octreotide was used for the first time in a relevant series of patients with thymic tumour (13 cases) by our research group. The presence of somatostatin receptors (ss-R) assayed in vivo provided the rationale for the use of a treatment based on the octreotide analog in a patient with thymoma and aplasia of the erythroid series (pure red cell aplasia, PRCA) in whom a complete response for the tumour and the remission of anemia was obtained. The efficacy of this treatment was confirmed by our series of patients with chemoresistant thymic tumour and by national and international confirmations. These data, ranging from in vivo diagnosis to treatment and the in vitro study of receptor expression, confirm that somatostatin plays a major role in thymic tumours.


This study is an exploration into the views that primary school pupils have of their educational experiences. It is considered that pupils have a right to be asked about their experiences, to be listened to and to have their views acknowledged and acted upon. The preliminary study in year 1 involved asking twelve groups of six mixed ability and randomly selected ten year old pupils to produce two drawings of themselves in happy and unhappy situations in school. The drawings were thematically analysed into content orientated categories. On reflection it was considered necessary to develop this method of collecting pupil views within a personal construct conversation. This development contributed to validating the interpretation of the drawings and also facilitated a learning conversation with the pupil. In year 2/3 of the study an opportunity sample of thirteen junior aged pupils on the special needs register in a different school were individually invited to produce a series of drawings and to take part in two conversations about their experiences in school. The drawings were thematically analysed both individually and as a group for their content. A personal construct psychology approach was used during the conversations to elicit the constructs and views of the pupils which were then thematically analysed for both manifest and latent content. A series of discussions were also held with the school additional / special needs coordinator regarding each pupil and the group as a whole. This enabled the voice of the pupil to be validated and 'taken back' to be heard within the school system. The findings indicate that the social activities in school were of far greater importance for the pupils than their academic or formal learning experiences. Peer relationships were paramount and these tended to define the positive or negative experiences the pupil had of school in general. The pupils were able to show they have a range of problem solving strategies for resolving peer group difficulties. These included pro actively inviting peers to join in activities in an inclusive way, to mediating in negative interactions and reactively seeking help from a range of other peers and adults in school. Home and family situations were occasionally drawn and discussed whilst teachers and the formal learning experiences were rarely drawn or referred to in the conversations. Implications are that pupils of this age do have a view, want to express it and benefit from the opportunity and climate which encourages this expression. The pupils also need to know that their views will be listened to and acted upon. This could inform school staff of the importance that pupils attach to peer relationships and the range of conflict resolution strategies they have. The pupils could benefit from opportunities to develop their expressive vocabulary and 'emotional literacy' in order to better understanding their feelings and improve their ability to describe experiences. This can raise a whole school understanding of the importance of listening to children in general and to unrepresented and often unheard groups of pupils.


Biodiversity or variation of species distribution of the biotic world, in the ecosystem is an important factor to device the fate of ecosystem functioning and the health of the biotic world, and their relation with the abiotic world, constituting a specific niche in the ecological community. Biodiversity forms a greater complex of various life forms and in turn regulates how the biotic world interacts with the abiotic world and vice versa. Biodiversity, impacts the quality of life of the living organisms. Changes in the biodiversity of an ecosystem show us the way to figure out the causes behind the ecological health degradation. Birds serve a wide range of environmental functions and services in an ecosystem. Though biodiversity cannot be defined by any single factor, as it is a complex of various factors, which cannot be segregated individually yet, we have tried to measure the biodiversity in a very elementary manner and hence, define and measure the biodiversity of the communities. The current study assesses the bird diversity in two green zones, in the city of Kolkata. They act as bioindicators of vehicular pollution, landscape changes through change in vegetation cover, urbanization and human activities. Human disturbance and high pollution rate was found to be the defining factor, to measure the biodiversity index in these two habitats. It was carried out in two sampling stations, one was at the Rabindra Sarobar and the other was at the Elliot Park. The bird diversity was assessed both qualitatively and quantitatively through various statistical indicators, of biodiversity such as-Species Richness, Species Evenness, ShannonWeiner Diversity Index, Brillouin Index and Simpson's Index of Diversity. The paper is based on a very preliminary approach towards establishing the relation between biodiversity and air pollution, more precisely the AQI (Air Quality Index). It has been observed here, that with increasing levels of air pollutants, biodiversity within a local ecosystem or habitat decreases and the degree of correlation is highly significant. This high correlation coefficient become very significant, as birds are conspicuous, avian species and are more exposed to airborne particles. They also have a higher breathing rate. This study also focuses on loss of species from a local area (Local Extinction) and Functional Extinctions (the reduction of species, such that, it no longer plays a significant role in ecosystem functioning) which have received little attention compared to Global Extinctions (loss of all individuals of a species from its entire range). Further research and detailed experiments are needed in relation to biochemical and genetic damages in the bird species with respect to air pollution. Though it could be concluded that, bird diversity is impacted by pollution and air pollution has a very significant role in determining the diversity and count of the avian species in the respective niches. This study can be useful to check and keep track of the ecological functioning and proper biogeochemical cycle rolling, from time to time, as with change in biodiversity, these factors would tend to get impacted. The scope of the paper rotates around the idea and hypothesis about how significantly the biodiversity of one region is impacted by air pollution. It must be borne in mind, that no other factors including prey-predator interactions, competition or symbiosis have been considered while calculating the bird diversity. It must also be noted, here, that no physicochemical aspects of the pollutants or biodiversity has been considered within the scope of this study. The bird diversity acts as bio indicators for urban pollution, deforestation, habitat fragmentation as well as, human interference in the ecological community.


This article focuses on Swedish merchant shipping in the first decade of the French Revolutionary Wars, when Sweden, due its neutrality, expanded its trade and shipping. The article attempts to balance two contradictory views of neutral shipping: that of high risks of seizure by belligerents, and that of wartime profits. Three different perspectives are employed to demonstrate the complexity of neutral shipping business. Registers of ship documents (fribrev and Algerian sea passes) show the relatively limited impact of political events on shipping activities. Legal documents in diplomatic correspondence illustrate practically how the cases of seized ships were handled on both political and court levels. The debate in print on the case of ship Maria (the convoy affair of 1798) indicates how the issue of neutral prizes became incorporated into the political discourse on international relations and law of nations.


Despite India's three decades of economic liberalization, access to quality education, well-paying jobs, and high standards of living align with prior class and caste advantages, leaving many poor and working-class people stuck in place and obligated to seek handouts from the rich. The study draws on ten years of ethnographic fieldwork at three private golf clubs in Bangalore, India's Silicon Valley, to explore the ties of dependence wealthy club members generate with the poor lower-caste golf caddies who carry their bags, and in a manner that reproduces their positions of privilege and authority. The caddies are not employees, and yet neither do they have complete control over their rates and schedules. Making $3–5 for a five- or six-hour round, caddies deploy acts servility and deference to yield additional money for healthcare, children's school fees, and other household expenses. While a rare few caddies win sufficient support to put them and their families on a path of social mobility, most struggle to make ends meet, living in less-than-secure housing, going without food in some cases, and sending their children to low-quality schools that all but guarantee they will take up similar work as their fathers. The necessity but ultimate limitation of such relationships between the rich and poor underscores the failure of India's development strategy, which favors private over public interests, and has yet to establish well-funded healthcare, education, and basic social services that would improve chances of social mobility and independence among the poor.


Given what is already known in regard to seed health and the availability of molecular methods for detection of the pathogens Stenocarpella maydis and Stenocarpella macrospora in maize seeds, Colletotrichum gossypii var. cephalosporioides in cotton seeds, and Corynespora cassiicola in soybean seeds, the aim of this study was to evaluate seed vigor according to different inoculum potentials. The fungus isolates were inoculated on seeds by the technique of water restriction, through which different inoculum potentials are obtained, corresponding to times of seed exposure of 0, 24, 48, and 96 hours for maize and cotton seeds, and 0, 36, 108, and 144 hours for soybean seeds. The seeds were subjected to germination, electrical conductivity, health, and qPCR tests. Results of the blotter test showed that in most pathosystems, there was a higher incidence of the fungi with an increase in inoculum potential. A decrease in germination percentage was observed in all species as inoculum potential increased, as well as further degradation of seed membranes. The qPCR test confirmed that the most damaged seeds in the tests had higher presence of the pathogens.


We explore the possibility of studying music perception with responsetime measures. Subjects heard either a chord (tonic triad) or scale prime, followed by a single note, and indicated whether the note did or did not belong in the primed key. Overall, the data resemble the tonal hierarchy previously demonstrated with other methods, thus establishing the validity of the response-time measure. In addition, the scale primes superimpose a recency effect on the standard hierarchy, as would be expected from a serially presented stimulus. We discuss what this implies about tonal hierarchies, and the use of response-time measures to study the online processes of music listening. We also report data for nondiatonic tones.


Introduction Home-based cardiac rehabilitation may overcome suboptimal rates of participation. The overarching aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the novel Rehabilitation EnAblement in CHronic Hear Failure (REACH-HF) rehabilitation intervention for patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and their caregivers. Methods and results Patients were randomised 1:1 to REACH-HF intervention plus usual care (intervention group) or usual care alone (control group). REACH-HF is a home-based comprehensive self-management rehabilitation programme that comprises patient and carer manuals with supplementary tools, delivered by trained healthcare facilitators over a 12 week period. Patient outcomes were collected by blinded assessors at baseline, 3 months and 6 months postrandomisation and included health-related quality of life (primary) and psychological well-being, exercise capacity, physical activity and HF-related hospitalisation (secondary). Outcomes were also collected in caregivers. We enrolled 50 symptomatic patients with HF from Tayside, Scotland with a left ventricular ejection fraction ≥45% (mean age 73.9 years, 54% female, 100% white British) and 21 caregivers. Study retention (90%) and intervention uptake (92%) were excellent. At 6 months, data from 45 patients showed a potential direction of effect in favour of the intervention group, including the primary outcome of Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire total score (between-group mean difference −11.5, 95% CI −22.8 to 0.3). A total of 11 (4 intervention, 7 control) patients experienced a hospital admission over the 6 months of follow-up with 4 (control patients) of these admissions being HF-related. Improvements were seen in a number intervention caregivers' mental health and burden compared with control. Conclusions Our findings support the feasibility and rationale for delivering the REACH-HF facilitated home-based rehabilitation intervention for patients with HFpEF and their caregivers and progression to a full multicentre randomised clinical trial to test its clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. Trial registration number ISRCTN78539530.


Abstract In New Zealand, Edward Snowden's revelations about the extraordinary scope of the National Security Agency's surveillance capabilities and the facilitating role of the Five Eyes alliance converged with increasing public concerns about the Government Communications Security Bureau Amendment and Related Legislation Bill in 2013. This generated an intense and sustained debate in the country about surveillance policy. It was a debate in which Prime Minister John Key has featured prominently. While apparently unable to clearly refute Snowden's claims concerning mass surveillance in New Zealand, Key's vigorous public interventions helped counter the short-term political and diplomatic fallout. However, the long-term impact of public concerns over the surveillance policies of the Key government may be much harder to predict in what is an intimate democracy, and the prospect of substantial political blowback cannot be ruled out.


Background: Urinary bladder cancer (UBC) is a common disease worldwide with high mortality rate [1]. UBC is the ninth most frequently diagnosed cancer worldwide, with highest incidence rates observed in developed countries. About 75% of bladder cancer patients are men [2]. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) are diagnostic tools in oncology, liver diseases, and rheumatoid arthritis, which may prove to be a valuable prognostic tool in clinical setting [3]. The aim of the present study was to assess the prognostic power of plasma MMPs and TIMP-1 in patients with UBC of different stages.

Methods: This study enrolled 29 patients with UBC (27 males, 2 females), aged 52-76 years. Preoperative study for all patients included blood test, blood chemistry, urine analysis, immunogram, computer tomography, tumor biopsy. The spread of cancer was characterized based on TNM clinical classification 7th review (2009). Stage distribution of patients were as following: Stage I – 6 patients; Stage II - 5; Stage III - 7; Stage IV - 8 patients). The control group consisted of 15 healthy individuals (8 females and 22 males; aged 30-35 years). Plasma levels of MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-8, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 were determined by ELISA before the curative procedure and correlated afterwards with clinical parameters of the patient. Data analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel 2010.

Results: Plasma levels of MMP-9 were significantly higher (by 1.5-2.0 times) in all patients with UBC compared to controls. Plasma level of MMP-8 in Stage III UBC patients was 1.2 times higher than in control group. The levels of MMP-1 and MMP-2 were increased compared to controls, and their elevation correlated with increase in cancer stage. Plasma level of MMP-3 in patients with bladder cancer Stage I, II and III were higher compared to controls by 1.3, 1.2 and 1.2 times respectively. High plasma levels of TIMP-1 were determined in patients with Stages III and IV, which raises question as to its role and function in advanced stage disease, as it may have a protective role in the mechanism of invasion by inhibiting extracellular matrix degradation.
Conclusion: In patients with urinary bladder cancer the plasma levels of MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-8, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 are elevated. We demonstrated that elevation pattern of MMP-1, MMP-2 and MMP-9 could serve as potential plasma marker for monitoring the cancer progression.


To evaluate the role of hGH, plasma testosterone (T) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) were measured before and 72h after an IM injection of hCG (1500 I.U./m2) in seven prepubertal GH-deficient children before and after three months of hGH therapy. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) between basal and 72h plasma T levels (mean ± SE) before and after hGH (basal : 0.60 ± 0.15 nM vs 0.39 ± 0.08 nM; 72h : 4.02. ± 1.10 nM vs 4.17 ± 1.13 nM). Like for T, no significant differences were found for DHT. To evaluate the role of Gn, the testicular response to hCG of 11 GH- and Gn-deficient children was compared to that of 16 prepubertal boys with GH deficiency and intact Gn secretion. As shown in the Table, 72h-T were significantly greater in the children with Gn (P < 0.001). No other differences for T or DHT were significant. In conclusion, the testicular response to hCG is not modified by GH. In contrast, the greater response in the presence of Gn suggests a permissive role of Gn on the testicular responsiveness to hCG.


In this paper, we review a three dimensional (3D) passive imaging system that exploits the visual information captured from the scene from multiple perspectives to reconstruct the scene voxel by voxel in 3D space. The primary contribution of this work is to provide a computational reconstruction scheme based on randomly distributed sensor locations in space. In virtually all of multi perspective techniques (e.g. integral imaging, synthetic aperture integral imaging, etc), there is an implicit assumption that the sensors lie on a simple, regular pickup grid. Here, we relax this assumption and suggest a computational reconstruction framework that unifies the available methods as its special cases. The importance of this work is that it enables three dimensional imaging technology to be implemented in a multitude of novel application domains such as 3D aerial imaging, collaborative imaging, long range 3D imaging and etc, where sustaining a regular pickup grid is not possible and/or the parallax requirements call for a irregular or sparse synthetic aperture mode. Although the sensors can be distributed in any random arrangment, we assume that the pickup position is measured at the time of caputre of each elemental image. We demonstrate the feasibility of the methods proposed here by experimental results.


This research suggests a new approach to the design of low cost housing in Malaysia, especially for those who relocate themselves from rural villages or urban squatters. Whereas low cost housing construction has managed to catch up with the planned target, urban highrise apartments do not provide appropriate domestic space to meet the people's needs. Dissatisfied with their houses and surrounding conditions, residents lose their attachment to the community. From the architect's perspective, we believe that one of the main reasons behind this malfunction is the spatial configuration of the house plan. Soaring price of available urban plots makes it the best option to build highrise flats for new housing constructions, and especially for low cost housing, it became an unavoidable choice. Since the design of multi-level collective housing typically imposes limits to plan configuration, this has entailed a sudden transition of domestic living pattern from old to new. How can we accommodate Malay vernacularism into the modernised urban home? This was the question we asked to tackle the issue of providing affordable homes to low income people.

In the following chapters, we will make an overview on affordable housing in general and take an in-depth review on the situation in Malaysian affordable housing market combined with the squatter problem. Based on these, some proposals will be made for a new design approach for the apartment housing typology in Malaysian urban setting. In the course of design development, we tried to make sure the solution will be socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable. Through the field visits, seminars and forums, we tried to illuminate deep-rooted problems and then actively delivered our ideas to squatter residents, research institutes, local authorities, and stakeholders. The design schemes are now at the basic level, but its innovative concept will be offering a new opportunity to stimulate the housing industry in Malaysia for the low income population. In the wider perspective, we believe that this will eventually contribute to the economic development of the country.


Gender, male and female has always been of great interest and present in almost all fiction and films, within different perspectives. Ever since the dawn of time, man has taught ethics, morals, values and existential questions using fictional stories in oral and later in written form. The aim of analyzing the concept of male and female from fiction and film is to reach deeper insight and understanding of human beings with special reference to gender in both individual, group and community perspective. The general aim is to create security in our gender and professional roles. Whole or parts of books and films are used, chosen according to the specific learning outcome. Different aspects are then discussed in lectures, seminars or groups. Aspects include projections, culture and behavior. Students learn to reach a deeper insight and understanding of gender regarding behavior, communication, attitudes, values, culture and ethnicity. Peeling off the illusion of male and female created by our social structure, and making our values and prejudices conscious, we might discern the eternally human, the inner core of being human, regardless of sex. Fiction and film make conscious behavior, communication and gender, and merge cognition and emotions. This way of teaching may lead to better treatment of patients by health care personnel. © 2013 GESDAV


Liquid impingement erosion has been identified as a potential damage and failure source in many Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESPs) in the oil & gas business. Erosion causes a progressive loss of materials from the housing of the electrical submersible pump which decreases its structural integrity and leads to its failure. Consequently, this subject has been studied widely in many research papers in the oil and gas industry, and many materials have been developed and commercialized to resist it and protect the equipment from any potential wearing.
 The goal of this paper is to show the role of erosion in degrading the ESP performance and life and to provide an experimental comparative study of several materials used for encountering erosion for onshore and offshore fields in Saudi. Also,A cost-benefit analysis of some erosion resistant alloys was presented to help engineers to decide when to use these materials if the application requires.
 The result of this methodology shows that well fluid characteristic plays a significant role in determining the amount of erosion. Well fluid is a multi-phase flow (gas, oil, and water), and the S.G of water is higher than oil. According to that, the damage that water particles produce is greater than oil. Therefore, when the percentage of water in the well fluid goes high, it increases the damaging impact on the ESP housing, especially when the velocity of fluid over the motor is high ~ 13 ft/s. Erosion resistant alloys should be used and implemented for these cases. Examples of materials include:12-Chrom, 9-Chrome, Carbon steel and stainless-steel coating.
 Finally, this paper provides engineers with guidelines/recommendations for selecting the proper metrology for equipment running in wells with high water cut & fluid velocity.


High-frequency band-pass filtering of acceleration records from the 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan, earthquake ( M w 7.6) resolves the continuous signal into a series of relatively short-duration discrete-energy bursts. We hypothesize that these bursts originate near the individual stations as small, shallow events that have been dynamically triggered by the P and S waves generated by the Chi-Chi mainshock; however, we cannot rule out the possibility that they originate from some nonseismic source associated with the surface, such as buildings or trees. Bursts are observed only during the seismic signal and not in the pre- or postsignal noise. The bursts are not likely to be generated by the instruments because groupings of three colocated individual instruments record identical bursts. Also, we show that the bursts are not due to the band-pass filtering of instrumentally generated step functions. The hypothesis that they are local events is supported by the observation of bursts in the 40-Hz frequency band at distances up to 170 km from the epicenter. If the bursts originated on the Chi-Chi fault plane, as hypothesized by Chen et al. (2006), based on their analysis of recordings within 20 km from the Chelungpu fault, then they should not be observable at this distance, assuming any reasonable value of crustal attenuation. Assuming a local origin, we estimate an average local event magnitude of M w 0.2 and a source-receiver distance of approximately 1 km. We extended our analysis to lower stress levels by analyzing records from a smaller ( M w 5.3) event that was recorded by many of the same instruments used in the Chi-Chi analysis. For this event, bursts are observed only on the accelerograms from stations relatively close to the mainshock hypocenter. Analysis of the combined data set from both mainshocks suggests a stress threshold for triggering in the range 0.03–0.05 Mpa for S -wave triggering and 0.0013–0.0033 Mpa for P -wave triggering, consistent with prior observations of surface-wave triggering.


This paper combines remote-sensed data and individual child-, mother-, and household-level data from the Demographic and Health Surveys for five countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) to design a prototype drought-contingent targeting framework that may be used in scarce-data contexts. To accomplish this, the paper: (i) develops simple and easy-to-communicate measures of drought shocks; (ii) shows that droughts have a large impact on child stunting in these five countries -- comparable, in size, to the effects of mother's illiteracy and a fall to a lower wealth quintile; and (iii) shows that, in this context, decision trees and logistic regressions predict stunting as accurately (out-of-sample) as machine learning methods that are not interpretable. Taken together, the analysis lends support to the idea that a data-driven approach may contribute to the design of policies that mitigate the impact of climate change on the world's most vulnerable populations.


The blood flow in the cerebrum of humans is essential for survival. Regulation of cerebral blood flow is vital because it allows the brain to get its nutrients and oxygen even when the blood pressure in the body changes. To obtain a better understanding of the blood flow in the brain, we need a general comprehension of the blood supply and its branches as well as the physiological mechanism behind different flow rates. We will review the blood supply, some of the mechanisms of flow rate, and how they might change in the brain.


Purpose: To report a rare case of synovial sarcoma in the lacrimal gland fossa of the orbit.
Patient and methods: A female 70-years in age has presented to the department of orbit and ophthalmic plastic services of tertiary care eye hospital with eccentric proptosis of right eye of one month duration and pain for the past one week. Clinical examination revealed fullness in the right lacrimal gland region. CT scan of the orbit has shown a mass lesion in the fossa of the lacrimal gland. Its margin is irregular and erosion of lateral wall and roof of the orbit is noted. From the clinical picture and imaging, diagnosis of malignant tumor of the lacrimal gland was made. The tumor was excised through lateral orbitotomy. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry revealed that the tumor is synovial sarcoma.
Conclusion: Synovial sarcoma is a very rare lacrimal gland malignant tumor in the orbit. Immunohistochemistry is very important to confirm the diagnosis.

Key words: Synovial sarcoma, Histopathology, Immunohistochemistry


Purpose and Approach Women in recovery describe stigma, negative treatment, and limited support as barriers to achieving their health and parenting goals. Mobile health technologies carefully tailored to support the unique needs of recovery communities can provide less burdensome alternatives to in-person services for women transitioning out of substance use treatment. An iterative design process integrated women's interests into the structure, content, and interaction flow of a mobile health (mHealth) app. Setting and Participants Participants included women in recovery from opioid, alcohol, and polysubstance use disorders in a comprehensive housing program in urban Arizona. Methods Five focus groups with 3–7 participants each (n = 27 total) informed creation of the mHealth app. Informed by theoretical models of usability and person-centered design, development involved an iterative series of focus groups in which we asked women to comment on interest in using each feature. This provided a qualitative priority framework for feature development. We then modified the app and repeated the process to gauge consensus and continually refine our prototype. Results Women were interested in access to resources, such as housing, counseling, and parenting advice in settings known to treat women in recovery with respect. They also asked for positive messages, chatting with peers, and access to expert answers. They were less interested in points-based learning modules and "scored" activities, leading us to develop a "daily challenges" concept that builds good habits, but does not feel like "classwork". Women's recommendations shaped an mHealth app tailored to maximize utility, access, and safety for this at-risk population. Conclusion Integration of user-centered design with applied ethnographic techniques guided the development of a custom-tailored mHealth app responsive to lived experiences and needs of women in recovery. Future research should evaluate the potential for user-centered apps to increase self-efficacy, perceived social support, and to reduce risk of relapse.


Entry of Rauscher leukemia virus into mouse embryo fibroblasts was studied by electron microscopy. The polycation diethylaminoethyl-dextran enhanced viral attachment and subsequent entry. At the site of viral attachment to the cell membrane, three distinct interactions occurred between the viral envelope and cell membrane, namely, (i) dissolution of viral envelopes on the cell membrane, which itself remained unaltered; (ii) simultaneous dissolution of both the envelope and cell membrane, resulting in passage of viral nucleoids directly into the cytoplasm; and (iii) dissolution of the cell membrane with direct penetration of intact enveloped particles into the cytoplasm, followed by intracytoplasmic disruption of the envelope, resulting in release of nucleoids into the cytoplasm. These interactions occurred with both mature and immature C-type particles. At no time was fusion of viral envelopes with the cell membrane observed. The mechanism of these interactions is discussed.


The interest in autochthonous meat products from local pig breeds managed in comprehensive, sustainable breeding programs is expanding in Europe. Dry fermented sausages in Serbia and other southern European countries are highly appreciated food specialties. It is, therefore, desirable that study attempts to improve the quality of food and the security of traditional, dry sausages will result in products that are of higher added value and have quality standards that best meet the needs of contemporary customers. Meat and meat products from traditional pig breeds usually have an excellent public and media reputation, and are often regarded as better than the meat and meat products of conventionally raised pigs and crossbreed pigs. Traditional, dry fermented sausages, with their characteristic chemical contents and sensory properties, can be produced with suitable proportions of meat and backfat from the indigenous Mangalitsa pig breed. These outcomes should hopefully encourage the sustainable breeding of endangered Mangalitsa pigs, as there are market opportunities for kulen and sremska sausages.


Objective. Cardiovascular (CV) risk estimation calculators for the general population do not perform well in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). An RA-specific risk calculator has been developed, but did not perform better than a risk calculator for the general population when validated in a heterogeneous multinational cohort. Methods. In a cohort of patients with new-onset RA from northern Sweden (n = 665), the risk of CV disease was estimated by the Expanded Cardiovascular Risk Prediction Score for Rheumatoid Arthritis (ERS-RA) and the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association algorithm (ACC/AHA). The ACC/AHA estimation was analyzed, both as crude data and when adjusted according to the recommendations by the European League Against Rheumatism (ACC/AHA × 1.5). ERS-RA was calculated using 2 variants: 1 from patient and physician reports of hypertension (HTN) and hyperlipidemia [ERS-RA (reported)] and 1 from assessments of blood pressure (BP) and blood lipids [ERS-RA (measured)]. The estimations were compared with observed CV events. Results. All variants of risk calculators underestimated the CV risk. Discrimination was good for all risk calculators studied. Performance of all risk calculators was poorer in patients with a high grade of inflammation, whereas ACC/AHA × 1.5 performed best in the high-inflammatory patients. In those patients with an estimated risk of 5–15%, no risk calculator performed well. Conclusion. ERS-RA underestimated the risk of a CV event in our cohort of patients, especially when risk estimations were based on patient or physician reports of HTN and hyperlipidemia instead of assessment of BP and blood lipids. The performance of ERS-RA was no better than that of ACC/AHA × 1.5, and neither performed well in high-inflammatory patients.


: In order to analyze the cause of water leakage in highway tunnels, the damage property of waterproof board in composite tunnel lining with concrete matrix defects under hydraulic pressure was studied using Galerkin method for plates with large deflection. The deflection, stress and strain of waterproof boards were calculated in the conditions of rectangular and elliptic boundary due to concrete matrix defects. First strength theory was used to determine the critical load of the board and the critical depth of the defect. Investigation results showed that the maximum principal stress generates in the middle of longer side in the rectangular boundary condition and in the center in the elliptic boundary condition, the failure of the waterproof board under certain hydraulic pressure is related with the dimensions of concrete matrix defects and the dimension of the concrete matrix defect needs to be controlled in the design and construction of waterproof layer for tunnels.


Product and service development is critical because new products and services are becoming the nexus of competition for many companies. Product and service development is thus a potential source of competitive advantage for many companies. Thus, product and service development is among the essential process for success, survival, and renewal of companies, particularly in competitive markets. Nowadays the design and development of new products and services or modification of existent ones (redesign) is a key and fundamental element to enhance innovation and competitiveness of industrial companies. This paper presents the Business-Product-Service Portfolio Management (BPSPM) as an approach to manage the business portfolio for versioning and variation of the products and services development in order to succeed a business into more marketable set of products and services, jointly capable of fulfilling the stakeholders needs. BPSPM is a framework that encompassing the versioning and variation of products and services development concurrently for the products, services and their performing organisations analysis over perspectives of the strategic marketing, project management, engineering design and operations management. There are five issues that the company must consider in BPSPM: the activities of relationship between global market and company; the activities of relationship between the providing company and stakeholders, representing a product-oriented and a service-oriented view respectively; the design activities of versioning and variety of the products and services; the specifications activities for versioning and variety of the products and services throughout all stages of life cycle, regarding the product and service life cycle and the marketing and sales life cycle; the representation activities of specifications and the elements of systems architecture for versioning and variety of the products and services throughout all stages of life cycle in manner of the hierarchy and heterarchy structures. The BPSPM framework uses the concepts of System Engineering, Concurrent Engineering, Service Engineering, Project Management and Business Portfolio presented in five dimensions, being Business dimension, Outcome dimension, Variety dimension, Life dimension and Structure dimension. The framework is described with SysML block definition diagrams.


The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is known to have a role in the development of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), although the genes and mechanisms involved have yet to be determined. To identify the susceptibility locus for NMSC within the MHC, we used a collection of well-defined polymorphic microsatellite markers from the Human leucocyte antigen (HLA) region for an association analysis of 150 cases with NMSC and 200 healthy controls selected from the Busselton population in Western Australia. High-resolution mapping was undertaken using a total of 40 highly polymorphic markers located at regular intervals across the HLA region (3.6Mb). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis was initially performed on pooled DNA markers to detect those markers that showed different allele profiles. Statistically significant differences in allelic frequencies (differentiating alleles) were found between cases and controls at three polymorphic microsatellite loci within a 470-kb genomic susceptibility region ranging between 6 kb centromeric of the HLA-B gene and intron 5 of the DDR gene. Interestingly, this genome region corresponded completely with the psoriasis-susceptibility locus. The three differentiating alleles and another four markers outside the susceptibility region were then PCR tested by individual genotyping of cases and controls. The newly identified susceptibility locus for NMSC within the MHC was found to be significantly different between the cases and controls by comparisons of allele frequencies at the three differentiating loci estimated from DNA pools and then confirmed by individual genotyping. This is the first study using high density microsatellite markers to localize a NMSC susceptibility region within the human genome.


We report a label-free, fast, fluorescence turn on assay for Hg2+ detecton by using mercury-specific DNA (MSD), Sybr Green I (SG) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). SG efficiently discriminates MSD and MSD/Hg2+ complex. The addition of gold nanoparticle decreases the background fluorescence signal further for MSD. The fluorescence intensity of MSD/Hg2+ complex keeps constant after addition of AuNPs. This property improves the signal-to-background ratio and decreases the detection limitation further. In addition, the method shows improved selectivity compared with that in the absence of AuNPs. This strategy could be applied to the detection of potassium ions and showed good generality.


Following a brief history and progress of ionospheric research, this paper presents a brief review of the recent developments in the understanding of two major phenomena in low and mid latitude ionosphere—the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) and involved equatorial plasma fountain (EPF) and ionospheric irregularities. Unlike the easy‐to‐understand misinterpretations, the EPF involves field perpendicularE×B plasma drift and field‐aligned plasma diffusion acting together and plasma flowing in the direction of the resultant at all points along the field lines at all altitudes. The EIA is formed mainly from the removal of plasma from around the equator by the upward E×B drift creating the trough and consequently the crests with small accumulation of plasma at the crests when the crests are within ~±20° magnetic latitudes and no accumulation when they are beyond ~±25° magnetic latitudes. The strong EIA under magnetically active conditions arises from the simultaneous impulsive action of eastward prompt penetration electric field and equatorward neutral wind. Intense ionospheric irregularities develop in the post‐sunset bottom‐side equatorial ionosphere when it rises to high altitudes, and evolve nonlinearly into the topside. Pre‐reversal enhancement (PRE) of the vertical upward E×B drift and its fluctuations amplified during PRE provide the driving force and seed, with neutral wind and gravity waves being the primary sources. At low solar activity especially in summer when fast varying PRE is absent, the slow varying gravity waves including large scale waves (LSW) seem to act as both driver and seed for weak irregularities. At mid latitudes, the irregularities are weak and associated with medium scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs). A low latitude minimum in the occurrence of the irregularities at March equinox predicted by theoretical models is identified. The minimum occurs on the poleward side of the EIA crest and shifts equatorward from ~25° magnetic latitudes at high solar activity to below 17° at low solar activity.


The assurance of the quality of educational programmes is becoming an increasingly important issue. However, while much attention has been paid to monitoring of course delivery and student assessment mechanisms, such as examinations, the issue of programme design based upon clear statements of requirements from customers, has largely been ignored. Hence, this work utilises a technique, called Quality Function Deployment, borrowed from the engineering design domain, as a means of formalising requirements input gleaned from customers. Thus, in combination with accumulated knowledge of good pedagogic practice, course designers can be provided with judgement criteria to evaluate either a newly designed course, or to improve an existing one. The paper explores several matters. Firstly, who is the customer of an educational course? Should it be the student, the fee payer or funds supplier (which may be the parent, the current employer or local or national government), the employer for whom the student will work on completion of their course of study, or some other party? The various options are considered and it is suggested that the future employer is the most appropriate choice, while the student should be viewed as a product carrier who lacks the experience necessary to judge the adequacy of the education they are receiving. Secondly, the type of requirements which might be specified are discussed, considering whether they should focus only on the acquisition of specific knowledge or could be generalised in the form of transferable skills. Thirdly, the tightly constrained needs of the engineering domain are compared briefly with arts and humanities subject areas, which require only an ill-defined and very variable subset of a much wider variety of skills and knowledge. This explains the usage of the engineering domain in this investigation. Finally, the provision of a pre-processor to help the course designer assemble and translate the accumulated knowledge into an appropriate form for input into a Quality Function Deployment analysis is considered.


A digital twin is a computer-based digital representation that simulates the behavior of a physical system. Digital twins help users to interact with real-world processes digitally. Time-variant modeling is critical to preserving the accuracy of digital twin models as the process dynamics change with time. Kalman filter is a well-known recursive algorithm that adjusts the process state estimates using real-time measurements. Sparse identification of nonlinear dynamics (SINDy) is an algorithm that automatically identifies system models from large data sets using sparse regression so as to prevent overfitting and find an ideal trade-off between model complexity and accuracy. In this paper, the SINDy approach is first extended to the generalized SINDy (GSINDy). Then, the GSINDy is integrated with Kalman filter to automatically identify time-variant digital twin models for online applications. The effectiveness of the algorithm is revealed through a simulation example based on Lorenz system and an industrial diesel hydrotreating unit example.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the outcome of patients to whom a temporary stoma was constructed in our institution. Method: The outcome of patients operated on over an 8-year period was prospectively examined. Special attention was given to the influence of age on complications and closure of stomas. Results: Between 1989 and 1996, a total of 349 intestinal stomas were constructed in 342 patients. In 141 of these patients, the stoma could be considered as temporary. The 30-day mortality rate was 7%. The overall complication rate was 50%. Pure stoma-related complications were observed in 12% of the patients. The final closure rate of temporary stomas was 67%. The closure rate was significantly higher if the temporary stomas were of the double-barrel type. There was no significant difference in the closure rate between patients with benign and malignant diseases, but the rate decreased significantly in age groups over 70 years. Conclusions: Forty percent of stomas constructed are considered as temporary, but only two-thirds of temporary stomas are closed subsequently. Especially end stomas tend to become permanent in patients over 70 years of age, although the morbidity rates of stoma closure do not differ from those of younger patients.


The sacroiliac joint may be a primary source of pain in patients complaining of low back and/or buttock pain. Nonsurgical treatment of sacroiliac joint pain typically includes structured core and pelvic muscle flexibility and strengthening; pharmaceutical management through oral and injectable medication; and ablation procedures. For patients who do not improve with comprehensive, nonoperative treatment, surgical fusion of the sacroiliac joint is an option with overall good reported outcomes and high patient satisfaction. Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) approaches have been shown to have lower morbidity and earlier recovery than traditional open approaches. To date, the majority of published clinical studies on MIS sacroiliac joint fusion are industry‐sponsored and predominantly using one system (ingrowth triangular titanium rods). These include two level 1 randomized controlled trials comparing MIS sacroiliac joint fusion to nonoperative management, with results favoring surgery.


Dissertation report presented as partial requirement for obtaining the Master's degree in Information Management, with a specialization in Business Intelligence and Knowledge Management


OBJECTIVE
The efficacy, safety, and tolerability of carbamazepine in the treatment of agitation and aggression associated with dementia were assessed.

METHOD
In a 6-week, randomized, multisite, parallel-group study of 51 nursing home patients with agitation and dementia, individualized doses of carbamazepine were compared with placebo. Except for a physician monitor and a pharmacist, all participants were blind to treatment. The primary outcome measures were the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Clinical Global Impression (CGI) global improvement rating. Secondary measures included measures of behavior, aggression, cognition, functional status, staff time, safety, and tolerability. Intent-to-treat analysis was performed.

RESULTS
The modal carbamazepine dose at 6 weeks was 300 mg/day, and a mean serum level of 5.3 micrograms/ml was achieved. The study was terminated after a planned interim analysis showed that carbamazepine provided more benefit than did placebo. Over 6 weeks the mean total BPRS score decreased 7.7 points for the carbamazepine group and 0.9 for the placebo group, and the weekly scores showed a gradual divergence between the two groups. CGI ratings showed global improvement in 77% of the patients taking carbamazepine and 21% of those taking placebo. Secondary analyses confirmed that the positive changes were due to decreased agitation and aggression. The drug was generally well tolerated, and no change in cognition or functional status occurred. The perception of staff time needed to manage agitation showed a decrease for carbamazepine but not placebo.

CONCLUSIONS
This controlled study showed significant short-term efficacy of carbamazepine for agitation with generally good safety and tolerability.


The brain regions that may be functionally involved in the control of anxiety and the development of seizures were examined using quantitative 1–14C-deoxyglucose autoradiography. For this purpose, beta- carbolines FG 7142 and DMCM were employed. They exert their effects via the benzodiazepine receptor, and whereas both possess anxiogenic properties, FG 7142 is a proconvulsant and DMCM a potent convulsant. The pattern of increases of local cerebral glucose utilization (LCGU) induced by FG 7142 was mainly restricted to limbic structures, such as the lateral septal nucleus, the anterior thalamic nuclei, and the mamillary nuclei. However, structures involved in motor regulation were also affected. A pronounced increase in LCGU was observed in the posterior part of the substantia nigra, pars reticulata. Further, the LCGU of the globus pallidus, the ventral thalamic nucleus, and the cerebellum was increased. DMCM likewise increased LCGU of the mamillary body and the lateral septal nucleus. In contrast to FG 7142, the hippocampal formation displayed an increase in LCGU, while LCGU of the anterior thalamic nuclei was unchanged. A pronounced increase in LCGU was seen in the substantia nigra, pars reticulata in addition to other structures functionally involved in central motor regulation. The specific benzodiazepine antagonist Ro 15–1788 antagonized the effects of both FG 7142 and DMCM. It is concluded that the beta-carbolines FG 7142 and DMCM produce selective effects upon LCGU that are mediated by benzodiazepine receptors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Growth chamber experiments were conducted to evaluate the response of sesame to PRE and POST applications of soil residual herbicides. PRE applications of acetochlor andS-metolachlor at 1.26 and 1.43 kg ai·ha−1showed little or no sesame injury (0 to 1%) 4 wks after herbicide treatments (WAT). POST treatments of acetochlor and trifluralin made 3 wks after planting (WAP) resulted in greater sesame injury (40%) compared to applications at bloom (18%). Field studies were conducted in Texas and Oklahoma during the 2014 and 2015 growing seasons to determine sesame response to clethodim, diuron, fluometuron, ethalfluralin, quizalofop-P, pendimethalin, pyroxasulfone, trifluralin, and trifloxysulfuron-sodium applied 2, 3, or 4 weeks after planting (WAP). Late-season sesame injury with the dinitroaniline herbicides consisted of a proliferation of primary branching at the upper nodes of the sesame plant (in the shape/form of a broom). Ethalfluralin and trifluralin caused more "brooming" effect than pendimethalin. Some yield reductions were noted with the dinitroaniline herbicides. Trifloxysulfuron-sodium caused the greatest injury (up to 97%) and resulted in yield reductions from the untreated check. Early-season diuron injury (leaf chlorosis and necrosis) decreased as application timing was delayed, and late-season injury was virtually nonexistent with only slight chlorosis (<4%) still apparent on the lower leaves. Sesame yield was not consistently affected by the diuron treatments. Fluometuron caused early-season injury (stunting/chlorosis), and a reduction of yield was observed at one location. Pyroxasulfone applied 2 WAP caused up to 25% sesame injury (stunting) but did not result in a yield reduction. Quizalofop-P caused slight injury (<5%) and no reduction in yield.


Nursing staff who are competent to use personal protective equipment (PPE) correctly can protect themselves while providing safe, high-quality care to patients. Under pandemic conditions, the ability to wear PPE correctly is essential in clinical practice, but the acquisition of correct PPE-wearing procedures is difficult for most staff in the absence of live practice drills. This study aimed to test the mobile video online learning approach by integrating PPE contexts into a digital learning system. We conducted an experiment to verify whether the mobile video online learning approach could effectively improve nursing staff's learning achievement, learning anxiety, critical thinking skills, and learning self-efficacy. The study used a quasi-experimental design and was conducted with 47 nursing staff, divided into one group using a mobile video online learning approach and one group with a conventional learning approach. We used pre-and post-test examinations of learning achievements, learning anxiety, critical thinking, and learning self-efficacy. Results showed a significant effect of using the mobile video online learning method in helping nursing staff to decrease learning anxiety and improve knowledge about COVID-19 protection, increase learning achievement, critical thinking skills, and learning self-efficacy. These benefits are of interest to nursing workplace managers wishing to maintain professional standards during epidemics by improving the nursing staff's PPE knowledge and self-efficacy concerning PPE.


In recent decade, robotics has become very significant in assisting the children with autism in the areas like social interaction, emotion recognition, interactive plays, joint attention and special education. Autism is a brain developmental disorder that affects an individual's social interaction, communication impairments and restricted stereotyped behaviour. Currently, research on the robotics for autism children shows suggestive finding in helping them to improve their quality of lifestyle and adapting themselves to their surroundings. Motivated by these emerging factors, the main objective of this research is to design and propose an interactive robot-based intervention modules using humanoid robot and analyze the initial response of autism children when they are expose to the module in an experimental program called Robot-based Intervention Program (RBIP). The methodology and outcome of this research are outlined in several stages that will be described in details in the Chapter 3. The initial response analysis is being done using modified Behaviour Score Sheet with reference to the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (GARS) second edition. Based on the experiments that has been conducted in the RBIP and normal classroom, the results shows that 83.3% of the participated children response positively to the interaction in RBIP while another 16.7% response very good in normal classroom interaction for their stereotyped behaviour subscale and communications subscale. On the other hand, only 50% of the participated children with autism response positively in the social interaction subscale in the RBIP while 41.7% response optimistically to the normal classroom interaction while the remaining of 8.3% is not being able to be evaluated since the participants did not cooperate during the interaction in both RBIP and normal classroom experimental setting. Overall, most of the children are positively respond in RBIP which indicate that the robotic intervention program is an effective intervention program for them in improving their impairment in irregular repetitive stereotyped behaviour, communication skills and social interaction skills. Lower score in the three-subscale evaluation of Behaviour Score Sheet during RBIP is indicated that they exhibit less autism characteristic during RBIP compared to the normal classroom interaction.


The bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis has led some winemakers to question gelatin as a fining agent and to reject the use of animal proteins. Gluten was evaluated as a substitute for gelatin by comparing gluten treatments to other fining agents currently used (casein, association gelatin-tannin, fish glue, bentonite). The turbidity of a Chardonnay must treated by gluten (20 and 40 g/hL) was approximately 70% less than that of the control. A gluten with high hydrolysis of prolamins gave poor flocculation. Better results were obtained with partially hydrolyzed and deamidated wheat proteins and vital gluten. Gluten at 20 g/hL and the mixed tannin-gelatin at 5 g/hL had similar clarifications. Must treated with bentonites at 60 g/hL had 50 to 60% lower turbidity than untreated must. Compared with gluten only, deamidated gluten associated with tannin had poor clarifying efficiency. Fining of Chardonnay wine showed efficient clarification with gluten at 20 and 40 g/hL depending upon the gluten type. Wine fining with gluten was similar to fining with tannin-gelatin and more efficient than bentonite treatment. However, lower turbidities were obtained with fish glue at 1 g/hL and casein at 5 g/hL. The volume of lees generated by fining with gluten ranged between 0.2 and 0.4% (v/v), similar to the values obtained with casein, fish glue, and tannin-gelatin and much lower than the value obtained with bentonites.


Abstract This article challenges traditional ways of understanding fashion as a social phenomenon. By considering the everyday social practice of fashion where looking, wearing, choosing, discarding, consuming, and producing fashion have central roles in understanding fashion's person–object relationships, this study advances an alternative ontological view of fashion as a volatile emotional condition and inconstant state of mind. This suggested shift in theoretical perspective is significant in understanding and stimulating change or maintaining stability in fashion phenomena and could have principal consequences for thinking and developing policy in relation to fashion as well as to more general issues in person–object conditioned design cultures.


The safety of thermal control system is critical in thermal power plant. The method of variable weight fuzzy pattern recognition is used to assess the safety of thermal control system. The index system for safety assessment is constructed, and specific contents of influencing index values are given, and index values are obtained by Delphi method. The safety class of thermal control system is classified for five grades. It is introduction of the balanced function based on variable weight principle and index weights being corrected by index values that make the safety classification more reasonable. The analyses of instances show that the method of safety assessment can objectively reflect the thermal control system security.


Aiming to develop a model seeking to investigate the direct effects of personality types on internet addiction, this study was set and tested on tertiary level students receiving education within two learning modes: face to face and distance education. The participants of the study, selected through maximum variety method within purposive sampling, included 210 students enrolled on face-to-face and distance education programs of computer programming department. In addition to a personal data form aiming to obtain information on demographic features of the participants, a personality inventory and an Internet addiction scale were utilized to gather data. As an analysis model concurrently exerting both the mediation and direct effects, path analysis with observed variables was utilized in the current study to test the developed model. The findings revealed that while the most powerful predictor variable of internet addiction was conscientiousness, openness to experience was found as the weakest independent variable predictor. Additionally the developed model was observed as valid for both face to face and distance education students.


The present review addresses the impacts of pesticides used in crops on non-target organisms in aquatic ecosystems. In recent decades, these ecosystems have received large amounts of these compounds, which are released by urban communities, rural and industrial properties. Pesticides reach the aquatic environment through different routes (leaching, irrigation, drainage, and surface runoff) and can easily reach non-target organisms, such as fish, mollusks, as well as other benthic organisms. Usually, these animals tend to undergo bioaccumulation. Exposure to these pesticides can cause numerous physiological changes by direct influence on certain cellular structures, such as on the lysosomal membrane, which can be degraded. Also, they can even react with nucleic acids resulting in several genetic injuries, thus causing adverse reactions to the body. There is a need for more incentives for the adoption of sustainable agroecological practices, as well as a ban on active ingredients harmful to the environment, in addition to strict inspection by competent environmental agencies.


Wireless sensor networks are increasingly utilized in large-scale sensing applications. In this paper, we propose a novel wireless sensor network model based on simple assumption of wireless sensor network. The model implies some useful result: the number of parent nodes is determined by communication radius and average distance of sensor nodes; the communication cost caused by multi-path is very large, but it could be controlled by a mathematical limit. This model could also be utilized in other scenes, such as multi-sink.


The purpose of the TLS feature extension is to prevent downgrade
attacks that are not otherwise prevented by the TLS protocol. In
particular, the TLS feature extension may be used to mandate support
for revocation checking features in the TLS protocol such as Online
Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) stapling. Informing clients that an
OCSP status response will always be stapled permits an immediate
failure in the case that the response is not stapled. This in turn
prevents a denial-of-service attack that might otherwise be possible.


A numerical analysis has been performed on the stability and quench characteristics of superconductors for helical coils of the Large Helical Device. Two types of conductors are dealt with, both of which consist of a NbTi/Cu superconducting cable stabilized by pure aluminium. The analysis is based on a two-dimensional model and the heat conduction equation was solved numerically. The distributions of temperature and current density are clarified for the cases of recovery and quench. The minimum input energies required to initiate a quench are calculated and compared with the experimental values.<<ETX>>


A 72-year-old woman presented with a 2-year history of slowly progressive ataxia, accompanied by 13 kg weight loss. MRI imaging of the brain revealed T2-weighted hyperintensities in the pons, midbrain and cerebellum. Multiple blood and CSF investigations for metabolic, inflammatory, infective and genetic aetiologies were negative or normal. A paraneoplastic cause was sought. CT revealed circumferential sheathing of the thoracic and abdominal aorta by abnormal soft tissue. The right kidney was enlarged, with perinephric enhancement and stranding. There were sclerotic bone lesions in multiple ribs, the left humeral midshaft, and both iliac blades. Coarsening of the trabecular pattern was seen in the proximal femurs. Technetium bone scanning showed increased uptake in the sclerotic lesions, and in a symmetrical diametaphyseal pattern in the distal femurs and proximal tibiae. These imaging findings were recognised to be pathognomonic for Erdheim Chester disease, a rare non-Langerhans histiocytosis. The diagnosis was supported by biopsy of the periaortic soft tissue. Progressive ataxia has been described in Erdheim Chester due to infiltration of the cerebellum by histiocytes, but never as the presenting feature. This patient went on to develop other manifestations of histiocytosis, including pituitary, cardiac and pulmonary involvement. Treatment with interferon-α was initiated.


A project funded by the Queensland Government in 2010 sought to improve the capacity of primary producers in selected horticultural industries to manage risks and identify opportunities arising from Queensland's changing and variable climate. Tomato growers in the Granite Belt in south-east Queensland documented their vulnerability to climate change, adaptation options and economically evaluated risk management responses in the supply of fresh tomatoes. The production and quality of field grown tomatoes is significantly reduced when mean monthly maximum temperatures exceed 29°C two weeks prior to flowering. Granite Belt tomato growers who took part in this extensive series of interactive climate awareness workshops were presented with (best knowledge) future climate scenarios for their Granite Belt production location. Once aware of the Tomato plants intrinsic high temperature flowering threshold they concluded that the possibility of reaching this threshold was unlikely in the medium term (i.e. by 2030). Granite Belt summer tomato production has evolved in a unique high altitude region, where mean maximum monthly temperature, both current and projected, does not exceed the maximum temperature threshold above which tomato crop yield is reduced. Growers understand that their unique high altitude location gives them a production advantage, and that their industry will benefit from projected future temperature changes. Granite Belt growers now have a better understanding of the impact of climate variables on tomato production through increased knowledge which they applied using the Horticulture Vulnerability Matrix. Discussion of projected future climate impacts and the populating of this Vulnerability Matrix was a major focus of each workshop session, and allowed growers to increase their knowledge, identify areas of vulnerability and document adaptation options necessary to build industry resilience.


We examined whether self-esteem relates to coherence between self-evaluations and anticipated evaluations by others. In two studies (total N = 279), participants twice completed a measure of their personal attributes, once from their own standpoints and once from the perspective of someone they anticipated meeting, separated by a 25-minute distractor task. Supporting our preregistered predictions, the within-person association between self- and other-ratings was stronger as a function of between-person increases in self-esteem. These effects remained after statistically controlling for self-concept clarity and for fear of negative evaluation, both of which related meaningfully to self-esteem. Together, these findings indicate that persons high in self-esteem anticipate that others will evaluate them consistently with how they evaluate themselves.


Each year, worldwide, more than 500,000 women die of complications from childbirth, making this a leading cause of death globally for adult women of reproductive age. Nearly all studies that have sought to explain the persistence of high maternal mortality levels have focused on the supply of and demand for particular health services. We argue that inquiry on health services is useful but insufficient. Robust explanations for safe motherhood outcomes require examination of factors lying deeper in the causal chain. We compare the cases of Guatemala and Honduras to examine historical and structural influences on maternal mortality. Despite being a poorer country than Guatemala, Honduras has a superior safe motherhood record. We argue that four historical and structural factors stand behind this difference: Honduras's relatively stable and Guatemala's turbulent modern political history; the presence of a marginalized indigenous population in Guatemala, but not in Honduras, that the state has had difficulty reaching; a conservative Catholic Church that has played a larger role in Guatemala than Honduras in blocking priority for reproductive health; and more effective advocacy for maternal mortality reduction in Honduras than Guatemala in the face of this opposition. Copyright 2006 The Population Council, Inc..


Following a proposal by Network Rail (West Coast) for the erection of an autotransformer (Planning Application Number 3/04/0812) on land adjacent to the West Coast Mainline, Great Strickland (NY 55010 22750), Cumbria County Council Historic Environment Service (CCCHES) were consulted by Eden District Council regarding the application. In response, CCCHES issued a brief for a programme of archaeological work, specifying a rapid desk-based assessment, visual inspection, metal detector survey and an evaluation. Upon acceptance of a project design formulated to meet the CCCHES brief, Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) were commissioned by Network Rail (West Coast) to undertake the programme of work.
The desk-based assessment, comprising a search of both published and unpublished records held by the Cumbria Historic Environment Record (CHER), Kendal, the Cumbria County Record Office, Kendal, and the archives and library held at OA North, was undertaken in May 2005 and identified 18 sites of archaeological interest within the 500m radius of the study area. Sites 01-15 were recorded on the CHER and three sites (Sites 16-18) were identified through map regression analysis. These sites included a Bronze Age cairn that contained 13 cremations (Site 01); a cropmark of possible Romano-British/Iron Age origin (Site 02); two hoards of Roman coins (Sites 04 and 15), along with two further findspots associated with Site 15: a bracelet (site 13) and a mount (Site 14). Other sites included two hazard areas, one for the Village of Great Strickland (Site 10), and one for a possible medieval settlement south of Hackthorpe Hall (Site 03); a tile works and associated tramway (Site 05); two quarries (Sites 08 and 11); a mill (Site 09); a road (Site 16); a well (Site 17); a guide post (Site 18); an undated potential settlement (Site 06); and two undated lynchets (Sites 07 and 12).


Fourteen patients with recurrent or persistent carcinoma of the oral cavity or oropharynx were treated with Au-198 grain implants at the Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital from June 1987 through April 1991. Five patients presented recurrent carcinoma, four patients persistent carcinoma, and five patients a second primary. Local control was achieved with Au-198 implants in six patients (42.8%) at 8, 16, 23, 29, 39 and 53 months following treatment. Seven patients died of local recurrence or persistent disease at 5, 7, 7, 10, 10, 12 and 15 months after interstitial implant. Three patients (21.4%) died of significant complications of salvage irradiation (Hemorrhage in two patients and edema in one patient) at 0.5, 8 and 16 months following treatment. Three patients of fourteen (21.4%) are alive and well at 53, 39 and 23 months after salvage Au-198 grain implant. Considerations regarding the usefulness of Au-198 grain implants in the treatment of recurrent or persistent oral and oropharyngeal cancer are discussed.


Let M be a compact oriented d-dimensional smooth manifold. Chas and Sullivan have defined a structure of Batalin�Vilkovisky algebra on H*(LM). Extending work of Cohen, Jones and Yan, we compute this Batalin�Vilkovisky algebra structure when M is a sphere Sd, d =1. In particular, we show that H*(LS2;\mathbb{F}2) and the Hochschild cohomology HH*(H*(S2);H*(S2)) are surprisingly not isomorphic as Batalin�Vilkovisky algebras, although we prove that, as expected, the underlying Gerstenhaber algebras are isomorphic. The proof requires the knowledge of the Batalin�Vilkovisky algebra H*(O2S3;\mathbb{F}2) that we compute in the Appendix.


Experiments comparing neural networks trained with crisp and fuzzy desired outputs are described. A handwritten word recognition algorithm using the neural networks for character level confidence assignment was tested on images of words taken from the United States Postal Service mailstream. The fuzzy outputs were defined using a fuzzy k-nearest neighbor algorithm. The crisp networks slightly outperformed the fuzzy networks at the character level but the fuzzy networks outperformed the crisp networks at the word level. This empirical result is interpreted as an example of the principle of least commitment. >