Decomposition of      agricultural waste liberates organically-bound nutrient to inorganic form for increased soil fertility and crop productivity. The present investigation delineates carbon and phosphorus mineralization from sandy and clay soils of Peninsular Malaysia amended with cow dung or rice husk ash. Laboratory incubation was conducted for 60 days and a replicate sample of the either soils were incorporated with cow dung or rice husk ash at equivalent rate of 10 t ha -1 under dark condition at 23 o C temperature and field capacity moisture content. The samples containing neither cow dung nor rice husk ash from both soils were included as controls. At fixed intervals, the amount of carbon and phosphorus mineralized from both treatments was determined using standard analytical methods. Temporal increase in carbon mineralization was observed in both the control and amended soils. Sandy soil amended with cow dung or rice husk ash had higher carbon evolution than control while the reverse was obtained from the clay soil. The cumulative carbon evolved from the sandy soil was 82.159, 88.175 and 91.750 µg g -1 for control and soil amended with cow dung and rice husk ash respectively while the respective values for these treatments from the clay soil were 112.336, 96.755 and 90.197 µg g -1 . When the means of carbon evolution from the two soils were compared, clay soil had higher evolution (19.952 µg g -1 ) compared to sandy (17.477 µg g -1 ). Incorporating cow dung or rice husk showed higher extractable phosphorus from both soils compared to control. There was three phases in both carbon and phosphorus mineralization pattern; initial flush, followed by a declined then a phase of slow increase. Sandy soil had higher mean values (29.571 µg g -1 ) of extractable phosphorus than clay (8. 601 µg g -1 ) and this was attributed to acidic nature of clay soil resulting into phosphorus precipitation and adsorption by soil clay and oxides of Fe and Al. The present result showed decomposition potential of cow dung and rice husk ash in these soils.


Although there is a substantial body of literature on human wellbeing, there is no universally agreed-upon meaning and understanding of the concept. This article explores the meanings and understandings which Somali refugees in Kampala, Uganda attach to the concept. Drawing on 14 in-depth individual interviews and seven focus group discussions with 70 Somali refugee study participants in Kisenyi, I argue that wellbeing is mainly understood in terms of having access to objective elements that result in having a good or comfortable life. Objective elements can be seen to represent human needs with respect to Doyal and Gough's theory of human need. These objective elements were discussed as prerequisites for having a good life. They include peace and security, health, education, employment and housing. Adequate access to these objective elements is perceived as fundamentally important in promoting and guaranteeing human wellbeing.


It is hypothesize that combining legume forages with grasses will increase plant protein output as well as animal performance. Two years of winter grazing experiments were conducted at the Caprine Research and Education Unit at George Washington Carver Agricultural Experiment Station, Tuskegee University to develop a profitable and sustainable forage-based meat goats production system. Forty-eight Kiko-crossbred (Capra hircus; 19.6±1.5) meat goats were randomly allocated to 6 groups as following: (1) annual ryegrass/wheat (RW; Lolium multiflorum/Triticum aestivum, respectively) + Berseem clover (BC; Trifolium alexandrinum), (2) RW + Austrian pea (AP; Pisum sativum), (3) RW + Hairy vetch (HV; Vicia villosa) + AP, (4) RW + HV + AP + BC, (5) RW + HV, and (6) annual RW as a control with 2 replicates per treatment during 2 years. An average multi-culture forage dry matter (DM; kg/DM/ha) production during 2 years tended to be (P = 0.07) greater for RW+BC than other forage combinations. Biomass production in February and April were higher (P < 0.01) for RW+BC than RW+HV and RW forage combinations, but there was no forage treatment x year interactions. There were no differences in initial body weight (BW), final BW and average daily gain (ADG) among treatments, with no treatment x year interactions for animal BW changes and ADG. However, hot carcass weight, cold carcass weight, and dressing percentage were greater (P<0.05) for RW+BC and RW +HV+AP than for RW grasses. Sirloin weight was greater (P<0.04) for RW+BC than for RW pasture, while leg weight was greater (P < 0.03) for RW+HV + AP than for RW control. Goats grazed on grasses-based diet (RW), had higher average saturated fatty acids (SFA; P < 0.01) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA; P<0.05) in intramuscular fat content, but both were lower in mescentric kidney fat (MKF) and subcutaneous fat (P < 0.05-0.01) compared to legume forage-based diets. Goats grazed on grass-based diets, had higher omega-3 and -6 fatty acids in intramuscular fat content (P < 0.05-0.08), but both were lower in subcutaneous fat (P < 0.05-0.01) compared to legume forage-based diets. This is probably due to higher nutritive values of forage diets throughout the winter grazing period. The results produced indicated a greater increase in carcass yield with more desirable fatty acids compositions in intramuscular fat content in meat goats from grass-legume multiple combinations compared to mono-culture forage.


In recent years, as international communication has become more frequent and significant, the obstacle that foreign language pose is more keenly felt and so the linguistic variety of the present world has become a heavy burden on international communication. In order to facilitate an international communication, various artificial languages have been constructed. In this paper, I examine Unish, one of the recently constructed artificial languages, and English, a dominant language of the present world, from the perspective of phonetics, phonology, and writing system. I argue that an ideal international language should not contain speech sounds that are not easy to produce, and its writing system should be phonemic. Unish, I show, contains consonant sounds that are not easy to produce. Writing system of Unish is in part not phonemic. English is found to contain too many vowel sounds, the aspect that makes acquisition of English difficult. Spelling system of English is the most problematic about English as an international language. An ideal international that is proposed contains the most frequent and easy-to-produce seventeen consonant sounds. It has a basic five-vowel system and its writing system is perfectly phonemic. 22 English, Unish, and an Ideal International Language: from a perspective of~


The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology as to the knowledge management of concept structure for learners. Fuzzy clustering is adopted to implement classification so that learners of the same cluster have homogeneity and display common features of cognition diagnosis. In addition, fuzzy clustering is based on information of concept scoring and caution index from polytomous student-problem chart. In the study, the empirical data is the assessment of statistics concepts from university students. The results show that there are four clusters and each cluster has its own cognitive characteristics. To sum up, the methodology can improve knowledge management in classroom more feasible. Finally, some recommendations and suggestions for future investigations are also discussed.


Objective To determine the frequency and the risk factors of stress induced gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) in critically ill children and to investigate the effect of prophilaxis. Setting 14-beded, tertiary care PICU Methods Records of 182 children admitted consecutively from December 2012 to May 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. 136 patients were eligible. The age ranged from 40 days to 18 years. Diagnosis, demographic data, risk factors, administration of prophilaxis, drugs used in medication, prescence and degree of GIB and complications were recorded. Results The male-female ratio was 1.3. Mean age was 5.9. Mean PRISM III score was 12.2 and 49.3% had PRISM score ≥ 10. Most frequent diagnosis was infectious diseases. Sixtyone (44.9%) children received prophylaxis in which antacids was used in 28(45.9%), sucralfate in 18(29.5%), proton pomp inhibitors (PPIs) in 51(83.6%) and 5 (8.2%) received H2 reseptor antagonist. The incidence of GIB was 15.4% (n = 21), in which 66.7% (n = 14) were mild, 23.8% (n = 5) were moderate, 4.8% (n = 1) was significant and 4.8% (n = 1) was massive. In children who received prophylaxis 17 (27.9%) cases developed GIB. Mechanical ventilation were found to be the only risk factor significantly associated with stress induced GIB. Also; mechanical ventilation and trauma was strongly significant (p < 0.001) and coagulopathy/ thrombocytopenia, PRISM III ≥ 10, renal and hepatic failure, hypotension, and heart failure/ arrhythmia was found to be associated with the development of GIB in critically ill children (p < 0.05). Conclusions GIB is a serious concern for PICU clinicians and intensivists are confused about the conflicting evidence supporting prophilaxis. We believe that prophylaxis could be beneficial for mechanically ventilated children. Also trauma, coagulopathy/thrombocytopenia, PRISM III ≥ 10, renal and hepatic failure, hypotension, and heart failure/arrhythmia must be kept in mind as risk factors requiring attention in PICU setting.


REFERENCE/CITATION
Wiechula R. The use of moist wound-healing dressings in the management of split-thickness skin graft donor sites: a systematic review. Int J Nurs Pract. 2003; 9:S9-S17.

CLINICAL QUESTION
Do rates of healing, infection, and pain differ depending on whether nonmoist or moist dressings are used to manage superficial to partial-thickness wounds?

DATA SOURCES
Investigations were identified by CINAHL, MEDLINE, Pre-MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Current Contents, Health STAR, EMBASE, Expanded Academic Index, and Dissertation Abstracts International searches. The search terms included skin, graft, and donor. Additional searches were performed with reference lists and bibliographies of retrieved studies.

STUDY SELECTION
To be included in the review, each study had to fulfill the following criteria: it had to be an intraindividual or prospective randomized controlled trial of human subjects; it had to include patients with postharvest split-thickness skin graft donor sites; it had to evaluate the effectiveness of primary and secondary wound dressings; and it had to have outcome measures that included healing (objective), infection (subjective), and pain (objective).

DATA EXTRACTION
Data extraction and study quality assessment procedures were developed specifically for this review based on Cochrane Collaboration, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, and Joanna Briggs Institute protocols and were performed independently by the author. Details of the procedures were not fully explained. The principal outcome measures were healing (proportion of sites healed within the study period or time to complete healing), rate of infection, and pain scores. The studies were grouped according to broad dressing type (nonmoist and moist) and specific types of moist dressings (hydrocolloids and polyurethane semipermeable transparent films). When comparable, study results were pooled and analyzed with a fixed-effects model. Data within broader dressing categories (nonmoist and moist) were analyzed with a random-effects model. chi (2) analysis was used to determine heterogeneity among the studies. RevMan software (version 4.04; Cochrane Centre, Oxford, UK) was used for statistical analysis.

MAIN RESULTS
The searches identified 111 studies and 1 integrative review, of which 58 studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Inconsistency and variation in outcome measures and incomplete reporting of results prevented analysis of many studies. Wound healing was measured by days to complete healing (when dressings could be removed without trauma and pain) and wounds healed by day X (removal of dressings at regular intervals). Wound infection was subjectively measured based on clinical signs of infection (edema, heat, pain, or smell). Visual analog scales were used to measure pain levels. Among the broad categories of nonmoist (sterile gauze, fine mesh gauze, Xerofoam [Tyco Healthcare Group LP, Mansfield, MA]) and moist (DuoDERM hydrocolloid [ConvaTec, Princeton, NJ], Tegaderm transparent film [3M Health Care, St Paul, MN], Opsite transparent film [Smith & Nephew, London, UK]) dressings, the outcomes of healing, infection, and pain were analyzed. In 6 studies, the findings significantly favored moist dressings, compared with nonmoist dressings, for days to complete healing (weighted mean difference [WMD] = -3.97, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -5.91, -2.02). In 9 studies, wounds healed by day X (day 7, 8, 9, 10, or 12) were analyzed. The results were varied and inconclusive because of a small number of trials and subjects. Among 10 studies, no significant difference was noted in infection rates between nonmoist and moist dressings (odds ratio [OR] = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.14, 1.18). Three studies using visual analog scales for the outcome of pain were converted into a uniform scale of 1 to 10 (10 representing most painful). The findings significantly favored moist dressings over nonmoist dressings (WMD = -1.75, 95% CI = -2.94, -0.56). Among nonmoist and specific types of moist dressings, a subset analysis was performed to examine the outcomes of healing, infection, and pain. For days to complete healing, 2 investigations significantly favored hydrocolloid dressings over nonmoist dressings (WMD = -2.19, 95% CI = -2.89, -1.49). Additionally, in 2 studies, hydrocolloid dressings were significantly favored over other moist dressings (semiocclusive hydrocolloid and transparent film) for days to complete healing (WMD = -1.45, 95% CI = -2.17, -0.74). In 3 studies, the data significantly favored polyurethane semipermeable transparent film dressings over nonmoist dressings for days to complete healing (WMD = -2.82, 95% CI = -3.58, -2.07). For infection rates, 4 studies significantly favored hydrocolloid dressings over nonmoist dressings (OR = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.07, 0.65). In 4 other studies, polyurethane semipermeable transparent film dressings were significantly favored over nonmoist dressings with regard to infection rates (OR = 0.28, 95% CI = 0.09, 0.91). For the outcome of pain, varied outcome measures and insufficient data prevented analysis among specific types of moist dressings.

CONCLUSIONS
Moist dressings decreased the days to complete healing and pain scores when compared with nonmoist dressings. Among the broad categories of nonmoist and moist dressings, no differences were found in infection rates. The data on specific types of moist dressings revealed that days to complete healing were decreased with hydrocolloid dressings compared with nonmoist and other moist dressings. Hydrocolloid dressings also decreased infection rates compared with nonmoist dressings. Polyurethane semipermeable transparent film dressings also decreased days to complete healing and infection rates compared with nonmoist dressings. Overall, the data indicated that hydrocolloid dressings are more effective than nonmoist dressings in terms of rates of healing, infection, and pain in the management of superficial to partial-thickness wounds. The variations in outcome measures among the included studies should be considered in interpreting these findings.


This paper studies the role of international trade of essential goods during a pandemic. We consider a multi-country, multi-sector model with essential and non-essential goods. Essential goods provide utility relative to a reference consumption level, and a pandemic consists of an increase in this reference level. Each country produces domestic varieties of both types of goods using capital and labor subject to sectoral adjustment costs, and all varieties are traded internationally subject to trade barriers. We study the role of international trade of essential goods in mitigating or amplifying the impact of a pandemic. We find that the effects depend crucially on the countries' trade imbalances in essential goods. Net importers of these goods are relatively worse off during a pandemic than net exporters. The welfare losses of net importers are lower in a world with high trade barriers, while the reverse is the case for net exporters. Yet, once a pandemic arrives, net exporters of essential goods benefit from an increase in trade barriers, while net importers benefit from a decrease in them. These findings are consistent with preliminary evidence on changes in trade barriers across countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Background: Centenarian population in the United States is increasing, and cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in this group of patients. We report electrocardiographic changes in a group of 124 centenarians. METHODS: We included ECGs of 124 patients aged 100 to 112 years (mean age 102 years), who were seen either on office visits or on recent admission to the hospital. ECGs were analyzed by 2 different investigators. Results: Women were at least 2 times men in number (31% vs 69%, 39 vs 85 of 124); thus women outlived men in the centenarian group. 58% (72 of 124) patients had normal sinus rhythm and only 7 of 124 patients (6%, all women) had normal ECGs. The most common electrocardiographic abnormalities were: left-axis deviation (29%, 36 of 124), atrial fibrillation (AF) (27%, 34 of 124), right bundle branch block (15%, 18 of 124), left anterior fascicular block (14%, 17 of 124), left ventricular hypertrophy (14%, 17 of 124), first-degree atrioventricular (AV) block (13%, 16 of 124), nonspecific ST-T changes (13%, 16 of 124), premature atrial complexes (13%, 16 of 124), premature ventricular complexes (10%, 13 of 124) and pacemaker rhythm (10%, 13 of 124). Almost all Q waves were suggestive of old inferior wall infarcts and were present in 8% (10 of 124) of patients. Only 3 centenarians had QTc prolongation. Conclusion: Fewer men live long enough to reach 100 years of age, consistent with higher incidence of ischemic heart disease in men. Centenarians had higher incidence of AF indicative of increased incidence of AF with age. Increased incidence of left-axis deviation, left anterior fascicular block and left ventricular hypertrophy in centenarians can be attributed to age related cardiac hypertrophy and prevalence of hypertension. Also higher prevalence of conduction disturbances including AV block and bundle branch block indicates that a degenerative conduction system disorder may progress with advancing age. The finding of pacemaker rhythm in a few subjects confirms that pacemaker implantation may allow some patients to reach extreme longevity. Overall centenarians represent a model of successful aging and have satisfactory electrocardiographic framework that reflects a good cardiac function, contributing to attainment of extreme longevity.


Small river plumes are typical features at many coastal regions in the World Ocean. These water masses have relatively small areas and volumes; however, due to their energetic dynamics localized in a thin surface layer, they strongly affect coastal circulation, water quality, and ocean-atmosphere interaction. In this study, we investigate external factors, which govern synoptic and seasonal variability of small river plumes, and, therefore, affect land-ocean fluxes of fluvial water and biogeochemically important material. We use numerical modeling to simulate small river plumes at the northeastern part of the Black Sea. We describe the response time of small river plumes to changes in river discharge and wind forcing conditions, which determines variability of river plumes at different time scales. We reveal that the influence of river plumes on coastal processes depends not only on total annual river discharge volume, but also on temporal distribution of high-discharge and low-discharge periods. Seasonal and synoptic features of local atmospheric circulation could strongly modify the relation between river plume characteristics and river discharge rate. The results obtained in this study are important for better assessment of delivery and fate of river-borne suspended and dissolved matter, as well as floating litter in coastal areas.


The Moore Hill fault system in the central part of the Kentucky-Illinois fluorspar field is about 26 miles long. Fluorspar has been produced from a part nearly 5 miles long, and since mining began in 1899 this system has yielded more than 300,000 tons of fluorspar. Lead and zinc sulfides commonly are found in the ore, but only rarely do they occur in sufficient quantity to be worth recovering. The productive part of the fault system was mapped and the properties and principal mines described. The high-angle normal faults of the system cut limestones, sandstones, and shales of Mississippian age. Stratigraphic displacements range from less than a foot to as much as 550 feet.. The fluorspar bodies are sporadically distributed in veins of calcite and fluorite along the faults.


In order to improve the predictive accuracy of impedance cardiac output, the relationship between blood resistance, chemistry, and hematocrit was examined. Blood samples from sixty-three intensive care (ICU) patients was analyzed for hematocrit, sodium, bicarbonate, urea, total protein, albumin, glucose, and pH, and the electrical resistance of the sample was measured. Multiple regression analysis produced a statistically significant model with resistance as the dependant variable, and the exponent of the hematocrit (Exp[Hct]), pH and blood urea as the independent variables. This study therefore suggests that the accuracy of resistance prediction can be improved by incorporating pH and urea into the resistivity equation. It is to be expected that this in turn will improve the accuracy of impedance cardiac output estimation.


This study
examined the relationship between factors in communal land conflict and food security
in Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. Two null
hypotheses were formulated based on the selected independent variables of
boundary dispute and scramble for other scarce economic resources like oil palm
and other economic trees. Using the survey research design, data were collected
from 400 randomly selected respondents. The data were statistically analysed
using the chi-square (X2) with
probability set at the 5% level of significance. The results showed a
significant relationship between boundary dispute and food security in Obudu on
one hand and between scramble for scarce economic resources and food security
on the other. We recommend among other things, that government at all levels
should periodically mount enlightenment campaigns, seminars and symposia to
sensitize the rural people on the devastating effect of communal land conflict.
Also, conflict control mechanisms such as regular meetings and dialogue among
neighbouring communities should be encouraged by community leaders to avert
communal land conflict.


Abstract Moment technique has been extensively used for the evaluation of the rate and equilibrium parameters in chemical reactors and also in adsorption vessels, for about five decades. Adsorption and reaction rate parameters, as well as axial dispersion constants, effective diffusivities within porous catalysts and heat and mass transfer coefficients were shown to be effectively evaluated by analyzing the moments of the response peaks, which could be obtained from pulse-response experiments performed in a reaction/adsorption vessel. A detailed review of chromatographic processes, involving moment analysis of adsorption equilibrium and rate constants in fixed beds, dynamic analysis of batch adsorbers, moment analysis of fluidized bed, slurry and trickle bed reactors are reported in this manuscript. Applications of the single-pellet moment technique, which was developed for the effective investigation of intrapellet rate and equilibrium processes, by eliminating the contributions of axial dispersion and external transport parameters, are comprehensively discussed. Recent studies for the analysis of reaction rate parameters using the TAP reactor approach, use of single pellet system for the investigation of catalytic and non-catalytic solid-gas reactions and extension of the moment technique to non-linear systems opened new pathways in reaction engineering research.


: This study evaluates the ability of seven ultraviolet (UV) absorbers to reduce fading of nylon colored with nine synthetic acid dyes applied at 0.5% and 0.05% owf concentrations. By including two concentrations, we could evaluate the influence of depth of shade on the ab-sorbers' effectiveness. Specimens were treated with UV absorbers using one of two application methods: an exhaust bath at 100°C or an immersion treatment at room temperature. After treatment, specimens were exposed to 160 AFUs of light in a xenon-arc Weather-Ometer, then evaluated instrumentally to determine the amount of color change. The UV absorbers examined here provided only very limited beneficial effects. Only two had no detrimental effects on all dye/shade combinations to which they were applied, and their beneficial effects were limited to four to seven of the eighteen dye/shade combinations evaluated. Based on this research, we cannot make general recommendations regarding UV absorber use because some of the acid-dyed nylon specimens treated with UV absorbers exhibited no improvement in lightfastness, while other treated specimens actually exhibited greater fading or color change than their respective untreated controls. Further testing is needed to determine the effects of specific absorbers on specific dyes not examined in this study, because the effectiveness of each absorber appears to be dye and shade specific.


In spin crossover materials, an abrupt phase transition between a low-spin state and a high-spin (HS) state can be driven by temperature, pressure or by light irradiation. Of special relevance are Fe(II) based coordination polymers where, in contrast to molecular systems, the phase transition between a spin S=0 and 2 state shows a pronounced hysteresis which is desirable for technical applications. A satisfactory microscopic explanation of this large cooperative phenomenon has been sought for a long time. The lack of x-ray data has been one of the reasons for the absence of microscopic studies. In this work, we present an efficient route to prepare reliable model structures and within an ab initio density functional theory analysis and effective model considerations we show that in polymeric spin crossover compounds magnetic exchange between HS Fe(II) centers is as important as elastic couplings for understanding the phase transition. We discuss the relevance of these interactions for the cooperative behavior in these materials.


This study attempts to investigate the relationship that influence psychosocial and selected institutional factors such as self-esteem, family members, peers, society and learning institutions leading to criminal behaviour among drugs addicts. The study also shows the relationship between selected addiction factors with institution and psychosocial variable. A research model has been formulated by researcher from Chein (1984) psychosocial and epidemiological factor teory to investigate the relationship. This research was conducted in Karangan, Kedah and Kampung Selamat, Seberang Prai, Pulau Pinang, Drugs Rehabilitation Centre which involving 300 trainee. Each trainee is given a set of questionnaires which consist of six sections. The sections are self information and criminal behaviour, Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (CSEI) (11967) family members influence questionnaires (Beschner & Friedman, 1979) peers influence questionnaires, society influence questionnaires and learning institution influence questionnaires has been distributed. The data obtained will be analysed by using Pearson Correlation ( r ), t-test and Regression analysis, Result shows that self-esteem aspects has no significant relationship with crime behaviour. Factors such as age duration of addiction and number of times being sent to rehabilitation centres has no relationship with the self-esteem of the responden. Nevertheless, there is a significant difference between self-esteem scores among drug addicts who stay in their urban as opposed to the rural areas. The study also shows that family members influence has no significant relationship with criminal behaviour; the age of the addicts has no significant relationship with family members influence. This study also reveals that the duration of addiction and number of times being sent to rehabilitation centre has significant relationship with family members influence, but family members influence has no significant differentiation based from place of stay. The study also shows that there is no significant relationship between peers influence and criminal behaviour with addiction factors. It also reveals that society influence has significant relationship with criminal behaviour. The duration of addiction and number of times being sent to rehabilitation centre has significant relationship with society influence. Finally, the study shows that learning institution influence has no negative significant relationship with criminal behaviour, where as the duration of addiction and number of times being sent to Rehabilitation Centre has significant relationship with learning institution influence. Furthermore this study found that the age of drug addicts and the location of drug addicts place of stay has no relationship significant differentiation with learning institution influence. Regression test shows that the number of times being sent to Rehabilitation Centre and society influence are dominant variables which influence crime behaviour by drug addicts followed by family members influence and learning institution influence. Generally, on the whole, self-esteem and peers have no relationship between criminal behaviour. So, this research model cannot be fully supported.


Partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) are models for sequential decision-making under uncertainty and incomplete information. Machine learning methods typically train recurrent neural networks (RNN) as effective representations of POMDP policies that can efficiently process sequential data. However, it is hard to verify whether the POMDP driven by such RNN-based policies satisfies safety constraints, for instance, given by temporal logic specifications. We propose a novel method that combines techniques from machine learning with the field of formal methods: training an RNN-based policy and then automatically extracting a so-called finite-state controller (FSC) from the RNN. Such FSCs offer a convenient way to verify temporal logic constraints. Implemented on a POMDP, they induce a Markov chain, and probabilistic verification methods can efficiently check whether this induced Markov chain satisfies a temporal logic specification. Using such methods, if the Markov chain does not satisfy the specification, a byproduct of verification is diagnostic information about the states in the POMDP that are critical for the specification. The method exploits this diagnostic information to either adjust the complexity of the extracted FSC or improve the policy by performing focused retraining of the RNN. The method synthesizes policies that satisfy temporal logic specifications for POMDPs with up to millions of states, which are three orders of magnitude larger than comparable approaches.


Translocations involving chromosomes 8 and 14 in Burkitt9s lymphoma (BL) often involve the switch mu (Smu) region on chromosome 14, which contains multiple repeats. This has enabled us to use the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect breakpoints that involve this region on chromosome 14 and the c-myc gene on chromosome 8. Using pairs of flanking primers, each pair including one annealing to repeat sequences within the switch region and one of three primers from the c-myc region (first intron, 3′, or 5′ flanking sequence of the first exon of c-myc), we have been able to amplify DNA fragments containing the corresponding breakpoint regions from chromosome 14 in both cell lines and biopsied tumor samples. The definitive demonstration of sequences from both chromosomes in these fragments permitted the confirmation of the presence of a translocation. Because of the sensitivity of PCR, we were able to localize breakpoints in samples containing as few as 1 neoplastic cell in 10(8) cells. PCR provides a valuable tool for the detection of 8;14 chromosomal translocations, which should prove to be of value in diagnosis and molecular epidemiologic studies, as well as providing a means of detecting minimal disease.


Many companies use product platforms to achieve economy of scale benefits while they simultaneously offer customized product variants. The strategy to realise this is often to share ready designed parts and sub-systems with fixed interfaces between product variants. This strategy provides flexibility, but it is limited by the bandwidth defined by the fixed parts and sub-systems comprised in the platform. To fulfil new demands on increased variability, redefinition of the platform and/or addition of new platform elements are required. To address this issue Claesson [1] has presented a new way of describing platforms which are built of generic, autonomous and configurable sub-systems called configurable components, CCs. Such systems carry knowledge not only about the finally used part instances, but also about how and why an instance came into being. This makes the product knowledge carried by a CC possible to be reused to configure platform-based variants as well as to develop future designs. Until now the work done on the CC concept has focused on the internal building blocks, i.e. what it needs to consist of in order to work as intended. In short, the focus so far has been on how the product platform can be represented, not the process and methods to create it. This paper addresses this latter issue. An "engineer-to-order" scenario is considered and the design process as well as supporting design methods are emphasised. The results show that well-known concept design methods such as the concept combination table (the morphological matrix) and evaluation matrices can be adopted for redesign of configurable platform system elements representing a whole system family.


Multidisciplinary treatment and continuity of care throughout treatment are important for ensuring metabolic control and avoiding complications in diabetic patients. This study examines the relationship between continuity of care of the treating disciplines and clinical evolution of patients. Data from 1836 adult patients experiencing type 2 diabetes mellitus were analyzed, in a period between 12 and 24 months. Continuity was measured by using four well known indices: Usual Provider Continuity (UPC), Continuity of Care Index (COCI), Herfindahl Index (HI), and Sequential Continuity (SECON). Patients were divided into five segments according to metabolic control: well-controlled, worsened, moderately decompensated, highly decompensated, and improved. Well-controlled patients had higher continuity by physicians according to UPC and HI indices (p-values 0.029 and <0.003), whereas highly decompensated patients had less continuity in HI (p-value 0.020). Continuity for nurses was similar, with a greater continuity among well-controlled patients (p-values 0.015 and 0.001 for UPC and HI indices), and less among highly decompensated patients (p-values 0.004 and <0.001 for UPC and HI indices). Improved patients had greater adherence to the protocol than those who worsened. The SECON index showed no significant differences across the disciplines. This study identified a relationship between physicians and nurse's continuity of care and metabolic control in patients with diabetes, consistent with qualitative findings that highlight the role of nurses in treatment.


Qualitative and quantitative measurements of complex flows demand for fast single-shot fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLI) technology with high precision. A method, single-shot time-gated fluorescence lifetime imaging using three-frame images (TFI-TGFLI), is presented. To our knowledge, it is the first work to combine a three-gate rapid lifetime determination (RLD) scheme and a four-channel framing camera to achieve this goal. Different from previously proposed two-gate RLD schemes, TFI-TGFLI can provide a wider lifetime range 0.6 ~ 13ns with reasonable precision. The performances of the proposed approach have been examined by both Monte-Carlo simulations and toluene seeded gas mixing jet diagnosis experiments. The measured average lifetimes of the whole excited areas agree well with the results obtained by the streak camera, and they are 7.6ns (N2 = 7L/min; O2 < 0.1L/min) and 2.6ns (N2 = 19L/min; O2 = 1L/min) with the standard deviations of 1.7ns and 0.8ns among the lifetime image pixels, respectively. The concentration distributions of the quenchers and fluorescent species were further analyzed, and they are consistent with the experimental settings.


This paper summarizes my new moral theory, which is based on direct reference to exemplars of goodness, identified through the emotion of admiration. Since a motivating emotion is at the root of the theory, it is intended to serve both the theoretical purpose of mapping the main moral terms by reference to features of exemplars, and the practical purpose of making us want to act morally and showing us how to do so through emulation of exemplars. The theory links the a priori side of ethics with empirical work in psychology and neuroscience, and it gives narratives a key function in the theory. Since it tracks a natural process of moral development in the emulation of exemplars, it also connects with moral education.


Abstract There is evidence to suggest that part of the recent changes in the lichen flora of the Netherlands is attributable to an increase in temperature. Changes which have occurred over the last 22 years were studied in detail, and were subjected to a statistical treatment by comparing the change of species to their latitudinal distribution and to ecological determinants. All 329 epiphytic and terrestrial lichen species occurring in the Netherlands were considered in relation to their world distribution. Arctic-alpine/boreo-montane species appear to be declining, while (sub)tropical species are invading. The proportion of increasing species is by far the largest among the wide-tropical lichens (83%), and smallest among the arctic-alpine/boreo-montane lichens (14%). None of the wide-tropical species was found to decrease, while 50% of the arctic-alpine/boreomontane species show a decline. Long-term monitoring of the epiphytic lichen flora in the province of Utrecht from 1979 onwards shows that the total number of taxa present increased from 95 in 1979 to 172 in 2001, while the average number of taxa per site increased from 7·5 to 18·9. The rate of increase was greatest by far between 1989 and 1995. The majority of the species (152 taxa or 85%) show a gross increase, only 17 species (10%) show a decrease. A detailed analysis of these data using multiple regression suggests global warming as an additional cause for recent changes, next to decreasing SO⊂2 and increasing NH⊂3. Changes appear to be correlated initially (1979-1995) only with toxitolerance and nutrient demand. Changes between 1995 and 2001, however, appear positively correlated to both temperature and nutrient demand, indicating a recent and significant shift towards species preferring warm circumstances, independent from, and concurrent with changes due to nutrient availability. This is the first paper reporting long-term floristic changes for lichens that appear to be correlated significantly with increasing temperatures. We suggest that future lichen monitoring programmes also pay attention to effects of climatic change, instead of focusing on air pollution effects only.


Notes on the autecology of 32 species of Auchenorrhyncha from the Moore House National Nature Reserve are given. Studies were made of the microclimates of the common vegetation types on which these occur and it is shown that the size and function as a temperature regulator of the spittle (produced by nymphs of the cercopidae) is associated with these gradients. Cercopid nymohs are shown to change feeding sites after moulting. The need to change host plants and thus leave protective spittle is thought to result in an increased mortality of nymphs (up to 3 per cent per day). Overall nymphal mortality is not dependent on population density. In two cercopids (Neophilaenus lineatus and Neophilaenus exclamationis), there are marked changes in population density in each year (1961 to 1963) and these are partly attributed to climatic factors. The hatch of cercopidae is delayed, and development is retarded at high altitides. Nymphal mortality rates in a cicadellid (macrosteles sexnotatus) and a delphacid (conomelus anceps) did not differ from those of the ceropidae studied, although they have no protective spittle. It is concluded that cercopid spittke is of some survival value at moore House by enabling the nymph to avoid parasites, if not predators, and unfavourable climatic conditions encountered whilst remaining stationary on the host plant during feeding. These advantages are not sufficient to give the Cercopidae a significantly higher survival rate than other Auchenorrhyncha at Moor House. Non-density dependent factors are thought to be responsible for a major part of the changes in population density. A compensatory mechanism at other stages of the life cycle has not been demonstrated. Local extinction at the edge of the range is a result of climatic factors. The population studied is probably below the density level at which regulating mechanisms may occur.


What Ockham's Razor Cuts: Quantifying simplicity in explanation choice Michael Pacer University of California, Berkeley Tania Lombrozo University of California, Berkeley Abstract: Observations from everyday life, the history of science, and well-controlled laboratory experiments suggest that when it comes to choosing between competing causal explanations, simplicity is an important factor. Less examined is the metric or metrics by which simplicity is quantified. Generally, it is assumed that simplicity can be described by counting the number of elements in an explanation, e.g. the number of causes, and this approach has been taken by fields as diverse as philosophy, psychology, and statistics. One alternative is that in the case of causal reasoning, one might consider the simpler explanation to be the one that includes the fewest unexplained causes, i.e. the fewest root nodes in the language of Bayesian causal-nets. We present two experiments supporting the hypothesis that this metric for simplicity is sometimes used in choosing between explanations, and can outweigh the total number of causes invoked in an explanation.


Abstract. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and organic peroxides play important roles in the cycle of oxidants and the formation of secondary aerosols in the atmosphere. Recent field observations have suggested that the budget of peroxyacetic acid (PAA, CH3C(O)OOH) is potentially related to the aerosol phase processes, especially to secondary aerosol formation. Here, we present the first laboratory measurements of the uptake coefficient of gaseous PAA and H2O2 onto ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) as a function of relative humidity (RH) at 298 K. The results show that the PM2.5, which was collected in an urban area, can take up PAA and H2O2 at the uptake coefficient (γ) of 10−4, and both γPAA and γH2O2 increase with increasing RH. The value of γPAA at 90 % RH is 5.4 ± 1.9 times that at 3 % RH, whereas γH2O2 at 90 % RH is 2.4 ± 0.5 times that at 3 % RH, which suggests that PAA is more sensitive to the RH variation than H2O2 is. Considering the larger Henry's law constant of H2O2 than that of PAA, the smaller RH sensitivity of the H2O2 uptake coefficient suggests that the enhanced uptake of peroxide compounds on PM2.5 under humid conditions is dominated by chemical processes rather than dissolution. Considering that mineral dust is one of the main components of PM2.5 in Beijing, we also determined the uptake coefficients of gaseous PAA and H2O2 on authentic Asian Dust storm (ADS) and Arizona Test Dust (ATD) particles. Compared to ambient PM2.5, ADS shows a similar γ value and RH dependence in its uptake coefficient for PAA and H2O2, while ATD gives a negative dependence on RH. The present study indicates that, in addition to the mineral dust in PM2.5, other components (e.g., soluble inorganic salts) are also important to the uptake of peroxide compounds. When the heterogeneous reaction of PAA on PM2.5 is considered, its atmospheric lifetime is estimated to be 3.0 h on haze days and 7.1 h on non-haze days, values that are in good agreement with the field observations.


PURPOSE
To evaluate in a retrospective study the long-term usefulness of red 647 nm krypton and 670 nm diode laser for transscleral contact cyclophotocoagulation (CPC) in the treatment of therapy-resistant inflammatory glaucoma.

METHODS
The authors treated 48 eyes of 38 consecutive patients (mean age 36.8 years, range 6-81 years) with therapy-resistant inflammatory glaucoma secondary to chronic uveitis (45/48), chronic scleritis (1/48), or combined scleritis with keratouveitis (2/48) using transscleral red 647 nm Krypton or 670 nm Diode laser. All eyes had failed maximum tolerated medical therapy and 19/48 (40%) eyes also previous antiglaucoma surgery. Laser power at the scleral surface was 0.35 to 0.45 W and the application time 10 seconds each. The follow-up was 42.8+/- 40.0 (range 2-145) months.

RESULTS
The mean preoperative intraocular pressure (IOP) of 35.6+/-8.1 mmHg fell to 6-21 mmHg level in 75% after one or repeated CPC. Among adult patients this was achieved in 85%, among children in 54%. More than one treatment was needed in 52%. No cases of hypotony, phthisis bulbi, or other devastating complications occurred.

CONCLUSIONS
Transscleral CPC using red 647 nm krypton or 670 nm diode laser is an effective and well-tolerated procedure for the treatment of therapy-resistant inflammatory glaucoma in adults. CPC can be considered before incisional antiglaucoma surgery with a shunt or antimetabolites is undertaken.


OBJECTIVE
Certain social risk factors (e.g., housing instability, food insecurity) have been shown to directly and indirectly influence pediatric health outcomes; however, there is limited understanding of which social factors are most salient for children admitted to the hospital. This study examines how caregiver-reported social and medical characteristics of children experiencing an inpatient admission are associated with the presence of future health complications.

METHODS
Caregivers of children experiencing an inpatient admission (N = 249) completed a predischarge questionnaire designed to capture medical and social risk factors across systems (e.g., patient, caregiver, family, community, healthcare environment). Electronic health record (EHR) data were reviewed for child demographic data, chronic disease status, and subsequent emergency department visits or readmissions (i.e., acute events) 90 days postindex hospitalization. Associations between risk factors and event presence were estimated using odds ratios (ORs) and confidence intervals (CI), both unadjusted and adjusted OR (aOR) for chronic disease and age.

RESULTS
Thirty-three percent (N = 82) of children experienced at least one event. After accounting for child age and chronic disease status, caregiver perceptions of child's health being generally "poor" or "not good" prior to discharge (aOR = 4.7, 95% CI = 2.3, 9.7), having high care coordination needs (aOR = 3.2, 95% CI = 1.6, 6.1), and experiencing difficulty accessing care coordination (aOR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.4, 4.7) were significantly associated with return events.

CONCLUSIONS
Caregiver report of risks may provide valuable information above and beyond EHR records to both determine risk of future health problems and inform intervention development.


Among qualitative methods ethnography, which has its roots in anthropology and interpretive sociology, is recognized by an increasing number of researchers as an appropriate strategy for studying organizations. The method is also seen as offering the potential for new and additional insights into accounting phenomena and has thus been adopted by researchers in management accounting. The transfer of the method has not however, been unproblematic with limitations being identified in both theory and research practice. It has been suggested that its application in management accounting can be characterized by a failure to disclose the theoretical foundations on which the work is based and a tendency for borrowing from the source disciplines to be eclectic with consequential theoretical inconsistencies. It is also suggested that there is scope to extend and enrich the approach by exploring how issues power and ideology might be integrated into the interpretive framework. Turning to research practice, similar scope for development is seen in relation to research validity procedures. This paper seeks to address issues arising from these perceived limitations by drawing on the source literature to describe a symbolic interactionist approach to enthnography that is cognizant of the methodological implications of symbolic interactionism and provides a platform for integrating issues of power and ideology. Finally, the paper discusses strategies and procedures for enhancing the likelihood that findings generated by this approach will be regarded as meaningful or trustworthy.


BACKGROUND
Strategies to improve I131 uptake in thyroid carcinoma include levothyroxine (LT4) withdrawal or thyrotropin (TSH) administration along with a low-iodine diet. We report five patients with papillary or follicular thyroid carcinoma who developed symptomatic hyponatremia during LT4 withdrawal and low-iodine diet.

RESULTS
Four patients had pulmonary and/or brain metastases. All had restricted iodine intakes during LT4 withdrawal. Presenting complaints included weakness, dizziness, fainting spells, lethargy, and/or nausea. Baseline serum sodium levels while on LT4 suppression were normal. During presentation all were hypothyroid and serum sodium ranged from 110 to 121 mmol/L (normal 135-148). Despite hyponatremia, the plasma renin activity and serum aldosterone levels were suppressed, indicating volume expansion. The hyponatremia responded to fluid restriction and normalized after LT4 replacement. Low sodium intake, inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion syndrome (SIADH)-like disorder secondary to hypothyroidism and/or lung or cerebral metastases may have contributed to hyponatremia.

CONCLUSIONS
The development of hyponatremia during LT4 withdrawal and low-iodine diet in otherwise healthy patients with thyroid carcinoma is extremely rare. However, elderly patients with metastatic thyroid carcinoma need observation during LT4 withdrawal combined with a low-iodine diet and should receive instruction to take iodine-free sodium chloride. Free water restriction may be necessary in some patients.


Many clinical guidelines were elaborated to improve quality of medical care and to achieve standardization of patient's treatment. Originally clinical guidelines are written in everyday language and then they are converted into formal model that can be implemented and processed by computer. If all relevant patient's treatment data are stored in patient's Electronic Health Record, the guidelines formal model may be, in principle, compared with patient's data to determine, if the patient was treated according to the recommended clinical practice. In this article we present an algorithm that enables to compare patient's data record with EGLIF (Enhanced GLIF) model. EGLIF is a simple enhancement of the standard GLIF model and it was devised to render the comparison more transparent and more convenient. Comparing algorithm is proposed for GLIF models with unambiguous decision steps and for patient's data records containing all relevant patient's treatment information. Its modification for arbitrary decision steps can be easily done. However, comparing GLIF or EGLIF model with incomplete patient's data record is more difficult issue. Some suggestions how to tackle this problem are discussed in the conclusion.


Facilitated transport is necessitated for large size, charged, and/or hydrophilic drugs to move across the membrane. The drug transporters in the solute carrier (SLC) superfamily, mainly including organic anion-transporting polypeptides, organic anion transporters, organic cation transporters, organic cation/carnitine transporters, peptide transporters, and multidrug and toxin extrusion proteins, are critical facilitators of drug transport and distribution in human body. The expression of these SLC drug transporters is found in tissues throughout the body, with high abundance in the epithelial cells of major organs for drug disposition such as intestine, liver, and kidney. These SLC drug transporters are clinically important in drug absorption, metabolism, distribution, and excretion. The mechanisms underlying their regulation have been revealing in recent years. Epigenetic and nuclear receptor–mediated transcriptional regulation of SLC drug transporters has particularly attracted much attention. This review focuses on the transcriptional regulation of major SLC drug transporter genes. Revealing the mechanisms underlying the transcription of these critical drug transporters will help us understand pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, ultimately improving drug therapeutic effectiveness while minimizing drug toxicity. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT It has become increasingly recognized that solute carrier drug transporters play a crucial and sometimes determinative role in drug disposition and response, which is reflected in decision making during not only clinical drug therapy but also drug development. Understanding the mechanisms accounting for the transcription of these transporters is critical to interpret their abundance in various tissues under different conditions, which is necessary to clarify the pharmacological response, adverse effects, and drug-drug interactions for clinically used drugs.


Electric vehicles (EVs) constitute an increasing share of the vehicle fleet, in particular regarding light vehicles. This ratio may be significantly enhanced in urban areas that favour access to low-emission vehicles. Acknowledged to be quieter than conventional vehicles due to a lower
 propulsion noise, EVs feature a comparatively heightened tyre-road noise contribution, further reduction of which can be achieved by selecting appropriate low-noise road surfaces. These factors may result in modified noise source distributions on the vehicles. In the framework of the LIFE
 E-VIA project, noise source contributions have been investigated on several light EVs from different segments on a reference ISO road surface, by using a microphone array with dedicated processing. Wide ranges of speeds and driving conditions were considered. In a second step, particular focus
 has been placed on the road surfaces, comparing the noise sources of selected EVs either driving on the ISO road surface or on low-noise prototypes optimized for EVs and developed within the project. These are two similar versions of a very thin asphalt concrete 0/6, one containing crumb rubber.
 The presentation gives an overview of the EV noise source behaviour and their ranking with regard to the various situations tested in the project.


Mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) activation in the kidney can occur outside the aldosterone‐sensitive distal nephron in sites including the endothelium, smooth muscle and inflammatory cells. MR activation in these cells has deleterious effects on kidney structure and function by promoting oxidative injury, endothelial dysfunction and stiffness, vascular remodelling and calcification, decreased relaxation and activation of T cells and pro‐inflammatory macrophages. Here, we review the data showing the cellular consequences of MR activation in endothelial, smooth muscle and inflammatory cells and how this affects the kidney in pathological situations. The evidence demonstrating a benefit of pharmacological or genetic MR inhibition in various models of kidney disease is also discussed.


OBJECTIVE

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Despite strenuous efforts, the maternal mortality rate in Pakistan remains high. The national figure of 340 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births tends to hide the fact that in some rural areas it is as high as 700 per 100,000 live births. Not surprisingly, in Pakistan only 20% of births are attended by a trained health professional. In most rural areas, home to almost 70% of the population, traditional birth attendants (TBAs) deliver 90% of the births. TBAs, therefore, play a crucial role in the delivery of maternal health care in Pakistan. Realizing the importance of TBAs, the Family Health Project (FHP) of the Department of Health Sindh, financed by the World Bank, tried to enhance their knowledge and skills through comprehensive training programs. FHP provided training to 650 TBAs in 10 districts. The training was provided by the Department of Community Health Sciences (CHS) of the Aga Khan University (AKU) who acted as technical consultant to the project.

STUDY DESIGN
A community-based qualitative post-intervention survey.

RESULTS
Post-intervention survey of this seven-year project (1992-1999) revealed that (a) the training enhanced the knowledge and skills of the TBAs, (b) the trained TBAs provide more broader health care services and (c) they enjoy greater community acceptance and provide greater consumer satisfaction. It also showed that the TBAs remain the most available and accessible health resource in most rural settings.

CONCLUSION
It is imperative that TBAs and their continuing training should remain central to any reproductive health intervention along with an effective referral system linking them to well-equipped emergency obstetric care facilities. However, the assessment clearly demonstrated that an integrated referral system backed by effective emergency obstetric care is essential to the success of the TBA training program.


Digital image correlation techniques (DIC) have been used in this study to reveal how different phases (graphite, ferrite and pearlite) of compacted graphite cast irons (CGI) accommodate strains at loading. A DIC-software was used to analyse sets of successively acquired images. The images were acquired with a light optical microscope revealing the microstructure of polished and etched CGI materials at different load levels. Five CGI materials, having percentages of pearlite in the range 35 to 90 area%, were included in the study. Apart from the different matrix constituents (ferrite and pearlite) the nodularity was altered and varied from 5% to 65%. It is concluded from this study that the different phases in CGI are affected by the global strain and load to a greater or less extent. The graphite phase appears to accommodate high strains but, due to fracture of the graphite particles at relatively low strains, the resulting high strain values show the opening up of graphite cavities. The ferrite phase is subjected to a strain concentrating effect of the graphite phase and with a low nodularity, i.e., with graphite particles that are stretched out and interconnected, the effect becomes more pronounced resulting in high strains. The pearlitic phase is the strongest of the constituents within the microstructure and the lowest local strains are observed in this phase. The study shows that DIC strain-field images reveal the microstructural strain level distribution for the CGI materials. The future outlook is to use these sets of strain-field images for verification of micro mechanical finite element analysis on a microstructural scale of CGI materials.


AIM AND OBJECTIVE
Origanum acutidens (Hand.-Mazz.) Ietsw. is an endemic and perennial plant grown mainly in East Anatolia. Recently, natural plant products have attracted interest due to their safety and therapeutic effects. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate phytochemical contents and biological effects of Origanum acutidens.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The aerial parts of O. acutidens were extracted with water, ethyl acetate, nbutanol, and methanol/chloroform solvents. Phenolic compounds and other constituents of the extracts were analyzed by HPLC/TOF-MS. The Ethyl Acetate extract (EA) was fractionated by flash chromatography. The extracts and fractions were investigated for their antiproliferative activities on human cervical adenocarcinoma (HeLa) cell line by using BrdU ELISA assay. Antioxidant activities of the extracts and fractions were evaluated by complementary test systems, namely determination of total phenolic contents, metal chelating ability and DPPH radical scavenging assay.

RESULTS
Among the extracts, Ethyl Acetate extract (EA) exhibited the highest antiproliferative activity (IC50 = 15.71 ± 0.04 µg/mL) on HeLa cells. It was therefore fractionated by flash chromatography to obtain 10 fractions which were investigated for their phenolic compounds and bioactivities. Rosmarinic acid was determined as the major component of EA and its fractions. EA exhibited higher antiproliferative activity against HeLa cell line than its fractions and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) at the concentration of 100 µg/mL. EA and its fractions (F10, F6, F4, F7, F3, and F2) displayed higher radical scavenging activity compared to Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT). These effects may be attributed to the presence of rosmarinic acid in EA and its active fractions.

CONCLUSION
This study demonstrated that O. acutidens is an essential natural source of polyphenols and a potent natural antioxidant and antiproliferative agent for food and pharmaceutical industries.


The composition and abundance of the syllid species collected from the northern coast of Cyprus and their ecological properties were determined by using univariate and multivariate analyses. The Cypriot syllid collection was composed of 85 species, one subspecies and 2244 individuals, derived from a total of 77 benthic samples taken in May 1997 and July 1998. The shallow-water benthic biotopes such as bare rocks, algae, and Posidonia oceanica harbored the majority of syllid species, and species diversity and abundance were negatively correlated with depth. Posidonia oceanica meadows seemed to have highest species diversity and bare, sandy bottoms were characterized by a low number of species, but a high abundance of some species. Dominant species varied with substratum and depth, but overall the most dominant and frequent species in the area were Syllis garciai (Campoy, 1982) and Syllis gerlachi (Hartmann-Schroder, 1960). One of the species that is new to the Mediterranean, Eusyllis kupfferi Langerhans, 1879, which was previously reported from the Atlantic Ocean, was encountered in relatively high abundance, suggesting that it might be newly introduced here. Sphaerosyllis longipapillata Hartmann-Schroder, 1979, which is known only from Australia, might be a new Lessepsian migrant. Comparison of the species richness of Syllidae in the P. oceanica communities identified in the present study with those previously reported from other parts of the Mediterranean revealed a high similarity among sites and showed that the claimed depauperation of zoobenthos in the Levant Sea most likely is derived from a lack of precise and detailed benthic studies.


The sensorless control problem of induction motors imposes a current challenge since the nonlinear model of this kind of machines does not exhibit global observability properties, i.e. there are some operation regimes for which speed observability is lost. One way for dealing with this unavoidable limitation, and at the same time provide globally defined controllers, is to consider that the rotor variables are estimated via an open‐loop observer. In this paper a globally defined passivity‐based speed controller that belongs to the aforementioned class is presented. It is shown that the structure of previously reported passivity‐based controllers, developed under the assumption that the mechanical variables are available for measurement, can be extended to operate under sensorless conditions if a speed observer is included in the control scheme. Since the controller design methodology leads to inherent drawbacks regarding robustness issues, to evaluate the usefulness of the proposed scheme a numerically based study is included that cover topics such as parameters and disturbance (load torque) uncertainty. The advantages and limitations of the proposed scheme are established with respect to other globally defined sensorless controllers. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


One of the critical parameters in highend clock distribution is an additive phase jitter. This document outlines what additive phase jitter is and why it is important to consider while selecting devices for the clock signal fanout in a system. A sample additive phase jitter measurement of the Cypress High-Performance Buffer product is also described. Additive Phase Jitter in High Performance Clock Distribution


Recently, Halal food has drawn remarkable attention of many consumers around the world. Besides to being unsafe, Halal food such as meat can encounter several issues throughout its supply chain and logistics. At any time, Halal integrity is not guaranteed and risks of becoming non-Halal is the major concern of all parties along the supply chain. To respond to Muslim consumers' trust concerns in Halal food, many traceability systems were proposed in previous studies based on emerging technologies and  recommended to be incorporated into Halal food supply chains. Nevertheless, all of these systems are centralized, opaque and not enough transparent. To mitigate these problems, blockchain technology is introduced as a ground-breaking innovation with greater decentralization, visibility and transparency. This paper makes a major contribution in suggesting Halal meat supply chain traceability system for real-time food tracing based on embedding Islamic dietary law into HACCP, blockchain and Internet of Things.


We show that in an open-economy OLG model, the interaction between growth differentials and household credit constraints—more severe in fast-growing countries— can explain three prominent global trends: a divergence in private saving rates between advanced and emerging economies, large net capital outflows from the latter, and a sustained decline in the world interest rate. Micro-level evidence on the evolution of age-saving profiles in the U.S. and China corroborates our mechanism. Quantitatively, our model explains about a third of the divergence in aggregate saving rates, and a significant portion of the variations in age-saving profiles across countries and over time.


We evaluated the effect of high and low nutrient nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations (Hn and Ln, respectively) and N:P supply (16:1 and 56:1, respectively) on the structure and activity of stream biofilms. Natural biofilms were exposed to 4 different nutrient conditions (16:1-Hn, 16:1-Ln, 56:1-Hn, 56:1-Ln) in a microcosm experiment in the laboratory over 35 d. Biofilm bacterial density and chlorophyll a (chl a) concentration decreased under lower N and P concentrations. Bacterial density was further sensitive to nutrient imbalance and decreased with decreasing P availability, while chl a concentration was not affected by P reduction. Greater P requirements and weaker ability to store large quantities of P in bacteria compared to algae may explain these differences. Biofilm responses to imbalanced N:P (56:1) were only observed under Hn conditions, and were expressed as an increase in the proportion of algal carbon with respect to bacterial carbon, and greater N and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS)-polysaccharide accumulation. Algae withstood N:P imbalance better than bacteria under Hn conditions, but this trend decreased at low water nutrient concentration (56:1-Ln condition). The cellobiohydrolase: phosphatase enzyme activity ratio was negatively correlated to the biofilm C:P molar ratio, evidencing the tight link between nutrient acquisition and storage in biofilms. Our experiment highlighted the rapid adaptation (3 to 28 d) of biofilm nutrient content and enzyme activities to changes in water nutrient availability.


The seismic ground motion hazard with site conditions incorporated is mapped for a 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years for the three counties affected by the 1994 Northridge earthquake (Mw 6.7). The source model of Petersen et al. (1996) was used to calculate peak horizontal acceleration (pga) and 5% damped spectral acceleration (SA) levels at 0.3- and 1-sec periods for alluvium, soft-rock, and hard-rock site conditions. A geologic map that differentiates the three site conditions was produced using shear-wave velocity maps of Tinsley and Fumal (1985) and extended into other areas that were not mapped by Tinsley and Fumal using 1:250,000 scale geologic maps. Ground-motion maps for each site condition were overlaid with the geologic map to produce the resulting hazard maps. The effect of geology on the hazard is observed only slightly in the peak ground acceleration map, more in the 0.3-sec SA map, and significantly more in the 1-sec SA map. The uncertainties for ground motions represented on these three maps ranges from 0.1 to 0.3 g for pga and 0.2 to 1.0 for SA; in general, 95% confidence limits are about ±50% of the mean ground-motion value.


What accounts for continuing authoritarian success in the Arab world today? In light of the "Arab Spring," explanations of "authoritarian resilience" in the region clearly need to be revised. Consider the example of Algeria, which exemplifies a type of authoritarian resistance to popular challenges that is based on pseudodemocratization, redistributive patronage, and an effective use of the security apparatus. Despite its unsteady mode of authoritarian governance, the Algerian regime currently possesses the means to cope with the difficulties presented by popular uprisings. Yet it cannot survive in its current form for long, given its dwindling legitimacy, its lack of truly institutionalized mechanisms for transferring power, and the intrinsic limits of its system of patronage.


According to sustainable development target 4.7, by 2030, all signatory nations must ensure learners are provided with education for sustainable development and global citizenship. While many national curricula provide a policy imperative to provide a global dimension in curriculum and teaching, mainstreaming an approach to teaching about sustainable development through pressing global issues requires strong attention to what happens between students and teachers in the classroom. In this article, we aim to help teachers think through an ongoing reflexive approach to teaching by bridging important theoretical and empirical scholarship with the day-to-day pedagogies of global educators. This collaborative praxis offers an actionable approach to engaging with values, conflicts and ethical consequences towards bringing global issues into teaching and learning in a critical and fruitful way. Our results show that teachers and students can both experience discomfort and experience a sense of significance and worthiness of engaging in a more critical approach. In addition, if we critically reflect and support students in doing so, as these teachers have done, we open up possibilities for approaches to global issues pedagogy that come much closer to addressing the pressing issues of our deeply unequal world.


A 12.7 mm wide flexible rectangular strip, made from 0.1 mm-thick aluminum sheet, is experimentally explored as a vortical flow generator for promoting heat convection from a flat plate in a wind tunnel. The strip is positioned normal to the freestream with an incoming velocity of 10 m/s, resulting in a Reynolds number, based on the strip width, of 8,500. The influence of the height of the flexible strip on the convective heat transfer enhancement is of interest. Three strip heights, 25.4 mm, 38.1 mm and 50.8 mm, were investigated. The heat transfer results are expressed in terms of Nusselt number, Nu, normalized by the unperturbed reference Nu0. The shortest, 25.4 mm high flexible strip resulted in the highest peak and overall heat transfer enhancement. The distribution of the local heat transfer enhancement is found to correlate well with the turbulent flow motion detailed using a triple-sensor hot-wire anemometer. Pointedly, the heat transfer rate is most elevated when the local flow is moving toward the hot plate, sweeping across a stretch of the surface before moving away from it. These effective convective motions are most effectively generated by the vortices produced by the shortest strip.


The intravenous injection of mice with toxic doses of vaccinia virus, prepared in the Ehrlich ascites carcinoma, usually produces fatal intravascular coagulation, within 24 hours. Light and electron microscope studies demonstrate occlusion of the microcirculation of lungs and livers by fibrin. Fibrin deposition appears to be prevented in mice injected with heparinized virus preparations. However, in lieu of fibrin deposition, within the microcirculation widespread intravascular platelet aggregation occurs. Platelets within these aggregates are in various stages of degranulation, and some platelets have phagocytosed vaccinia virus. Platelet aggregation was not observed in mice receiving injections of heparinized material prepared from uninfected tumors. In mice surviving longer than 12 hours, hepatocytes and endothelial cells of pulmonary capillaries are the sites of viral replication. Although many hepatocytes are infected in mice surviving longer than 12 hours, it is postulated that hepatocyte necrosis is in part due to the congestive effects resulting from obstruction of liver and pulmonary capillaries. These studies suggest that vaccinia virus may trigger in vivo platelet aggregation, and that obstruction of the lung and liver microcirculation by these aggregates is the initial lesion of vaccinia virus toxicity.


Abstract We estimate the effects of universal cash transfers on crime from Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend, an annual lump-sum payment to all Alaska residents. We find a 14% increase in substance-abuse incidents the day after the payment and a 10% increase over the following four weeks. This is partially offset by an 8% decrease in property crime, with no changes in violent crimes. On an annual basis, however, changes in criminal activity from the payment are small. Estimated costs comprise a very small portion of the total payment, suggesting that crime-related concerns of a universal cash transfer program may be unwarranted.


A 54 year-old Hispanic male with no significant past medical history presented to ER with history of right upper quadrant pain, progressive jaundice, dark urine and pruritus. His symptoms were associated with mild nausea, but no vomiting. He denies any h/o hepatitis or alcohol use. He was afebrile. His blood test was consistent with obstructive jaundice. Abdominal sonogram shows multiple echogenic structure in gallbladder, consistent with gallstone and dilated intra and extrahepatic billiary tree. (Common bile duct [CBD] was 15 mm). CT scan of abdomen was consistent with similar findings. His Ca 19-9 was 1286. ERCP was performed. ERP was normal. CBD and intra and extrahepatic ducts were hugely dilated with single large filling defects in distal CBD. Sphincterotomy was performed with balloon extraction of stone. Seven days after procedure his jaundice resolved. His repeat Ca 19-9 in 2 wks interval was 211 and 19. There are only few case reports with reversible high Ca 19-9 from choledochlithiasis, gall stone, cholicystitis and chronic pancretitis.


By analysing ARGO float data over the last four years, a few aspects of the mesoscale variability of water masses in the Arabian Sea are described. The Red Sea Outflow Water (RSOW) is concentrated in the Southwestern Gulf of Aden, in particular when a cyclonic gyre predominates in this region. Salinities of 36.5 and temperatures of 16 °C are found in this area at depths between 600 and 1000 m. RSOW is more dilute in the eastern part of the Gulf, where intense and relatively barotropic gyres mix it with Indian ocean Central Water. RSOW is also detected along the northeastern coast of Socotra, and fragments of RSOW are found between one and three degrees of latitude north of this island. In the whole Gulf of Aden, the correlation between the deep motions of the floats and the sea-level anomaly measured by altimetry is strong, at regional scale. The finer scale details of the float trajectories are not sampled by altimetry and are often related to the anomalous water masses that the floats encounter. The Persian Gulf Water (PGW) is found in the float profiles near Ras ash Sharbatat (near 57° E, 18° N), again with 36.5 in salinity and about 18-19 °C in temperature. These observations were achieved in winter when the southwestward monsoon currents can advect PGW along the South Arabian coast. Fragments of PGW were also observed in the Arabian Sea between 18 and 20° N and 63 and 65° E in summer, showing that this water mass can escape the Gulf of Oman southeastward, during that season. Kinetic energy distributions of floats with respect to distance or angle share common features between the two regions (Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea), in particular peaks at 30, 50 and 150 km scales and along the axis of monsoon currents. Hydrological measurements by floats are also influenced by the seasonal variations of PGW and RSOW in these regions.


This paper studies the Glosten Milgrom model whose risky asset value admits an arbitrary discrete distribution. Contrast to existing results on insider's models, the insider's optimal strategy in this model, if exists, is not of feedback type. Therefore a weak formulation of equilibrium is proposed. In this weak formulation, the inconspicuous trade theorem still holds, but the optimality for the insider's strategy is not enforced. However, the insider can employ some feedback strategy whose associated expected profit is close to the optimal value, when the order size is small. Moreover this discrepancy converges to zero when the order size diminishes. The existence of such a weak equilibrium is established, in which the insider's strategy converges to the Kyle optimal strategy when the order size goes to zero.


Limited information is available to describe the molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in Bulgaria. To better understand the genetic diversity and the epidemiologic dynamics of HIV-1 we analyzed 125 new polymerase (pol) sequences from Bulgarians diagnosed through 2009 and 77 pol sequences available from our previous study from persons infected prior to 2007. Epidemiologic and demographic information was obtained from each participant and phylogenetic analysis was used to infer HIV-1 evolutionary histories. 120 (59.5%) persons were infected with one of five different HIV-1 subtypes (A1, B, C, F1 and H) and 63 (31.2%) persons were infected with one of six different circulating recombinant forms (CRFs; 01_AE, 02_AG, 04_cpx, 05_DF, 14_BG, and 36_cpx). We also for the first time identified infection with two different clusters of unique A-like and F-like sub-subtype variants in 12 persons (5.9%) and seven unique recombinant forms (3.5%), including a novel J/C recombinant. While subtype B was the major genotype identified and was more prevalent in MSM and increased between 2000–2005, most non-B subtypes were present in persons ≥45 years old. CRF01_AE was the most common non-B subtype and was higher in women and IDUs relative to other risk groups combined. Our results show that HIV-1 infection in Bulgaria reflects the shifting distribution of genotypes coincident with the changing epidemiology of the HIV-1 epidemic among different risk groups. Our data support increased public health interventions targeting IDUs and MSM. Furthermore, the substantial and increasing HIV-1 genetic heterogeneity, combined with fluctuating infection dynamics, highlights the importance of sustained and expanded surveillance to prevent and control HIV-1 infection in Bulgaria.


This guide is designed to introduce students on the Return to Practice programmes to search skills and resources, as well as to equip them for delivering a flipped classroom presentation to their librarian Make sure you click on this tab FIRST and read what's there before looking at the drop down list


Inertial sensing is a technology that enables motion capture outside of well-defined studio environments. Yet, there are several hurdles that have be overcome in order to achieve a high-quality user experience. Among them is enabling robust wireless communication. Thanks to strict requirements on throughput and far-field operation along with existing issues of occlusion and client interference, packet-loss rates in wireless inertial-sensing systems can amplify pose-tracking errors by as much as 39%. In this paper, we develop a new type of sequencepredictors based on long short-term memory neural networks that can be used to significantly conceal packet losses in inertial pose-tracking systems. To lower computational overheads, we systematically exploit spatio-temporal correlations of data and distribute sensor loads among multiple predictors. Through experiments conducted with 3.5 hrs. of high-frequency inertial motion-capture data, we demonstrate that our approach is able to fully conceal packet losses at rates of up to 20%.


The unsteady nature of the shear flow leaving the trailing edge of a propeller blade may give rise to a correlated discrete vortex structure that is also a source of a significant noise, so‐called propeller singing. It is well known that beating phenomena occur during the propeller singing. To understand this phenomena, the acoustic field generated by the cavitation‐free propeller was investigated. The work started with an analysis of elementary kinematics of sound radiation by the propeller, considering the rotational motion of the blades relative to acoustic media. Then the acoustic spectrum due to the blade force resulting by inhomogeneous inflow was considered. Using the analysis, frequency domain expressions were obtained to examine the beating. Directivity was also calculated to study the nature of the propeller sound field.


The Jericho fault is considered to be the main active fault in the northern Dead Sea–lower Jordan Valley. In previous studies it has been identified by a prominent linear topographic escarpment that is thought to be the surface expression of this fault on land north of the Dead Sea. In this study, the paleoseismic natures of the escarpment and the fault were examined. Seismic activity was investigated in a series of three trenches excavated south of the fault trace on the surface. These trenches show evidence for Late Holocene faulting. A fourth trench excavated 300 m farther to the south exposed continuous, finely laminated marl from the ∼80‐ka Samra Formation at a depth of 2–0.6 m below the surface, with no evidence of faulting. This could suggest that the fault on land is segmented and that the nature of its activity changes from north to south toward the lake. Indeed, the continuation of this fault under the waters of the Dead Sea reveals active faulting along a sharp, segmented, linear bathymetric break, where the steep margin slope on the west meets the flat lake bottom. Evidence of drastic climatic changes and erosion are present in all trenches that were excavated, indicating that the prominent escarpment may in part be an erosional feature, perhaps formed by incision of an ancient Jordan River or along a Holocene lakeshore. A channel fill of a lacustrine nature that followed a period of erosion is interpreted as a high stand of the Dead Sea, which is contemporaneous with the Younger Dryas cooling period.


In persons with waning sensitivity to mycobacterial antigens, skin reactivity to tuberculin may be maintained or enhanced as a result of tuberculin testing. Similar phenomena have been observed in guinea-pigs. As tuberculin testing may lead to antibody formation, the "booster" effect might be due to circulating antibody. However, a series of nine pilot experiments including blood and serum transfer from boosted to unboosted BCG-vaccinated guinea-pigs gave no support to this hypothesis.


Recent studies have both offered and contested the proposition that lowering plasma cholesterol by diet and medications increases suicide, homicide, and depression. Significant confounding factors include the quantity and distribution of dietary n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated essential fatty acids that influence serum lipids and alter the biophysical and biochemical properties of cell membranes. Epidemiological studies in various countries and in the United States in the last century suggest that decreased n-3 fatty acid consumption correlates with increasing rates of depression. This is consistent with a well-established positive correlation between depression and coronary artery disease. Long-chain n-3 polyunsaturate deficiency may also contribute to depressive symptoms in alcoholism, multiple sclerosis, and post-partum depression. We postulate that adequate long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly docosahexaenoic acid, may reduce the development of depression just as n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids may reduce coronary artery disease.


On the basis of 43 spectacle glass injuries, an estimate is derived concerning the magnitude of ocular injuries from lens fragments. An additional 171 injured patients are surveyed from 35 previous publications on trauma. Over 200 cases have also been collected from surveys in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Virginia. Analysis of refraction in our patients shows myopia represented three times more frequently than hyperopia, whereas the reverse probably prevails in the general population. Increasing sales volume and greater fragility of minus lenses predispose to over-representation of the myope. Causative mechanisms reflect commonplace articles of low velocity and not unusual size. Allyl-resin lenses were not involved in any of the injuries. Heattreated glass or allyl lenses offer several-fold increased impact resistance. Polycarbonates and ion exchange treated glass offered further protection. Spectacle frame design should be correlated for optimal lens retention and energy attenuation.


In recent decades, European countries have developed concepts, definitions, and construction technologies for Zero Energy Building (ZEB) that are effective and correspond to their specific climates. Latin American countries are still trying to find adequate solutions which respond to the local climatic, cultural, social, technical, and economic context. As such, this paper aims to establish the basis of the minimum energy efficiency and the renewable threshold for the definition of ZEB in order to better understand the application in Panama, based on assessing the energy regulations implemented in Panama. To achieve this aim, a review concentrated on the concept-definition and implementation adopted by Latin American countries is presented first before the paper converges into defining a framework for application in Panama. Finally, a case-study-based theoretical framework proposing a ZEB definition for Panama is discussed. The results of this study showed a net primary energy balance, of which the range falls into a plus energy building definition, indicating that all of the cases studied could supply their electricity needs using Photovoltaic generation. All dwellings studied have the potential to become a plus energy building, depending on the available roof surface area. Finally, a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis is presented in order to assess and support the introduction of such a ZEB definition and framework.


Microorganisms are critically important for the function of surface water ecosystems but are frequently subjected to anthropogenic disturbances at either acute (pulse) or long-term (press) scales. Response and recovery of microbial community composition and function following pulse disturbance is well-studied in controlled, laboratory scale experiments but is less well-understood in natural environments undergoing continual press disturbance. The objectives of this study were to determine the drivers of sediment microbial compositional and functional changes in freshwaters receiving continual press disturbance from agricultural land runoff and to evaluate the ability of the native microbial community to resist disturbance related changes as a proxy for freshwater ecosystem health. Freshwater sediments were collected seasonally over 1 year in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, a region impacted by concentrated dairy cattle farming, manure fertilization, and associated agricultural runoff which together serve as a press disturbance. Using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, we found that sediments in locations strongly impacted by intensive agriculture contain significantly higher abundances (p < 0.01) of the genera Thiobacillus, Methylotenera, Crenotrhix, Nitrospira, and Rhodoferax compared to reference sediments, and functions including nitrate reduction, nitrite reduction, and nitrogen respiration are significantly higher (p < 0.05) at locations in close proximity to large farms. Nine species-level potential human pathogens were identified in riverine sediments including Acinetobacer lwoffi and Arcobacter skirrowii, two pathogens associated with the cattle microbiome. Microbial community composition at locations in close proximity to intensive agriculture was not resistant nor resilient to agricultural runoff disturbance within 5 months post-disturbance but did reach a new, stable microbial composition. From this data, we conclude that sediment microbial community composition is sensitive and shifts in response to chemical and microbial pollution from intensive agriculture, has a low capacity to resist infiltration by non-native, harmful bacteria and, overall, the natural buffering capacity of freshwater ecosystems is unable to fully resist the impacts from agricultural press disturbance.


The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) is an observational study of 14273 UK pregnant singleton mothers in 1990/1991. We examined outcomes of self report of strenuous activity (hours per week) at 18 and 32 weeks of gestation, hours spent in leisure-time physical activities and types, and pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI); overweight status was defined as pre-pregnancy BMI≥25 and obesity BMI≥30. Pet ownership and activity data were reported for 11,466 mothers. Twenty-five percent of mothers owned at least one dog. There was a positive relationship between participation in activity at least once a week and dog ownership (at 18 weeks, Odds ratio 1.27, 95% confidence interval 1.11–1.44, P<0.001). Dog owners were 50% more likely to achieve the recommended 3 hours activity per week, equivalent to 30 minutes per day, most days of the week (1.53, 1.35–1.72, P<0.001). Dog owners were also more likely to participate in brisk walking activity than those who did not have a dog (compared to no brisk walking 2–6 hrs per week 1.43, 1.23 to 1.67, P<0.001; 7+ hrs per week 1.80, 1.43 to 2.27, P<0.001). However, no association was found with any other types of activities and there was no association between dog ownership and weight status. During the time period studied, pregnant women who had dogs were more active, through walking, than those who did not own dogs. As walking is a low-risk exercise, participation of pregnant women in dog walking activities may be a useful context to investigate as part of a broader strategy to improve activity levels in pregnant women.


A major challenge in modern reinforcement learning (RL) is efficient control of dynamical systems from high-dimensional sensory observations. Learning controllable embedding (LCE) is a promising approach that addresses this challenge by embedding the observations into a lower-dimensional latent space, estimating the latent dynamics, and utilizing it to perform control in the latent space. Two important questions in this area are how to learn a representation that is amenable to the control problem at hand, and how to achieve an end-to-end framework for representation learning and control. In this paper, we take a few steps towards addressing these questions. We first formulate a LCE model to learn representations that are suitable to be used by a policy iteration style algorithm in the latent space. We call this model control-aware representation learning (CARL). We derive a loss function for CARL that has close connection to the prediction, consistency, and curvature (PCC) principle for representation learning. We derive three implementations of CARL. In the offline implementation, we replace the locally-linear control algorithm (e.g.,~iLQR) used by the existing LCE methods with a RL algorithm, namely model-based soft actor-critic, and show that it results in significant improvement. In online CARL, we interleave representation learning and control, and demonstrate further gain in performance. Finally, we propose value-guided CARL, a variation in which we optimize a weighted version of the CARL loss function, where the weights depend on the TD-error of the current policy. We evaluate the proposed algorithms by extensive experiments on benchmark tasks and compare them with several LCE baselines.


Through research and classroom observation undertaken while conceptualizing and implementing the Intensive French program in Canada, many new insights were gained into the development of communication skills in a classroom situation. Five lessons learned about the development of spontaneous oral communication are presented in this article: the ineffectiveness of core French in primary school; the minimum number of intensive hours necessary to develop spontaneous oral communication; the need to develop implicit competence rather than explicit knowledge; the distinction between accuracy as knowledge and accuracy as skill; and the importance of teaching strategies focusing on language use. These lessons have implications for our understanding of how oral competence in an L2 develops and for the improvement of communicative language pedagogy.


produce a known gas composition at particular total gas flow rates. A gas flow nomogram (Fig. I ) can be used to obviate the difficult mental arithmetic. The nitrous oxide flow rate is easily found by subtracting the oxygen flow rate from the total gas flow rate. Alternatively a slide rule (Fig. 2) can be used to find the individual gas flow rates without the need for this subtraction. The slide rule may be obtained from Medical and Industrial Equipment Ltd.


Databases use and design has utilitarian and pedagogical educational interest. The utilitarian interest for database design education is determined by their economic impact. Databases pedagogical interest rises from their view as models and the possibility to use them for the design of general knowledge learning activities. The utilitarian and learning advantages rationalize the database design instruction in secondary education rising educational research questions. In this paper we report some key research findings about 11 th grade students' difficulties in database design, focusing especially in the representation of relationships. For the clarification of students' difficulties research activities were designed and implemented that asked students to transform given ER schemata to the corresponding logical and vice-versa. The analysis of students' solutions resulted in a systematic categorization of their difficulties and the proposition of specific action strategies for database design instruction improvement.


Inference of the nature of an enzyme inhibitor and calculations of inhibitor constants from linear plots are prone to be unreliable when experimental error is significant. This may be minimised by a method of statistical analysis using nonlinear regression methods and modelling using the variance ratio test of a hierarchy of models of inhibitor behaviour.


AIM
The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between heart failure and specific cognitive abilities in octogenarians with regard to level and change over time.

BACKGROUND
Cognitive impairment is influenced by many factors, and the impact of heart failure is debated. Intact cognitive ability is crucial for successful self-care in patients with heart failure. Middle-aged patients with heart failure seem to have an increased risk of cognitive impairment. No studies have examined the association between heart failure and longitudinal cognitive changes in octogenarians (individuals 80 years and older).

DESIGN
A prospective longitudinal design.

METHODS
Cognitive tests were carried out five times (1991-2002) in 702 octogenarians from the Swedish Twin Registry, including same-sex twin pairs. The test battery included the measurement of processing speed, visuospatial ability, short-term, episodic and semantic memory. Latent growth curve modelling was employed to measure change and performance over time and compares the group diagnosed with heart failure to individuals without a heart failure diagnosis. Results.  At baseline, the participants' mean age was 83·5 years, 67% were women and 13% suffered from heart failure. Individuals diagnosed with heart failure scored significantly lower in spatial abilities and episodic memory than participants not diagnosed with heart failure. Moreover, measures of episodic memory declined more over time in individuals diagnosed with heart failure. There were no significant differences between the groups in other cognitive tests.

CONCLUSION
Spatial problems and episodic memory have implications for everyday life. This might contribute to decreased adherence to prescribed therapy and self-care management and lead to socio-behavioural problems because of an impaired capacity to drive, read and write.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
Nurses should take into account in their assessment that cognitive impairment may restrain elderly heart failure patient's ability to make decisions and perform self-care actions. Patient education strategies should also be adapted to cognitive ability.