From a young age patients with severe and moderately severe FIX deficiency (haemophilia B) can experience spontaneous or traumatic bleeding and joint destruction may result. The use of coagulation factor IX concentrate to prevent anticipated bleeding, as primary or secondary prophylaxis, has become a common and recommended practice in children. The current practice of using tertiary prophylaxis, in the presence of established joint arthropathy, in adults with haemophilia B is not well characterized. This observational study was conducted to gain a better understanding of the recent Canadian experience with tertiary prophylaxis in adults with severe and moderately severe haemophilia B. Data were collected from all eligible adult (≥ 18 years of age) males with baseline FIX:C ≤ 2% from seven Canadian Hemophilia Treatment centres over a 2‐year observation period from 2009 to 2011. Thirty‐four per cent of the 67 subjects with moderately severe haemophilia B were exposed to prophylaxis with the majority as continuous prophylaxis (≥45 weeks year‐1). The severe subgroup (FIX:C < 1%) demonstrated a 52% exposure rate. None had primary prophylaxis exposure in childhood. Eighty‐one per cent used once or twice weekly infusion regimens and reported a median annual bleeding rate of five bleeds per year versus four bleeds per year for those using on‐demand treatment. Annual median factor utilization for all subjects using prophylaxis was 196 283 U year‐1 compared to 46 361 U year‐1 for on demand. Approximately 50% of adults with severe haemophilia B are using continuous tertiary prophylaxis in Canada, a practice likely to increase which warrants further study.


The Dutch countryside is in a state of flux. The decline of
agriculture and the altered use of space are being studied extensively in
research and in the media.  But what about the people living in the
countryside? How are they doing?
 In the report Thuis op het platteland (At Home in the Countryside),
of which this book is an abridged version, the focus is on the living situation
of residents in the countryside. How is the current living situation of the
rural population? Which social developments has the rural population
encountered in the past decade? Does the living situation of the rural
population differ from the urban in the Netherlands?
 Supported by empirical data, key statistics are used to describe several
topics: demography, the use of space, economics and welfare,  employment,
education, health and healthcare, housing, mobility, social services, social
safety, time use, and social participation. The developments in the different
domains are combined in the 'living situation index'. This index offers a
measure of welfare and well-being of individuals and household entities in the
rural areas.

At Home in the Countryside was produced by request of the
Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. This publication is the first
resulting from the research program that aims to develop a monitoring
instrument 'Social State of the Rural Areas'.


The supply chains of complex construction projects are characterized by multi-disciplinary participants, adversarial short-term relationships and fragmentations in project delivery procedures. Multi-disciplinary participants tend to make decisions on project activities based on their own objectives and value systems independently with little regard of holistic project performance. The lack of common values results in a limited understanding of how behaviors of one discipline impact on the related disciplines. This has led to tons of interface conflicts which ultimately affect project effectiveness. This paper investigates this problem by discussing Interface Value for the core players to understand the value-driven behaviors on the boundaries among owner and multiple prime contractors in complex construction projects. Two types of interface conflicts are recognized and defined. Value Optimization Strategy is proposed under status quo delivery methods by adjusting and reallocating interface responsibilities between related contractors. Improvements of procurement procedures are the key solutions to interface conflicts. Prospects of integrated project delivery (IPD) in eliminating interface conflicts are also discussed. The paper concludes that Value Optimization Strategy and IPD-based approach are expected to eliminate interface conflicts of complex construction projects, integrate the complex supply chain and lower the potential risks for project delivery delay and cost overrun.
First published online: 03 Apr 2017


Protocols for secure multiparty computation (MPC) enable a set of mutually distrusting parties to compute an arbitrary function of their inputs while preserving basic security properties like privacy and correctness. The study of MPC was initiated in the 1980s where it was shown that any function can be securely computed, thus demonstrating the power of this notion. However, these proofs of feasibility were theoretical in nature and it is only recently that MPC protocols started to become efficient enough for use in practice. Today, we have protocols that can carry out large and complex computations in very reasonable time (and can even be very fast, depending on the computation and the setting). Despite this amazing progress, there is still a major obstacle to the adoption and use of MPC due to the huge expertise needed to design a specific MPC execution. In particular, the function to be computed needs to be represented as an appropriate Boolean or arithmetic circuit, and this requires very specific expertise. In order to overcome this, there has been considerable work on compilation of code to (typically) Boolean circuits. One work in this direction takes a different approach, and this is the SPDZ compiler (not to be confused with the SPDZ protocol) that takes high-level Python code and provides an MPC run-time environment for securely executing that code. The SPDZ compiler can deal with arithmetic and non-arithmetic operations and is extremely powerful. However, until now, the SPDZ compiler could only be used for the specific SPDZ family of protocols, making its general applicability and usefulness very limited. In this paper, we extend the SPDZ compiler so that it can work with general underlying protocols. Our SPDZ extensions were made in mind to enable the use of SPDZ for arbitrary protocols and to make it easy for others to integrate existing and new protocols. We integrated three different types of protocols, an honest-majority protocol for computing arithmetic circuits over a field (for any number of parties), a three-party honest majority protocol for computing arithmetic circuits over the ring of integers Z2n, and the multiparty BMR protocol for computing Boolean circuits. We show that a single high-level SPDZ-Python program can be executed using all of these underlying protocols (as well as the original SPDZ protocol), thereby making SPDZ a true general run-time MPC environment.In order to be able to handle both arithmetic and non-arithmetic operations, the SPDZ compiler relies on conversions from field elements to bits and back. However, these conversions do not apply to ring elements (in particular, they require element division), and we therefore introduce new bit decomposition and recomposition protocols for the ring over integers with replicated secret sharing. These conversions are of independent interest and utilize the structure of Z2n (which is much more amenable to bit decomposition than prime-order fields), and are thus much more efficient than all previous methods. We demonstrate our compiler extensions by running a complex SQL query and a decision tree evaluation over all protocols.


The manuscripts of eminent Byzantine physicians from the 4th to the 14th century contain extensive information on various otorhinolaryngological issues. In their work, the early knowledge of rhinological disease from definition and symptoms to conservative treatment and surgical intervention is intriguing. Most of this meticulous knowledge was developed through time, beginning mainly from Hippocrates and the Hellenistic period. Thereafter, medicine developed through Roman and Byzantium times to finally influence European medicine and later the rest of the Western world. History of medicine reflects the history of mankind itself, and otorhinolaryngology follows closely this path. Our goal is to slim down and illuminate the most challenging of the vast amount of information on rhinological issues contained in the original Greek text of Hippocrates, and mainly in the hagiographical texts of Byzantine medical writers. In particular, we focus on rhinological diseases from antiquity till the time being, following the journey of evolution of topical and nebulizer therapy for sinonasal inflammatory diseases in Greece, from "milothris" to modern nasal sprays, leading to an understanding of the philosophy of our predecessors and the roots of modern rhinology.


This paper uses an applied general equilibrium framework in which family labor use, including the labor of male and female children, is incorporated to examine the effect of income subsidy schemes designed to encourage schooling of children on intra-household resource allocation within rural households in Bangladesh. Various subsidy schemes that are tied to hours of schoolwork by girls or all children are examined under existing preferences and under altered preferences that increase the desire for schooling. The effects of these subsidy schemes are compared to a general income subsidy as well as a scenario where the demand for increased paid domestic work, which often is female child intensive, increases. It is found that household welfare increases most when a subsidy is combined with households altering their preferences by placing greater value on the education of girls. The success of policy experiments that have combined advocacy and educational reform with economic incentives can be explained from this finding.


Bayesian inference is, by far, the most well-known statistical method for updating beliefs
about a population feature of interest in light of new data. Current beliefs, characterized by a
probability distribution called a prior, are updated by combining with data, which is modeled
as a random draw from another probability distribution. The Bayesian framework, therefore,
depends heavily on the choices of model distributions for prior and data, and it is the latter
that is of particular concern in this dissertation. Often, as will be shown in various examples, it is particularly difficult to make a good choice of data model: a bad choice may lead to misspecification and inconsistency of the posterior distribution, or may introduce nuisance parameters, increasing computational burden and complicating the choice of prior. Some particular statistical problems that may give Bayesians pause are classification and quantile regression. In these two problems a mathematical function called a loss function serves as the natural connection between the data and the population feature. Statistical inference based on loss functions can avoid having to specify a probability model for the data and parameter, which may be incorrect. Bayes' Theorem cannot reconcile a posterior update using anything other than a probability model for data, so alternative methods are needed, besides Bayes, in order to take advantage of loss functions in these types of problems.

Gibbs posteriors, like Bayes posteriors, incorporate prior information and new data via an updating formula. However, the Gibbs posterior does not require modeling the data with a probability model as in Bayes; rather, data and parameter may be linked by a more general function, like the loss functions mentioned above. The Gibbs approach offers many potential benefits including robustness when the data distribution is not known and a natural avoidance of nuisance parameters, but Gibbs posteriors are not common throughout statistics literature. In an effort to raise awareness of Gibbs posteriors, this dissertation both develops new theoretical foundations and presents numerous examples highlighting the usefulness of Gibbs posteriors in statistical applications.

Two new asymptotic results for Gibbs posteriors are contributed. The main conclusion of the first result is that Gibbs posteriors have similar asymptotic behavior to a class of statistical estimators called M-estimators in a wide range of problems. The main advantage of the Gibbs posterior, then, is its ability to incorporate prior information. The second result extends results for Bayesian posteriors to Gibbs posteriors in a statistics problems where the population feature of interest is a set with a smooth boundary.

Additionally, two main applications are considered, one in medical statistics and one in image analysis. The first application concerns the minimum clinically important difference (MCID), a parameter designed to indicate whether the effect of a medical treatment is practically signi cant. Modeling for the purpose of inference on the MCID is non-trivial, and concerns
about bias from a misspeci fied parametric model or inefficiency from a nonparametric model motivate using the alternative Gibbs approach, which balances robustness and efficiency. The second application concerns the detection of an image boundary when the image pixels are observed with noise. Likelihood-based methods for the image boundary require modeling the pixel intensities inside and outside the image boundary, even though these are typically of no practical interest. However, a Gibbs posterior can be defined directly on the image boundary parameter, thereby avoiding this issue.

Finally, the Gibbs posterior comes with a scale parameter, also referred to as a learning rate, which mainly affects its finite sample performance. Current research directions do not agree on how to select the learning rate. This dissertation presents a new method, called Gibbs posterior calibration (GPC), to select the learning rate so that Gibbs posterior credible regions are approximately calibrated to their nominal frequency coverage probabilities. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm yields highly efficient credible regions in a variety of applications when compared to existing methods.


Yoruk and Turkmen tribes from the Central Asia Nomadic Oghuz community came to settle in Anatolia. Oghuz culture that settled in Anatolia generally dealt with nomads and animal husbandry. Animal products are the main products that make up weaving. For this reason, weaving in nomadic societies has been a folk art. The masterpieces of the nomads' cultural and visual identities in local, national and universal values have been traditional hand weavings. The nomads, who do not have the means of communication, transportation and formal education, have created a more creative, free, healthy and vibrant verbal and visual culture without falling into the conservatism of settled societies. The importance of traditional weaving art cannot be underestimated in this formation. Traditional hand weaving was formerly family art in society. There is no difference between exhibiting carpets and rugs woven for dowry in rural areas in Anatolia in the village and exhibiting the works of people who have received fine arts education in a gallery. The paintings of the Yoruk and Turkmen have been the carpets, kilims and weavings they weaved. However, the artistic value of rural textiles was not realized until it was discovered by foreigners. In this period, local folk arts were never mentioned in the art fields of our country. In addition, traditional hand weavings are considered as commercial goods that are bought cheaply from rural areas and sold dearly to foreigners. Many of which was done in the traditional order period were the traditional hand weaving samples of the Turkish nation in local, national and universal dimensions. But at the same time, they carried traces specific to marks, motifs and colours belonging to their tribe. For this reason, they have become a source of artistic pride of the Turks. In order to provide the artistic development of traditional hand weaving education in our country, associate degree, undergraduate and graduate programs have been opened in universities. In these programs, theoretical and practical training is given to young generations about traditional hand weaving, which will make up for the lack of museums and collections in our country. In this article, transitions between traditional hand weaving, which was a family art in the past, at the academic level in today will be determined and question what needs to be done. Information will be given about how to continue traditional hand weaving.


To understand the relationship between brain structure and behavior in the general movements of fetuses and infants from a complex systems perspective, we investigated how behaviors emerge from interactions between complex networks of nonlinear oscillators and musculoskeletal bodies. We prepared a snake-like robot and some network structures in a physical simulator. The various conditions imposed on the networks were (a) no connection among oscillators, (b) scalefree network, (c) one-dimensional lattice, (d) small-world network, and (e) random network. In the experiments, the robot exhibited multiple crawling and bending behaviors. By estimating the numbers of behavioral attractors, we revealed a qualitative difference between the scale-free network and other complex networks.


Tumor recurrence remains an obstacle after liver surgery, especially in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The acute-phase liver graft injury might potentially induce poor response to chemotherapy in recurrent HCC after liver transplantation. We here intended to explore the mechanism and to identify a therapeutic target to overcome such chemoresistance. The associations among graft injury, overexpression of IP10 and multidrug resistant genes were investigated in a rat liver transplantation model, and further validated in clinical cohort. The role of IP10 on HCC cell proliferation and tumor growth under chemotherapy was studied both in vitro and in vivo. The underlying mechanism was revealed by detecting the activation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress signaling pathways. Moreover, the effect of IP10 neutralizing antibody sensitizing cisplatin treatment was further explored. In rat liver transplantation model, significant up-regulation of IP10 associated with multidrug resistant genes was found in small-for-size liver graft. Clinically, high expression of circulating IP10 was significant correlated with tumor recurrence in HCC patients underwent LDLT. Overexpression of IP10 promoted HCC cell proliferation and tumor growth under cisplatin treatment by activation of ATF6/Grp78 signaling. IP10 neutralizing antibody sensitized cisplatin treatment in nude mice. The overexpression of IP10, which induced by liver graft injury, may lead to cisplatin resistance via ATF6/Grp78 ER stress signaling pathway. IP10 neutralizing antibody could be a potential adjuvant therapy to sensitize cisplatin treatment.


&NA; Date Presented 4/1/2017 Sleep deprivation (SD) is common in adults with mood disorders. Yet, little is known about how SD in adults with mood disorders may further restrict participation in occupations. This scoping review synthesized the literature on the effects of sleep deprivation on the productivity of adults with mood disorders. Primary Author and Speaker: Melissa Knott Contributing Authors: Christopher Derak, Lisa McAughey, Rashmi Mehrotra, Florence Roudbarani


Recent sociological research in organizations has emphasized the "filtering" of externally-imposed formal policies and rules through local organizational cultures and strategic interaction processes. This type of generic organizational process assumes special importance for courts and sentencing, subjects of policy-oriented and social problems discourse for over three decades. Eisenstein and associates (1977, 1988; Flemming, Nardulli and Eisenstein 1992) point out that the contexts of local "court communities" and the formal and informal case processing norms of courtroom workgroups are at least as important as formal laws and state-level policies in determining "contours" of criminal justice. Our study focuses on the use and transformation of sentencing guidelines in the interorganizational relations and workgroup case processing strategies in local courts. We draw on the organizational concepts of "embeddedness" (Perrucci 1994) and "properties in use" (Peyrot 1995) of formal decision-making tools to frame our analysis. We present qualitative interview and field data on organizational contexts and case processing strategies from three different-sized county trial courts in Pennsylvania, a state whose courts have operated under sentencing guidelines for over a decade. Among the highlights of the analysis are our findings that DA's offices can use sentencing guidelines as management tools, judges can use them to legitimate their sentencing practices in political disputes, and both prosecutors and defense attorneys use them as important tools of uncertainty reduction in their guilty plea strategies. More generally, we argue that the implimentation of externally imposed formal rules and decision-making criteria depends on local relationships, activities, and informal decision-making criteria.


This commentary elaborates on different methodological aspects complicating the interpretation of epidemiological data related to the current COVID-19 pandemic, thus preventing reliable within and across-country estimates. Firstly, an inaccuracy of epidemiological data maybe arguably be attributed to passive surveillance, a relatively long incubation period during which infected individuals can still shed high loads of virus into the surrounding environment and the very high proportion of cases not even developing signs and/or symptoms of COVID-19. The latter is also the major reason for the inappropriateness of the abused "wave" wording, which gives the idea that health system starts from scratch to respond between "peaks". Clinical data for case-management on the other hand often requires complex technology in order to merge and clean data from health care facilities. Decision-making is often further derailed by the overuse of epidemiological modeling: precise aspects related to transmissibility, clinical course of COVID-19 and effectiveness of the public health and social measures are heavily influenced by unbeknownst and unpredictable human behaviors and modelers try to overcome missing epidemiological information by relying on poorly precise or questionable assumptions. Therefore the COVID-9 pandemic may provide a valuable opportunity to rethink how we are dealing with the very basic principles of epidemiology as well as risk communication issues related to such an unprecedented emergency situation.


Competition and antitrust law aims to prevent companies from engaging in anti-competitive behavior and to promote and protect market competition. In this context, mergers and acquisitions are under particular scrutiny, since they are often assumed to be motivated by possible market power increases, thus adversely affecting market efficiency. With a view to recent efforts within the European Union to increase competition law effectiveness in the energy market (i.e. legal and ownership unbundling as policy tools geared towards forcing corporations into demerging transactions), an event study approach is applied in this paper to evaluate the market response to the announcement of mergers and acquisitions in EU and US energy markets and to determine whether or not the hypothesis that M&As result in increased market power of the joined companies actually holds true. Findings indicate that increases in market power are not the main motive for energy market M&As. The results thus oppose the general adequacy of legal and ownership unbundling as veritable competition law instruments against market imperfections and failures, but indicate that unbundling can indeed be a viable policy solution if implemented on a case-by-case basis.


The study investigated the level of trauma experienced by Nigeria children and adolescents. It also examined the challenges being faced by the teaming population of youths that have been traumatized. The study identified the various traumatic situations prevailing in Nigeria. Also, it examined the availability and responsiveness of these youths to available Counseling and adequacy of Counseling. The traumatic experience of youths seems to be accountable for most of the insurgency, terrorism and restiveness pervading entire Nigeria. This is because there are occurrences such as kidnapping examination malpractices child trafficking bomb explosion, political offences, economic fraud, religious crisis, ritual killings, abduction drunkenness, armed robbery and so on. All these seem to have defiled all weapons of sanitation in Nigeria. Descriptive research design of the survey type was used for the study after consulting the entire Nigeria population. Based on the above discovery Nigeria government should consult the genealogy of harmful traumatic occurrences affecting the youths in Nigeria to be able to nip it in the bud. Curriculum planners should identify incorporate trauma provoking situations into the school curriculum to be taught. Counselors and care givers should be trained on how to reduce and counsel traumatized youths. Trauma centers to provide hospice services should be established by State and Federal Government. The study could be of benefit to school children, parents/teachers examination bodies counselors, curriculum planners, religious leaders, school administrators and law enforcement agents. They would learn, teach, counsel and ameliorate traumatic and trauma provoking situations.


OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of perioperative delirium (POD) at the Hospital nacioanl Arzobispo Loayza, from October to December 2021. METHODS: Qualitative and prospective observational study, carried out in a population of 910 patients, in which the AMT Test Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) and the Pfeiffer questionnaire (Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire, SPMSQ) were applied. We used Chi2 to demonstrate the existence of association and Cramer's V and Phi tests to quantify the intensity of said relationship if it existed. RESULTS: Of the total of patients (910), 18.46% presented perioperative delirium. Sex and religion do not influence this. Age does influence the presentation of POD since 50% (145) of the patients 61 years of age or older presented it, unlike those between 36 -60 years of age only 5.31% and those of 18 - 35 only 0.88% presented POD. According to the level of education: 100% with no education, 73.1% with primary education, 18.5% with secondary education and 5.8% with higher education, presented DPO. According to the anesthetic technique, POD was found in 28.9% (60) of the spinal type with sedation, 22.4% (11) of the epidural type with sedation, 16.7% (83) of the General TIVA TCI type, 12.9% (4) of the Block type with sedation, 9.5% (10) of the General balanced type; for the types of general anesthesia manual TIVA, General Multimodal and Spinal anesthesia without sedation there were no cases of POD. According to the operative time: 100% (9) of the patients with more than 6 hours of operative time, 27.1% (38) of the patients who have 3 to 6 hours of operative time and 16.5% (121) of the patients who have 1 to 3 hours of operative time presented cases of POD. According to hospitalization time prior to surgery: 48% (36) of patients with hospitalization time of 16 to 30 days, 20.5% (26) of patients with hospitalization time of 8 to 15 days and 16% (97) of the patients with hospitalization time of 3 to 7 days presented POD. According to the presence of comorbidities: 51.6% (16) with AHT and RD, 41.7% (30) with Diabetes and 40.8% (20) with AHT and DM2 present POD. According to the presence of dementia: 100% (6) of the patients with a history of dementia and 17.9% (162) of the patients with no history of dementia presented POD. According to psychiatric history, 68.4% (13) of those who did have a history of psychiatric disorder and 17.4% (155) of those who did not have a history of psychiatric disorder presented POD. According to history of psychiatric treatment: 100% (6) of those who do have a history of treatment and 17.9% (162) of those who do not have a history of psychiatric treatment presented POD. According to the pre-surgical and post-surgical PFEIFFER questionnaire: 100% of those with mild, moderate or severe cognitive impairment according to the PFEIFFER PRE QX questionnaire presented POD. According to diagnosis of pre-surgical and post-surgical delirium: 100% presented POD. CONCLUSIONS: There is no association between sex and religion and the presentation of POD. If there is an association between age, educational level, type of anesthesia, operative time, hospitalization time prior to surgery, comorbidities, history of dementia, history of psychiatric disorder, history of psychiatric treatment, pre-, post-surgical Pfeiffer questionnaire, pre-surgical delirium and post-surgical delirium and the presentation of POD.


Abstract Sweet sorghum bagasse (SSB) is a soil amendment with potential for biofuel production. This study was conducted to determine the appropriate techniques for application of SSB and the effect of incorporation of inorganic fertilizer (IF) on the production of komatuna (Brassica rapa) plants. SSB was applied to the surface of the plant or incorporated into soil. The N fate of IF was evaluated by using 15N-labeled IF. The combination of surface application of SSB and incorporation of IF to soil decreased the N uptake by komatsuna plants but increased dry weight, whereas the incorporation of IF and SSB gave lower komatsuna dry weight than IF treatment alone. Moreover, the application of SSB tended to increase the N distribution from IF to komatsuna with decreased N loss from the plant-soil system. These results showed that surface application of SSB is effective for increasing crop production due to reduction of N loss and improved N use efficiency.


Abstract. The purpose of this study is to assess the potential of drone airborne LiDAR technology in Morocco in comparison with drone photogrammetry. The cost and complexity of the equipment which includes a laser scanner, an inertial measurement unit, a positioning system and a platform are among the causes limiting its use. Furthermore, this study was motivated by the following reasons: (1) Limited number of studies in Morocco on drone-based LiDAR technology applications, (2) Lack of study on the parameters that influence the quality of drone-based LiDAR surveys as well as on the evaluation of the accuracy of derived products. In this study, the evaluation of LiDAR technology was carried out by an analysis of the geometric accuracy of the 3D products generated: Digital Terrain Model (DTM), Digital Surface Model (DSM) and Digital Canopy Model (DCM). We conduct a comparison with the products generated by drone photogrammetry and GNSS surveys. Several tests were carried out to analyse the parameters that influence the mission results namely height, overlap, drone speed and laser pulse frequency. After data collection, the processing phase was carried out. It includes: the cleaning, the consolidation then the classification of point clouds and the generation of the various digital models. This project also made it possible to propose and validate a workflow for the processing, the classification of point clouds and the generation of 3D digital products derived from the processing of LiDAR data acquired by drone.


We investigate the peapod structure of C59N+@(10, 10) single-walled carbon nanotubes by simulation, and discover that the ball initial velocity could be controlled by the external impulse electric field, then becoming an oscillator, of which the period could be tuned in a relatively large range of 80–18 ps by adjusting the ball motion in the initial stage. The SWNT length could also be used to tune the period of the oscillator. Based on these results, two potential devices, controllable period and constant period systems are proposed. For the first device, the ball motion is adjusted step by step and the period decreases from 80–100 ps to 18–20 ps or increases from 18–20 ps to 80–100 ps. For the second one, a relatively high constant period within 20–25 ps could be controlled by applying a much longer period signal generator (1 ns) from the external electric field, indicating a robust signal magnification.


The goal of this work was to synthesize complex macromolecular architectures such as dendrimers and dendronized polymers, and evaluate the effect from the dendrons on the optical and material properties. The work presented in this doctoral thesis, Dendrimers and Dendronized Polymers - Synthesis and Characterization, is divided into one minor and one major part. The first part deals with the synthesis and characterization of two sets of dendritic porphyrins based on 2,2-bis(methylol)propionic acid (bis-MPA). The second part deals with the synthesis and characterization of dendronized poly(hydroxyl ethyl methacylate), dendronized poly(norbornene), and dendronized triblock copolymers, were the pendant dendrons are based on bis-MPA. Both free-base and zinc containing dendritic porphyrins was synthesized up to the fifth generation by employing iterative ester coupling utilizing the acetonide protected anhydride of bis-MPA as generic building block. First and second generation dendron bearing methacrylates based on 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate were also synthesized by utilizing the acetonide protected anhydride of bis-MPA, and subsequently polymerized by atom transfer radical polymerization. By adopting a divergent "graft-to" approach starting from the first generation dendronized poly(hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate), well-defined dendronized polymers with acetonide, hydroxyl, acetate and hexadecyl surface functionality were obtained. By utilizing the same divergent iterative esterfication, first to fourth generation dendron functionalized norbornenes were synthesized. These monomers were polymerized by ring-opening metathesis polymerization, utilizing either Grubbs´ first or second generation catalyst. Acrylate functional first to fourth generation monomers were synthesized by the copper(I) catalyzed "click" coupling of azido functional dendrons and propargyl acrylate. The monomers were polymerized to dendronized triblock copolymers by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization, utilizing a difunctional poly(methyl methacrylate) as macro chain transfer agent. The bulk properties of the dendronized poly(hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate) and poly(norbornene) were investigated by dynamic rheological measurements and differential scanning calorimetry. It was found that all the acetonide functional bis-MPA based dendronized polymers had glass transitions temperatures in a similar range. The rheological behaviour showed that for the dendronized polymers having the same backbone length the complex viscosity as a function of functionality was independent of the surface functionality of the polymer. The generation number of the polymer had a profound influence on the complex viscosity, changing form a Newtonian behaviour to a shear thinning behaviour when the generation of the dendrons was increased from two to four. The dendronized poly(norbornene) had increasingly shorter backbone lengths for each generational increase, and for the materials set with comparably lower degree of polymerization, the G' part of the complex modulus was mostly affected by attaching larger dendrons. In the case of the sample set of higher degree of polymerization, the second, third, and fourth generation samples had similar slopes of the G' and G" curves, indicating a similar relaxation behaviour.


Family N, a family with an extraordinarily high frequency of adenocarcinoma in specific branches of the family, consistent with the cancer family syndrome, has been extensively investigated. During an eight-year period, cancer was found to have occurred in 21 additional family members. Six of the individuals in whom cancer had been previously ascertained, 28% of those who developed cancer during this eight-year period, were found to have acquired additional primary cancers. One of them had four separate primary cancers, and another one had three. Pedigree analyses have shown repeatedly that individuals from particular lineages tend to develop cancers of specific anatomic sites. It is suggested that gene-transmitted constitutional differences may interact with nongenetic factors, possibly oncogenic viruses, to produce cancer in such family members who are at relatively high risk. Cancer control programs utilizing established familial risk information should be developed for better management of these familial cancer problems.


A gold dimer structure consisting of a notched triangle nanoslice and a rectangle nanorod is proposed to produce distinct Fano resonance. Owing to the coupling between the dipole plasmon mode of the nanorod and the dipole or quadrupole plasmon mode of the nanoslice, the extinction spectrum with a deep Fano dip is formed and can be well fitted by the Fano interference model for different geometry parameters. In addition, Fano resonance of the gold dimer nanostructure also intensely depends on the polarization direction of incident light. Moreover, Fano resonance of the triangle–rod trimer is also analyzed by adding another nanorod into the former dimer and exhibits the splitting of plasmonic resonant peak in high order coupling modes. The plasmonic hybridizations in these nanostructures have been analyzed for revealing the physical origin of the Fano resonance.


The article represents an integrated analysis of an ethnospecific concept Grundlichkeit as a significant part of the German conceptual domain. The method of conceptual analysis used in the investigation includes the analysis of German-language literature that describes various aspects of German mentality; the study of the conceptual component of the concept through the generalization of the German-language lexicographic data; the interpretative analysis of different text types; and the association and receptive experiment with German informants. The analysis of German lexicography revealed the conceptual core of Grundlichkeit as а complex mental entity integrating several positive characteristics of humans and their activity. The study proved that the expression deutsche Grundlichkeit nominating a feature of the German mentality is widely used in publicistic texts. The German advertising texts are notable for giving very detailed information; similar tendency is present in the German public signs that regulate people's behaviour in public areas in Germany. The experimental studies revealed numerous associations as well as the presence of prominent value component of the concept. It testifies that Grundlichkeit is a relevant concept for German informants. The most essential conceptual characteristic pointed out by the informants are 'thoroughness', 'order', 'depth', 'going into details', 'planning' that are extrapolated to any kind of activities, especially work activities. Thus, the concept Grundlichkeit is one of ethno specific concepts in the German linguistic culture and it is indissolubly related to the concepts Ordnung, Fleis, Arbeit, Sicherheit, that objectify the key values of the German worldview.


KATHAKALI: KOTTAYAM PLAYS. International Video Edition (DVD). A Vedika Presentation. E-mail: . Web site: . Recording format: Beta. Complete set of four plays (9 DVDs): $400. Individual plays: $100 each. Plays: Baka Vadham (The killing of Baka); Kirmira Vadham (The killing of Kirmira); Kalyana Saugandhikam (The auspicious flower); Kalakeya Vadham (The killing of Kalakeya). Vedika, a nonprofit group based in Thrissur, Kerala (southern India), which promotes Kerala's traditional arts through workshops, seminars, performances, publications, and video documentation, has released four major kathakali plays on a set of nine DVDs. While the domestic edition was released in January 2003, an international edition will be released in early 2004--of which a preliminary version is reviewed here. The plays were recorded before an invited audience in Thrissur, Kerala, in September 2002. Perhaps the greatest single contribution of the international edition, unique thus far among the available video and film documentations of kathakali, is the inclusion of a scrolling narrative text and voice-over in English introducing each scene, as well as extensive English subtitles used during the actual performance. These valuable additions enable English-speaking viewers of kathakali as well as students and scholars to deepen their understanding and appreciation of how such a highly performative genre expresses the poetic conceits and literary references that are rife in the form. I applaud these unobtrusive captions that can only serve to further our understanding of such a rich and complex performance genre. Vedika has wisely chosen to document what are arguably the four most important plays in the entire kathakali repertoire: The Killing of Baka, The Killing of Kirmira, The Flower of Good Fortune, and The Killing of Kalakeya. These plays were composed sometime in the late seventeenth century by the famous Kerala king and man of arts and letters Kottayam Thampuran, and they remain the backbone of kathakali training and performance to this day. With the use of subtitles, English-speaking viewers can finally appreciate Thampuran's highly poetic and literary writing. The Kerala scholars behind Vedika, led by Mundoli V. Narayanan (professor of literature at Miyazaki International College, Japan), have also produced an extensive booklet that accompanies the international edition. The booklet is multi-purposed, but one of its primary intents is to introduce the reader to the playwright who was the first great kathakali reformer in the early days of its development. Kottayam Thampuran hailed from a royal family and served as king of a northern Kerala principality. From early on, Thampuran was exposed to literature and the arts. He made many important contributions to kathakali, introducing for the first time episodes from the Mahabharata. Until this point, all the plays were drawn from the Ramayana and revolved around the deeds of the gods. These earlier plays centered on single character displays and were very one-dimensional. Narayanan suggests that they were no more than "a costume dance accompanied by music" (pp. 7-8). Thampuran added a depth and emotional complexity to his characters that was not there before and turned kathakali into a total theatre that blended all the elements of acting, dance, vocal music, and instrumental music. In Thampuran's masterful hands, the epic characters evolved throughout the story rather than appearing as unchanging constants as they had prior to his work. Thampuran was also instrumental in giving his female characters a multidimensionality of moods and states of minds. His plays offered new challenges to the actor in terms of further codifying facial expressions and expanding the musical and rhythmic possibilities and the emotional states that could be expressed. The booklet also provides a general timeline of kathakali's early evolution from ramanattom, and contains a primer on kathakali with an illustrated list of the mudras (hand gestures) and their various meanings and a glossary of terms. …


Abstract We described the phylogeny of the salamandrid genus Neurergus in Turkey using statistical analyses on morphometric characters and a molecular analysis based on 12S and 16S rRNA genes. Two different species, Neurergus crocatus and Neurergus strauchii (N. s. strauchii and N. s. barani), are reported from new localities. Morphologically, the only significant differences between N. s. strauchii and N. s. barani were eye width, head width, and forelimb length in females; and eye width, head length, head width and inter-nostril distance in males in terms of 12 external morphometric measurements, with N. s. barani having larger values. According to PCA, species segregated along morphological axes and all the variables (except inter-limb and eye width in males and except longest toe forelimb, head width, eye width and inter-orbital distance in females) were important in separating species along these axes. We obtained a total of 833 basepairs (bp) of two mitochondrial genes (478 bp of 12S rRNA and 355 bp of 16S rRNA) from Neurergus crocatus (n  =  10), Neurergus strauchii strauchii (n  =  9) and N. s. barani (n  =  9). Neurergus crocatus differed from N. s. strauchii and N. s. barani with sequence divergences of 4.5%–5.1% and 5.4%–5.5%, respectively. However, among three haplotypes of N. s. strauchii, sequence divergence was very low (0.24% to 0.96%). The nucleotide difference between these two subspecies ranged from 0.48% to 1.2%. As a result, N. s. barani specimens in this study were not strongly differentiated from N. s. strauchii, suggesting that their distributions are either connected or only recently separated or that N. s. barani does not represent a distinct genetic unit.


An intensive antacid regimen, 15 to 30 ml 1 and 3 hours after each meal and at bedtime, has a significant effect on duodenal ulcer healing as compared to placebo and is as effective as cimetidine in endoscopically assessed trials. The healing rates at 4 weeks for placebo, antacid, and cimetidine are about 24%, 59%, and 62%, respectively. Smoking reduces the frequency of ulcer healing irrespective of therapy. Ulcer recurrences are as frequent after antacid as after cimetidine. Extensive placebo-controlled trials have not been reported for antacid treatment of gastric ulcer, but regular antacid dosing was as effective as cimetidine in one trial. Both the acute relief of ulcer pain and the pain relief during several weeks of therapy are similar between antacid and placebo, but pain relief per se is not a reliable indicator of ulcer healing.


Given a repeated choice between two or more options with fixed, independent and identically distributed reward probabilities, overall pay-offs can be maximized by the exclusive selection of the option with the greatest likelihood of reward. The tendency to match response proportions to reward contingencies is suboptimal. Nevertheless, this behaviour is well documented. This thesis had two core objectives. First, it was aimed to ascertain the relative contributions of several existing accounts of probability matching in determining choice behaviour, particularly regarding the maximization versus diversification of choices. These accounts include failed pattern matching, driven by apophenia, and a heuristic-driven response that can be overruled with sufficient deliberation. Second, to then further address potential mechanisms underlying whichever factor was found to make the most substantive contribution to choice behaviour, through the combined application of behavioural and electrophysiological methods. Over a series of behavioural studies, the use of strategy over intuition proved to be the most consistent and substantial predictor of maximizing choices, in robust support of the heuristic account. Given this finding, the question emerges of why probability matching is the dominant intuitive response. One possibility is that matching represents the overextension of an evolutionarily stable foraging strategy, an account termed the 'Faulty Foraging Theory'. A simple simulated foraging task was designed to assess choice behaviour when reward schedules incorporate the factor of natural resource accumulation and depletion. The contrast in choice behaviour on this task with the standard probability matching preparation was consistent with the Faulty Foraging model. A series of electrophysiological studies were then conducted, in an attempt to uncover the putative illusory internal representation of reward accumulation on the standard task, which could drive suboptimal diversification of choices. This was ultimately unsuccessful. However, further corroborating electrophysiological evidence was obtained for the heuristic account, in the form of characteristic patterns of prefrontal activity relating to maximizing vs. diversification of choices.


Abstract The distribution of actinides in the core of an accelerator-driven system loaded with plutonium, americium, and curium has been studied in order to optimize the proton source efficiency ψ*. The optimization of ψ* was performed by keeping some important characteristics of the system, e.g., the radial power profile and the reactivity of the core, constant. One of the basic assumptions of the study, that the magnitude of ψ* is sensitive primarily to the composition of actinides in the inner part of the core, whereas only marginally to that in the outer part, has been confirmed. It has been shown that the odd-N nuclides (those nuclides with an even number of neutrons) in general and 241Am and 244Cm in particular have favorable properties with respect to improving ψ* if they are placed in the innermost part of the core. The underlying reason for this phenomenon is that the energy spectrum of the source neutrons in the inner part of the core is harder than that of the average fission neutrons. Moreover, it has been shown that loading the inner part of the core with only curium increases ψ* by ˜7%. Plutonium, on the other hand, in particular high-quality plutonium consisting mainly of 239Pu and 241Pu, was found to be a comparatively source inefficient element and is preferably located in the outer part of the core. The differences in ψ* are due to combined effects from relative changes in the average fission and capture cross sections and in the average fission neutron yield.


This paper describes a novel method for simulating soft tissue deformation with image-based rendering. It is based on the association of depth map with colour texture and the incorporation of microsurface details to generate photo-realistic images representing soft tissue deformations. In a pre-processing step, the depth map describing the surface is separated into two distributions corresponding to macroand micro-surface details. During user interactive simulation, deformation resulting from tissue-instrument interaction is rapidly calculated by modifying a coarse mass-spring model fitted to the macro-surface model. Micro-surface details are subsequently augmented to the modified model with 3D image warping. The proposed technique drastically reduces the polygonal count required to model the scene, whilst preserving deformed small surface details and offering a high level of photorealism.


The rapid and cost-effective identification of bacterial species is crucial, especially for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Peptide aptamers have been shown to be valuable for use as a component of novel, direct detection methods. These small peptides have a number of advantages over antibodies, including greater specificity and longer shelf life. These properties facilitate their use as the detector components of biosensor devices. However, the identification of suitable aptamer targets for particular groups of organisms is challenging. We present a semi-automated processing pipeline for the identification of candidate aptamer targets from whole bacterial genome sequences. The pipeline can be configured to search for protein sequence fragments that uniquely identify a set of strains of interest. The system is also capable of identifying additional organisms that may be of interest due to their possession of protein fragments in common with the initial set. Through the use of Cloud computing technology and distributed databases, our system is capable of scaling with the rapidly growing genome repositories, and consequently of keeping the resulting data sets up-to-date. The system described is also more generically applicable to the discovery of specific targets for other diagnostic approaches such as DNA probes, PCR primers and antibodies.


We review the development of the quark model with particular emphasis on the interpretation of quarks as dynamical, confined, hadronic constituents. This interpretation encompasses naturally the phenomenon of radially excited states. The simple vector dominance model is reviewed and an extended vector mason dominance model which includes both radial excitations of the vector mesons, and q(^2)- dependence of the photon-vector meson coupling is applied to radiative decays and photo-production of the vector mesons. The parameters estimated from ψ radiative decay, define a phenomenological prescription in which the radial excitations play a minor role compared with the ground state vector mesons. The predictions of the model for various cross-sections and decay widths are presented and found to be in good agreement with experiment. However we predict a larger total cross-section, σ(_tot)(ψN) than has been recently measured and the suppression of the large phase space decays of excited states is not understood. By re-identifying some of the vector meson states which have been more recently observed coupling to e(^+)e we show that in all flavour sectors the spectra of radial excitations can be well described by a Klein-Gordon type wave equation employing a simple, linear qī potential. The wave-functions obtained by solving the equation are coupled with a quark pair creation hypothesis to predict a number of partial decay widths of the light quark, radially excited states. The suppression of large phase space decays of the excited states is then understood.


Virtual worlds have become highly popular in recent years with reports of over a billion people accessing these environments and the virtual goods market growing to near 50 billion US dollars. An undesirable outcome to this popularity and market value is thriving criminal activity in these worlds. The most profitable cyber security problem in virtual worlds is named Virtual Property Theft. The aim of this study is to use an online survey to gain insight into how hackers (n=100) in these synthetic worlds conduct their criminal activity. This survey is the first to report an insight into the criminal mind of hackers (virtual thieves). Results showed a clear-cut profile of a virtual property thief, they appear to be mainly aged 20-24 years of age, live in the United States of America, while using virtual worlds for 5-7 hours a day. These and the other key results of this study will provide a pathway for designing an effective anti-theft framework capable of abolishing this cyber security issue.


The human supraoptic nucleus (SON) is the main production site of plasma arginine-vasopressin (AVP). The present study aimed to define the subpopulation of patients in which multinucleated SON neurons (MNN) are present. We determined the proportion of MNN in immunocytochemically defined SON AVP population and compared AVP mRNA levels in the SON of 29 patients with and without MNN. Interestingly, MNN appeared to be present in a high proportion in patients with pneumonia and other pulmonary pathologies (Pul P). The percentage of MNN in the SON of Pul P patients turned out to be age- and sex-dependent. In young women with Pul P their proportion was 10 times higher than in women without such a pathology and in young men with Pul P their frequency was 22 times higher than in other men. In those patients with the highest proportion of MNN, i.e. young females and males with Pul P, AVP mRNA expression in the SON was the lowest. In addition, young women (≤50 years old) had lower AVP mRNA levels than young men and than elderly women (>50 years old). In conclusion, our study suggests that multinucleated neurons are a hallmark of Pul P in the human SON and that this phenomenon may be accompanied by lower AVP production in young subjects.


Wireless sensor networks are remote networks and works in adhoc manner. Sensor collects the information sensed by the self and sends it to cluster head created in clusters. Further cluster heads use to send this information to the sink where data fetched use to complied and processed according to application used. In our research, we will propose a novel method for establishing reliable and efficient data transmission in wireless sensor networks. In this approach, we will achieve energy efficiency by using hierarchical clustering method to form clusters in the sensor network. Network lifetime is increased by using this technique. To increase reliability and to utilize energy much more effectively multiple mobile sinks are used along with base station. Mobile sink nodes are used to enhance the performance metrics. Mobile sinks will be bring into grid area so that less energy consumption will be there for cluster heads. Mobile sinks will fetch data from cluster heads with minimize energy consumption. Grid will be divided into equal portions to form a uniform distribution of mobile sink. Particularly this paper analyze the various clustering techniques with mobile sink concept.


The recent emergence of new media, or better, new communication technologies, has afforded substantial commentary regarding societal effects, the latest chapter in a decades-old trend that rises and falls with each new communication technology. Whereas this article does not deny that the current generation of communication technologies differs from predecessors, it argues against the need for wholesale changes in theory to understand the effects of these technologies. New communication technologies do not fundamentally alter the theoretical bounds of human interaction; such interaction continues to be governed by basic human tendencies. What is perhaps most interesting about these new technologies is their ability to provide new or previously rare contexts for information expression and engagement. This article reviews two sets of rival hypotheses investigated in light of new communication technologies: proposals regarding social isolation effects versus connection effects, and ideas about whether new technologies lead to group integration or group polarization.


Commonsense reasoning is one of the ultimate goals of artificial intelligence research because it simulates the human thinking process. However, most commonsense reasoning studies have focused on English because available commonsense knowledge for low-resource languages is scarce due to high construction costs. Translation is one of the typical methods for augmenting data for low-resource languages; however, translation entails ambiguity problems, where one word can be translated into multiple words due to polysemes and homonyms. Previous studies have suggested methods to measure the validity of translated multiple triples by using additional metadata and manually labeled data. However, such handcrafted datasets are not available for many low-resource languages. In this paper, we propose a knowledge augmentation method using adversarial networks that does not require any labeled data. Our adversarial networks can transfer knowledge learned from a resource-rich language to low-resource languages and thus measure the validity score of translated triples even without labeled data. We designed experiments to demonstrate that high-scoring triples obtained by the proposed model can be considered augmented knowledge. The experimental results show that our proposed method for a low-resource language, Korean, achieved 93.7% precision@1 on a manually labeled benchmark. Furthermore, to verify our model for other low-resource languages, we introduced new test sets for knowledge validation in 16 different languages. Our adversarial model obtains strong results for all language test sets. We will release the augmented Korean knowledge and test sets for 16 languages.


Non-linear phenomena (NLP) in vocalizations may have adaptive functions, such as increasing acoustic impact or conveying fitness or identity information. Yet despite their potential to impart behavioural information, these spectral features have not been studied in most bird species and many genera. This applies to the New Zealand kiwi (Apterygidae), with NLP-like features indicated in one species, but not explored further. Yet as nocturnal and cryptic birds heavily reliant on vocal communication, kiwi are ideal species in which to assess the function of these structures. Furthermore, kiwi are acoustically typical but taxonomically and ecologically unique among birds, so can provide an important reference for determining the behavioural relevance of NLP in other bird species. We have assessed the occurrence of NLP in little spotted kiwi (Apteryx owenii) calls, in the first detailed study of such features in a ratite. NLP in the form of subharmonics are common in this species. We tested for possible adaptive functions of these features by comparing their occurrence with call spectral parameters and conditions. Subharmonics increased with frequency and during calls produced in territorial contexts, indicating that these features may provide acoustic impact, possibly to convey aggression or fitness information. Our results also suggest that NLP are unlikely to provide identification information in this kiwi species.


Background Transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from mother to child occurs in utero, during delivery or during breastfeeding. Less than one-third of infants born to HIV-positive mothers become infected, however, and there is evidence that innate, humoral and cellular immune responses all contribute to protection in these infants. Several investigators have detected HIV-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) induction in some HIV-negative infants exposed to HIV. Identifying correlates of this induction would both allow for better predictions of which mothers are most at risk for transmitting HIV to their offspring, and further our understanding of the transmission and pathogenesis of HIV. Methods Pregnant, HIV-positive women were recruited through the "CTLs and Prevention of Breastmilk HIV Transmission" study. Their infants were serially assessed for HIV-1 DNA, HIV-1 RNA, and HIV-1-specific gamma-interferon-producing CD8+ cells. Infants that remained HIV-negative throughout the study period, and had Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Spot (ELISPOT) assays performed at month one, month three or both, were considered for the analysis (N=269). Our two end-points were positive ELISPOT assay at one and three months of age. Univariate analysis was performed using logistic regression, and for all tests, p ≤0.05 was used to determine a statistically significant association. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for both continuous and categorical potential correlates. Results Potential correlates relating to maternal health, deliveries, feeding practices, and infant health were considered. Mother's blood plasma log viral load at the time of delivery was associated with a lower odds of a positive infant CTL response at one month (OR=0.61 95% CI = 0.38-0.98 p = 0.041) and month three (OR = 0.56 95% CI = 0.34-0.94 p = 0.028). Conversely, breastmilk log viral load at one month post-partum was significantly associated with an increased odds of a positive infant CTL response at month three (OR = 2.0 95% CI = 1.2-3.3 p = 0.009). No significant relationships were found for the other potential correlates considered. Discussion Our study suggests that the nature of the exposure to HIV, whether in blood plasma or breastmilk, may be an important determinant of whether an exposed, uninfected infant develops an HIV-specific CTL response. This may have relevance for development of vaccines that target cellular immunity against HIV.


Although there is a well established tradition for the explicit study of time in economic (e.g. 1958; Shackle, 1981; O'Driscoll & Rizzo, 1985), organizational sociology (see review by Clark, 1985), and social theory (see review by Giddens, 1981; Blyton et al., 1989; Adam, 1990), little attention has been given to the relevance of time theories to accounting (cf. Loft, 1991). This paper seeks to redress this neglect by reviewing two main conceptions of time emphasized by sociologists as linear and cyclical and examining the relevance of these theories to the research of accounting practice.

In this paper we explore two concepts of time and their relationship to accounting research. While we conclude that the majority of studies in accounting pre-suppose a linear concept of time, we seek to open and further the issue of the conceptualization of time in accounting practices by focusing upon organizational time reckoning in accounting and its relationship to issues of organizational power and conflict. Two dimensions of the politics of time are explored through examples in accounting: the first concerns the commodification of time and conflicts of temporal priority, the second emphasizes the cyclical aspects of organizational time reckoning in the structuring of temporal visioning, and the potentials for conflicts both within and between organizational practices.


Abstract Although it is generally agreed that Fe and Al can act to bind soil particles, their relative efficiencies as aggregants are still disputed. In this work, the aggregating efficiencies of both aged and non-aged Fe and Al oxides precipitated on kaolin or quartz substrates were characterized by comparing their effects on particle size distributions (PSD), To facilitate comparison of PSD data, these were parameterized by fitting them with five different probability density functions (the normal, lognormal, Jaky, fractal and Rosin-Rammler functions). The best fits were given by the Rosin-Rammler function (R2= 0.997), whose α parameter was used to compare the aggregating efficiency of Fe and AI oxides: in order of decreasing efficiency, non-aged Al > non-aged Fe≈aged Fe > aged Al-precipitates.


Buildings are responsible for more than 40 percent of global energy use and one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, both in developed and developing countries (UNEP, 2009). Therefore building sector has the largest potential to reduce the significant greenhouse gas emissions. Nowadays passive house and nearly zero-energy building have been a hot issue for the sustainable building design and construction (Jurgen Schnieders, 2006). To do this, it is necessary to reduce the energy requirement during construction and operation periods. To reduce the energy consumption in buildings without discomfort, advanced building materials, including high-performance concrete, insulation materials, woodbased materials, thermal energy storage, high-insulated windows, and air-tight wall constructions, should be developed and applied to the building components (Feist, 2005). And thermal energy storage systems (i.e., phase change materials (PCM)) can be used to reduce energy consumption of buildings. It means that the application of PCM in buildings not only saves energy but also decreases the temperature fluctuation. By utilizing these technologies, it is also much easier to achieve that the architect and engineers can reduce energy demand in buildings. By stimulating energy efficiency in existing and new buildings, significant reductions in energy demand can be achieved in passive house and zero-energy buildings. During the wide propagation of the advanced building technologies, governmental subsidies can be more attractive to individual construction projects and the effective way to promote at a large scale (Audenaert, 2008). This special issue aims to publish high quality research articles and review articles addressing recent advances on advanced building materials for saving energy. During the past few months, we reviewed 14 research papers submitted by international distinguished scholars. During the intensive blind-peer-reviewprocess and in-depth discussions, 5 articles were accepted for the publication, even if the other papers were rejected mainly due to the discrepancy in scope of this special issue. Accepted papers were ended up with a useful review and edit process to improve the quality of paper. The related topics of accepted papers include the soil in the Loess Plateau region as one of traditional building materials, an efficient steel beam structure for modular construction, foam concretematerials with good thermal insulation performance, the biomechanical system in an industrial manufacturing process, and the reinforced self-compacted engineered cementitious composite beams. Some article analyzed the compressive behavior of raw soil andmodified soil specimens through experiments and proposed the generalized stressstrain equations for the widespread application. Some article investigated the structural behavior of large-scale reinforced self-compacted engineered cementitious composite beams via theoretical models. Some article dealt with a systematic design approach for the development of an efficient steel beam section for modular construction based on Six-Sigma. And some article proposed a biomechanical system for the emulation of the movement of human arm, leg, and spine movements, as an industry alternative to manage heavy operations in a manufacturing process.


Background: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common cause of mortality from cardiovascular disease, preceded only by myocardial infarctions and cerebrovascular accidents. The diagnostic challenge of pulmonary emboli divides into missing the emboli or overuse of imaging before initiating needed therapy. PE can be misdiagnosed and inevitably fatal in vulnerable populations when untreated. Objectives: In this paper, we focused on diagnostic imaging in pulmonary embolism patients, and only relevant studies were discussed. Methodology: PubMed database was used for articles selection. The papers on imaging modalities and pulmonary embolism detection were obtained and reviewed. Conclusion: Pulmonary embolism is a fatal disease when identified late and improperly managed. Further intensive work is required in the field of pulmonary embolism imaging. The approach for diagnosis and rapid management of fatal diseases has changed during the last 50 years. The advent of new radio-pharmaceuticals and optimized radiosensitive tracers would be an advantageous addition to current imaging modalities.


This article deals with two main issues: firstly, it investigates the status of Sanai's poetry in the development of Dehkhoda Dictionary. To achieve this end, examples cited from Sanai's poems by the authors of Dehkhoda Dictionary have been examined. The study reveals that in quite a good number of cases, Sanai's poems have been the exclusive source for the borrowed examples and the dictionary has heavily relied on them. This includes formal lexical items as well as the words belonging to the poet's "imaginary geography" which seem to have been uniquely coined. Furthermore, some of Sanai's poems in Dehkhoda Dictionary were among the first established and documented evidential examples. Since the authors of Dehkhoda Dictionary observed a chronological order in recording the examples, it further delineates the status of Sanai's poetry in the development of the dictionary. The rest of the examples from Sanai have the same importance in terms of quantity and quality. The second focus of this article is a comparison between the original version of evidential examples in Dehkhoda Dictionary and a newly discovered manuscript of Hadiqa which was not available to the previous revisers of Sanai's work or the authors of Dehkhoda Dictionary. This comparison has revealed how essential it is to revise the evidential examples in Dehkhoda Dictionary based on the newly published versions.


This paper shows the feasibility of inductive data transmission between millimeter-sized (2 times 2 times 1 mm3) swarm robots. To fulfill the size restraints, the coils used for inductive transmission were fabricated by micromachining technologies. Since the induced signal at the receiving coil was very small due to the low coupling coefficient, a high amplification gain of the signal amplifier was necessary. Transmitter and receiver electronics for data transmission were constructed and the quality in data transmission between two 2 times 2 mm2-sized micromachined coils was evaluated. With a continuous power consumption of 270 muW in the transmitter, data transmission was successful without communication error up to a distance of 7 mm, which was considered sufficient to enable 2 times 2 mm2 robots to behave as a swarm within the given operation area.


Purpose: To summarize the medical physicseducational and training materials freely available through the website of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Methods: The IAEA works for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology. Much this work relates to human health, including the worldwide cancer problem. The medical physicist fulfils an essential role in the safe and effective use of radiation in medicine, most commonly in cancertreatment, x‐ray diagnosticimaging and nuclear medicine. The IAEA produces a large amount of educational and training materials much of which is relevant to the medical physics community worldwide. Resource materials range from setting up a radiation therapy program, to dosimetry calibration protocols, quality assurance guidance documents, basic medical physicseducation textbooks, along with thousands of ready‐made PowerPoint slides downloadable and ready to use by students and instructors. Furthermore, a detailed residency training program is now available for radiation oncology physics and similar material for diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine physicists is in print. Results: These resource materials are available through the IAEA website, http://www.iaea.org and subcomponents of this website including the newly developed website called "IAEA Human Health Campus", http://humanhealth.iaea.org. Furthermore, there are significant patient safety resources available through the "Radiation Protection of the Patient" website, http://rpop.iaea.org/, also including multiple PowerPoint presentations. New teaching/learning resources are being developed for advancing to more sophisticated image‐basedradiation therapy, ranging from 2‐D to intensity‐modulated and image‐guidedradiation therapy. Conclusions: The IAEA has developed a wealth of educational resources now readily and freely available through its new "Human Health Campus" website. These resource materials and website contents are continuously evolving to meet the increasing needs of the IAEA member states. The emphasis is on advancing radiation medicine safely and effectively. Many of these resources are useful to the medical physics community worldwide.


Although oxidized low-density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) can accumulate in macrophages in vitro, generating cholesterol-loaded cells, little attention has been paid to the capacity of such macrophages loaded with OxLDL to export cholesterol and oxidized sterol moieties. In vitro lipid-loaded cells were generated by incubating primary cultures of mouse peritoneal macrophages with acetylated LDL (AcLDL) or OxLDL for 24 hours. The cellular content of native cholesterol, individual cholesteryl esters, and 7-ketocholesterol was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. These cells were then incubated with medium containing apolipoprotein (apo) A-I and albumin or albumin alone for up to 24 hours; cholesterol and oxidized sterol efflux were measured both in terms of intracellular depletion and extracellular accumulation. Macrophages loaded with AcLDL accumulated cholesterol and large quantities of cholesteryl esters, whereas OxLDL-loaded cells accumulated cholesterol, a number of oxidized compounds (predominantly 7-ketocholesterol), and a relatively small quantity of cholesteryl esters. AcLDL-derived cells released approximately 50% of their total cholesterol (unesterified and esterified) to apo A-I-containing medium over 24 hours in the form of unesterified cholesterol, whereas OxLDL-derived cells released approximately 30% of their total cholesterol and 7% of their total content of 7-ketocholesterol over the same period. There was minimal efflux of any sterol in the absence of apo A-I. The proportions of cholesterol and 7-ketocholesterol released by either AcLDL- or OxLDL-loaded cells were not reduced by inhibiting cellular acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyl transferase using Sandoz 58-035, despite substantial alterations in the proportions of both free cholesterol and (in OxLDL-loaded cells) free 7-ketocholesterol in these cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Abstract. During magnetospheric substorms and plasma transport in the Earth's magnetotail various magnetic structures can be detected. Dipolarization fronts and flux ropes are the most prominent structures characteristic for substorm dynamics. However, they are treated as separate magnetotail features independent of each other. In this paper, we analyze a number of dipolarization fronts observed by the THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) spacecraft at different geocentric distances by applying the magnetohydrostatic Grad–Shafranov (GS) reconstruction technique. Our analysis shows that there is a possibility of dipolarization fronts to originate from highly dissipated flux ropes which are in the late stage of their evolution, subjected to a continuous magnetic deterioration due to the reconnection process. These results may improve our understanding of magnetoplasma processes in Earth's magnetotail.


Abstract A systematic investigation of agates from different occurrences in Europe, Northern and Southern America reveals that macrocrystalline quartz and chalcedony within them have an unusually high uranium content. Whereas agates may contain >70 ppm of U, quartz from magmatic and metamorphic rocks as well as pegmatite quartz commonly exhibit U concentrations at sub-ppm levels. Spatially resolved trace-element analyses by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry show that the distribution of U within the agate samples is heterogeneous and coincides with the structural banding. The results indicate that U is incorporated into agate as uranyl ions. These ions, which are bound to the silica surface, are interpreted to originate from the parallel accumulation of Si and U by alteration processes of surrounding host rocks during agate formation. The uranyl ion is the cause of greenish photoluminescence (PL) in agate, which can only be excited by short wavelengths (<300 nm). The green PL is due to the electron transition from an excited to a ground state of the uranyl ion and is shown by a typical emission line at ~500 nm accompanied by several equidistant lines. These are due to the harmonic vibration of oxygen atoms along the uranyl axis. Luminescence can be detected in samples with a U content down to the 1 ppm level.


Over the last century a number of techniques have been developed which allow the measurement of the dielectric properties of biological particles in fluid suspension. The majority of these techniques are limited by the fact that they only provide an average value for the dielectric properties of a collection of particles. More recently, with the advent of microfabrication techniques and the Lab-on-a-chip, it has been possible to perform dielectric spectroscopic experiments on single biological particles suspended in physiological media. In this paper we review current methods for single cell dielectric spectroscopy. We also discuss alternative single cell dielectric measurement techniques, specifically the ac electrokinetic methods of dielectrophoresis and electrorotation. Single cell electrical impedance spectroscopy is also discussed with relevance to a microfabricated flow cytometer. We compare impedance spectroscopy data obtained from measurements made using a microfabricated flow cytometer with simulation data obtained using an equivalent circuit model for the device.


The population of Coldstream High Density Suburbs in Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe is increasing and the sewerage system shows signs of poor performance. The frequency of reported sewerage system blockages in the suburb increased from 43 per month to 65 per month between April 2012 and March 2013. The suburb has also been experiencing water shortages. An increasing population and low water supply versus overflowing sewage is a potential health risk. The main objective of this paper was to investigate the causes of the sewer system poor performance. This was achieved by assessing the sewer system infrastructure as well as the operation of the system. The impact of the behaviour of residents on the performance of the system was also discussed. The main components of the infrastructure (manholes and sewers) were physically checked for soundness. The operation of the system was assessed by a hydraulic analysis of discharge, depth of flow and velocity of flow in the sewers. Questionnaires were used to investigate the impact of the behaviour of residents on the performance of the sewer system. It was found that 4% of the components of the sewer system infrastructure were below standard and the collector main sewer was the one mainly affected. 68% of the sewers along the collector main had velocity of flow below 0.6m/s and all the sewers had depth of flow below 50%. Of the residents interviewed, 90% dumped solid wastes in the sewers and 43% did so because they were unaware of the impact. It was concluded that the sewer system failed to meet standard because the sewer system fails to self-cleanse the solid waste dumped by residents in the sewers due to water shortages. It is recommended that the municipality raises awareness among residents and some of the infrastructure should be


Impedance probes are an attractive electromagnetic technique to measure water content and bulk electrical conductivity (EC) in the same volume of soil. In this study, we developed an electric circuit model for Hydra probes that explains how the output voltages can be related to the soil real and imaginary permittivity. Internal probe transmission line sections were modeled using either a distributed approach or a lumped approach. The distributed approach resulted in seven circuit model parameters, while the lumped approach resulted in six parameters. Optimization of all the parameters using probe readings in air, ethanol, methanol, deionized water, and saline water solutions did not result in physically realistic parameter values. In contrast, fixing four parameters (distributed approach) and two parameters (lumped approach), while optimizing others, did yield realistic parameter values. Both the parameter optimization method and the default probe algorithm performed well during model verification. The parameter optimization method resulted in improved real permittivity measurements when nonsaline fluids at different temperatures were used in the optimization process.


Since 2001, Frauscher Thermal Motors have been conducting research in the field of thermodynamic machines, in particular Stirling engines of various types. One important development step is the invention of a Stirling engine in an alphagamma® configuration. In this configuration, the expansion piston is designed as a differential piston with its ring surface connected to the cold volume.
In this paper, the design advantages of the alphagamma® configuration in comparison with a traditional alpha configuration are shown analytically by using a polytropic model as a modification of the ideal adiabatic analysis. The findings were confirmed by also simulating the proposed alphagamma® configuration in a Sage model which was validated against experimental data with very good agreement.
The results of both methods show that the counter-productive compression work can be reduced to almost zero – which makes the compression piston a displacer and explains the name alphagamma® – with the expansion work also reduced for the same net work output. As a consequence, the forces on the pistons, and thus, on the bearings can be significantly reduced, also leading to smaller piston side-loads, less friction and wear. The combination of all advantages allows the design of a mechanically sound and inexpensive machine.


The broad objective of this study was to establish the moderating effect of corporate culture on the relationship between intellectual capital and organizational performance of firms listed on Nairobi Securities Exchange. The review of literature provided conceptual and empirical gaps that formed the basis of the conceptual hypotheses. Two hypotheses were deduced from general objective: Intellectual capital has a significant influence on corporate performance; corporate culture moderates the relationship between intellectual capital and corporate performance. A cross-section research design was adopted. A survey questionnaire was the main tool of data collection and was distributed to the 50 heads of human resource departments in the different firms' period covering four financial years from 2009 to 2012. The study also utilized secondary data obtained from Capital Market Authority Statistical bulletins and Nairobi Securities Exchange Handbook 2012-2013 to collect data on financial performance (ROA, ROE, and Dividend Yield). Data were tested for reliability results showing that study dimensions were reliable, apart from task-oriented culture that had a Cronbach alpha of 0.262, thus being not considered for further analysis; thus the study relied on employee-oriented culture as a measure of corporate culture. The hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis and hierarchical regression respectively. Multiple regression analysis showed that intellectual capital had a significant influence on non-financial performance and no significant influence on financial measures of performance (ROA, ROE, and Dividend Yield). Test for moderation showed that the interaction term was not significant and thus, employee-oriented culture did not moderate the relationship between intellectual capital and corporate performance. The study demonstrates importance of the influence of intellectual capital on non-financial performance of firms listed on Nairobi Securities Exchange. The results show that interplay among human capital, social capital, and organization capital is important for firms listed on Nairobi Securities Exchange and that the firms should nurture the employees into sharing their knowledge by creating internal and external networks and also creating support system within the organization to retain the knowledge.


: The molecular dynamics method DFT:B3LYP (6-31G** basis set, T = 310 K) was used to study interactions between adenosinetriphosphate (ATP), ATP subsystem, and magnesium cofactor [Mg(H2O)6]2+, Mg subsystem, in water environment modeled with 78 water molecules in singlet (S) and triplet (T) states. The lowest in energy singlet (S) and triplet (T) potential energy surfaces, PESs, are remarkably separated in space and direct the Mg cofactor towards the gamma-beta-phosphate oxygens (O1-O2), S path, or towards the beta-alpha-phosphate oxygens (O2-O3), T path. Chelation of the gamma-beta-phosphates and beta2-alpha-phosphates ends, respectively, in the formation of stable, low-energy, ([Mg(H2O)4-(O1-O2)ATP]2-) and metastable, high-energy, ([Mg(H2O)2-(O2-O3)ATP]2-) chelates, differing in the number of water molecules around the Mg. Intersection between the two T PESs produces an unstable state, a result of spin redistribution between the Mg and ATP subsystems. This state, which is sensitive to a hyperfine interaction with the Mg nuclear spin, 25Mg, reveals an unpaired electron spin and initiates the ATP cleavage along the ion-radical path, yielding a highly reactive adenosinemonophosphate ion-radical, *AMP-, earlier observed in the CIDNP (Chemically Induced Dynamic Nuclear Polarization) experiment (A.A. Tulub, 2006). Biological consequences of the findings are discussed.


Delamination of multiply paperboard during offset printing is caused by the ink tack induced forces applied on the surface of the board. The purpose of this investigation was to analyze the influence of mechanical properties of the plies and interface resistance on the delamination behaviour of the paperboard. Paperboard was modelled as a four-ply sandwich structure. A user-defined interface model described the mechanical behaviour of the interfaces between the plies. The results in terms of critical ink tack length and stress conditions in the interfaces at delamination initiation were defined for different ply structures. The delamination process in multiply paperboard was highly dependent on the stress concentration caused by the ink tack. The delamination always occurred in the interface between top and middle ply. The main stress component causing delamination was tensile stress in the thickness direction, whereas the interlaminar shear was less relevant. Bending stiffness and in-plane tensile stiffness influenced the critical ink tack length, but did not affect the stress situation at the delamination point.


With the introduction of new diagnostic criteria in DSM-5, fear of weight gain no longer represents a sine qua non-criterion for the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa (AN). This is of relevance as a subgroup of individuals with AN denies fear of weight gain as the reason for restrictive eating but still remain at a very low weight. As self-reports are susceptible to bias, other methods are needed to confirm the existence of the subtype in order to provide adapted treatment. Therefore, we aimed to measure fear of weight gain using a novel method in clinical psychology, the conjoint analysis (CA). Relative importance and preference scores for various life aspects, including appearance/shape and weight were assessed in women with fat-phobic AN (FP-AN, n = 30), NFP-AN (n = 7), and healthy controls (n = 29). Individuals with FP-AN showed a significant lower preference for weight gain versus weight maintenance than HC (p = 0.011, ηp2 = 0.107). Correlation between explicitly assessed drive for thinness and CA score was low. As expected, in FP-AN the explicitly endorsed fear of weight gain was confirmed by the marked preference for weight maintenance compared to HC, while for NFP-AN explicit and implicit measures diverged, indicating that against their self-report they may experience at least some fear of weight gain. The utility of CA as a tool to measure fear of weight gain — and potentially other psychopathological constructs —requires further confirmation.


We describe a project where the IT management processes of a multi-national organization were diagnosed and a roadmap for a staged ITIL implementation was defined. First, with the help of the CIO, an OGC questionnaire was used for the selfassessment of the maturity of the existing IT services. Then, using these results as a baseline, an improvement plan was defined, assigning different priorities to the evolution of different ITIL practices according to the current performance, relevance for the business goals of the company, and possible dependencies from other practices. Care was also taken to ensure quick-wins and the collection of metrics to sustain project momentum. The outcome of the project was of great value to the specific organization where it was carried out, but can also be useful to other companies facing the same concerns, namely by acting as an exemplar and by way of the lessons that were learned and are discussed.


Brazilian Blowout is a method of temporarily straightening hair using both a protein and a preservative solution, followed by heating the hair with a very hot flat iron. This chemical process is of public health importance because it can put customers of the hair salon and the cosmetologist at risk for exposure to higher than normal concentrations of formaldehyde, a known toxicant and suspected human carcinogen. Brazilian Blowout came under scrutiny in 2010 when its products, packaged and labeled as "formaldehyde free," were found to release significant amounts of formaldehyde. Prompted by complaints from cosmetologists, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) began an investigation which would prove that the "formaldehyde-free" products did, in fact, contain an aqueous (hydrated) form of formaldehyde, also known as methylene glycol. When heated with a flat iron, methylene glycol releases water and formaldehyde gas into the salon. OSHA set a 15-minute short term exposure limit (STEL) of 2 parts formaldehyde per million parts air (ppm). The salons studied during the OSHA investigation had levels as high as five times the OSHA STEL. These findings led to salons being cited for using products that contained or could release formaldehyde, neglecting to follow the requirements in OSHA's formaldehyde standard, and failing to provide workers training and information on the health hazards and symptomatic signs of exposure to formaldehyde. However, this problem has not been completely eradicated.


In this special section, we conceptualise 'Skilled mediations' to examine the following questions from several ethnographic perspectives: How do skills and media interact, enable and limit our engagement in our material and social environments? How can this be studied ethnographically? We take our previous works on 'skilled visions' and 'enskilment' as starting points to define skilled mediation as a mode of engagement with the senses, practice, skill and media.


We present the contribution of the Unbabel team to the WMT 2020 Shared Task on Metrics. We intend to participate on the segmentlevel, document-level and system-level tracks on all language pairs, as well as the "QE as a Metric" track. Accordingly, we illustrate results of our models in these tracks with reference to test sets from the previous year. Our submissions build upon the recently proposed COMET framework: we train several estimator models to regress on different humangenerated quality scores and a novel ranking model trained on relative ranks obtained from Direct Assessments. We also propose a simple technique for converting segment-level predictions into a document-level score. Overall, our systems achieve strong results for all language pairs on previous test sets and in many cases set a new state-of-the-art.


Abstract The quality of freshwater at any point on the landscape reflects the combined effects of many processes along water pathways. Human activities on all spatial scales affect both water quality and quantity. Alteration of the landscape and associated vegetation has not only changed the water balance, but typically has altered processes that control water quality. Effects of human activities on a small scale are relevant to an entire drainage basin. Furthermore, local, regional, and global differences in climate and water flow are considerable, causing varying effects of human activities on land and water quality and quantity, depending on location within a watershed, geology, biology, physiographic characteristics, and climate. These natural characteristics also greatly control human activities, which will, in turn, modify (or affect) the natural composition of water. One of the most important issues for effective resource management is recognition of cyclical and cascading effects of human activities on the water quality and quantity along hydrologic pathways. The degradation of water quality in one part of a watershed can have negative effects on users downstream. Everyone lives downstream of the effects of some human activity. An extremely important factor is that substances added to the atmosphere, land, and water generally have relatively long time scales for removal or clean up. The nature of the substance, including its affinity for adhering to soil and its ability to be transformed, affects the mobility and the time scale for removal of the substance. Policy alone will not solve many of the degradation issues, but a combination of policy, education, scientific knowledge, planning, and enforcement of applicable laws can provide mechanisms for slowing the rate of degradation and provide human and environmental protection. Such an integrated approach is needed to effectively manage land and water resources.


The following article develops a framework for the analysis of political participation and community involvement in destinations of lifestyle mobility. Based on central arguments of Bourdieu's Theory of Practice, the proposed conceptual approach defends the idea that the political activation of relatively affluent and often senior citizens in lifestyle communities can be thought of as an expression of habitus dispositions that are the subject of radical reflexivity. The presented frame is proved empirically by means of an analysis of both formal and informal political participation processes at the Spanish Costa Blanca (Alicante), a regional setting with conflictive political struggles related to urban development and symbolical appropriations of place and space. Amongst others, the tactical and strategic practices of a protest movement that complains against serious misuses of the regional land use regulation by local and regional authorities will be analysed. In this regard, lifestyle mobilities do not refer exclusively to persons but also include movements of capital, objects and knowledge that are implicated in local politics and urban development.


The authors report the case of a woman presenting with breast cancer who subsequently developed neck pain and ataxia. She had a family history of breast cancer and Cowden disease. A MRI study of the brain revealed a lesion in the cerebellum consistent with Lhermitte-Duclos disease (LDD) and a lesion consistent with a meningioma in the temporal lobe. This case emphasises the importance of awareness of the overlap between LDD and Cowden disease.


Remote education during the COVID-19 pandemic has become a challenge for educational practice worldwide. Students with disabilities found themselves in an unusual situation in inclusive forms of education. This article presents the results of qualitative research conducted within a group of 34 teachers of older primary classes (IV-VIII), who, during the pandemic, had among the children they were teaching students with disabilities. Study aim was to evaluate how is online education of these students is conducted. As a result of the research, three descriptive categories of problems with remote education of students with disabilities emerged: participation in (remote) classes of the disabled students; development/regress of competencies of students with a disability due to online education; educational perspectives – inclusive education of students with a disability after the pandemic ends.The results of the research can be a base for reflection about the necessary actions supporting students with disabilities and their teachers in the perspective of returning to school and the execution of the inclusive education idea in Poland.