Vedolizumab trough serum levels have been associated with clinical and endoscopic response in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), albeit findings have not been conclusive. A recent study demonstrated that higher trough vedolizumab levels before therapy escalation predict optimal outcome. Our aim was to identify whether vedolizumab trough levels predict outcome of consecutive biologic or immunomodulatory therapy.

 This retrospective study included IBD patients consecutively receiving vedolizumab therapy between November 2014 and June 2021 at Sheba Medical Center. Only patients who lost response to vedolizumab therapy, and had available trough levels prior to therapy cessation were included. Clinical and endoscopic scores, as well as drug retention, were recorded at 6 and 12 months post switching therapy.

 Overall, 66 IBD patients (36 CD, 30 UC) who lost response to vedolizumab therapy were included. They were treated with vedolizumab for a median of 47 weeks (IQR 31–85). Seventy-two percent of patients (48/66) were priorly treated with anti-TNF therapy (infliximab or adalimumab). After vedolizumab cessation, 66.7% of patients were switched to biologic therapy. These included 25.8% (17/66) to ustekinumab, 22.7% (15/66) to infliximab, 7.6% (5/66) to adalimumab, 6.1% (4/66) to certolizumab and 4.5% (3/66) to golimumab. The remaining 33.3% of patients switched to tofacitinib (10.6%), 5-ASA derivates or immunomodulator monotherapy (12.1%) or to a study therapy protocol (10.6%).
 Median vedolizumab trough levels at therapy cessation were 32.25 μg/ml (IQR 12.8–61.4). Trough drug levels at therapy cessation were not associated with retention of biological or immunomodulatory therapy at 6 months [median 29.1 μg/ml (IQR 12.4–57.6) vs 33.8 μg/ml (IQR 27.9–58), p = 0.43] and at 12 months [median, 38.2 μg/ml (IQR 14.5–76.3) vs 30.1 μg/ml (IQR 11.5–45), p = 0.57] for patients who retained consecutive therapy versus those who did not.

 Vedolizumab trough serum levels before therapy cessation due to loss of response do not predict retention of consecutive therapy.


Optical injection locking characteristics of a distributed feedback laser are experimentally investigated for multiple-wavelength injection. Using a three-wavelength source generated by intensity modulation as the injected signal, it was found that the presence of adjacent lines could cause disturbance to the locking if a minimum guard band between the respective locking limits of two adjacent lines was not observed. With a 21-line comb with 20 GHz line spacing as the injected signal, the injection locking range was observed to become asymmetrical in relation to the laser free-running frequency under high-power injection conditions and was found to be dependent on whether the laser was locked to lines located at centre and or edges of the comb. Finally, the use of the injection locked laser as a seed laser for generating a local oscillator (LO) comb for superchannel coherent detection was investigated and the phase error between the input and LO combs analysed.


To investigate the impact of insulin secretion on pregnancy outcome, we studied 102 patients at risk for glucose intolerance between 28 and 34 weeks of gestation. All patients had a 3-hour oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT, 100 g glucose), and glucose and insulin plasma levels were assayed: 32 patients had a gestational diabetes (GDM); 25 had an impaired gestational glycemic tolerance (IGGT), and 45 with normal OGTT constituted the control group. No significant difference between groups was seen for pregnancy outcome. Based on the mean +/- 2 SD of insulin secretion of the control group, IGGT/GDM patients were classified as normoinsulinemic (34 patients), hyperinsulinemic (17 patients), or hypoinsulinemic (6 patients). The hyperinsulinemic IGGT/ GDM group showed a greater incidence of pregnancy-induced hypertension (p < 0.03), while the percentile birth weight was significantly lower (p < 0.01) with respect to normo-hypoinsulinemic patients. Moreover a higher glucose/ insulin ratio was significantly related to birth weight (p < 0.01). Our results suggest an impact of insulin secretion on pregnancy outcome and support the importance of determining the insulinemic pattern in pregnant patients at risk for glucose intolerance.


The objectives of this study were to compare cancer and AIDS family caregivers in regard to their physical and emotional health. The sample consisted of 26 caregivers of persons with cancer or AIDS. Study participants completed a questionnaire that included measures of depression, grief, symptoms of stress, caregiving demands, interpersonal relationships, health status, and quality of life. The data revealed that both AIDS and cancer caregivers reported high levels of stress and depression as compared to community norms. No significant differences were found between AIDS and cancer caregivers for any of the scale scores; however, the two groups differed on several individual subscales. Cancer caregivers demonstrated higher social functioning and were more likely to report that the work of caregiving itself disrupted their ability to socially engage with others. In contrast, AIDS caregivers were more likely to report that their own health limited their ability to socialize. Even though AIDS caregivers experienced less family support than cancer caregivers, they reported more rewards from caregiving. Results suggest that support delivered to caregivers emphasize a more inclusive approach to program delivery, versus a disease-specific perspective, in order to increase the depth and breath of services provided to families undertaking these challenges.


A simple four-dimensional system with only one control parameter is proposed in this paper. The novel system has a line or no equilibrium for the global control parameter and exhibits complex transient transition behaviors of hyperchaotic attractors, periodic orbits, and unstable sinks. Especially, for the nonzero-valued control parameter, there exists no equilibrium in the proposed system, leading to the formation of various hidden attractors with complex transient dynamics. The research results indicate that the dynamics of the system shows weak chaotic robustness and depends greatly on the initial states.


The objective of this analysis is to establish the potential of biodegradable agro-industrial waste materials as biosorbents in the solid-phase extraction (SPE) technique for sample preparation. In this regard, waste coffee husk (CH) powder was collected, washed, treated chemically, characterized, and applied as an SPE adsorbent to extract pantoprazole from the wastewater samples. Sample detection was accomplished using the UPLC-MS/MS system. The positive mode of electrospray ionization was exploited for the ionization of the sample, and quantification of the target analyte was performed by the multiple reaction monitoring modes. The precursor to product ion transition of 384.02→1380.05 and 384.02→200.05 was used as qualifiers and quantifiers, respectively. Optimization of the particle size, adsorbent dose, and contact time were evaluated to select the best combination of features. The efficiency and regeneration capability of the CH were compared with respect to a commercially available silica-based C18 SPE adsorbent, and it was found that CH possessed comparable (~50%) extraction, as well as regeneration capacity (~95%). The developed biosorbent was applied in a wastewater sample spiked with the target analyte and recovery studies were performed, which found a range of 93.0 to 102.0% with a %RSD of 3.72 to 12.7%. Thus, CH can be exploited as a 'greener' replacement for the commercially available adsorbents for the extraction/retention of active pharmaceutical ingredients present in water/wastewater samples.


With the increasing number of voltage conversions that have to be efficiently implemented in a mobile device, the PCB space occupied by switched-mode DC-DC converters with external passive components will become unacceptably high. Therefore, a clear need exists for small-form-factor high-efficiency DC-DC converters having the necessary passive components integrated within one package. This will enable the integration of a DC-DC converter with the load and consequently the system integration of power management. This paper describes the measurement results of an integrated inductive down converter, where the active electronics (power stage and driver circuitry) has been implemented in 0.18-mum CMOS technology and the passive components (output LC filter and decoupling capacitor) have been implemented in a state- of-the-art proprietary passive-integration process technology using high-density trench-MOS capacitors (80 nF/mm2 ) and an 8-mum thick copper top metallization layer. The active die of the converter has been flip-chipped on top of the passive die to reduce parasitic component values. This yields a System-in-Package (SiP) that achieves a step-down DC-DC conversion without any external components. Due to the limited inductance achievable with the used planar air coil in the acceptable area, the switching frequency of the DC-DC converter has been increased. At the same time, Zero-Voltage-Switching (ZVS) measures have been implemented to reduce the switching losses at this increased frequency. A maximum efficiency of 65% at 80 MHz has been achieved for an input voltage of 1.8 V, an output voltage of 1.1 V and an output current of 100 mA. After explaining the motivation behind integrated power management and the choice for an integrated inductive converter, this paper describes the main design aspects of the realized integrated inductive DC-DC down converter. Next, it presents some details of the used passive-integration process, the design of the passive die including the LC filter and the construction of the SiP. Finally, the measurement results of the converter are discussed and conclusions are drawn.


It is well known that both the star formation rate and the cold gas content of a galaxy depend on the local density out to distances of a few Mpc. In this paper, we compare the environmental density dependence of the atomic gas mass fractions of nearby galaxies with the density dependence of their central and global specific star formation rates. We stack H I line spectra extracted from the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey centred on galaxies with ultraviolet imaging from GALEX and optical imaging/spectroscopy from Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We use these stacked spectra to evaluate the mean atomic gas mass fraction of galaxies in bins of stellar mass and local density. For galaxies with stellar masses less than 10(10.5) M-circle dot, the decline in mean atomic gas mass fraction with density is stronger than the decline in mean global and central specific star formation rate. The same conclusion does not hold for more massive galaxies. We interpret our results as evidence for ram-pressure stripping of atomic gas from the outer discs of low-mass satellite galaxies. We compare our results with the semi-analytic recipes of Guo et al. implemented on the Millennium II Simulation. These models assume that only the diffuse gas surrounding satellite galaxies is stripped, a process that is often termed 'strangulation'. We show that these models predict relative trends in atomic gas and star formation that are in disagreement with observations. We use mock catalogues generated from the simulation to predict the halo masses of the H I-deficient galaxies in our sample. We conclude that ram-pressure stripping is likely to become effective in dark matter haloes with masses greater than 10(13) M-circle dot.


The extent of United States Great Plains grass agriculture has ebbed and flowed over decades in response to market incentives, government policies, technological innovations and weather patterns. Our thesis is that the land most responsive to these drivers is at the economic margin between grass-based production and cropping. Much of the eastern Dakotas is such an area, primarily under crop-based agriculture although grass remains an important land use. We surveyed land operators in the area on their views about motivators for land use choices. Their views are largely consistent with the economic margin viewpoint. The importance of crop output prices, crop input prices, innovations in cropping equipment and weather patterns on land use decisions grow as one moves north toward the economic margin. Land in more highly sloped areas is more sensitive to crop prices and crop insurance policies. Consistent with human capital theory, older operators are generally less responsive to factors that affect land use. Those renting more land, being more exposed to market forces, are more responsive. As farm size increases, respondents declared higher land use sensitivity to policy issues and technological innovations, suggesting that scale effects render land units more sensitive to land use change drivers.


Background Autoimmune diseases (AD) in patients with HIV have been observed since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Epidemiologic studies have reported a prevalence of rheumatic and autoimmune manifestations ranging from 1–72%, including only systemic (SAD) and articular AD (AAD), and not organ-specific AD (OSAD)[1]. Prevalence of AD in patients with HIV infection in Mexico has not been fully addressed. Objectives The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of AD in HIV-infected patients. Methods We performed a retrospective study in two tertiary referral centers in Mexico. All subjects seen from june 15th 2003 to june 15th 2014 with a confirmed diagnosis of HIV infection and a diagnosis of an AD were included. We extracted demographic data, HIV infection history, and AD history from the clinical record Results A total of 5876 HIV-infected patients were seen during the study period. Eighty one AD were found in 77 patients (prevalence: 1.31%). Eight (9.9%) were SAD, 12 (14.8%) AAD and 61 (75.3%) OSAD (Table 1). Four patients (5.2%) had 2 AD. Fifty eight were male (75.3%). Mean age at diagnosis of AD was 34.8 years. In twenty two (27.2%) AD preceded HIV infection, in 23 (28.4%) HIV infection was diagnosed simultaneously with the AD, in 36 (44.4%) AD developed after HIV infection. Mean CD4 T lymphocyte count in patients with a simultaneous diagnosis of HIV infection and AD was 287 cel/μl, only one with undetectable viral load; mean CD4 T lymphocyte count in patients who developed AD after HIV infection was 353 cel/μl, half with undetectable viral load. Sixteen patients were classified with AIDS at AD diagnosis. Five (6.2%) AD were a consequence of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS); prevalence of autoimmune IRIS was 0.08%. Prevalence of HBV and HCV coinfection was 5.2% and 2.6% respectively. Immunosuppressive treatment was used in 87% of patients.Table 1 Autoimmune diseases No. Prevalence Systemic: SLE (5), AFS (1), Sjögren syndrome (1), DILS (1) 8 0.13% Articular: rheumatoid arthritis (5), spondyloarthritis (7) 12 0.20% Neurological: Guillain-Barré syndrome (3), CIDP (2), ADEM (1) 6 0.10% Dermatologic: psoriasis (10), vitiligo (1), alopecia areata (1), cutaneous vasculitis (3) 15 0.25% Endocrinological: DM1 (5), autoimmune adrenal insufficiency (2), Graves' disease (3), Hashimoto's thyroiditis (1) 11 0.18% Gastroenterological/hepatic: ulcerative colitis (6), Crohn's disease (2), autoimmune hepatitis (2) 10 0.17% Hematologic: immune thrombocytopenia (18), autoimmune hemolytic anemia (1) 19 0.32% Conclusions This is the first study to address solely AD without combining non-autoimmune musculoskeletal entities and the largest cohort to date. Prevalence of AD in HIV-infected patients in Mexico was low (1.31%) and OSAD was the most frequent. AD were diagnosed in all stages of HIV infection. Prevalence of HBV and HCV coinfection and autoimmune IRIS was very low. Prospective studies are needed to identify risk factors for the development of autoimmune IRIS. References Patel N, Patel N, Espinoza LR. HIV infection and rheumatic diseases: the changing spectrum of clinical enigma. Rheum Dis Clin North Am. 2009;35(1):139–161. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Instead of the traditional spare row/column redundancy architectures, block-based redundancy architectures are proposed in this paper. The redundant rows/columns are divided into row/column blocks. Therefore, the repair of faulty memory cells can be performed at the row/column-block level. Moreover, the redundant row/column blocks can be used to replace faulty cells anywhere in the memory array. This global characteristic is helpful for repairing cluster faults. The proposed redundancy architecture can be easily integrated with the embedded memory cores. Based on the proposed global redundancy architecture, a heuristic modified essential spare pivoting (MESP) algorithm suitable for built-in implementation is also proposed. According to experimental results, the area overhead for implementing the MESP algorithm is very low. Due to efficient usage of redundancy, the manufacturing yield, repair rate, and reliability can be improved significantly.


We have used a method of soft lithography, soft imprinting, to fabricate submicrometre structures to be used as light emitting polymer diodes and photodiodes. Using a silicone rubber replica (stamp) of an optical diffraction grating we transferred the grating pattern to an organic resist layer by placing the stamp in conformal contact with the resist. The transferred pattern was subsequently used as an etch mask for the processing of the device. This cheap and fast process, not limited by optical diffraction, was used to fabricate submicrometre structures over large areas, square millimetres. The structures were successfully utilized as light emitting diodes and photodiodes, with device characteristics influenced by the imposed structure.


The idea that the economic growth of an area strongly depends on the development of innovative, high-technology businesses is more and more dominant in literature. Nevertheless, these businesses, given their special nature, i.e. their high level of innovation, face, since the early years, some difficulties, especially related to funding research. In other words, the element of «uncertainty» characterizing the investments made by high-tech businesses, both in terms of profitability and payback, makes the raising of capital to finance the development of business ideas particularly difficult. Historically, venture capital, made available by institutional investors, has been one of the most suitable financial instruments for start-ups with innovative projects. The only use of venture capital, however, is insufficient to create the conditions to support the birth and development of new high-tech activities, mainly due to a strong risk aversion by investors, information asymmetries about the project between entrepreneurs and financiers, without guarantees and rather high business monitoring costs, as well. For this reason, it is thought that institutional investors in venture capital can play a stronger role when placed within a network that involves different actors, such as universities, research centres, local authorities, finance experts, with the com mon aim of supporting, each with their own skills, small businesses with high innovative potential. It is what we are going to demonstrate by means of a model, known in literature as «old-boy network».


In England and Wales, up to 1.4 million people attend emergency departments, each year, with head injuries. A number of these derive from sporting activities, which have an inherent risk of facial injury from traumatic impacts against fellow competitors, projectiles, posts or the ground. Monitoring the incidence and aetiology of sports injuries can enhance the understanding of head injuries, and the development of more effective protective modalities. This thesis starts with a questionnaire survey, which systematically describes the interplay between the types of sport, the sex of the players, the anatomical site, and the regularity of incidence of fractures. Alongside, the contribution of protective devices in common usage and the technology behind the materials used. A question often arises how thick should a mouthguard be for an individual. Through a series of manufacturing assessments, this thesis investigates the finished mouthguard thickness from a large sample group of experienced participants in relation to manufacturing thickness. Subsequently, this thesis proposes a new mouthguard manufacturing technique, whereby it was found that increasing the anterior angulation of the dental model by varying degrees ( 15°, 30° & 45°) produces a redistribution of thinning patterns of the 4 mm EVA mouthguard material and increases thickness. By rotating the anterior section of the dental model by 45°, there was a 75% increase in anterior thickness, from a mean of 1.6mm (SD: 0.34), with the model on a flat plane, to 2.8mm (SD: 0.16), with the model held at a 45° angle. Finally, this thesis explores how bone density either by ageing or individuality may affect the impact performance of the mouthguard from the values obtained from both studies. Thus, highlighting the question does the mouthguard need to be more bespoke for the individual in terms of bone density as well as what sport they play.


The telecom industry is an industry that has to deal with a continuous rapid changing business and technological environment, unlike other industries. Traditionally, the principal revenue streams for telecom operators have been the voice and messaging (SMS) with data coming in at a far third till recently. The internet explosion has led to the inception of diverse internet applications and services amidst which, OTT is one. The proliferation of Internet-based services and applications has given rise to data traffic increase for telecom operators. The growing impact of OTT services on telcos' voice and messaging revenue is a widely accepted phenomenon that is making telecom operators lose revenue in a rapid manner. Other than the challenges OTT pose on telecom industries, the threat it also poses to national security as a result of its operation under net neutrality is a critical point that needs to be considered. This article highlights the wide adoption of OTT services, its' devastating impact on telecom operators and its impact on national security. Keywords: Telecom, OTT, Net Neutrality, National Security.


A general framework for the incoherent scatter radar spectral theories is presented in terms of the generalized Nyquist theorem, Kramers-Kronig relations, and the characteristic functions of random charge-carrier displacements in the ionosphere. Specific spectral models for typical ionospheric conditions are derived and discussed. The discussions focus on the effect of Coulomb collisions in magnetized plasmas, which is a topic of current interest treated in further detail in the companion paper by the authors, as well as on different combinations of physical principles that can be invoked in the derivation of incoherent scatter spectral models.


Objectives: To propose a model for ranking the performance of the employees of FMCG sector. Methods/Statistical Analysis: In this paper, authors have used Min Max Method. The data for 100 employees have been generated for identifying the performance of employees through linguistic theory model. The main factors which affect the performance of the employee can be mainly categorized in four sections: job performance, job capacities, job behavior and personal. For each performance criterion the linguistic values has been assigned. Then the relative importance of linguistic variables is calculated. Findings: The major step in the decision making process is to establish a fuzzy association relation between a precise category and every employee's performance for that group. Considering the significance allocated to each criterion set the highest value for that grouping, the association relation is established by taking the complement of the category set importance. This complement produces a smallest performance value assigned to all employees as per the category. At the end, combined the performances of the employee across all groups in order to achieve a complete assessment by applying the min function to the set. Author got the results that 80 employees needed training in job performance as they have overall rating 0.2; whereas 16 employees needed training in job capacities as they have overall rating 0.40 and 4 employees can be promoted as they have overall rating 0.41 which is highest. Applications/Improvements: The proposed approach of fuzzy evaluation methodology can be used for other sectors like evaluation of students, evaluation of product or quality assessment of software, teacher or supplier evaluation with small modifications.


The present paper develops a family of explicit algorithms for rotational dynamics and presents their comparison with several existing methods. For rotational motion the configuration space is a non-linear manifold, not a Euclidean vector space. As a consequence the rotation vector and its time derivatives correspond to different tangent spaces of rotation manifold at different time instants. This renders the usual integration algorithms for Euclidean space inapplicable for rotation. In the present algorithms this problem is circumvented by relating the equation of motion to a particular tangent space. It has been accomplished with the help of already existing relation between rotation increments which belongs to two different tangent spaces. The suggested method could in principle make any integration algorithm on Euclidean space, applicable to rotation. However, the present paper is restricted only within explicit Runge-Kutta enabled to handle rotation. The algorithms developed here are explicit and hence computationally cheaper than implicit methods. Moreover, they appear to have much higher local accuracy and hence accurate in predicting any constants of motion for reasonably longer time. The numerical results for solutions as well as constants of motion, indicate superior performance by most of our algorithms, when compared to some of the currently known algorithms, namely ALGO-C1, STW, LIEMID[EA], MCG, SUBCYC-M.


We examine squark-gluino loop effects on the process b→sγ in minimal supersymmetry with general flavor mixing in the squark sector. In the regime of heavy squarks and gluino, we derive analytic expressions for the beyond-LO corrections to the Wilson coefficients and find them to be often large, especially at large tan β and μ > 0. The ensuing ranges of values of the Wilson coefficients are typically smaller than in the LO approximation, and sometimes even change sign. This has the effect of often reducing, relative to the LO, the magnitude of supersymmetric contributions to BR(B→Xsγ). This ``focusing effect'' is caused by contributions from: (i) an RG evolution of the Wilson coefficients; (ii) a correction to the LO chargino contribution to the Wilson coefficients, which can considerably reduce the LO gluino contribution. This partial cancellation of the two contributions takes place only in the case of general flavor mixing. As a result, stringent lower bounds on the mass scale of superpartners, which apply in the case of minimal flavor violation, can be substantially reduced for even small departures from the scenario. The often disfavored case of μ < 0 can also become allowed for MSUSY as small as ~ 200 GeV, compared to 500 GeV at LO and over 2 GeV in the case of minimal flavor violation. Limits on the allowed amount of flavor mixing among the 2nd and 3rd generation down-type squarks are also typically considerably weakened. The input CKM matrix element K(0)cb can be larger than the experimental value by a factor of ten, or can be as small as zero.


Introduction: In an attempt to improve the physicochemical properties of piperine (PIP), its inclusion complexes were prepared with β-cyclodextrin (βCD) and hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) in presence and/or absence of hydroxy acids by lyophilization technique. Materials and Methods: Primarily, the stoichiometry of the complex formation and thermodynamic parameters was accessed by phase solubility study described by Higuchi and Conners method. The molecular modeling studies were performed to elucidate the stability, possible interactions, and geometry of PIP inside the βCD cavity. The prepared lyophilized inclusion complexes were characterized by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR) and Two-dimensional Nuclear Overhauser Effect spectroscopy (2D 1H NMR), Fourier transformation-infrared spectroscopic (FTIR), scanning electron microscopic (SEM), Log P, and dissolution studies. Results: The phase solubility data revealed the formation of 1:1 stoichiometry with AL type of solubility curve at 25°C. Thermodynamic studies indicated that the inclusion process was spontaneous. The molecular modeling studies were depicted the insertion of piperidine ring inside βCD cavity. As complementary evidence, 1H NMR and 2D 1H NMR studies predicted that whether in presence or absence of hydroxy acids, CD is able to accommodate the piperidine ring. FTIR analysis revealed scattering peaks assigned for PIP were smoothened in all lyophilized inclusion complexes. SEM images indicated modifications in morphology of PIP particles in its lyophilized complexes. Dissolution studies revealed significant improvement in dissolution efficiencies of PIP in all prepared inclusion complexes. Conclusion: The effectiveness of ternary hydroxy acids was found to be appreciating toward improvement in aqueous solubility and dissolution properties of PIP.


Surveillance of unwanted organisms without lures is one of the greatest challenges in biosecurity. Previous work in the USA has shown that honey bees (Apis mellifera) can be trained to detect land mines. Based on this successfully proven method, the possibility of detecting key species of agricultural and biosecurity interest in a field environment was examined. Application examples presented here include detection of a weed in a crop, such as rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) in wheat, and detection of the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) in a field. Bees were trained at the colony level on the specific odours of each target, and their ability to locate these odours in the field was measured with video cameras. Bees were able to detect rosemary hidden in a wheat crop and the cluster of four plants attracted significantly more bees than the positive and negative controls. Similarly, bees were shown to learn to detect the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) trail pheromone, z-9-hexadecenal, and their response ranged down to parts-per-trillion (ppt, 10). However, there was a clear preference for higher concentrations that may be associated with higher expected rewards. Detection thresholds and the sensitivity of bees are discussed.


Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a chronic common disorder for which patients often refer to specialists. In the last decades, numerous studies helped to clarify the pathophysiology and the natural history of this disease. Currently, in the clinical setting, GERD is defined by the presence of symptoms that, when endoscopic investigation is required, permit to distinguish between cases with or without associated esophageal mucosal injuries. These conditions are called erosive reflux disease and non-erosive reflux disease (NERD), respectively. The latter is the most common manifestation of GERD. Symptoms are defined typical, as heartburn and regurgitation, and atypical (also called extra-esophageal), as coughing and/or wheezing, hoarseness, sore throat, otitis media, and dental manifestations. In this context, it is crucial for clinicians to investigate the presence of features of suspected malignancy, as unexplained weight loss, anemia, dysphagia, persistent vomiting, familiar history of cancer, long history of GERD, and beginning of GERD symptoms after the age of 50 years. The presence of these risk factors should induce to perform an endoscopic examination. Particular attention should be given to functional conditions that can mimic GERD, such as functional heartburn and hypersensitive esophagus as well as, more rarely, eosinophilic esophagitis. The former ones have different pathophysiology and this explains the frequent non-response to proton pump inhibitor drugs. This narrative review provides to clinicians a useful and practical overview of the state-of-the-art on advancements in the knowledge of GERD.


The point of this study is to define the effect of project-based learning approach on 8th Grade secondary-school students' statistical literacy levels for data representation. To achieve this goal, a test which consists of 12 open-ended questions in accordance with the views of experts was developed. Seventy 8th grade secondary-school students, 35 in the experimental group and 35 in the control group, took this test twice, one before the application and one after the application. All the raw scores were turned into linear points by using the Winsteps 3.72 modelling program that makes the Rasch analysis and t-tests, and an ANCOVA analysis was carried out with the linear points. Depending on the findings, it was concluded that the project-based learning approach increases students' level of statistical literacy for data representation. Students' levels of statistical literacy before and after the application were shown through the obtained person-item maps.


This thesis examines the influence of asperities such as found on the teeth of gears and discs, and failure mechanisms associated with rough surface Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication (EHL). The principal outcomes of the research provide a good insight into fatigue life, residual stress effects, damage prediction and surface contact failures. In particular, the study is intended to provide understanding into the residual stress distribution resulting from plastic deformation of surface asperities in the running in process. The residual stress is then added to the asperity elastic stress distribution and examined in detail to see the effects on fatigue damage and fatigue life. So, a theoretical model has been developed to assist design against the residual stress effect and surface contact fatigue, such as micropitting.
The technique used in the study starts with developing an elastic plastic model of the rough surface by using the Abaqus Finite Element analysis software package. This is a nonlinear problem and ranges of applied loads have been applied to the as-manufactured surfaces causing the asperity features to experience varying degrees of plastic deformation. The pre and post running roughness profiles are studied in order to assess the level of plastic deformation actually occurring at significant surface asperity features by aligning the pre and post running profiles. This results in a new technique that has helped to identify the level of plastic deformation occurring in the practice, and also to make a comparison with FEA contact analysis for the same asperity features to identify the appropriate residual stress field.
The residual stress field associated with the plastic deformation was extracted and evaluated. The extracted residual stress field was transferred to a form that facilitated
IV
inclusion in stress evaluation code to obtain the stress history for the material subject to loading in an EHL contact.
The research carried out considers surface fatigue analysis with and without a residual stress field, so as to establish the influence of asperity plastic deformation on the fatigue properties of the surface. All the work is based on numerical simulation of surface fatigue failure in EHL situations and carried out numerically. The procedure can be applied quickly and gives the opportunity to apply several models and investigate the influence of all the model parameters on material deformation and fatigue life.


Abstract:According to the electric potential of oblique hundred -needle electrodes (OHNE), the discrete equations based on the indetermination linear current density were established by the boundary element integral equations (BEIE) The non-uniform distribution of the current flowing from hundred -needle electrodes was imaged by solving a set of linear equations. Then, the electric potential generated by OHNE at any point can be determined through the boundary element method (BEM). The time of program running and stability of computing method are examined by an example. It demonstrates that the algorithm possesses a quick speed and the steady computed results. It means that this method has an important referenced significance for computing the potential generated by OHNE, which is a fast, effective and accurate computing method.


At present, only the temperature of external surface of the filament wound composite and the core mode can be detected in the curing process which is developed by experiencing many times, and the change of the internal parameters is not available. Based on the glass fiber pipe production line as the experimental platform, the paper suggests that the fiber grating sensors be embedded fiber composite materials at different levels when winding and the multipoint detection be performed in the internal curing process. The comparison analysis of the plotted curves for data collected from different points shows that the method is reliable to improve production efficiency and promote the automation of intelligent control.


Password strength meters are an important tool to help users choose secure passwords. Strength meters can only then provide reasonable guidance when they are accurate, i.e., their score correctly reflect password strength. A strength meter with low accuracy may do more harm than good and guide the user to choose passwords with a high score but low actual security. While a substantial number of different strength meters is proposed in the literature and deployed in practice, we are lacking a clear picture of which strength meters provide high accuracy, and thus are most helpful for guiding users. Furthermore, we lack a clear understanding of how to compare accuracies of strength meters. In this work, (i) we propose a set of properties that a strength meter needs to fulfill to be considered to have high accuracy, (ii) we use these properties to select a suitable measure that can determine the accuracy of strength meters, and (iii) we use the selected measure to compare a wide range of strength meters proposed in the academic literature, provided by password managers, operating systems, and those used on websites. We expect our work to be helpful in the selection of good password strength meters by service operators, and to aid the further development of improved strength meters.


Neurons can respond to decreased network activity with a homeostatic increase in the amplitudes of miniature EPSCs (mEPSCs). The prevailing view is that mEPSC amplitudes are uniformly multiplied by a single factor, termed "synaptic scaling." Deviations from purely multiplicative scaling have been attributed to biological differences, or to a distortion imposed by a detection threshold limit. Here, we demonstrate in neurons dissociated from cortices of male and female mice that the shift in mEPSC amplitudes observed in the experimental data cannot be reproduced by simulation of uniform multiplicative scaling, with or without the distortion caused by applying a detection threshold. Furthermore, we demonstrate explicitly that the scaling factor is not uniform but is close to 1 for small mEPSCs, and increases with increasing mEPSC amplitude across a substantial portion of the data. This pattern was also observed for previously published data from dissociated mouse hippocampal neurons and dissociated rat cortical neurons. The finding of "divergent scaling" shifts the current view of homeostatic plasticity as a process that alters all synapses on a neuron equally to one that must accommodate the differential effect observed for small versus large mEPSCs. Divergent scaling still accomplishes the essential homeostatic task of modifying synaptic strengths in the opposite direction of the activity change, but the consequences are greatest for those synapses which individually are more likely to bring a neuron to threshold. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In homeostatic plasticity, the responses to chronic increases or decreases in network activity act in the opposite direction to restore normal activity levels. Homeostatic plasticity is likely to play a role in diseases associated with long-term changes in brain function, such as epilepsy and neuropsychiatric illnesses. One homeostatic response is the increase in synaptic strength following a chronic block of activity. Research is focused on finding a globally expressed signaling pathway, because it has been proposed that the plasticity is uniformly expressed across all synapses. Here, we show that the plasticity is not uniform. Our work suggests that homeostatic signaling molecules are likely to be differentially expressed across synapses.


This paper focuses on studying the fundamental performance limits and linear dispersion code design for the MIMO-ARQ slow fading channel. The optimal average rate of well-known HARQ protocols is analyzed. The optimal design of space-time coding for the MIMO-ARQ channel is discussed. Information-theoretic measures are used to optimize the rate assignment and derive the optimum design criterion, which is then used to evaluate the optimality of existing space-time codes. A different design criterion, which is obtained from the error probability analysis of space-time coded MIMO-HARQ, is presented. Examples are studied to reveal the gain of ARQ feedback in space-time coded MIMO systems.


(-)-Hydroxycitric acid [(-)-HCA] is the principal acid of fruit rinds of Garcinia cambogia, Garcinia indica, and Garcinia atroviridis. (-)-HCA was shown to be a potent inhibitor of ATP citrate lyase (EC 126.96.36.199), which catalyzes the extramitochondrial cleavage of citrate to oxaloacetate and acetyl-CoA: citrate + ATP + CoA f acetyl-CoA + ADP + Pi + oxaloacetate. The inhibition of this reaction limits the availability of acetyl-CoA units required for fatty acid synthesis and lipogenesis during a lipogenic diet, that is, a diet high in carbohydrates. Extensive animal studies indicated that (-)-HCA suppresses the fatty acid synthesis, lipogenesis, food intake, and induced weight loss. In vitro studies revealed the inhibitions of fatty acid synthesis and lipogenesis from various precursors. However, a few clinical studies have shown controversial findings. This review explores the literature on a number of topics: the source of (-)-HCA; the discovery of (-)-HCA; the isolation, stereochemistry, properties, methods of estimation, and derivatives of (-)-HCA; and its biochemistry, which includes inhibition of the citrate cleavage enzyme, effects on fatty acid synthesis and lipogenesis, effects on ketogenesis, other biological effects, possible modes of action on the reduction of food intake, promotion of glycogenesis, gluconeogenesis, and lipid oxidation, (-)-HCA as weight-controlling agent, and some possible concerns about (-)-HCA, which provides a coherent presentation of scattered literature on (-)-HCA and its plausible mechanism of action and is provocative of further research.


Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate whether employees experience emotional drain when they witness unpleasant interactions between coworkers. This was tested in a sample of staff in a UK hospital department, which included nurses, doctors, specialists and administrative staff. The study used a diary method in which participants recorded their reactions to over 1000 interpersonal interactions between coworkers across 15 work days. Multilevel analyses indicated that staff felt significantly more emotionally drained after witnessing unpleasant interactions compared to pleasant ones. This effect was mediated both by what the staff felt in response to what they witnessed and by the extent to which they controlled their feelings. Staff felt more emotionally drained when they took the perspective of the target to a greater extent and when they witnessed interactions directly (first-hand) rather than indirectly (hearsay). Witnesses appear to be vulnerable to emotional depletion because they experience an affective reaction and self-regulate their own emotional response to what they have seen or heard. This third-party effect on the witnesses of unpleasant interactions has the potential not only to have a negative effect on the individual but to pervade the organisation.


Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) are considered as tangible, low cost solution for underwater surveillance and exploration. Existing acoustic wave-based UWSN systems fail to meet the growing demand for fast data rates required in military operations, oil/gas exploration, and oceanographic data collection. Electromagnetic (EM) wave-based communication systems, on the other hand, have great potential for providing high speed data rates in such scenarios. This paper will discuss the challenges faced in the utilization of EM waves for the design of tactical underwater surveillance systems and evaluate several EM wave-based three-dimensional (3D) UWSN architectures differing in topologies and/or operation principles on the performance of localization and target tracking. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first of its kind in the field of underwater communications where underwater surveillance techniques for EM wave-based high speed UWSNs have been investigated. Thus, this will be a major step towards achieving future high speed UWSNs.


This paper focuses on new challenges in influence maximization inspired by non-profits' use of social networks to effect behavioral change in their target populations. Influence maximization is a multiagent problem where the challenge is to select the most influential agents from a population connected by a social network. Specifically, our work is motivated by the problem of spreading messages about HIV prevention among homeless youth using their social network. We show how to compute solutions which are provably close to optimal when the parameters of the influence process are unknown. We then extend our algorithm to a dynamic setting where information about the network is revealed at each stage. Simulation experiments using real world networks collected by the homeless shelter show the advantages of our approach.


The goal of the present study was to develop a low-density thermal insulation board using wood fibers and a bio-based adhesive as a binder, which was prepared from a crude glycerol and citric acid mixture. The physical and mechanical properties of insulation boards manufactured using two ratios of crude glycerol and citric acid (1:0.66 and 1:1 mol/mol) and two adhesive contents (14% and 20%) were evaluated. The results show that the insulation boards with a range of density between 332 to 338 kg m−3 present thermal conductivity values between 0.064 W/m-K and 0.066 W/m-K. The effect of adhesive content was very significant for certain mechanical properties (tensile strength perpendicular to surface and compressive strength). The tensile strength (internal bond) increased between 20% and 36% with the increased adhesive content. In contrast, the compressive strength decreased between 7% and 15%. The thermo-mechanical properties obtained of insulation boards such as thermal conductivity, traverse strength, tensile strength parallel and perpendicular to surface, and compressive strength are in accordance with the requirements of the American Society for Testing and Materials C208-12 standard for different uses. The results confirm the potential of crude glycerol and citric acid mixture to be used as an adhesive in the wood fiber insulation boards' manufacturing for sustainability purposes.


Despite progress in understanding the underlying mechanisms, acute liver failure (ALF) is still one of the major clinical challenges in hepatology. A wide variety of aetiologies, and similarly, variable courses of the disease, make it crucial to identify the cause of ALF in each individual patient. Conservative therapy is only available for some patients; for many others, liver transplantation remains the only curative option for ALF. Thus, early evaluation and prognostication of the ALF syndrome is warranted for a timely decision to list a patient for transplantation or even as high urgency. This review aims to compose our current knowledge on epidemiology, mechanisms, and prognosis in ALF, and to give a perspective for future studies in this field.


Prevention or postponement of age-related diseases and functional limitation is the key component of successful aging. We studied centenarians, a model for successful aging in terms of functional status and morbidities. Vast majority of centenarians had chronic disease such as hypertension (63.6%) , heart disease (28.8%) , stroke (15.9%) , fragile fracture (46.4%) , and few centenarians were free from any chronic diseases. Male centenarians had better physical function than female counterparts. Stroke and fragile fracture had negative impacts on their functional status, but hypertension was paradoxically associated with better physical function. When we looked at mortality beyond 100 years of age, physical function, but not morbidity profile had significant impact on their mortality. These results raised a notion that age-related frailty or diminution of functional reserve may be the major cause both for physical disability and poor prognosis of centenarians. Previous results from our study suggested that stability of energy homeostasis, in which neuroendocrine system has a key role, may be important to maintain physical function at the extreme old age.


Grant-free random access is a key enabler in massive machine-type communications (mMTC) to reduce signalling overhead and latency thereby improving the energy efficiency. One of its main challenges lies in joint user activity identification and channel estimation (JUICE). Due to the sporadic mMTC traffic, JUICE can be solved as a compressive sensing (CS) problem. We address CS-based JUICE in uplink with single-antenna transmitters and a multiantenna base station under spatially correlated fading channels. We formulate a novel CS problem that utilizes prior information on the second order statistics of the channel of each user to improve the performance. We propose a method based on alternating direction method of multipliers to solve the JUICE efficiently. The simulation results show that the proposed method significantly improves the user identification accuracy and channel estimation performance with lower signalling overhead as compared to the baseline schemes.


The stable structures of the solid hydrogen have been studied by the band theoretical calculation using the plane wave basis in the local density approximation. Comparing, the Gibbs free-energies for candidate structures in the atomic and molecular phases, we have discussed the stable strcctures. The metallization occurs around 300 GPa by the molecular dissociation. We have also studied the pressure dependences of the vibrational frequencies at the ƒ¡point in the molecular phase by the frozen phonon method in the harmonic approximation. Our results suggest that the molecules sit on the hcp sites and are canted from the c-axis.


The Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Center constructed at Schinias, accommodated the rowing and canoe – kayak sprint competition of the 2004 summer Olympic Games. This paper presents the results of a study which aimed at assessing the water quality characteristics, regarding microbial pollution, of the Olympic rowing and canoeing Center in relation to alternative inflows scenarios. The study was conducted by using a microbial – pollution model which describes both physical transport phenomena and biological and chemical reactions taking place in the water body. Moreover, the mathematical model incorporates a stochastic approach (based on Monte Carlo technique) in order to take into account the random variation of the input variables, such as the pollution loads and the intensity of the solar radiation, which is an essential factor for the fate of faecal coliforms. The mathematical model takes into consideration the random fluctuation of the constants and the model's input data, by creating a range of possible values for each one of them and a corresponding probability distribution. As a result of this kind of stochastic approach, the model predicts the concentration of faecal coliforms, not as a single value, but as a set of possible values. A statistical analysis of this set of values, allows for the estimation of statistical data like characteristic values that will not be exceeded for given confidence levels. The mathematical model was applied for a wide range of the monthly inflows entering the rowing center through the leading channel, which fully cover the discharges of Makaria spring for three alternative typical hydrologic years (a particularly wet, a particularly dry and a mean hydrological year). From the application of the model for several flow patterns into the course it was concluded that the flow pattern does not affect significantly the spatial and temporal distribution of the concentration of the faecal coliforms, since dispersion is the governing transport mechanism in the rowing course. The highest concentrations are observed in an area close to the inlet point of the leading channel, while in areas located in a longer distance the concentrations are decreasing. According to the results of the model the anticipated concentration of faecal coliforms, in relation to the proposed revision of the 76/160 European Directive on bathing waters, is lower than 250FC/100ml for the 95% of the samples and thus the rowing and canoeing center is sorted in the category of excellent quality waters.


This is a first study about labor discrimination against Afro‐descendants in Peru. We randomly assigned Afro‐Peruvian and white surnames and photographs (subjectively beautiful, homely looking, or not photos) to 3,828 fictitious resumes, sent for unskilled, technical, and professional occupations. We find an unprecedented, sizeable beauty premium in unskilled occupations (232.5 percent), no effect of looks in technical occupations, and a beauty penalty in professional occupations (–71.3 percent). Overall, whites receive 19.37 percent more callbacks than similarly qualified Afro‐Peruvians; this racial discrimination affects only Afro‐Peruvian females, and particularly those employed in technical occupations. These results remain unaltered when we restrict the sample to those markedly "Afro" surnames. Our findings unveil different dynamics of discrimination across job categories, which tend to be overlooked by the existing literature.


A 30 GHz monolithic low noise balanced mixer has been developed using an integrated 'bow tie' antenna/WG transition and low parasitic Mott diodes. The diodes and mixer circuit were developed on General Electric grown MBE material and were fabricated using a plated air bridge technology. Measurements on the diode at DC and RF showed that the zero bias junction capacitance was 0.025 pF and the series resistance was 10 ohms. A conversion loss of 6 dB was measured at 30 GHz with a 1 GHz IF.


The quandary is, How can the very different fiduciary responsibilities of physicians and pharmaceutical companies ethically coexist in a society where its healthcare system is under increasing financial scrutiny? It is paradoxical that the number of states requiring continuing medical education for medical licensure has increased to 39, in the face of reduced federal funding and the squeeze of managed care. Despite industry's providing more than half of the funding required to sustain the increasing need for continuing medical education, some physicians claim it is inappropriate for continuing medical education sponsors to collaborate with pharmaceutical companies because of their vested interest in selling prescription medications. Is the integrity of the physician-patient relationship at risk? I will show that there are ethical standards in place, for professionals and industry, that are effectively maintaining the continuing medical education system in balance. Eliminating the current opportunities for collaboration between sponsors and commercial supporters would severely compromise the continuing medical education enterprise in the United States, ultimately, a disservice to patients, who expect their physicians to continue their medical education lifelong.


In the last two decades many organizations installed enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems as a means to integrate their back-office operations. The need for integration, however, actually amplified with the advent of ERP. In addition to integrating ERP with legacy systems, consolidating multiple copies of ERP running in different business units posed major challenges. Moreover, recent strategic initiatives such as customer relationships management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM), business to consumer (B2C), and business to business (B2B) all require a free flow of information between ERP and other enterprise systems to be successful. It is, therefore, more critical than ever to plan for and implement integration projects involving ERP properly. Hwang (2005) describes the need for integrating enterprise systems in detail. He also discusses several success factors cited in practitioner journals. Since then a handful of empirical studies have been published in the scholarly literature. This article provides a review of those studies with a special focus on the success factors. A consolidated list of success factors is developed for practitioners. Promising research directions are discussed.


Background: A marked increase of type 2 diabetes and associated morbidity and mortality rate over the last 10 years has been recorded in Malaysia. Ineffective diabetes management and a lack of self-care practice among type 2 diabetic patients have been identified as the major reasons for this problem. Research in other countries has highlighted a range of factors influencing effective self-care of type 2 diabetes including patients' perspectives of diabetes, sociocultural issues, religious beliefs and support from healthcare. Nevertheless, there is paucity of research conducted in Malaysia. Therefore, the exploration of self-care practice and self-care support provision in patients with type 2 diabetes in Malaysia is needed to understand the problem.Aims: To understand the self-care practice of patients with type 2 diabetes in Malaysia and the factors that influence the patients' self-care practice. To understand the type 2 diabetes? self-care support provision in Malaysia from the perspective of patients, healthcare professionals, and healthcare system.Methods: A qualitative, single embedded case study design was utilised. Eighteen patients with type 2 diabetes and 19 healthcare professionals (physicians, diabetes educators, nurse, pharmacist and dietician), involved in self-care support provision primary- and secondary-care settings in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, Malaysia, participated in in-depth semi-structured interviews between November 2012 and June 2013. In addition, data were collected through participant-observation of clinic consultations, and analysis of relevant documents used in the provision of diabetes management in the respective clinics. The framework technique supported analysis of data. Data were stored and managed using Nvivo 9 software. Findings: The findings indicate that patients with type 2 diabetes had a good understanding of diabetes and self-care, but a lack of self-care support meant that effective self-care was difficult to sustain. Healthcare professionals? (HCPs?) provision of self-care support was restricted due to several factors, including lack of opportunity to provide self-care support, unsuitable clinic environment and a fragmented management within primary and secondary care. Additionally, barriers in patient?HCP communication, a combination of the personal, interpersonal and inter-professional HCP factors, and a traditional medical model adopted by Malaysian healthcare system, seem to have influenced the practice and quality of the service delivered. Conclusion: It is clear that the increased incidence of uncontrolled type 2 diabetes is not merely due to poor self-care practice by patients, but also due to constraints in service delivery and underdevelopment of self-care support provision. The evidence generated can assist in the development of strategies to improve the quality of care and facilitate changes in the self-care support provision in Malaysia.


Background: Recent studies have shown a high prevalence of periodontitis in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. A bidirectional relationship between the two has been established. Inflammatory burden and periodontal pathogens were identified as the main periodontal factors affecting CKD. Factors predisposing to periodontal disease and accelerating its progression are widespread in chronic renal failure. They include: hyposalivation and xerostomia, impaired immunity and wound healing, alveolar bone destruction, malnutrition and a state of general disability impairing oral hygiene. It has been proven by many studies that treating the periodontal disease through nonsurgical therapy with adjunct antimicrobials like chlorhexidine because of its great spectrum of activity will improve the outcome of the CKD.
Objective:
To evaluate the effect of nonsurgical periodontal therapy with adjunctive use of chlorhexidine on the progression of CKD stage 3-5 non-dialysed patients after three months as well as changes in the biological and periodontal parameters.

Material and Methods:
An opened label single arm non randomized clinical trial was carried out at the nephrology service of the Yaounde General Hospital and dentql service qnd biochemistry laboratory of the Yaounde University Teaching Hospital from January 2018 to May 2018. We included consenting subjects > 18years with stage 3-5 non-dialysed CKD having moderate to severe chronic periodontitis. Subjects needing antibiotherapy, having rheumatoid arthritis, pregnant and having < 14 teeth were excluded. They were treated by non-surgical therapy which consisted of deep cleaning of teeth surfaces, polishing and irrigation of pockets. Each subject was provided with 0.2% Chlorhexidine (CHX) as mouthrinse to be used twice daily for seven days. Appointments were given 6 weeks after treatment for assessment of disease recurrence and retreatment if need be. Periodontal parameters (Gingival bleeding index, plaque index, probing depth and Clinical attachment loss) and biological parameters (Creatinemia, C-reactive protein, spot Proteinuria) were assessed at baseline and at 3 months of therapy.

Results:
A total of 15 subjects were enrolled for the study. The studies had 11(73%) men and 4(27%)women, mean(SD) age was 63.33±9.Three months after therapy there was a significant reduction in all periodontal parameters with mean percentage drop of Plaque index(PI) from 49.11% to 37.57% with a mean change of11.53%(p=<0.001), probing dept(PI) reduced from 4.4mm to 2.6mm with a mean change after three months of 1.8mm(p=<0.001), clinical attachment loss(CAL) decreased from 3.63mm to 2.14mm with a mean change of 1.5mm(p=<0.001), gingival bleeding index(GBI) decreased from 54.16% to 3.28% with a mean change of 50.88%. C-reactive protein (CRP) levels dropped from 9.27mg/l to 5.70mg/l with a mean change of 3.56mg/l (p=0.004).There was a significant improvement in the eGFR from 21.02ml/min/1.72/m2 to 22.81 ml/min/1.72/m2 with a mean change of 1.78 ml/min/1.72/m2 (p=0.03). However, there was worsening of proteinuria from 1.3±1,25g/g to 2.72±1.86g/g with a mean change of 1.40±2.21g/g (p=0.02).

Conclusions
The nonsurgical periodontal therapy with adjunctive use of chlorhexidine resulted in significant benefits in the treatment of chronic periodontitis and biological parameters. This suggests that nonsurgical treatment with adjunctive use of CHX will be useful in the management of patients with stage 3-5 non-dialysed chronic kidney disease.


A bio-economic linear program based on data from 20 commercial extensive sheep farms was used to predict the effects on aspects of farm management of response to CAP reform in Great Britain. The objective function of the LP was to maximise gross margin while meeting ewe energy requirements from farm grown or purchased feeds on a monthly basis throughout the farming year. Three farms were constrained by availability of home-grown grass and thus contracted under a subsidy free scenario. Just one farm justified expansion using extra labour purchased at £5/hour. The other farms remained at current flock sizes using existing unpaid labour. However, all farms adjusted their grazing regime according to the balance of land types available. These adjustments varied from month to month, reflecting the complex and dynamic pattern of interactions between resource demand and supply throughout the farming year. The implied shifts in land use have implications for the environment and for animal welfare.


Contemporary liberal theorists see value pluralism as a permanent social fact, the natural and inevitable result of living under free institutions. Yet while value pluralism is desirable for many reasons, this same pluralism can threaten the efficacy and the authority of the state. Thus, as Rawls frames it, the fundamental question of the liberal state is: How may there exist a stable and just society of free and equal citizens profoundly divided over their religious, philosophical, and moral doctrines? His answer - embraced by many other liberal theorists as well - relies in large part on the idea of public reason. Public reason requires officials and (sometimes) citizens to forsake potentially divisive appeals to inherently contestable theories of the good life and instead appeal to political values shared by all reasonable inhabitants of a liberal democracy. This Article addresses the strategy of public reason. One trouble with public reason is that it is what economists recognize as a public good. Under the conventional theory of collective action, this has dire consequences for the success of public reason. The public goods analysis can thus help provide an account of why public reason often fails us, even if most citizens believe in public reason's aims. The Article then analyzes public reason using an alternative theory of collective action grounded on an empirically observed norm of reciprocity. This analysis leads to a richer, somewhat less pessimistic understanding of the strategy of public reason and generates different policy prescriptions than does the conventional model.


Clinical trials rely on accurate dose reporting, both for the planning target volumes and organs at risk (OAR). Until recently, clinical trials have not mandated that heterogeneity corrections be applied in dose calculations. Therefore history of prescription and reported doses has been for homogenous water equivalent media. The reticence is attributed to lack of confidence in commercial treatment planning algorithms and in lack of direction as how to change prescriptions when accounting for heterogeneous media. Thorax irradiation is the most challenging example of where corrections and prescription changes are difficult but necessary. Two well reported studies, RTOG‐8808 and RTOG‐9311, required complementary parallel calculations performed. One set was the prescribed and treated homogeneous (water) based calculations, and the other was retrospective heterogeneous CT‐based calculations, but using the homogeneous based MU. The calculations demonstrated major variations in the doses that would have been reported depending if heterogeneity corrections were exclusively used. This was confirmed by dosimetric studies showing the failure of algorithms of the 1990s, particularly in regions of non‐equilibrium. As OAR, particularly lung volume, were often the limiting factor, dose calculations to the lung itself had to be accurate. High energy‐small fields had the largest deviations. The commercial introduction of superposition and Monte Carlo algorithms has remedied the situation by providing accurate calculations, provided they are implemented properly. Simultaneously, publication of AAPM's Report of TG‐65 (Inhomogeneity Corrections) gave direction to physicists as how to work with clinician partners to transition to correction based plans and change prescriptions accordingly. Educational Objectives: 1. The history of corrections for clinical trials. 2. Progression of algorithms. 3. Methods for making the transition to using heterogeneity corrections.


Challenges in forecasting fleet development and deployment are in part due to fuel price uncertainty. To address this issue, a recent study developed an aircraft-specific Leontief technology operating cost model (LM) to compare aircraft costs under fuel price uncertainty. This model considers individual aircraft types to be Leontief technologies, such that the key drivers of cost must be used in fixed quantities. While asserted in the literature that models in this form can more accurately predict operating costs, the Leontief specification precludes a precise examination of how aircraft size will change due to economic forces. To this end, an econometric operating cost model (EM) is developed. The translog functional form is used to capture the effect of the key drivers of cost on jet operating costs and also allow for substitution between inputs. A comparison of the LM and EM shows that the Leontief technology assumption limits the LM to capturing operating costs in only a snapshot in time, while the EM captures the input substitution that occurs with factor price changes. The conclusion that the EM has strong predictive potential encourages a strengthening of the model towards capturing costs related to passenger preferences. This study takes a total logistics cost approach (TLC) and considers passenger value of frequency along with operating cost to be the total cost per operation. The cost-minimizing seat size is smaller and more reflective of existing conditions under TLC compared with operating cost alone, yet the difference diminishes as fuel price increases. This study highlights the predictive potential of econometric cost models and also the importance of considering passenger preferences in predicting future aircraft economics. Keywords—Jet Aircraft; Operating Cost; Aircraft Size; Logistics Cost; Fuel Price; Leontief Technology; Econometric Model


Hardin's suggestion (Editorial, 25 June) deserves comment, if not a counterproposal. Many people, nonAmerican and even some Americans, believe that, if our influence on the world were diminished in accord with the ratio of our population to the total world population, the entire world would substantially benefit. We "fortunate trustees" of a civilization threatened by a "breeding race" would do well to assess critically the precious legacy that we, the chosen ones, are preserving and will bestow on our progeny. A truly humanistic approach that does not preclude population control certainly does exclude the notion that civilization and human dignity reside exclusively or even predominantly within the boundaries of any nationstate. The African, Chinese, Indian, or Fakistani scientist may believe that, except for a high breeding rate, his own civilization is uniquely suited for perpetuation in the aeons to come. Some day, some way, all scientists, whether of the atom, of population, or of human behavior, will somehow integrate a less provincial weltanschauung into their often pragmatic and operational proposals for social advancement. ALBERT PAOLINO Laboratory of Psychosocial Research, Cleveland Psychiatric Institute, Cleveland, Ohio 44109


This work addresses the problem of locating rhythmic patterns in music recordings. During the feature extraction stage, a short-term processing technique is applied, in order to detect significant changes in the spectral and energy evolution of the music signal. The detected changes are in turn treated as onsets of events and a sequence of inter-onset intervals is extracted. The resulting sequence is long-term segmented and is fed as input to a hidden Markov model (HMM) which models a predefined rhythmic pattern. An enhanced Viterbi algorithm is proposed, that extracts a best-state sequence, which determines the pattern location boundaries. Our method was tested on a set of music recordings of music meter 2/4, 3/4, 7/8 and 9/8 and steady tempo. The proposed method exhibits excellent precision (100%) over pattern locations and a recall ranging from ~ 34% up to ~ 74% depending on the music genre.


The analgesic efficacy of neurotensin agonists depends on their activation of two receptor subtypes, NTS1 and/or NTS2. In this study we determined the role of NTS2 in an animal model of persistent pain (intraplantar injection of formalin) with the use of the NTS2-selective analog, NT79 and NTS2-knockout mice (NTS2 -/- ). Wild type (WT) and NTS2 -/- mice were pretreated with NT79 and tested for formalin-induced lifting and biting. Additionally, the effect of repeated administration of NT79 and morphine alone and in combination was determined in WT mice. Intraplantar injection of formalin produced the typical biphasic nociceptive response of this persistent pain model. Formalin evoked lower pain intensity in NTS2 -/- mice as compared to that for WT mice. Pretreatment with NT79 attenuated formalin- induced nociception throughout phase II in the WT mice, and in early phase II in the NTS2 -/- mice. Lifting and biting responses were attenuated, indicating spinal and supra-spinal modulation of persistent nociception. More importantly, repeated injection of NT79 enhanced, while that of morphine reduced their antinociceptive effects, respectively. Subchronic co-administration of NT79 and morphine enhanced the analgesic effect over either drug alone. These data support the role of NTS2 in modulating formalin-induced pain. Additionally, these data provide a rationale for the potential therapeutic role of NTS2-selective analogs in chronic pain management alone or in combination with morphine and without the development of tolerance.


The aim of this research is to evaluate the use of ET and EEG for studying the cognitive processes of expert and novice map users and to explore these processes by comparing two types of spatial memory experiments through cognitive load measurements. The first experiment consisted of single trials and participants were instructed to study a map stimulus without any time constraints in order to draw a sketch map afterwards. According to the ET metrics (i.e., average fixation duration and the number of fixations per second), no statistically significant differences emerged between experts and novices. A similar result was also obtained with EEG Frontal Alpha Asymmetry calculations. On the contrary, in terms of alpha power across all electrodes, novices exhibited significantly lower alpha power, indicating a higher cognitive load. In the second experiment, a larger number of stimuli were used to study the effect of task difficulty. The same ET metrics used in the first experiment indicated that the difference between these user groups was not statistically significant. The cognitive load was also extracted using EEG event-related spectral power changes at alpha and theta frequency bands. Preliminary data exploration mostly suggested an increase in theta power and a decrease in alpha power.


Introduction Ultrasound (US) has gained popularity in the evaluation of haemophilic joint diseases because it enables the imaging of soft-tissue lesions in the joints and bone-cartilage lesions. We aimed to determine the correlation between US evaluations and clinical assessments performed using HJHS 2.1 and to evaluate their respective characteristics in assessing early haemophilic arthropathy. Methods A total of 178 joints (32 knees, 85 elbows, and 61 ankles) in 45 haemophilia A patients (median age, 10 years; range, 6–15) were assessed using US and HJHS 2.1. Ultrasonographic scoring was performed in consensus assessments by one imager by using the US scores. Results The total HJHS 2.1 and US scores showed a strong correlation (rS=0.651, P=0.000, CI: 0.553–0.763), with an excellent correlation for the elbows (rS=0.867, P=0.000, CI: 0.709–0.941) and a substantial correlation for the knees (rS=0.681, P=0.000, CI: 0.527–0.797). The correlation for the ankles was relatively moderate (rS=0.518, P=0.000, CI: 0.308–0.705). Nine subjects (15.5%) without abnormalities, as indicated by HJHS 2.1, showed haemophilic arthropathy in US scoring. All nine joints showed moderate (1/9) to severe (8/9) synovial thickening in the ankle (5/9) and elbow joints (4/9). In contrast, 50 joints (50.5%) showed normal US scores and abnormal changes as indicated by HJHS 2.1. S scores correlated well with HJHS 2.1 for overall and individual joints. Discussion US could identify some early pathological changes in joints showing normal clinical findings, but still cannot replace the HJHS; however, it can serve as an imaging examination complementing HJHS 2.


According to the inverse solutions of 3-RPS parallel machine tools, the mapping relationship between the geometrical errors built on the 3-RPS parallel machine tools and errors of out posture has been created, then the error model of direct solutions including all the geometrical parameter errors has been built, and this model can be directly used to analyse the accuracy of parallel mechanism. On this basis, the algorithm about error compensation has been proposed. Moreover, accuracy synthesis of 3-RPS parallel machine tools was made respectively in probabilistic synthesis method and extreme synthesis method, and at last these two methods were compared.


A multimodal research agenda is gaining
traction in organisational research; multimodality
is the theory and understanding that
multiple modes of communication outside of
speech and text have the potential to convey
meaning (Iedema, 2007; Jones & LeBaron,
2002; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001; Streeck
et al., 2011). There is an increasing realisation
that the visual, material and embodied
modes of meaning-making pervade organisations
and understanding these non-verbal
modes of meaning creation could provide
opportunities for new and interesting theoretical,
empirical and methodological insights
(Bell & Davison, 2013; Jancsary et al., 2015).
Multimodality emphasises that 'language' is
just one of many resources for making
meaning and that:
all such resources available in one social group and
its cultures at a particular moment ought to be
considered as constituting one coherent domain,
an integral field of nevertheless distinct resources
for making meaning; all equal, potentially, in their
capacity to contribute meaning to a complex semiotic
entity, a text or text-like entity. (Kress, 2011,
p. 242).
Within a multimodal perspective speech and
text are not necessarily seen as the dominant
mode of communication and are ideally not
examined in isolation but as one mode of
communication among many others (visual,
spoken, gestural, written, three-dimensional,
etc.) that also potentially interact and align to
generate meaning (Philips et al., 2004).
Despite this increasing interest in multimodality
and its relationships to organisations
and management, there remains a lack
of work which empirically investigates multimodality
in the context of organisations.
This may be due to the significant challenges
presented to researchers interested in investigating
multimodality, namely the lack of
multimodal 'literacy' among organisational
researchers (Jancsary et al., 2015). We remain
unskilled in terms of 'reading', understanding and analysing multimodal data. In particular,
it is often necessary to transform multimodal
data into easily accessible, text-based material
so that it can be coded and reported on,
which often leads to a loss of some of its
original multimodal richness (Plowman &
Stephen, 2008). It is often not fully possible to
articulate through language a complete sense
of the bodily and interactional richness and
complexity of multimodal data and all that
we find interesting about this data. Without
proper multimodal analytical protocols these
preverbal, visceral hunches can often 'remain
at the level of vague suspicion and intuitive
response' (Iedema, 2001, p. 201). There is,
in other words, a need to develop the multimodal
'literacy' of researchers to ensure that
multimodal data is represented and analysed
in such a way that their contextual richness
is being maintained whilst at the same time
allowing for systematic analyses and theory
development.
Our aim in this chapter is to give an
empirical example of how multimodality
can be examined in the context of entrepreneurship.
Within the domain of entrepreneurship,
an emerging line of inquiry
focuses on how through both verbal and
non-verbal communication and behavioural
displays entrepreneurs may be able to convince
investors to provide resources and
investment (Baron & Markman, 2003; Chen
et  al., 2009; Clarke, 2011; Cornelissen &
Clarke, 2010). In this chapter we focus specifically
on entrepreneurs' use of gesture
when pitching for investment at organised
pitch events. We focus on gesture as an element
of multimodal meaning-making which
forms a central mode of human communication
alongside speech. As Kendon (1983,
p. 27) for example suggests, 'gesticulation
arises as an integral part of an individual's
communicative effort and … has a direct
role to play in this process' (italics in the
original). Gesticulations (spontaneous
movements of hands and arms that co-occur
with speech), are one type of body movement
that are thought to play an integral role in the process of communication (Alibali
et  al., 2001). Gestures convey information
complementary to speech as the mimetic
and analogue format of gestures (in the
form of shapes, sizes, spatial relationships)
can lead to different representations of ideas
compared to the more discrete and categorical
format underlying grammar and speech
(cf. Cornelissen et  al., 2012). Thus, when
gestures accompany speech, they may enable
speakers to express thoughts that may
otherwise not easily fit into the categorical
system that their language offers (GoldinMeadow
& McNeill, 1999).
In demonstrating one way of examining
multimodality in an entrepreneurship
context, this chapter considers the utility
of paying attention to non-verbal data by
unpacking some of the embodied practices
of competent entrepreneurs. The remainder
of the chapter is structured as follows. We
first introduce the setting of entrepreneurship.
We then describe the role of gesture
as part of multimodal analysis. We then discuss
specific empirical work that features
in our analysis. We conclude the chapter
by discussing the insights afforded by gesture
analysis and the contributions that this
type of multimodal analysis makes to our
understanding of entrepreneurship and more
widely organisational and management
research. We argue that directing attention
to multimodal meaning-making complements
and extends research that focuses on
language alone and that the potential contribution
of multimodal research in organisation
and management research is substantial.


This paper describes the structure of the IPP routing architecture. IPP is an evolution of the TCP-IP protocol. The main advantage of IPP is the variable length addressing scheme. An IPP address can be fifteen bytes long and is optimised for local area networks. The logical structure of the address is very similar to IP, with the main difference that each byte specifies a subnet, apart from the last byte, that indicates a host. Routing speed is maximized by the fact that all routing tables are accessed using a direct lookup method. The size of the routing tables within a router is fixed and small. The above two points allow the construction of very cheap and fast routers. This routing architecture supports broadcast, multicast and real time data. It uses different routing priorities for each type of service. This results in a better management of network links. For normal network traffic the link usage is maximised by automatically load balancing the usage of available links. A working router can be found in the part of the document describing the tests done on this architecture. IPP aims to keep all the other qualities of IP, e.g., the method used to manage flow control, resequencing, etc. The only things that change are the structure of an address, the routing table and routing functions.


Motion of the human body is the critical cue for understanding and characterizing human behavior in videos. Most existing approaches explore the motion cue using optical flows. However, optical flow usually contains motion on both the interested human bodies and the undesired background. This "noisy" motion representation makes it very challenging for pose estimation and action recognition in real scenarios. To address this issue, this paper presents a novel deep motion representation, called PoseFlow, which reveals human motion in videos while suppressing background and motion blur, and being robust to occlusion. For learning PoseFlow with mild computational cost, we propose a functionally structured spatial-temporal deep network, PoseFlow Net (PFN), to jointly solve the skeleton localization and matching problems of PoseFlow. Comprehensive experiments show that PFN outperforms the stateof-the-art deep flow estimation models in generating PoseFlow. Moreover, PoseFlow demonstrates its potential on improving two challenging tasks in human video analysis: pose estimation and action recognition.


Many theories in the criminological literature try to explain the causes of crimi-nal behavior. Perhaps the most widely tested, discussed, and debated theory in the crimi-nal justice field is Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi's (1990) A General Theory of Crime. The authors argue that "low self-control" represents the primary cause for in-volvement in crime. The present research tests "Low Self-Control Theory" against an original theory proposing Curiosity as an additional cause for criminal involvement. The data used in the analysis was obtained by surveying a convenience sample of college stu-dents (age 18 and older) in various classrooms at a southeastern university. The survey contained measures for Low Self-Control (developed by Grasmick et al., 1993), Curiosi-ty, Exploratory Deviance, and controls for the variables Gender and Age. A review of the analyses reveals that Curiosity does significantly predict the involvement in more minor forms of Exploratory Deviance, controlling for Low Self-Control, Gender and Age. These results indicate that the research hypothesis, Individuals who are more curious are significantly more likely to engage in exploratory deviance than individuals who are less curious (controlling for the effects of low self-control), received partial support.


An investigation has been carried out into the lift, drag and cavitation characteristics of two-dimensional foil sections, which may typically be used as a starting point in the design of blade sections for marine current turbines. Cavitation tunnel experiments and numerical predictions using a panel code were carried out on four representative sections derived from the NACA series 4415, 6615, 63—215 and 63—815. The experimental lift and drag results show reasonable correlation with published wind tunnel data. The sections were modelled numerically using the two-dimensional panel code XFoil. The numerical cavitation predictions in most cases showed satisfactory agreement with the experiments and it is considered that such predictions could be used with reasonable confidence for predicting cavitation at the preliminary design stage. Overall, the results of the investigation provide detailed information that should assist in the design and operation of marine current turbines.


Theoretical and computational issues arising in experimental design for model identification and parameter estimation in structural dynamics are addressed. The objective is to optimally locate sensors in a structure such that the resulting measured data are most informative for estimating the parameters of a family of mathematical model classes used for structural modeling. The information entropy, measuring the uncertainty in the parameters of a structural model class, is used as a performance measure of a sensor configuration. For a single model class, the optimal sensor location problem is formulated as an information entropy minimization problem. For model class selection and/or damage detection applications, the problem is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem of finding the Pareto optimal sensor configurations that simultaneously minimize appropriately defined information entropy indices related to multiple model classes and/or probable damage scenarios. Asymptotic estimates for the information entropy, valid for large number of measured data, are presented that rigorously justify that the selection of the optimal experimental design can be based solely on the nominal structural model from a class, ignoring the details of the measured data that are not available in the experimental design stage. The effect of the measurement and model prediction error variances on the optimal sensor location design is examined. Finally, heuristic algorithms are proposed for constructing effective sensor configurations that are superior, in terms of accuracy and computational efficiency, to the sensor configurations provided by genetic algorithms.


We report a method to fabricate carbon nanotubes (CNT)/conducting polymer composite films for the application of CNTs to field emission displays. The composite was prepared by a combination of electrochemical polymerization of pyrrole and electrophoretic deposition of CNTs. We obtained a uniform CNT/conducting polypyrrole polymer composite film. The CNTs were mainly coated on protrusions of the polypyrrole film and emitted electrons without rubbing and stretching. We realized a triode-type field emission array (FEA) using the CNT/polypyrrol composite. This FEA showed that the emission current was modulated by gate voltage of 30 V. The film morphology and emission characteristics of the CNT/conducting polymer composite were studied using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and an emission test in vacuum.


The recent public focus on Lake Erie harmful algal blooms (HABs) has pushed researchers, conservationists, and policy makers to attempt to isolate the cause(s) and the solution(s) to this problem. Previous reports indicated as many as 25 potential "causes" of the HABs (Smith et al. 2015c). More recently, researchers have placed further scrutiny on individual causes, such as tile drainage (King et al. 2015), fertilizer placement (Smith et al. 2016), fertility recommendations (Smith et al. 2018), or groups of these potential causes (Smith et al. 2015a; Jarvie et al. 2017; King et al. 2017; Smith et al. 2017; Williams et al. 2017). One item that has yet to be addressed from the original list of causes is the influence of decreased sulfate (SO4) concentrations in rainfall and a concomitant increase in rainfall and soil pH (Smith et al. 2015c). Acid rain that resulted from power plant and other emissions was known to degrade aquatic and soil quality and damage structures in the 1970s and 1980s (Seaborn 1982; Helvey et al. 1982). The 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act was enacted to address, among other things, acid rain (40 CFR C.50-97). Thus, flue-gas desulfurization has been adopted by power plants…


Himalaya 292 (Hordeum vulgare var. Himalaya 292) is a novel hull-less barley variety lacking activity of a key enzyme of starch synthesis giving a grain containing less total starch, more amylose and higher total dietary fibre. Animal trials have shown that Himalaya 292 contains more resistant starch and has greater positive impact on biomarkers of large-bowel health than comparable wholegrain cereal products. The present study compared the effects of foods made from wholegrain Himalaya 292 with those made from wholegrain wheat on faecal biomarkers of bowel health in human subjects. Seventeen male and female volunteers aged 31–66 years consumed similar quantities of Himalaya 292, whole-wheat or refined cereal foods daily for 4 weeks in a randomised cross-over design. Total dietary fibre intakes from weighed food records were 45, 32 and 21 g/d for the Himalaya 292, whole-wheat and refined cereal periods, respectively. Compared with the refined cereal foods, consumption of Himalaya 292 foods resulted in 33 % higher faecal weight, a lowering of faecal pH from 7·24 to 6·98, a 42 % higher faecal concentration and a 91 % higher excretion of butyrate, a 57 % higher faecal total SCFA excretion and a 33 % lower faecal p-cresol concentration. pH and butyrate concentration and excretion were also significantly different compared with wholemeal wheat. It is concluded that consumption of a diet that included foods made from Himalaya 292 supplied more fibre and improved indices of bowel health compared with refined cereal foods and, for some indices, similar wholemeal wheat foods at equivalent levels of intake.


The PiMA Working Papers are a series of peer-reviewed working papers that present findings and insights from Centre of Governance and Human Rights' (CGHR) Politics and Interactive Media in Africa (PiMA) research project (2012-14).

The project, jointly funded by the ESRC and DFID, focuses on expressions of 'public opinion' in broadcast media via new information and communication technologies (ICT) such as mobile phones in Kenya and Zambia. PiMA examines the political implications of such interactions in the two African countries, with a view to drawing conclusions of wider significance to practitioners and policymakers. Series Editors: Sharath Srinivasan, Stephanie Diepeveen


High-throughput imaging techniques have become widespread in many fields of biology. These powerful platforms generate large quantities of data that can be difficult to process and visualize efficiently using existing tools. We developed easyXpress to process and review C. elegans high-throughput microscopy data in the R environment. The package provides a logical workflow for the reading, analysis, and visualization of data generated using CellProfiler's WormToolbox. We equipped easyXpress with powerful functions to customize the filtering of noise in data, specifically by identifying and removing objects that deviate from expected animal measurements. This flexibility in data filtering allows users to optimize their analysis pipeline to match their needs. In addition, easyXpress includes tools for generating detailed visualizations, allowing the user to interactively compare summary statistics across wells and plates with ease. Researchers studying C. elegans benefit from this streamlined and extensible package as it is complementary to CellProfiler and leverages the R environment to rapidly process and analyze large high-throughput imaging datasets.


: My aim in this paper is to explore ways making Paralympics as venues for recognition of the most vulnerable sector of the country, the persons with disability. In this paper, I argue that the PWDs are one of the most marginalized and disenfranchised social classes in the country that have been subjected to several forms of injustice and misrecognition and, thus, the most that they could do is to struggle for the recognition of their rights and privileges as co-equalFilipino citizens. Recognition is a vital need of every human person, especially to the differently abled. Using Honneth's theory of the struggle for recognition, I will attempt to show that by participating in Paralympics, Filipino PWDs are able to gain self-confidence, self-respect and self-esteem, which are necessary for achieving self-realization and autonomy.


Deet is considered to be the best "all around" insect repellent ever developed and is the most widely used insect repellent in the world. Since its first use in a consumer product in 1956, billions of applications have been made to human skin. Information about the safety of deet comes from the human clinical literature, animal toxicology studies, and poison control centers' experiences with deet. The clinical literature reports the association of deet with neurotoxicity in 14 individuals. Three of the cases resulted in death, whereas all of the other patients completely recovered. The exact role of deet in the toxicity reported is difficult to determine from the reports. Recently reported animal safety studies have examined potential neurotoxicity following multigenerational dosing. Effects on the nervous system were only seen when generalized toxicity was also observed. Thus deet is not a selective neurotoxin. Important information about deet also comes from an investigation into the reports of adverse affects reported to 71 poison control centers in the USA. An important conclusion from this study is that there is no evidence that increasing deet concentration has any effect on the severity of the symptoms reported. The vast majority of reported cases had either no symptoms or ones that resolved rapidly. In conclusion, a thorough examination of all information available indicates that the risk of serious adverse effects following the use of deet is extremely low.


Presidential Address (Read at York, November 16th, 1921.)

In dealing with the structure of the Weald three years ago, in a Presidential Address to the Geological Society of London, I referred briefly to the wedge-like arrangement of the Jurassic rocks of Yorkshire, and mentioned that these deposits, like those of the south-country Weald, yielded evidence that they similarly were accumulated in a slowly sinking trough.* On the present occasion I propose to enter into some of the particulars relating to this matter, and to apply to the Yorkshire Oolites the method adopted for the Wealden rocks. †

There is nothing novel in the method. It was applied by Mr. Cosmo Johns to the Coal Measures of Yorkshire in a suggestive paper published by our Society in 1906 ;‡ but, so far as I am aware, it has not previously been tested in respect to the Yorkshire Jurassic sequence. It is simple in essence, and may be stated as follows :—

When a particular bed in a stratified sequence bears evidence of having been deposited at the same depth, and at about the same time, over a wide area, it marks a plane originally parallel to the sea-level of its period— i.e. , a plane of horizontality.

When several beds of this kind occur at intervals in the sequence and are not parallel to each other, we must infer that there has been relative change in the local plane of horizontality during the accumulation of the sequence, and we are enabled to ...