Background Treatment by venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) is widely used today, even though it is associated with high risks of complications and death. While studies have focused on the relationship between some of these complications and the risk of death, the relationship between different complications has never been specifically examined, despite the fact that the occurrence of one complication is known to favor the occurrence of others. Our objective was to describe the relationship between complications in patients undergoing VA-ECMO in intensive care unit (ICU) and to identify, if possible, patterns of patients according to complications. Methods and findings As part of a retrospective cohort study, we conducted a multiple correspondence analysis followed by a hierarchical ascendant classification in order to identify patterns of patients according to main complications (sepsis, thromboembolic event, major transfusion, major bleeding, renal replacement therapy) and in-ICU death. Our cohort of 145 patients presented an in-ICU mortality rate of 50.3%. Morbidity was high, with 36.5% of patients presenting three or more of the five complications studied. Multiple correspondence analysis revealed a cumulative inertia of 76.9% for the first three dimensions. Complications were clustered together and clustered close to death, prompting the identification of four patterns of patients according to complications, including one with no complications. Conclusions Our study, based on a large cohort of patients undergoing VA-ECMO in ICU and presenting a mortality rate comparable to that reported in the literature, identified numerous and often interrelated complications. Multiple correspondence analysis and hierarchical ascendant classification yielded clusters of patients and highlighted specific links between some of the complications studied. Further research should be conducted in this area.


The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway is deregulated across a broad spectrum of human cancers. Therefore, there have been strong efforts to inhibit this pathway, with many novel targeted agents, including isoform-specific PI3K inhibitors, pan-PI3K inhibitors, and dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitors, entering the clinic. Although initial responses have been observed in PIK3CA and HER2 amplified cancers, resistance frequently emerges, thereby limiting the benefit from these drugs. We developed several PI3K inhibitor resistant cell lines by culturing sensitive PIK3CA mutant cells in gradually escalating doses of PI3K inhibitor until resistance emerges, typically over a period of several months. We then used a drug screen utilizing ~40 targeted agents to identify drugs that synergize with PI3K inhibitors in the resistant cells. Subsequently, to elucidate mechanisms of resistance to PI3K inhibitors, we used a pooled shRNA screen to identify hairpins that sensitize the resistant cells to PI3K inhibition. These two complementary screens have identified mTORC as a likely mediator of resistance to PI3K inhibition: mTORC inhibitors synergize with PI3K inhibitors in the resistant cells, and furthermore, hairpins directed against mTORC (FRAP1) sensitize resistant cells to PI3K inhibition. Other promising therapeutic targets identified by these screens that may contribute to resistance to PI3K inhibitors include IGF1R and AKT. This abstract is also presented as Poster B069. Citation Format: Sadhna Vora, Moshe Elkabets, Nayoon Kim, Carlotta Costa, Manway Liu, Li Xiaoyan, Alex Cao, Robert Schlegel, Maurizio Scaltriti, Jose Baselga, Alan Huang, Jeffrey A. Engelman. Overcoming resistance to PI3K inhibitors in breast cancer: Results of a pooled shRNA screen and combinatorial drug screen. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Breast Cancer Research: Genetics, Biology, and Clinical Applications; Oct 3-6, 2013; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2013;11(10 Suppl):Abstract nr PR06.


Abstract This article explores some implications of using a critical realist theoretical framework for the study of education, in particular the core activities of learning and teaching. Many approaches have been made to understanding learning and teaching, but they tend to fall into one of two camps. The first includes approaches known as objectivism, instructivism and behaviourism, and is interpreted here as embodying principles of empiricism (positivism). The second comprises various takes on constructivism, particularly social constructivism, and is interpreted here as embodying idealism (poststructuralism/postmodernism/interpretivism). This paper does not wholly endorse or reject either objectivism or constructivism, but draws elements from each. The key difference for educators is that the starting position is not the transmission of knowledge, as in objectivism, or the construction of knowledge by learners, as in social constructivism. Instead it foregrounds the learning environment, arising from the (critical) realist premise that the possibilities for knowledge are given in the ontology. For educators this means the learning environment is not simply the location of learning, as widely construed, but the set of conditions that enable and constrain learning.


The recently proposed 3-Tier access model for Whitespace by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandates certain classes of devices to share frequency bands in space and time. These devices are envisioned to be a heterogeneous mixture of licensed (Tier-1 and Tier-2) and unlicensed, opportunistic devices (Tier-3). The hierarchy in accessing the channel calls for superior adaptation of Tier-3 devices with varying spectral opportunity. While policies are being ratified for efficient sharing, it also calls for redesigning many common applications to adapt to this novel paradigm. In this paper, we focus on the ever-increasing demand for video streaming and present a methodology suitable for Tier-3 devices in the shared access model. Our analysis begins with a stress test of commonly adopted video streaming methods under the new sharing model. This is followed by the design of a robust MDP-based solution that proactively adapts to fast-varying channel conditions, providing better user quality of experience when compared to existing solutions, such as MPEG-DASH. We evaluate our solution on an experimental testbed and find that our MDP-based algorithm outperforms DASH, and partial information of Tier-2 dynamics improves video quality.


The economic and social crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in Europe and around the world is without precedent since World War II if not before. With more than 40 million known cases in Europe in one year, and over 900 000 deaths (March 2020 to March 2021), governments have stepped up their emergency measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus: locking down their populations, closing non-essential businesses, closing offices, factories, schools and places of worship;cancelling cultural events, suspending sports contests and festivals;restricting people's movements, closing or monitoring borders, grounding airlines and more. Since March 2020, measures such as these have brought economic activity to a standstill.The interdependence of various economic sectors through supply chains, materials and transport for example, together with the fact that the shock hit supply and demand at the same time, mean that the crisis can be described as systemic. No sector has been spared: the entire economic system has taken a hit. The gross domestic product of the European Union shrank by 6.2% in 2020 (6.6% in the euro area), leading to soaring unemployment and temporary unemployment.The key question this paper attempts to answer is as follows: has European social dialogue played any useful part in this wholly exceptional economic and social situation?


Background: More than 90% of the cigarettes sold worldwide have a filter. Nearly all filters consist of a rod of numerous ( > 12 000) plastic-like cellulose acetate fibres. During high speed cigarette manufacturing procedures, fragments of cellulose acetate that form the mouthpiece of a filter rod become separated from the filter at the end face. The cut surface of the filter of nearly all cigarettes has these fragments. In smoking a cigarette in the usual manner, some of these fragments are released during puffing. In addition to the cellulose acetate fragments, carbon particles are released also from some cigarette brands that have a charcoal filter. Cigarettes with filters that release cellulose acetate or carbon particles during normal smoking conditions are defective. Objective: Specific goals were to review systematically the writings of tobacco companies to: (a) identify papers that would document the existence of defective filters; (b) characterise the extent of the defect; (c) establish when the defect became known; (d) determine whether the defect exists on cigarettes marketed currently; (e) assess the prevalence of the defect on cigarettes manufactured by different companies; (f) define whether the knowledge of the defect had been withheld by the tobacco company as confidential and not disclosed publicly; and (g) ascertain the feasibility of correcting or preventing the defect. Methods: Document searches utilised databases of the scientific literature, medical journals, chemical abstracts, US Patents, Tobacco Abstracts, papers presented at tobacco meetings and court documents. Results: Sixty one documents of Philip Morris, Inc were selected for study because they disclosed specifically the "fall-out" of cellulose acetate filter fibres and, for cigarettes with charcoal filters, carbon particles from cigarette filters. The term "fall-out" was defined in 1985 laboratory protocols of Philip Morris, Inc. as "loose fibers (or particles) that are drawn out of the filter during puffing of the cigarette". As early as 1957, the health concern of inhaling cellulose acetate fibres released from cigarette filters was addressed by Philip Morris, Inc. A 1962 document reported the results of laboratory tests conducted by Phillip Morris, Inc that compared the "fall-out" of cellulose acetate fibres from the filters of their cigarettes (Marlboro) and cigarettes of their competitor (Liggett & Meyers). A 1997 overview by Phillip Morris of documents addressing the "fallout of carbon particles and cellulose acetate fibers from filters" stated that they were "essentially routine reports" of cigarette filter assays, and referenced a "Filter Fallout" memo written in 1961—more than 40 years ago. Most likely these tests are being conducted presently as illustrated by a 1999 report that details the revisions of the "fall-out" protocol of Phillip Morris, Inc and reports the results of tests that measured the discharge of cellulose acetate fibres and silica gel from beta cigarettes with a new type of filter. Our analysis of the "fall-out" tests results presented in the 61 "fall-out" documents showed that filter fibres and carbon particles were discharged from the filters of all types of cigarettes tested. These cigarette types (n = 130) included both coded cigarettes and popular brand name cigarettes. No publications were found in the scientific literature of the "fall-out" studies. Thus, the results of the "fall-out" studies are thought to have been withheld as confidential to Philip Morris, Inc. We have identified also other companies that have tested recently cigarettes for defective filters. In addition, our searches have shown that simple, expedient, and inexpensive technologies for decontaminating cigarette filters of loose cellulose acetate fibres and particles from the cut surface of the filter have been developed and described in 1997 and 1998 US patents. What is more important is that these patents also define methods for preventing or reducing the broken plastic-like fibres that arise during cigarette making. Many US patents (n = 607; 1957 to 2001) have been awarded for cigarette filters. Some of these inventions describe novel materials and unique filtration schemes that would eliminate or minimise the discharge of filter materials into mainstream smoke. Conclusions: We have shown that: (a) the filter of today's cigarette is defective; (b) Philip Morris, Inc has known of this filter defect for more than 40 years; (c) the existence of this filter defect has been confirmed by others in independent studies; (d) many methods exist to prevent and correct the filter defect, but have not been implemented; and (e) results of investigations substantiating defective filters have been concealed from the smoker and the health community. The tobacco industry has been negligent in not performing toxicological examinations and other studies to assess the human health risks associated with regularly ingesting and inhaling non-degradable, toxin coated cellulose acetate fragments and carbon microparticles and possibly other components that are released from conventional cigarette filters during normal smoking. The rationale for harm assessment is supported by the results of consumer surveys that have shown that the ingestion or inhalation of cigarette filter fibres are a health concern to nearly all smokers.


The conventional way to treat cavity dissipation in quantum optics is by applying the system-reservoir approach. The small system consists of the quantized discrete modes of a fictitious perfect cavity. The reservoir is the external field described by continuous annihilation and creation operators for the modes of free-space. This conventional approach has been used since the early days of the laser. The Hamiltonian that describes this approach became known as the Gardiner-Collett Hamiltonian. Despite being useful in describing several phenomena in cavities with a high Q factor, it is well known that this approach breaks down when the Q decreases. We have derived the Gardiner-Collett Hamiltonian from a rigorous modes of the "universe" expansion, as an approximation for high-Q, and obtained the coupling strength between the discrete cavity annihilation and creation operators (small system) and the continuous annihilation and creation operators of free-space (reservoir). We have found that the coupling strength depends on the frequency even when the reflectivity is frequency independent. The physical consequence of this frequency dependence is that for short times compared to one cavity round-trip time, the reservoir (free-space) is no longer Markovian. Our explicit expression for this frequency dependent coupling strength unlocks this fast time non-Markovian regime that had been previously inaccessible within the Gardiner-Collett Hamiltonian. Finally, we also show how to generalize the Gardiner-Collett Hamiltonian to arbitrary quality factors. This generalized Hamiltonian can be applied to develop a full quantum theory of excess noise in lasers.


A school district received a Physical Education for Progress grant (PEP). PEP grants are part of the Carol M. White Program and are administered by the U.S. Department of Education. These grants are available to local educational agencies to initiate, expand, or improve physical education (PE) programs. The purpose of this study was to determine the perception of the impact of the PEP grant on PE programs of four elementary schools in one school district through interviews with teachers and principals. Qualitative data analysis procedures were used to explore views on how the PEP grant had impacted PE programs. Several themes emerged during the interviews, including (a) the development of an expanded and innovative curriculum, (b) the inclusion of children with special needs, (c) increased motivation levels in students and teachers, (d) a focus on interdisciplinary teaching, (e) increased use of technology, and (f) the PE teachers becoming leaders in the school and district.


disease which may contribute to a higher prevalence of some comorbidities. Comorbidities can also be unrelated to rheumatic diseases or their treatments. How to measure comorbidities? Comorbidity indices that estimate the frequency and severity of comorbidities are used in clinical studies. In clinical care, comorbidities are reviewed and recorded by a health professional by indicating whether a medical condition exists or not. In surveys, patients select from a list comorbidities that apply and a plain number of comorbidities is calculated without an indication of severity. Impact of comorbidities. The impact of comorbidities in rheumatic diseases is multidimensional. Some comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease, lymphoma, renal and pulmonary disease and infections are associated with preterm mortality. As inflammation is the common pathophysiology in rheumatic diseases and in many comorbidities, suppression of inflammatory activity is essential. This emphasizes early and active treatment of every patient with an inflammatory condition, to diminish the risk of comorbidities. Furthermore, careful monitoring of patients at high risk of comorbidities, in particular those with severe, treatment refractory disease, is necessary. Cardiovascular disease. In addition to the risk that is caused by inflammation, patients with rheumatic diseases are at least as likely as general population to have traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. Furthermore, patients with rheumatoid arthritis are more likely to smoke and be physically inactive than general population. Therefore, traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease need to be reviewed and addressed on a regular basis, and interventions against adverse life style factors and other important predictors should be initiated when indicated. Depression and fibromyalgia are comorbidities that increase the risk of work disability. Review of patients' psychological well-being should be routine practice at rheumatology visits. A multidisciplinary team including nurses, physiotherapists, social workers and psychologists facilitates the management of patients with these comorbidities. Osteoporosis is a prevalent comorbidity in rheumatic diseases. Patients need to be screened and treated for osteoporosis. Preferably, patients at high risk, in particular those who are treated with long term corticosteroid treatment, should be started on preventive treatment before osteoporosis develops. Other comorbidities. Some comorbidities are associated with the use of antirheumatic drugs e.g. gastrointestinal ulcers with perforation or bleeding, which in the past were often seen in patients with heavy use of NSAIDs. Serious infections and pulmonary diseases are rare but potentially life threatening side effects of current anti-rheumatic medications. Comorbidities as "side effects" of rheumatic diseases, preventable by active care. "Side effects" of untreated or poorly treated rheumatoid arthritis overall are worse than side effects of current anti-rheumatic drugs. It can be anticipated that comorbidity of rheumatic diseases will become less prominent over years with active treatment strategies and routine evaluation and care of other risk factors for comorbidities. Signals indicating such a development are already available. Disclosure of Interest: None Declared


The present study aims to understand how syntactic knowledge is assessed in exams and to compare the level of difficulty between comparable items, from the point of view of the object of assessment. The corpus includes 66 grammar assessment items, taken from the national final exams of secondary education, carried out between 2010 and 2017. The analysis focused on two indicators: the structural / syntactic pattern of instruction setting out the task to be performed by students and the metalinguistic operations required to respond to the instruction. The results describe the existence of different levels of difficulty in assessment items that have the same learning object. The study proves that similarly formulated instructions do not always match the same level of difficulty, nor are the same learnings assessed. It also proves that the tasks required from students involve metalinguistic operations of greater complexity than comprehension.


Problems associated with the use of alcohol and other drugs are among the most serious public health threats found on college and university campuses in the United States. The United States Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education program has supported a nationwide effort among colleges and universities to address these problems. A key issue facing programs to prevent substance abuse is their prospect for survival as grant funding ends. In this article, the survival of one college-based alcohol and other drug prevention program and its move toward institutionalization in an extremely challenging fiscal environment are examined. The strategies described by the authors may be helpful for directors of other programs facing similar challenges.


PURPOSE: The Hong Kong Adult Vision Pilot Study is a population based study of the distribution and determinants of eye disease in a random sample of the Chinese population age 40 and over. The present pilot study identifies the extent and causes of visual loss using methods developed in the United States and Australia. The pilot study uses the prevalence data to estimate the sample size necessary to predict the size of an effect a larger study may detect and the confidence with which that effect may be considered and the standard deviation of the Hong Kong population. The smallest detectable odds ratios were calculated based on known risk factor prevalence rates of the pilot study. METHODS: Hong Kong Chinese residents aged 40 and over in 2 random cluster sites were identified by private household census. The examinations were performed at one location and included, health history and habits, presenting and best corrected LogMar vision, Humphrey visual field and IOP measurement, dilated slit lamp, fundus examination, fundus photography and echography. RESULTS: In the two test sites, 355 people were examined of the 441 eligible residents (81% response). 76.6% of the population reported a change in vision in the last 10 years; 45% had not sought examination. 4.54% had vision less than 20/60. This was caused by: myopic choroidal degeneration (31%), cataract (19%), cataract + ARM (19%), ARMD (19%), glaucoma (6%), and corneal disease (6%). Vision loss increased significantly with age. Vision loss was more common in older women than in older men. The prevalence rates calculated from the pilot study data were used, requiring a relative precision of 95% and +/- 20% confidence interval of the prevalence rates, indicate that a sample size of 2500 would be a good number for a larger study. CONCLUSIONS: The methods developed in the United States and Australia for completing eye disease prevalence studies are applicable in Hong Kong. Vision loss is increasingly common in older people and the percent of visual impairment in Hong Kong is higher than studies in the US and Australia. As the population ages demands on the health care systems will increase. The results from this pilot warrant continuation of the study. Efforts must be directed toward prevention of visual loss.


The beginning of the twenty-first century in air transportation is characterized by increasing competition between (regular, i.e. not low-cost) airlines, which in its turn affects the low cost airlines by necessitating for them the operating of aircraft with larger seat capacity also on local routes, with the goal of operating the aircraft at lower cost per available seat kilometer. Taking into account the importance of air connections for the regional economy, the local authorities are obligated to support regional airports and impose public service obligations on some routes. This study examines the regional aircraft development after the air transportation market liberalization, while also delving into the background of differences in environments of operation in Europe and United States. To evaluate the regional routes' equipment competitiveness, this research is focusing on to the regional aircraft fuel consumption which is the considerable factor for airline's operating costs. Analysis of the differences between operating environments in Europe and the United States is based on an earlier review of the research findings on development of the markets after liberalization, and the role regional aircraft in air transportation system. Also, the comparisons of the profitability and airlines' strategies in both regions are given. The results provide insights into the main drivers of regional aircraft design and development from the demand's point of view.


This paper uses contemporary tools to analyse the spatial dynamics of Brazilian economic growth (1970-2000). Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis, Markov chains and stochastic kernel techniques (spatially conditioned) are combined and applied to GDP per capita of Minimum Comparable Areas (MCAs) in Brazil and its regions. MCAs tended to converge to their neighbours?classes, with higher probability in upper classes, and divergent trajectories were frequent. The results corroborate the role of space and the fact that usual convergence tests are unsatisfactory to depict the dynamics of economic growth in Brazil.


The purpose of this research was to investigate whether dynamic level and pitch register influence vibrato width and rate of four professional violin soloists. Data were obtained from recordings of Bell, Midori, Mutter, and Perlman. Analysis of data indicated that both dynamic level and pitch register influenced the vibrato width of the performers, whereas vibrato rate was influenced by dynamic level but not pitch register. Artists' vibrato was wider in the upper register than in the lower register. Mean width of the soloists' vibrato was 63 cents (slightly more than one-quarter tone) and mean vibrato rate was 6.63 Hz. Discussion includes implications for string pedagogy and suggestions for additional research.


In recent years, the Bitcoin investment market has become increasingly popular. We collected existing literature on Bitcoin and found that predictions about the role of Bitcoin in investment portfolios and the volatility of Bitcoin price as well as return have become advanced research topics. This study shows our current work on the prediction of Bitcoin price volatility and proposes an idea for predicting the price volatility. We have designed an experiment that compares different combinations of machine learning algorithms with GARCH-type models, intending to compare the effects of these models in the prediction of Bitcoin time series and finally implement an optimized algorithm.


comprehensive, study of the force-balance type. No space is given to digital transducers, but their development has scarcely yet begun. The most obvious lack in the book is a full treatment of calibration and test methods but this, as the author points out in his introduction, is a topic worthy of a book to itself. It is to be hoped that Dr. Neubert will shortly find time to produce such a useful sequel to his present book.—N. E. G. HILLS.


ABSTRACT Murine hepatitis coronavirus (MHV)-A59 infection depends on the interaction of its spike (S) protein with the cellular receptor mCEACAM1a present on murine cells. Human cells lack this receptor and are therefore not susceptible to MHV. Specific alleviation of the tropism barrier by redirecting MHV to a tumor-specific receptor could lead to a virus with appealing properties for tumor therapy. To demonstrate that MHV can be retargeted to a nonnative receptor on human cells, we produced bispecific adapter proteins composed of the N-terminal D1 domain of mCEACAM1a linked to a short targeting peptide, the six-amino-acid His tag. Preincubation of MHV with the adapter proteins and subsequent inoculation of human cells expressing an artificial His receptor resulted in infection of these otherwise nonsusceptible cells and led to subsequent production of progeny virus. To generate a self-targeted virus able to establish multiround infection of the target cells, we subsequently incorporated the gene encoding the bispecific adapter protein as an additional expression cassette into the MHV genome through targeted RNA recombination. When inoculated onto murine LR7 cells, the resulting recombinant virus indeed expressed the adapter protein. Furthermore, inoculation of human target cells with the virus resulted in a His receptor-specific infection that was multiround. Extensive cell-cell fusion and rapid cell killing of infected target cells was observed. Our results show that MHV can be genetically redirected via adapters composed of the S protein binding part of mCEACAM1a and a targeting peptide recognizing a nonnative receptor expressed on human cells, consequently leading to rapid cell death. The results provide interesting leads for further investigations of the use of coronaviruses as antitumor agents.


In order to be successful on the market, energy-saving measures for existing buildings need to be promoted with arguments that are directly relevant to the users. Initial marketing for energy retrofitting has been based on monetary profits from future energy savings. However, for most households in Europe, energy bills for the home account for only 3-4 percent of disposable income, hence are not a major concern. As a result of inappropriate promotion of energy savings for existing buildings, less than 1 percent of over 300.000 projects certified by BREEAM are refurbishments. Apparently, the promotion of energy retrofitting needs to be based on different grounds. It has been shown that people are particularly attracted to the idea of increasing the comfort and appearance of their homes, rather than carbon savings or long-term monetary profits. Therefore, the goal in this paper was to analyze the potential of linking energy-efficiency to an increase in housing quality.The first step in the research was to study the current practise of energy upgrades of the existing building stock. Sixty case studies analyzed by International Energy Agency (IEA), under SHC Task 37, were taken as references. Based on these projects, the most frequent refurbishment interventions are: addition of thermal insulation, reconstruction of balconies, enlargement of window area and restructuring of the floor plan. Each of the four measures was analyzed in a separate chapter through various aspects of housing quality.It was concluded that the energy retrofitting can contribute to a higher aesthetic value of a building and to the comfort of its occupants. However, there are some possible negative outcomes of the actions as well, which might discourage people from making the investment. In terms of architecture, both the interior and exterior can benefit from the implementation of energy-saving measures. Due to large quantity of existing buildings, the visual results from these interventions will be dominant in the urban landscape and might even define a new style in architecture.The motive for writing this paper was to provide information about beneficial outcomes from building retrofits, thus help their promotion among the users. Even though this was achieved, the information is not structured in a way relevant for the users. A common user might ask: "What should I do to increase the air quality inside my apartment?" Therefore, further work on this matter should be directed towards organizing the information in a "user-friendly" way so that people can easily get informed on which energy-saving measures directly address their particular comfort requirements and to what extent.


There is a problem to be solved for improvement of durability and safety supervision. When you do the waterproofing and anticorrosive work of main concrete from the design stage, the material and method of construction need to be correctly applied to appropriate circumstance conditions. Epoxy have mostly been used for concrete water tank structure. Lately, lots of subjects on adaption of polyurea resin waterproofing and anticorrosive are under discussion. Then, we attempt to approach by evaluating and comparing every capabilities with another waterproofs in this study. Performance evaluation items include the adherence performance, the imprint of seal performance, temperature dependence performance, promotion weatherizing ability, inner chemical performance. drinking water eruptive performance. Through the experiment analysis, we found that the polyurea resin waterproofing membrane is dominantly superior to other waterproofs. According to this study, we suggest the polyurea resin waterproofing membrane as a new waterproofing material for concrete structure.


In general, it is difficult to present haptic information because arbitrary curvatures of the curved surface and many degrees of freedom need to be realized. On the other hand, psychophysical studies have suggested that human visual and tactile sensations have an illusory fusion characteristic. This means that we can recognize curved surfaces of objects through visual and tactile sensations, even if exact tactile information is not presented. Hence, by utilizing the human characteristic of sensory fusion, realization of a haptic device of curved surface can be simplified. From such motivation, the human fusion characteristics of visual and tactile sensation are measured, and are quantitatively analyzed. Based on the analyzed results, a haptic device of two-dimensional curved surface for three fingers is developed. In the haptic device, only four curved patterns are utilized instead of presenting many curved patterns. Performance of the developed haptic device is proved through evaluated experiments.


The most widely used technique for generating whole-body motions on a humanoid robot accounting for various tasks and constraints is inverse kinematics. Based on the task-function approach, this class of methods enables the coordination of robot movements to execute several tasks in parallel and account for the sensor feedback in real time, thanks to the low computation cost. To some extent, it also enables us to deal with some of the robot constraints (e.g., joint limits or visibility) and manage the quasi-static balance of the robot. In order to fully use the whole range of possible motions, this paper proposes extending the task-function approach to handle the full dynamics of the robot multibody along with any constraint written as equality or inequality of the state and control variables. The definition of multiple objectives is made possible by ordering them inside a strict hierarchy. Several models of contact with the environment can be implemented in the framework. We propose a reduced formulation of the multiple rigid planar contact that keeps a low computation cost. The efficiency of this approach is illustrated by presenting several multicontact dynamic motions in simulation and on the real HRP-2 robot.


Program synthesis is succeeding in supporting the generation of programs within increasingly complex domains. The use of weaker specifications, such as those consisting of input/output examples or test cases, has helped to fuel the success of program synthesis by lowering adoption barriers. Yet, employing weaker specifications has the side effect of generating a potentially large number of candidate programs. This was not a problem for simpler and smaller program domains, but it is becoming evident that differentiating among many synthesized programs is a challenge that needs addressing. We sketch an approach to mitigate this challenge, requiring less effort from the user while automatically identifying inputs that can differentiate clusters of synthesized programs. The approach has the potential to more cost-effectively narrow the space of candidate programs in a range of synthesis applications.


In the modern information economy, the security of information is critically important to organizations. Information‐security risk assessments (ISRAs) allow organizations to identify key information assets and security risks so security expenditure can be directed cost‐effectively. Unfortunately conducting ISRAs requires special expertise and tends to be complex and costly for small to medium sized organizations (SMEs). Therefore, it remains unclear in practice, and unknown in literature, how SMEs address information security imperatives without the benefit of an ISRA process. This research makes a contribution to theory in security management by identifying the factors that influence key decision‐ makers in SMEs to address information security risks. The study has identified three key motivating factors from a series of case studies. Firstly, the need for sufficient information security to maintain reputation with external clients whilst conforming to the level of information security practices typical in industry culture. Secondly, (mis)perceptions of the existing state of information security and level of exposure to security threats in the organization. Thirdly, the perceived need to focus on higher corporate business priorities rather than on information security.


Heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure are leading causes of death worldwide, and hypertension is a significant risk factor for each. Hypertension is less common in women, compared to men, in those younger than 45 years of age. This trend is reversed in those 65 years and older. In the US between 2011-2014, the prevalence of hypertension in women and men by age group was 6% vs 8% (18-39 years), 30% vs 35% (40-59 years), and 67% vs 63% (60 years and over). Awareness, treatment, and control rates differ between genders with women being more aware of their diagnosis (85% vs 80%), more likely to take their medications (81% vs 71%) and more frequently having controlled hypertension (55% vs 49%). Analysis of >12,000 patient visits with primary care physicians in the US showed no gender difference in the number of anti-hypertensive medications, but did reveal women were more commonly prescribed diuretics and less frequently prescribed ACE-inhibitors.Data on blood pressure (BP) and hypertension prevalence have traditionally been based on manual/automated sphygmomanometer measurements in office. However, extensive epidemiologic data indicate that up to 30% of persons diagnosed with hypertension in office are normotensive outside of clinic. Multiple large population based meta-analyses have shown the superiority of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) and home BP monitoring (or self-monitoring) to in-clinic BP measurements in predicting cardiovascular outcomes (cardiovascular death, stroke, and cardiac/coronary events). Further, night-time BP recorded by ABPM has emerged as a better predictor of total mortality, stroke, and cardiovascular death in patients with hypertension and a history cardiovascular disease (CVD) than either day-time ABPM or in-clinic BP measurements. Importantly, the United States Preventive Services Task Force is now recommending ABPM in all patients prior to initiation of anti-hypertensive treatment as a Grade-A recommendation. ABPM data show a higher percentage of women (43%) than men (34%) have white coat hypertension (elevated in clinic BP, normal out of clinic BP). White coat hypertension has been associated with development of sustained hypertension and increased stroke risk on long term follow-up. In contrast, masked hypertension (elevated out of clinic BP, normal in clinic BP), which has been associated with increased cardiovascular risk, is less common in women compared to men. The prevalence of masked hypertension in women increases with body mass index (adjusted OR = 1.65 for BMI≥27, 95% CI = 1.14-2.39) and alcohol intake (adjusted OR = 2.12 for at least six drinks per week, 95% CI = 1.34-3.35), perhaps accounting for the increased rate of cardiovascular outcomes in this patient group.Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with CVD outcomes have provided definitive evidence that BP lowering medications benefit hypertensive women. While these trials have largely shown similar CVD outcome benefits in both genders, some differences in response to therapy have been reported. In the ALLHAT study, amlodipine, compared to lisinopril, was associated with a greater reduction in BP, as well as a decreased stroke rate in women. In the VALUE study, cardiovascular morbidity/mortality was higher with valsartan than with amlodipine in women. In the LIFE study, a lower primary composite endpoint (CVD death, stroke, and myocardial infarction) was seen in women treated with losartan. The BP Lowering Treatment Trialists' Collaboration overview of 31 RCTs included comparisons of active agents with placebos, intensive vs less intensive anti-hypertensive medications, and one active agent versus another. In all cases, average baseline BP was higher for women than men, but BP reduction was comparable between genders. No differences in the effects of various anti-hypertensive regimens on CVD outcomes by gender were identified. However, clinically significant gender specific adverse effects of various anti-hypertensive drug classes have been identified. Women more commonly develop hyponatremia/hypokalemia from diuretic therapy; men more frequently develop gout. Women are 3 times more likely to develop an ACE-inhibitor related cough, and more commonly experience CCB-related peripheral edema and minoxidil-induced hirsutism. Importantly, ACEIs/ARBs, direct renin inhibitors, and mineralocorticoid antagonists are contraindicated in women of reproductive age due to the potential of developing fetal abnormalities. Thiazide type diuretics are preferred for the use in elderly women because of decreased risk of hip fractures.Several forms of hypertension, including post-menopausal, oral contraceptive (OCP) induced, and pregnancy related hypertension occur only in women. Following menopause, there is an age independent increase in systolic BP thought to be secondary to the withdrawal of endogenous estrogen, increased salt sensitivity, diminished endothelial nitric oxide production, and increased angiotensin II receptor expression. OCP use is associated with increases in both BP and risk of cardiovascular events, which are reversible with cessation of OCP use. Hypertension in pregnancy (including chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, and eclampsia) is associated with increased maternal and fetal cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular risk during pregnancy and long-term mortality risk, particularly for Alzheimer disease, stroke, diabetes, and ischemic heart disease.


Recent debates on surveillance have emphasised the now myriad possibilities of automated, software-based data gathering, management and analysis. One of the many terms used to describe this phenomenon is 'Big Data'. The field of Big Data covers a large and complex range of practices and technologies from smart borders to CCTV video analysis, and from consumer profiling to self-tracking applications. The paper's aim is to explore the surveillance dynamics inherent in contemporary Big Data trends. To this end, the paper adopts two main perspectives concerned with two complementary expressions of Big Data: (1) the individual use of various techniques of self-surveillance and tracking and (2) the simultaneous trend to optimise urban infrastructures through smart information technologies. Drawing upon exploratory research conducted by the authors, the paper shows that both expressions of Big Data present a range of common surveillance dynamics on at least four levels: agency, temporality, spatiality and normativity. On these grounds, the paper highlights a series of important issues to explore in future research.


This text presents statistical concepts and methods in a unified, modern, spreadsheet-oriented approach. Featuring a wealth of business applications, this examples-based text illustrates a variety of statistical methods to help students analyze data sets and uncover important information to aid decision-making. DATA ANALYSIS FOR MANAGERS contains professional StatPro add-ins for Microsoft Excel from Palisade, valued at one hundred fifty dollars packaged at no additional cost with every new text.


Background: Bleeding and thromboembolism continue to be the greatest cause of morbidity and mortality during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). The activated clotting time (ACT) remains a standard for heparin management in both ECMO and cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), despite its weak correlation to the lower plasma heparin levels of ECMO. Furthermore, little is known about the hemostatic alterations related to ECMO versus CPB in children. We hypothesize that the hemostatic profile of ECMO patients differs significantly from those undergoing CPB, and furthermore that age-specific differences exist between neonatal and pediatric ECMO patients. Methods: A prospective observational study evaluating antithrombin III (ATIII), fibrinolysis, thrombin generation, platelet activation and platelet response to agonist during CPB and ECMO at baseline, 4 and 24 hrs. Differences between age groups (neonatal vs. pediatric) in the ECMO group were also compared at baseline, 4, 12, 24, 72, and 144 hrs respectively. Results: The ECMO group was younger, weighed less, and had a lower body surface index than the CPB group. There were significant differences in baseline ATIII levels, platelet functionality, D-Dimer, and F1+2 concentrations between groups. Dichotomization of the ECMO group revealed that D-Dimer and F1+2 generation increased with time in neonatal patients. Conclusions: ECMO generally had greater impact on the hemostatic system than CPB. Circulating platelets were less responsive and markers of fibrinolytic and coagulation activation were greater in the ECMO group at all 3 time points compared between the two therapies. Fibrinolytic and coagulation activation increased with time significantly in the neonatal ECMO population.


The heartbreaking plight in which a bipolarized and atom bomb-blessed world finds itself today is but the extreme manifestation of a dilemma with which human societies have had to grapple since the dawn of history. For it stems from a fundamental social constellation, one where a plurality of otherwise interconnected groups constitute ultimate units of political life, that is, where groups live alongside each other without being organized into a higher unity. Wherever such anarchic society has existed—and it has existed in most periods of known history on some level—there has arisen what may be called the 'security dilemma' of men, or groups, or their leaders. Groups or individuals living in such a constellation must be, and usually are, concerned about their security from being attacked, subjected, dominated, or annihilated by other groups and individuals. Striving to attain security from such attack, they are driven to acquire more and more power in order to escape the impact of the power of others. This, in turn, renders the others more insecure and compels them to prepare for the worst. Since none can ever feel entirely secure in such a world of competing units, power competition ensues, and the vicious circle of security and power accumulation is on.


The effect of exercise training mode on reflex cardiovascular control was studied in a cross-sectional design. We examined the cardiovascular responses to progressive incremental phenylephrine (PE) infusion to maximal rates of 120 micrograms/min and the delta heart rate/delta blood pressure responses to lower body negative pressure (LBNP) to -50 Torr in 30 men who were either endurance exercise trained (ET), untrained (UT), or weight trained (WT). During PE infusion, measures of blood pressures, forearm blood flow, heart rate and cardiac output, and calculations of forearm vascular resistance, stroke volume, and peripheral vascular resistance were made at each infusion rate when steady-state blood pressure was attained. No significant differences (P less than 0.05) in forearm blood flow or resistance were observed between the groups at any dose of PE, suggesting that the vasoconstrictor response was similar among the groups. Regression analyses of heart rate against mean blood pressure during the PE infusion were performed to evaluate baroreflex function. A linear model was used and correlation coefficients ranging from 0.82 to 0.96 were obtained (P less than 0.05). The slope of the line of best fit for the ET subjects (-0.57) was significantly less (P less than 0.05) than the slopes obtained for either the UT (-0.91) or WT (-0.88) subjects. In addition, the delta heart rate/delta blood pressure measurements obtained during LBNP reflected a similarly significant attenuation of reflex chronotropic control in the ET subjects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The construction and application of visible-light-driven photocatalysts falls in the central focus for the efficient utilization of renewable solar energy, which provides unprecedented opportunities for addressing the increasing concerns on energy and environmental sustainability. Herein, graphene based Au–TiO2 photocatalysts were fabricated by a simple, one-step microwave-assisted hydrothermal method, using Degussa P25 TiO2 powder (P25), graphene oxide and HAuCl4 aqueous solution as the raw materials. The effects of graphene introduction and gold loading on the photocatalytic hydrogen production rates of the as-prepared samples in a methanolic aqueous solution were investigated. The results indicated that Au–TiO2–graphene composite had a significantly increased visible light absorption and enhanced photocatalytic H2-production activity compared to the Au–TiO2 composite. In comparison, the pure TiO2, graphene–TiO2 and graphene–Au had no appreciable visible-light-driven H2 production. The enhanced photocatalytic H2-production activity of the Au–TiO2–graphene composite is ascribed to (1) the load of the Au nanoparticles which broadens the visible light response of TiO2 due to the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect, and (2) the introduction of graphene, which functions as rapid electron transfer units, facilitating the space separation of photoelectron and hole pairs. The proposed H2-production activity enhancement mechanism was further confirmed by the transient photocurrent response and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) experiments.


a) Punctum plasty (eversion of the lacrimal point): This simple method results in a permanently enlarged punctum. A 4-0 silk suture is passed through the vertical part of the canaliculus and the conjunctiva, drawing them together very tightly. The thread falls out after 4-6 weeks. b) Management of trichiasis: Electrolysis of misdirected lashes leads to contraction and renewed misdirection. This disadvantage is avoided by excising the lashes with a 1 mm trephine. The trephine must follow the direction of the lash exactly, so that a complete cylinder including the hair and root can be removed. The resulting small defect heals quickly without contraction.


In this paper, the formation process of magnesium hydroxide unit cells, as well as the structural characteristics and growth morphology of magnesium hydroxide, is discussed from the perspective of growth units. The growth process of the hexagonal structure of the magnesium hydroxide is as follows: the growth units are first incorporated into a larger hexagonal dimension unit on the same plane, and then the hexagonal layers connect to each other in the z-axis direction for the hexagonal magnesium hydroxide unit cell. The results of the study show that the model of anion coordination polyhedron growth units may be reasonably deduced by using the unit cell structure and growth mechanism of magnesium hydroxide. After using Raman spectroscopy of the magnesium hydroxide growth solution Raman shift, the growth units of the magnesium hydroxide are shown to be octahedral: [Mg − (OH)6] .


The glacial border of the Laurentide ice sheet in the western Canadian Arctic is commonly recognized with Herschel Island in the Beaufort Sea expressing its subaerial northwestern limit. Ice-rich and diam- ictic deposits build up the island and they are inter- preted to result from a push moraine that dumped material in the area. The deposits were likely exca- vated from the nearby Herschel Basin, a prominent
bathymetric depression on the sea floor found in the SE of the island.
We test this glacial interpretation by comparing the clay mineral distribution in the area. Surface samples have been collected on- and offshore, from Herschel Island and the Yukon Coastal lowland, and from the Beaufort Sea shoals with sampling sites placed in- and outside of the supposed ice sheet extension.


We present a new semi-analytic model that self-consistently traces the growth of supermassive black holes (BH) and their host galaxies within the context of the Lambda cold dark matter (� CDM) cosmological framework. In our model, the energy emitted by accreting black holes regulates the growth of the black holes themselves, drives galactic scale winds that can remove cold gas from galaxies, and produces powerful jets that heat the hot gas atmospheres surrounding groups and clusters. We present a comprehensive comparison of our model predictions with observational measurements of key physical properties of low-redshift galaxies, such as cold gas fractions, stellar metallicities and ages, and specific star formation rates. We find that our new models successfully reproduce the exponential cut-off in the stellar mass function and the stellar and cold gas mass densities at z ∼ 0, and predict that star formation should be largely, but not entirely, quenched in massive galaxies at the present day. We also find that our model of self-regulated BH growth naturally reproduces the observed relation between BH mass and bulge mass. We explore the global formation history of galaxies and black holes in our models, presenting predictions for the cosmic histories of star formation, stellar mass assembly, cold gas and metals. We find that models assuming the 'concordance' � CDM cosmology overproduce star formation and stellar mass at high redshift (z 2). A model with less small-scale power predicts less star formation at high redshift, and excellent agreement with the observed stellar mass assembly history, but may have difficulty accounting for the cold gas in quasar absorption systems at high redshift (z ∼ 3–4).


BACKGROUND
concurrent vision and hearing loss are common in older adults; however, epidemiological data on their relationship with the incidence of falls are lacking.

OBJECTIVE
we assessed the association between dual sensory impairment (DSI) and incidence of falls. We examined the influence of self-perceived hearing handicap and hearing aid use and risk of falls.

DESIGN
a population-based, cohort study of participants followed over 5 years.

SETTING
Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, Australia.

SUBJECTS
one thousand four hundred and seventy-eight participants aged 55 and older at baseline were included in longitudinal analyses.

METHODS
visual impairment was defined as presenting or best-corrected visual acuity less than 20/40 (better eye), and hearing impairment as average pure-tone air conduction threshold >25 dB HL (500-4,000 Hz, better ear). The shortened version of the hearing handicap inventory for the elderly was administered. Incident falls were assessed over the 12 months before each visit. Cognitive impairment was determined using the Mini-Mental State Examination.

RESULTS
five-year incidence of falls was 10.4%. Participants with severe self-perceived hearing handicap versus no hearing handicap had increased risk of incident falls, multivariable-adjusted OR 1.93 (95% confidence intervals, CI, 1.02-3.64). Hearing aid users versus non-users had 75% increased likelihood of incident falls. Participants with co-existing best-corrected visual impairment and mild hearing loss (>25 to ≤40 dB HL) had higher odds of incident falls, OR 2.19 (95% CI 1.03-4.67). After excluding persons with cognitive impairment, this association did not persist.

CONCLUSION
these epidemiological data show that DSI in older adults could significantly increase their risk of falling.


Accurately quantifying soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in soils is considered necessary and important for studying the soil quality and productivity, modeling the global carbon cycle, and assessing the global climate change. The objectives of this chapter are (1) to evaluate the effects of sampling density and interpolation methods on spatial distribution of SOC density (SOCD) and (2) to estimate the SOC stocks in 0–30, 0–50, and 0–100 cm layer of Tainan rural soils (2192 km 2 ), Taiwan. Ordinary kriging (OK), empirical Bayesian kriging (EBK), and inverse distance weighting (IDW) methods and four sampling densities ( n = 7388, 1168, 370, or 77) were used for spatial interpolation. The results indicated that different sampling densities had significant effects on predicting the spatial patterns of SOCD, but no significant difference was found among three interpolation methods. Spatial pattern of SOCD obtained from the highest sampling density appeared to be the most detailed distribution, and the prediction accuracy showed a reducing trend with decreasing sampling density. At least 1 sample per 2 km × 2 km area was suggested. The estimates of SOC stocks in different layers of Tainan soils ranged from 8.03 to 8.08 million tons in 0–30 cm, 11.92 to 12.04 million tons in 0–50 cm, and 20.38 to 20.65 million tons in 0–100 cm.


The latest trends in the world archival science. A commentary on the session of the International Council on Archives in Adelaide "Designing the Archive 2019" The aim of the article is to present the latest achievements of the world archival science and draw attention to academic achievements, projects, problems and challenges which were discussed by the international archive community at Designing the Archive 2019, a conference of the International Council on Archives which took place in October 2019 in Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. Designing archives is not only the main topic of the conference, but also a trend which has become visible in direct actions taken by archives. It generates certain problems and challenges for archives, but also gives them opportunities to grow. Since the article refers in particular to innovations in archives, it discusses solutions adopted e.g. in Norway, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United States and Australia, and refers also to Costa Rica and China, paying particular attention to innovative working methods in archives, which make use of experiments to design ICT tools, inspire creativity in archive employees and develop IT tools in harmony with people's needs and expectations, which in practice results in developing special theme applications. The article also makes a reference to the latest research in designing and using the space of archive buildings, as well as designing research laboratories and the public space to satisfy the needs of 21st century users and attract new ones. The article also discusses the role of marketing and digital economy in the functioning of archives in this context. New trends in the world archival science are also silent archives and research on archive trauma, whose foundation is a new approach towards judging the value of documentation, popular in the United States and based on the feminist approach. Silent archives are a difficult subject, but international research shows that archivists meet the needs of the oppressed.


Abstract Objective To investigate the associations between air pollution and mortality, focusing on associations below current European Union, United States, and World Health Organization standards and guidelines. Design Pooled analysis of eight cohorts. Setting Multicentre project Effects of Low-Level Air Pollution: A Study in Europe (ELAPSE) in six European countries. Participants 325 367 adults from the general population recruited mostly in the 1990s or 2000s with detailed lifestyle data. Stratified Cox proportional hazard models were used to analyse the associations between air pollution and mortality. Western Europe-wide land use regression models were used to characterise residential air pollution concentrations of ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and black carbon. Main outcome measures Deaths due to natural causes and cause specific mortality. Results Of 325 367 adults followed-up for an average of 19.5 years, 47 131 deaths were observed. Higher exposure to PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide, and black carbon was associated with significantly increased risk of almost all outcomes. An increase of 5 µg/m3 in PM2.5 was associated with 13% (95% confidence interval 10.6% to 15.5%) increase in natural deaths; the corresponding figure for a 10 µg/m3 increase in nitrogen dioxide was 8.6% (7% to 10.2%). Associations with PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide, and black carbon remained significant at low concentrations. For participants with exposures below the US standard of 12 µg/m3 an increase of 5 µg/m3 in PM2.5 was associated with 29.6% (14% to 47.4%) increase in natural deaths. Conclusions Our study contributes to the evidence that outdoor air pollution is associated with mortality even at low pollution levels below the current European and North American standards and WHO guideline values. These findings are therefore an important contribution to the debate about revision of air quality limits, guidelines, and standards, and future assessments by the Global Burden of Disease.


Cell-cell communication is pivotal for the coordination of various features of plant development. Recent studies in plants have revealed that, as in animals, secreted signal peptides play critical roles during reproduction. However, the precise signalling mechanisms in plants are not well understood. In this review, we discuss the known and putative roles of secreted peptides present in the seeds of angiosperms as key signalling factors involved in coordinating different aspects of seed development.


According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rulebook, student-athletes are limited to 20 hours/week of official athletic activity. While this in and of itself is not a huge time commitment, when it is combined with the academic expectations that come with being a college student and athletic activities that are not included in the 20 hours/week, there isn't much time left in the week for student-athletes to get everything done. In addition to imposing daily stress, such time demands may negatively affect sleep. This study examined the sleep quality and quantity of studentathletes, as well as how much time they spend on athletic and academic activities. It was predicted that the student-athletes overall would not have a "good" sleep rating, and that they would not be getting the recommended 10 hours of sleep per night. It was also predicted that in-season student-athletes would be spending more than the allotted 20 hours per week on their athletic activities. All data for this study were collected through online surveys, which included several demographic and background questions, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), an instrument that provides a measurement of an individual's sleep quality. A score 5 is considered "bad" sleep quality. The 42 participants in this study (29 female; 13 male) were student-athletes at Portland State University (PSU) and represented all but one of the sports offered at PSU. All student-athletes listed on the official team roster received two e-mails requesting their participation in the study. There was at least one respondent in each class level, with 13 reporting as in-season student-athletes and 29 reporting as out-of-season student-athletes. ii Of the 42 respondents, only 3 received a "good" sleep quality rating. The median sleep quality rating for the entire sample was 9, and the median amount of sleep obtained was 7 hours/night, with a median bedtime of 2330. The median amount of self-reported time spent on athletics was 15.5 hours/week and the median time spent on academics was 15 hours/week. It was concluded that PSU student-athletes do not get enough sleep, and their sleep quality is very low. In-season student-athletes also self-reported spending more time in their athletic activities than the maximum NCAA limit. Although the sample size was small, these data support the need for increased education about the benefits of sleep. Also, an examination of the policies regarding what qualifies as an athletic activity, and how much time athletes should spend on such activities is recommended. iii Table of


The objective of this study is to identify, at a macro level, the drivers of store choice in various product categories, in the context of the evolving retail industry in India. The paper attempts to correlate the distinct store features as perceived by respondents with the true motivations of various consumers in patronising various stores. In the process it provides insight as to whether the average Indian consumer values the new store dimensions offered by retailers as a part of the new formats emerging in the market place. The framework evolved for evaluating effectiveness of newer store formats is necessary since it has a major impact on the overall profitability of the retailing business. Suggests that customers in a developing market such as India do not require the service paraphernalia offered by many of the new store formats emerging in the market and notes that this may cast a serious doubt over the retail revolution, which has taken shape in the Indian markets lately. Some hypotheses about the evolution of the retailing business in India, which requires further investigation, are suggested.


A 120-GHz-band 10-Gb/s wireless link using an InP-HEMT-based MMIC was introduced. This link is suitable for last-mile access of 10GbE, live-relay transmission for 4K cinema, and multiplexed HD videos. The transmitter and receiver MMICs were developed to extend the link distance while maintaining the capacity of 10 Gb/s. The 120-GHz wireless link using the MMICs successfully demonstrated wireless transmission of 10GbE over the link distance of over 5 km. We also designed QPSK modulator and demodulator MMICs to improve the spectral efficiency of the wireless link. Fabricated QPSK MMICs and modules performed 10-Gb/s transmission with the BER of 10-10 at the received power of -38.5 dBm. In the future, we hope to implement QPSK modules in the 120-GHz-band wireless link equipment. We would also like to advance the QPSK modulator and demodulator MMICs and modules to handle bit rates of up to 20 Gb/s.


The versatility and adaptability of information technology (IT) offer many potential benefits to society, its organisations and its citizens, but there are also associated risks. The social and ethical implications of this technology warrant special attention and have resulted in the creation of information ethics as a discrete area of study. The overall goal of information ethics is to integrate IT and human values in such a way that IT advances and protects human values rather than doing damage to them.


Graph Convolutional Networks~(GCNs) are state-of-the-art graph based representation learning models by iteratively stacking multiple layers of convolution aggregation operations and non-linear activation operations. Recently, in Collaborative Filtering~(CF) based Recommender Systems~(RS), by treating the user-item interaction behavior as a bipartite graph, some researchers model higher-layer collaborative signals with GCNs. These GCN based recommender models show superior performance compared to traditional works. However, these models suffer from training difficulty with non-linear activations for large user-item graphs. Besides, most GCN based models could not model deeper layers due to the over smoothing effect with the graph convolution operation. In this paper, we revisit GCN based CF models from two aspects. First, we empirically show that removing non-linearities would enhance recommendation performance, which is consistent with the theories in simple graph convolutional networks. Second, we propose a residual network structure that is specifically designed for CF with user-item interaction modeling, which alleviates the over smoothing problem in graph convolution aggregation operation with sparse user-item interaction data. The proposed model is a linear model and it is easy to train, scale to large datasets, and yield better efficiency and effectiveness on two real datasets. We publish the source code at https://github.com/newlei/LR-GCCF.


Dormant pruning of fruit trees is one of the most costly and labor‐intensive activities in specialty crop production. We present a system that solves the first step in the process of automated pruning: accurately measuring and modeling the fruit trees. Our system employs a laser sensor to collect observations of fruit trees from multiple perspectives, and it uses these observations to measure parameters needed for pruning. A split‐and‐merge clustering algorithm divides the collected data into three sets of points: trunk candidates, junction point candidates, and branches. The trunk candidates and junction point candidates are then further refined by a robust fitting algorithm that models as cylinders each segment of the trunk and primary branches. In this work, we focus on measuring the diameters of the primary branches and the trunk, which are important factors in dormant pruning and can be obtained directly from the cylindrical models. We show that the results are qualitatively satisfactory using synthetic and real data. Our experiments with three synthetic and three real apple trees of two different varieties showed that the system is able to identify the primary branches with an average accuracy of 98% and estimate their diameters with an average error of 0.6 cm. Although the current implementation of the system is too slow for large‐scale practical applications (it can measure approximately two trees per hour), our study shows that the proposed approach may serve as a fundamental building block of robotic pruners in the near future.


The advent of the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) led to the standardisation of the first video codecs for interpersonal video communications, followed closely by the development of standards for the compression, storage and distribution of digital video in the PC environment, mainly targeted at CD-ROM storage. At the same time the second-generation digital wireless networks, and the third-generation networks being developed, have enough bandwidth to support digital video services. The radio propagation medium is a difficult environment in which to deploy low bit error rate, real time services such as video. The video coding standards designed for ISDN and storage applications, were targeted at low bit error rate levels, orders of magnitude lower than the typical bit error rates experienced on wireless networks. This thesis is concerned with the transmission of digital, compressed video over wireless networks. It investigates the behaviour of motion compensated, hybrid interframe DPCM/DCT video coding algorithms, which form the basis of current coding algorithms, in the presence of high bit error rates commonly found on digital wireless networks. A group of video codecs, based on the ITU-T H.261 standard, are developed which are robust to the burst errors experienced on radio channels. The radio link is simulated at low level, to generate typical error files that closely model real world situations, in a Rayleigh fading environment perturbed by co-channel interference, and on frequency selective channels which introduce inter symbol interference. Typical anti-multipath techniques, such as antenna diversity, are deployed to mitigate the effects of the channel. Link layer error control techniques are also investigated.


PURPOSE
Children and young adults with hypodiploid B-lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) fare poorly and hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is often pursued in first complete remission (CR1). We retrospectively reviewed the outcomes of children and young adults with hypodiploid B-ALL who were enrolled in recent Children's Oncology Group (COG) trials to evaluate the impact of HSCT on outcome.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Cytogenetic analyses and DNA index were performed at COG-approved laboratories, and hypodiploidy was defined as modal chromosome number less than 44 and/or DNA index less than 0.81. Minimal residual disease (MRD) was determined centrally using flow cytometry at two reference laboratories. Patients with hypodiploid ALL came off protocol therapy postinduction and we retrospectively collected details on their subsequent therapy and outcomes. Event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated for the cohort.

RESULTS
Between 2003 and 2011, 8,522 patients with National Cancer Institute standard-risk and high-risk B-ALL were enrolled in COG AALL03B1 ( ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00482352). Hypodiploidy occurred in 1.5% of patients (n = 131), 98.3% of whom achieved CR after induction therapy. Five-year EFS and OS were 52.2% ± 4.9% and 58.9% ± 4.8%, respectively. Outcomes for patients undergoing CR1 HSCT were not significantly improved: 5-year EFS and OS were 57.4% ± 7.0% and 66.2% ± 6.6% compared with 47.8% ± 7.5% and 53.8% ± 7.6%, respectively ( P = .49 and .34, respectively) for those who did not undergo transplantation. Patients with MRD of 0.01% or greater at the end of induction had 5-year EFS and OS of 26.7% ± 9.3% and 29.3% ± 10.1%, respectively, and HSCT had no significant impact on outcomes.

CONCLUSION
Children and young adults with hypodiploid B-ALL continue to fare poorly and do not seem to benefit from CR1 HSCT. This is especially true for patients with MRD of 0.01% or greater at the end of induction. New treatment strategies are urgently needed for these patients.


For more than a decade, the National Incident Management System (NIMS) has served in the United States as the mandated framework for coordinated organization, operational command, and implementation of response to emergencies nationwide. This article examines whether surface transportation agencies are developing the capabilities necessary to fit effectively into NIMS. It reviews the literature on NIMS, focusing on its implementation in "second and third circle responder" professions, including transportation, rather than in traditional first responder fields such as police, fire, EMS, and emergency management. The article also reports on exploratory interviews with city, metro, state, and federal transportation officials about the extent of NIMS implementation and the factors that facilitate or impede its use. Finally, we present a consolidated conceptual model of factors influencing NIMS implementation and make recommendations about how to enhance NIMS use in the transportation sector.


Tractors are mainly applied in agriculture. The share of import in the structure of tractor machinery market is constantly growing. One of the information sources for the optimization of the machine and tractor fleet and the development of standards to satisfy the needs of typical farms in tractors and agricultural machines for crop production are the performance standards of machinery and fuel consumption. The recommended norms of fuel production and consumption imply the rational use of shift time, optimal composition of machine-tractor units and effective operation modes of tractors and self-travelling agricultural machines. In recent years, many tractors and agricultural machines of foreign companies, including John Deere, are working in the fields of Trans-Urals, Siberia and Russia as a whole. The standards of production and consumption of fuels and lubricants for these agro-climatic conditions are not available for all machine-tractor units. Therefore, it is becoming ever more relevant for agricultural producers to develop such. The studies to establish fuel consumption standards and performance rates of machine-tractor units as part of John Deere tractors were carried out in the fields of agricultural enterprises of the Tyumen Region. The paper presents the results of the study. For example, the productivity of a tractor for a field located at a distance of 5–6 km and an average length of furrow of 1300 m can be in the range of 5.8–6.0 ha/h. Taking into account natural and climatic conditions and different physical and mechanical composition of soil, as well as configuration of fields and length of furrows during processing, the data on the consumption of basic lubricants were obtained. Recommendations on the use of consumption rates for fuels and lubricants of modern tractors in various technological operations in agriculture will greatly facilitate planning and calculation of operating costs of machine-tractor units. The paper considers recommendations on the use of correction factors to the nominal range of fuel consumption depending on soil type for John Deere tractors of the 9th series on the example of disk tillage. Software for economic evaluation of agricultural machinery as part of agricultural technology was developed.


Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common encountered cardiac rhythm disorder (arrhythmia) in clinical practice. It is responsible for about one third of arrhythmia-related hospitalizations. This arrhythmia, which increases in prevalence with age, leads to severe complications and subsequently decreases the quality of life for the affected patients. Lifetime risks for developing AF are  25% in subjects older than 40 years old. Currently, this arrhythmia is considered as a major public health concern. AF is a progressive disease, starting by short and rare episodes which further develop into longer and more frequent occurrences. When the arrhythmia becomes sustained for more than one year, it is labelled as long-standing persistent. AF advancement gives rise to an electrical of the atria (the upper chambers of the heart) resulting from abnormal high frequency atrial activations. The main goals of therapeutic management for patients with AF are to prevent severe complications associated with this arrhythmia, and ultimately to restore a normal rhythm. Currently, the cornerstone of non-pharmacological therapy is the radiofrequency catheter ablation of AF, which consists in delivering at strategic locations within the atria high-frequency electrical impulses. However, catheter ablation for patients with long-standing persistent AF involves extensive ablation of the atria and the success rate reported in various publications is associated with conflicting results. Over the last twenty years, an important effort has been made by the scientific community to develop signal processing algorithms to quantify the complexity of temporal or spectral characteristics of AF dynamics in terms of organization. As such, multiple approaches have been proposed to quantify AF organization either based on time-domain or frequency-domain analysis. All these methods shared one common goal: the development of organization indices which are interpretable from an electrophyisiological viewpoint. In the context of catheter ablation of patients with long-standing persistent AF, the success rate appears limited as the "classical" organization indices are not performant in assessing the amount of ablation required to achieve AF termination. Thus, there is a strong interest in predicting the procedural outcome from the surface electrocardiogram (ECG) recorded at baseline, i.e., prior to ablation. The main objective of this thesis was to derive novel organization indices from surface ECG and intracardiac signals acquired at baseline which could discriminate patients in whom AF was terminated from patients in whom AF persisted during catheter ablation within the left atrium. As the standard surface ECG is not appropriate for measuring the atrial activity, we aimed at adapting the placement of at least one ECG lead such that additional electrical information from the atria was provided. In our ECG signals study, we hypothesized that a quantification of the harmonic structure of AF signals brings more insight into AF complexity. Time-invariant and time-varying approaches were used to derive the ECG organization indices, and their performance for predicting the acute outcome of catheter ablation were compared. In the first scheme, the harmonic components of AF waves were extracted using linear time-invariant filters. In the second one, the components were extracted using an adaptive harmonic frequency tracking algorithm. [...]


While their presence at the outlet of IC engines has been attested, the formation of short-chain monocarboxylic acids, formic (HCOOH), acetic (CH3COOH), propionic (C2H5COOH) or acrylic (C2H3COOH)) acids has very rarely been reported in laboratory combustion systems. In order to better understand their potential formation, detailed kinetic mechanisms have been proposed and tested. A first model has been used to simulate lean (equivalence ratios from 0.9 to 0.48) laminar premixed flames of propane stabilized at atmospheric pressure. It was found that amounts up to 40 ppm of formic acid, 25 ppm of acetic acid and 1 ppm of C3 acids, mainly acrylic acid, can be formed. A quite acceptable agreement has been obtained with the scarce results from the literature concerning oxygenated compounds, including aldehydes and acids. A reaction pathways analysis demonstrated that each acid is mainly derived from the aldehyde of similar structure, with a dominant role of OH. radicals. Based on this first one, a second model has allowed us to simulate a flame of propane doped by toluene and to show, as it was experimentally observed, an enhancement of the formation of C3 acid, which could be due to the addition of OH. radicals to cyclopentadienone. A third model has been proposed to qualitatively explain the formation of acids during the pre-ignition phase (temperatures below 1100 K) in an HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition) engine alimented by a n-heptane/iso-octane mixture (equivalence ratio of 0.3). Noticeable amounts of monocarboxylic acids could derive from the secondary reactions of ketones or cyclic ethers, which are important products of the oxidation of alkanes at low temperature. These amounts remain too low compared to what is actually observed at the outlet of engines.


Aging is a major risk factor for a large number of disorders and functional impairments. Therapeutic targeting of the aging process may therefore represent an innovative strategy in the quest for novel and broadly effective treatments against age-related diseases. The recent report of lifespan extension in mice treated with the FDA-approved mTOR inhibitor rapamycin represented the first demonstration of pharmacological extension of maximal lifespan in mammals. Longevity effects of rapamycin may, however, be due to rapamycin's effects on specific life-limiting pathologies, such as cancers, and it remains unclear if this compound actually slows the rate of aging in mammals. Here, we present results from a comprehensive, large-scale assessment of a wide range of structural and functional aging phenotypes, which we performed to determine whether rapamycin slows the rate of aging in male C57BL/6J mice. While rapamycin did extend lifespan, it ameliorated few studied aging phenotypes. A subset of aging traits appeared to be rescued by rapamycin. Rapamycin, however, had similar effects on many of these traits in young animals, indicating that these effects were not due to a modulation of aging, but rather related to aging-independent drug effects. Therefore, our data largely dissociate rapamycin's longevity effects from effects on aging itself.


This paper presents the findings of a preliminary study about the use of bio-feedback sensors in the context of an educational hypermedia environment, skin conductance, blood volume pulse and heart rate physiological data were gathered. The aim of the study was to examine learners' emotional arousal variability, and possible correlations of the physiological data with other psychological constructs such as trait and self-reported anxiety. Ten university students participated in two identical experiments, with a mixed between-within experimental design (20 samples). According to the findings, heart rate was significantly correlated with trait and self-reported state anxiety (in the second experiment), but not with academic performance in an on-line exam. Skin conductance and blood volume pulse had only marginal variations, perhaps due to the absence of intense stimuli.


E-democracy, the design and development of new techniques for improving communication between public administration and citizens, is a major application field for natural language processing and language engineering. Helping citizens access information in a friendly, intuitive way is the primary objective of a global e-democracy framework. The E-democracy European Network project (EDEN) aimed at discovering whether a particular NLP (natural language processing) approach could further e-democracy by increasing citizens' participation in the decision-making process. The goal was twofold: to test whether e-democracy requirements could be meet using advanced linguistic technology and to test whether augmented phrase structure grammars (APSGs) were robust and well-assessed enough to use in a real-world environment. Also, the aim is to develop two toolsets to improve communication between PAs and citizens in the context of urban planning: a set of NLP-based tools to simplify access to information and knowledge and a set of forum and polling devices


We Must Betray Our Potential

In these metaphysical dialogues between the dancing and linguistic self, Thurston circles questions of being, 'self'-presence and identity. The temporality of dance – its fleeting, unrestricted movements – and the apparent 'solidity' of the poem as permanence play against one another throughout the book. But the metaphorical nature of language and the material 'factness' of the body also weigh heavily – after all, "you can't edit out your arm". Thurston's refusal of a straightforward 'gesture-as-language' analogy is admirable. Instead, dance and bodily movement suggest the possibility of gesture as a form of enquiry – an interrogative practice which stands apart from metaphor. In this way the poems clear space for feelings of doubt and vertigo, proposing an ethics of restless, never-settling 'selves'-examination. How does language, this 'incorporeal' stuff, touch us? How are we moved by it? How is thinking made – through movement? Gesture? The trace of a dance? - Amy McCauley


The concept of competitiveness has been widely accepted and has become a part of discussion in world-wide forums. Today global economy cannot be explained in the same manner as it was a few decades ago. Improved competitiveness of economies is a need of the day and ability to compete in the world market is of major concern. This paper attempts to assess the position of Pakistan in the International Competitiveness. As a survey paper, the concept, definition and the measurement of competitiveness have been analysed further to assess Pakistan's position in the region. Competitiveness is linked with export performance of other trading and non trading countries. Pakistan's export performance is analysed in this context. Lessons for Pakistan have been drawn on the basis of experiences of emerging economies. It has been concluded that countries can strengthen their export markets with the passage of time. They need to improve the governance as well as technological progress to increase high-tech exports. Developing countries like Pakistan start from low technology and with passage of time shift to improved technologies. Technology-based activities help improving export performance that brings competitiveness of a country. The paper also suggests a model to government of Pakistan which describes that high technology exports will be a result of extensive Research and Development (R&D) using human capital as an investment in the country. The success depends upon the combined efforts of the government, individuals and business initiatives both in public and private sectors.


This paper presents RESIST, a recursive test pattern generation (TPG) algorithm for path delay fault testing of scanbased circuits. Five test classes are introduced and their properties are discussed. We present an algorithm for deriving a logic system for TPG that results in an earlier recognition of conflicting value assignments. RESIST uses the logic system derived for each test class for an optimal search strategy. In contrast to other approaches, it exploits the fact that many paths in a circuit have common subpaths. RESIST sensitizes those subpaths only once, reducing the number of value assignments during path sensitization significantly. In addition, our procedure identifies large sets of untestable path delay faults without enumerating them. RESIST is capable of performing TPG for all path delay faults in all ISCAS-85 and ISCAS-89 circuits. For the first time, results for all path delay faults in circuit c6288 are presented. A comparison with other TPG systems revealed that RESIST is significantly faster than all previously published methods. >


The Keplerian distribution of velocities is not observed in the rotation of large scale structures, such as found in the rotation of spiral galaxies. The deviation from Keplerian distribution provides compelling evidence of the presence of non-luminous matter i.e. called dark matter. There are several astrophysical motivations for investigating the dark matter in and around the galaxy as halo. In this work we address various theoretical and experimental indications pointing towards the existence of this unknown form of matter. Amongst its constituents neutrino is one of the most prospective candidates. We know the neutrinos oscillate and have tiny masses, but there are also signatures for existence of heavy and light sterile neutrinos and possibility of their mixing. Altogether, the role of neutrinos is of great interests in cosmology and understanding dark matter.


Abstract In this paper, we present an in-depth analysis of a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO)-based sensing method for electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy, which greatly simplifies the experimental setup compared to conventional detection schemes. In contrast to our previous oscillator-based ESR detectors, where the ESR signal was encoded in the oscillation frequency, in the amplitude-sensitive method, the ESR signal is sensed as a change of the oscillation amplitude of the VCO. Therefore, using VCO architecture with a built-in amplitude demodulation scheme, the experimental setup reduces to a single permanent magnet in combination with a few inexpensive electronic components. We present a theoretical analysis of the achievable limit of detection, which uses perturbation-theory-based VCO modeling for the signal and applies a stochastic averaging approach to obtain a closed-form expression for the noise floor. Additionally, the paper also introduces a numerical model suitable for simulating oscillator-based ESR experiments in a conventional circuit simulator environment. This model can be used to optimize sensor performance early on in the design phase. Finally, all presented models are verified against measured results from a prototype VCO operating at 14  GHz inside a 0.5  T magnetic field.


Achieving practical biotechnol. processes for the prodn. of fine chems. requires optimization of metabolic fluxes. Attempts to alter the fluxes through a given pathway may be frustrated by compensatory changes in coupled pathways or by unexpected effects seemingly unrelated to the modification performed. Therefore, precise monitoring of metabolic responses to modifications is essential for successful and accelerated metabolic engineering. Commonly employed approaches are based on stoichiometric mass balancing and rely on assumptions which are subject to significant uncertainties. By combining the powers of stoichiometric mass balancing and biosynthetically-directed fractional 13C-labeling of amino acids, we have developed a new methodol. for the detn. of metabolic fluxes. Labeling of proteinogenic amino acids is achieved by growing the cells in a medium contg. a mixt. of 10% uniformly 13C-labeled and 90% unlabeled glucose. Metabolic fluxes in central carbon metab. of riboflavin-producing and wild-type Bacillus subtilis have been detd. using this methodol. [on SciFinder (R)]


AIMS
The aims of this study were to determine the effect of osteophyte excision on deformity correction and soft tissue gap balance in varus knees undergoing computer-assisted total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

METHODS
A total of 492 consecutive, cemented, cruciate-substituting TKAs performed for varus osteoarthritis were studied. After exposure and excision of both cruciates and menisci, it was noted from operative records the corrective interventions performed in each case. Knees in which no releases after the initial exposure, those which had only osteophyte excision, and those in which further interventions were performed were identified. From recorded navigation data, coronal and sagittal limb alignment, knee flexion range, and medial and lateral gap distances in maximum knee extension and 90° knee flexion with maximal varus and valgus stresses, were established, initially after exposure and excision of both cruciate ligaments, and then also at trialling. Knees were defined as 'aligned' if the hip-knee-ankle axis was between 177° and 180°, (0° to 3° varus) and 'balanced' if medial and lateral gaps in extension and at 90° flexion were within 2 mm of each other.

RESULTS
Of 50 knees (10%) with no soft tissue releases (other than cruciate ligaments), 90% were aligned, 81% were balanced, and 73% were aligned and balanced. In 288 knees (59%) only osteophyte excision was performed by subperiosteally releasing the deep medial collateral ligament. Of these, 98% were aligned, 80% were balanced, and 79% were aligned and balanced. In 154 knees (31%), additional procedures were performed (reduction osteotomy, posterior capsular release, and semimembranosus release). Of these, 89% were aligned, 68% were balanced, and 66% were aligned and balanced. The superficial medial collateral ligament was not released in any case.

CONCLUSION
Two-thirds of all knees could be aligned and balanced with release of the cruciate ligaments alone and excision of osteophytes. Excision of osteophytes can be a useful step towards achieving deformity correction and gap balance without having to resort to soft tissue release in varus knees while maintaining classical coronal and sagittal alignment of components. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2020;102-B(6 Supple A):49-58.


The role attention plays in our experience of a coherent, multisensory world is still controversial. On the one hand, a subset of inputs may be selected for detailed processing and multisensory integration in a top-down manner, i.e., guidance of multisensory integration by attention. On the other hand, stimuli may be integrated in a bottom-up fashion according to low-level properties such as spatial coincidence, thereby capturing attention. Moreover, attention itself is multifaceted and can be described via both top-down and bottom-up mechanisms. Thus, the interaction between attention and multisensory integration is complex and situation-dependent. The authors of this opinion paper are researchers who have contributed to this discussion from behavioural, computational and neurophysiological perspectives. We posed a series of questions, the goal of which was to illustrate the interplay between bottom-up and top-down processes in various multisensory scenarios in order to clarify the standpoint taken by each author and with the hope of reaching a consensus. Although divergence of viewpoint emerges in the current responses, there is also considerable overlap: In general, it can be concluded that the amount of influence that attention exerts on MSI depends on the current task as well as prior knowledge and expectations of the observer. Moreover stimulus properties such as the reliability and salience also determine how open the processing is to influences of attention.


A computer is generally considered to be a universal computational device; i.e., it is believed able to simulate any physical computational device with a cost in computation time of at most a polynomial factor: It is not clear whether this is still true when quantum mechanics is taken into consideration. Several researchers, starting with David Deutsch, have developed models for quantum mechanical computers and have investigated their computational properties. This paper gives Las Vegas algorithms for finding discrete logarithms and factoring integers on a quantum computer that take a number of steps which is polynomial in the input size, e.g., the number of digits of the integer to be factored. These two problems are generally considered hard on a classical computer and have been used as the basis of several proposed cryptosystems. We thus give the first examples of quantum cryptanalysis.<<ETX>>