Generalization is a prevalent concept in Cartography to which has been added new aspects such as model generalization with developments in GIS. Increasing demand for tailored and ubiquitous geospatial services like wayfinding, makes the context-aware generalization a noticeable research area in GIScience. Most of the wayfinding services use the network data model as the main spatial data model for their analyses. Whatever data or information that characterizes the situations relevant to users, systems and applications, can be considered as context. A context-aware service is as a service which can sense user, environment and device's situations and respond to user requests concerning contexts to fulfill the user's needs better. From the GI services perspective, the context of a query could be the location of the device, environmental settings that query is made in, the time, the activity of the user, user's personal information, the user's favorites and information needs, the user's cognitive map of environment, the mode of travel, the purpose of travel and the device's technological specifications. In this paper, we try to propose and implement a method for context-aware network generalization at the analysis level. For finding the best path, user contexts like user's favorite streets will be used. These contexts are modeled as edge's attributes and those edges which fulfill user's needs, will be the generators of the Network Voronoi Diagram. With these diagrams, the network will be simplified into sub graphs using Delaunay diagram over the network. The path would be composed of the path between origin and destination to their corresponding generators and the path between generators. This method guarantees the maximum use of edges with user's need context as well as decreasing computational cost.


Thus far plastid transformation in higher plants has been based on incorporation of foreign DNA in the plastid genome by the plastid's homologous recombination machinery. We report here an alternative approach that relies on integration of foreign DNA by the phiC31 phage site-specific integrase (INT) mediating recombination between bacterial and phage attachment sites (attB and attP, respectively). Plastid transformation by the new approach depends on the availability of a recipient line in which an attB site has been incorporated in the plastid genome by homologous recombination. Plastid transformation involves insertion of an attP vector into the attB site by INT and selection of transplastomic clones by selection for antibiotic resistance carried in the attP plastid vector. INT function was provided by either expression from a nuclear gene, which encoded a plastid-targeted INT, or expressing INT transiently from a non-integrating plasmid in plastids. Transformation was successful with both approaches using attP vectors with kanamycin resistance or spectinomycin resistance as the selective marker. Transformation efficiency in some of the stable nuclear INT lines was as high as 17 independently transformed lines per bombarded sample. As this system does not rely on the plastid's homologous recombination machinery, we expect that INT-based vectors will make plastid transformation a routine in species in which homologous recombination rarely yields transplastomic clones.


Freightcar's running gear springs are easily ruptured in the processes of manufacturing and using, losing the role of relaxing vehicle vibration, and resulting in accident. It is time to study the automatic recognition of springs defects based on image processing technology. Defects recognition is on the premise of accurate spring image location. An image location algorithm for the freightcar's running gear springs is proposed in this paper, which is based on the structure characteristics of springs themselves. The algorithm mainly includes graying the image, correcting non-uniform illumination by wavelet homomographic filtering, taking binaryzation on image based on the iterative threshold method and locating springs' boundary location, which could be obtained by image scanning column by column and feature analysis. This algorithm can achieve the automatic positioning of springs and has a good result to locate springs in the running gear images in case of different illumination; the accuracy rate has reached 96 percent. The study of this paper lays a foundation on the realization of automatic recognition of springs defects and has good application prospects.


Summary Atherosclerosis and obesity-induced metabolic dysfunction are lipid-driven inflammatory pathologies responsible for a major part of cardiovascular complications. Immune cell activation as well as interactions between the different immune cells is dependent on and controlled by a variety of co-stimulatory signals. These co-stimulatory signals can either aggravate or ameliorate the disease depending on the stage of the disease, the cell-types involved and the signal transduction cascades initiated. This review focuses on the diverse roles of the most established co-stimulatory molecules of the B7 and Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor (TNFR) families, ie the CD28/CTLA4-CD80/CD86 and CD40L/CD40 dyads in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and obesity. In addition, we will explore their potential as therapeutic targets in both atherosclerosis and obesity.


The article deals with the problem of the increasing emphasis on the genre of tales, a deeper analysis of reality, a look at the deep and dark pits of the human soul, and the essence of life. When we research the nature of the genre of tales, we can observe the versatility of images, the intensity of conflict, the depth of psychological analysis, the diversity of artistic and visual means, and the diversity of themes. Studying the development of the genre of the story, the stages of development further strengthens the view of the genre. Allah, possessor of the Exalted in Power, revealed in the Divine Book the knowledge of the universe to men. The scholars and scientists of the world are still astounded with the miracles of the Holy Word. The message of the creation of man is found in the holy verses of the Koran in a form of a compact narrative. It clearly shows human's inner and outer character. The secret of the place and time contains the underlying hint at centuries old mysteries. The criterion of time, which does not exist in the present, was also first shown on the pages of the Holy Book. The birth of the Prophets, the Divine Gospel has been synthesized in chronotopes, such as heaven, ocean, mountains, and earth. During their journeys, they show the character of the Prophecy and the Prophets, their intelligence and power. The story focuses on the origins and the core of such sciences as religion, history, philosophy, psychology, medicine, geography, logic, and art. In the Koran, the word narrative is used in Surahs, and presupposes the interpretation of events at a global scale, at a human level, from the celestial depth to the earthly layer, from the first Adam to the last messenger Muhammad. A particular attention is paid to the significance of narratives and tales in folklore and classical literature.


: The sites of follistatin and alpha and beta A inhibin gene expression were examined by in situ hybridization in sheep ovaries during the early and mid-luteal phases (days 3 and 10) of the oestrous cycle and a prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF 2 alpha)-induced follicular phase. Follistatin mRNA was detected in the granulosa cells of preantral, antral and early atretic follicles at all stages of the oestrous cycle, and in the corpora lutea at the early and mid-luteal stages of the cycle. However, only low levels of expression of follistatin were observed in the presumptive preovulatory follicle at 56 h after treatment with PGF 2 alpha. Both alpha and beta A inhibin were shown to be expressed in ovaries at all stages of the oestrous cycle. In situ hybridization localized alpha subunit mRNA to the granulosa cells of most, but not all, healthy antral follicles, and to no other ovarian cell type. In contrast, expression of the beta A subunit was confined to a few medium-to-large healthy antral follicles. In antral follicles expressing beta A inhibin, mRNAs for alpha inhibin and follistatin were always detected, but the converse was not true. Unlike follistatin, no alpha and beta A inhibin expression was seen in preantral follicles, developing corpora lutea, or follicles undergoing atresia. These results show that, in the adult sheep ovary, follistatin gene expression is a constitutive event in all growing follicles from the early preantral stage, and also provide indirect evidence of the involvement of follistatin, but not inhibin or activin, in the early stages of ovarian follicle development in sheep.


To improve efficiency and veracity of planning ACP, and to adequately utilize some knowledge or experience in ACP and the minds of assembly engineers, we apply CBR to ACP planning and present an approach to ACP planning based on CBR for aircraft. The approach mainly includes three aspects: (1) building case library of ACP and defining QC. (2) designing a algorithm searching ACC, including four key factors: SD of important coordination location; SD of assembly coordination approach; SD of assembly allowance requirement; SD of assembly benchmark; (3) retrieving and reusing ACC. Lastly, as shown by an example about a wing, our approach satisfies good efficiency and veracity of planning ACP and can make use of experiences of ACP.


Ranked-choice voting (RCV) manufactures an electoral majority in a fragmented candidate field. For RCV to pass at referendum, part of a reform coalition must be willing to lose election to the other part of that coalition, typically an out-of-power major party. A common enemy enables this sort of coalition by assuring (a) the out-of-power party of sufficient transfer votes to win and (b) a winner that junior reform partners prefer to the incumbent. I test this logic against the November 2016 adoption of RCV in Maine. First, I show that the most recent, runner-up party overwhelmingly supplied votes to the 'yes' side. I also show elite endorsements tending to come from this party, albeit not exclusively. Then I show a drift in the mass of public opinion, such that reform partners could coordinate. RCV is likely to find favour where voter preferences are polarised and lopsided, and where multiple candidates split the larger ideological bloc.


In this paper, the feasibility of damage detection and characterization using the EMI technique on high cycles fatigue induced damage is investigated. Cyclic tensile load is applied on a lab sized aluminium beam up to failure. Piezo-impedance transducer in the form of PZT patch (lead zirconate titanate) is surface bonded on the specimen for crack detection. Progressive shift in admittance signatures measured by the PZT patch corresponding to increase of loading cycles reflects effectiveness of the EMI technique in tracing the process of fatigue damage progression.


Spectro-temporal modulations are believed to mediate the analysis of speech sounds in the human primary auditory cortex. Inspired by humans' robustness in comprehending speech in challenging acoustic environments, we propose an intrusive speech intelligibility prediction (SIP) algorithm, wSTMI, for normal-hearing listeners based on spectro-temporal modulation analysis (STMA) of the clean and degraded speech signals. In the STMA, each of 55 modulation frequency channels contributes an intermediate intelligibility measure. A sparse linear model with parameters optimized using Lasso regression results in combining the intermediate measures of 8 of the most salient channels for SIP. In comparison with a suite of 10 SIP algorithms, wSTMI performs consistently well across 13 datasets, which together cover degradation conditions including modulated noise, noise reduction processing, reverberation, near-end listening enhancement, and speech interruption. We show that the optimized parameters of wSTMI may be interpreted in terms of modulation transfer functions of the human auditory system. Thus, the proposed approach offers evidence affirming previous studies of the perceptual characteristics underlying speech signal intelligibility.


Ventilator-associated Pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most common nosocomial infections among patients admitted to the intensive care unit. It is generally believed that VAP increases the mortality of patients, however exact determination of the attributable mortality of VAP is challenging. This thesis demonstrates that the attributable mortality of VAP can be investigated in several ways: 1. The use of observational studies of patients at risk for VAP, of whom some will develop VAP (and some will not) and subsequent comparison of crude mortality rates of those with and without VAP. This is obviously flawed by the many variables - aside from developing VAP or not - that differ between both patient groups that also influence mortality. 2. The use of the same observational studies, but now with additional adjustments for differences that are not equally distributed between those developing and not developing VAP. Yet, in many studies these methods overestimate the attributable mortality of VAP because of – inevitable – incomplete adjustment for differences between groups – both unmeasured variables at baseline, as well as changes in clinical condition during ICU stay. 3. One could - theoretically but not ethically - randomize patients to receive VAP or not and count deaths in each group. 4. Using the data of randomized controlled trials on VAP prevention. This provides the benefit of randomization, which excludes the effects of measured and unmeasured differences between groups. 5. Using novel statistical methods, such as competing risk survival analyses including VAP as a time dependent exposure. From the studies described in this thesis it can be concluded that the estimated attributable mortality of VAP is around 10% (9% in chapter 3 and 13% in chapter 4), which is much lower than estimates provided in previous studies. Subgroup analyses revealed an absence of attributable mortality in trauma patients, medical patients and patients with a low or high severity of illness at admission. Highest attributable mortality rates are found in surgical patients and patients with an intermediate score of severity of illness at admission. The lower estimates of attributable mortality and the differences of mortality in subgroups of patients are of critical importance for the design and interpretation of VAP prevention trials. Many studies were hugely underpowered to demonstrate improvements in patient outcome. The new knowledge on attributable mortality underpins the need of large studies (>1000 patients per study group) to demonstrate whether VAP prevention improves patient outcome. Furthermore, it is rational to focus on the subgroup of patients with the highest mortality rates, considering the large differences in mortality between subgroups. Further methodological improvements are needed in determining the attributable mortality of VAP, especially concerning methods to limit the influence of confounding. The use of multistate models might improve the determination of the attributable mortality of VAP. As these methods enable various intermediate events, and thus could offer more flexibility in the analyses and better capture the (chronological) complexity of factors influencing mortality


Estrogen receptors are extensively colocalized with neurotrophins and their receptors in the rodent forebrain. We have shown previously that estrogen increases mRNA and protein expression of the nerve growth factor (NGF)-specific tyrosine kinase receptor, trkA, while decreasing expression of the universal neurotrophin receptor p75. In view of the pro-survival roles described for trks and the context-dependent stimulation of survival and cell death pathways activated by p75, differential regulation of these receptors by estrogen is likely to alter neurotrophin-dependent cell signaling. This hypothesis was tested in vivo, using the rodent olfactory bulb as a model. We found that NGF activated the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) equally in estrogen replaced and hormone-deprived animals. However in the case of c-jun-kinase (JNK), a related MAP kinase, pretreatment with estrogen altered NGF activation of a specific isoform of this protein. Specifically, NGF stimulation did not alter JNK1 or JNK2 activation in the estrogen-deprived condition, but significantly increased JNK2 activation in estrogen-replaced animals. Increased JNK2 phosphorylation in the NGF-injected, estrogen- replaced animals was paralleled by decreased activity of caspase-3, an enzyme required for apoptosis. In view of the disparate roles assigned to JNK, this latter finding suggests that estrogen pretreatment may preferentially direct neurotrophin-dependent JNK activation toward regeneration and plasticity rather than cell death.


We developed Convis, a Python simulation toolbox for large scale neural populations which offers arbitrary receptive fields by 3D convolutions executed on a graphics card. The resulting software proves to be flexible and easily extensible in Python, while building on the PyTorch library [27], which was previously used successfully in deep learning applications, for just-in-time optimization and compilation of the model onto CPU or GPU architectures. An alternative implementation based on Theano [28] is also available, although not fully supported. Through automatic differentiation, any parameter of a specified model can be optimized to approach a desired output which is a significant improvement over e.g. Monte Carlo or particle optimizations without gradients. We show that a number of models including even complex non-linearities such as contrast gain control and spiking mechanisms can be implemented easily. We show in this paper that we can in particular recreate the simulation results of a popular retina simulation software VirtualRetina [30], with the added benefit of providing (1) arbitrary linear filters instead of the product of Gaussian and exponential filters and (2) optimization routines utilizing the gradients of the model. We demonstrate the utility of 3d convolution filters with a simple direction selective filter. Also we show that it is possible to optimize the input for a certain goal, rather than the parameters, which can aid the design of experiments as well as closed-loop online stimulus generation. Yet, Convis is more than a retina simulator. For instance it can also predict the response of V1 orientation selective cells. Convis is open source under the GPL-3.0 license and available from https://github.com/jahuth/convis/ with documentation at https://jahuth.github.io/convis/.


SIR,-Before your paper closes this correspondence, may -some of us of trainee status request the hospitality of your columns to express appreciation of the spirit and content of Lord Horder's letter (November 15, p. 1095), in which he draws attention to some points relating to physical medicine in your leading article (November 1, p. 984). Like many ,others of similar status in other branches of medicine, we have viewed with concern the restricted number of appointments open to us in the specialty of our choice. Even though little may be achieved as a result of this airing of views, it is nevertheless encouraging to find that the President of the British Association of Physical Medicine is aware of the potential dangers to physical medicine, and to the National Health Service at large, arising from the inadequate number of appointments now being allowed. We of trainee status are fully alive to the misuses of physiotherapy that have given rise to recent criticism. We deplore them as much as anyone else and hope to be given adequate opportunity to prove that we have been trained in a great deal more than just " an understanding of various modes of therapy," and that the physical medicine specialist reduces rather than increases the volume of physiotherapy prescribed, while greatly increasing its effectiveness.-We are, etc., S. MATTINGLY. W. D. FLETCHER. IAN H. M. CURWEN. A. B. COYER. D. C. ARNOTT. H. F. SYMONS.


First paragraph. I am not one who is easily led or swayed. I am stubborn to the point that if someone tells me to do one thing, I will probably do the opposite. A dogmatic or independent thinker? My wife would say the first. Come to think of it, so would my head of faculty. So when the editor suggested that I consider writing a column looking at how to get university students to think critically, I thought—no, I'm not doing that. Then, I thought more critically, and realized that dogmatism (based on a priori assumption rather than empirical evidence) is the antithesis of critical thinking. Enough rhetoric. This column is, after all, about science education in oceanography and not an impalpable discursion into the English language.


A case is presented of a patient with bilateral gonadoblastoma characterized by primary amenorrhea and intense, generalized hirsutism. The physical examination showed somatic stigmas compatible with gonadal dysgenesis. Pneumopelvigraphy showed a uterus and hypoplastic gonads; no microcalcification was seen. Negative sex chromatin in buccal mucosal cells and a 46, XXr/46,XXp-q-45,X karyotypic constitution was found.


This paper considers the optimal control design problem for nonlinear systems with composite disturbances. First, the original system is transformed into an augmented system without disturbances. Then with respect to the quadratic performance indexes of infinite horizon, we design an optimal controller for the augmented plant without disturbances. Thus the disturbances can unfold of the signal through the Taylor series for the form of polynomial function of time, and obtain optimal controller design approach to eliminate the general disturbance. Finally, a practical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the theory.


The functional decomposition is recognized as very efficient synthesis method of digital circuits and systems. However its practical usefulness for very complex systems is limited by lack of an efficient method of input variable partitioning. In this paper, a heuristic method for input variable partitioning is proposed for decomposition of Boolean function represented by BDD. The method is based on an application of evolutionary algorithms, what allows exploring the possible solution space of a problem while keeping the high-quality solutions in this reduced space. The boolean function is represented by the reduced ordered binary decision diagram (ROBDD). The experimental results show that the proposed heuristic method is able to generate optimal or near optimal solution very efficiently even for large systems. It is much faster than the systematic method while delivering results of the comparable quality.


The arid regions of China including Mongolian Xinjiang warm temperature arid region and Qinghai Tibet frigid arid region are located in the West of China, administerially in whole Xinjiang, nearly whole Inner Mongolia, greater parts of Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia, and lesser parts of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, Liaoning and Jilin, ranging from 73°40′to 123°40′E,28°to 50°N. There are 120 species of rodents including Lagomorpha and Rodentia. All of the species collection since 1950's were inspected and examined, then the distribution information including collection localities, habitat, distribution height, collection time and so on were put into database. Distributional data in literatures were also collected. Based on the revised distributional information supported by a GIS technique, MapInfo Professional Version 4 0, species ranges were predicted by a wildlife habitat model. Based on these GIS model of species range maps the distribution patterns of rodent species were studied. 766 equal area quadrangle grids that each had an area of 6 470 square kilometers were used as geographic units to collect distributional data of the species supported by MapInfo Professional Version 4 0. All the grids with the distributional data of binary attribute were divided into groups by hierarchical cluster analysis according to Euclidean distance. In order to show species richness of rodents in the groups of distributional units, we retrieved more detailed distributional information in 766 grids from GIS database. Index of Shannon Wiener in the grid groups was calculated as the index of species diversity according to the occurrence frequency of species in grid groups. Species density of distribution types, which were classified according to the species' preference to thermic and moisture, in the grid groups was also calculated. Results were showed as follows. The 766 distributional units could be divided into 30, 9, 5 and 3 groups, where Euclidean distance was 11 379, 17 068, 22 758 and 28 447, respectively. All the groups had their corresponding geographic areas in maps. Specially the species richness, species diversity, fauna and ecological distributional types in 9 groups were analyzed. From these 9 groups of distributional units, three obvious distributional regions could be recognized. They were ①ⅠAa:forest steppe and arid steppe in piedmont of Da Hinggan Mountain, east of Inner Mongolia Plateau and the area around, ⅠAb:arid steppes in Ningxia Plateau, Helan Mountain, center of Inner Monglia Plateau, Ordus Plateau and the area around, ⅠBa:Qinghai Tibet Plateau not including Qilin Mountain, and Pamir Plateau, ⅠBb:wide temperature desert from Alxa Desert to Tarim and Jungar Basin; ②ⅡA:east of Qilin Mountains, ⅡB:north slope of Qilin Mountain and its piedmont plains; ③ⅢA:Altay Mountain and the plains of south piedmont, ⅢBa:Emin Valley, boundary mountains of Jungar and its piedmont plains, ⅢBb:Tianshan Mountain in Ili and Ili Valley. Rodent species in these regions took on the distributional patterns as follows. ① In the lower altitude of arid regions of China, with the change of landscape prairie, semi desert to desert, so were the relative distribution patterns of groups of distributional units, where hygrophilous species declined and xerophilous species increased. ② Rodent components in frigid desert regions of Qinghai Tibet Plateau and Parmir Plateau were closely related to those of warm temperature and warmer temperature desert regions with lower species diversity. ③ Rodent components in Altay Mountains and the plains in their south slope were special, having more hypothermohygrophilous species. ④ There were complex rodent fauna in Tianshan mountains and the valley in Ili, boundary mountains and its eastern plains of Jungar, north slope and east of Qilian Mountain with the characteristic of intergradations. ⑤ Rodent species richness and diversity were higher in the ecotones, taking on edge effects.


SIR,-The prevalence of congenital hypertrophic stenosis in the general population is estimated to be about 2 to 5 per 1,000 live births,'` and Carter was able to demonstrate that the sex ratio for this malformation amounted to 5:1, boys being more affected than girls.' Benson and King have drawn attention to a possibly high prevalence of this condition in patients with Turner's syndrome.' We have investigated a series of 43 patients with Turner's syndrome and found two patients with congenital pyloric stenosis.'


For the constant transmission of gas through a pipeline, steel weight decreases linearly with an increase in the strength of the linepipe irrespective of pipe size and internal pressure. Thus, high-strength large-diameter linepipe up to X120 has been developed and is now being applied to reduce pipe costs, transportation costs and construction costs. To meet the excellent weldability and low production costs required for the linepipe application of bainite produced through using Thermo-Mechanical Control Processing (TMCP) from low carbon chemistry is essential. Dual phase steel made by means of the introduction of ferrite in the bainite matrix mitigates the inferior properties of bainite. Herein, the production parameters affecting the microstructure and the properties are overviewed.


Diabetes is a major cause of morbidity and mortality both in developing and developed countries. The incidence is rising rapidly with sub-Saharan Africa experiencing the largest percentage increase between 2013 and 2035. Nigeria has the largest number of people with the disease, yet information on the diabetes mellitus for policy and programming is fragmentary. Therefore, the purpose of this study to systematically identify population-based studies on diabetes in Nigeria and to determine the prevalence and sex differential. A literature search of the PubMed database was conducted of published research between 1990 and 2013 using the medical subject headings "diabetes mellitus" and "Nigeria." The search was done at the end of 2013 which returned 741 hits. A manual search for additional studies was performed using references cited in the original articles. Some authors were contacted whose full-text publications were not available on the PubMed database or freely on the internet. Twenty population-based studies that had been conducted on the prevalence of diabetes in Nigeria between 1990 and December 2013 that satisfied the inclusion criteria were identified. The prevalence of diabetes ranged from 0.8% to 11% involving both urban and rural populations, with varying sampling schemes, one study reported a traditional population with very low prevalence of diabetes and highly specific populations as well. The review revealed a generally low prevalence (<10%) of diabetes in Nigeria. It also found that there is dearth of literature on diabetes. There is the need to undertake a nationally-representative survey to assess the burden of diabetes in general population.


Background Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) is the primary cause of viral myocarditis. It exerts its effects on its host by altering the cellular gene expression involved in viral replication, viral clearance, and maintenance of host immunity. Among the genes that are up-regulated is IP10, which is a potent chemoattractant of T cells. Our goal is to investigate the role of IP10 in the pathogenesis of CVB3-induced myocarditis using both IP-10 transgenic and knockout mouse models. Hypothesis IP10 is required for proper host immune response against CVB3 infection and knocking out IP10 delays virus clearance by causing insufficient recruitment of activated TH1 lymphocytes toward the infection. Conversely, too much IP10 causes overstimulation of the immune response; thus, overexpression of IP10 will result in a more severe myocarditis. Methods Four to 5-week-old IP10 transgenic (Tg), knockout (KO), and wild-type (WT) mice were infected with 105 pfu CVB3 by intraperitoneal injection. Their hearts were collected at 7 days postinfection (pi) and were analyzed for viral replication by plaque assay and for severity of immune response by using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Furthermore, quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to characterize the expression of chemokines and cytokines related to IP10 that might be involved in determining the myocarditis severity. Results The IHC results demonstrated a close relationship between IP-10 expression and degree of T cell infiltration, suggesting that IP10 plays a critical role in the physiologic response of activated T-cell recruitment to the heart following CVB3 infection. By qRT-PCR, mRNA of TNFα (proinflammatory cytokine), IFN-inducible T-cell alpha chemoattractant (I-TAC, CXCL11), and TH1 cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-12α), but not TH2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-5), were found to show a lower level of expression in CVB3-infected KO mice compared with the control WT mice, suggesting mainly that the TH1 immune response was impaired in IP10 KO mice. At day 7 pi, there was no difference in the virus titer of the hearts in Tg, KO, and WT mice, but we expect that a difference may be detectable at day 10 pi. Conclusion IP10 KO mice infected with CVB3 may have an impaired ability to control viral clearance in the heart, which is associated with decreased recruitment of TH1 lymphocytes into the heart and reduced levels of IFN-γ and therefore decreased I-TAC expression in the heart. IP10 Tg mice, on the other hand, may have an excessive immune response and a more severe myocarditis.


Decision making based on statistical association alone can be a dangerous endeavor due to non-causal associations. Ideally, one would rely on causal relationships that enable reasoning about the effect of interventions. Several methods have been proposed to discover such relationships from observational and interventional data. Among them, GraN-DAG, a method that relies on the constrained optimization of neural networks, was shown to produce state-of-the-art results among algorithms relying purely on observational data. However, it is limited to observational data and cannot make use of interventions. In this work, we extend GraN-DAG to support interventional data and show that this improves its ability to infer causal structures.


Abstract Service provision by peer support workers (PSWs) is growing within the US behavioral health care system and research is needed to determine appropriate training and support. This study examined responses of 15 PSWs and 20 licensed behavioral health practitioners (BHPs) who participated in a one-day training of seeking safety (SS). PSWs and BHPs provided post-training feedback on satisfaction with the training and their perceived comfort level in implementing SS. Overall, PSWs and BHPs reported high satisfaction and comfort, and except for one significant difference, PSWs benefited from the training to the same extent as BHPs. Compared to BHPs, PSWs reported significantly greater improvement in their counseling ability within the SS model as a result of the training. Considering the varying levels of education and training within the field of PSWs, our results suggest that a "one-size fits all" approach to professional training may be acceptable; however, further research is warranted.


Article II of the U.S. Constitution begins by declaring that "the executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America." (1) This so-called Executive Vesting Clause has been the subject of intense constitutional discussion since the Constitution was ratified. For instance, in 1793 Alexander Hamilton and James Madison debated whether this clause grants residual authority to the President beyond the enumerated powers listed in the Constitution. (2) The answer to this question is significant not only because it affects the power and the authority of the President, but also, as a necessary implication, because it impacts the rights and freedoms of U.S. citizens here and abroad. Some of the most notable Supreme Court cases concerning the contours of executive power have arisen in the context of war (3) and foreign affairs. (4) Thus, it is not surprising that now, during the War on Terror, the subject of executive power is once again at the forefront of both American law and politics. Modern executive power jurisprudence finds much of its basis in Justice Robert Jackson's concurring opinion in the Steel Seizure Case. In that case, Justice Jackson declared, "Presidential powers are not fixed but fluctuate, depending upon their disjunction or conjunction with those of Congress." (5) He then went on to fashion a sliding scale for the exercise of executive power vis-a-vis congressional power. According to Justice Jackson, the President's power is at its "maximum" when Congress actually confers power on the President to act. (6) The President's power occupies a middle position, a "zone of twilight," when the President acts without authorization or opposition from Congress. (7) Finally, presidential power is at its "lowest ebb" when the President acts contrary to laws passed by Congress. (8) It is both important and interesting to note that Justice Jackson did not say that the President may not act contrary to legislation; he simply said the power to act was at its "lowest ebb" and that under these circumstances the President must "rely only upon his own constitutional powers minus any constitutional powers of Congress over the matter." (9) Thus, even Justice Jackson's framework allows for the possibility that the President may have powers that in fact supersede constraints imposed by the other branches of government. Of course, it is an awesome thing for one man to hold such power. Therefore we have seen--consistent with our American values--a gradual cutting back of executive power. It becomes less and less with every administration, and now it is practically gone. But there's a little bit left, and this panel, composed of Professor Martin Flaherty and Professor Michael Ramsey, discusses that remaining portion. This is not the first time that Professor Flaherty and Professor Ramsey have thrown academic jabs, uppercuts, and hooks at one another over this topic. Round One of Flaherty v. Ramsey took place over several hundred pages in the Yale Law Journal and the Michigan Law Review. …


As a permanent form of brain injury, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) cannot be cured but only managed. This paper provides an overview of the issues that arise when someone with FASD encounters the criminal justice system. This article starts with a brief overview of the nature and incidence of FASD, followed by results of a survey of reported case law that was conducted in order to determine how frequently judges make reference to FASD in Canadian criminal law jurisprudence. The remainder of the article will examine the growing jurisprudence about FASD as it affects pre-trial, trial, and sentencing stages of the criminal process. Specifically, the relevance of FASD in determining the admissibility of statements from the accused will be examined, as well as how courts should approach the testimony of witnesses with FASD. This article also exams the growing jurisprudence on whether and when people with FASD will be found unfit to stand trial by reason of mental disorder or eligible for the mental disorder defence. Lastly, this essay exams the potential relevance of FASD to the determination of criminal liability, and how sentencing judges have approached FASD. Unfortunately there is no magic legal solution to the sad problem of FASD.


We reported [Ransnäs, Svoboda, Jasper & Insel (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 86, 7900-7903] that in intact S49 lymphoma cells the beta-adrenergic-receptor agonist isoprenaline dissociates the stimulatory guanine-nucleotide-binding protein, Gs, into its alpha s and beta gamma subunits, leading to redistribution of alpha s from plasma membranes to the cytoplasm. In the present studies we investigated the kinetics of Gs dissociation and membrane release in plasma membranes from S49 lymphoma cells. We analysed cholate extracts of membranes for alpha s levels by a competitive e.l.i.s.a. with a polyclonal antibody that selectively recognizes monomeric alpha s and we assayed supernatant fractions using both competitive e.l.i.s.a. and immunoblotting. The plasma membranes contained 19.3 +/- 1.4 pmol of alpha s/mg of membrane protein and lacked significant dissociation of Gs and activity of adenylate cyclase in the absence of guanine nucleotides. Mg2+ ions were obligatorily required for isoprenaline-induced dissociation of Gs in plasma membranes and for membrane release of alpha s. At a physiological concentration of free Mg2+ ions (100 microM), 100 microM-GTP induced a slow first-order (k = 0.038 +/- 0.004 min-1) dissociation of 17.8 +/- 1.2 pmol of Gs/mg of membrane protein. A substantial increase in the dissociation rate of Gs was achieved by addition of 1 microM-isoprenaline and 100 microM-GTP; 18.4 +/- 0.9 pmol of Gs/mg of membrane protein was dissociated, with a kappa of 1.49 +/- 0.22 min-1. The effect of isoprenaline on the dissociation rate and on membrane release of Gs was completely blocked by the beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist propranolol. The concentration-response relationship for isoprenaline-induced dissociation during the first 1 min after addition of hormone yielded a kappa act. of 16 +/- 5 nM, whereas the kappa act. for isoprenaline-induced membrane release was 10 nM. We conclude that release of alpha s from plasma membranes is likely to accompany Gs-subunit dissociation and constitutes a potentially important facet of Gs action.


This article examines the development and subsequent evolution of Nigeria's criminal justice system. The history of the Criminal justice system in Nigeria dates back to the colonization of the country in the late 1800's by Europeans, who introduced imprisonment based on their own correctional system. Although interpretation of the causes of the development of the Criminal Justice system in Nigeria may differ, there can be no disputing the fact that the system is foreign‐made. Here was an invasion and revolution in social practice. The earlier events that led to the development of Nigeria's criminal justice system include: the British occupation of Nigeria, The Nigeria‐Europe confrontation and the Slave Trade. Although some British participants in the development of criminal justice in Nigeria had humanistic and religious inclinations, the system was formed to protect the Europeans from the natives they were exploiting and oppressing.


Integrated surface electrical resistivity and ground magnetic survey was carried out across the Ifewara Mylonite zone of Southwestern Nigeria. The previous remote sensing images and Proton Precision Magnetometer (PPM) data from previous observations along four traverses were used together to map the prominent fault/shear zone in the Precambrian Basement Complex. The aim of the research work was to delineate the shear zone as indicated by Mylonite. Dipole–Dipole DC resistivity profiling data were acquired at 10 m interval along four traverses established in approximately East-West direction across the location of suspected shear zone. Magnetic data were also acquired at 5 m interval along the traverses. Topographic corrections were made on the resistivity data, which were subsequently inverted using a Finite Difference (FD) and Finite Element (FE) approach. Numerical Modelling (NM) was also carried out to confirm the existence of the Mylonite. 2D subsurface resistivity structure of the Mylonite was obtained from the inversion of the numerically modelled data. The inverted resistivity sections obtained depicted three subsurface geologic strata comprising of top soil/overburden, weathered basement and the fresh bedrock. The magnetic highs observed along the four traverses correspond to a rock type of little or no magnetic properties (quartzite) and/or rock with a possible remnant magnetisation. The magnetic lows observed are presumably characterised by rocks in mafic mineral or quartzite with magnetic impregnation. High unit of basement rock located within distinct low resistivity region and interpreted as a shear zone—represents the location of Mylonite in Ifewara.
An overprint of Mylonite is indicative of a possible fault or shear zone presence. Anomalies noted in the generated magnetic profiles correlated with the shear zones indicated in dipole-dipole resistivity profiles. Furthermore, outcome of the NM results showed Shear zone or faults, covered by thin overburden thickness, producing good responses—this depicts high-resolution resistivity images. As the thickness of the overburden increases, the resolution of the resistivity images obtained dropped. The width of the shear zone or fault play some major roles in controlling image resolution. Validity of results obtained heightened by employing a Synthetic Modelling (SM) tool.


This article examines the « going private » phenomenon as it has developed in the United States and Canada over the past few years as well as its implications for Quebec law. « Going private » transactions involve different means of corporate reorganization that allow a few controlling shareholders to eliminate, without adequate compensation, most other shareholders from further participation in a corporate body. Such transactions are of interest to those who study company law or securities law as the methods employed often go beyond the spirit of both. The author attempts to demonstrate the role each can play in preventing abuses of minority rights. Corporate law, while ensuring majority rule, seeks to protect individual shareholders while securities law has developed to avoid the manipulation of individual shareholders in transactions involving securities. The author believes that « going private » should take place only if full disclosure of the aims of the controlling group have been given to the minority, if there is a valid business purpose for going private and if the eliminated shareholders are treated fairly. Examples of these criteria are to be found in recent American, Canadian and Quebec jurisprudence as well as in the policy statements of the Securities Exchange Commission and the Ontario Securities Commission. These are analysed in relation to present Quebec law. The author suggests that the Quebec Securities Commission should adopt a policy statement on « going private » similar to that of the OSC. This would be a better means of ensuring that the Quebec Securities Commission fulfill its role of promoting investor protection and an efficient securities market.


Pore density is an important factor dictating gas separations through one-atom-thin nanoporous membranes, but how it influences the gas permeation is not fully understood. Here we use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate gas permeation through nanoporous graphene membranes with the same pore size (3.0 Å × 3.8 Å in dimensions) but varying pore densities (from 0.01 to 1.28 nm-2). We find that higher pore density leads to higher permeation per unit area of membrane for both CO2 and He, but the rate of the increase decreases greatly for CO2 at high pore densities. As a result, the per-pore permeance decreases for CO2 but remains relatively constant for He with the pore density, leading to a dramatic change in CO2/He selectivity. By separating the total flux into direct flux and surface flux, we find that He permeation is dominated by direct flux and hence the per-pore permeation rate is roughly constant with the pore density. In contrast, CO2 permeation is dominated by surface flux and the overall decreasing trend of the per-pore permeation rate of CO2 with the pore density can be explained by the decreasing per-pore coverage of CO2 on the feed side with the pore density. Our work now provides a complete picture of the pore-density dependence of gas permeation through one-atom-thin nanoporous membranes.


Located in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is characterized as an emerging and developing country that has exhibited strong economic performance in recent years. However, it has overlooked the creation of a formal space program in the past few decades due to various reasons such as the lack of awareness on the benefits of space, political iswill, and budget constraints. These factors have led to the Philippines ranking in the bottom half of ASEAN countries in terms of space systems infrastructure development.Since 2013, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) through the Science Education Institute (SEI) and Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) has been conducting various initiatives and projects for space education and development in the country. The current approach being conducted by DOST aims to ensure that the space program will be beneficial to Filipinos, sustainable over time, and cost-effective to assure the niche of the Philippines in the global space community.In this talk, I will present the history of space education and development in the Philippines, focusing on the recent activities of the Philippine Space Science Education Program (PSSEP), the creation of a Philippine Space Development and Utilization Policy, and the legislative push for a Philippine Space Agency. I will be discussing the various initiatives under the PSSEP that aims to spur academic interest among the youth to pursue careers in space-related fields. I will also expound on the strategies undertaken by the National SPACE Development Program (NSDP) in creating various roadmaps and identify the essential steps that enabled the Philippines to progress rapidly in space development in a short span of time. I will emphasize the six Key Development Areas identified, the proposed structure of the Philippine Space Agency and various development roadmaps that are being created. Finally, I will identify the challenges and problems encountered and how solutions were obtained to address these issues. Finally, I will be discussing the various space development roadmaps that the Philippines will undertake within the next ten years.


We present the fundamental stellar and planetary properties of the transiting planetary system WASP-13 within the framework of the Homogeneous Study of Transiting Systems (HoSTS). HoSTS aims to derive the fundamental stellar (Teff, [Fe/H], M⋆, R⋆) and planetary (Mpl, Rpl, Teq) physical properties of known transiting planets using a consistent methodology and homogeneous high-quality data set. Four spectral analysis techniques are independently applied to a Keck+HIRES spectrum of WASP-13 considering two distinct cases: unconstrained parameters and constrained log g from transit light curves. We check the derived stellar temperature against that from a different temperature diagnostic based on an INT+IDS Hα spectrum. The four unconstrained analyses render results that are in good agreement, and provide an improvement of 50% in the precision of Teff, and of 85% in [Fe/H] with respect to the WASP-13 discovery paper. The planetary parameters are then derived via the Monte Carlo Markov Chain modeling of the radial velocity and light curves, in iteration with stellar evolutionary models to derive realistic uncertainties. WASP-13 (1.187 ± 0.065 M☉; 1.574 ± 0.048 R☉) hosts a Saturn-mass, transiting planet (0.500 ± 0.037 MJup; 1.407 ± 0.052 RJup), and is at the end of its main-sequence lifetime (4–5.5 Gyr). Our analysis of WASP-13 showcases that both a detailed stellar characterization and transit modeling are necessary to well determine the fundamental properties of planetary systems, which are paramount in identifying and determining empirical relationships between transiting planets and their hosts.


ReaxFF is an empirical interatomic potential capable of simulating reactions in complex chemical processes and thus determine the dynamical evolution of the molecular systems. A drawback of this method is the necessity of a significant preprocessing to adapt it to a chemical system of nterest. One of the preprocessing steps is the optimization of force field parameters that are used to tune interatomic interactions to mimic ones obtained by quantum chemistry-based methods. The optimization of these parameters is a very complex high dimensional problem. Here, we propose an INitial-DEsign Enhanced Deep learning-based OPTimization (INDEEDopt) framework to be used in ReaxFF parameterization. The procedure starts with a Latin Hypercube Design (LHD) algorithm that is used to explore the parameter landscape extensively. The LHD passes the information about explored regions to a deep learning model for training. The deep learning model finds the minimum discrepancy regions and eliminates unfeasible regions, which originate from the unphysical atomistic interactions, and constructs a more comprehensive understanding of a physically meaningful parameter space. The procedure was successfully used to parametrize a nickel-chromium binary force field and a tungsten-sulfide-carbon-hydrogen quaternary force field and produced improved accuracies in shorter periods time compared to conventional optimization method.


Abstract Investigation of health effects of low doses of radiation as a field of study has been riddled with difficulties since its inception. In this document we will use 100 mGy as the cutoff upper limit for low-dose radiation, borrowing this definition from the U.S. Department of Energy, although other agencies and researchers sometimes include up to five‐fold higher doses under the same title. Difficulties in this area of research are most often ascribed to the fact that effects of low doses of radiation are subtle and difficult to distinguish from the plethora of other low-grade stresses. Thus, for example, most epidemiological studies include hundreds of thousands of samples and generate risk estimates that are statistically meaningful only when they are considered on a scale of hundreds or thousands of people. A logical approach to remedy the situation for low-dose research was to conduct well-controlled animal studies with hundreds of animals; nevertheless, even after many such studies were completed, our understanding of the biological basis for risk from low-dose radiation exposure is still not conclusive. In this paper we argue that the problem lies in the fact that our approach to animal studies is not comprehensive but conceptually binary. While some researchers apply epidemiological models to animal data, others look into molecular and cellular biology only. Very few studies are conducted to bridge this gap and consider how a realistic model of DNA damage could be integrated into a realistic model of radiation carcinogenesis.


This study proposed that maternal bereavement in women who experienced miscarriage and women who terminated for fetal abnormality would differ related to the existence of a grief reaction, and to identify the factors that differentiated the two groups. There were no significant grief differences between the miscarriage group and termination group. The groups were then combined to analyze within group factors. Six fixed variables were found to be related to vulnerability for a grief reaction. Factors included: time since the most recent loss; intervention of counseling; employment outside the home; feeling responsible for the perinatal loss; age of the mother as related to guilt; and gestational length of pregnancy.


The nickel-hydrogen battery, developed in the early nineteen-seventies as an energy-storage subsystem for commercial communication satellites, is discussed. The advantages offered by nickel-hydrogen batteries, including long life, low maintenance and high reliability, make it very attractive for terrestrial applications such as stand-alone photovoltaic systems. The major drawback to the wider use of the nickel-hydrogen battery is its high initial cost. A 7-kWh battery has been on test since January 1988 using a flat-plate photovoltaic array for charging. The cell, battery design and test methods are briefly described, and the results of cycling and solar tests are presented. It is concluded that the battery is well suited for remote solar applications.<<ETX>>


OBJECTIVE
To compare the effect of high-frequency ventilation versus other ventilation methods applied during cardiopulmonary bypass on postbypass oxygenation.

DESIGN
Prospective, randomized study.

SETTING
University hospital.

PARTICIPANTS
Seventy-five patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

INTERVENTIONS
Patients were allocated to 5 equal groups of different ventilation methods during bypass. Groups 1 and 2 received high-frequency, low-volume ventilation with 100% and 21% oxygen, respectively. Groups 3 and 4 received 5 cm H(2)O of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) with either 100% or 21% oxygen. Patients from group 5 were disconnected from the ventilator during the bypass period.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Spirometry data, blood gas analysis, oxygen saturation as measured by pulse oximetry, and end-tidal carbon dioxide were recorded 5 minutes before chest opening, 5 minutes before bypass, 5 minutes after bypass, 5 minutes after chest closure and 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours after surgery. There were no differences in compliance and mean airway pressures. Alveolar-to-arterial oxygen gradients increased, and PaO(2) decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in all groups 5 minutes after bypass and this trend continued in the postoperative period. Patients from group 3 had higher PaO(2) and lower alveolar-to-arterial oxygen gradients, 5 minutes after weaning from bypass (p < 0.05). Extubation times were similar in all groups.

CONCLUSIONS
The alveolar-arterial oxygen gradient was lower, and the PaO(2) was higher 5 minutes after bypass in patients receiving CPAP (100% O(2)) as compared with those ventilated with high-frequency ventilation.


Few studies have investigated how attentional control is affected by transient affective states while taking individual differences in affective traits into consideration. In this study, participants completed a color-word Stroop task immediately after undergoing a positive, neutral or negative affective context manipulation (ACM). Behavioral performance was unaffected by any ACM considered in isolation. For individuals high in trait negative affect (NA), performance was impaired by the negative but not the positive or neutral ACM. Neuroimaging results indicate that activity in primarily top-down control regions of the brain (inferior frontal gyrus and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex) was suppressed in the presence of emotional arousal (both negative and positive ACMs). This effect appears to have been exacerbated or offset by co-occurring activity in other top-down control regions (parietal) and emotion processing regions (orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala and nucleus accumbens) as a function of the valence of state affect (positive or negative) and trait affect (trait NA or trait PA). Neuroimaging results are consistent with behavioral findings. In combination, they indicate both additive and interactive influences of trait and state affect on top-down control of attention.


Information Assurance (IA) grew out of the field of computer network security. However, IA is a much broader term than network security and relates to the managing of the risks associated with the use, processing, storage, and transmission of information. The most basic model of IA relies on three properties: confidentiality, integrity, and availability, thus it is often referred to as the CIA model. The wide consensus is that the commonly assumed attributes of sensor nodes, such as low energy, low computational power, unattended operation, and wireless connectivity are considered challenges in implementing IA in sensor networks. Similarly, the broad range of applications, which results in broad range of possibly heterogeneous information modalities, makes the problem even more complex. Though, the relatively constant membership of sensor networks is usually perceived as an advantage. Similarly, the typical massive deployment of nodes can be exploited in the design of IA protocols. In this talk, I will describe an extension of the CIA model and its application to sensor networks. In particular, I will discuss a number of approaches to support IA in sensor networks.


Background Routine computed tomography (CT) examinations contain an abundance of findings unrelated to the diagnostic question. Those with prognostic significance may contribute to early detection and treatment of disease, irrelevant findings can be ignored. We aimed to assess the association between unrequested chest CT findings in lungs, mediastinum and pleura and future cardiovascular events. Methods Multi-center case-cohort study in 5 tertiary and 3 secondary care hospitals involving 10410 subjects who underwent routine chest CT for non-cardiovascular reasons. 493 cardiovascular hospitalizations or deaths were recorded during an average follow-up time of 17.8 months. 1191 patients were randomly sampled to serve as a control subcohort. Hazard ratios and annualized event rates were calculated. Results Abnormalities in the lung (26–44%), pleura (14–15%) and mediastinum (20%) were common. Hazard ratios after adjustment for age and sex were for airway wall thickening 2.26 (1.59–3.22), ground glass opacities 2.50 (1.72–3.62), consolidations 1.97 (1.12–3.47), pleural effusions 2.77 (1.81–4.25) and lymph-nodes 2.04 (1.40–2.96). Corresponding annual event rates were 5.5%, 6.0%, 3.8%, 10.2% and 4.4%. Conclusions We have identified several common chest CT findings that are predictive for future risk of cardiovascular events and found that other findings have little utility for this. The added value of the non-vascular predictors to established vascular calcifications on CT remains to be determined.


: Although rabbit ear vessels are readily accessible, the veins can collapse and thrombose after multiple venipunctures, and the artery may undergo vasospasm when repeatedly catheterized. Twenty-two male and female New Zealand White rabbits were cannulated with the catheter tip located in the jugular vein. The mean life of the port was noted to be approximately 3.5 months, with ranges of 3 days to 10 months. With proper maintenance and care, vascular access ports are a useful alternative to multiple venipuncture for long-term studies, thereby sparing marginal and central vessels and minimizing stress to both animals and investigators.


The negative impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been a major challenge to sub-Saharan Africa. Although the rate of new HIV infections in sub-continent has decreased, the total number of people living with HIV continues to rise. Most of the people infected with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa are within the age bracket of 15 to 35 years. It has been estimated that about 80% of the infected group are aged 20-29 years. It is against the background of the challenges posed by HIV/AIDS to young people that the Canadian-Nigerian partnership Action Research on HIV Prevention for Rural Youth was conceived. This paper provides the background to the outcomes reported in this special edition of this journal by reviewing the HIV/AIDS situation in sub-Saharan Africa and the nature of the associated response; discussing the rationale for the Action Research which focuses on Nigeria; and outlining the key components of the research.


We present temporal milestones for hierarchical task networks to enable the complex synchronization of tasks. A temporal milestone of a task is an intermediate event that occurs during the execution of a complex task, e.g., the start time, the end time or a milestone of any of its subtasks. Unlike landmark variables, introduced in existing work, temporal milestones respect the task abstraction boundaries and preserve structural properties enabling much more efficient reasoning. Furthermore, temporal milestones are as expressive as landmark variables. We provide analytical and empirical evidence to support these claims.


Cardiovascular diseases are leading causes of morbidity and mortality in developed countries. Despite modern advances in science and medicine, our understanding of the factors that contribute to the development of vascular dysfunction is incomplete. Progress in treatment will depend on elucidating the complex interactions of hormones, growth factors, inflammatory agents, and oxidative stress on cell proliferation, migration, and death both in the vasculature and in circulation. Recent developments in proteomic techniques provide a promising approach for determining protein changes associated with complex diseases and permitting thorough evaluation of molecular changes associated with vascular dysfunction. Proteomic studies have revealed novel, dynamic, complex, and subtle changes of intracellular processes that are associated with the abnormal regulation of vascular function. This review provides an overview on the progress of applying proteomics to vascular diseases. We will describe the application of proteomics to clinically important vascular conditions and highlight the potential of using proteomics to advance our understanding on the mechanisms that underlie vascular diseases.


Abstract This paper describes a simple, inexpensive, highly sensitive, selective, and efficient electrochemical method to determine glyphosate (GLY) in samples of milk, orange juice, and agricultural formulation. The oxidation reaction on the electrode surface was electrochemically characterised by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV). The investigation of GLY at carbon paste electrode revealed a non-reversible oxidation peak at +0.95 V versus Ag/AgCl, which was used for electrochemical detection of GLY. The operating parameters (pH, frequency, step potential, and amplitude) were optimised in relation to the peak current intensity, and a calibration curve was set up in a concentration range of 4.40 × 10−8–2.80 × 10−6 mol L−1, with a detection limit of 2 × 10−9 mol L−1. After calibration curve was plotted, the developed procedure was applied to determine GLY in previously contaminated samples: milk and orange juice, and in a commercial formulation, obtaining recovery values between 98.31% and 103.75%. These results show that the proposed method can be used for GLY quantification in different samples with high sensitivity, specificity, stability, and reproducibility.


The dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies of the Milky Way are some of the most dark-matter-dominated objects known. Due to their proximity, high dark matter content, and lack of astrophysical backgrounds, dwarf spheroidal galaxies are widely considered to be among the most promising targets for the indirect detection of dark matter via γ rays. Here we report on γ-ray observations of 25 Milky Way dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies based on 4 years of Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) data. None of the dwarf galaxies are significantly detected in γ rays, and we present γ-ray flux upper limits between 500 MeV and 500 GeV. We determine the dark matter content of 18 dwarf spheroidal galaxies from stellar kinematic data and combine LAT observations of 15 dwarf galaxies to constrain the dark matter annihilation cross section. We set some of the tightest constraints to date on the annihilation of dark matter particles with masses between 2 GeV and 10 TeV into prototypical standard model channels. We find these results to be robust against systematic uncertainties in the LAT instrument performance, diffuse γ-ray background modeling, and assumed dark matter density profile. © 2014 American Physical Society.


MOOCs ability to provide valuable skills and competencies at a fraction of the cost of other educational offers, in a fraction of the time, and from the comfort of one's own home, has proven to be a promising business reference to digital transformation, as applied in higher education.
This paper overviews the impact of blockchain features, such as the trendy self-sovereign identity adding precious disruptive value along MOOCs value chains, especially around content acquisition, digital marketing and monetization, as well as facilitating acquisition and transfer of credentials in a digital trust-focused environment. A sound, trackable and protective digital identity has been long considered a needed asset, whereas the owner of the credentials, either the university, individual or employer has full control over the data that is shared across the educational ecosystem, on a case-by-case basis. The article also aspires at critically observing whether using blockchain tech for courseware aggregation and delivery constitutes a sound business case, as well as a worthy exploration for intrinsic learning motivation and an enhancement to higher education value chain.
Secondly, blockchain and the self-sovereign identity offer benefits for the education authoring providers in particular and token-based monetization models for OER education.
Blockchain has the potential to disrupt significantly current business models, by facilitating legally binding smart-contracts, helping streamline the credentials' processes, protecting the viability and legitimacy of education records as well as increasing the effectiveness of educational agregators. Reliably easy and quick to transfer credentials are essential for the labor force to be able to swiftly introduce newly acquired skills and competencies to the real business. In the same time, education providers are incentivized by an education governance model that enables better management and sustainability.


Word sense is ambiguous in natural language processing (NLP). This phenomenon is particularly keen in cases involving noun-verb (NV) word-pairs. This paper describes a sense-based noun-verb event frame (NVEF) identifier that can be used to disambiguate word sense in Chinese sentences effectively. A knowledge representation system (the NVEF-KR tree) for the NVEF sense-pair identifier is also proposed. We use the word sense of Hownet, which is a Chinese-English bilingual knowledge-base dictionary. Our experiment showed that the NVEF identifier was able to achieve 74.8% accuracy for the test sentences studied based only on NVEF sense-pair knowledge. By applying the techniques of longest syllabic NVEF-word-pair first and exclusion word checking, the sense accuracy for the same test sentences could be further improved to 93.7%. There were four major reasons for the incorrect cases: (1) lack of a bottom-up tagger, (2) lack of non-NVEF knowledge, (3) inadequate word segmentation, and (4) lack of a multi-NVEF analyzer. If these four problems could be resolved, the accuracy would reach 98.9%. The results of this study indicate that NVEF sense-pair knowledge is effective for word sense disambiguation and is likely to be important for general NLP.


Abstract
Objective – This work explores potential factors that may contribute to a librarian becoming a highly productive researcher. An understanding of the factors can provide evidence based guidance to those at the beginning of their research careers in designing their own trajectories and to library administrators who seek to create work conditions that contribute to librarian research productivity. The current study is the first to explore the factors from the perspective of the profession's most accomplished librarian-researchers.
Methods – This exploratory and descriptive study recruited 78 academic librarians identified as highly productive researchers; 46 librarians participated in a survey about their professional training and research environments, research networks, and beliefs about the research process. Respondents supplied a recent CV which was coded to produce a research output score for the past 10 years. In addition to fixed-response questions, there were five open-ended questions about possible success factors. All data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and tests of significance correlations.
Results – Accomplished librarian-researchers have professional training backgrounds and research environments that vary widely. None is statistically associated with research output. Those with densely connected networks of research colleagues who both know each other and do research together is significantly related to research output. A large group of those identified in the research networks are "both friend and colleague" and offer each other reciprocal support. In open-ended questions, respondents mentioned factors that equally span the three categories of research success: individual attributes, peers and community, and institutional structures.
Conclusion – The authors found that that there are many paths to becoming an accomplished librarian-researcher and numerous factors are conducive to achieving this distinction. A positive research environment includes high institutional expectations; a variety of institutional supports for research; and extrinsic rewards, such as salary increases, tenure, promotion, and opportunities for advancement. The authors further conclude that a librarian's research network may be an important factor in becoming an accomplished librarian-researcher. This finding is supported by both the research network analysis and responses to open-ended questions in which collaboration was a frequent theme.


Velocity is an important rock property that is required and used in different applications in petrophysics, rock physics, and seismic. The published literature shows a plethora of equations and models that relate velocity and porosity, a critical reservoir property. Attempts to account for the presence of shale in the formation invariably lead to more complicated relations. The inability of the industry to streamline these relations handicaps advancements in rock physics and formation evaluation, complicates the application of best practices in time-lapse seismic and fluid substitutions, and jeopardizes the integration of petrophysical, geologic, and seismic characteristics of oil and gas reservoirs. I have considered the following criteria to grade some of the different velocity-porosity relations in use today: (1) the significance of effective stress, (2) usefulness for interpreting geology, (3) predictive capability, and (4) universal applicability. Judging by these criteria, the general linear form, first prescribed by the late George R. Pickett, is the clear winner. The general linear form is a linear relationship between the reciprocal velocity and porosity. It passes theoretical and empirical justification. It is also valid for P- and S-wave velocities, yields easily to mathematical manipulation, and satisfies carbonate as well as clastic rocks for porosities encountered in everyday subsurface investigations. I evaluate practical examples in which the general linear form is the basis for multiple rock-typing criteria, comparative formation evaluation, and interpretive use of the [Formula: see text] ratio. Appropriate integration of the general linear form with other rock property relations provides avenues to redefine the [Formula: see text] ratio and acoustic impedance, and it expands the understanding and applications of reservoir elastic properties, as well as it constrains and streamlines rock physics models and applications.


Background: Bioengineered plant-derived Rhamnogalacturonan-Is (RG-Is) from pectins are potential candidates for surface nanocoating of medical devices. It has recently been reported that RG-I nanocoatings may prevent bacterial infection and improve the biocompatibility of implants. The aim of the study was to evaluate in vitro impact of bioengineered RG-I nanocoatings on osteogenic capacity and proinflammatory cytokine response of murine osteoblasts following Porphyromonas gingivalis infection. Methods: Murine MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts and isolated primary calvarial osteoblasts from C57BL/6J (B6J osteoblasts) mice were infected with P. gingivalis and incubated on tissue culture polystyrene plates with or without nanocoatings of unmodified RG-Is isolated from potato pulps (PU) or dearabinanated RG-Is (PA). To investigate a behavior of infected osteoblasts cultured on RG-Is cell morphology, proliferation, metabolic activity, mineralization and osteogenic and pro-inflammatory gene expression were examined. Results: Following P. gingivalis infection, PA, but not PU, significantly promoted MC3T3-E1 and BJ6 osteoblasts proliferation, metabolic activity, and calcium deposition. Moreover, Il-1b , Il-6 , TNF- α , and Rankl gene expressions were downregulated in cells cultured on PU and to a higher extent on PA as compared to the corresponding control, whereas Runx , Alpl , Col1a1 , and Bglap gene expressions were upregulated vice versa. Conclusion: Our data clearly showed that pectin RG-Is nanocoating with high content of galactan (PA) reduces the osteoblastic response to P. gingivalis infection in vitro and may, therefore, reduce a risk of inflammation especially in immunocompromised patients with rheumatoid or periodontal disorders.


Considering the advantages of the fine-blanking process, the smooth-cut surface without further operation could be fabricated. However, one of the major problems of the fine-blanking is the occurrence of the die-roll formation. This problem is the main factor which affects the quality of the fine-blanked parts. In this study, to reduce the amount of die-roll formation, the application of back-up ring was proposed. The finite element method (FEM) was used to investigate the effects of back-up ring. In addition, the effects of bridge width were also investigated. The FEM simulation results illustrated that the mechanism of back-up ring and the effects of bridge width could be theoretically clarified base on the material flow analysis. The FEM simulation and experimental results showed the good agreement with each other. Therefore, the application of back-up ring could reduce the amount of die-roll formation on the fine-blanked parts. In this study, the amount of die-roll formation increased as the bridge width increase and it was constant at the bridge width of over 15 mm.


In many areas of health care financing, there is controversy over the sources of cost variability and about the respective roles of inefficiency versus legitimate heterogeneity. This paper proposes a payment system that creates incentives to increase hospital efficiency when hospitals are heterogeneous, without reducing the quality of care. We consider an extension of Shleifer's yardstick competition model and apply an econometric approach to identify and evaluate observable and unobservable sources of cost heterogeneity. Moral hazard can be seen as the result of two components :long-term moral hazard (hospital management can be permanently inefficient) and transitory moral hazard. The latter is linked to the manager's transitory cost-reducing effort. For instance, he or she can be more or less rigorous each year when bargaining prices for supplies delivered to the hospital by outside firms. The use of a three-dimensional nested database makes it possible to identify transitory moral hazard and to estimate its effect on hospital cost variability. Econometric estimates are performed on a sample of 7,314 stays for acute myocardial infarction observed in 36 French public hospitals over the period 1994–1997. We obtain two alternative payment systems. The first takes all unobservable hospital heterogeneity into account, provided that it is time invariant, whereas the second ignores unobservable heterogeneity. Simulations show that substantial budget savings—at least 20%—can be expected from the implementation of such payment rules. The first method of payment has the great advantage of reimbursing high-quality care. It leads to substantial potential savings because it provides incentives to reduce costs linked to transitory moral hazard, whose influence on cost variability is far from negligible. This payment rule could be extended to other areas of health care financing, such as Adjusted Average Per Capita Cost to calculate Medicare Managed Care reimbursements in the United States.


Computational analyses of four bacterial genomes of the Xanthomonadaceae family reveal new unique genes that may be involved in adaptation, pathogenicity, and host specificity. The Xanthomonas genus presents 3636 unique genes distributed in 1470 families, while Xylella genus presents 1026 unique genes distributed in 375 families. Among Xanthomonas-specific genes, we highlight a large number of cell wall degrading enzymes, proteases, and iron receptors, a set of energy metabolism genes, second copy of the type II secretion system, type III secretion system, flagella and chemotactic machinery, and the xanthomonadin synthesis gene cluster. Important genes unique to the Xylella genus are an additional copy of a type IV pili gene cluster and the complete machinery of colicin V synthesis and secretion. Intersections of gene sets from both genera reveal a cluster of genes homologous to Salmonella's SPI-7 island in Xanthomonas axonopodis pv citri and Xylella fastidiosa 9a5c, which might be involved in host specificity. Each genome also presents important unique genes, such as an HMS cluster, the kdgT gene, and O-antigen in Xanthomonas axonopodis pv citri; a number of avrBS genes and a distinct O-antigen in Xanthomonas campestris pv campestris, a type I restriction-modification system and a nickase gene in Xylella fastidiosa 9a5c, and a type II restriction-modification system and two genes related to peptidoglycan biosynthesis in Xylella fastidiosa temecula 1. All these differences imply a considerable number of gene gains and losses during the divergence of the four lineages, and are associated with structural genome modifications that may have a direct relation with the mode of transmission, adaptation to specific environments and pathogenicity of each organism.


Recent advances in energetic materials modeling and high -resolution hydrocode simulation enable enhanced computational analysis of bio-medical treatments that utilize high-pressure shock waves. Of particular interest is in designing devices that use such technology in medical treatments. For example, the generated micro shock waves with peak pressure on orders of 10 ㎬ can be used for treatments such as kidney stone removal, trans-dermal micro-particle delivery, and cancer cell removal. In this work, we present a new computational methodology for applying the high explosive dynamics to bio-medical treatments by making use of high pressure shock physics and multi-material wave interactions. The preliminary calculations conducted by the in-house code, GIBBS2D, captures various features that are observed from the actual experiments under the similar test conditions. We expect to gain novel insights in applying explosive shock wave physics to the bio-medical science involving drug injection. Our forthcoming papers will illustrate the quantitative comparison of the modeled results against the experimental data.


Traditional data structure designs, whether lock-based or lock-free, provide parallelism via fine grained synchronization among threads.
 We introduce a new synchronization paradigm based on coarse locking, which we call flat combining. The cost of synchronization in flat combining is so low, that having a single thread holding a lock perform the combined access requests of all others, delivers, up to a certain non-negligible concurrency level, better performance than the most effective parallel finely synchronized implementations. We use flat-combining to devise, among other structures, new linearizable stack, queue, and priority queue algorithms that greatly outperform all prior algorithms.


Abstract Introduction: In the last 40 years, Acinetobacter baumannii has been among the bacteria known to acquire multiple mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and, as a result, it is now one of the pathogens involved in healthcare-associated infections with multidrug resistant strains. Our study aimed to assess the production of carbapenemases in carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii by means of phenotypic methods and polymerase chain reaction technique (PCR), as well as to appraise the performances of carbapenemase detection by phenotypic tests compared to the PCR approach. Materials and Methods: We used phenotypic methods (E-test MBL, CIM, MHT, Rosco® Kit/OXA/MBL, OXA-23 K-SeT® assay) to investigate the production of carbapenemases in 43 carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii isolates, and PCR to screen for the genes blaOXA-23, blaOXA-24, blaOXA-58, blaOXA-51, blaVIM, blaIMP and blaNDM. Results: The carbapenem inactivation method (CIM) at 2 hours, CIM at 4h, OXA-23 K-SeT® assay, Rosco® Kit/OXA, and modified Hodge test (MHT) identified 26%, 63%, 65%, 81%, and 42% carbapenemase-producing isolates, respectively. The phenotypic E-test MBL detected metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) production in 79% of strains. PCR revealed blaOXA-51 in all the isolates, blaOXA-23 in 35/43 (81%), blaOXA-24 in 28/43 (65%), blaVIM in 7/43 (3%) and blaOXA-58, blaIMP, blaNDM were not detected. Conclusion: Because phenotypic tests do not highlight all the carbapenemase-producing strains, their results must be interpreted with caution relative to their level of performance, and negative results should be confirmed by means of PCR.


Introduction: The routine use of drains in uncomplicated laparoscopic cholecystectomy(LC) has still been controversial. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of applying drains in uncomplicated LC. Methods: This study is a randomized prospective interventional study without blindness. After removing gallbladder, 60 patients were randomized to have corrugated drain positioned in the subhepatic space and 60 patients were randomized to have no drain. Patients were assessed for abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and the length of hospital stay 24 hr after the surgery. Then, they were assessed for biloma two weeks after the surgery. Results: No significant difference was observed in regard with nausea, vomiting and biloma in either group. However, abdominal pain (p-value: 0.001) and the length of hospital stay (p-value : <o.oo1) were significantly higher in the group with drain. Conclusion: The present study findings did not reveal any advantages to the routine use of drain in LC.


Since we are generally not required to act altruistically, one question that arises is may children or incompetent adults be permitted – or required – to act for the benefit of others where the law would ordinarily only permit such an act if it were justified by a valid consent? In this article I consider how the law regulates decision making for children and incompetent adults and whether acts that would otherwise be considered altruistic are permissible. Using organ donation as an example I argue that the law does permit them but only by manipulating the 'best interests' test. I consider some of the arguments in favour of allowing such decisions and conclude that it is apparent that there are circumstances in which they should be permitted but that the best interests test is inadequate and dishonestly conceals the real justifications for the decision.


Transparent conductive films of single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) were prepared by spray coating method. The effect of acid treatment on the SWCNT films was investigated. The field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) shows that acid treatment can remove dispersing agent. The electrical and optical properties of acid-treated films were enhanced compared with those of as deposited SWCNT films. Nitric acid (), sulfuric acid (), nitric acid:sulfuric acid (3:1) were used for post treatment. Although all solutions reduced sheet resistance of CNT films, nitric acid can improve electrical characteristics efficiently. During acid treatment, transmittance was increased continuously with time. But the sheet resistance was decreased for the first 20 minutes and then increased again. Post-treated SWCNT films were transparent (85%) in the visible range with sheet resistance of about . In this paper we discuss simple fabrication, which is suitable for different types of large-scale substrates and simple processes to improve properties of SWCNT films.


The 2006 version of the New Zealand Concrete Standard NZS3101 has introduced two new details for connection of precast and prestressed hollowcore floor units to supporting reinforced concrete beams. Although these amended connection details have been experimentally proved to yield better seismic performance of the building, concerns about their performance in fire still remain. A simplified and novel approach to model the two way action of hollowcore floor slabs with topping is established. This paper analytically investigates the fire performance of the precast and prestressed hollowcore floor units connected to the supporting moment resisting reinforced concrete building frames according to the old practice and the improved details recommended in NZS3101 using the finite element tool SAFIR. The simulation results show that rigid connections between the hollowcore floor systems and perimeter beams provide better fire resistance than rotationally flexible connections.


Capacitive sensors are key components in a wide range of sensing applications, such as gas detectors and safety systems. While the mainstream silicon sensors demonstrated good performances, vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VA-CNTs) outperform them and, therefore, are an attractive candidate material for capacitive applications owing to their extremely high surface area. Specifically, their top (crust) layer is characterized by a porous and dense morphology that further enhances the capacitive area and, consequently, induces an electrostatic fringe field and an enhancement of the capacitance. In this paper, we study how the porosity of VA-CNTs determines their electrostatic behavior. We observed that the porous surface of the crust layer generates a significant enhancement of the capacitance comparing to parallel plate capacitors. The rough surface of the crust layer results in amplification of the VA-CNT effective capacitor area, which further increases with the electrostatic gap. As-grown VA-CNTs with lower porosity demonstrate higher capacitance; however, densified samples and samples reinforced with conductive nano-particles did not show an enhancement of the capacitance, due to a significant change in their CNT formation. Thus, this paper emphasizes the influence of the morphological structure of VA-CNTs on their capacitance and enriches the material library that can be used for capacitive sensing.


The early medieval site Thunau am Kamp consists of a hill fort and a settlement with large burial ground at the bank of river Kamp. All these features are under archaeological investigation since many years. The settlement comprises many pit houses, some with stratigraphic order. Every pit house was equipped with at least one cupola oven and/or a hearth or fireplace. Sometimes the entire cupola was preserved. The site was occupied during the 9th and 10th AD according to potshards which seem to indicate two phases: In the older phase ovens were placed in the corner of the houses while during the younger phase they are found in the middle of the wall. In order to increase the archaeomagnetic data base 14 ovens have been sampled. They fill the temporal gap in the data base for Austria around 900 AD. Laboratory treatment included alternation field and thermal demagnetisations as well as rock magnetic experiments. The baked clay with was formed from a loess sediment has preserved stable directions. Apart from one exception the mean characteristic remanent magnetization directions are concentrated around 900 AD on the early medieval part of the directional archaeomagnetic reference curve of Austria (Schnepp & Lanos, GJI, 2006). Using this curve archaeomagnetic dating with RenDate provides ages between 800 and 1100 AD which are in agreement with archaeological dating. In one case archaeomagnetic dating is even more precise. Together with the archaeological age estimates and stratigraphic information the new data have been included into the database of the Austrian curve. It has been recalculated using a new version of RenCurve. The new data confine the curve and its error band considerably in the time interval 800 to 1100 AD. The curve calibration process also provides a probability density distribution for each structure which allows for posterior dating. This refines temporal errors considerably. Usefulness of such an approach and archaeological implications will be discussed.


We hope that the open access endoscopy service together with the feedback of information will enhance their skill at dealing with these problems. We have already shown that this takes a lot of the burden off the specialist clinics so there is more time to spend with patients with additional complications. A reduction in gastroscopies is not necessarily a cost effective measure. We are looking at a wide range of outcome measures from the open access endoscopy service. The value of a negative endoscopy is rated highly by general practitioners and also by many patients. A wider view must be taken and factors such as the pressure on time in clinic, waiting times for clinic, numbers of visits to the general practitioner, and inappropriate treatments should all be considered. We already have some data suggesting that general practitioners do treat patients appropriately after open access endoscopy and we have identified appropriate changes in treatment. Patients may have a natural tendency to prefer assessment in a hospital specialist clinic. This could apply to a variety of problems such as headaches or skin problems. The Darlington study on patient preference quoted in the letter was not a comparison with open access endoscopy. We understand that the patients were asked if they liked to be seen in a hospital clinic as well as having a gastroscopy. It does not follow that referral for secondary health care is a necessary or efficient use of resources.


Background: Social cognitive deficits have been linked to social dysfunction in people with a psychotic disorder. Social Cognition Training (SCT) aims to improve social cognition and social functioning by practicing with social stimuli and teaching compensatory strategies. Meta-analyses indicate that social cognition can be improved with SCT. However, evidence regarding generalization and long-term efficacy is mixed. A possible explanation for this may be that current approaches may not provide sufficient practice in circumstances highly resembling daily life social situations. Virtual Reality (VR) is highly realistic and produces a psychological response similar to real-life situations, but it can also be controlled and personalized, making it a promising tool for SCT. Method: In a pilot study (n=22), we investigated the feasibility, acceptance and preliminary effects on social cognition and psychiatric symptoms of DiSCoVR (Dynamic Interactive Social Cognition Training in Virtual Reality), a 16-session individual VR SCT. Emotion perception, social perception and theory of mind, and social interaction were practiced in immersive, interactive virtual environments. Feasibility and acceptance were evaluated using a survey for participants and therapists. Social cognition was assessed using picture, video and story tasks (e.g., Ekman 60 Faces, The Awareness of Social Inference Test). Psychiatric symptoms were measured using interviews and questionnaires. Results: Participants (completers: n=17) indicated that they enjoyed DiSCoVR (M=7.3 out of 10), liked the combination of VR and a therapist (M=7.9) and considered it to be helpful for daily social contact (M=7.0). 70% of participants indicated that the opportunity to practice with social situations in VR was the most important strength of the intervention. Facial affect recognition improved significantly after treatment (t=-4.79, p<.001). No change was found on the other measures. Discussion: The intervention was considered to be feasible and acceptable by participants and therapists. While an improvement in facial affect recognition was found, no change was observed in higher-order social cognition (e.g., empathic accuracy, Theory of Mind). We are currently studying a new version of the DiSCoVR treatment protocol and software in a multicenter randomized controlled trial.


Face attribute editing aims to generate faces with one or multiple desired face attributes manipulated while other details are preserved. Unlike prior works such as GAN inversion which has an expensive reverse mapping process, we propose a simple feed-forward network to generate high-fidelity manipulated faces. By simply employing some existing and easy-obtainable prior information, our method can control, transfer, and edit diverse attributes of faces in the wild. The proposed method can consequently be applied to various applications such as face swapping, face relighting, and makeup transfer. In our method, we decouple identity, expression, pose, and illumination by using 3D priors; separate texture and colors by using region-wise style codes. All the information is embedded into adversarial learning by our identity-style normalization module. Disentanglement losses are proposed to enhance the generator to extract information independently from each attribute. Comprehensive quantitative and qualitative evaluations have been conducted. In a single framework, our method achieves the best or competitive scores on a variety of face applications.


OBJECTIVE: To investigate, by use of the Amplicor PCR in a routine setting, the recovery rate of Chlamydia trachomatis in ano-rectal and pharyngeal swab samples obtained from males and females attending an STD clinic in relation to sexual practices, symptoms, and signs. DESIGN: Data regarding sexual practices, and symptoms and signs related to the rectum and pharynx, were obtained from 196 females and 208 males, including 31 homosexuals and eight bisexuals. Swab samples were obtained from the urethra, rectum, and pharynx from all the patients. An additional endocervical swab sample was obtained from the females. METHODS: All samples were analysed by the Amplicor PCR (Roche). SETTING: Rudolph Bergh's Hospital, a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases situated in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of urogenital C trachomatis infection was 9.2% (37/404). The specificity of the Amplicor PCR was 100% for both ano-rectal and pharyngeal swab samples. In females three (13%) of the 23 infections were detected only by testing an ano-rectal or throat swab sample. In homosexual males two (67%) of three infections were detected only by the anorectal swab sample. Ano-rectal intercourse without use of condom was reported by 44% of females and by 52% of homosexual males. Fellatio without condom use was reported by 91% of females, and 80% of heterosexual males practised cunnilingus. Pharyngeal infection, however, occurred only in females, and the presence of pharyngeal symptoms or signs seemed predictive for pharyngeal C trachomatis infection, for which the time of incubation or colonisation exceeded 3 months. The presence of ano-rectal signs or symptoms was not predictive for an ano-rectal C trachomatis infection. CONCLUSION: The Amplicor PCR can be used on ano-rectal and pharyngeal swab samples. Ano-rectal swab samples should be obtained in females and homosexual males at high risk of being infected. Pharyngeal samples should be taken in females at high risk of being infected, especially when pharyngeal signs or symptoms are present.