Hg is known to affect productivity, reproduction and survival of coastal and marine animals and when deposited in aquatic ecosystems the metal can be bioaccumulated in the food web. Se is a naturally occurring essential nonmetal that is present in all cells. It has many important functions in the cell and it also stimulates the immune system. The relationship between Hg and Se has been subject to numerous studies and the majority point to a negative relationship between the two elements, showing mitigating effects of Se on Hg toxicity. However, some studies have shown no relationship between Hg and Se concentrations and others demonstrate a positive relationship between the two. Generally a large excess of Se in relation to Hg has been observed in fish. The tissue concentrations of and the relationship between Hg and Se are suggested to be dependent on a number of factors, such as the relative concentrations of the elements and their bioavailabilities. The aim of this study was to investigate the temporal trends and the relationship between Hg and Se concentrations in herring muscle at three different locations along the Swedish east coast. Further, the aim was to give recommendations to whether Se concentrations in fish in Swedish waters should be included in the SCMPMB.Concentrations of Hg in herring muscle were generally higher than concentrations of Se. The highest Hg concentrations were found in herring muscle from Angskarsklubb, while Landsort had the highest Se concentrations. Se concentrations in herring muscle were decreasing at Utlangan and Angskarsklubb.The results from this study indicate a complex relationship between Hg and Se concentrations in herring muscle, depending on the magnitude of the Hg concentration. At Hg concentrations below 40 ng/g, a negative correlation between Hg and Se was seen, while at concentrations of Hg above 40 ng/g w.w the correlation to Se was positive. The conclusion of this study is that concentrations of Se in herring from Swedish waters should be included in the SCMPMB.


Wireless mobile communication networks are rapidly growing at an incredible rate around the world and a number of improved and emerging technologies are seen to be critical to the improved economics and performance of these networks. The technical revolution and continuing growth of mobile radio communication systems has been made possible by extraordinary advances in the related fields of digital computing, high-speed circuit technology, the Internet and, of course, digital signal processing. Improved third generation (3G) and future generation wireless communication systems must support a substantially wider and enhanced range of services with respect to those supported by second generation and basic 3G systems. The never-ending quest for such personal and multimedia services, however, demands technologies operating at higher data rates and broader bandwidths. This combined with the unpredictability and randomness of the mobile propagation channel has created many new technically challenging problems for which innovative, adaptive and advanced signal processing techniques may offer new and better solutions. Space-time processing techniques have emerged as one of the most promising areas of research and development in wireless communications for the efficient utilization of the physical mobile radio propagation channel. Space-time processing signifies the signal processing performed on a system consisting of several antenna elements, whose signals are processed adaptively in order to exploit both the spatial (space) and temporal (time) dimensions of the radio channel. This can significantly improve the capacity, coverage, quality and energy efficiency of wireless systems. This thesis expands the scope of space-time processing by proposing novel applications in wireless communication systems. These include the reduction of possibly harmful electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones, enhancing the quality of Bluetooth links in indoor office environments, increasing the spectral efficiency of satellite and the novel high altitude platforms (HAPs) communication systems, enhancing the coverage and capacity of integrated multiple-HAP 3G systems, and improving the energy efficiency of cooperative wireless sensor networks. The performance of these systems is assessed by theoretical analysis, by computer simulations under a range of propagation environments including realistic channel models, advanced commercial electromagnetic modeling software, and a proposed novel multi-channel simulator suitable for various space-time applications.


Introduction:
 Vitamin D may ameliorate hypertension and kidney disease through genomic and extra-genomic pathways. Several studies have shown that vitamin D levels can affect levels of circulating FoxP3-positive regulatory T-lymphocytes. Previously, our group has demonstrated that adoptive transfer of FoxP3-positive T-lymphocytes ameliorated the phenotype in a mouse model of angiotensin-II induced cardiac damage.

 Objective:
 To investigate the impact of vitamin D depletion in a transgenic rat model of angiotensin II-mediated hypertensive organ failure, and to investigate the possible association with levels of FoxP3 regulatory T-lymphocytes.

 Methods:
 In 4-week old age-matched rats overexpressing the human renin and angiotensinogen genes, group 1 (n=18) received vitamin D depleted chow, and group 2, (n=15) received chow with standard contents of vitamin D. Blood pressure (tail cuff) and 24-hour albuminuria were determined once weekly. After three weeks, animals were sacrificed. Heart tissue was examined for atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) by RT-PCR. Lymphocytes from spleens were isolated, and the percentage of CD4+ cells, which were CD4+CD25+FoxP3-positive, was measured by flow cytometry. Mesenteric arteries were removed and stimulated with nitroprusside and acetylcholine to investigate the relaxation potential of the epithelium.

 Results:
 The vitamin D depleted group had higher blood pressure at all times (mean differences were 23.40 mmHg, 14.31 mmHg and 15.71 mmHg respectively, p<0.05), higher heart-to-body weight ratio, and higher ANP and BNP levels. No differences were found between groups in mortality or proteinuria. Neither the levels of CD4+CD25+FoxP3-positive cells in spleen, nor the relaxation potential measured in mesenteric arteries differed between groups.

 Conclusion:
 Short-term vitamin D depletion aggravated hypertension and end-organ damage in a rat model of angiotensin II-induced hypertension. However, the aggravated phenotype was not due to different levels of splenic FoxP3-positive activated T-lymphocytes or to higher endothelial resistance in arteries.


In this issue of theJournal(p 466), Wilson and his colleagues report a fatality as a result of acetaminophen overdose, compounded as it was by simultaneous phenobarbital ingestion and phenacetin treatment. The issues addressed highlight lessons for each of us who deal either with accidental or with purposeful poisonings. In addition to emphasizing the toxic potential of acetaminophen, the report stresses the potentiating effect of other drugs on the toxic process. At the same time, it serves to document the therapeutic implications of our understanding of the pharmacokinetics involved. Viewing the current scene against the past may serve to clarify the importance of their observations. Paralleling the Poison Control Movement of the 50s and 60s were numerous reports documenting the severe effects of aspirin overdoses. Whether the result of an "accidental" ingestion by a toddler ("purposeful" in his or her eyes), an inadvertently prescribed, excessive dosage regimen, or a


Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is an important cause of pneumonia in the HIV-negative immunocompromised population, for whom the fungal load is low, the differential diagnosis is difficult, and a bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) sample is often not readily available. Molecular techniques have improved the microbiological diagnosis in this scenario. ABSTRACT Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is an important cause of pneumonia in the HIV-negative immunocompromised population, for whom the fungal load is low, the differential diagnosis is difficult, and a bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) sample is often not readily available. Molecular techniques have improved the microbiological diagnosis in this scenario. The usefulness of two real-time PCR techniques targeting nuclear single-copy and mitochondrial multicopy genes, respectively, applied to oral wash specimens (OW) for PJP diagnosis was assessed, and its accuracy was compared to a BAL fluid-based diagnosis. Immunocompromised patients having PJP in the differential diagnosis of an acute respiratory episode, and from whom OW and BAL or lung biopsy specimens were obtained ≤48 h apart, were retrospectively included. PCRs targeting the dihydropteroate synthase gene (DHPS) and the mitochondrial small-subunit (mtSSU) rRNA gene were performed in paired OW-BAL specimens. Thirty-six patients were included (88.6% HIV negative). Fifteen patients (41.7%) were classified as PJP, and a further 8 were considered P. jirovecii colonized. Quantification of DHPS and mtSSU in BAL fluid showed an accuracy of 96.9% and 93.0%, respectively, for PJP diagnosis, whereas a qualitative approach performed better when applied to OW (accuracy, 91.7%) irrespective of the PCR target studied (kappa = 1). Qualitative molecular diagnosis applied to OW showed an excellent performance for PJP diagnosis regardless of the target studied, being easier to interpret than the quantitative approach needed for BAL fluid.


Background: The CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) represents a subset of colorectal cancers characterized by widespread aberrant DNA hypermethylation at select CpG islands. The risk factors and environmental exposures contributing to etiologic heterogeneity between CIMP and non-CIMP tumors are not known. Methods: We measured the CIMP status of 3,119 primary population-based colorectal cancer tumors from the multinational Colon Cancer Family Registry. Etiologic heterogeneity was assessed by a case–case study comparing risk factor frequency of colorectal cancer cases with CIMP and non-CIMP tumors using logistic regression to estimate the case–case odds ratio (ccOR). Results: We found associations between tumor CIMP status and MSI-H (ccOR = 7.6), BRAF V600E mutation (ccOR = 59.8), proximal tumor site (ccOR = 9; all P < 0.0001), female sex [ccOR = 1.8; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.5–2.1], older age (ccOR = 4.0 comparing over 70 years vs. under 50; 95% CI, 3.0–5.5), and family history of CRC (ccOR = 0.6; 95% CI, 0.5–0.7). While use of NSAIDs varied by tumor CIMP status for both males and females (P = 0.0001 and P = 0.02, respectively), use of multivitamin or calcium supplements did not. Only for female colorectal cancer was CIMP status associated with increased pack-years of smoking (Ptrend < 0.001) and body mass index (BMI; Ptrend = 0.03). Conclusions: The frequency of several colorectal cancer risk factors varied by CIMP status, and the associations of smoking and obesity with tumor subtype were evident only for females. Impact: Differences in the associations of a unique DNA methylation–based subgroup of colorectal cancer with important lifestyle and environmental exposures increase understanding of the molecular pathologic epidemiology of this heavily methylated subset of colorectal cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 24(3); 512–9. ©2015 AACR.


Due to rapid industrial changes and increased pressure of people on fragile ecosystems, large-scale environmental perturbations have been occurring on Earth. Major current environmental problems that can be expected to have a substantial effect on human health include human-induced climate change and stratosphere ozone depletion, because they threaten the ecological support systems on which human life depends. The most serious potential consequence of global environmental change is the erosion of Earth's life-support systems. The public health assessments of the present and future anthropogenic damage to the biosphere have important implications for human health and wellbeing. Medical practitioners have an important role to play in this field.


level 3 studies, which meet none of the evidence criteria for that study type or are derived from expert opinion, commentary, or consensus. Study types and criteria are defined at http://smartmedicine.acponline.org/criteria.html Disclaimer: The information included herein should never be used as a substitute for clinical judgement and does not represent an official position of the American College of Physicians. Because all PIER modules are updated regularly, printed web pages or PDFs may rapidly become obsolete. Therefore, PIER users should compare the module updated date on the offical web site with any printout to ensure that the information is the most current available. CME Statement: The American College of Physicians is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing education for physicians. The American College of Physicians designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit. Physicians should claim only credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. Purpose: This activity has been developed for internists to facilitate the highest quality professional work in clinical applications, teaching, consultation, or research. Upon completion of the CME activity, participants should be able to demonstrate an increase in the skills and knowledge required to maintain competence, strengthen their habits of critical inquiry and balanced judgement, and to contribute to better patient care. Disclosures: Jennifer H. Mieres, MD, FACC, FAHA, FASNC, current author of this module, has no financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or health-care related organizations. Lawrence M. Phillips, MD, FACP, current author of this module, has no financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or health-care related organizations. Deborah Korenstein, MD, FACP, Co-Editor, PIER, has no financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or health-care related organizations. Richard B. Lynn, MD, FACP, Co-Editor, PIER, has no financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or health-care related organizations. PIER is copyrighted ©2014 by the American College of Physicians. 190 N. Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA. Coronary Artery Disease in Women


BACKGROUND
The ownership, location, and teaching status of hospitals affect their missions, policies, finances, and operations.

OBJECTIVE
This study assesses the relationship of hospital ownership, location, and teaching status with charges and length of stay for children with asthma, the most common reason for pediatric admission after birth.

METHODS
All 28 545 complete records of patients </=18 years of age with the principal diagnosis asthma in 1994 were extracted from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample, providing a stratified sample of 735 nonfederal, acute-care hospitals in 17 states. Multiple regression analysis on log transformed data was used to calculate mean total charges and average length of stay (ALOS) after adjusting for illness severity and mortality risk (four All Patient Refined-Diagnosis Related Group classes based on secondary diagnoses and procedures); payer (Medicaid, private, uninsured, other); patient age, sex, income (four categories based on ZIP code of residence); state; bed size (three categories varying by location); hospital ownership; location; teaching status; and admission month.

RESULTS
Asthma severity did not differ significantly by hospital location or teaching status. Nonprofit hospitals treated a slightly higher proportion of children with major or extreme severity asthma than either public or for-profit hospitals. Urban teaching hospitals treated more children with asthma who lived in low-income neighborhoods, were uninsured, or received Medicaid coverage than urban nonteaching hospitals. For-profit hospitals admitted fewer children with asthma from low-income areas than did public hospitals. The ALOS was 2.5 days and did not differ significantly by hospital ownership, location, or teaching status. However, the mean total charges, after adjusting for all other significant covariates, was higher at for-profit ($4203) than at nonprofit ($3640) or public hospitals ($3620). Average charges also were higher at urban teaching ($4230) and lower at rural institutions ($2910) compared with urban nonteaching hospitals ($3424).

CONCLUSIONS
Despite similar ALOS, mean charges for childhood asthma varied significantly by hospital ownership, location, and teaching status. Implications. Additional clinical and outpatient data are needed to study variations in quality of care by hospital characteristics. With the proliferation of investor-owned hospitals, both the reasons for and the impact of higher average charges at for-profit institutions require additional investigation. With the expanding needs of the medically underserved, socially just policies are required for financing hospitals that care for a disproportionate share of economically disadvantaged children.


Map generalization is a procedure involving much intellective reasoning action, with very wide domain. It is also a difficult problem in the field of cartography in the world. This paper makes a study on the interactive and rulebased digital generalization, and a map generalization environment for large scale topographic map is designed and realized. A number of tests have proved that map generalization can be successfully and interactively done with the cooperation of human and computer if the procedures of map generalization are wisely decomposed. Compared with the traditional manual method, this map generalization can shorten the working time to 1/4 or even. Besides, the work will become less intensive with higher precision.


An experiment was carried out in order to study the effect of a rotifer Brachionus plicatilis and encapsulated Artemia nauplii as a live food on survival rate and growth performance for gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata larvae. Gilthead sea bream larvae (20 days old) with body length and weight of (7.3 + 0.20 mm) (5.4 + 0.10 mg) respectively, were stocked in eight white fiberglass tanks (each of 1 m 3 volume) at a density of 1,200-larvae/ tank. Four treatments were tested as follows, 1) low rotifers and low artemia (LRLA); 2) high rotifers and low artemia (HRLA); 3) low rotifers and high artemia (LRHA); and 4) high rotifers and high artemia (HRHA) for 24 days (5, 25 rotifers and 50, 250 artemia /ml, during the periods 1 st , 8 th , 9 th , 16 th , 17 th and 24 th days of the feeding experiment). The results showed that the survival rate of S.aurata larvae significantly (P< 0.05) improved with the application of the experimental program by feeding a high mixture of rotifers and artemia. Feeding of higher levels of rotifers and artemia increased the survival rate of S. aurata to 48.96%, however, the lower levels of both resulted in only 12.17 % survival rate. Other intermediate treatments of HRLA or LRHA resulted in better improvements in the survival rates (19.08 and 32.21% respectively) of S. aurata larvae. The results clearly showed the significant role of higher levels of encapsulated A. nauplii as a live food for saving the life of S. aurata larvae as compared with rotifers. Values of growth performance of S. aurata larvae (gain in length and weight; average daily gain in length and weight; and specific growth rate, (SGR %) significantly (P < 0.05) increased with increasing the levels of live food from both rotifers and artemia. The results clearly showed the superiority of the higher levels of live artemia in enhancing growth performance of S. aurata larvae than rotifers. Finally, a suitable live food program to improve the survival rates of S. aurata larvae by feeding high levels of rotifers and artemia could be recommended.


Language policy in Ukraine has a political and historical context of unique complexity, even when compared with other post-colonial linguistic puzzles, for example those in Ireland, Spain or Turkey. As Kulyk points out, the Soviet past is "… the only past common to all Ukrainian regions, because it was only in the 1940s that they found themselves in one polity after many centuries of divided existence." This Report does not seek to analyse the often heated politics of post-Soviet Ukraine, which I have explored over the years in relation to a number of issues, and which are analysed in this volume. It is of course essential to consider law in its social and political context. What follows is an attempt to analyse and evaluate existing and proposed law and practice, and to make recommendations.


This paper introduces a novel algorithm based on global comprehensive similarity with three steps. To describe the Euclidean space-based relative features among minutiae, we first build a minutia-simplex that contains a pair of minutiae as well as their associated textures, with its transformation-variant and invariant relative features employed for the comprehensive similarity measurement and parameter estimation, respectively. By the second step, we use the ridge-based nearest neighborhood among minutiae to represent the ridge-based relative features among minutiae. With these ridge-based relative features, minutiae are grouped according to their affinity with a ridge. The Euclidean space-based and ridge-based relative features among minutiae reinforce each other in the representation of a fingerprint. Finally, we model the relationship between transformation and the comprehensive similarity between two fingerprints in terms of histogram for initial parameter estimation. Through these steps, our experiment shows that the method mentioned above is both effective and suitable for limited memory AFIS owing to its less than 1k byte template size.


Head and neck cancer was closely related with habitual use of cigarette and alcohol. Those cancer patients are susceptible to develop multiple primary tumors (MPTs). In this study, we utilized the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) array (Affymetrix Axion Genome-Wide TWB 2.0 Array Plate) to investigate patients' risks of developing multiple primary cancers. We recruited 712 male head and neck cancer patients between Mar 1996 and Feb 2017. Two hundred and eighty-six patients (40.2%) had MPTs and 426 (59.8%) had single cancer. Four hundred and twelve normal controls were also recruited. A list of seventeen factors was extracted and ten factors were demonstrated to increase the risks of multiple primary cancers (alcohol drinking, rs118169127, rs149089400, rs76367287, rs61401220, rs141057871, rs7129229, older age, rs3760265, rs9554264; all were p value < 0.05). Polygenic scoring model was built and the area under curve to predict the risk developing MPTs is 0.906. Alcohol drinking, among the seventeen factors, was the most important risk factor to develop MPT in upper aerodigestive tract (OR: 7.071, 95% C.I.: 2.134–23.434). For those with high score in polygenic model, routine screening of upper digestive tract including laryngoscope and esophagoscope is suggested to detect new primaries early.


The tumor suppressor BRCA2 is essential for homologous recombination, replication fork stability and DNA interstrand crosslink (ICL) repair in vertebrates. We show that a functionally uncharacterized protein, HSF2BP, is involved in a novel, direct and highly evolutionarily conserved interaction with BRCA2. Although HSF2BP was previously described as testis-specific, we find it is expressed in mouse ES cells, in human cancer cell lines, and in tumor samples. Elevated levels of HSF2BP sensitize human cells to ICL-inducing agents (mitomycin C and cisplatin) and PARP inhibitors, resulting in a phenotype characteristic of cells from Fanconi anemia (FA) patients. We biochemically recapitulate the suppression of ICL repair and establish that excess HSF2BP specifically compromises homologous recombination by preventing BRCA2 and RAD51 loading at the ICL. As increased ectopic expression of HSF2BP occurs naturally, we suggest that it can be considered as a causative agent in FA and a source of cancer-promoting genomic instability.


Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is a main site where metabolic and immunologic processes interplay to regulate, at local and systemic level, the inflammatory status and immune response. Obesity-associated inflammation and immune dysfunctions are inextricably linked to tumor but, in spite of intense efforts, the mechanisms underpinning this association remain elusive. In this report, we characterized the profile of VAT-associated and circulating innate lymphocyte and regulatory T (Treg) cell subsets underlying inflammatory conditions, such as obesity and colorectal cancer (CRC). Analysis of NK, NKT-like, γδ T, and Treg cell populations in VAT and blood of healthy lean subjects revealed that CD56hi NK and OX40+ Treg cells are more abundant in VAT with respect to blood. Conversely, CD56dim NK and total Treg cells are most present in the circulation, while γδ T lymphocytes are uniformly distributed in the two compartments. Interestingly, a reduced frequency of circulating activated Treg cells, and a concomitant preferential enrichment of OX40-expressing Treg cells in VAT, were selectively observed in obese (Ob) subjects, and directly correlated with body mass index. Likewise, CRC patients were characterized by a specific enrichment of VAT-associated NKT-like cells. In addition, Ob and CRC-affected individuals shared a significant reduction of the Vγ9Vδ2/γδ T cell ratio at systemic level. The alterations in the relative proportions of Treg and NKT-like cells in VAT were found to correlate with the content of pro- and anti-inflammatory polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), respectively. Overall, these results provide evidence for distinct alterations of the immune cell repertoire in the periphery with respect to the VAT microenvironment that uniquely characterize or are shared by different inflammatory conditions, such as obesity and CRC, and suggest that VAT PUFA composition may represent one of the factors that contribute to shape the immune phenotypes.


In the present paper, the size and strain rate effects on ultra-thin /{100} Cu nanowires at an initial temperature of 10 K have been discussed. Extensive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been performed using Embedded atom method (EAM) to investigate the structural behaviours and properties under high strain rate.
Velocity-Verlet algorithm has been used to solve the equation of motions. Two different thermal loading cases have been considered: (i) Isothermal loading, in which Nose-Hoover thermostat is used to maintain the constant system temperature, and (ii) Adiabatic loading, i.e., without any thermostat. Five different wire cross-sections were considered ranging from 0.723 x 0.723 nm(2) to 2.169 x 2.169 nm(2) The strain rates used in the present study were 1 x 10(9) s(-1), 1 x 10(8) s(-1), and 1 x 10(7) s(-1). The effect of strain rate on the mechanical properties of copper nanowires was analysed, which shows that elastic properties are independent of thermal loading for a given strain rate and cross-sectional dimension of nanowire. It showed a decreasing yield stress and yield strain with decreasing strain rate for a given cross- section. Also, a decreasing yield stress and increasing yield strain were observed for a given strain rate with increasing cross-sectional area. Elastic modulus was found to be similar to 100 GPa, which was independent of processing temperature, strain rate, and size for a given initial temperature. Reorientation of /{100}
 square cross-sectional copper nanowire into a series of stable ultra-thin Pentagon copper nanobridge structures with dia of similar to 1 nm at 10 K was observed under high strain rate tensile loading. The effect of isothermal and adiabatic loading on the formation of such pentagonal nanobridge structure has been discussed.


PURPOSE
Helical tomotherapy has been in clinical use for several years. One of the issues with a helical tomotherapy unit is the failure of detection of the x-ray target. In this study, we are proposing a method to detect potential failure of the x-ray target.

METHODS
Currently, on-board detector data from a helical tomotherapy unit are collected and sent to TomoTherapy Inc. for comparison with the so-called gold standard for the unit. However, this is sometimes time-consuming. Furthermore, the clinical medical physicists have no access to this comparison procedure. In this study, we developed a practical method to detect target failure based on one of the monthly quality assurance (QA) procedures. The commissioning cross-plane profiles were used as the comparison baseline. Larger EDR2 film (35×43 cm) were set at source-axis distance (SAD) (85 cm) and shot with 1.5 cm solid water as build-up material and 10 cm solid water as backscattering material. Cross-plane profiles obtained from the EDR2 film were compared with the commissioning profiles.

RESULTS
When the cross-plane profiles from monthly QA have 1° degree difference from the commissioning profiles, it is time that the target be changed.

CONCLUSION
This method enables the clinical medical physicists to easily evaluate the target status and to help improving the quality assurance of a helical tomotherapy unit.


While Electronic Medical Records (EMR) or prominent features within EMR have been hailed as an important step for advancing healthcare, a number of studies have noted that its introduction also brings unintended consequences (UCs) to healthcare organizations. According to the literature, the most disruptive type of unintended consequences is related to workflow issues, in that its occurrence will impede work efficiency. Existing literature defines UCs inconsistently and identifies discrepancies in the results addressing UCs, particularly those related to workflow issues. This paper first proposes an integration and systematization of the existing literature on the unintended consequences of EMR (including its various definitions and classifications), and then constructs a framework of studying UCs associated with workflow issues using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative approaches. The main outcomes of a research based on this framework are: (1) a comprehensive understanding of workflow issues constituting the UCs pertaining to the study context, (2) a redesigned workflow addressing the workflow problems arising from the EMR implementations, and (3) suggested mitigation strategies addressing these issues The framework captures a series of phases for studying UCs relating to workflow issues. Our intended study will select a number of hospitals in a developing country as field sites and we also provide justification for our choice of the field sites.


A retrospective review of 53 consecutive patients who underwent a retro-sigmoid vestibular nerve section (VNS) or microvascular decompression (MVD) through a modified suboccipital craniectomy with a minimum follow-up of 2 years was performed. Technical modifications to the suboccipital craniectomy included a skin incision designed to avoid the lesser and greater occipital nerves; a small, 2-cm diameter craniectomy with no intradural drilling of bone; and a simplified closure to prevent muscle adhesion to dura without the need for cranioplasty. The presence, duration, and severity of postoperative headache were the primary outcome measures. Craniectomy-related complications, operative time, and length of hospital stay were also reviewed. The incidence of postoperative headache after suboccipital craniectomy was 7.5% at 3 months (4/53), 3.8% at 1 year (2/53), and 3.8% at 2 years (2/53). Complications related to craniectomy included cerebro-spinal fluid leakage (5.7%), aseptic meningitis (1.9%), and superficial wound infection (1.9%). The mean operative time was 145 and 98 minutes for VNS and MVD, respectively. The mean hospital stay was 2.2 and 3.6 days for VNS and MVD, respectively. Technical modifications of suboccipital craniectomy during retrosigmoid VNS and MVD lowered the incidence of postoperative headache and craniectomy-related complications and had no adverse effect on operative time or length of hospital stay.


This paper, Tax policies for inclusive growth in a changing world, has been prepared in support of Argentina's G20 Presidency. While this paper is focused on taxation policy, it forms part of a broader contribution that the OECD has made in support of Argentina's G20 presidency.
Against a backdrop of increased inequality and persistently low productivity growth, this paper considers the challenges and opportunities confronting policy makers in a rapidly changing world as a result of globalisation, technological change and the changing world of work. The paper focusses on:
• The impact of the tax system on the market distribution of income, by supporting employment, skills investments, and labour market formality.
• How shifting tax mixes towards growth-friendly taxes can be combined with measures to improve progressivity, particularly through base-broadening and through removing inefficient and regressive tax expenditures.
• Ways in which personal income taxes and social transfers can foster inclusive growth by raising the efficiency and equity of labour and capital income tax systems.
• How tax policy can foster business dynamism and productivity, including through support for investment and innovation, and can raise efficiency by continuing to combat BEPS.
• How tax capacity can be raised, and how tax administration can be strengthened, including through international co-operation
The paper provides tax policy advice and recommendations to support governments in their pursuit of tax and transfer policies conducive to inclusive growth, while supporting innovation and increased productivity growth; preserving the revenue-raising capacity of the tax system; and ensuring the sustainability of public spending.


ABSTRACT Background: The Foundation Phase in Wales is a play-based curriculum for pupils aged 3–7 years old. Children learn through more holistic areas of learning in place of traditional subjects. As such, the subject of physical education in its traditional form no longer exists for pupils under the age of 7 in Wales. In light of the role of physical education in developing physical literacy and in particular the importance of this age group for laying the foundations of movement for lifelong engagement in physical activity, the disappearance of physical education from the curriculum could be deemed to be a concern. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the Foundation Phase as a naturalistic intervention and examine its contribution to the development of physical literacy. Participants and setting: Participants included year 1 pupils (N = 49) aged 5 and 6 from two schools in contrasting locations. A smaller group within each class was selected through purposive sampling for the repeated measures assessments (N = 18). Research design and methods: A complementarity mixed-method design combined quantitative and qualitative methods to study the Foundation Phase as a naturalistic intervention. Quantitative data were generated with the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 administered to the sample group of children from both schools as a quasi-repeated measure, the physical competence subscale of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance and the Leuven Involvement Scale for Young Children. Qualitative data were generated throughout the study from the analysis of video and field notes through participant observation. Data from the mixed methods were analysed through complementarity to give a rich insight into pupils' progress and experiences in relation to physical literacy. Results: Overall analysis of the data from TGMD-2 showed significant improvements in the Gross Motor Quotient and Locomotor skills from T1 to T3, but no significant improvement in object control. Data from qualitative methods were analysed to explore processes that may account for these findings. Video and field notes complement the quantitative data highlighting that children were developing their locomotor skills in many aspects of their learning. Observations using the Leuven Involvement Scale indicated that children had high levels of involvement in their learning and apparent in video and field notes was pupils' motivation for movement. Paired sample t-tests (N = 18) conducted on the Harter and Pike perceived physical competence six-item score subscales (T1 and T3) indicated a significant difference in the mean perceived physical competence scores on the six-item scale between T1and T3. Qualitative data explored pupils' confidence for movement in many areas of learning. Conclusion: The combination of quantitative and qualitative data indicates that the Foundation Phase is an early childhood curriculum that lays the foundations of physical literacy with the exception of aspects of the physical competence, specifically object control skills. Although these skills only contribute to psychomotor aspects of physical literacy they are strongly associated with later engagement in physical activity. The development of specific physical skills such as object control skills may need more specialist input with early childhood pedagogy teachers trained in motor development to see significant improvements.


Due to a symbiotic relationship, economic growth leads to greater energy consumption in transportation, manufacturing, and domestic sectors. Electricity consumption in the global south is rising as nations in the region strive for economic development. Due to the high costs of fossil fuels and environmental issues, these countries are planning exploitation of their renewable energy potential for meeting their energy needs. In this paper, we take Myanmar as a case study for which photovoltaic (PV) is seen as the preferred technology owing to its modular nature and Myanmar's tremendous PV potential. To create sustainable systems, the impact of diurnal PV profiles on electricity demand profiles needs investigating. Accurate load forecasts lead to significant savings in operation and planning and maintenance. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) can easily be used for load profile forecasting. This work proposes a three-stage systematic approach which could be employed by global south countries for designing ANN load forecasting models with the aim of simplifying the design process. While the results of this work demonstrate that PV is a suitable energy source for countries like Myanmar, they also point to the importance of including annual load increase rate and PV output degradation rate in system planning.


In this paper, we proposed a Non-preemptive Utility Accrual Scheduling (or NUAS) algorithm that enhanced the existing General Utility Scheduling (or GUS) proposed by Peng Li [1]. These algorithms were designed for adaptive real time system environment where undesirable effects such as overloads and deadline misses are tolerable and do not have great consequences to the system. We consider the independent task models that are subject to deadline
constraints specified using step Time/Utility Functions (or TUFs). The main idea of our proposed algorithm is to reduce the unnecessary abortions by eliminating the greedy scheduling decision identified in GUS. We consider the scheduling objective of maximizing the accrued utility by completion of all tasks. Simulation results reveal that the proposed NUAS algorithm outperforms GUS algorithm with higher accrued utility in its entire load range.


This paper presents a fast implementation of multi-band blending for combining a set of registered images into a composite mosaic with no visible seams and minimal texture distortion. We first compute a unique seam image using two-pass nearest distance transform, which is independent on the order of input images and has good scalability. Each individual mask can be extracted from this seam image quickly. To promote execution speed and reduce memory usage in building large area mosaics, the seam image and masks are compressed using run-length encoding, and all the following mask operations are built on run-length encoding scheme. The use of run-length encoding for masks processing leads to reduced memory requirements and a compact storage of the mask data. We apply our fast blending system to large scale data sets and present detailed quantitative results compared with OpenCV and Enblend to demonstrate the speed improvements.


In order to systematically study the nanopermeability properties of saturated soft clay under different consolidation pressures and different osmotic pressures, this paper analyzes various loading and unloading conditions that affect the permeability of soil based on the material description equation with displacement as the control variable of large deformation consolidation theory. By summarizing the empirical relationship between permeability coefficient and consolidation pressure and permeability coefficient and void ratio, the infiltration law and seepage failure characteristics of soft clay are revealed. For the soil studied in this paper, a = 0.65, b = 0.001, and q = 3.55 are acceptable. The effect of the initial permeability coefficient on large deformation consolidation is studied, and the necessity and plausibility of considering the nonlinearity of the compression and permeability coefficient when calculating the soft-land base large deformation consolidation is also studied.


Ethics, fairness, trust, and freedom from corruption are parts of social capital, and social capital matters in financial markets. Investors consider not only the information they receive but also their trust in the accuracy of the information and the fairness of the markets in which to trade. Deficiencies in ethics and fairness mark all countries. But surveys of the perception among students and finance professionals of the fairness of insider trading in eight countries indicate that deficiencies are more pronounced in some countries than in others. Five factors are discussed that affect social capital: culture, globalization, income, education, and law enforcement.


If children do not experience social inclusion, this can have a negative impact, both in the short- and long-term, such as aggression, poor academic attainment, reduced social skills and psychopathological symptoms. The causes of social exclusion are complex and incorporate many factors, including aggressiveness, shyness and social competence, and the influence of peers. Children with a hearing impairment (HI) have been shown to be at risk of difficulties with social skills.
This study evaluates the effectiveness of Circle of Friends (CoF – Newton & Wilson, 2003), a peer support intervention, in improving the social inclusion of four children with a HI who were identified as having issues with social inclusion and friendships by Teachers of the Deaf. The multiple-baseline AB single-case experimental design utilised sociometric data, and was supported by pre-post measures of the children's happiness and social, emotional and behavioural adjustment.
Findings indicate that CoF had some impact on the peer acceptance for all pupils. There was moderate evidence for one pupil, a change in composite score for another, and positive trends for the other two pupils. There appeared to be a small impact on ratings of pro-social behaviours for two of the pupils. There was an improvement (reduction) on one of the pupil's 'neutral' ratings, but no impact on pupils' 'unsure' ratings. There was variable evidence to suggest an impact on peer rejection or adult ratings of behaviour difficulties. There was strong evidence to indicate an improvement for one pupil, moderate evidence for another and none for a third. The final pupil's peer rejection had a negative trend. The CoF did not improve happiness scores or adult ratings of pupils' emotional distress.
Findings are discussed in relation to relevant literature. Methodological issues and ethical concerns are discussed, and implications for future practice and research are considered.


In this article I discuss the persistence of non-standard past tense forms in traditional and modern dialect data in the face of strong prescriptive norms against such non-standard forms. Past tense forms like she drunk or they sung are still encountered frequently, although prescriptive grammars have militated against such usage for over a century, as a detailed investigation of nineteenth-century grammar books can show. I will argue that an increasing insistence especially by British nineteenth-century grammarians on distinct paradigm forms like drink – drank – drunk is based on a (mistaken) Latin ideal and that it has not carried much weight with the 'average' speaker for functional reasons: non-standard forms in  can be functionally motivated and are more 'natural' past tense forms in the sense of Wurzel (1984).


Edge detection is a fundamental issue in image analysis. Due to the presence of speckle, which can be modeled as a strong, multiplicative noise, edge detection in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is extremely difficult, and edge detectors developed for optical images are inefficient. Several robust operators have been developed for the detection of isolated step edges in speckled images. The authors propose a new step-edge detector for SAR images, which is optimal in the minimum mean square error (MSSE) sense under a stochastic multiedge model. It computes a normalized ratio of exponentially weighted averages (ROEWA) on opposite sides of the central pixel. This is done in the horizontal and vertical direction, and the magnitude of the two components yields an edge strength map. Thresholding of the edge strength map by a modified version of the watershed algorithm and region merging to eliminate false edges complete an efficient segmentation scheme. Experimental results obtained from simulated SAR images as well as ERS-1 data are presented.


In order to assess patterns of heat sensitivity thresholds in patients with diabetes mellitus, the Akabane test was carried out on patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) (250 men and 309 women) and patients with noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) (158 men and 227 women). For comparison, a group of healthy subjects made up of 116 men and 277 women was also used. As soon as we revealed the influence of factors of pathology with a high significance level and gender and the interaction "gender*pathology", all the results are described separately for groups of men and women and for groups with IDDM and NIDDM. Simple effects of paired comparisons between healthy subjects, IDDM and NIDDM in groups of men and women, as well as comparisons between the profiles of men and women with IDDM and NIDDM showed significant differences between ACs in healthy subjects and those with each type of diabetes. The most significant differences are seen in the AC connected with the digestive system (SP pancreas channel), LR (liver channel), ST (stomach channel), GB (gall bladder channel). Thus, we revealed characteristic pattern of acupuncture channels (AC) lesions inherent to diabetes pathology, i.e. most vulnerable in diabetes ACs, being compromised in dependence from such factors, as type of diabetes, hyper or hypoglycemia, and from gender. The main value of the method lies in the fact that we observe the entire food chain from food ingestion to the utilization of carbohydrates with the opportunity to assess the activity of each organ and its regulatory contribution. On the basis of the body's response, an individual selection of medicines can be made, and by evaluating the individual biorhythms it is possible to determine the optimal time of administration.


The single-rate Erlang-B model is and has been a cornerstone of numerous traffic engineering applications which involve the calculation and optimization of blocking probabilities. However, with the emerging integrated multimedia networks, one single traffic type is often inadequate. Yet the single-rate Erlang-B model is often used even for today's new networks. A primary reason for this is the existence of methods to compute blocking probabilities and their derivatives that are simple, fast, direct, and stable. With this paper, we provide an improved, and better, way of computing multi-rate Erlang-B blocking probabilities and their derivatives. Since the improvements are also simple, fast, direct, and stable, optimization and engineering methods based on a single-rate Erlang-B model can now be easily extended to emerging multimedia networks.


New governance approaches challenge prevailing statutory planning practices since urban development initiatives emanate not only from central and local government. This study explores the road to realization, i.e. how local planning practices organize the process of assessing the appropriateness of urban development initiatives. The results show how planning organizations face a variety of interrelated organizational and procedural conditions and choices that make planning situations unique and contextual. To deal with this contextuality, planners use processes of contextualization and concretization to relate an initiative to its environment and to gradually transform an initiative to a final land use design.


Neuroscience experiments often require training animals to perform tasks designed to elicit various sensory, cognitive, and motor behaviors. Training typically involves a series of gradual adjustments of stimulus conditions and rewards in order to bring about learning. However, training protocols are usually hand-designed, relying on a combination of intuition, guesswork, and trial-and-error, and often require weeks or months to achieve a desired level of task performance. Here we combine ideas from reinforcement learning and adaptive optimal experimental design to formulate methods for adaptive optimal training of animal behavior. Our work addresses two intriguing problems at once: first, it seeks to infer the learning rules underlying an animal's behavioral changes during training; second, it seeks to exploit these rules to select stimuli that will maximize the rate of learning toward a desired objective. We develop and test these methods using data collected from rats during training on a two-interval sensory discrimination task. We show that we can accurately infer the parameters of a policy-gradient-based learning algorithm that describes how the animal's internal model of the task evolves over the course of training. We then formulate a theory for optimal training, which involves selecting sequences of stimuli that will drive the animal's internal policy toward a desired location in the parameter space. Simulations show that our method can in theory provide a substantial speedup over standard training methods. We feel these results will hold considerable theoretical and practical implications both for researchers in reinforcement learning and for experimentalists seeking to train animals.


Contents: S.J. Hudelson, Foreword. Preface. Part I: The Knowledge Base of Second Language Teacher Education. D.J. Tedick, Introduction. E. Tarone, D. Allwright, Second Language Teacher Learning and Student Second Language Learning: Shaping the Knowledge Base. D. Freeman, K.E. Johnson, Response to Tarone and Allwright. A. Scarino, Introspection and Retrospection as Windows on Teacher Knowledge, Values, and Ethical Dispositions. B. Johnston, F. Pawan, R. Mahan-Taylor, The Professional Development of Working ESL/EFL Teachers: A Pilot Study. D. Freeman, K.E. Johnson, Toward Linking Teacher Knowledge and Student Learning. Part II: Contexts of Second Language Teacher Education. D.J. Tedick, Introduction. E. Shohamy, The Power of Tests Over Teachers: The Power of Teachers Over Tests. S. Hiramatsu, Contexts and Policy Reform: A Case Study of EFL Teaching in High School in Japan. H. Byrnes, Toward a Comprehensive Conceptualization of Teaching Assistant Education: Contents, Commitments, Structures. L. Poynor, A Conscious and Deliberate Intervention: The Influence of Language Teacher Education. Part III: Collaborations in Second Language Teacher Education. D.J. Tedick, Introduction. J. Edge, Build It and They Will Come: Realising Values in ESOL Teacher Education. L.C.Smith, The Impact of Action Research on Teacher Collaboration and Professional Growth. S. Cormany, C. Maynor, J. Kalnin, Developing Self, Developing Curriculum, and Developing Theory: Researchers in Residence at Patrick Henry Professional Practice School. N.E. Dubetz, Improving ESL Instruction in a Bilingual Program Through Collaborative, Inquiry-Based Professional Development. Part IV: Second Language Teacher Education in Practice. D.J. Tedick, Introduction. M.A. Snow, Key Themes in TESOL MA Teacher Education. N. Cloud, The Dialogic Process of Capturing and Building Teacher Practical Knowledge in Dual Language Programs. T. Erben, Teacher Education Through Immersion and Immersion Teacher Education: An Australian Case. M. Bigelow, D.J. Tedick, Combining Foreign and Second Language Teacher Education: Rewards and Challenges. C.L. Walker, S. Ranney, T.W. Fortune, Preparing Preservice Teachers for English Language Learners: A Content-Based Approach.


The product concept phase of the product innovation process is a creative and interdisciplinary activity that transforms a market opportunity and technological innovation into successful products. It is a set of activity based processes in a product-oriented enterprise, and is essential to the economics success of such organization. Well-designed processes reduce development time, create better products, generate profit, and increase market share. In contrast, poorly-designed processes can harm both product lines and the companies that manufacture them. Determining important methods in the product concept phase and determining their relationship with organizational capability are crucial to the sustainable success in product development. Studying their relationship would give us insights into the product development dynamics. This paper will focus on the development of an engineering management model for the product conceptual phase of the product Innovation process. The (PCP) begins with the scope of the project having been formalized by either a request for proposal from an external entity or an internally generated mission statement. This document will specify a particular market opportunity and lay out the broad constraints of the project. Basically it will specify which direction to go, and will generally specify a precise destination or a particular way to get there. During the product concept phase, customer needs are identified, multiple product concepts are generated based on these needs, and a single product concept is selected for further development after a thorough evaluation has been accomplished. A well thought-out product concept will consist of a description of the form, function, and features of the product as well as a set of specifications, an analysis of competitive products, and an economic justification for the project. The aim of this paper to determine the most effective methods, tools and techniques to design a theoretical product concept phase (PCP) model, which consists of four activity elements or modules. The model highlights the iterative series of activities that may take anywhere from a few seconds in the minds of individuals to many months or years for defining a breakthrough concept. The product concept phase (PCP) model will be created during the problem definition activity very early in the product development process. The PCP module will be organized in a way that requires participation by virtually all the major product development functions within the organization such as marketing, technology, product design and manufacturing. It also involves interactions with stakeholders such as customers, suppliers that are outside of the organization. The interface of the PCP module to other product innovation process phases will be achieved through the design of an IT - Platform; that includes all the needs and requirements for and form other phases.Copyright © 2004 by ASME


The microbiological pollution of water is a serious environmental issue on an international scale. The pollution of water with human and animal waste is a source of hazardous pathogens and, unfortunately, contamination of natural water bodies poses a serious health risk. The microbiological quality of water (inland, coastal and transitional) is directed by the European Union (EU). Ireland must ensure at least good water quality by 2015. The aim of this study was to investigate pollution trends in rivers, canals and coastal waters under varying conditions, the cause of the contamination and to compare the findings with the limits as set out in the relevant EU directive. The results of this work showed that the poor quality of the rivers in Dublin city is strongly related to human activity. A case of a direct sewage contamination of the river Tolka is reported here. The water quality of the canals in the Dublin area was found to be excellent, however further evidence of the human influence on water quality was shown in the waters of the Grand Canal. The situation in the rural areas outside Dublin points to the fact that human sewage contributes to a lesser extend to the high levels of the microbial contamination in the River Tolka than when compared to the farming activities in the area. The extremely high faecal coliform counts that were registered in several water sources in the North County Dublin were thought to have a potential influence on the contamination of coastal waters at Balbriggan and Portrane.


Character displacement can play a major role in species ecology and evolution, however, research testing whether character displacement can influence the evolution of root traits in plant systems remains scarce in the literature. Here we investigated the potential that character displacement may influence the evolution of root traits using two closely related morning glory species, Ipomoea purpurea and I. hederacea. We performed a field experiment where we grew the common morning glory, I. purpurea, in the presence and absence of competition from I. hederacea and examined the potential that the process of character displacement could influence the evolution of root traits. We found maternal line variation in root phenotypes and evidence that belowground competition acts as an agent of selection on these traits. Our test of character displacement, however, showed evidence of character convergence on our measure of root architecture rather than displacement. These results suggest that plants may be constrained by their local environments to express a phenotype that enhances fitness. Therefore, the conditions of the competitive environment experienced by a plant may influence the potential for character convergence or displacement to influence the evolution of root traits.


Associated red and black soils are common in the Deccan
plateau and the Indian peninsula. The red soils
are formed due to the progressive landscape reduction
process and black soils due to the aggradation processes;
and they are often spatially associated maintaining
their typical characteristics over the years.
These soils are subject to changes due to age-long
management practices and the other factors like climate
change. To maintain soil quality, it is essential to
monitor changes in soil properties preferably using
benchmark (BM) soil sites. One such example lies at
the International Crops Research Institute for the
Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) farm in Patancheru,
India where red (Patancheru) and black (Kasireddipalli)
soils co-exist in close association under almost
similar topographical condition, which also represents
very commonly occurring spatially associated soils.
The database generated over the years for these two
dominant soils that are under cultural practices for
the last 2–3 decades, helps us understand the relative
changes in properties over a time scale. To do this
exercise, we revisited the BM spots as the data on the
original characterization of these soils since the development of the farm, are available, for comparative
evaluation. We also attempted to make prediction of
future changes in properties for these two important
and representative black and red soils of the ICRISAT
farm in Patancheru, India.


Development of post-harvest handling practices of crayfish in Fennoscandia has largely been based on their high value and has historical rationale. Crayfish were transported from Finland to St. Petersburg and Central European markets already in the early mid1800s using rather sophisticated methods. Crayfish require cool and moist environment for stress minimisation and may easily be transported and stored to live out of water if these principles are followed. During post-harvest process, it is important to minimise handling of crayfish from the point traps which are pulled until crayfish are processed for food. Crayfish should be protected against the elements and stored in cool containers during on board and land transport, after initial sorting of the catch. In the holding depot, crayfish are normally sorted for the second time and then placed in holding facilities waiting for the transport to markets. Holding facilities could be tanks or more developed and cost-effective systems, such as CrayShower. This storage system is based on crayfish being stored out of water in moist environment. The main principles during post-harvest handling are to keep physical disturbances to the minimum and to provide cool and moist environment for crayfish.


In this project, the research team evaluated the performance of Permeable Friction Courses (PFC) over time and compared it against other types of wearing surface pavement layers. Several pavement sections including Asphalt Rubber (AR) PFCs, Performance Graded (PG) PFCs, and dense-graded Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) were monitored over a four-year period. Non-destructive on-site measurements included noise, drainability, texture, friction, and skid. The change of these variables with time as well as the influence of traffic, binder/mixture type, aggregate classification, and climatic region was evaluated. Accident data were also gathered and analyzed on a more comprehensive number of pavement sections across Texas. All of this information was compiled in database format. In addition, when performance issues were identified, field cores were acquired for forensic evaluation. Results from the multiyear performance data analysis and previous research were used to produce guidelines and recommendations to improve the design, construction, and maintenance of PFCs. Performance of PFCs over time was adequate. Therefore, the continued use of PFCs in Texas is encouraged. PFCs had lower overall noise levels when compared to dense-graded HMA, and AR-PFCs were quieter than PG-PFCs. With regard to drainability, the water flow values had a tendency to increase early in the life of the pavement and remain relatively constant afterward. PG-PFCs showed better drainability as compared to AR-PFCs. The amount of rainfall helped assure the continued drainability of PFCs, especially in warm climates. Texture for PFCs remained practically unchanged over time. Both AR- and PG-PFCs had superior texture and skid vs. dense-graded HMA pavements. With regard to friction and skid, sections with aggregates classified as SAC-B per the Surface Aggregate Classification (SAC) system had statistically significantly lower values as compared to those pavement employing either SAC-A or SAC-A/B aggregates. The accident data indicated that PFCs reduce the number of accidents, injuries, and fatalities on roads in Texas.


Abstract. The Earth's surface is covered with 72% water. This fact alone emphasizes the importance of proper monitoring and regulation of maritime activities. This monitoring can be useful in an array of applications including illegal transitions, rescue operations, territory regulation among many other applications. In order to achieve the task of "Maritime Surveillance" or simply the marine object detection, we need a structured approach combined with a set of algorithms. The objective of this paper is to study an emerging open source tool- Search for Unidentified Maritime Objects (SUMO) developed for the detection of ships which work regardless of weather conditions and coverage limits. Based on the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, this paper aims to process the satellite-borne data provided by the Sentinel-1 satellite. Proposed by the Joint Research Centre, SUMO is a pixel-based algorithm which follows a structured approach in order to identify marine objects and remove false alarms. It is observed that many of the false alarms are caused due to the presence of land. These are reduced by using the buffered coastlines referred to as land masks. A local threshold is calculated using the background clutter for the generation of false alarm rate and the pixels above this threshold are identified and clustered to form targets. A reliability value is computed for the elimination of azimuth ambiguities. Also, various attributes of the detected targets are calculated in order to give an accurate description of ships and its characteristics. With the SAR data being freely available due to the open data policy of the EU's Copernicus program, it has never been more viable to employ new methods for marine object detection and this paper explores this possibility by analyzing the results obtained. Specifically, the employed data consists of Sentinel-1 fine dual-pol acquisitions over the coastal regions of India.


Propolis, a resin produced by honeybees, has long been used as a dietary supplement and folk remedy, and more recent preclinical investigations have demonstrated a large spectrum of potential therapeutic bioactivities, including antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, immunomodulatory, anticancer, and antiviral properties. As an antiviral agent, propolis and various constituents have shown promising preclinical efficacy against adenoviruses, influenza viruses, respiratory tract viruses, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Over 300 chemical components have been identified in propolis, including terpenes, flavonoids, and phenolic acids, with the specific constituent profile varying widely according to geographic origin and regional flora. Propolis and its constituents have demonstrated potential efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 by modulating multiple pathogenic and antiviral pathways. Molecular docking studies have demonstrated high binding affinities of propolis derivatives to multiple SARS-CoV-2 proteins, including 3C-like protease (3CLpro), papain-like protease (PLpro), RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein (S-protein), and helicase (NSP13), as well as to the viral target angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Among these compounds, retusapurpurin A has shown high affinity to 3CLpro (ΔG = −9.4 kcal/mol), RdRp (−7.5), RBD (−7.2), NSP13 (−9.4), and ACE2 (−10.4) and potent inhibition of viral entry by forming hydrogen bonds with amino acid residues within viral and human target proteins. In addition, propolis-derived baccharin demonstrated even higher binding affinity towards PLpro (−8.2 kcal/mol). Measures of drug-likeness parameters, including metabolism, distribution, absorption, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) characteristics, also support the potential of propolis as an effective agent to combat COVID-19.


The phenomenal increase of census towns as a new trend in India's urbanisation has questioned the model of urban development based on big and metropolitan cities. In 2011, the Census of India noted that West Bengal state experienced the highest growth of new Census towns. These newly developed Census towns have emerged not only in the districts away from the Kolkata metropolitan area but also in areas far away from the bigger towns of different districts. In the case of Murshidabad district, the Census towns have developed not near Berhampore, the biggest town and the district-headquarter, where agglomeration economies could play a role in their growth. Only eight out of 65 Census towns are located in the periphery of Berhampore, and the rest are located either near to other Statutory towns or are scattered in patterns. With the help of both primary and secondary data, this article tries to explore the nature of proximity of the Census towns with their nearest Statutory towns and also evaluates the role of distance from the existing towns regarding the availability of the basic services in the Census towns. The broader pattern of the growth of the Census towns and the influence of statutory towns on that growth pattern has been analysed with the help of Principal Component analysis and Quadrant analysis. Empirical research with a focus on different types of non-farm activities has been carried out to understand the process of growth of Census towns. The article finds that the economy of the Census towns is independent of the nearby Statutory towns, and their growth is dependent on the localised transformation of the rural economy from farm to non-farm especially to household industries such as bidi and silk.


Adenovirus vectors have been extensively studied through the manipulation of viral genome. However, little attention is being paid to their producer cell-lines; cells are selected according to virus yields, neglecting the expression profile of transcomplementing gene products underlying cell performance. This work evaluates the impact of E1 (E1A and E1B) and Cre recombinase levels in the production of E1-deleted and helper-dependent canine adenovirus type 2 (CAV-2) vectors using MDCK cells. E1A and E1B gene expression and Cre activity were evaluated in different cell clones and compared with the corresponding cell productivity and susceptibility to oxidative stress injury. CAV-2 production was proportional to E1A expression (the highest levels of E1A corresponding to productivities of 3000–5000 I.P./cell), while E1B prolonged host cell viability after infection, conferring protection against apoptosis. Cre recombinase counteracted E1B anti-apoptotic properties, however viral production was maintained under high levels of Cre. Yet, Cre recombinase side effects can be reduced using cell lines with lower Cre-activities, without compromising the excision efficiency of helper vector packaging signal. These results highlight the influence of transcomplementing gene products on CAV-2 producer cell line performance, and the ability to express high levels of E1A and E1B as an important feature for cell line establishment and high adenovirus titers.


Polysome-profiling is commonly used to study genome wide patterns of translational efficiency, i.e. the translatome. The standard approach for collecting efficiently translated polysome-associated RNA results in laborious extraction of RNA from a large volume spread across multiple fractions. This property makes polysome-profiling inconvenient for larger experimental designs or samples with low RNA amounts such as primary cells or frozen tissues. To address this we optimized a non-linear sucrose gradient which reproducibly enriches for mRNAs associated with >3 ribosomes in only one or two fractions, thereby reducing sample handling 5-10 fold. The technique can be applied to cells and frozen tissue samples from biobanks, and generates RNA with a quality reflecting the starting material. When coupled with smart-seq2, a single-cell RNA sequencing technique, translatomes from small tissue samples can be obtained. Translatomes acquired using optimized non-linear gradients are very similar to those obtained when applying linear gradients. Polysome-profiling using optimized nonlinear gradients in HCT-116 cells with or without p53 identified a translatome associated with p53 status under serum starvation. Thus, here we present a polysome-profiling technique applicable to larger studies, primary cells where RNA amount is low and frozen tissue samples.


In a series of three interlinked papers we present a study of an interplanetary magnetic cloud and its interaction with the Earth's magnetosphere on January 14/15, 1988. This first paper is divided into three parts describing the principal results concerning the magnetic cloud. First, by applying the cylindrically symmetric, magnetic flux rope model to the high time resolution magnetic field and plasma data obtained by the IMP-8 spacecraft, we show that the axis of the magnetic cloud in question is approximately in the ecliptic and orthogonal to the Earth-Sun line. We note the presence of pulsations of ∼5-hour period in the bulk flow speed which are superimposed on an otherwise monotonically falling bulk speed profile. Second, we apply ideal MHD to model the self-similar, radial expansion of a magnetic cloud of cylindrical geometry. As initial condition for the magnetic field we choose a constant-α, force-free magnetic configuration. We demonstrate that the theoretical velocity profile for the free expansion of a magnetic cloud is consistent with observations made during the January 14/15, 1988, magnetic cloud encounter. Comparing model with data, we infer that prior to the start of observations at 1 AU the magnetic cloud had been expanding for 65.4 hours; the radius of the magnetic cloud at the time it arrived at Earth was 0.18 AU; and its expansion speed at 1 AU was ∼114 km/s. Third, we discuss energetic (∼1 MeV) ion data, also from instrumentation on IMP-8. We highlight the appearance of a sharp enhancement in the intensity of ∼0.5-MeV ions while IMP-8 was inside the cloud. These ions travel as a collimated, field-aligned beam from the west of the Sun. This is an "impulsive" solar event in which particles accelerated at a magnetically well-connected solar flare arrive promptly at the spacecraft. The observation of solar flare particles inside the cloud suggests that field lines within the magnetic cloud remained connected to the Sun. The observation is, however, inconsistent with the supposition that the cloud is formed of closed magnetic field loops disconnected from the Sun.


Dendritic Pathology, Spine Loss and Synaptic Reorganization in Human Cortex From Epilepsy Patients Rossini L, De Santis D, Mauceri RR, Tesoriero C, Bentivoglio M, Maderna E, Maiorana A, Deleo F, de Curtis M, Tringali G, Cossu M, Tumminelli G, Bramerio M, Spreafico R, Tassi L, Garbelli R. Brain. 2021;144(1):251-265. doi:10.1093/brain/awaa387 Neuronal dendritic arborizations and dendritic spines are crucial for a normal synaptic transmission and may be critically involved in the pathophysiology of epilepsy. Alterations in dendritic morphology and spine loss mainly in hippocampal neurons have been reported both in epilepsy animal models and in human brain tissues from patients with epilepsy. However, it is still unclear whether these dendritic abnormalities relate to the cause of epilepsy or are generated by seizure recurrence. We investigated fine neuronal structures at the level of dendritic and spine organization using Golgi impregnation, and analyzed synaptic networks with immunohistochemical markers of glutamatergic (vGLUT1) and GABAergic (vGAT) axon terminals in human cerebral cortices derived from epilepsy surgery. Specimens were obtained from 28 patients with different neuropathologically defined etiologies: type Ia and type II focal cortical dysplasia, cryptogenic (no lesion) and temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis. Autoptic tissues were used for comparison. Three-dimensional reconstructions of Golgi-impregnated neurons revealed severe dendritic reshaping and spine alteration in the core of the type II focal cortical dysplasia. Dysmorphic neurons showed increased dendritic complexity, reduction of dendritic spines, and occasional filopodia-like protrusions emerging from the soma. Surprisingly, the intermingled normal-looking pyramidal neurons also showed severe spine loss and simplified dendritic arborization. No changes were observed outside the dysplasia (perilesional tissue) or in neocortical postsurgical tissue obtained in the other patient groups. Immunoreactivities of vGLUT1 and vGAT showed synaptic reorganization in the core of type II dysplasia characterized by the presence of abnormal perisomatic baskets around dysmorphic neurons, in particular those with filopodia-like protrusions, and changes in vGLUT1/vGAT expression. Ultrastructural data in type II dysplasia highlighted the presence of altered neuropil engulfed by glial processes. Our data indicate that the fine morphological aspect of neurons and dendritic spines are normal in epileptogenic neocortex, with the exception of type II dysplastic lesions. The findings suggest that the mechanisms leading to this severe form of cortical malformation interfere with the normal dendritic arborization and synaptic network organization. The data argue against the concept that long-lasting epilepsy and seizure recurrence per se unavoidably produce a dendritic pathology.


Nowadays, sharing data among organizations is often required during the business collaboration. Data mining technology has enabled efficient extraction of knowledge from large databases. This, however, increases risks of disclosing the sensitive knowledge when the database is released to other parties. To address this privacy issue, one may sanitize the original database so that the sensitive knowledge is hidden. The challenge is to minimize the side effect on the quality of the sanitized database so that non-sensitive knowledge can still be mined. In this paper, we study such a problem in the context of hiding sensitive frequent itemsets by judiciously modifying the transactions in the database. Unlike previous work, we consider the quality of the sanitized database especially on preserving the non-sensitive frequent itemsets. To preserve the non-sensitive frequent itemsets, we propose a border-based approach to efficiently evaluate the impact of any modification to the database during the hiding process. The quality of database can be well maintained by greedily selecting the modifications with minimal side effect. Experiments results are also reported to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


The parallel construction of maximal independent sets is a useful building block for many algorithms in the computational sciences, including graph coloring and multigrid coarse grid creation on unstructured meshes. We present an efficient asynchronous maximal independent set algorithm for use on parallel computers, for ``well partitioned'''' graphs, that arise from finite element (FE) models. For appropriately partitioned bounded degree graphs, it is shown that the running time of our algorithm under the P-RAM computational model is of $O(1)$, which is an improvement over the previous best P-RAM complexity for this class of graphs. We present numerical experiments on an IBM SP, that confirm our P-RAM complexity model is indicative of the performance one can expect with practical partitions on graphs from FE problems.


Aortic stenosis is one of the most serious heart valve diseases and is the result of calcification of the aortic valve leaflets. This calcification is irreversible and negatively affect the functionality of the heart valves. The only treatment is an aortic valve replacement. The trend in heart valve replacement is moving from open heart surgery towards minimally invasive techniques where a heart valve prosthesis is placed over the native aortic valve, called the TAVI procedure. A crimped stent that contains a heart valve prosthesis is pushed upwards through the femoral access route with a delivery catheter. This prosthesis is placed in the aortic annulus and wedged over the native valve. The positioning of the heart valve prosthesis is important for the success of the procedure and durability of the prosthesis. A coaxial placement to the aortic annulus in the center of the aorta lumen is the target during this positioning of the prosthesis. The Medtronics and Edwards delivery systems, that are currently used, only have the possibility to be steered with a maximum of 1 rotation, providing an alignment with the aortic annulus in the frontal plane of the body. The rotation to provide the alignment in the sagittal plane is lacking. This report will focus on the question if extra steerability of the delivery system will provide a better positioning of the tip of the delivery system, which in the end, will position the heart valve prosthesis. The Edwards delivery system will be reverse engineered to look at the current mechanisms that are used to provide the rotation in the frontal plane. Subsequently, two experiments are performed to select the best configuration for the modification on the tip of the delivery system. Ultimately, the designed prototype will be validated with two tests to answer the research question if the extra steerability will provide a better positioning. The prototype is validated by comparing the positioning of the Medtronics and Edwards delivery system with the prototype during an experiment where the three systems have to be maneuvered to a predefined position in an aorta model of glass. This predefined position represents the center of the aorta lumen in a coaxial oriëntation. Two rotations and the xyz-coordinations of the tip will be measured by an Aurora NDI system and the results will be compared. It showed that the prototype provided a bigger reach within the aorta lumen and a had a bigger domain of angles in which the tip could be oriëntated than the prototype. Moreover, the prototype provided a better alignment in the sagittal and frontal plane with regards to the reference point. The research only focused on the positioning of the tip and didn't take the deployment of the heart valve prosthesis into account. Further development of the prototype is needed to make it usefull for the TAVI procedure. In addition, more research is needed to validate the prototype in a dynamic environment that represents the reality with blood flow and more tortuosity in the access route. Nevertheless, the prototype look promising to be used for the perfect positioning of the heart valve prosthesis which will have a positive effect on the durability and functionality of the prosthesis.


Policy Points Considerable investments have been made to build high-performing primary care systems in Canada. However, little is known about the extent to which change has occurred over the last decade with implementing programs and policies across all 13 provincial and territorial jurisdictions. There is significant variation in the degree of implementation of structural features of high-performing primary care systems across Canada. This study provides evidence on the state of primary care reform in Canada and offers insights into the opportunities based on changes that governments elsewhere have made to advance primary care transformation.

CONTEXT
Despite significant investments to transform primary care, Canada lags behind its peers in providing timely access to regular doctors or places of care, timely access to care, developing interprofessional teams, and communication across health care settings. This study examines changes over the last decade (2012 to 2021) in policies across 13 provincial and territorial jurisdictions that address the structural features of high-performing primary care systems.

METHODS
A multiple comparative case study approach was used to explore changes in primary care delivery across 13 Canadian jurisdictions. Each case consisted of (1) qualitative interviews with academics, provincial health care leaders, and health care professionals and (2) a literature review of policies and innovations. Data for each case were thematically analyzed within and across cases, using 12 structural features of high-performing primary care systems to describe each case and assess changes over time.

FINDINGS
The most significant changes include adopting electronic medical records, investments in quality improvement training and support, and developing interprofessional teams. Progress was more limited in implementing primary care governance mechanisms, system coordination, patient enrollment, and payment models. The rate of change was slowest for patient engagement, leadership development, performance measurement, research capacity, and systematic evaluation of innovation.

CONCLUSIONS
Progress toward building high-performing primary care systems in Canada has been slow and variable, with limited change in the organization and delivery of primary care. Canada's experience can inform innovation internationally by demonstrating how preexisting policy legacies constrain the possibilities for widespread primary care reform, with progress less pronounced in the attributes that impact physician autonomy. To accelerate primary care transformation in Canada and abroad, a national strategy and performance measurement framework is needed based on meaningful engagement of patients and other stakeholders. This must be accompanied by targeted funding investments and building strong data infrastructure for performance measurement to support rigorous research.


Background and Purpose— The cause of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is poorly understood and there are few large cohort studies of risk factors for SAH. We investigated the risk of SAH mortality and morbidity associated with common cardiovascular risk factors in the Asia-Pacific region and examined whether the strengths of these associations were different in Asian and Australasian (predominantly white) populations. Methods— Cohort studies were identified from Internet electronic databases, searches of proceedings of meetings, and personal communication. Hazard ratios (HRs) for systolic blood pressure (SBP), current smoking, total serum cholesterol, body mass index (BMI), and alcohol drinking were calculated from Cox models that were stratified by sex and cohort and adjusted for age at risk. Results— Individual participant data from 26 prospective cohort studies (total number of participants 306 620) that reported incident cases of SAH (fatal and/or nonfatal) were available for analysis. During the median follow-up period of 8.2 years, a total of 236 incident cases of SAH were observed. Current smoking (HR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.8 to 3.4) and SBP >140 mm Hg (HR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.5 to 2.7) were significant and independent risk factors for SAH. Attributable risks of SAH associated with current smoking and elevated SBP (≥140 mm Hg) were 29% and 19%, respectively. There were no significant associations between the risk of SAH and cholesterol, BMI, or drinking alcohol. The strength of the associations of the common cardiovascular risk factors with the risk of SAH did not differ much between Asian and Australasian regions. Conclusions— Cigarette smoking and SBP are the most important risk factors for SAH in the Asia-Pacific region.


To obtain reference data for a statistically substantiated evaluation of man's tolerance to the local pressure on the head (as applied to protective helmets kept on for a long time), 86 experiments were carried out in which 11 test subjects participated. The local pressure of 0.05-0.5 kg/cm2 was applied to 8 areas of the head. The tolerance time was measured as the time interval from the beginning of the exposure to the emergence of localized sensations of the type: unpleasant, painful, very painful or intolerable. As a result, statistically significant relationships between the tolerance time and the level of the local pressure were obtained for the 8 locations and 3 grades of subjective sensations. These data can be used in evaluating protective helmets to be worn for a long time as well as in developing hygienic requirements for the advanced helmet-like devices.


Since its discovery over 350 years ago, studies of fibrinogen have revealed remarkable characteristics. Its complex structure as a large (340 kDa) hexameric homodimer supports complex roles in hemostasis and homeostasis. Fibrinogen synthesis is regulated at the transcriptional and translational levels, undergoing both constitutive (basal) secretion from liver, and inducible upregulation in response to inflammatory events. In addition, alternative splicing yields fibrinogen variants with unique properties and contributions to coagulation biochemistry. During coagulation, fibrinogen conversion to fibrin occurs via thrombin‐mediated proteolytic cleavage that produces intermediate protofibrils and then mature fibers that provide remarkable biochemical and mechanical stability to clots. Fibrin formation, structure, and stability are regulated by various genetic, biochemical, and environmental factors, allowing for dynamic kinetics of fibrin formation and structure. Interactions between fibrinogen and/or fibrin and plasma proteins and receptors on platelets, leukocytes, endothelial cells, and other cells enable complex functions in hemostasis, thrombosis, pregnancy, inflammation, infection, cancer, and other pathologies. Disorders in fibrinogen concentration and/or function increase risk of bleeding, thrombosis, and infection. This illustrated review covers fundamental aspects of fibrinogen and fibrin biology, biochemistry, biophysics, epidemiology, and clinical applications. Continued efforts to enhance our understanding of fibrinogen and fibrin in these processes are likely to advance treatment and prevention of many human diseases.


Ultrasonic velocity, density and viscosity of binary liquid mixtures of chloroform and methanol has been measured using ultrasonic interferometer, 30 ml gravity bottle and Oswald's viscometer respectively at frequency 2MHz and constant temperature of 295K. Experimental values then obtained are used for determining various thermo acoustical parameters like adiabatic compressibility, acoustic impedance, intermolecular free length, relaxation time, ultrasonic attenuation, effective molar weight, free volume, available volume, molar volume, Wada's constant, Rao's constant, Vander Waal's constant, internal pressure, Gibb's free energy and enthalpy. Graphs are plotted of each parameter against mole fraction. The linear variation in most of the acoustical parameters showed that there is no complex formation in the mixture. The weak interaction between the molecules of the binary mixture is founded.


This paper presents conditions for design of observers for nonlinear systems represented by a Takagi-Sugeno-type model, whose state variables take only nonnegative values at all times t for any nonnegative initial state (positive systems). The derived observers have a Takagi-Sugeno structure and ensure the nonnegativity of the observed states. The conditions are derived as Linear Programming and Linear Matrix Inequalities, and tested on a simulated practical problem.


OBJECTIVE
Widespread disturbances of serotonin (5-HT) are implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. Of 5-HT receptor abnormalities reported, the most replicated finding is increased 5-HT2 receptor binding in the postmortem prefrontal cortex of depressed suicide victims. The extent to which these findings exist in depressed persons without recent suicide attempts is uncertain. The objective of this study was to evaluate 5-HT2 receptors in depressed patients who were medication-free and who had not made recent suicide attempts.

METHOD
With the use of [18F]setoperone and positron emission tomography (PET), 5-HT2 receptor binding potential was assessed in 14 depressed and 19 healthy subjects. Exclusion criteria for depressed patients included use of antidepressant medication within the past 6 months, a history of suicide attempts within the past 5 years, other current axis I disorders including bipolar disorder, and the presence of psychotic symptoms. The 5-HT2 (setoperone) binding potential in the two groups of subjects was compared by analysis of covariance with age as the covariate.

RESULTS
Age had a significant effect on 5-HT2 binding potential, but depression did not. The interaction of age and depression was not significant.

CONCLUSIONS
The 5-HT2 binding potential is not increased in untreated depressed subjects who have not made recent suicide attempts. This negative finding does not rule out the possibility that there is a role for 5-HT2 receptors in treatment or that 5-HT2 receptors are increased in highly suicidal states.


Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are the major global public health problems since their discovery in 1983. Knowledge and awareness about the transmission of the virus play an important role toward prevention and the control of the disease. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and awareness about HIV and AIDS among university students of two Iraqi Universities (Diyala and Al-Nahrain) by using a constructed self-administered questionnaire.This cross-sectional study was conducted on 506 students from two Iraqi Universities using a constructed self-administered questionnaire in 2010 and 2017 for Diyala University and in 2017 for Al-Nahrain University. Data obtained from the students' responses were collected and statistically analysed. The level of knowledge and awareness was measured according to Bloom's cut-off point.The study comprised 506 students from the two universities, 341 were females with a mean age of 22.38±4.99 years and 165 were males with a mean age of 22.38±4.99 years. Data revealed that participants, regardless of their gender, on specific questions had different levels (high, moderate and low) of knowledge and awareness about HIV and AIDS. A high level was seen with the causative agent of AIDS and its transmission through blood transfusion, unprotected sexual contact, and sharing needle injection. However, a moderate level was observed regarding antenatal vertical transmission of HIV, shared use of a toothbrush or a razor. While there was inadequate or low knowledge and awareness about HIV spread through breast feeding, during birth, needle sharing and the availability of vaccines. The levels of knowledge and awareness among female students were significantly higher than males in most studied parameters (P=0.03-0.006). The general knowledge and awareness among Diyala's students declined during the second survey scheduled in 2017 compared with that done in 2010 (P=0.004) for undefined reasons.The general knowledge and awareness about HIV and AIDS was fair among Iraqi students. With the increasing number of HIV cases in Iraq, the inadequacy in knowledge and awareness about spread and prevention of HIV must be considered in the public health strategy and education programs that should comply with Islamic rules and values.


A novel low-cost QFN (Quad Flat NonLeaded) package is introduced for GaAs MMIC packaging. The air-cavity QFN package is designed and implemented with an HTCC process using Alumina substrate. To operate the package up to 40 GHz, several key methods are proposed in this paper. A low noise and a buffer amplifier are packaged for practical application examples and compared with bare die measurements to verify the QFN package performance. A maximum of 4.5 dB insertion loss degradation occurred at 40 GHz. To authors' knowledge, this is the highest operating frequency for QFN type packages with low loss ever reported.


Global climate models (GCM) are fundamental tools for weather forecasting and climate predictions at different time scales, from intraseasonal prediction to climate change projections. Their design allows GCMs to simulate the global climate adequately, but they are not able to skillfully simulate local/regional climates. Consequently, downscaling and bias correction methods are increasingly needed and applied for generating useful local and regional climate information from the coarse GCM resolution.
 Empirical-statistical downscaling (ESD) methods generate climate information at the local scale or with a greater resolution than that achieved by GCM by means of empirical or statistical relationships between large-scale atmospheric variables and the local observed climate. As a counterpart approach, dynamical downscaling is based on regional climate models that simulate regional climate processes with a greater spatial resolution, using GCM fields as initial or boundary conditions.
 Various ESD methods can be classified according to different criteria, depending on their approach, implementation, and application. In general terms, ESD methods can be categorized into subgroups that include transfer functions or regression models (either linear or nonlinear), weather generators, and weather typing methods and analogs. Although these methods can be grouped into different categories, they can also be combined to generate more sophisticated downscaling methods. In the last group, weather typing and analogs, the methods relate the occurrence of particular weather classes to local and regional weather conditions. In particular, the analog method is based on finding atmospheric states in the historical record that are similar to the atmospheric state on a given target day. Then, the corresponding historical local weather conditions are used to estimate local weather conditions on the target day.
 The analog method is a relatively simple technique that has been extensively used as a benchmark method in statistical downscaling applications. Of easy construction and applicability to any predictand variable, it has shown to perform as well as other more sophisticated methods. These attributes have inspired its application in diverse studies around the world that explore its ability to simulate different characteristics of regional climates.


Iterative bootstrapping methods are widely employed for relation extraction, especially because they require only a small amount of human supervision. Unfortunately, a phenomenon known as semantic drift can affect the accuracy of iterative bootstrapping and lead to poor extractions. This paper proposes an alternative bootstrapping method, which ranks relation tuples by measuring their distance to the seed tuples in a bipartite tuple-pattern graph. In contrast to previous bootstrapping methods, our method is not susceptible to semantic drift, and it empirically results in better extractions than iterative methods.