Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the dosimetric characteristics of a new type of two-dimensional diode detector array used for quality assurance of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Materials and Methods: The devices used in this study were the SRS MapCHECK detector and the StereoPHAN. The detector has 1013 diode detectors over an area of 77 x 77 mm. The reproducibility, dose linearity, dose rate dependencies, output factors (OPFs) and angular dependencies were investigated as dosimetric characteristics. The OPFs were measured and compared between AP and PA direction ranging from 0.5 x 0.5 to 7 x 7 cm. The angular dependencies were measured using 19 gantry angles. Results: The dose reproducibility and linearities showed sufficient performance of 6 MV and 10 MV. At 40 MU/min, there was a 1.3% difference from the ionization chamber measurements. For the flattening filter-free beam, there was no dose rate dependency from the 400 MU/minute to 2400 MU/minute, and the variation was within 0.5%. For small irradiation fields of 1 cm or less, the measured value of the SMC differed in AP and PA directions by up to 4.5%. The maximum gantry angle dependency of the detector was 5.3%. A maximum difference of -3.1% occurred between the measurements and TPS calculations. Conclusion: Results indicate that the new 2D diode detector is stable and useful for QA and end-to-end testing of SRS due to its excellent dose characteristics, high resolution and ease of handling when combined with the StereoPHAN.


The Software Productivity Consortium (the Consortium) has been investigating methods for improving and measuring four essential defenses against Internet-based threats: security patch management, system and application hardening, network reconnaissance and enumeration, and tools against malicious software. These defenses increasingly are critical to an organization's information security posture and should be implemented in an effective, systematic, and repeatable fashion. Senior-level managers or executives should review process measurement data regularly to ensure that these defenses are being performed properly and to provide an objective basis for organizational improvement. This article focuses on lessons learned implementing improvements in the first of these defenses, security patch management, and is derived largely from pilot projects conducted in collaboration with Consortium members. The need for improved security patch management figured prominently in the recent draft cyber security strategy issued by the White House. The practices examined in this article can assist organizations in substantially reducing the risk from Internet-based compromises.


A mouse was modified to add tactile and force display. Tactile feedback, or display, was added via a solenoid driving a small pin protruding through a hole in the mouse button. Force feedback was added via an electromagnet and an iron mouse pad. Both enhancements were embedded in the mouse casing, increasing its weight from 103 to 148 g. In a target selection task experiment, the addition of tactile information feedback reduced target selection times slightly, compared to the no additional feedback condition. A more pronounced effect was observed on the clicking time—the time to selection once the cursor entered the target. In this case, we observed a statistically significant speed-up of about 12% in the presence of tactile feedback. The modified mouse was also used in a test of virtual texture. The amplitude and frequency of solenoid pulses were varied according to the movement of the mouse and the underlying virtual texture. Subjects could reliably discriminate between different textures.


Cells of the wild-type yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) strain Y185, grown under conditions that de-repress the formation of a general amino acid permease ('Gap') system, bind delta-N-chloroacetyl[1-(14)C]ornithine; L- and D-amino acid substrates of the general amino acid permease system protect against this binding. The protein responsible is released from the cells by homogenization or by preparation of protoplasts; it is not released by osmotic shock. This protein is virtually absent from the wild-type strain when it is grown under conditions that repress the general amino acid permease system, and is also absent from a Gap- mutant Y185-His3, selected by its resistance to D-amino acids. This mutant and repressed wild-type cells also fail to form a number of membrane proteins elaborated by de-repressed wild-type cells. It is possible that all these proteins are components of the general amino acid permease system.


In the UK video parades are the preferred method of identification employed in criminal cases. This policy implementation has been employed with little or no evidence concerning its validity. The reported research examines the effect of new video technology on children's identification evidence. The study compared 7–9 and 13–15-year olds' ability to make identifications from either video or static photo lineups. Two hundred and fifteen participants witnessed a live event and then after a delay of 2–3 days viewed a target present (TP), or target absent (TA) video or photo lineup. For video and photo TP lineups, correct responses did not differ as a function of age. Video lineups produced lower rates of false identifications for the TA lineups, but only for adolescent witnesses. It is concluded that there is nothing contra-indicated in the use of video identification procedures with children, and possibly certain benefits can accrue from its use.


Sawdust concrete has some shortcomings due to the harmful effects of some organic soluble components existing in the sawdust which affects setting and strength of sawdust concrete. Also, volume changes of sawdust as an aggregate due to variation of moisture content, cause large volume changes in the sawdust concrete. In this work, sawdust was treated before using as an aggregate for making sawdust concrete. The treatment included boiling the sawdust in water containing hydrated lime in order to dissolve all soluble organic components. To reduce water absorption of sawdust, it was dried and treated with waterproofing material. Two types of waterproofing materials were used (cutback asphalt and classic varnish). The properties of sawdust concrete were highly improved using pretreated sawdust. The increase of compressive strength was up to 50% for moderate sawdust ratios. Flexural strength is also increased, water absorption and thermal conductivity were highly reduced, while the basic advantages of sawdust concrete such as lightness of weight, sawability and nailability were not affected.


From a South African Passion Play to Turkish Sufi tourism, from contemporary street preaching in America to public Hindu rites in India, from cloistered prayer in 17th century France to the queer politics of 'the closet' today, Performing Religion in Public brings together an international array of voices that grapple with the important role of religious performance in our secular public lives. Because traditional notions of the public sphere have emphasized rational discourse in a secular setting, religion has often been excluded. But religious life is not impersonal argument; rather, it is passionately performed, crossing boundaries between public and private, the personal and the political, and claiming a significant role in modern democracies, from everyday cultural interactions to political advocacy. By focusing on the performative nature of both religion and publics, this timely volume offers a fresh and fruitful re-conception of the relationship between religion and the public sphere.


Nanotechnology has the potential to introduce revolutionary change in the energy industries such as exploration, development and production. Nanotechnology can revolutionalise the additive properties by tuning particle characteristics to meet certain environmental, operational and technical requirements. Nanotechnology produces nanomaterials that are ultra fines in nature, usually smaller than ordinary micro particles and thus has very high specific surface area with enormous area of interactions. Recent research has indicated that nanomaterials have unique properties for a broad range of applications in the field of oilfield chemistry, where fluid loss control, borehole stability, cementing quality of a well, remediation of damaged reservoirs, hydrocarbon recovery efficiency, oilfield wastewater treatment are of interest. This paper presents an extensive literature review of assessing the applications of nanotechnology and nanomaterials in the field of oilfield chemistry, investigating the existing problems in the application of nanomaterials in oilfield chemistry, and evaluating the potential technical and economic benefits that nanotechnology and nanomaterials might provide to petroleum development and production.


The question of intellectual property for original fashion design has attracted enormous public attention in recent years. As we show in this chapter, the question has a storied past. In the 1930s, as American fashion was coming into its own as a cultural force, designers worried about knockoffs. Then, as now, they lacked intellectual property protection for original fashion designs, and sought legislative protection. But they also pursued a regulatory solution, as part of New Deal responses to the Great Depression. They ultimately settled on an effective but controversial solution: a set of self-help measures targeting both copyists and retailers willing to merchandise knockoffs.The resulting boycott, devised by the Fashion Originators' Guild of America ("Guild"), was a massive private IP scheme. At its height, a staggering 4000 new designs were protected each month. The designers' organized efforts at self-help to create design protection eventually gave rise to antitrust lawsuits in federal and state courts, culminating in a pair of 1941 Supreme Court cases.This chapter tells the story of the Depression-era fashion designers, and the solutions they pursued to remedy the lack of intellectual property protection for their work. It describes the Guild's formation and activities within the social, economic, and legal context of the Depression, and the fatal government scrutiny that eventually led to the Guild's demise. Finally, it suggests some lessons as to both means and ends drawn from this story about fashion design protection: about self-help as a private solution to a public lack on the one hand, and about intellectual property protection for design on the other.


Background: Podcasting of lectures is increasingly used in higher education. It is popular with students as it provides a modern e-learning tool that reinforces learning and facilitates engagement with learning material. Podcasts have, however, not been used much in medical education in Africa. This article explores the influence podcasts have on how students in an African medical school approach their learning material. Methods: This is a descriptive qualitative study encompassing six focus group discussions with a total of 38 students from each of the six study years in the medical programme. Results: The feedback from the students called for continuous and extensive implementation. Themes identified included: a novel way to learn; complementing classroom learning; providing ease of mind (a safety net); and the influence of the lecturer on student learning. Students did not find that podcasts negatively influenced class attendance. Enthusiastic acceptance translated into active engagement with the learning material. Discussion: The way the students used the podcasts fits the active learning double tenet of student activity and student engagement in using a particular instructional method. The podcasts allowed the students to be more adventurous in their learning and changed the way they approached their learning. Situating the learning in the students' context and within their control played an important role in this. Conclusion: Medical education in Africa is moving towards larger classes and increasingly decentralised clinical training. Podcasts of medical lectures in medical schools in Africa are an innovative and effective tool to enhance medical students' learning.


New algorithms and hardware technology offer possibilities for the predetection of terrorism far beyond even the imagination and salesmanship of people hoping to apply forms of deep learning studied in the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (CIS) decades ago. For example, new developments in Analog Quantum Computing (AQC) give us a concrete pathway to options like a forwards time camera or backwards time telegraph, a pathway which offers about a 50% probability of success for a well-focused effort over just a few years. However, many of the new technologies come with severe risks, and/or important opportunities in other sectors. This paper discusses the possibilities, risks and tradeoffs relevant to several different forms of terrorism.


Purpose
This study aims to compare the effect of barista type (human vs robot) on perceived safety and examine the role of two moderators (mask-wearing and coronavirus vaccination) on the effects of barista type on perceived safety and visit intention.

Design/methodology/approach
The research design consists of three studies. Three experiments were sequentially designed and conducted to address research questions.

Findings
Study 1 found that perceived safety mediates the effect of barista type on customers' visit intention. Study 2 revealed that the mask-wearing of human and robot baristas differently influences perceived safety. Study 3 showed that customers, especially where robot baristas are used, perceive the effect of mask-wearing differently depending on their coronavirus vaccination status.

Research limitations/implications
Given that the levels of restrictions vary worldwide, together with the extent of countries' vaccination rollouts, caution is required when generalising the research findings.

Practical implications
The findings have practical implications for the hospitality industry, where the roles of face masks and coronavirus vaccines in shaping consumer psychology and behaviour have been underexplored.

Originality/value
Coronavirus vaccination is considered one of the most important driving forces for the recovery of hospitality businesses. As a heuristic-systematic model postulated, this study identified that vaccination status (fully vaccinated vs not vaccinated) changes the level of involvement when customers assess the level of risk in service environments. By pinpointing the function of service robots in safeguarding customers from the potential spread of the disease, this study broadens the scope of human–robot interaction research in hospitality.


The maternal mortality evolution in Spain during the 1980-1992 period is reported. The influence of birth distribution according to maternal age is analyzed. The information was gathered from vital statistics published by Instituto Nacional de Estadistica. The mortality rates have stabilized since 1985 (4.8 per 10(5) for 1992) associated with the increase in the proportion of births in women aged > or = 30 years (40.6% for 1992). Birth distributions according to maternal age account for 13.1% of the deaths observed. The predictions point to an increase in maternal mortality for the year 2000.


Abstract The article discusses the development in the administration of the Slovak judiciary since the separation of Czechoslovakia and the impact of the empowerment of the judicial self-governance on the functioning of the judicial system. After independence, the administration of the judiciary initially rested in the hands of the executive. In 2002, Slovakia created its Judicial Council and transferred a considerable amount of powers on it, especially related to judicial careers. It was expected that this would de-politicize the judicial system. However, a high level of autonomy of the judiciary chiefly led to the empowerment of judicial elites. This reduced the democratic accountability of the judiciary, encapsulating it from society and enabling it to promote its own interests. Selection processes have often been used to fill judicial ranks with judges with close ties to the system. Accountability mechanisms such as promotions, disciplinary procedures or remuneration schemes were used to reward allies of those on the top of the hierarchy and to punish their critics. Still, adherence to EU-backed standards on the administration of the judiciary may have increased the legitimacy of the judiciary, while concentrating decision-making in one body enhanced transparency, which was furthered due to low public confidence resulting in unprecedented levels of information available about the Slovak judicial system. All in all, the Slovak example displays the dangers of establishing judicial self-governance in countries where an internal ethical culture and a strong sense of judicial duty are still lacking.


This article analyzes the relationship between opaque assets and the risks, returns and inflows of hedge funds. In particular, we use a unique dataset containing information required by a Brazilian regulator to evaluate the amount invested by funds in forward and future contracts, swaps and options in the context of qualified and non-qualified investors. Our results show a positive association between the positions in derivatives and the variations in risk and a negative association between derivatives (especially swaps) and the funds' monthly performances. This means that the use of more derivatives is related to higher risk (total and systematic) without the benefit of higher return. Hedge funds adopting leveraged operations with derivatives also present a lower annual performance. In general, there is significant evidence that swaps are related to fund inflows in a negative way with regard to qualified and non-qualified investors.


In open water, autonomous floats and gliders can periodically surface and use GPS to determine their position. Iridium satellite communication can be used to send data back to land-based ocean data centers for analysis, research and operational decision-making. However, autonomous operation in the Arctic is not currently possible because ice cover prevents floats and gliders from positioning (geolocating) their measurements as well as relaying data to shore for long periods; neither GPS nor satellite data communications are possible under the water. As a result, our current set of scientific observations of the Canadian Arctic is biased towards spring and summer when it is navigable by ships and when autonomous platforms can safely surface. To truly comprehend winter Arctic waters in the manner that has been achieved in world's more temperate oceans, floats and gliders require additional capability for underwater geolocation and periodic communication. We propose a Baffin Bay Acoustic Navigation and Communication System (BBANC), which will use broadband low-frequency sources to provide basin-wide coverage of RAFOS-style signals for acoustic positioning of underwater assets.  Low-frequency acoustic receivers would be collocated with the sources to enable ocean acoustic tomography for long-term study of heat content and currents. Finally, passive acoustic listening systems would enable the study of marine mammal communication and ambient noise from ships, sonar, ocean-based resource exploitation and ice dynamics, as well as gating acoustic source operation in the presence of marine mammals. The BBANC Project currently consists of a collaborative feasibility study to describe the basic challenges and design parameters of such a system, as well as define additional acoustic measurements required to complete a system design.  We will present simulation of under-ice sound speed from historical T-S profiles, ice properties derived from satellite remote sensing, and modelled acoustic propagation in an ice-covered Baffin Bay.


This invited lecture introduces the recently developed TexiSore device that aims at preventing pressure sores for persons with spinal cord injury. It is the result of ten years of research leading to an embedded device that should equip the wheelchair of the person. The recent breakthrough is the fact that this device is made of a 100% textile fabric able to continuously measure the pressures at the interface between the cushion and the buttock area. This textile is comfortable, washable and can be seen as a consumable since its fabrication process makes it low cost.


The users of Ambient Intelligence systems expect an intelligent behavior from their environment, receiving adapted and easily accessible services and functionality. This can only be possible if the communication between the user and the system is carried out through an interface that is simple (i.e. which does not have a steep learning curve), fluid (i.e. the communication takes place rapidly and effectively), and robust (i.e. the system understands the user correctly). Natural language interfaces such as dialog systems combine the previous three requisites, as they are based on a spoken conversation between the user and the system that resembles human communication. The current industrial development of commercial dialog systems deploys robust interfaces in strictly defined application domains. However, commercial systems have not yet adopted the new perspective proposed in the academic settings, which would allow straightforward adaptation of these interfaces to various application domains. This would be highly beneficial for their use in AmI settings as the same interface could be used in varying environments. In this paper, we propose a new approach to bridge the gap between the academic and industrial perspectives in order to develop dialog systems using an academic paradigm while employing the industrial standards, which makes it possible to obtain new generation interfaces without the need for changing the already existing commercial infrastructures. Our proposal has been evaluated with the successful development of a real dialog system that follows our proposed approach to manage dialog and generates code compliant with the industry-wide standard VoiceXML.


Children with hemiplegia have movements' difficulties especially in their upper limbs, these difficulties occur due to the loss of the communication between the brain and the affected side of the body. In this study, visual, audio, and tactile stimulation were provided to the patients to reactivate the communication between their brains and their affected upper limbs. Haptic stimulation control strategy was developed by using haptic devices, which are less expensive comparing with other alternative devices of therapy like robots, and virtual reality (VR) scenarios for haptic-VR therapy in order to ensure that visual, audio, and tactile feedback will be provided to the brain to transmit its instruction to the body. A 3 degree of freedom (DOF) haptic device was used to apply this control strategy. The developed strategy provides free paths in VR scenes and force feedback in other directions, in other words "resist-when-needed" model. A functional assessment method was used to evaluate the performance of the targeted upper limb. The method has been used with two children with hemiplegia. Results illustrate a notice enhancement of normal joint recruitment, which results in that the developed haptic control along with VR helps to encourage the affected side of the brain to give the needed instruction to the affected upper limb.


Component identification is relevant in maintenance activities but can be hard in scenarios where the volume of source code is high and there is no architecture documentation. This work presents a technique for finding concepts as candidates of architectural components. The technique is based in the frequency of terms that follows naming patterns that are proposed in this work. Projects from Eclipse and Apache, were used for evaluating the technique. The results show terms which match with some popular component types and domain concepts of the software in treatment. The technique has used source code without any architectural documentation showing that could be applied in emergent architectures.


Numerous geochronological and geochemical studies of the Late Triassic granite plutons in the Qinling orogen have been conducted over the past few decades. These studies have extensively discussed the genesis and correlations of granite plutons with the collisional processes between the North and South China blocks. However, several contradictory conclusions on the tectonic settings of these plutons (subduction, syncollision, postcollision, or intraplate) have been reached. Moreover, in all these studies, compressional or extensional structures have been always considered to control the magma emplacement, but no direct evidence has been presented so far. In order to clarify the emplacement mechanism of these Late Triassic plutons and avoid the ambiguities from purely geochemical studies, we conducted a multidisciplinary structural study on the Mishuling pluton in West Qinling, one of the biggest Late Triassic plutons in the orogen. New single-grain zircon dating confirmed that the Mishuling pluton was emplaced at 212 ± 2 Ma. Gravity investigations show an overall wedge shape to the pluton: A deep root is located in its western part, the thickness gradually decreases to the east, and it finally pinches out at its eastern extremity. We studied internal structures of the Mishuling pluton through field, microscopic, and AMS (anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility) observations, which show that the pluton did not undergo penetrative secondary deformation, and preserved cryptic internal fabrics were mainly acquired during the final stage of emplacement. In the western part of the pluton, internal fabrics display a concentric pattern. In the eastern part, the lineations mainly plunge west, while the foliations form an analogous W-plunging synform, mainly dipping SW in the northern part and dipping NW in the southern part. The three-dimensional shape and internal structures of the Mishuling pluton are concordant with the wrench tectonics of country rocks that developed during the late stage of the Late Triassic collision between the North and South China blocks. We propose an integrated emplacement model involving both the three-dimensional shape and internal fabrics of the Mishuling pluton, and regional structures of the country rocks. In this model, the magma rose in the western part and then spread eastward parallel to the regional strike-slip movements.


One controversial question in the field of eye movements and reading is whether there is evidence of parafoveal-on-foveal effects. This is an important issue because some models of eye movements in reading make quite different predictions in this respect (e.g., E-Z Reader vs. SWIFT models). The aim of the current study was to investigate if parafoveal-on-foveal effects occur when reading Thai, an unspaced, alphasyllabic orthography. Word frequency (high and low) of the word to the right of the currently fixated word was manipulated to examine if it would influence processing of the fixated word. Thirty-six participants read single sentences while having their eye movements monitored. There was no evidence of the effect of word frequency of the parafoveal word on fixation duration measures of the foveal word, as assessed by p(H0∣D) values—except for a marginal effect in the skipping rates. Thus, the present data are in line with previous studies using spaced Indo-European languages which have found small/null results for parafoveal effects of word frequency during one-line sentence reading.


In bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMCs), the Kit receptor tyrosine kinase mediates diverse responses including proliferation, survival, chemotaxis, migration, differentiation, and adhesion to extracellular matrix. In connective tissue mast cells, a role for Kit in the secretion of inflammatory mediators has been demonstrated as well. We recently demonstrated a role for phosphatidylinositide-3' (PI 3)-kinase in Kit-ligand (KL)-induced adhesion of BMMCs to fibronectin. Herein, we investigated the mechanism by which Kit mediates enhancement of Fc epsilon RI-mediated degranulation, cytoskeletal rearrangements, and adhesion in BMMCs. Wsh/Wsh BMMCs lacking endogenous Kit expression, were transduced to express normal and mutant Kit receptors containing Tyr-->Phe substitution at residues 719 and 821. Although the normal Kit receptor fully restored KL-induced responses in Wsh/Wsh BMMCs, Kit gamma 719F, which fails to bind and activate PI 3-kinase, failed to potentiate degranulation and is impaired in mediating membrane ruffling and actin assembly. Inhibition of PI 3-kinase with wortmannin or LY294002 also inhibited secretory enhancement and cytoskeletal rearrangements mediated by Kit. In contrast, secretory enhancement and adhesion stimulated directly through protein kinase C (PKC) do not require PI 3-kinase. Calphostin C, an inhibitor of PKC, blocked Kit-mediated adhesion to fibronectin, secretory enhancement, membrane ruffling, and filamentous actin assembly. Although cytochalasin D inhibited Kit-mediated filamentous actin assembly and membrane ruffling, secretory enhancement and adhesion to fibronectin were not affected by this drug. Therefore, Kit-mediated cytoskeletal rearrangements that are dependent on actin polymerization can be uncoupled from the Kit-mediated secretory and adhesive responses. Our results implicate receptor-proximal PI 3-kinase activation and activation of a PKC isoform in Kit-mediated secretory enhancement, adhesion, and cytoskeletal reorganization.


We present iGibson, a novel simulation environment to develop robotic solutions for interactive tasks in large-scale realistic scenes. Our environment contains fifteen fully interactive home-sized scenes populated with rigid and articulated objects. The scenes are replicas of 3D scanned real-world homes, aligning the distribution of objects and layout to that of the real world. iGibson integrates several key features to facilitate the study of interactive tasks: i) generation of high-quality visual virtual sensor signals (RGB, depth, segmentation, LiDAR, flow, among others), ii) domain randomization to change the materials of the objects (both visual texture and dynamics) and/or their shapes, iii) integrated sampling-based motion planners to generate collision-free trajectories for robot bases and arms, and iv) intuitive human-iGibson interface that enables efficient collection of human demonstrations. Through experiments, we show that the full interactivity of the scenes enables agents to learn useful visual representations that accelerate the training of downstream manipulation tasks. We also show that iGibson features enable the generalization of navigation agents, and that the human-iGibson interface and integrated motion planners facilitate efficient imitation learning of simple human demonstrated behaviors. iGibson is open-sourced with comprehensive examples and documentation. For more information, visit our project website: this http URL


A stress-based sectional critical plane model for multiaxial fatigue life prediction is proposed. The proposed model considers the effects of material properties and loading paths on the crack initiation and propagation behaviors. By introducing the ratio of maximum shear stress amplitude to maximum normal stress amplitude, it is divided into three sections in which the maximum normal stress plane, maximum damage plane and maximum shear stress amplitude plane are considered as the critical planes, respectively. To verify the accuracy and applicability of the proposed model, experimental data of 30CrMnSiA steel conducted by the authors and other test data of different materials from the existing literatures are utilized. For 30CrMnSiA steel, the prediction results of the proposed model demonstrate that 79.3% and 93.7% of the prediction results are within the ±2 times and ±3 times scatter band of fatigue life. For the experimental data from the existing literatures, more than 85% and 70% of the results predicted by the proposed model are within ±3 times scatter band of fatigue life for steel and aluminum alloy materials, respectively.


This paper proposes an Incremental Fuzzy-Rough Nearest Neighbour (IncFRNN) technique for biometric authentication modelling using feature extracted visual evoked. Only small training set is needed for model initialisation. The embedded heuristic update method adjusts the knowledge granules incrementally to maintain all representative electroencephalogram (EEG) signal patterns and eliminate those rarely used. It reshapes the personalized knowledge granules through insertion and deletion of a test object, based on similarity measures. A predefined window size can be used to reduce the overall processing time. This proposed algorithm was verified with test data from 37 healthy subjects. Signal pre-processing steps on segmentation, filtering and artefact rejection were carried out to improve the data quality before model building. The experimental paradigm was designed in three different conditions to evaluate the authentication performance of the IncFRNN technique against the benchmarked incremental K-Nearest Neighbour (KNN) technique. The performance was measured in terms of accuracy, area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) and Cohen's Kappa coefficient. The proposed IncFRNN technique is proven to be statistically better than the KNN technique in the controlled window size environment. Future work will focus on the use of dynamic data features to improve the robustness of the proposed model.


The current pattern of archives goes throught times of dramatic changes. The effectiveness
of local government information technology services through the establishment
of an active, mutually supportive Internet community of Local Government. The access
web are one of the most common means for communication of archives.


The dispenser has at least one opening and at least one closing member coacting with the opening and movable between a position closing the opening and a position leaving clear the opening. At least a part of the dispenser is preformed (4) on a neck part of the container, and the remaining part of the dispenser is connected to it. An independent claim is included for a method of manufacturing and filling the container.


This Precis entitled, Smallholder-led growth in Malawi, complements the Bank's Operations and Evaluation Department (OED), Performance audit report, Malawi : Agricultural sector adjustment credit, Report No. 15641, dated May 23, 1996. The audit draws attention to the rapid progress achieved by a subsequent bilateral project, which made policy reform a precondition for lending for the agricultural sector in Malawi.


An expression is derived for the temperature distribution T(x, t) in a semi-infinite solid, accreting with constant velocity v, on whose rising surface there is impressed the temperature Tfo, t)=A+B cos (wt-to), where x is depth, t is time, and A, B, w and 8 are constants. This solution is applied to the problem of an accumulating snowfield. The annual temperature wave, if accompanied by the rapid accumulation of snow, is shown to produce considerably lowar temperatures in the firn than if accumulation is lacking. The effect of a diffusivity which varies with depth is also discussed; it is found that this may be treated approximately as equivalent to a theoretical fictitious velocity of accumulation.


New dynamics and globalized economy has led to the need to modify the Corporate Governance systems. Many countries have not identified a unique model for the company management but they allow free choice between continuing to use the traditional models adopted by the country itself or implementing different models sometimes considered more suitable with the aims and operational management of the companies. The new Corporate Governance model introduced in the most global jurisdictions is the two-tiers model (or dual model) considered the most suitable to achieve a better separation between ownership and control and to ensure a better transparency. The introduction of the two-tier system of Corporate Governance is not without uncertainty; it has affected all countries except the Anglo-Saxon ones. The purpose of this research is to investigate the features of the dualistic governance model in some countries different for their culture and legislative system. In particular the research aims to point out the characteristics of the dual model introduced for the first time in the Italian Legal System by Law No. 6/2003 and to perform a comparative analysis with the most consolidated two-tiers model implemented in Germany (which is considered the benchmark), in some other European countries (France and the Nordic countries) and with the experiences of Asian countries and in particular of Japan. From the comparative analysis we try to understand whether differences in purposes and ways of implementation can be pointed out.


The interest in procedures for political decision-making has grown tremendously during recent decades. Given the intense scholarly debate and the implementation of greater opportunities for citizen participation in many democracies, there has been surprisingly little interest in citizens' conceptions of democracy understood as their preferences concerning the processes by which the political system works. Some recent attempts do, however, suggest that it is important to expand the study of public opinion from policy output to decision-making processes, and that there are coherent patterns in citizens' expectations of the way in which political decisions come about. What is not clear, though, is whether citizens' different conceptions of democracy have repercussions for how they engage in politics. Using the Finnish National Election Study of 2011 (Borg and Grönlund 2011), this article explores the relationship between citizens' conceptions of democracy and patterns of political participation. Results demonstrate a distinct association between citizens' ideals and the actions they take.


Colorectal cancer is the third most frequent cancer, yet screening rates for this cancer remain low. This study was designed to identify factors associated with family physicians' rates of recommending or providing flexible sigmoidoscopy. We applied a behavioral model consisting of three components: physician attitude toward providing the test, facilitating conditions, and reinforcing conditions. Qualitative interviews identified relevant measures of each model component and guided the design of the survey. The survey was administered to 60 randomly selected family physicians in Washington State. Chart reviews were conducted to measure physician rates of providing flexible sigmoidoscopy. All three model components were significantly correlated with sigmoidoscopy rate. Multiple regression found physician attitude, facilitating conditions, and their interaction to be significant determinants of sigmoidoscopy rate (multiple R = 0.72). Analyses of specific items used to measure physician attitude found that physician beliefs about cost, time, income, degree of distaste, risk of complications, and screening effectiveness were significantly correlated with sigmoidoscopy rate. Specific facilitating conditions found to be correlated with rate of providing the test included physician and staff training, availability of a reminder system, and clinic structural conditions. This study provides strong support for application of a theory-based model to understand physician provision of flexible sigmoidoscopy testing for colorectal cancer. The findings provide very specific information to guide development of educational and motivational efforts and modification of facilitating conditions to increase physician provision of sigmoidoscopy to control colorectal cancer.


Organic and inorganic micropollutants are rejected by high-pressure membranes, nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO), primarily as a consequence of solute-membrane interactions. These interactions include steric and electrostatic effects that depend on compound properties (e.g., molecular weight (MW) and ionic charge) and membrane properties (e.g., molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) and surface charge (zeta potential)), with the added influence of membrane operating conditions (e.g., recovery). This paper summarizes the rejection trends by several NF and RO membranes for a wide range of organic micropollutants based on hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity (octanol-water partition coefficient, K o w ) and charge (neutral or negative), and a more narrow range of inorganic micropollutants in the form of oxyanions (chromate, arsenate and perchlorate) of varying MW and charge. While RO provided greater rejections of micropollutants than NF, observed NF rejections were, in many cases, significant. For oxyanions, rejection was mainly influenced by ionic charge and MW. RO properties generally had little influence while MWCO and zeta potential were both significantly influential for NF. For organic micropollutants, with exception of RO versus NF classifications, membrane properties were less influential than compound properties with greater rejections generally observed with increasing MW, K o w , and (negative) charge.


. In this article, we shine a spotlight on approaches to research ecosystem service trade-offs and critically assess their representation of relevant social dynamics. Although studies linking ecosystem services and human well-being have provided theoretical insights into social and ecological trade-offs, we argue that ecosystem services research has paid insufficient attention to "social feedbacks," people's cognitive and behavioral responses to change. We demonstrate that augmenting ecosystem services research with environmental justice approaches (exploring perceptions of the distribution of costs and benefits, decision making procedures, and recognition of different values and identities) can more effectively capture important responses to ecosystem governance. Spatial analysis of land use change, mixed-method assessment of multidimensional well-being, and qualitative environmental justice research were applied in three villages adjacent to Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area in northern Laos. Spatial analysis showed that, from 2006 to 2015, forest clearance for cultivation remained stable within the protected area. Well-being assessment revealed the local population benefited from rapidly increasing incomes, asset ownership, and reduced poverty during that time. In combination, spatial and well-being analyses paint a picture of limited trade-offs, despite growing incentives to exploit protected land and resources through cash crops and high-value forest products. In contrast, results from environmental justice research revealed profound trade-offs between conservation and local practices, and highlight governance deficiencies relating to procedure and recognition. Consequently, formal protected area rules were perceived to be illegitimate by many and actively undermined, for example through negotiated access with alternative authorities. We conclude that although well-being research provides an essential foundation to understand diverse attachments to natural resources, the addition of environmental justice research can reveal local perceptions and social feedbacks critical to ecosystem service trade-offs, and highlight pathways to reconcile them through satisfying stakeholders' diverse, dynamic objectives.


Solid state nanopores enable translocation and detection of single bio-molecules such as DNA in buffer solutions. Here, sub-10 nm nanopore arrays in silicon membranes were fabricated by using electron-beam lithography to define etch pits and by using a subsequent electrochemical etching step. This approach effectively decouples positioning of the pores and the control of their size, where the pore size essentially results from the anodizing current and time in the etching cell. Nanopores with diameters as small as 7 nm, fully penetrating 300 nm thick membranes, were obtained. The presented fabrication scheme to form large arrays of nanopores is attractive for parallel bio-molecule sensing and DNA sequencing using optical techniques. In particular the signal-to-noise ratio is improved compared to other alternatives such as nitride membranes suffering from a high-luminescence background.


Accommodation and excitation in space-clamped squid axons were studied with the double sucrose gap technique, using linear current ramps, short (50 µsec) square wave pulses, and rheobasic square wave pulses as stimuli. The temperature was varied from 5° to 35°C. Experimental results showed a Q 10 for accommodation which was 44% higher than that for excitation. Yet calculations on the basis of the Hodgkin-Huxley equations predict equal Q 10's for excitation and accommodation. Although the Hodgkin-Huxley equations are spectacularly successful for so many nerve phenomena, the differences between calculations of accommodation and these experiments, which were designed to test the equations, show that the equations need modification in this area.


As a consequence of the planned exit from fossil-based energy in the European Union the exploitation of renewable energies has become a major aspect of the Offshore Industry. Especially the construction and operation of offshore wind energy turbines pose a challenge which is met by the use of jack-up vessels with extendible legs. In order to dimension the vessel's manoeuvring devices in the early design stage and to ensure a safe jack-up process for given environmental loads the dynamic positioning capability during the jacking including the influence of the legs has to be calculated. As part of the development of a holistic dynamic analysis this paper presents the implementation of the legs' influence in an existing manoeuvring method. The manoeuvring method solves the equations of motion in three degrees of freedom (surge, sway, yaw). It is based on a force model which comprises various modular components. Therefore another component for the leg-forces is added. A Morison approach is chosen to calculate the hydrodynamic forces on the cylindrical legs. The legs' hydrodynamic added masses are accounted for and added to the hull's inertial terms. The benefit of the presented method is the possibility to calculate the dynamic positioning capability with extended legs without being dependent on the results of either time-consuming or non-specific model tests. Therefore the method represents a fast computing tool to design the vessel for the specific environmental conditions of the site of operation.


OBJECTIVES
To examine the relationship between sagittal facial pattern and dehiscence/fenestration presence in conjunction with buccolingual tooth inclination by using cone beam computed tomography.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was carried out on the cone beam computed tomography scans of the following three groups of patients (n = 20 in each group): Class I, Class II, Class III. Buccolingual tooth inclination, buccal dehiscence/fenestration presence, and lingual dehiscence/fenestration presence were evaluated on each tooth. Analysis of variance, Kruskall-Wallis H, Scheffe, and chi-square tests were used for statistical comparisons.

RESULTS
Differences (P < .05) were observed between the groups for inclination of upper incisors and all lower teeth except for second molars. Dehiscence prevalence in the upper buccal and posterior buccal regions was higher (P < .05) in the Class I group when compared with the other groups. Lower buccal and anterior buccal regions showed higher (P = .0001) dehiscence prevalence in all groups. No difference was observed in fenestration prevalence between the groups. The upper buccal and anterior buccal regions showed higher (P = .0001) fenestration prevalence in all groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Orthodontists must consider concealed alveolar defects in treatment planning to avoid gingival recession or tooth mobility.


Joint contractures decrease the patient's ability to walk, but usually other parts of the body compensate the affected joint contractures. When we restore the gait performance in paraplegic patients by means of functional electrical stimulation, however, we cannot expect complications of compensation. A computer simulation was done to clarify how the contractures affect the gait pattern when no complications of compensation were expected. A seven-segment link mechanical model was used for simulation of human walking in the sagittal plane. In turn, using a personal computer stance and swing-leg joint contractures of the ankle, knee, and/or hip were simulated. When stance-leg contracture was simulated, step length became short with increasing hip flexion contracture. The trunk was tilted backward during knee flexion or ankle plantarflexion contracture simulation. When the swing-leg contracture was simulated, step length became short with increasing knee flexion contracture. We found that hip or knee flexion contracture of < or = 15 degrees, or ankle plantarflexion contracture of < 0 degrees was required to maintain positive step length and forward movement of the center of gravity. These findings suggest that 15 degrees of hip and knee flexion contracture, and 0 degrees of ankle plantarflexion contracture are critical when gait restoration is performed by functional electrical stimulation.


In this contribution, I approach the dilemma of failing social solidarity and the place of immigration in the neo-liberal order that dominates us now and will continue to dominate us for the foreseeable future. By "liberal," I mean to invoke both of the very different meanings of the term: the technical and internationally understood meaning, namely market-driven, individualistic, state-minimizing, classical liberalism, and the colloquial and (technically incorrect) use of that term in American politics, namely to indicate a simultaneous commitment to a libertarian and democratic vision of individual rights and sympathy for and support of government action to mitigate the inegalitarianism of market society and especially discrimination against disfavored groups. The liberal market, the free market, including the labor market is profoundly undemocratic insofar as it operates independently of and in spite of the wishes of political democracy. The people's sovereignty stands incapacitated in the face of the free market, particularly when - as so often in our discussion of immigration - the "market" is naturalized and attains the status of something obvious, indisputable and morally beyond reproach, or at least beyond reach. Without the safe harbor of a strong welfare state, immigration reform is a risky proposition.


BACKGROUND
Spinal cord high-grade glioma has poor prognosis. Especially, no treatment protocols have been established for recurrent cases.

OBJECTIVE
To apply a novel treatment method, convection-enhanced delivery (CED), for recurrent high-grade glioma. CED can deliver chemotherapeutic agents directly into the intramedullary lesion and possibly lead to remarkable regression of enlarging tumors that are, otherwise, difficult to control.

METHODS
Two patients developed high-grade glioma in the thoracic spinal cord. Partial resection and chemotherapy and radiotherapy induced remission of the disease. However, following the initial treatment, recurrence was noted in the spinal cord at 6 and 12 mo, respectively. No effective treatment was available for these recurrent lesions. Therefore, the authors decided to use CED to infuse nimustine hydrochloride (ACNU) directly into the spinal cord. During the procedure, the infusion cannula was inserted into the spinal cord lesion under intraoperative computed tomography scan.

RESULTS
After ACNU CED, successive magnetic resonance imaging confirmed remarkable shrinkages of the tumors in both cases. However, the patient's preinfusion symptoms, including bilateral lower extremity weakness, did not change after the treatment. Importantly, overall survivals of the 2 patients were as long as 67 and 33 mo.

CONCLUSION
The authors report the first 2 cases of recurrent spinal cord high-grade glioma. ACNU CED dramatically regressed enhanced mass lesions and provided local tumor controls in the spinal cord.


Management of large quantities of complex data is essential in many advanced application areas. Object-oriented (OO) database management system have been developed to effectively model and process the complex domain knowledge. They have been shown to outperform some existing relational systems. The existing implementations of OO database management systems attempt to improve the efficiency of OO queries by explicitly capturing the relationships among objects. However, the execution of complex queries involving the retrieval of objects from many classes and relationships among them causes the existing system to operate inefficiently. In this paper, we present parallel algorithms for the processing of queries against a large OO database. The algorithms are based on a closed model of query processing pattern-based access instead of the conventional value-based access. During processing, the algorithms avoid the execution of time-consuming join operations by making use of the explicitly stored object associations. Generation of large quantities of temporary data is avoided by marking objects using their identifiers and by employing a two-phase query processing strategy. A query is processed by concurrent multiple waves, thereby improving parallelism avoiding the complexities introduced in their sequential implementation. The correctness and the performance of the parallel algorithms have been tested and analyzed by running parallel programs on a 32-node transputer based parallel machine designed and developed at the IBM Research Center at Yorktown Heights, New York. Benchmark queries of different semantic complexities are generated, and their performance is analyzed for various data and query parameters. >


The inferior colliculus is a primary relay for the processing of auditory information in the brainstem. The inferior colliculus is also part of the so-called brain aversion system as animals learn to switch off the electrical stimulation of this structure. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether associative learning occurs between aversion induced by electrical stimulation of the inferior colliculus and visual and auditory warning stimuli. Rats implanted with electrodes into the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus were placed inside an open-field and thresholds for the escape response to electrical stimulation of the inferior colliculus were determined. The rats were then placed inside a shuttle-box and submitted to a two-way avoidance paradigm. Electrical stimulation of the inferior colliculus at the escape threshold (98.12 +/- 6.15 (A, peak-to-peak) was used as negative reinforcement and light or tone as the warning stimulus. Each session consisted of 50 trials and was divided into two segments of 25 trials in order to determine the learning rate of the animals during the sessions. The rats learned to avoid the inferior colliculus stimulation when light was used as the warning stimulus (13.25 +/- 0.60 s and 8.63 +/- 0.93 s for latencies and 12.5 +/- 2.04 and 19.62 +/- 1.65 for frequencies in the first and second halves of the sessions, respectively, P < 0.01 in both cases). No significant changes in latencies (14.75 +/- 1.63 and 12.75 +/- 1.44 s) or frequencies of responses (8.75 +/- 1.20 and 11.25 +/- 1.13) were seen when tone was used as the warning stimulus (P > 0.05 in both cases). Taken together, the present results suggest that rats learn to avoid the inferior colliculus stimulation when light is used as the warning stimulus. However, this learning process does not occur when the neutral stimulus used is an acoustic one. Electrical stimulation of the inferior colliculus may disturb the signal transmission of the stimulus to be conditioned from the inferior colliculus to higher brain structures such as amygdala.


Childhood traumatic experiences are known to have strong and durable effects on physical, mental and reproductive health. One of the most studied consequences of childhood trauma is the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study aims to investigate in a community sample of Italian female students: (1) the prevalence of PTSD; (2) the association between reported childhood traumatic experiences and the presence of PTSD in adulthood and the role played by the romantic attachment (anxiety, avoidance) on the relationship between childhood traumatic experiences and PTSD symptoms. Three hundred and twenty-seven female Italian students (mean age = 23.09 years; SD = 2.98) of the University of Padova participated in the study. Participants have been tested on childhood traumatic experiences (Childhood Trauma QuestionnaireShort Form, CTQ-SF); romantic attachment (Experience in Close Relationship-Revised, ECR-R) and post-traumatic stress disorder (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5, PCL-5). Results show that PTSD symptoms are significantly predicted by the experiences of emotional abuse and neglect. Moreover, anxiety and avoidance play a significant role in the relationship between the emotional forms of traumatic experiences and the current presence of PTSD symptoms. Clinical implications for the treatment of PTSD patients with history of interpersonal trauma are discussed.


In this article I conceptualise BDSM (Bondage, Domination and Submission, Discipline, Sadism and Masochism) practices within the frame of contemporary intimacies. This article draws from an empirical research in Milan, involving qualitative interviews and participant observations. Initially, I present a definition of BDSM drawn from contemporary sociological and anthropological literature. Then, I focus on the literature on intimacy, the public/private divide, the marketization of intimacy, and kinship and queer studies of the last decades, to frame BDSM practices among contemporary forms of intimacy. These include practices and identities beyond the heterosexual monogamous couple, such as non-heterosexual or reconstituted families, polyamorous or bareback practitioners, singles, and others; and move outside of the primacy of the sexual realm, by shifting the attention from the supremacy of the sexual sphere and the sexual intercourse. Intimacy is here primarily intended as access to the Other; to its inner and most secret parts. In order to widen our perspectives on intimacy, I provide examples from my empirical research of how practitioners intend and conceptualise BDSM as intimacy both as a risky and unsafe activity when dealing with violation of consent, and in a positive and constructive way as a qualitatively different and rich relationship with their play partners. (Less)


Mass accretion rates in dimensionless and physical units, and efficiency factors describing the total radiant luminosity of the disk and the beam power of the outflow are studied here. Four samples of sources including 576 LINERs, 100 classical double (FRII) radio sources, 80 relatively local AGN, and 103 measurements of four stellar mass X-ray binary systems, referred to as Galactic Black Holes (GBH), are included in the study. All of the sources have highly collimated outflows leading to compact radio emission or powerful extended (FRII) radio emission. The properties of each of the full samples are explored, as are those of the four individual GBH, and sub-types of the FRII and local AGN samples. Source types and sub-types that have high, medium, and low values of accretion rates and efficiency factors are identified and studied. A new efficiency factor that describes the relative impact of black hole spin and mass accretion rate on the beam power is defined and studied, and is found to provide a new and interesting diagnostic. Mass accretion rates for 13 sources and efficiency factors for 6 sources are compared with values obtained independently, and indicate that similar values are obtained with independent methods. The mass accretion rates and efficiency factors obtained here substantially increase the number of values available, and improve our understanding of their relationship to source types. The redshift dependence of quantities is presented and the impact on the results is discussed.


Abstract Movement of six-legged robot is considered. The robot is built to conduct research on the control of different modes of walking with a particular focus on switching from one mode to another. The robot parameters are identified from real-time control experiments. A number of identical servo motors are responsible for the mobility of the hexapod. Therefore, in addition to the construction of hexapod and its control system and the ability to generate different gaits, it is important to create a simulation model of the hexapod including servo motors. The full state observer for the servo motor is an integral part of this model. Forward and backward kinematics of the robot legs is implemented. The six node Toda-Rayleigh lattice model is created and numerically simulated. The lattice is applied as the robot controller. Three different modes of robot gait are achieved. The algorithm used for the gait mode change is equipped with parameters that are experimentally chosen.


For 150 years mistletoe host-resemblance has been an unsolved puzzle. Mimicry, camouflage, host protection and shape modification by the host tree have all been advanced as possible solutions. No extended examination of herbivory of host-parasite pairs has ever been done, however, to put these explanations to the test. The study was carried out in northeastern Australia from March to July 1994. Rates of leaf herbivory were estimated for seven individuals of Amyema binifiora Barlow (a cryptic mistletoe species), Dendrophthoe glabrescens (Blakely) Barlow (a non-cryptic mistletoe species) and their host trees (Eucalyptus tessellaris F. Muell. and Eucalyptus platgphylla F. Muell., respectively). In addition three measures of leaf palatability-nitrogen content, moisture content and tough- ness-were also assessed.Variability in mistletoe leaf shape was quantified by measuring the leaf widths of mistletoes on a variety of host tree species. Mistletoes sustained greater levels of herbivory compared to their host trees, but herbivory did not differ between mistletoe species. The non-crlptic mistletoe had lower levels of nitrogen compared to its host tree, but there was no difference in nitrogen levels between the cryptic mistletoe and its host.The moisture content of mistletoe leaves was greater than that of their hosts but not between mistletoe or host species. The mistletoe species had tougher leaves than their host trees. Leaf shape was different for one species of mistletoe growing on different host trees, but constant for another species of mistletoe.The results contradict, in some crucial aspect, all of the mimicry hlpotheses currently on offer.


This article analyses aspects of the greater use of coordination in Modern Standard Arabic as compared to English, illustrating this through Arabic>English translation. It argues that Arabic 'favours' coordination linguistically, textually and rhetorically, as follows: 1. The linguistic resources of Arabic favour coordination while those of English favour subordination – whether these are lexical (Arabic و wa- and ف fa- vs. English 'and'), or semantic (the possibility of backgrounding coordinated clauses in Arabic compared to the marginality of backgrounded coordinated clauses in English); 2. Accompanying Arabic textual norms, e.g. (near-)synonym repetition and chained coordination, favour coordination while those of English favour subordination; 3. Further associated 'rhetorical semantic' uses of coordination are found in Arabic, e.g. hyperonym-hyponym repetition and associative repetition, which do not exist in English; 4. These extended usages further entrench coordination as a norm in Arabic as compared to English.


It is well established that Pneumocystis carinii has the molecular capability for variation of a major surface antigen, glycoprotein A (gpA). However, the extent of expression of gpA variation among P. carinii organisms infecting a single host and whether this variation has any impact on host-parasite immunological interactions is unknown. Using a mouse model of P. carinii pneumonia, we were able to demonstrate the expression of more than one gpA phenotype in a closed population of infected mice. Administration of monoclonal antibody (MAb) 2B5, which is specific for one of the gpA phenotypes, resulted in a marked diminution in the frequency of this particular gpA phenotype in the population of organisms. This effect was due to a loss of trophozoites bearing the specific epitope recognized by MAb 2B5; cysts bearing the same epitope appeared unaffected. Interestingly, P. carinii was unable to introduce a new phenotype into the population to compensate for the loss of trophozoites bearing the epitope recognized by MAb 2B5. Discontinuing administration of MAb 2B5 allowed the MAb 2B5-binding phenotype to reemerge. This finding suggests that the phenotype recognized by MAb 2B5 was continually produced even when MAb 2B5 was present. Thus, although P. carinii exhibited a form of antigenic variation, it did not appear able to rapidly introduce new phenotypes into the population in response to destruction by antibodies.


A novel nanoscale watermill for the unidirectional transport of water molecules through a curved single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) is proposed and explored by molecular dynamics simulations. In this nanoscale system, a revolving charge is introduced to drive a water chain confined inside the SWNT, the charge and the tube together serving as a nano waterwheel and nano engine. A resonance-like phenomenon is found, and the revolving frequency of the charge plays a key role in pumping the water chain. The water flux across the SWNT increases with respect to the revolving frequency of the external charge and it reaches its maximum when the frequency is 4 THz. Correspondingly, the number of hydrogen bonds in the water chain inside the SWNT decreases dramatically as the frequency increases from 4 THz to 25 THz. The mechanism behind the resonance phenomenon has been investigated systematically. Our findings are helpful for the design of nanoscale fluidic devices and energy converters.


Contribution to an Internal Discussion on Quantitative and Qualitative Optimisation of Expertising Procedures: The medical advisory and expertising Services of the German statutory sickness insurance are according to German social legislation authorised to request supporting documents direct from the treating physicians or hospitals. The consultant medical expertiser for ENT diseases at Cologne worked out the percentage of requests that resulted in "further investigations" and the amount of work involved. A document form was used to record all such requests for a given period. 154 expertising procedures concerning ENT diseases were counted within a period of 5 weeks. 47% of the patients concerned pertained to workers' sickness insurance funds and 29% to guilds sickness insurance funds. Two thirds of all requests were channelled through the statutory sociomedical preconsultant service and one-third were sent by post. 55% of all the requested documents were considered to be "complete" and 45% "incomplete". N = 100 requests were initial and N = 54 were follow-up requests. The answers received were considered satisfactory and final in 62% of the requests, whereas "further inquiries" were considered necessary in n = 58 (38%) of the cases. 80% of the cases in which the requests resulted in satisfactory information, were approved for sickness insurance payment and approximately 20% were rejected. The average period of time that elapsed between a request for more information and the reply and the final expertising given to and passed on to the patient by the statutory insurance body was 2 weeks. In cases where "further inquiries" are considered necessary, three additional working days are usually required in the Cologne ENT diseases area. If the statutory sociomedical preconsultant service procedure could be intensified, this would result in better channelling of requests by the ENT medical and advisory service of the stautory sickness insurance bodies. A more pronounced examination by the statutory sociomedical preconsultant service could minimise the need for additional requests, follow-ups and "further inquiries" and could increase the speed of completion of approved or rejected insurance cases from 14 days to at the most one day or even 0 days. This pilot study was conducted to encourage the local bodies to optimise their work. In the long run good quality of work, patient satifaction and patients' job security will result and will be the corner-stones of modern quality assurance and quality management in North-Rhine Westphalian medical expertising and consultant services in association with the relevant statutory sickness insurance bodies.


Cross‐border dispersion of different stages/slices of the production processes within vertically integrated global industries ("global production sharing") has been a key structural change in the global economy in recent decades. This paper examines India's experience with exploiting opportunities created by this phenomenon for export expansion from a comparative East Asian perspective. The analysis reveals that India has so far failed fitting into global production networks in electronics and electrical goods, which have been the prime movers of export dynamism in China and the other high‐performing East Asian countries. The findings of this study provide further support to the case for completing the unfinished reform agenda, encompassing both trade and investment policy reforms, and "behind‐the‐border" reforms. There is also a strong case, based on the experiences in East Asia and elsewhere, for combining further reforms with a proactive investment promotion campaign to attract multinational enterprises engaged in global production networks.


The human face is one of the most important biometric modalities for automatic authentication. Three-dimensional face recognition exploits facial surface information. In comparison to illumination based 2D face recognition, it has good robustness and high fake resistance, so that it can be used in high security areas. Nevertheless, as in other common biometric systems, potential risks of identity theft, cross matching and exposure of privacy information threaten the security of the authentication system as well as the user's privacy. As a crucial supplementary of biometrics, the template protection technique can prevent security leakages and protect privacy. In this chapter, we show security leakages in common biometric systems and give a detailed introduction on template protection techniques. Then the latest results of template protection techniques in 3D face recognition systems are presented. The recognition performances as well as the security gains are analyzed.


Peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplaces, such as Uber, Airbnb, and Lending Club, have experienced massive growth in recent years. They now constitute a significant portion of the world's economy and provide opportunities for people to transact directly with one another. However, such growth also challenges participants to cope with information asymmetry about the quality of the offerings in the marketplace. By conducting an analysis of a P2P lending market, the authors propose and test a theory in which countersignaling provides a mechanism to attenuate information asymmetry about financial products (loans) offered on the platform. Data from a P2P lending website reveal significant, nonmonotonic relationships among the transmission of nonverifiable information, loan funding, and ex post loan quality, consistent with the proposed theory. The results provide insights for platform owners who seek to manage the level of information asymmetry in their P2P environments to create more balanced marketplaces, as well as for P2P participants interested in improving their ability to process information about the goods and services they seek to transact online.


Background The prevalence of smokeless tobacco use in the United States Air Force (USAF) exceeds civilian use rates. The prevalence and correlates of smokeless tobacco use were assessed and evaluated in a sample of USAF trainees. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey of USAF technical training school personnel at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland and Fort Sam Houston (N = 14,810). Survey completion rate was 78%. Logistic regression was used to analyze the associations between demographic variables, tobacco use, and social factors for both regular and infrequent smokeless tobacco (e.g., chewing tobacco, snuff) users. Results Overall, 16% of Airmen had ever used smokeless tobacco and 10% regularly used smokeless tobacco. In multivariate analyses, men had greater odds than women of regular smokeless tobacco use (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 15.2; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 10.8–21.5) and infrequent smokeless tobacco use (adjusted OR = 4.2; 95% CI: 3.1–5.7). Smokeless tobacco use was associated with participation in high school sports (adjusted OR = 1.9; 95% CI: 1.6–2.3 for regular users; adjusted OR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.1–1.7 for infrequent users), smoking cigarettes (adjusted OR = 4.3; 95% CI: 3.6–5.1 for regular users; adjusted OR = 4.0; 95% CI: 3.2–5.0 for infrequent users), or living with someone who used smokeless tobacco (adjusted OR = 2.2; 95% CI: 1.9–2.6 for regular users; adjusted OR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.1–1.7 for infrequent users). Black or African Americans were less likely than whites to be regular (adjusted OR = 0.3; 95% CI: 0.1–0.4) or infrequent (adjusted OR = 0.3; 95% CI: 0.2–0.4) users of smokeless tobacco. Conclusions Smokeless tobacco use among incoming Air Force recruits is common and negatively impacts the Air Force's goal to be tobacco-free. Understanding sociodemographic characteristics perpetuating smokeless tobacco use in the Air Force population can inform the development of health promotion interventions.


This article makes the case for a coordinated and multi-faceted national level response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in South Africa from the field of human resource development (HRD), arguing that national policy debate on this issue must include the development of human resources in HIV/AIDS non-governmental organizations (NGOs). An exploration of potential connections between HIV/AIDS and HRD was conducted with a qualitative case study in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Through this study, four major thematic categories emerged in connection to the work of NGOs involved in the management of HIV/AIDS, government policy, and the emerging theory and practice of national human resource development (NHRD). In addition, findings pointed to the need for HRD research to be conducted in HIV/AIDS related NGOs given their front-line roles in both policy and practice. Initial suggestions for dialogue between NGOs involved with managing HIV/AIDS and the HRD research and practice community are made along with recommendations for stronger linkages between NHRD and HIV/AIDs.


Since the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009, the use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in the healthcare system has increased substantially. Accompanying this surge in EHR usage is a surge in healthcare data and increased opportunities to improve our understanding of health care through research using these data. The use of EHR data for research has many benefits, limitations and considerations. Using data that was originally intended to facilitate billing, insurance, and maintenance of clinical records for research can be fraught with challenges, but they can also be a rich source of information. This paper addresses some of these benefits and challenges, along with additional considerations, including ensuring the best quality data, selecting a good study design, tailoring research questions and queries to available data, and understanding ethical issues in using patient data for research. Researchers should develop a clear understanding of the pitfalls inherent in EHR research before beginning a project. As is the case with most research, many of the drawbacks can be reduced with careful preparation, formulation of a research question, procedures and data management. Appendices include a Flow Chart detailing the EHR research process, and a User's Guide for UNMC's deidentified electronic health records database.


We consider problems of approximate inference in which the query of interest is given by a complex formula (such as a formula in disjunctive formal form (DNF)) over a joint distribution given by a graphical model. We give a general reduction showing that (approximate) marginal inference for a class of distributions yields approximate inference for DNF queries, and extend our techniques to accommodate even more complex queries, and dense graphical models with variational inference, under certain conditions. Our results unify and generalize classical inference techniques (which are generally restricted to simple marginal queries) and approximate counting methods such as those introduced by Karp, Luby and Madras (which are generally restricted to product distributions).


Unlike age related dementia, Alzheimer's disease is more progressive and causes rapid deterioration in patient's cognitive functions. Prior to its first clinical manifestation, it is evident that the brain damaging process has already been commenced much earlier in life. This asymptomatic period could have spanned as long as a decade or more. Although there is not yet ultimate cure for the disease, the sooner it is diagnosed, the more chance that available therapeutic measures could improve patient's quality of life. Standard medical questionnaire and medical imaging are the most prevailing means of identifying early Alzheimer's disease. Despite a great effort having been made in analyzing structural atrophy in human brain by using CT and MRI, the recent attempts have reached high accuracy and precision but relatively poor sensitivity. Functional imaging such as PET is of much lower spatial resolution but promising modality taken to elevate this limitation. This paper presents a classification method for early detection of the disease from PET scans drawn from Thai population. However, instead of conventional structural analysis, this study performed clustering on unwrapped signals, transformed from imaging data by using Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC), by a generic Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. The experimental results reported herein indicates that, with optimal MFCC order, the proposed method could identify subjects with Alzheimer's from controls, with high accuracy, precision and specificity. With a cross-validation ratio of 8:2 and a linear SVM kernel, the classification accuracy, sensitivity and specificity were 96.51, 93.98, and 97.77, respectively, and increased as the MFCC orders.


The perception of lexical pitch accent in Japanese was assessed using noise-excited vocoder speech, which contained no fundamental frequency (fo) or its harmonics. While prosodic information such as in lexical stress in English and lexical tone in Mandarin Chinese is known to be encoded in multiple acoustic dimensions, such multidimensionality is less understood for lexical pitch accent in Japanese. In the present study, listeners were tested under four different conditions to investigate the contribution of non-fo properties to the perception of Japanese pitch accent: noise-vocoded speech stimuli consisting of 10 3-ERBN-wide bands and 15 2-ERBN-wide bands created from a male and female speaker. Results found listeners were able to identify minimal pairs of final-accented and unaccented words at a rate better than chance in all conditions, indicating the presence of secondary cues to Japanese pitch accent. Subsequent analyses were conducted to investigate if the listeners' ability to distinguish minimal pairs was correlated with duration, intensity or formant information. The results found no strong or consistent correlation, suggesting the possibility that listeners used different cues depending on the information available in the stimuli. Furthermore, the comparison of the current results with equivalent studies in English and Mandarin Chinese suggest that, although lexical prosodic information exists in multiple acoustic dimensions in Japanese, the primary cue is more salient than in other languages.


In 1992, a previously unrecorded site of Sir John Franklin's last expedition (1845-1848) was discovered on King William Island in the central Canadian Arctic. Artifacts recovered from the site included iron and copper nails, glass, a clay pipe fragment, pieces of fabric and shoe leather, buttons, and a scatter of wood fragments, possibly representing the remains of a lifeboat or sledge. Nearly 400 human bones and bone fragments, representing a minimum of 11 men, were also found at the site. A combination of artifactual and oxygen isotope evidence indicated a European origin for at least two of these individuals. Skeletal pathology included periostitis, osteoarthritis, dental caries, abscesses, antemortem tooth loss, and periodontal disease. Mass spectroscopy and x-ray fluorescence revealed elevated lead levels consistent with previous measurements, further supporting the conclusion that lead poisoning contributed to the demise of the expedition. Cut marks on approximately one-quarter of the remains support 19th-century Inuit accounts of cannibalism among Franklin's crew.


Coverage on certain mass media allegedly marginalizes women victims of rape. The purpose of this study was to to describe the gender perspective in the news of rape on the Harian Haluan. This writing analyzes reports of rape in the mass media using the method of critical discourse analysis model Sara Mills. The results showed (1) the position of women in the news of rape on the dominant Harian Haluan as the object of telling and (2) the gender ideology in the news of rape on Harian Haluan is patriarchy ideology. Most of the news of rape contains the assumption that men have power over women so women tend to be inferior and subordinated. Furthermore, the alignment of journalists in the news of rape on Harian Haluan, it was concluded that journalists tend to side with the perpetrators of rape.


This paper describes a handwritten character string recognition system for Japanese mail address reading on a very large vocabulary. The address phrases are recognized as a whole because there is no extra space between words. The lexicon contains 111,349 address phrases, which are stored in a trie structure. In recognition, the text line image is matched with the lexicon entries (phrases) to obtain reliable segmentation and retrieve valid address phrases. The paper first introduces some effective techniques for text line image preprocessing and presegmentation. In presegmentation, the text line image is separated into primitive segments by connected component analysis and touching pattern splitting based on contour shape analysis. In lexicon matching, consecutive segments are dynamically combined into candidate character patterns. An accurate character classifier is embedded in lexicon matching to select characters matched with a candidate pattern from a dynamic category set. A beam search strategy is used to control the lexicon matching so as to achieve real-time recognition. In experiments on 3,589 live mail images, the proposed method achieved correct rate of 83.68 percent while the error rate is less than 1 percent.


From some elements that characterize an elite capture mechanism mentioned in literature, this article compares five resource appropriation strategies carried out by certain players from the participative Municipal Planning System (MPS) from Colombia's third largest municipality between 1998 and 2008. By using mixed methods and a utilization-focused evaluation design, the MPS players and their partnerships were approached by which their availing of informational asymmetries restricted participation and biased the use of resources. The research identified as the basic cause of the capture the disarticulation of the MPS into three subsystems: the community, instances of local participation, and the Planning Department. The article also describes the series of institutional adjustments carried out between 2012 and 2015 (monitoring, e-voting) seeking to minimize capture possibilities.


To what extent can Australia be analysed as an 'ethnocracy', a term usually reserved for ostensibly democratic societies in which an ethnic group or groups control the life opportunities of a more widely ethnically diverse population? Australia adopted its first refugee policy in 1977 having been forced to address the humanitarian claims of Asian and Middle Eastern refugees. Only a few years after abandoning the White Australia policy of three generations, the public discourse about refugees was framed by the ethnic origins of these groups (primarily Vietnamese and Lebanese). Over the decades a utopian light has come to be cast on the Indo Chinese as a success story in settlement, while the Middle Eastern peoples have been shaded as a settlement failure. Yet the counter narratives developed in the SBS television documentary series "Once Upon a Time..." demonstrate how ethnocratic framing can be challenged and more nuanced and analytical discourses introduced into the public sphere.


In tropical countries soil erosion is often increased due to high erodibility of geologically old and weathered soils; intensive rainfall; inappropriate soil management; removal of forest vegetation cover; and mining activities. Stream ecosystems draining agricultural or mining areas are often severely impacted by the high loads of eroded material entering the stream channel; increasing turbidity; covering instream habitat and affecting the riparian zone; and thereby modifying habitat and food web structures. The biodiversity is severely threatened by these negative effects as the aquatic and riparian fauna and flora are not adapted to cope with excessive rates of erosion and sedimentation. Eroded material may also be polluted by pesticides or heavy metals that have an aggravating effect on functions and ecosystem services. Loss of superficial material and deepening of erosion gullies impoverish the nutrient and carbon contents of the soils; and lower the water tables; causing a "lose-lose" situation for agricultural productivity and environmental integrity. Several examples show how to interrupt this vicious cycle by integrated catchment management and by combining "green" and "hard" engineering for habitat restoration. In this review; we summarize current findings on this issue from tropical countries with a focus on case studies from Suriname and Brazil.


Due to their inherent safety features and waste transmutation potential, accelerator driven subcritical reactors (ADSRs) are the subject of research and development in al-most all countries around the world. The neutrons needed to sustain fission are generated by the spallation process resulting from high energy protons impacting a target element installed at the centre of the core. In the present paper the possible benefits of FFAGs as accelerator drivers for ADSR systems are analysed. FFAGs afford fast acceleration as there is no need of synchronization between RF and magnets, high average current with large repetition rate and large acceptance. The present study also focuses on the Monte Carlo studies of the reactor core design. The im-pact of the subcriticallity, target material and proton beam energy on the ADSR performance was also examined. En-tirely novel ADSR configurations involving multiple accelerator drivers and associated spallation targets within the reactor core have also been considered. Calculations were carried out using the GEANT4 simulation code.


Intra-arterial infusion of testosterone-3H gave rise to tritiated dihydrotestosterone, 5 alpha-androstan-3 alpha,17 beta-diol and 5 alpha-androstan-3beta,17 beta-diol in spermatic venous effluent of the perfused rabbit testis-epididymis. Mass spectrometric measurements confirmed that these four androgens were present in spermatic venous effluent of the perfused rabbit testis-epididymis. Gas liquid chromatographic measurement showed that testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, 5 alpha-androstan-3 alpha,17 beta-diol and 5 alpha-androstan-3 beta,17 beta-diol were secreted in similar amounts by the in vitro perfused and in situ rabbit testis-epididymis results obtained by perfusing the testis minus the epididymis suggested that the bulk of these androgens originate from the catabolism of testosterone within the testis rather than the epididymis. Suprisingly, germinal epithelium destruction by heat failed to alter the testosterone, dihydrotestosterone and 5 alpha-androstan-3 alpha,17 beta-diol secretion by the in vitro perfused rabbit testis. In contrast, the secretion of 5 alpha-androstan-3 beta,17 beta-diol was significantly (P less than 0.05) reduced in the same cryptorchid compared to control testes.


The second millennium began with the Filipino nation still beset by the problems of poverty and lack of peace. The problems seem economic and political. The Professor's World Peace Academy, however, views what is apparent as just symptoms of the real problem which is neither economic nor political. According to these educators, the poverty in the Philippines is traceable to cultural traits unique to the Filipino (Ordonez, 1985). Lack of peace is also perceived as a consequence of cultural values interacting with a social system which provides wrong signals and encourages wrong type of behavior (Gorospe, 1997).


Background The nuclear inclusion a (NIa) protease of turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) is responsible for the processing of the viral polyprotein into functional proteins. NIa was previously shown to possess a relatively strict substrate specificity with a preference for Val-Xaa-His-Gln↓, with the scissile bond located after Gln. The presence of the same consensus sequence, Val12-His-His-Gln15, near the presumptive α-secretase cleavage site of the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide led us to hypothesize that NIa could possess activity against Aβ. Methodology/Principal Findings Western blotting results showed that oligomeric as well as monomeric forms of Aβ can be degraded by NIa in vitro. The specific cleavage of Aβ was further confirmed by mass spectrometry analysis. NIa was shown to exist predominantly in the cytoplasm as observed by immunofluorescence microscopy. The overexpression of NIa in B103 neuroblastoma cells resulted in a significant reduction in cell death caused by both intracellularly generated and exogenously added Aβ. Moreover, lentiviral-mediated expression of NIa in APPsw/PS1 transgenic mice significantly reduced the levels of Aβ and plaques in the brain. Conclusions/Significance These results indicate that the degradation of Aβ in the cytoplasm could be a novel strategy to control the levels of Aβ, plaque formation, and the associated cell death.


Antihypertensive therapy of a group of elderly patients in a long-term care facility was compared before and after the addition of a consultant pharmacist to the health care team. Criterion variables were systolic and diastolic pressure and drug cost and use. Consultant pharmacist protocol included drug history and monthly use review and pertinent communications regarding problems. Statistical analysis employed a t test with two-tailed probability. Both systolic (128.5 to 135 mm Hg) and diastolic pressure (68.9 to 72.3 mm Hg) were increased after 1 year, the number of patients with hypotensive readings decreased, and the average antihypertensive drug cost was decreased. The cost of potassium supplements was increased, however, fewer patients had abnormal potassium levels.


Boundary layer type conservation equations have been used to investigate the zero current behaviour of an axisymmetric SF, arc burning in a supersonic nozzle. The theoretical model is based on local thermai equilibrium (LTE) and laminar flow. Arc conservation equations are solved for a current ramp before current zero and for a voltage ramp after current zero. Emphasis has been given to the relative importance of various energy transport processes during current zero period. Although there is a large discrepancy between theory and measurements, the results given in this paper are considered significant in that they demonstrate clearly the inadequacy of the conventional approach of supersonic arc modelling based on the aforesaid two assumptions.


Calves affected with hypergammaglobulinaemia are more likely to survive than are those with agamma- or hypogammaglobulinaemia. Nevertheless, there are farms on which satisfactory results are obtained in rearing calves with low Ig levels. Management conditions, including the presence of specific or non-specific, bacterial or viral infections, are important factors in these cases. Besides humoral immunity, local protection against neonatal diarrhoea afforded by colostrum, is of even greater importance. As the concentrations of Ig in young calves decrease, production of immunity in these calves will start earlier in life, which may even be within a few days.


DNA extracted from squamous cell carcinomas from patients with the chronic wart disease syndrome, epider- modysplasia verruciformis, was analyzed for the presence of hu- man papillomavirus (HPV)-specific DNA sequences by Southern blot hybridization analysis. Employing an HPV probe obtained by molecular cloning of viral DNA purified from benign warts from these patients, we have unequivocally identified HPV-specific nu- cleotide sequences in squamous cell carcinomas from these pa- tients. Restriction endonuclease mapping indicated that the DNA present in the carcinomas was of the same type (type 5) as that found in the benign tumors from these patients and was present as unintegrated, free viral DNA. Moreover, we have demon- strated the presence of HPV-5 DNA in a subcutaneous metastatic tumor from one of these patients. This latter observation essen- tially eliminates the possibility that the HPV-5 DNA present in the malignant tumors in these patients resulted from cross-contami- nation from an adjacent benign warty lesion. In addition to wild- type HPV-5 DNA, both the primary and metastatic carcinomas analyzed also contained an HPV-5 DNA species lacking approxi- mately 20% of the HPV-5 DNA genome. These subgenomic forms of HPV-5 DNA could not be detected in benign papillomas from these patients.


The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of retrieving polyphenolic antioxidants directly from wet pomegranate marcs: the fresh by-products obtained after pomegranate juice processing. These by-products mainly consist of internal membranes (endocarp) and aril residues. Even if they are still edible, they are usually discharged during juice production and, thus, they represent a great challenge in an eco-sustainable industrial context. Green technologies, such as ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) and microwave assisted extraction (MAE), have been employed to convert these organic residues into recycled products with high added value. UAE and MAE were used both in parallel and in series in order to make a comparison and to ensure exhaustive extractions, respectively. Water, as an environmentally friendly extraction solvent, has been employed. The results were compared with those ones coming from a conventional extraction. The most promising extract, in terms of total polyphenol yield and radical scavenging activity, has been tested both as a potential natural additive and as a functional ingredient after its incorporation in a real food model and in a real cosmetic matrix, respectively. This study represents a proposal to the agro-alimentary sector given the general need of environmental "responsible care".


The friends-of-friends algorithm (hereafter, FOF) is a percolation algorithm which is routinely used to identify dark matter halos from N-body simulations. We use results from percolation theory to show that the boundary of FOF halos does not correspond to a single density threshold but to a range of densities close to a critical value that depends upon the linking length parameter, b. We show that for the commonly used choice of b = 0.2, this critical density is equal to 81.62 times the mean matter density. Consequently, halos identified by the FOF algorithm enclose an average overdensity which depends on their density profile (concentration) and therefore changes with halo mass contrary to the popular belief that the average overdensity is ∼180. We derive an analytical expression for the overdensity as a function of the linking length parameter b and the concentration of the halo. Results of tests carried out using simulated and actual FOF halos identified in cosmological simulations show excellent agreement with our analytical prediction. We also find that the mass of the halo that the FOF algorithm selects crucially depends upon mass resolution. We find a percolation theory motivated formula that is able to accurately correct for the dependence on number of particles for the mock realizations of spherical and triaxial Navarro-Frenk-White halos. However, we show that this correction breaks down when applied to the real cosmological FOF halos due to presence of substructures. Given that abundance of substructure depends on redshift and cosmology, we expect that the resolution effects due to substructure on the FOF mass and halo mass function will also depend on redshift and cosmology and will be difficult to correct for in general. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results for the universality of the mass function. Subject headings: cosmology: theory – halos: formation – methods: numerical


Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed and developing countries. Several underlying genetic and environmental factors have been implicated in its etiology. Some of the hematological risk factors implicated in the development of coronary heart disease include antithrombin III deficiency, protein C and protein S deficiency, factor V Leiden mutation, prothrombin gene (20210A) mutation hyperhomocystinaemia, elevated factor VIII levels, plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 and dysfibrinogenaemia. In general, these factors result in thrombosis, thus having a negative effect on the heart and blood vessels. This paper presents an overview of some of the hematological risk factors involved in the development of CHD. Copyright © 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel