Biomarkers of ocular blood flow originating from a wide variety of imaging modalities have been associated with glaucoma onset and progression for many decades. Advancements in imaging platforms including optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) have provided the ability to quantify vascular changes in glaucoma patients, alongside traditional measures such as retinal nerve fibre layer thickness and optic nerve head structure. Current literature on vascular biomarkers, as measured by OCTA, indicates significant relationships between glaucoma and blood flow and capillary density in the retina and ONH. The data currently available, however, are highly diverse and lack robust longitudinal data on OCTA vascular outcomes and glaucoma progression. Herein we discuss and summarize the relevant current literature on OCTA vascular biomarkers and glaucoma reviewed through March 1, 2021. Associations between OCTA vascular biomarkers and clinical structural and functional glaucoma outcomes as well as differences between glaucoma patients and healthy controls are reviewed and summarized. The available data identify significantly decreased flow density, flow index and vessel density in the ONH, peripapillary vascular layer and macula of glaucoma patients compared with controls. Whole image vessel density is also significantly decreased in glaucoma patients compared with controls, and this outcome has been found to correspond to severity of visual field loss. OCTA vascular biomarkers alongside clinical structural outcomes may aid in assessing overall risk for glaucoma in patients.


In this paper we numerically analyze the possibility of using buoyant flow in the display panel of a laptop for electronics cooling. A three-dimensional channel with a staggered pin fin array is analyzed using an unstructured finite volume method. A uniform heat flux is applied on the inner wall; the outer wall is exposed to the ambient. A single periodic module is selected in the lateral direction. In the axial direction, however, the entire height of the display channel is considered. A range of Rayleigh numbers, panel inclinations and staggering arrangements are considered, and local and global flow and heat transfer results are obtained. The results are useful in designing augmented cooling schemes in portable electronics.


Abstract Objective: To assess rates of diagnosis and antihyperglycemic dose adjustment in patients with moderate to end-stage renal impairment (RI) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: Retrospective database analysis using GE Centricity Outpatient Electronic Medical Records. Patients aged ≥ 18 years with evidence of T2DM (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition, Clinical Modification codes 250.x0 and 250.x2) between January 1, 2000 and June 30, 2009, and ≥ 12 months of data after identification were selected. Moderate to end-stage RI was evaluated using a formula-derived estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) based on serum creatinine (SCr). Patients were classified as moderate (eGFR, 30–59 mL/min/1.73 m2), severe (eGFR, 15–29 mL/min/1.73 m2), or end-stage (eGFR, < 15 mL/min/1.73 m2), per the National Kidney Foundation guidelines, based on the first-observed SCr test. Among patients with a physician diagnosis, the time to diagnosis was reported. Dose adjustment was reported for patients receiving metformin and sitagliptin. Predictors of progression to end-stage RI based on logistic regressions were examined. Results: 35.2% of patients with T2DM had evidence of moderate to end-stage RI. Of these patients, 20% had a chart-documented physician diagnosis (range, 16% [moderate RI] to 66% [end-stage RI]). Patients with moderate or severe RI had a physician diagnosis mean of 253.4 (standard deviation [SD], 584.5) and 86.9 (SD, 417.4) days, respectively, after the eGFR calculation indicating RI. Patients with end-stage RI had a physician diagnosis mean of 83.6 (SD, 399.2) days before the eGFR calculation. After the eGFR calculation, 15.1% and 0.1% of patients with orders for sitagliptin and metformin, respectively, received doses of the drug appropriate for their degree of RI. Among patients with moderate or severe RI, appropriate diagnosis of RI was associated with significantly lower odds of progressing to end-stage RI (odds ratio, 0.200; 95% confidence interval, 0.188–0.213). Conclusions: Renal impairment is common but often undetected in patients with T2DM. Patients with a documented RI diagnosis have lower odds of progression to end-stage RI. Metformin and sitagliptin are frequently used at inappropriate doses in patients with RI. Further analyses to understand the clinical and economic consequences of these findings are needed.


The term 'inverse' has traditionally referred to voice systems characterized by alternations of verbal voice marking, alternations that depend on the relative ontologicai salience of the two core arguments of a transitive animate verb, the logical subject and logical object. In typical inverse languages, speech-act participant (SAP) arguments (1,2 person) ontologically outrank non-SAP arguments (3d person), a fact that is grammatically encoded by 1:3 and 2:3 predications assigning one verbal voice ('direct') while 3:1 and 3:2 predications assign the other voice ('inverse'). 3:3 predications are potentially ambiguous, a problem addressed in some inverse systems by 3d person arguments with relatively low ontologicai salience being assigned a special case, the obviative (4th person).The present work addresses the question whether inverseness may be evinced through formal means other than alternations in verbal voice marking. It is argued that this occurs in a Tanoan (Kiowa-Tanoan) language, Arizona Tewa (AT). In AT transitive animate predications, an opposition in paradigms of person-marking verbal prefixes occurs such that one pronominal paradigm is assigned in case of a direct predication (logical subject ontologically outranks logical object), while the other paradigm is assigned in case of an inverse predication (logical object ontologically outranks logical subject). In effect, then, AT has separate direct and inverse pronominal paradigms; these encode the voice alternations, rather than oppositions of verbal voice marking per se. It is argued that an inverse analysis is both appropriate for AT and, in addition, applicable to at least some other Tanoan languages, such as Picuris and Southern Tiwa.


Rough set theory is a popular and powerful machine learning tool. It is especially suitable for dealing with information systems that exhibit inconsistencies, i.e. objects that have the same values for the conditional attributes but a different value for the decision attribute. In line with the emerging granular computing paradigm, rough set theory groups objects together based on the indiscernibility of their attribute values. Fuzzy rough set theory extends rough set theory to data with continuous attributes, and detects degrees of inconsistency in the data. Key to this is turning the indiscernibility relation into a gradual relation, acknowledging that objects can be similar to a certain extent. In very large datasets with millions of objects, computing the gradual indiscernibility relation (or in other words, the soft granules) is very demanding, both in terms of runtime and in terms of memory. It is however required for the computation of the lower and upper approximations of concepts in the fuzzy rough set analysis pipeline. Current non-distributed implementations in R are limited by memory capacity. For example, we found that a state of the art non-distributed implementation in R could not handle 30,000 rows and 10 attributes on a node with 62GB of memory. This is clearly insufficient to scale fuzzy rough set analysis to massive datasets. In this paper we present a parallel and distributed solution based on Message Passing Interface (MPI) to compute fuzzy rough approximations in very large information systems. Our results show that our parallel approach scales with problem size to information systems with millions of objects. To the best of our knowledge, no other parallel and distributed solutions have been proposed so far in the literature for this problem.


An excised and dried ulna was vibrated at its balance pnoint about 42% (0.1m) along the length from the olecranon process, using an electromagnetic vibrator. The vibration was carried out in the anterior-posterior plane. The bone response to the mechanical vibration was picked up at equal intervals (0.02m) along the length of the bone in the plane of the vibration, using an accelerometer attached to the bone. From the response curve of the bone, the resonant frequencies at the various pick- up positions were identified. Analysis of the data shows that when the responses were picked up using the accelerometer at 0.02m proximal, and 0.1m distal, to the point of vibration, the excised ulna vibrated in the fundamental mode like a fixed-fixed beam at resonant frequencies of 340 Hz and 355Hz respectively. For resonant frequencies greater than 650 Hz, the ulna vibrates like a fixed-free beam and at modes greater than the fundamental. It is suggested from this study that the vibration of the long bone in the fundamental mode lends itself to detailed analysis in the use of resonant frequency method in the assessment of the bone quality.


Significant number of accidental water pollution incidents occurred during the past decades in China, often having transboundary impacts, including the high profile Songhua River toxic chemical spill in November 2005, and drinking water source pollution by algae in the Tai Lake, Wuxi in May 2007. Over half of all river sections monitored for water quality are rated as being unsafe for human contact, and this pollution is estimated to cost several per cent of GDP. If not immediately and effectively controlled, pollution incidents caused by accidental releases or cumulative pollution can worsen water shortages and scarcity problems. The environmental pollution accidents can cause great danger, and there are many potential pollution sources. From the Comparison with the advanced and mature experience by system, mechanism, the article expounds some ideas to improve and strengthen emergency disposal and prevention system for water pollution accidents. It identifies areas for improvement and presents policy recommendations for institutional reform, improving regulations; and strengthening the implementing capacity to maximize the use of existing institutions, regulations and other management resources.


A dynamic kinetic model, for the oxidation of phenol in water by UV/H₂O₂ system is developed. The model is based on elementary chemical and photochemical reactions, initiated by the photolysis of hydrogen peroxide into hydroxyl radical. Numerical values of chemical reaction rate constants and photochemical parameters are taken from literature. The model is validated with data on the oxidation of phenol in the simulated and the actual UV/H₂O₂ system. Using experimental data from literature, kinetic rate constants for the reactions involving phenol oxidation intermediates, catechol and hydroquinone, are estimated. The rate constants for the reactions, where phenol oxidized to catechol and hyroquinone by hydrogen peroxide are 9x10⁸ and 2x10⁸ s⁻¹ M⁻¹, respectively. The reaction rate constants for oxidations of catechol and hydroquinone by hydrogen peroxide are found to be 9x10⁸ and 8x10⁷ s⁻¹ M⁻¹, respectively.

Phenol biodegradation is best represented by a two-step Haldane model. Both photochemical and biological models are coupled together to give one single chemical-biological system. The photochemical-biological process is optimized for the retention time, electrical energy consumption, and cost. The optimization approach is solved using the Successive Quadratic Programming (SQP) method.

The least retention time for this system is determined to be 99h and the optimal electrical energy consumption occurs at a photochemical retention time of 15h and a biological retention time of 92h.

Calculations on the total cost for different retention times show that the incurred cost by the photochemical unit is considerably higher than that by the biological unit. However, the minimum total cost is evaluated to occur at 15.5h of photochemical retention time and 90h of biological retention time.


Abstract Improving technical efficiency in agriculture can play an important role in meeting present and future demands for agricultural products, at the same time enhancing the long-term sustainability of land and water use. This paper examines the impact of household perceptions of land tenure security on technical efficiency using detailed household-level data collected in Minle County in northwest China. The authors find that the (perceived) tenure security provided by land certificates encourages part-time farming with relatively low technical efficiency. The renting out of land by households with migrant members can only partly make up for this negative effect, because land rental markets are thin and highly fragmented. Therefore, the provision of land certificates to rural households has a negative impact on technical efficiency. For tenure security provided by the expected absence of land reallocations in the near future, on the other hand, the authors find that it reduces temporary migration and thereby contributes to higher technical efficiency.


Newly-discovered materials have been central to recent technological advances. They have contributed significantly to breakthroughs in electronics, renewable energy and green buildings, and overall, have promoted the advancement of global human welfare. Yet, only a fraction of all possible materials have been explored. Accelerating the pace of discovery of materials would foster technological innovations, and would potentially address pressing issues in sustainability, such as energy production or consumption. The bottleneck of this discovery cycle lies, however, in the analysis of the materials data. As materials scientists have recently devised techniques to efficiently create thousands of materials and experimentalists have developed new methods and tools to characterize these materials, the limiting factor has become the data analysis itself. Hence, the goal of this paper is to stimulate the development of new computational techniques for the analysis of materials data, by bringing together the complimentary expertise of materials scientists and computer scientists. In collaboration with two major research laboratories in materials science, we provide the first publicly available dataset for the phase map identification problem. In addition, we provide a parameterized synthetic data generator to assess the quality of proposed approaches, as well as tools for data visualization and solution evaluation.


Information Security Governance (ISG) is an important discipline that addresses information security at a strategic level providing strategic direction, optimized use of information resources and proper security incident management. ISG and the impact of poor security incident management have attracted much attention in the literature but unfortunately there is little empirical evidence regarding the explicit link between ISG and its effectiveness in terms of reducing negative impacts on business objectives from security incidents. Consequently, little exploration of ISG factors and their impact on the above mentioned measure of effectiveness exists. Further, to direct endeavors the crucial question is if there exist any differences in how effective these factors are in attaining this target. Currently, there is a lack in research considering this question. The research presented in this article explores the ISG domain further by empirically examine 30 ISG factors and their ability of reducing negative impacts on business objectives from security incidents. Data has been collected by surveying ISG experts. Ten factors were identified to have significant different means in relation to other factors according to a one-way ANOVA analysis that was conducted. The results give an indication on what ISG factors that have an effect, providing both support for further academic research and also decision support for implementing ISG.


Soil aggregate stability as a key indicator of soil structure and erodibility to evaluate soil stability, is a product of interactions between soil environment, management practices, and land use patterns. The objective of this study was to analyze the distribution characteristics, characteristics of fractal features and stability of soil aggregates in tea plantations and eucalyptus plantations of Western Sichuan in China. The dry- and water-stable aggregate size distributions were determined by dry sieving and wet sieving methods. The results showed that soil structural properties in tea and eucalyptus plantations were similar. With increase in depth of soil layer, the aggregate stability of tea plantation soil became stronger. Comparative analysis of dry and wet sieving results showed that most of the aggregates in tea plantation soil were unstable. The soil aggregates >5mm and 0.5-0.25mm in size had higher stability, while those 2-1mm in size had lower stability. For tea plantation soil, the correlation coefficients between aggregate stability index and mean weight diameter, geometric mean diameter, fractal dimension were bigger under wet sieving than those under dry sieving. The results showed that aggregate stability index, mean weight diameter, geometric mean diameter, fractal dimension of water-stable aggregates could characterize soil aggregate stability in tea plantation ideally.


Polite self-presentation is expected of call center agents even through they must convey complex and unfavorable information speedily via the telephone. This study identified and evaluated the use of response strategies that are strongly associated with courtesy. Data were drawn from 587 stressful calls in a corpus of 3000 calls recorded at a large Singaporean insurance company call center. We adopted a grounded theory methodology together with a rich triangulation of qualitative (linguistic and rhetorical) and quantitative (scalar and correlational) methods. Tools for coding response strategies (independent variables)and courtesy (dependent variables) were developed via analyses of calls, interviews with call center agents and management, and a series of evaluations involving blind coding and subsequent consensus. We identified four categories of response strategies that are tightly related to each other and to courtesy: shows solidarity, anticipates needs, shows attentiveness, and asks for direction. Correlations and analysis of their enactment in stressful calls led us to propose solidarity expression - responses that engage the caller in search of meaning to work on the task as a team. We argue that solidarity expression challenges traditional views of politeness and is less about the presentation of self and more about enabling collaboration with the other.


The advancement in technology makes it easy and effective to transmit and spread ransomware to different devices. The result is increased ransomware threats to different sectors of the World Economy. The reason for the spread of these threats is that Ransomware developers are trying to increase their revenue by infecting victims of specific (industry) sectors of the world economy with targeted ransomware to breach their security and steal valuable data. To counter these threats, industries employ different security measures to prevent ransomware-related losses, yet losses continue to occur because of the ever-changing dynamics of ransomware. Consequently, industries are continuously, searching for effective measures to control ransomware attacks. Forensic and security experts and law enforcement operatives also have limitations in the control of such security threats.
The study of cluster analysis in none ransomware domains (e.g. complex social networks links and contents) has proved invaluable for the detection of cluster hubs, authorities, and communities in complex social networks. This has helped in targeted marketing activities and in the detection, identification, and prediction of terrorist and criminal hubs (gangs) within a network. That ransomware distribution and spread have similar complex network configuration to the social network, application of cluster analysis on the ransomware becomes a possible area of interest in the fight against ransomware threats. Compared to the social network, ransomware structure comprises of a set of links and contents, whose nodes (vertices) represent ransomware families, IP Addresses, URLs, Host, Registrar, ASNs, Countries, status or other entities embedded in the distribution. Real-time Active Cluster Overlap Profiling and Tracking (ACOPT) of ransomware network overlapping cluster trends presents an opportunity to prevent a successful attack. The study reveals there is active threat when the network events activity peaks at 53.53% with a prior gradual increase from 10.19% through 27.38%. The threat happens when the number of overlapping clusters reaches the highest maximum threshold preceded by the lowest minimum threshold. At the onset of threat, the clustering elements and the percentage values between the active cluster node and terminal cluster node are equal (29.11%); and the difference between them and the highest percentage cluster node (41.77%) is -12.11% and 12.11%. In addition, the onset is characterized when the percentages of the cluster intensity of the active cluster node and terminal cluster node reaches respective values of 31.03% and 24.89% and the difference between them and the cluster node with the highest value (44.08%) becomes equal to -13.05% and 14.19%. The active threat therefore, occurs when the active cluster node and terminal cluster node records respective 27.38% and 39.29% in the number of clustering objects, while other cluster nodes record equal values of 11.11%. The active overlapping cluster, therefore, is identified to be the cluster that has the most regular, consistent and closely distributed number of clustering objects, measures of centrality and intensity values in all the cumulative periods of the time series of the ransomware network.
Therefore, the present investigation by exploring temporal events and overlapping cluster formation in a Ransomware network identified an active cluster-overlap, which could be removed to timely dislodge potential Ransomware threat. The active cluster-overlap was tracked through cluster profiling in a time-series and periodic network clustering analysis of Ransomware Network to establish pattern consistency. The consistency tracking and validation were achieved using the key performance parameters of the network, cluster intensities, and the frequencies of clustering objects. The removal of the active Cluster Overlap (node 1) was proved effective in dislodging the ransomware network and controlling threat before it attacks. Hence, the study proposes a real-time Exploratory Machine-learning Cluster Overlap System (EMCOS) for links and contents cluster analysis in a complex ransom-ware network as a tool to control threat.


This paper provides research results that suggest ways in which the speed-performance of array-based FPGAs, like those from Xilinx, can be improved through enhancing their interconnect. Using an experimental approach, we study this issue from both the perspective of improving the routing architectures of the chips, as well as the CAD tools used to route circuits. The basic conclusions reached are: the lengths of wire segments in the interconnect dramatically affects speed-performance, it is crucial to limit the number of programmable switches that signals pass through in series, the impact of decisions made by the CAD routing tools is very significant, and the CAD tools should consider both speed-performance and area utilization, not just focus on one goal.<<ETX>>


A default consequence relation α|~β (if α, then normally β) can be naturally interpreted via a `most' generalized quantifier: α|~β is valid iff in `most' α-worlds, β is also true. We define various semantic incarnations of this principle which attempt to make the set of (α ∧ β)-worlds `large' and the set of (α ∧ ¬ β)-worlds `small'. The straightforward implementation of this idea on finite sets is via `clear majority'. We proceed to examine different `majority' interpretations of normality which are defined upon notions of classical mathematics which formalize aspects of `size'. We define default consequence using the notion of asymptotic density from analytic number theory. Asymptotic density provides a way to measure the size of integer sequences in a way much more fine-grained and accurate than set cardinality. Further on, in a topological setting, we identify `large' sets with dense sets and `negligibly small' sets with nowhere dense sets. Finally, we define default consequence via the concept of measure, classically developed in mathematical analysis for capturing `size' through a generalization of the notions of length, area and volume. The logics defined via asymptotic density and measure are weaker than the KLM system P, the so-called `conservative core' of nonmonotonic reasoning, and they resemble to probabilistic consequence. Topology goes a longer way towards system P but it misses Cautious Monotony (CM) and AND. Our results show that a `size'-oriented interpretation of default reasoning is context-sensitive and in `most' cases it departs from the preferential approach.


Background—Tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), von Willebrand factor (vWF), and thrombomodulin (TM) are 3 major hemostatic regulatory molecules synthesized by endothelium. Data from epidemiological studies aiming to evaluate the relation between plasma levels of these molecules and the development of coronary heart disease (CHD) are sparse or contradictory. Methods and Results—We examined the association between these endothelial-cell markers and the incidence of fatal or nonfatal myocardial infarction (hard CHD) and stable or unstable angina (angina pectoris) in a prospective cohort (the PRIME Study) of nearly 10 000 healthy men recruited in France and Northern Ireland. We measured baseline plasma concentration of the free form of TFPI (f-TFPI), vWF, and the soluble form of TM (sTM) among 296 participants who subsequently developed CHD over the 5-year follow-up (158 with hard CHD and 142 with angina pectoris) and in 563 control subjects by use of a nested case-control design. Individuals with plasma vWF levels in the highest quartile showed a 3.04-fold increase in the risk of hard CHD compared with those in the lowest quartile (95% CI, 1.59 to 5.80). Individuals with f-TFPI levels below the 10th percentile had a 2.13-fold increased risk of hard CHD compared with those with levels above it (95% CI, 1.08 to 4.18). The risk for both molecules persisted after control for inflammatory parameters. Individuals with vWF levels in the highest quartile and f-TFPI levels below the 10th percentile presented a 6.9-fold increased risk of hard CHD compared with those with vWF levels in the lowest quartile and f-TFPI levels above the 10th percentile (95% CI, 1.3 to 37.8). Conclusions—vWF and f-TFPI plasma levels were independent risk factors for hard CHD events.


Transparent objects are widely used in industrial automation and daily life. However, robust visual recognition and perception of transparent objects have always been a major challenge. Currently, most commercial-grade depth cameras are still not good at sensing the surfaces of transparent objects due to the refraction and reflection of light. In this work, we present a transformer-based transparent object depth estimation approach from a single RGB-D input. We observe that the global characteristics of the transformer make it easier to extract contextual information to perform depth estimation of transparent areas. In addition, to better enhance the fine-grained features, a feature fusion module (FFM) is designed to assist coherent prediction. Our empirical evidence demonstrates that our model delivers significant improvements in recent popular datasets, e.g., 25% gain on RMSE and 21% gain on REL compared to previous state-of-the-art convolutional-based counterparts in ClearGrasp dataset. Extensive results show that our transformer-based model enables better aggregation of the object's RGB and inaccurate depth information to obtain a better depth representation. Our code and the pre-trained model are available at https://github.com/yuchendoudou/TODE.


In contrast to viewing jealousy as a unitary construct, this research differentiates jealousy into reactive (emotional components of jealousy) and suspicious jealousy (cognitive and behavioral components of jealousy), for which manifestations and antecedents differ. Besides finding that reactive and suspicious jealousy could be delineated, the results of two studies found evidence for discriminant validity and that greater reactive jealousy was related to greater relationship dependency, greater trust, and lower chronic jealousy. Persons who displayed more suspicious jealousy had greater insecurity, greater anxious attachment, greater avoidant attachment, greater chronic jealousy, and lower self-esteem. This research is consistent with a transactional model of jealousy.


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: The acute care surgery model was introduced to facilitate timely evaluation and treatment of patients presenting to the emergency room (ER) with acute conditions. While this model has been rapidly adopted in General Surgery, there is a paucity of data in Urology. We sought to examine the impact of our new Acute Care Urology (ACU) service on timeliness of care for acute stone patients. The ACU team consists of five rotating physicians on a daily basis who triage acute consults from the ER and inpatient wards at a large tertiary referral center. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of all patients who underwent ureteral stent placement before (2012, pre-ACU) or after (2017, post-ACU) implementation of our ACU service. Only patients presenting to the ER and evaluated by the Urology team for an acute stone episode were included. Baseline demographic characteristics were recorded. The primary outcome was time from urological consult and/or stent placement to definitive stone intervention. Secondary outcomes included readmission rate (including repeat ER presentation) and lost to follow-up rate. Statistical analyses included Chi-Square, Cox proportional hazards model, and logistic regression with p<0.05 considered significant. RESULTS: A total of 139 patients met inclusion criteria (68 pre-ACU, 71 post-ACU). Patient demographics were similar between both groups. On univariate analysis, time to definitive stone treatment was significantly shorter in the post-ACU group compared to the pre-ACU group (median 18.5 vs. 31.5 days, p=0.015). There were no statistically significant differences between pre-ACU and post-ACU groups in readmission (19.1% vs. 15.5%, p=0.70) or lost to follow-up rates (17.6% vs. 21.1%, p=0.76). On multivariate analysis including age, gender, insurance status, primary language (English vs. Non-English), and ACU status, only post-ACU status was associated with significantly shorter time to intervention (HR 1.55, 95% CI: 1.02-2.36, p=0.041). For readmission rate, only younger age was associated with higher readmission rates (OR 0.94, 95% CI: 0.90-0.98, p=0.004). There were no significant differences between patients lost to follow-up and those who returned. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a dedicated ACU service decreased time to definitive stone treatment. Additionally, there was a clinically meaningful decrease in readmissions with an ACU service. Future studies are needed to evaluate its impact on healthcare costs, patient satisfaction, and other acute urological conditions amenable to this model. Source of Funding: None


Background: Gabapentin is most commonly prescribed for chronic pain, but acute perioperative effects, including preemptive analgesia and hemodynamic stabilization, have been reported. Adrenal chromaffin cells are a widely used model to investigate neurosecretion, and adrenal catecholamines play important physiologic roles and contribute to the acute stress response. However, the effects of gabapentin on adrenal catecholamine release have never been tested. Methods: Primary cultures of bovine adrenal chromaffin cells were treated with gabapentin or vehicle for 18–24 h. The authors quantified catecholamine secretion from dishes of cells using high-performance liquid chromatography and resolved exocytosis of individual secretory vesicles from single cells using carbon fiber amperometry. Voltage-gated calcium channel currents were recorded using patch clamp electrophysiology and intracellular [Ca2+] using fluorescent imaging. Results: Gabapentin produced statistically significant reductions in catecholamine secretion evoked by cholinergic agonists (24 ± 3%, n = 12) or KCl (16 ± 4%, n = 8) (mean ± SEM) but did not inhibit Ca2+ entry or calcium channel currents. Amperometry (n = 51 cells) revealed that gabapentin inhibited the number of vesicles released upon stimulation, with no change in quantal size or kinetics of these unitary events. Conclusions: The authors show Ca2+ entry was not inhibited by gabapentin but was less effective at triggering vesicle fusion. The work also demonstrates that chromaffin cells are a useful model for additional investigation of the cellular mechanism(s) by which gabapentin controls neurosecretion. In addition, it identifies altered adrenal catecholamine release as a potential contributor to some of the beneficial perioperative effects of gabapentin.


The author uses date from the 1992-93 and 1997-98 Vietnam Living Standards Survey (VLSS) to describe patterns of money transfers between households. Rapid economic growth during the 1990s did little to diminish the importance of private transfers in Vietnam. Private transfers are large and widespread in both surveys, and are much larger than public transfers. Private transfers appear to function like means-tested public transfers, flowing from better-off to worse-off households and providing old age support in retirement. Panel evidence suggests some hysteresis in private transfer patterns, but many households also changed from recipients to givers and vice versa between surveys. Changes in private transfers appear responsive to changes in household pre-transfer income, demographic changes, and life-course events. Transfer inflows rise upon retirement and widowhood, for example, and are positively associated with increases in health expenditures. It also appears that private transfer inflows increased for households affected by Typhoon Linda, which devastated Vietnam's southernmost provinces in late 1997.


This is a summary of a Cochrane review, published in this issue of EBCH, first published as: van de Beek D, de Gans J, McIntyre P, Prasad K. Corticosteroids for acute bacterial meningitis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD004405. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004405.pub2.

Further information for this Cochrane review is available in this issue of EBCH in the accompanying Commentary and Characteristics and Key Findings Tables articles. Copyright © 2008 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The Cochrane Collaboration


For decades, Fast Scan Cyclic Voltammetry (FSCV) has been an established method for investigating neurochemical changes in animal models. Various neurotransmitters have been monitored successfully in vivo with high spatial and temporal resolution including dopamine, norepinephrine, adenosine, and serotonin. While FSCV has already provided myriad insights into physiological and pathophysiological neurochemical signaling in the brain, this technique has traditionally been restricted to small animal models. After initial implementations in large animal models, our group and others have recently translated FSCV successfully into humans, showing intraoperative neurochemical monitoring of dopamine and adenosine release in the human brain of patients undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery for Parkinson's disease or essential tremor. In this review, we provide an overview of the recent advances in human electrochemistry and current state-of-the-art approach for performing neurochemical recordings in the intraoperative setting in humans. Furthermore, we describe pertinent technological developments such as the WINCS (Wireless Instantaneous Neurotransmitter Concentration Sensing) system and its successor WINCS-Harmoni, a next generation device capable of combining brain stimulation with real-time neurochemical recording in vivo. Finally, we discuss the future potentials of human electrochemistry to advance the understanding of the neurophysiology of the central nervous system, pathological neurochemical changes, and mechanisms of DBS. It is important to note that human neurochemistry is still in its infancy and numerous critical challenges will have to be addressed over the next decades. However, these preliminary studies have shown that DBS surgery offers a unique window of opportunity for performing neurochemical recordings that would be beyond the scope of preclinical research. This technique may thereby provide unprecedented insights into human brain chemistry and myriad neurological and psychiatric conditions.


The authors investigated the effects of preannealing a 2-nm-thick Pd interlayer and a 20-nm-thick TiN capping layer on the electrical and thermal stability of nickel silicides as a function of the annealing temperature. The preannealed samples (prepoly-Si) produce lower sheet resistances compared to the samples without preannealing. For the preannealed samples, NiSi remains stable up to 600 °C. Transmission electron microscopy results show that the preannealed samples have a higher resistance against layer inversion. The addition of a Pd interlayer at the Ni film/prepoly-Si interface increases the formation temperature of NiSi2 to 900 °C. The use of the capping layer on the Pd-interlayered prepoly-Si samples improves the electrical and morphological stabilities of NiSi. The possible mechanisms for the preannealing and interlayer-induced improvement of the thermal stabilities of the Ni-silicide samples are discussed in terms of grain growth and simple thermodynamic relations.


Samples of olewonyo from two different localities together with a laboratory produced sample were analyzed for microbial changes, pH, titrable acidity and salt tolerance. High total viable counts (TVC) of 9.99 log cfu/ml, 9.23 log cfu/ml and 5.00 log cfu/ml were observed in the Aboabo, Anloga and Lab-simulated samples respectively at room temperature at day 3 (72hours). There was no significant differences in microbial load among the various samples among TVCs, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), lactic-acid cocci, and yeasts and moulds counts as the storage time increases (p<0.001). The pH of samples from Aboabo and Anloga showed a rapid decline from 6.55 and 6.60 to 4.55 and 4.30 respectively within 24-hour of storage. The changes in the Lab-produced sample however, showed a gradual decrease from 6.55 to 4.80 for the entire period of storage. There was no significant increase in titrable acidity of the laboratory sample (p<0.02) compared to the traditional samples. Of the 15 LAB isolates from the three sites, 40% were Lactobacillus fermentatum, 26.6% Lactobacillus plantarum, 20% Lactobacillus acidophilus and 13.4% Lactobacillus brevis. In the API gallaries, the dominant species were able to ferment ribose, galactose, D-glucose, D-fructose and mannitol. The present study shows that Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactobacillus plantarum, L. acidophilus, L. brevis, L. fermentatum, Corynebacterium, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus may be involved or associated in the spoilage of olewonyo.


Thanks to exceptional affinity of plant alkaloids to various
biomolecules they can be used in analytical chemistry as a
probes. Many isochinoline alkaloids are fluorescent and
interact with DNA by intercalation. Phenantridine alkaloids
such as sanguinarine, chelerytrine, chelirubine, chelilutine,
sanguilutine and macarpine interact with double stranded DNA
showing substantial changes in fluorescence emission. The
response of luminescence intensity to low concentrations of
double stranded DNA in presence of alkaloids was found to be
linear and can be potentially used for quantification of DNA by
means of luminescence spectrometry. For example, limit of
detection (3σ method) calculated for alkaloid chelirubine was
calculated to be 8 ng.mL -1 of DNA. Chelirubine and macarpine
were even successfully used for fluorescent DNA-specific
staining of living cells due to the lower toxicity. In
conclusion, we have demonstrated that natural products,
phenantridine alkaloids, can be used as alternative probes to
synthetic DNA dyes such as ethidium bromide.


Empowerment of women has the aim of developing all the potential that women have, this empowerment is carried out through activities that can improve the welfare of women, especially helping improve the family economy. Methods of data collection with technical triangulation, to test the credibility of the data is done by checking the data to the same source with different techniques, in other words when the researcher has obtained data from the interview method, it is necessary to check again with other methods such as observation and documentation. So that it can be ascertained that the data is considered valid. Furthermore, a SWOT analysis is carried out, this analysis is used to formulate qualitatively and holistically both the internal and external environment of the entity being observed. The results of the research, First, the deepening of several industrial centers in the village of Sukajaya, Sukabumi District has different dynamics and characteristics. such as identity, age and education and the length of time workers have worked in centers in the location of this study, and Fourth, in order to realize the empowerment of women workers, integrated support is needed, both local agencies and community institutions (civil society), the private sector and educational institutions. Keywords: Empowerment, women


Governance as desirable is easier to deliberate in theory than to effect in practice. Structural deficiencies relating to the notion and ethics of accountability in the conduct of public affairs are common in Nigeria. Good governance in the public sector is the best way to ensure transparency and accountability to all stakeholders. This study is centred on transparency and accountability in the public sector with a focus on the Higher Education sector and its impact on funding, transparency, accountability and governance. The legal arrangements in the Federal and State universities, the codes of conduct both in universities and the public sector in general, are examined. Thus, this research focuses on stakeholder participation, the enhancement of transparency and accountability in public sector reporting, developing a framework for the adoption of codes of conduct in public sector, to examine the applicability of Foucauldian Governmentality to governance of Higher Education Institutions (HEls) in Nigeria.
Therefore, based on a survey within a framework using a Foucauldian lens, this research examines governance and accountability in Nigerian universities. The secondary and primary data are derived from a systematic review of the literature and a total of 70 in depth interviews and focus group discussions with administrators, academics and university governing council members in South-West and South-East Areas of Nigeria. The data collected were analysed using narrative analysis. The study adopts a case study methodology because of the complexity of the scenario under study, and interpretivism is adopted as the philosophical paradigm.
The findings reveal that existing reforms are in force in the public sector but tend towards superficial monitoring, hence the need to adopt a more suitable theory of governmentality, which explores self-governance requiring minimal supervision. The findings of the research show that there is inadequate knowledge of the existence and application of the codes of governance in the Higher Education Institutions (HEls), and although measures have been put in place to curb corruption and financial impropriety-they are still found in practice the public sector, hence the application of Foucauldian Governmentality to the study.
Foucauldian Governmentality describes value reorientation as the "conduct of conduct" - the much needed changes in the mentality of individuals- to adopt a different way thinking. The theoretical framework of Foucauldian Governmentality is found suitable for this study as it gives guidance on the shaping of the minds of individuals to ensure self-regulation, self-government- the much-needed tool to ensure transparency and accountability in the governance of the HE sector.
The study suggests that emphasis should be placed on attitudinal change, the behavior modification of individuals, to ensure compliance with existing governance codes and prevent non-revert to primordial nature of public sector officials, so there has to be a supervisory framework that is visible, practicable and achievable within the Nigerian framework. Furthermore, the study argues that the Foucauldian understanding of the transformation of subjectivities through the reproduction of social, cultural and economic criteria and practices, offers the best possible perspective to engage with present-day political reforms.
The study concludes that those charged with the responsibility of governance (the governing) have somewhat defaulted in their responsibility and those governed have mirrored this irresponsibility, and therefore a change in the mentality (mind-set) is urgently required in the Higher Education Institutions (HEls) governance and the public sector in general. This study therefore recommends the application of Foucauldian Governmentality in the governance of the federal and state universities, the adequate participation of stakeholders in the decision making process and the constant training of public sector officials to ensure compliance with the codes of conduct and the overhaul of the mind-set to ensure transparency and accountability in financial reporting.
This study contributes to the body of knowledge by applying Foucauldian Governmentality to the governance of Higher Education Institutions (HEls) in Nigeria. Therefore, suggested areas for further studies can be the impact of Foucauldian Governmentality on university governance in Nigeria. In spite of the need to qualify the use of governmentality. I argue that the Foucauldian understanding of the transformation of subjectivities through the reproduction of social, cultural and economic criteria and practices, offers the best possible perspective to engage with present-day political reforms.


Self-aligned titanium silicide is often used to minimize the polysilicon and diffusion sheet resistances. Current is delivered to the channel of FET's, the body of diffused resistors, and into the active region of NPN's through the titanium silicide/silicon interface. This contact resistance can represent a significant fraction of the total device resistance for devices of small dimensions, and contributes to a loss in circuit performance. The impedance of this interface is a function of the doping level in the silicon immediately below the interface, and this doping level is a sensitive function of the heat applied to the structure after the formation of the silicide. The correspondence of FET series resistance, emitter resistance, the diffused resistor end effects and the non-ohmic nature of a contact after heat is applied is presented. Use of a rapid thermal anneal to obtain the requisite silicide characteristics while minimizing the impact on the contact resistance is demonstrated for a 0.8-/spl mu/m BiCMOS technology. >


Proponents of the recent and widely adopted Common Core State Standards argue that high quality curricular standards are critical to students' educational success. Little clear evidence exists, however, linking the quality of such standards to student achievement. I remedy this by connecting data on state-level student achievement from 1994-2011 with measures of the quality of states' curricular standards as judged by two independent organizations at three different moments in time. I show that, within states, changes in the quality of standards have little impact on overall student achievement. Improved standards do, however, raise achievement of 8th graders in low-scoring states, particularly for low-scoring students. Given the known weaknesses of U.S. middle schools, this result suggests that standards may be beneficial in settings where pedagogy would otherwise be poor.


The UK higher education (HE) sector is experiencing a high level of turbulence arising from the introduction of the variable fee regime and the removal of student number controls for full-time HEU (Home/EU) undergraduates, increased competition for overseas students in an unsupportive domestic policy context, and greater government intervention in the name of marketisation and competition –which can be viewed as part of the worldwide 'financialisation' of universities (Parker, 2013). In such an environment, the accuracy of budgeting and financial forecasting might be expected to take on increased significance.

The purpose of this study was to identify and understand the contingent factors that influence the accuracy of budgeting and forecasting in UK universities and the characteristics of financial scenario modelling in the sector. A mixed methods approach was adopted, with data collected through a comprehensive questionnaire survey of UK HE institutions and supplemented by interviews.

The results reveal a degree of inertia in spite of the more dynamic and competitive external environment; traditional methods of budgeting and forecasting have been maintained and more sophisticated approaches are little in evidence. Overall, there appears to be general satisfaction with the level of budgeting accuracy, with the most significant factors affecting this found to be: the perceived accuracy of student number estimating and forecasting (where a problematic relationship with the student number planning function is evident); the difficulties caused by allowing unspent budgets to be carried forward; and the time taken to prepare budgets. Where there is a demand for greater budgeting accuracy, this seems more likely to emanate from lending banks than from senior management or governing bodies. Scenario models incorporate common drivers, but preference is shown for a simple approach – sometimes less than appears to be required by the current funding body, HEFCE.

A possible explanation for the overall findings lies in the manner in which the new fees regime has played out and the growth in overseas student numbers, which have led to a period of relative financial strength for many universities, in spite of the limited availability of capital grants during a period of austerity. Thus the focus of any 'financialisation' has tended to be on income rather than cost control – though how long this will continue is debateable, particularly in the case of universities with a relatively weak market position.

This research contributes to the limited literature on management accounting in universities, particularly in the changing UK environment, and provides additional insights to Parker's description of financialisation. In focusing on budgeting accuracy, it also highlights an issue that, though implicit, is rarely discussed in the management accounting literature.


An introduction to the key sources for the Design Communication ARTC 1317 class at TSTC with a focus on digital resources.


This collection of articles by an international panel of experts deals with the question of simulation techniques in nuclear reactor technology. In nuclear power plant, considerations of safety are always dominant. Simulation techniques are used in the analysis and design of safe plant, making this probably the most important and most actively developing topic in nuclear power-plant technology today. Modern engineering practice relies on the use of conceptual models as a convenient and efficient way of using our accumulated and often complex stock of knowledge. Simulation is one such area of conceptual model building, and is generally taken to refer to the representation of time-varying processes often in real time. Simulation techniques invariably involve the use of computers, and, among other things, can be used to model details of processes for design and analytical purposes and in the modelling of the real time behaviour of a full-scale plant.


One of Carnegie Mellon University's most exciting and most critically acclaimed events, the Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival, is underway. Beginning March 22 and running until April 8, the festival will include a vast array of films from across the world, as well as moderated discussions, a short film competition, and even Q&As with directors. The Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival is a unique event in Pittsburgh, bringing together films from all over the world to convey a cohesive theme and paint a fascinating picture of the world of film. The Tartan interviewed Jolanta Lion, the director of the festival and the assistant director of the Humanities Center, who also mentioned that this festival is the only international film festival in the world "where students are behind coordinating and bringing premieres of world-class cinema to its festival lineup." The various events that comprise this distinct festival aren't just held here at Carnegie Mellon University, but also across Pittsburgh at Carlow University and at the Carnegie Museum of Art Theatre. That being said, receptions and the majority of screenings take place right here on campus, in McConomy Auditorium. This year's festival has the theme and title "Faces of (In)equality." Lion describes that themes are chosen "based on how globally relevant [they are] and if people all over the world are currently telling stories that relate to the theme." In the wake of the Donald Trump's 2016 election, the "current social and political climate regarding race, gender, nationality" has changed, Lion explains. Situations like the "Muslim ban, the Women's March, and Charlottesville [have] heightened our awareness of the concept of equality," she continues. The festival does its very best to look at these potent societal issues, like that of inequality, and see how they are being represented across the world in film. This is a tall order for those who select the films. In order to be included in the festival, films need to have "not yet been screened in Pittsburgh," be connected to the theme, and are reviewed with careful scrutiny by the festival's programming team, Lion explained. The selected films for this year certainly fit into this, with films subjects including the effects of the Charlottesville alt-right protests, how an Indian doctor broke into the world of medicine, the marginalization of people of color in the United States, how mass migration changes the world, and countless others. Some past years' festival themes have been "Faces of Work" in 2015, "Faces of Migration" in 2011, and "Faces of Mechanization" in 2008. Looking forward, Lion stresses the importance of "forming new relationships with [Carnegie Mellon] schools and departments, other schools and universities, and local organizations," thereby connecting to the Pittsburgh community and being able to "provoke conversation across a more diversified audience." Such an interesting event does not go by without attracting praise from throughout the community. Barry Paris, film critic for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette calls the festival his "annual favorite, due to the excellence of the choices by its director, Jolanta Lion, who deserves an Oscar in general." Likewise, Michael Machosky of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review describes it as "one of Pittsburgh's most unusual and consistently interesting film festivals." Such praise and acclaim comes at the cost of the tireless work done by director Jolanta Lion and many student volunteers who work to provide the community such a well-run event. If you've not been able to attend any of the screenings, Q&As, or discussions in these past few weeks, the festival will continue to run until Sunday, April 8. Tickets for regular admission screenings are $10, and $5 for students with appropriate identification. Some forthcoming events include a screening of Risk, a Laura Poitras film on Julian Assange on April 4, and the next day, a screening of Mali Blues, a Lutz Gregor film on Malian musicians, among other films as well. The festival will conclude on Sunday, April 8, with a screening of Human Flow, a film directed by renowned Chinese protest artist Ai Weiwei, as well as a panel discussion of the film and a closing night reception. These films, stylistically and topically diverse, combine in the festival setting to create a fascinating picture of the world in which we live, and do so with emphasis on both equality and inequality. This focus allows attendees to "observe, discuss, and experience international cultures," the festival website states. In the continuously globalizing world we occupy, understanding and experiencing other cultures can be imperative to our society as a whole. Though not the only means to improving and connecting the world, events like the Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival certainly help. We are lucky to have it here in Pittsburgh.


The lymphoid-specific phosphatase (LYP) encoded by PTPN22 is involved in preventing spontaneous T-cell activation by dephosphorylating and inactivating T-cell receptor–associated Csk kinase. We have genotyped 396 type 1 diabetic patients and 1,178 control subjects of Caucasian descent from north central Florida and report a strong association between type 1 diabetes and a polymorphism (R620W) in the PTPN22 gene. The homozygous genotype for the T allele encoding the 620W residue is associated with an increased risk for developing type 1 diabetes (odds ratio [OR] 3.4, P < 0.008), and the heterozygous genotype C/T had an OR of 1.7 (P 6 10 ). The C/C homozygous genotype is protective against type 1 diabetes (OR 0.5, P 6 10 ). Furthermore, transmission disequilibrium analysis of 410 affected sibpair and simplex families of Caucasian descent indicated that the type 1 diabetes– associated T allele is transmitted more often (57.2%) than randomly expected (P < 0.003). Together with previous reports of the association between PTPN22 and type 1 diabetes, as well as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, these results provide compelling evidence that LYP is a critical player in multiple autoimmune disorders. Diabetes 54:906–908, 2005


This thesis explores the emerging paradigm shift in game studies called queer game studies. Through research creation, this project explores cruising in Stanley Park, Vancouver as an empirical and conceptual starting point to prototype a surreal horror game called The Rawlings. Synthesizing queer game studies with theoretical engagement represented by queer Gothic studies, this thesis proposes that if cruising can be understood a form of play with unique dynamic spatial qualities, it might have implications for the discipline of level design in video game development. It is concluded that queer Gothic studies may provide inroads to our understanding of both the sexuality of space and the spatiality of sexuality in queer spaces. Particularly, this thesis investigates how cruising illuminates space with qualities that exhibit markers of deviancy and monstrosity. This project demonstrates the implications of space as monstrous body with its own identity, motivation and desires for queering level design.


A novel technique is presented for the construction of full-rate, full-diversity space-time block codes (STBCs) from orthogonal STBCs (OSTBCs), having empty slots left in their codeword matrices for orthogonality. Two new STBCs are obtained, which are both full-rate and full-diversity, for three and four transmit antennas. The higher decoding complexity of these structures is reduced owing to non-orthogonality by using a conditional maximum-likelihood decoder. The new optimised codes provide better error performance than their full-rate full-diversity counterparts given in the literature.


Abstract The subject of this research is the machining of Ni-based super alloys using indexable end mills. The cutting ability of these materials is known to be difficult, even challenging with modern tools, so our goal is to create an efficient technology recommendation on an experimental basis. To this end, we have developed an experimental design from which results are used to determine the optimal technological parameters. This research took place at John Von Neumann University, Department of Vehicle Technology of GAMF Faculty.


In this paper, we propose: (a) a restart schedule for an adaptive simulated annealer, and (b) parallel simulated annealing, with an adaptive and parameter-free annealing schedule. The foundation of our approach is the Modified Lam annealing schedule, which adaptively controls the temperature parameter to track a theoretically ideal rate of acceptance of neighboring states. A sequential implementation of Modified Lam simulated annealing is almost parameter-free. However, it requires prior knowledge of the annealing length. We eliminate this parameter using restarts, with an exponentially increasing schedule of annealing lengths. We then extend this restart schedule to parallel implementation, executing several Modified Lam simulated annealers in parallel, with varying initial annealing lengths, and our proposed parallel annealing length schedule. To validate our approach, we conduct experiments on an NP-Hard scheduling problem with sequence-dependent setup constraints. We compare our approach to fixed length restarts, both sequentially and in parallel. Our results show that our approach can achieve substantial performance gains, throughout the course of the run, demonstrating our approach to be an effective anytime algorithm.


Vulnerability of structures exposed to dynamic actions is a very active domain research for the last years. Seismic background noise measurement networks should improve our knowledge on the dynamic behaviour of structures. In order to determine the modal characteristics (eigenfrequencies, vibration eigenmodes, and damping) of a building in reinforced concrete (located in Font Romeu, France), ambient vibration measurements were carried out based on two different techniques. A set of measurements was carried out using Guralp equipment designed to record seismic background noise in network. 8 stations with 10 seconds seismometers and WIFI links were located in the structure according to two different configurations: the first on the roof the second in a vertical profile. Each configuration was measured 15 minutes. On the other hand, ground based radar interferometric measurements were carried out. The instrument emits micro-wave signals that are backscattered by elements on the front of the building. The sensor measures phase variations that can be interpreted as displacements of the targets according to the line of sight with a sampling rate of 100 Hz. 8 data sets corresponding to different positions of the instrument were acquired. This poster describes the experiment and the resulting measurements. A discussion based on the comparison of both techniques is carried out.


Objective: To investigate the clinical consequences of neglected risk of urolithiasis in deceased kidney donors in routine clinical practice, this study focused on different management options for transplanted allograft stones, and tried to find new solutions for more accurate detection of urolithiasis in deceased kidney donors prior to renal transplantation. Methods and Results: The overall prevalence of stone disease in endemic countries is between 7 and 29%. Because of the increased risk for stone disease in epidemic countries, screening renal grafts from deceased donors necessitates more sensitive imaging tests. Despite well established procedures on preoperative living related renal donor evaluation, there is no consensus on a preoperative imaging tool in cadaveric renal donor evaluation. The most commonly used imaging modality in deceased renal donors is ultrasonography. The overall sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonography for kidney stones are 45 and 88%, respectively. Use of a computed tomography scan for renal diseases, especially for urinary stones is now almost a routine test in clinical practice. Its sensitivity for renal stones < 3 mm is 85%, whereas for renal stones > 3 mm it is 100%. Conclusion: The use of radiological modalities i.e. computed tomography with higher sensitivity in deceased donors prior to renal transplantation seems reasonable in urinary stone epidemic countries.


This essay offers an overview of the recent history of the Palestinian women's movement beginning with the first intifada (1988-93), passing through the post-Oslo years, and ending with Al Aqsa Intifada (2000-present) in order to highlight the silences of this movement regarding issues of sexuality, militarization, and religion. Amireh argues that these silences were justified by a hegemonic national prioritization paradigm that evaded dealing with women's issues and by a smear campaign conducted against women activists and NGOs by a vocal Islamist movement that, unlike the secular national movement, places gender and sexuality at the center of its transformative project.


Greenhouse and growth room experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of host plant in relation to different nematode inoculum levels, and temperature fluctuations on the development of Pasteuria penetrans. Host plant affected the development of P. penetrans indirectly through its effect on nematode development. Endospores collected from Meloidogyne javanica females reared on different hosts did not show any differences in subsequent attachment and infectivity. The numbers of endospores produced per infected female were reduced with increasing numbers of females parasitizing okra and tomato roots. Fluctuating temperatures retarded the development of P. penetrans. The life cycle of the parasite was completed faster at approximately constant temperatures close to 30 degrees C than when the temperature fluctuated away from 30 degrees C. The temperature of irrigation water did not affect the duration of life cycle of P. penetrans.


A detailed analysis is given of a possible new ultraviolet photodetector based on impact ionization out of confined quantum states using a GaN-Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/N multiple quantum well array. The GaN-AlGaN materials system is continuously gradable in composition and has a large conduction-band-edge discontinuity, which makes it an attractive candidate for asymmetric confined quantum state photomultipliers. The impact-excitation rate is determined for various device geometries and doping concentrations. As the carrier concentration increases in a quantum confined structure. the excitation probability increases. The ionization rate increase is due in part to the increase in the number of carriers within the high-energy subbands of the well with the resulting reduction of the carrier ionization threshold energy. >


This paper describes two methods aimed at improving dead-reckoning accuracy with fiber-optic gyroscopes (FOGs) in mobile robots. The first method is a precision calibration procedure for FOGs, which effectively reduces the ill effects of nonlinearity of the scale-factor and temperature dependency. The second method is the implementation of an indirect feedback Kalman filter that fuses the sensor data from the FOG with the odometry system of the mobile robot. The paper also provides experimental results and compares the relative effectiveness of the two methods as implemented on a four-wheel drive/skidsteer Pioneer AT mobile robot.


-ownership mainstream FDI theories, extended theories proposed by East Asian scholars, and new institutional economics. We argue that under an uncertain environment, when firwithin their capabilities, OFDI based on static and dynamic advantages and country-specific advantages will be effective. On the other hand, when firms in their capabilities, they will pursue OFDI based on a hybrid governance mode, which includes implications for explaining OFDI by Chinese firms and the strategic guidelines for the synergistic interaction between business and government.


A method to efficiently identify object from its background noise for a sonar picture using fuzzy artificial neural network is introduced. The sonar images are from a high precision array sonar imaging device. The ability to set focus to a certain range of interest will produce a well lamented grayscale picture around the focus distance. The intelligent window over the digital picture based on neural network feedback is used to partition the picture into different levels of grid and the grid data is treated as the input for the network. Multiple levels of gridding are applied corresponding to the layers of neural network. Samples are provided for training to get the focus related threshold values. The method is faster and can be used for the pre-identification of object from sonar image so additional processing can be called for shape recognition. Matlab programming is used for data processing.


s International Conference & Exhibition on Asian Emergency Care & Defence Medicine S123 large-scale terrorist attack in busy town area. The recent nerve gas attack in the Tokyo subway station increased awareness and urgency for health care planners to set up HazMat facilities in hospital, particularly in emergency departments. Hong Kong is no exception. Based on the Tokyo experience, a large number of victims would be expected to arrive at the hospital using their own transport, so that hospital preparedness is essential in order to decrease the spread of contamination. We have worked out a hospital HazMat decontamination contingency plan that addresses the need for suitable personal protective equipment (PPE) and decontamination facilities. A training program was designed for doctors, nurses, and security staff, and a HazMat drill also was conducted to test the contingency plan. Prehosp Disast M?^2001:16(3):S122-123. Hazardous Material Incidents: A Singapore General Hospital Experience Dr. R. Ponampalam, MBBS, FRCS (A&E) Edinburgh Associate Consultant, Department of Emergency Medicine, Singapore General Hospital


Author(s): Reinhard, Sarah M | Advisor(s): Razak, Khaleel A | Abstract: Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) are a large body of disorders that together affect 1 in 6 children in the U.S. (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). They are characterized by deficits in communication, cognition, attention, socialization and behavior. Abnormalities in sensory processing are also prevalent, and may underlie higher-order processing such as multisensory integration and perception. Determining a root cause in any one NDD is conflated by the multiplicity of brain regions affected, divergence of behavioral outcome measures in animal models and humans, and the multiple mechanistic underpinnings. Targeting basic sensory processing in NDD is an approach that may address some of these problems. Sensory processing deficits, including auditory, somatosensory, motor and visual, are common in NDDs. While sensory processing may seem far removed from a concept like behavior or socialization, basic sensory processing does serve as the foundation for cognition. Sensory information is relayed to multisensory and emotion-regulation regions of the brain which allow organisms to associate emotional states and salience to sensory information. Learning and memory events such as operant or appetitive conditioning induce stable modifications of processing in sensory regions of the brain, while loss of sensory function can affect working memory and attention. This indicates that disordered sensory processing in fact can affect an organism on multiple levels of function. Understanding the development of basic sensory processing and targeting specific developmental mechanisms may rescue processing deficits in NDD, with the potential for improvements in perception and 'higher-order' cognition. In this series of studies, I focused on the auditory system and sought to increase our understanding of auditory cortex development, and its implications for adult behaviors in a fragile X Syndrome (FXS) mouse model. I discovered the developmental expression patterns of an array of proteins in both early and adult auditory cortex. I discovered differential regulation of proteins within sub-regions of auditory cortex in response to developmental plasticity. I further discovered that dysregulation of these same proteins in adult FXS mice impairs memory formation. Results point to a particular role for perineuronal nets in auditory cortex development and in adult plasticity.


This Article explores the interaction of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning with international humanitarian law (IHL) in autonomous weapon systems (AWS). Lawyers and scientists repeatedly express a need for practical and objective substantive guidance on the lawful development of autonomy in weapon systems. This Article proposes five foundational principles to enable development of responsible AWS policy. The findings emerged from a research project conducted by a team of military and civilian professors at the Stockton Center for the Study of International Law at the U.S. Naval War College. The study is informed by experts in computer sciences, government and military, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, and academia.
Advances in AI will likely produce AWS that are different in kind from existing weapon systems and thus require a fresh approach to evaluating IHL compliance. First, this Article describes the technological details pertinent to understanding the distinction between current and future systems. It argues that the technological evaluation of the spectrum of autonomy should focus on the combination of authorities granted to the computer that controls an AWS, while also taking into account the physical capabilities of the system. Second, it argues that a key issue bearing on IHL compliance is whether an AWS has been granted some combination of authorities and capabilities that functionally delegate the decision to kill from human to machine. Third, it posits that predictability must be at the core of an evaluation into whether a particular AWS breaches this delegation threshold and examines how AI handles uncertainty, a critical component of the predictability analysis. Finally, the Article proposes five foundational principles to guide the development of AWS policy.


The retrieval of component temperatures from mixed pixel over vegetable-soil system is more valuable than the retrieving of average temperature. However, there are two essential mechanisms such as component thermal radiation and atmosphere correction must be newly considered. A good mathematic scheme should also be employed, which can make use of the ATSR-2 information in order to separate component temperatures. This paper is an attempt for the above topics. We bring forward more appropriate atmosphere parameters and retrieve them by resolving a system of nonlinear equations, which also includes vegetable and soil temperature as unknown variables. To resolve it, Broyden's method is adopted. We use the ATSR-2 imagery on a pilot field in Shunyi county on April 16, 2001 to validate our method, and errors of 2 degC and 1 degC are achieved for soil temperature and vegetable temperature respectively.


A new type of gemini poly(ionic liquid), poly[(1,8-octanediyl-bis(tri-n-butylphosphonium) 4-styrene sulfonate], was synthesized via the free radical polymerization of a dicationic ionic liquid monomer in DMF. This poly(ionic liquid) presented a lower critical solution temperature (LCST)-type phase transition in aqueous solution. Unusually this phase transition can be observed even at a concentration as low as 0.1 wt%. Additionally, the type and concentration of external salt can influence the cloud point. Copolymerisation of this gemini dicationic ionic liquid monomer with divinylbenzene crosslinker in water led to the formation of a hydrogel, which exhibited a temperature-triggered volume change in water.


Objective: To determine the normal ranges of cervical spinal canal morphometry in Indonesian population and to compare the acquired data collected from other populations Methods: Computed tomography measurements on the diameter of midsagital spinal canal and corpus of cervical vertebrae and its Torg ratio from the lower cervical (C3-C7) canal from 24 normal Indonesian adults were performed at the Radiology Department of Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital. Patients who had cervical spine disorders and those under 20 years old were exluded.  We used computed tomography scan midsagittal view to measure the aforementioned parameters. Results: The average diameter for the cervical spinal canals for the Indonesian population is comparable with those of other Asian populations such as Hongkong and India, albeit with smaller Torg ratio. Conclusions: This study reports the normal radiological anatomy of the midsagital spinal canal and corpus of cervical vertebrae as well as Torg ratio from the lower cervical vertebrae among Indonesian population. The measurements result of this study shows that, although slightly smaller, the measurement results for those parameters are identical with other Asian populations. Keywords: Corpus cervical vertebrae, midsagittal cervical spinal canal, Torg ratio DOI : 10.15850/ijihs.v2n1.285


Terra preta is a fertile anthropogenic soil found in the Amazon basin. One of the most significant differences between the terra preta and surrounding soils is that terra preta is rich in aromatic carbons. Previous infrared investigations of terra preta were reported at energies above 1000 cm−1 where many other forms of carbon also have absorption lines. No measurements have been reported below 800 cm−1, where many absorptions associated with aromatic carbons occur in the absence of aliphatic carbon lines. We employ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy between 150 cm−1 and 500 cm−1. A comparison was made between the spectra of terra preta, several pure aromatic compounds, organic fertilizers developed to replicate terra preta and several Australian soils, some of which containing char from bushfires. The spectra in the 150–500 cm−1 range were very similar between terra preta and the organic fertilizers, while they were very different for the natural soils. These findings indicate that the content of aromatic carbons in terra preta and organic fertilizers is different than in natural soils containing the bushfire chars, but also soils produced entirely by bacterial and fungal activities. This point to the importance of the preparation conditions of the biochars, which are essential ingredients of terra preta and organic fertilizers used in this study. Graphical Abstract


Paleoenvironmental and geoarchaeological data generated over the past three decades for parts of the Basin of Mexico are little known among archaeologists working in the region. This paper summarizes and evaluates what is currently known about the prehistoric environment, landscape development, and human impact in the region. Archaeological evidence indicates that human activity became important in ecosystem evolution in the basin during the Middle-Late Holocene. Most traditional paleoenvironmental studies based on lake sediments, however, generalize results corresponding to this period simply as evidence for human impact . Essentially the same vegetation communities extant in the basin today appear to have been present during most of the Holocene, albeit with broader distributions and variability in secondary taxa. Recognizing potential contributions of archaeology to understanding human adaptation to climatic and ecosystemic change, past and present, should stimulate future research on paleoenvironment in the region.


It is 1913 - just prior to England's entry into World War I - and Edwardian England is about to vanish into history. A group of men and women gather at Sir Randolph Nettleby's estate for a shooting party. Opulent, adulterous, moving assuredly through the rituals of eating and slaughter, they are a dazzlingly obtuse and brilliantly decorative finale of an era.


This paper reports on a novel use of timeline-based planning as the core element of a dynamic training environment specifically designed for crisis managers. It describes an effort to build a complete application that helps the trainer to create and deliver engaging and personalized training lessons for decision making skills in crisis management domains. The paper emphasis is given to (a) the timeline-based representation as the core component for creating training sessions and a trainee's model; (b) the combination of planning and execution functionalities required to maintain and dynamically adapt a "lesson plan" on the basis of individual interactions, behaviors and performance; (c) the "mixed-initiative" approach pursued, that allows the trainer to keep control of the activity loop. The application has been fielded and evaluated through a psychophysiological assessment within a real crisis training room involving 18 real strategic decision makers in a three-days of classes experience, overall demonstrating the ability of the system to fully support trainees engagement thanks to the flexibility injected by the planning technology.


The objective of this study was to investigate the use of tags in iReport to detect breaking news in terms of coverage and immediacy. Coverage refers to the extent to which news reported in mainstream media can also be detected in iReport, while immediacy refers to the promptness of news reported in mainstream media vis-à-vis those detected in iReport. A total of 10 ground truth events were identified from mainstream media between 1 April 2008 and 31 December 2008. Additionally, 481,455 tags from 118,545 postings were drawn from iReport in the same period. Relative frequencies of the top 200 most frequently-used tags were analysed to check for spikes and bursts. Based on the results, four main findings emerged. First, the performance of using spikes and bursts to detect news events was found to be comparable. Next, news events detected via spikes and bursts were found to lag ranging from a few days to more than a week compared to the dates reported by mainstream media. Third, news events deemed to be significant by professional journalists did not always attract a high level of interest from iReport contributors. Finally, even though citizen journalism transcends national boundaries via the internet, news posted to iReport seemed to show a proclivity towards local context.


While the human eye has been the subject of interest by many researchers for several centuries, the first serious studies were carried out by von Helmholtz (1924), as described in his book, Handbuch der Physiologischen Optik . The eye studies in the nineteenth century culminated with the work by Gullstrand (1909).
Recent developments on the eye, its color processing mechanisms, physiology, and anatomic components have been published in many books, for example by Hubel (1995), Kaiser and Boynton (1996), Rodieck (1998), Schwartz (2004), and Chalupa and Werner (2004). An interesting description of the eye's evolution in primates has been published by Jacobs and Nathans (2009). A diagram of human eye anatomy is presented in Fig. 3.1. The main optical constants for an average adult are given in Table 3.1. The most important optical components of the eye are: (a) The cornea . This is the front transparent tissue in the eye. Its normal ideal shape is nearly spherical, with a dioptric power of about 43 diopters. Any deviation from its ideal shape produces refractive errors. If it takes on a toroidal shape, with different curvatures along two mutually perpendicular diameters, corneal astigmatism appears. The astigmatism is said to be with the rule if the curvature in the vertical diameter is larger than in the horizontal diameter and against the rule if otherwise. A small protuberance and thinning at the center makes the cornea have an almost conical shape, in a defect called keratoconus. These errors are measured with an ophthalmometer or a corneal topographer.


Nature origin fibres have drawn in extraordinary consideration from commercial and specialists for the use of polymer composites as a result of their 'greener' nature and commitment to maintainable practice. Different enterprises have moved towards reasonable innovation to work on the harmony between the climate and social and financial concerns. Innovative work has demonstrated that normal fibres have been effectively applied as fortifications in the composites business, for example, for transportation, inside segments, building, airplane.


We demonstrate a method to locate relations and constraints between a music score and its impressions, by which we show that machine learning techniques may provide a powerful tool for composing music and analyzing human feelings. We examine its generality by modifying some arrangements to provide the subjects with a specified impression. This demonstration introduces some user interfaces, which are capable of predicting feelings and creating new objects based on seed structures, such as spectra and their transition for sounds that have been extracted and are perceived as favorable by the test subject.


Direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation in the presence of mutual coupling and coherent signals is a hard task for arbitrary sensor arrays including uniform circular array (UCA). While the coherent sources can be resolved using spatial smoothing algorithms for uniform linear and rectangular arrays, it cannot be applied to UCA. In this paper, a new technique is proposed for DOA estimation in UCA using a single snapshot. Joint-sparse recovery algorithm is proposed where the source signal spatial directions and coupling coefficients are embedded into a joint-sparse signal. A dictionary is defined according to restricted isometry and compressed sensing is employed for both DOA and coupling coefficient estimation. It is shown that the proposed method performs better than the alternative sparse recovery techniques.


This qualitative study was conducted to investigate the types and the purposes of questions used by the teacher in an EFL conversation class. The subject of this study was the English teacher at SMA Lab School Banda Aceh who taught the second graders of XI classes; XIp1, XIp2, XIp3, XIs. Observation form, a set of interview questions and field note were used as the instruments. The questions posed by the teacher in the classroom were then categorized and described in accordance with Brown's theory (2001) on the two types of questions: display and referential questions. Data from interview were coded in relation to the purpose of asking each question type. The findings showed that apart from Brown's types of question s, three additional question types were also found. Therefore, a total of five types of question were found viz: display, referential, comprehension check, confirmation check and procedural question. The data from the observations showed that the teacher used more display questions than referential questions. From a total of 259 questions posed by the teacher in the classroom, 120 were display questions (46%), 101 were referential (39%), 17 comprehension checks (6.5%), and 20 procedural questions (8%). Only one confirmation check question (0.4%) was found during the teaching- learning processes. Furthermore, the data from interview exposed the purposes of the teacher asking these questionsviz: to encourage the participation of students in the lesson, to get feedback from them, to encourage them to think and focus, to create a good classroom atmosphere, to stimulate and maintain their interest, and to emphasize certain points in the lesson.


The Trans-Australian railway crossed the continent from east to west. It was built in 1912 to 1917 and the section from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie was administered by the Commonwealth Government. This study focuses on the workers and their families who were involved in the construction and operation of the transline and lived in railway settlements and fettlers' camps from 1912-1975. Although these people are now part of Australian folklore, little is known of what life was like for them outside of their work environment. This study looks at family life, social activities, welfare and medical services, schools and the teachers, as well as children's leisure activities and how women coped while providing for their families in an isolated environment. It indicates that life for the fettlers in small communities of six to eight families was physically hard and living conditions primitive. They had very few possessions because they had to keep moving their camps to keep up with the progress of the line. Life was lonely and isolated with only their fellow residents for company and support. Completion of the line reduced the number of workers needed, and the railways built permanent accommodation in the remaining camps. The camps were well run and law abiding, and residents learnt to ignore minor problems or disagreements in order to maintain good relations with their neighbours. The much larger locomotive settlements of Cook, Tarcoola, Rawlinna and Zanthus became centres for all transline employees, where the railways helped residents build hospitals and schools, and constructed provision stores to cater for the settlements and the camps along the line. Employees who could tolerate the heat and the duststorms, had a secure lifestyle where the railways provided housing, a credit system for household supplies and food if needed, and provided medical, welfare and education facilities for its workers. Most ex-residents interviewed had endured a hard working environment, but they believed the railways had looked after them well. Their most pleasant memories were of the companionship and the support of their fellow workers during their years on the transline. Illness or misfortune were rarely remembered as they looked back on 'a good life'. However, for some workers life was not good, where alcoholism and depression could cause misery in a family not able to cope with the environment.


Oil mallees are one of the preferred options to combat dryland salinity in the Western Australian wheatbelt, but their economics are uncertain. We compare three scenarios: on-farm mallee oil production, industrial oil and wood-based electricity production, and a combined oil, electricity and activated carbon system. Only the third option has any serious chances of being a profitable venture, with the second being the worst. The first could break even if oil yields increased from 3 to 4%. Results are sensitive to the price volatility of activated carbon and the operations cost of the cogeneration plant.


AIMS
To evaluate the feasibility of bacteriophages as a complementary tool for water quality assessment in surface waters from different parts of the globe.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Faecal coliform bacteria, enterococci, spores of sulphite-reducing clostridia, somatic coliphages, F-specific RNA bacteriophages and bacteriophages infecting Bacteroides fragilis were determined by standardized methods in raw sewage and in 392 samples of river water from 22 sampling sites in 10 rivers in Argentina, Colombia, France and Spain, which represent very different climatic and socio-economic conditions. The results showed that the indicators studied maintained the same relative densities in the raw sewage from the different areas. Classifying the river water samples according to the content of faecal coliform bacteria, it can be observed that the relative densities of the different bacterial indicators and bacteriophages changed according to the concentration of faecal coliform bacteria. There was a relative increase in the densities of all groups of bacteriophages and sulphite-reducing clostridia with respect to faecal coliforms and enterococci in the samples with low counts of faecal coliform bacteria.

CONCLUSIONS
The numbers of bacterial indicators and bacteriophages were similar in the different geographical areas studied. Once released in rivers, the persistence of the different micro-organisms differed significantly. Bacteriophages and spores of sulphite-reducing clostridia persisted longer than faecal coliforms and enterococci.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY
Bacteriophages in river water samples provide additional information to that provided by bacteria about the fate of faecal micro-organisms in river water. The easy, fast and cheap methods for phage determination are feasible both in industrialized and developing countries.


The EC 2001/20 directive relating to the clinical trials of medicinal products was transposed into French law in 2004 by means of a public health law. But this transposition actually came into effect on 27 August 2006 by the implementation of decree no. 2006-477 of 26 April 2006 which has been followed subsequently by numerous statutory orders. A reading of these regulatory texts shows that the new provisions go far beyond the framework of the directive as they have been notably extended by the French legislator to encompass all the health products within the competence of the French Agency for Sanitary Safety in Health Products (Afssaps) as well as to other studies that do not involve health products. In addition, all research undertaken is from now subject to the prior, and jointly favourable, reasoned opinion of a CPP (Ethic Committee) and authorisation by Afssaps. These new regulations for biomedical research in France substantially modify and reinforce the previous provisions defined by the Huriet law of 1988, for safety, vigilance and traceability.


An anti-petunia glycine-rich protein 1 (ptGRP1) antibody was used for biotin-streptavidin-alkaline phosphatase localization of this protein. In petunia stem and leaves grown under different light conditions, these studies revealed a complex pattern of cell localization for this protein. Levels of ptGRPl were shown to decrease with developmental age of the tissue, appearing to correlate directly with expansive growth and inversely with lignification. Significantly, plants grown under low light (-32 pmol m2 sec-1 at noon) showed at least an eightfold increased leve1 of ptGRP1 protein throughout ptGRPl's expression period when compared to plants grown under higher light (-80 pmol m-2 sec-l at noon). Evidence also indicated that for one cell type in which ptGRP1 is localized, this protein is imported rather than synthesized. In addition, confocal microscopy studies suggested that ptGRP1 is deposited at the cell walllmembrane interface rather than within the cell wall.


This paper describes the design of the computer seen by a machine-language programmer in a time-sharing system developed at the University of California at Berkeley. Some of the instructions in this machine are executed by the hardware, and some are implemented by software. The user, however, thinks of them all as part of his machine, a machine having extensive and unusual capabilities, many of which might be part of the hard-ware of a (considerably more expensive) computer. Among the important features of the machine are the arithmetic and string manipulation instructions, the very general memory allocation and configuration mechanism, and the multiple processes which can be created by the program. Facilities are provided for communication among these processes and for the control of exceptional conditions. The input-output system is capable of handling all of the peripheral equipment in a uniform and convenient manner through files having symbolic names. Programs can access files belonging to a number of people, but each person can protect his own files from unauthorized access by others. Some mention is made at various points of the techniques of implementation, but the main emphasis is on the appearance of the user's machine.