The Progressive Era's emphasis on political personalities stands in contrast to most other eras in American history, including our own, and the resultant political discourse encouraged a rich and charismatic political atmosphere. The presidential campaign songs from this era are a testament to this atmosphere. Since these songs were written during the campaigns, for the specific purpose of swaying voters, they can be seen as cultural constructs and as political propaganda. They provide insight into the political atmosphere of the era: into the language that was used to discuss the issues and the rhetoric that was effective at mobilizing public opinion for an era of change. Colored by a number of predictable appeals, including those to racism, nativism, history, jingoism, and militarism, as well as some rare discussion of the issues, this language that incited popular involvement and political reform was centered on the personalities, often caricatured, of the candidates. This article is available in Constructing the Past: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/constructing/vol8/iss1/4 The Political Language of Personality 1 Presidential Campaign Songs of the Progressive Era: The Political Language of Personality


Last time urban-rural emigration in Vietnam is increasing day by day. Urban-rural emigration helps generating incomes, enhancing life conditions, and intellectual level of rural area. Besides, many social matters such as change of population structure, labors, jobs, incomes and others have been happening, causing urgent problems in rural areas. This requires analyzers, policy planners to study more policies, methods and guidelines for this area in order to settle difficulties, to help rural economy in specific and Vietnam economy in general to develop sustainably. This writing focuses on clarification of real situation of urban-rural emigration; social matters arising; social policies, what Vietnam has been realizing; Korean experience in years 1960-1985; Then author proposes some recommendations for perfecting rural policies for Vietnamese rural areas next time.


Abstract The PITX gene family of transcription factors have been reported to regulate the development of multiple organs. This study was designed to investigate the role of PITXs in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). In this study, the transcriptional levels of the 3 identified PITXs in patients with LUAD were examined using the gene expression profiling interactive analysis interactive web server. Meanwhile, the immunohistochemical data of the 3 PITXs were obtained in the Human Protein Atlas website, and western blotting was additionally conducted for further verification. Moreover, the association between the levels of PITXs and the stage plot as well as overall survival of patients with LUAD was analyzed. We found that the mRNA and protein levels of PITX1 and PITX2 were higher in LUAD tissues than those in normal lung tissues, while those of PITX3 displayed no significant differences. Additionally, PITX1 and PITX3 were found to be significantly associated with the stage of LUAD. The Kaplan-Meier Plot showed that the high level of PITX1 conferred a better overall survival of patients with LUAD while the high level of PITX3 was associated with poor prognosis. Our study implied that PITX1 and PITX3 are potential targets of precision therapy for patients with LUAD while PITX1 and PITX2 are regarded as novel biomarkers for the diagnosis of LUAD.


Australian policy makers and funding organisations have relied heavily on sport as a vehicle for achieving the goals of social cohesion and social inclusion. The generally accepted premise that sport includes individuals in larger social contexts, and in doing so creates positive social outcomes, remains largely untested and uncontested. This article considers the ways in which playing in an asylum seeker football team, located in Melbourne, Australia, facilitates both inclusive and exclusive experiences for its participants. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, life histories, and policy analysis, this article identifies the often-ignored importance of a sporting habitus and physical capital in individuals' experiences of playing. The success or failure of the asylum seeker team to foster social inclusion is somewhat tenuous as the logic of competition can create conditions counter to those that would be recognised as inclusive. Further, such programmes are faced with sustainability problems, as they are heavily reliant on individuals within the organisation and community to "make things happen". However, we suggest that for many men, the asylum seeker team provides an important site for the development and appreciation of 'poly-cultural' capital that contributes to forms of resilience and the achievement of other indicators of social inclusion.


Nilotinib is a highly potent and selective bcr‐abl tyrosine kinase inhibitor used for the treatment of patients who are in the chronic and accelerated phases of Philadelphia chromosome‐positive (Ph+) chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Nilotinib preclinical data and its use for practical predictions of systemic exposure profiles and oral absorption are described. The systemic clearance (CL) of nilotinib was relatively low in rodents with a value of less than 25% of hepatic blood flow (QH), while it was moderate in monkeys and dogs (CL /QH = 32–35%). The steady state volume of distribution (Vss) ranged from 0.55 to 3.9 l/kg across the species tested. The maximum concentration (Cmax) of nilotinib occurred at 0.5–4 h and the bioavailability was moderate (17–44%). The plasma protein binding was high (> 97.5%) in preclinical species and humans. The human CL (~ 0.1 l/h/kg) and Vss (~2.0 l/kg) were best predicted by the rat–dog–human proportionality method and allometric scaling method, respectively. The human intravenous pharmacokinetic profile was projected by the Wajima 'Css‐MRT' method. The predicted micro‐constants from human intravenous profiles were incorporated into the advanced compartmental absorption and transit model within the GastroPlus program to simulate the oral concentration–time curves in humans. Overall, the simulated oral human pharmacokinetic profiles showed good agreement with observed clinical data, and the model predicted that the Cmax, AUC, t1/2, Vz/F and CL/F values were within 1.3‐fold of the observed values. The absolute oral bioavailability of nilotinib in healthy humans was predicted to be low (< 25%). Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


 Abstract — Laboratory trial results of mixing crumb rubber produced from discarded tires with 60/70 pen grade Kuwaiti bitumen are presented on this paper. PG grading and multiple stress creep recovery tests were conducted on Kuwaiti bitumen blended with 15% and 18% crumb rubber at temperatures ranging from 40 to 70 °C. The results from elastic recovery and non-recoverable creep presented optimum performance at 18% rubber content. The optimum rubberized-bitumen mix was next transformed into a pelletized form (PelletPave ® ), and was used as a partial replacement to the conventional bitumen in the manufacture of continuously graded hot mix asphalts at a number of binder contents. The trialed PelletPave ® contents were at 2.5%, 3.0%, and 3.5% by mass of asphalt mix. In this investigation, it was not possible to utilize the results of standard Marshall method of mix design (i.e. volumetric, stability and flow tests) and subsequently additional assessment of mix compactability was carried out using gyratory compactor in order to determine the optimum PelletPave ® and total binder contents.


The purpose of this article is to identify power through voting-school boards; it must be explicitly identified and highlighted as a way to empower students and their families. Implications for teachers are discussed, as their role in public schools is crucial to improved parent participation. It examines how Latino parents have used the justice system to secure fair representation to improve the needs of minority children attending public schools. It highlights the activist's role and parental participation in the legal and educational system that lead to the improvement of equality of education and an end to segregationist practices in the early history of California public schools.


This thesis presents the theory and applications of electromagnetic field
calculation using orthogonal Gaussian beam modes within the context of far-infrared
imaging systems. Laguerre and Hermite-Gaussian modes have been frequently
reported in the analysis of paraxial millimetre-wave propagation in astronomical
optical systems. Here the method of Gaussian beam mode analysis (GBMA) is
extended to fields of optical research that have until recently been associated with
wavelengths in the visible band.
Using recently derived expressions for the non-paraxial diffraction of
Hermite-Gaussian modes, the author demonstrates the modal calculation of far-field
intensity distributions with less angular restriction on the accuracy of the method
compared to the conventional paraxial description of orthogonal Gaussian modes.
This method shows excellent agreement with predictions from more rigourous fullwave
numerical methods such as the finite-difference time-domain algorithm, which
is also described as a software tool in the modelling of horn and lens antennas.
The properties of diffraction limited Bessel beams is described using the
Laguerre-Gaussian expansion of conical lenses, and experimental measurements of a
conical lens is presented to explore the validity of the use of these optical elements as
horn coupled devices in millimetre wave imaging systems.
A study of diffractive Fresnel lenses has been undertaken with a comparison
of experimentally measured fields with those predicted by the modal techniques. The
effects of such lenses on ultrashort paraxial pulses are also investigated using a novel
numerical description of few-cycle fields as a superposition of pulsed Laguerre-
Gaussian modes.
The application of digital holography in the far-infra red band has the prospect
of diffraction limited imaging systems without creating distortions and aberrations
which is a common problem in conventional techniques using lenses and mirrors. The
author presents results from a simple proof-of-concept system which exhibits the
potential of this technique for application in, for example, mm-wave security
imaging.


In this study, we tested in older and younger adults the efficacy of two well-known procedures to experimentally induce anxiety: a) Velten self-statements combined with music; b) film scenes. We extended the pre- vious findings in this field to the understudied area of mood induction in older adults. Fifty-seven older adults and 94 college students were random- ly assigned to one of the experimental conditions or to a control group. Results indicated that both procedures were effective, according to a series of ANOVAs for several self-report, physiological, and behavioral measures. Likewise, the highest effect sizes were observed for the Velten procedure (g = .81 vs. g = .71), and the effects were significantly higher in younger (g = 1.0 in the Velten condition) than in older adults (g = .62), Q = 4.25, 2(1), p = .0392. Both procedures were effective to induce inducting anxiety in both age groups, especially the Velten procedure in younger adults. Therefore, Velten self-statements combined with music may be very useful anxiety induction procedure for further research in controlled situa- tions of emotions across the life-span.


Introduction:  Dengue infection inflicted a huge burden towards health problem in tropical and subtropical countries. Reported cases were more than 1.2 million in 2008, which increased to over 3.2 million in 2015, involving the Americas, South-East Asia, and Western Pacific regions. Published studies regarding predictors of severe dengue have been inconsistent and therefore accurate methods to predict severe dengue is needed. This review was performed to synthesise from the relevant studies regarding predictors of severe dengue. Methodology:  A systematic literature search was performed using PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar for articles published from 2015 until 2019. The search was based on the inclusion criteria and keywords, including 'predictors', 'factors associated', 'severe dengue' and 'dengue haemorrhagic fever' and 'dengue shock syndrome'. The inclusion criteria were all observational studies with full articles and written in English. Reviewed articles, systematic review and meta-analysis articles were excluded. Study on children and solely involved biomolecular components were also excluded. Unpublished literature was not searched in this review. Result:  After multistage screening conducted based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 9 out of 1312 initially searched articles, were assessed and reviewed in the final stage. The significant predictors were reported to increase risk of severe dengue significantly includes sociodemographic (age), medical history (secondary infection, pre-existing comorbid), clinical presentation (warning signs, fluid accumulation, bleeding tendency, low blood pressure), laboratory profile (increase haematocrit, low platelet count, raised ALT, raised lactate), secondary dengue infection and as well as the delayed hospitalisation and late seeking treatment. Conclusion:  In conclusion, older age group, presence of comorbid and the number of comorbid, secondary infections, presence of warning signs, abnormal haematocrit rise and platelet count drop, were independent risk factors of severe dengue. These factors may be useful to guide triage at the presentation of adult dengue patients who are at higher risk of severe dengue. Keyword: predictors, severe dengue, dengue haemorrhagic fever, dengue shock syndrome, systematic review


This paper deals with the past studies about preserving and promoting linguistic diversity with special reference to indigenous languages of the world in general and of Nepal in particular. It is broadly divided into two major categories viz. global perspectives on linguistic diversity issues and local perspectives on linguistic diversity issues. The global perspectives section is related to conceptualizing the global trends of preserving and promoting linguistic diversity in different regions of the globe. For instance, past studies conducted on indigenous languages of Europe, South Asia (including Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India), Latin America, North America, Africa, and Malaysia were reviewed to identify the research gap for this study. The local perspectives section is related to conceptualizing the Nepali trends of preserving and promoting linguistic diversity in Nepal. Similarly, empirical studies were reviewed into four aspects such as a) linguistic diversity and multilingualism, b) endangerment of indigenous languages, c) bilingual and multilingual education, and d) mother tongue literacy. Based on these observations, this paper has been developed to identify the global and local perspectives on the preservation of linguistic diversity, using a Nepali experience.


The Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, established and supported under the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centres Program, funded this research.


Small ground telescopes on the marked are widely used in many space observatories and scientific researches. There are three main problems in such telescopes; positioning of the focal point and the need of tuning for both different seasonal wind speeds and mass changes of the telescope arm. This study focuses on eliminating those problems for 2-DOF altazimuth configuration small telescopes. An adaptive controller is designed to create a set and forget system. The mathematical model of the telescope is derived based on RR type joint configuration. For a realistic approach, motor dynamics is considered in the mathematical model. The wind disturbance is modeled according to the Wind-Gust model which is a sum of sinusoidal with unknown amplitude, frequency and phase. The controller aims to cancel the effect of the disturbance on focal point of the telescope while positioning. The asymptotic stability is proven with the Lyapunov approach. The numerical study is illustrated to success of the proposed controller.


Despite the very high benefit-to-risk ratio of vaccines, the fear of negative side effects has discouraged many people from getting vaccinated, resulting in the reemergence of previously controlled diseases such as measles, pertussis and diphtheria. This fear has been amplified more recently by multiple epidemiologic studies that confirmed the link of an AS03-adjuvanted pandemic influenza vaccine (Pandemrix, GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Germany) used in Europe during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic [A(H1N1) pdm09] with the development of narcolepsy, a chronic sleep disorder, in children and adolescents. However, public misperceptions of what adjuvants are and why they are used in vaccines has created in some individuals a closed "black box" attitude towards all vaccines. The focus of this review article is to revisit this "black box" using the example of narcolepsy associated with the European AS03-adjuvanted pandemic influenza vaccine.


Throughout the world, private equity funds, pension funds, special purpose vehicles and hedge funds are increasingly acquiring control over land and agribusinesses. Without underplaying the relevance of finance in shaping other sectors of the food system such as seeds and fertilizers, trade and retailing, this chapter focuses on the link between financial actors, farmland and agribusinesses. The aim is to offer a critical overview of the way in which financialization of land is taking place, what are its drivers and its main legal and socio-economic implications. However, this contribution recognizes that further investigation and debate is needed to fully grasp the link between finance, vertical and horizontal concentration in the food system and the impact on society and the environment. Section I introduces the reader to the topic of financialization and how it plays in the context of agri-food chains. Section II utilizes data and examples to discuss the specific case of the transformation of land into an asset for financial investment. In response, section III discusses possible legal interventions that may be adopted to redefine investment patterns and challenge the financialization of everything that can be found between farm and fork.


In-situ magnetizers are needed to facilitate the assembly of permanent magnet machines and to remagnetize the magnets after weakening due to a fault condition. The air-core magnetizer in association with the silicon steel lamination structure of the rotor has advantages over its iron-core counterpart. This method has been used to magnetize the NdFeB magnets in a 30-hp permanent magnet synchronous motor. The magnetizing capability for different magnetizer geometries was investigated for the magnetization of NdFeB material. The design, testing, and operation of this magnetizer are reported. >


This paper deals with some hidden political dimensions of moral panic theory. It concentrates on the implications of two related claims about what this battle meant: first, that moral panics are inherently normative and can be categorized as good and bad moral panics (the ones that we study are invariably bad); second, that students of moral panics have to take sides in this normative battle. There are differences in the ways this question was originally posed in the late 1960s and today.


Background It has been suggested that the velocity of resolution of tophi in persons with chronic tophaceous gout is related to the serum urate levels.1 However, few subjects with a persistent serum urate less than 4.0 mg/dL were studied. Pegloticase is a recombinant uricase conjugated to polyethylene glycol approved in the US for treatment of patients with chronic refractory gout. It profoundly decreases serum uric acid in responders to <1 mg/dL. The results from the pegloticase clinical trials provided the opportunity to determine the impact of persistent and markedly low levels of serum urate on the velocity of tophus resolution. Objectives To assess the velocity of tophus resolution in subjects treated with pegloticase for chronic refractory gout. Methods This analysis used results from two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of 6 months duration.2,3 For tophus measurements, serial standardized digital photographs were analyzed by a blinded reader using computer-assisted quantitative measurement software. Subjects were defined as responders and nonresponders based upon maintenance of a serum urate <6 mg/dL during intensive monitoring periods after 3 and 6 months of treatment. Results During the 6 months of the RCTs, a total of 952 tophus measurements were analyzed in 87 subjects, including 341 in 30 responders; 361 in 36 nonresponders receiving pegloticase infusions; and 250 in 21 subjects receiving placebo infusions. Mean serum urate levels in these subjects were 10.1, 0.3 and 0.3 mg/dL at baseline, 3 months and 6 months in responders; 10.7, 8.9 and 9.6 mg/dL in nonresponders; and 10.2, 9.8 and 9.7 mg/dL in placebo treated patients, respectively. At baseline, the mean tophus area in responders was 581.6 +/- 742.7 mm2 (mean ± SD; n=90 tophi); in nonresponders it was 676.5+/-1416.6 mm2 (n=93 tophi); and in placebo treated subjects it was 672.9+/-1039.5 mm2 (n=66 tophi). By regression analysis, the velocity of tophus resolution over the 6 months of treatment was 50.1 mm2/month in responders; 14.0 mm2/month in nonresponders; and 13.9 mm2/month in placebo treated patients (responders versus nonresponders or responders vs placebo treated subjects (p=0.001)). In responders, the mean time to total tophus resolution was estimated to be 347 days (11.5 months, with a range of 5.6–36.4 months). During the 6 month treatment period, the area under the curve (AUC) of multiple serum urate measurements in responders was 6,067.9+/-6,781.6 mg/dL hr compared with 34,647.4+/-8,586.7 and 42,451.1+/-6,396.1 mg/dL·hr in nonresponders and placebo treated subjects, respectively (p<0.001). In responders, there was a significant correlation between the velocity of tophus resolution and serum urate AUC (p=0.009). Conclusions Pegloticase treatment causes a rapid resolution of tophi in responders as predicted from the profound and persistent serum urate lowering associated with this therapy. References Perez-Ruiz F et al, Arthritis Rheum 2002; 47:356–60. Sundy JS, et al. JAMA. 2011;306:711–720. Becker MA, et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2013;72:1469–1474. Disclosure of Interest B. Mandell Grant/research support from: Horizon, Consultant for: Horizon, Ironwood, A. Yeo Consultant for: Horizon Pharma, P. Lipsky Consultant for: AstraZeneca, Celgene, EMD Serono, GSK, Horizon Pharma, Janssen, Medimmune, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, UCB


AIMS To confirm whether a prostacyclin (prostaglandin I (2)) affects the increased TNF-alpha concentration in sera of diabetic patients, we measured serum TNF-alpha concentration and treated these patients with oral administration of the stable prostacyclin analogue (Beraprost). Twelve of 20 type II diabetic patients were investigated for follow up-study and 6 of those patients were for therapy with Beraprost for diabetic neuropathy. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Serum TNF-alpha concentration was quantified by EASIA using monoclonal antibodies directed against distinct epitopes of TNF-alpha. RESULTS In diabetic patients, serum TNF-alpha concentration was significantly increased compared with that of healthy subjects. The augmented TNF-alpha concentration in these patients was not decreased by diabetic control using antihyperglycemic agents for 8 weeks but was reduced with oral administration of a stable prostacyclin (prostaglandin I (2)) analogue for 5 weeks without any changes of blood glucose levels. CONCLUSIONS Stable prostacyclin analogue administration for a short term period reduced increased TNF-alpha levels in diabetic patients, not through the improved hyperglycemic condition but another pathway, probably a cAMP system. These results imply that treatment with the prostacyclin analogue may contribute to the prevention of progression in diabetic complications.


Morphological, stereological, biochemical and physiological
techniques were used to investigate the smooth muscle oxidative
phosphorylation activity of the rat arteries, particularly small arteries with a
diameter about 500 µm. The major object of the research was the rat tail
artery.
Morphological and stereological analysis found that the differences
between the elastic arteries, muscular arteries and arteriole were mainly in the
contents of smooth muscle. In the rat thoracic aorta, the smooth muscle
volume fraction was 43.7±3.7% of the vessel wall. The proportion of the
smooth muscle layers to the elastic lamella of this artery was about 1: 1. The
rat femoral and tail arteries had smooth muscle contents of 82.5±3.1 % and
79.3±1.3%. The proportions of the smooth muscle layers to the elastic lamella
of these two arteries were 5-11:1 and 6-14:1. The smooth muscle in the
arteriole was 57.2±3.1 % with very little elastic tissue.
The mitochondrial volume fractions in the arterial vascular smooth
muscle cells of the aorta, arterioles, tail and femoral arteries were 6.9±0.8%,
7.8±1.0%, 8.4±0.7% and 7.8±0.7%. The mean value of the mitochondrial
volume fraction for all arteries studied was 7.7%. All blood vessels had a
similar range of mitochondrial volume fraction.
Regardless of the arterial class, the mitochondrial volume fraction
appears to account for approximately 8% of the volume of the arterial smooth
muscle cells of all arteries chosen in the rat. On the basis of that value, the
mitochondrial contents for the entire arterial walls for the aorta, tail and
femoral arteries were 3.5%, 6.3% and 6.6%.
The cytochrome c oxidase activities of the arteries and cardiac muscle
were measured biochemically and found to be 3.8±0.38 µmol.min-1.g-1 and
9.6±0.50 µmol.min-1.g-1 for the aorta and tail artery, and 93.8±19.3
µmol.min-1.g-1 for the cardiac muscle respectively. Because the
mitochondrial contents of the aorta, tail artery and cardiac muscle were 3.5%,
6.3% and 29%, the cytochrome c oxidase activities for the smooth muscle
mitochondria of aorta and tail artery are 108 µmol.min-1.g-1 and 152
µmol.min-1.g-1, with 324 µmol.min-1.g-1 for the mitochondria of the cardiac
muscle. This gives the calculated cytochrome c oxidase activities of the rat
aorta and the tail artery as approximately 240 µmol.h-1.g-1 and 600 µmol.h1.g-1
respectively.
The physiological oxidative phosphorylation capacity was measured by
the perfusion of isolated rat tail arteries. Under air oxygen tension, the basal
oxygen consumption was 103.1±6.8 µmol.h-1.g-1at37°C. The uncoupler 2-4
dinitrophenal (DNP) induced increase of oxygen uptake was 143.0±16.9
µmol.h-1.g-1. The total oxygen uptake after the infusion of DNP was
247.1±12.7 µmol.h-1.g-1. This suggests that the physiological oxidative
capacity may be about 40% of the theoretical oxidative capacity in a rat tail
artery. Tail artery perfusions oxygenated with 95% oxygen gave higher values
of oxygen consumption although these measurements were necessarily less
accurate.


This study seeks to investigate the effect of pensions on national savings in Kenya. The study covers the Kenya Government's public pension schemes for its employees. The Granger causality test was employed to investigate the relationship between these two variables and it was found that there was no causal relationship between the two variables. The long run relationship between the two variables was derived using the Vector Error Correction Model. Analyzing the effect of pensions on savings requires the control of other variables which impact on savings. As a byproduct of this paper I investigated the determinants of savings. The specific variables that were of focus in this paper were inflation rate, real interest rate, GDP, dependency ratio (young and old), life expectancy, and labor force participation rate. The methodology adopted involves the lifecycle model. Annual secondary data of the relevant variables for the period 1971-2011 was used in the analysis. Some variables were not stationary and were made stationary after first differencing. Information was sourced from World Bank publications and the Kenya Government's Consolidated Fund Services. The Vector Error Correction Model was employed to investigate these relationships. The results indicated that pensions expenditure had a negative impact on savings. It was also found that Gross Domestic Product has a positive impact on Gross Domestic Savings. The results also show a negative influence of inflation on Gross Domestic Savings in Kenya. The real interest rate and life expectancy have negative and statistically significant impact on Gross Domestic Savings, suggesting that income effects outweigh the sum of its substitution and human wealth effects. The old age dependency ratio has a negative but statistically insignificant impact on saving while the young age dependency ratio has a positive but statistically significant impact on savings.


SIGNIFICANCE
Autophagy is an evolutionarily ancient process of intracellular protein and organelle recycling required to maintain cellular homeostasis in the face of a wide variety of stresses. Dysregulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) leads to oxidative damage. Both autophagy and ROS/RNS serve pathological or adaptive roles within cardiomyocytes, depending on the context.

RECENT ADVANCES
ROS/RNS and autophagy communicate with each other via both transcriptional and post-translational events. This cross talk, in turn, regulates the structural integrity of cardiomyocytes, promotes proteostasis, and reduces inflammation, events critical to disease pathogenesis.

CRITICAL ISSUES
Dysregulation of either autophagy or redox state has been implicated in many cardiovascular diseases. Cardiomyocytes are rich in mitochondria, which make them particularly sensitive to oxidative damage. Maintenance of mitochondrial homeostasis and elimination of defective mitochondria are each critical to the maintenance of redox homeostasis.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The complex interplay between autophagy and oxidative stress underlies a wide range of physiological and pathological events and its elucidation holds promise of potential clinical applicability.


Neonatal and pediatric heart failure is commonly caused by congenital heart diseases, especially by large left-to-right shunting. It is rarely related to a Vein of Galen Aneurysmal Malformation (VGAM). Diagnosis and management of these cerebrovascular malformations in infancy are still difficult and remain a medical challenge. We report the case of a 2-month-old infant hospitalized for heart failure. In addition to symptoms relating to heart failure, the child presented in an agitated state with opisthotonic posture. Echocardiography showed dilated right heart cavities with pulmonary hypertension and no heart defect. Brain magnetic resonance imaging scanning confirmed the diagnosis of VGAM, showing multiple cerebral parenchyma damages. The baby was treated with diuretics and an angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor leading to stabilization of her heart failure. Given the gravity of the neurological sequelae, no embolization procedure was planned for this child. She died 5 years later of acute heart failure.


"Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made." -John Godfrey Saxe, 1869 (Shapiro 2008)
Abstract: This paper analyzes the relationship between government intervention and the Chicago Beef Trust in the late 19th and early 20th century up to the historically significant 1906 Meat Inspection Act. It argues that in order to understand the process behind the 1906 act one must also understand the motivations behind prior meatpacking regulations. The large Chicago meatpacking firms, innovators in meat safety and quality, were one of many special interest groups involved in the legislative arena and consequently lobbied against damaging legislation and supported the passage of laws they could benefit from. With regards to the 1906 inspection act the packers successfully blocked hostile legislation and instead secured an increase in government subsidized inspection and an extension of regulatory compliance to smaller competitors. This regulatory capture resulted in industry consolidation and higher prices at the expense of smaller competitors and consumers. Government meat regulation was not the result of one monolithic special interest but instead due to the complex interaction between rival and antagonistic groups.


Information on visitor numbers, activities, expectations and satisfaction is vital for protected areas managers on two counts: to assist in the provision of the services and facilities that visitors need and want; and to determine if managers have been efficient and effective in meeting these demands. This paper builds on a recently completed national study in Australia of visitor data collection and usage, and the future visitor data needs, of protected area management agencies. Australia is a federation of states and provides a challenging backdrop for developing a national approach as most responsibilities for protected areas rest with the states rather than the national government. Thus, the success of such an approach rests on cooperation rather than an overarching national regulatory responsibility. The study found that all protected area agencies collected visitor data, however, their approaches were highly variable in what was measured, how the measurements were applied and how data were managed and used. This variability was problematic because it becomes very difficult to determine issues of general importance for protected area management or to benchmark performance across areas. Based on these findings and knowledge of the institutional settings for protected area management in Australia, this paper poses some ideas for progressing a national approach for standardising the measures and measurement of key variables so that comparisons and benchmarking become possible and reliable. Core and supplementary visitor data variables can be identified, with the former being of national interest and hence requiring collection and storage under national coordination and guidance. Implementing such an approach will require working creatively and collaboratively within the current institutional settings.


Purpose
This paper aims to present a novel modular design framework for the haptic teleoperation of single-master/multiple-slave (SM/MS) systems with cooperating manipulators.

Design/methodology/approach
The user commands the remote-leader robot and the slave remote robot follows the leader in a leader–follower formation. The remote-slave is purely force-controlled. A virtual model of the remote environment is introduced between the local and remote environments through simulation software. Locally generated motion inputs are transmitted to the remote environment through the virtual model. A haptic coupling is designed in the virtual environment and the haptic feedback is transmitted to the user along with the forces measured in the remote environment. The controllers proposed in this work are experimentally evaluated with experienced and inexperienced users.

Findings
The proposed haptic interaction model contributes to the total force feedback and smoothens the high-frequency signals occurring at the physical interaction in the remote environment. Experimental results show that the implemented controllers including the proposed haptic interaction improve the teleoperation performances in terms of trajectory tracking. Furthermore, pure force control of the remote-slave is shown to enhance the robustness of the teleoperation against external disturbances. Satisfactory teleoperation performances are observed with both experienced and inexperienced users.

Originality/value
The proposed SM/MS teleoperation system involves a multi-purpose virtual simulator and a purely force-controlled remote-slave manipulator in a modular cooperative configuration. The uniquely defined structure of the proposed haptic coupling is used in modeling the interaction between the local and remote manipulators on the one hand, and between cooperating remote manipulators on the other.


With complete information, choice of one option over another conveys preference. Yet when search is incomplete, this is not necessarily the case. It may instead reflect unawareness that a superior alternative was available. To separate these phenomena, we consider non-standard data on the evolution of provisional choices with contemplation time. We characterize precisely when the resulting data could have been generated by a general form of sequential search. We characterize also search that terminates based on a reservation utility stopping rule. We outline an experimental design that captures provisional choices in the pre-decision period.


Due to the dynamic health status of patients and discrepant stability of physiological variables, health data often presents as irregular multi-rate multivariate time series (IMR-MTS) with significantly varying sampling rates. Existing methods mainly study changes of IMR-MTS values in the time domain, without considering their different dominant frequencies and varying data quality. Hence, we propose a novel Cooperative Joint Attentive Network (CJANet) to analyze IMR-MTS in frequency domain, which adaptively handling discrepant dominant frequencies while tackling diverse data qualities caused by irregular sampling. In particular, novel dual-channel joint attention is designed to jointly identify important magnitude and phase signals while detecting their dominant frequencies, automatically enlarging the positive influence of key variables and frequencies. Furthermore, a new cooperative learning module is introduced to enhance information exchange between magnitude and phase channels, effectively integrating global signals to optimize the network. A frequency-aware fusion strategy is finally designed to aggregate the learned features. Extensive experimental results on real-world medical datasets indicate that CJANet significantly outperforms existing methods and provides highly interpretable results.


This paper discusses the evaluation of the electrical system at the Polytechnic of Ambon. Problems arise when this is a very poor network conditions that supply to each building. In some buildings often have on limiting current trip. This occurs because the addition of the load from time to time but was not followed by changes in installations that meet the standards. Evaluation is done with the help softwaare Docwin and Matlab. These include standardization of electrical networks, voltage profile, the data load and network installation. Evaluation results show that the current network conditions is not feasible and over load. Improvements to the current network is also proposed in this paper, because the proposal to be considered in the planning of the electrical network repair Polytechnic Campus Ambon in the future. Index Terms — Evaluation, planning, electric network System, Polytecnic of Ambon, DocWin and Matlap.


: To evaluate the recent decision of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice to increase the recommended age for initial measles vaccination from 12 to 15 months, we carried out a case control study of vaccine failure in a recent measles epidemic. Compared to children vaccinated at ages 15 months or older, we found an increased risk of vaccine failure among those vaccinated at 12 to 14 months (relative risk = 19.2, 95% confidence interval = 4.6 to 80.1). In order to sort out the influence of age at vaccination from elapsed time since vaccination, we subjected the data to discriminant analysis. Age at vaccination subsumed all of the effect of duration of time since vaccination. Thus, we find no evidence of waning immunity over time.


Dispersal, the movement of individuals between populations, is crucial in many ecological and genetic processes. However, direct identification of dispersing individuals is difficult or impossible in natural populations. By using genetic assignment methods, individuals with unknown genetic origin can be assigned to source populations. This knowledge is necessary in studying many key questions in ecology, evolution and conservation. We introduce a network‐based tool BONE (Baseline Oriented Network Estimation) for genetic population assignment, which borrows concepts from undirected graph inference. In particular, we use sparse multinomial Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression to estimate probability of the origin of all mixture individuals and their mixture proportions without tedious selection of the LASSO tuning parameter. We compare BONE with three genetic assignment methods implemented in R packages radmixture, assignPOP and RUBIAS. Probability of the origin and mixture proportion estimates of both simulated and real data (an insular house sparrow metapopulation and Chinook salmon populations) given by BONE are competitive or superior compared to other assignment methods. Our examples illustrate how the network estimation method adapts to population assignment, combining the efficiency and attractive properties of sparse network representation and model selection properties of the L1 regularization. As far as we know, this is the first approach showing how one can use network tools for genetic identification of individuals' source populations. BONE is aimed at any researcher performing genetic assignment and trying to infer the genetic population structure. Compared to other methods, our approach also identifies outlying mixture individuals that could originate outside of the baseline populations. BONE is a freely available R package under the GPL licence and can be downloaded at GitHub. In addition to the R package, a tutorial for BONE is available at https://github.com/markkukuismin/BONE/.


Data from the World Health Organization Monitoring Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (WHO MONICA) project, collected in Perth, are described. Patients taking a beta-blocker at the time of onset of myocardial infarction are a high-risk group, but univariate analysis of the data showed that the overall survival of patients on beta-blockers at 28 days was the same as for those not taking beta-blockers. A multiple logistic regression model analysis showed that the patients treated with beta-blockers had a survival advantage at 28 days, with a relative risk of death of 0.5. The mechanism of benefit is unclear. It does not appear to be an anti-arrhythmic effect, because beta-blockers did not affect survival in the first 24 h following a myocardial infarction, nor did they affect ventricular fibrillation. The effect may be due to a reduction in myocardial necrosis. Furthermore, an analysis of the incidence of coronary disease and type of drugs prescribed in Perth has indicated that beta-blockers may be contributing to a decrease in mortality due to coronary events.


The aim of this paper is to study the implementation of an efficient and reliable methodology for shape optimization problems where the objective function and constraints are not known explicitly and are dependent on the Finite Element Analysis (FEA). It is based on the Simultaneous Perturbation Stochastic Approximation (SPSA) method for solving unconstrained continuous optimization problems. We also propose Penalty SPSA (PSPSA) for solving constrained optimization problems, the constraints are handled using exterior point penalty functions within an algorithm that combines SPSA and exact penalty transformations. This paper presents a new structural optimization methodology that combines shape optimization, geometric modeling, FEA and PSPSA method to successfully optimize structural optimization problems. Several tests have been performed on some well known benchmark functions to demonstrate the robustness and high performance of the suggested methodology. In addition, an illustrative two-dimensional structural problem has been solved in a very efficient way. The numerical results demonstrate the robustness and high performance of the suggested methodology for structural optimization problems.


A receptor for the lipid lysophosphatidylserine reduces regulatory T cell function during inflammation to promote immune responses. Regulatory CD4+ T cells (Tregs) maintain immune homeostasis by suppressing the activity of effector cells. The numbers and activity of Tregs are tightly controlled; too few Tregs could result in autoimmunity, whereas too many could prevent effective immune responses. Barnes et al. investigated the role of the lipid lysophosphatidylserine (LysoPS), which binds to the G protein–coupled receptor GPR174, in the development of Tregs. Flow cytometric analysis showed that mouse T cells expressed GPR174. Mice deficient in GPR174 had increased numbers of Tregs in the thymus and the periphery compared to those in wild-type mice. In vitro, LysoPS reduced the number of Tregs that differentiated from wild-type naïve T cells, but had no such effect on cultures of naïve T cells from GPR174-deficient mice. Compared with Tregs from wild-type mice, those from GPR174-deficient mice showed an enhanced ability to suppress the proliferation of stimulated naïve CD4+ T cells in vitro. Liquid chromatography followed by tandem mass spectrometry analysis showed the presence of LysoPS isoforms in the thymus, lymph nodes, and the colon of mice. Gene expression analysis revealed that mRNA encoding a LysoPS-synthesizing enzyme was abundant in various immune cells and in lymphoid organs. In mice with the inflammatory condition experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a model of multiple sclerosis, deficiency in GPR174 resulted in reduced disease severity. Together, these data demonstrate that LysoPS through GPR174 inhibits both the activity of Tregs and their increase in number, suggesting that receptor antagonists might act as therapies to treat autoimmune diseases. M. J. Barnes, C.-M. Li, Y. Xu, J. An, Y. Huang, J. G. Cyster, The lysophosphatidylserine receptor GPR174 constrains regulatory T cell development and function. J. Exp. Med. 212, 1011–1020 (2015). [PubMed] Correction (9 July 2015): There was an error in the text. In the original sentence, "Compared with Tregs from wild-type mice, those from GPR174-deficient mice showed a reduced ability to suppress the proliferation of stimulated naïve CD4+ T cells in vitro," the word "reduced" was mistakenly used. It should instead read "enhanced." This has been corrected.


Chronic low back pain and ciatica after surgery is one of the main reasons for referring patients to multidisciplinary pain units (MPU). The future expansions of MPU have promted neurosurgeons in Spain to re-enter the field of chronic pain management and to recover their enthusiam, that have been lost severel years ago for various reasons. We do not intend dealing with the new instrumented surgical options for the post-laminectoy pain, but rather into the indications and descriptions of the interventional techniques for lumbar and sciatic pain managemet. Currently there are a great number of percutaneous techniques to achieve pain control in the post-laminectomy syndrome. Traditional neuroablative techniques at the spinal cord or the cerebral levels are not any longer indicated. Nonetheless, lumbar sympathectomy and thermo-neurolisis either with chilling or heating, are back in favour, due to the development of new devices and applications. Neuromodulation techniques which are also applicable to this pathology will be the subjet of another article. Pulsed radio-frecuency apperars to favour the safe application of electricity to the dorsal root ganglion or to the root itself thus avoiding the fear of permanent root and/or ganglion thermal lesions that frecuently occurred with the older techniques. Several strategies for pain relief are described, step by step and real figures are depicted in order to make the procedures more understandable and for the easier transmission of knowledge.


Abstract Background :Accidental needle-stick injuries (NSIs) are a hazard for health-care workers and general public health. Orthopaedic surgeons may be more prone to NSIs due to the prevalence of bone spikes in the operative field and the use of sharp orthopaedic instruments such as drills, saws and wires. A hospital-based cross sectional study was conducted in the orthopedic wards of Melaka General Hospital. The prevalence of NSIs was 32 (20.9%) and majority of it occurred during assisting in operation theatre 13(37.4%). Among them six (18.8%) were specialist, 12(37.5%) medical officer, 10 (31.2%) house officer and four staff nurses (12.5%). Among the respondents 142 (92.8%) had been immunized against Hepatitis B and 148 (96.7%) participants had knowledge regarding universal precaution. The incidence of NSI among health care workers at orthopaedics ward was not any higher in comparison with the similar studies and it was found out that the prevalence was more in junior doctors compared with specialist and staff nurses and it was statistically significant. Key Words Needle sticks injury, health care workers, and standard precaution


The Qara Khitai or Western Liao dynasty (1124–1218) ruled in Central Asia in the period that preceded the rise of Chinggis Khan. Founded by Khitan refugees who escaped from north China when the Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115–1234) vanquished their Khitan Liao dynasty (907–1125), they soon carved out for themselves a multicultural empire in Central Asia that combined Chinese, nomadic, and Muslim elements. Vanquishing the Qarakhanids and the Seljuks and making the Khwārazm Shāhs, the Gaochang Uighurs, and various Mongolian tribes their vassals, at its height the Qara Khitai Empire stretched from the Oxus to the Altai Mountains (namely, from Uzbekistan to western Mongolia including most of Xinjiang, China). Their biggest victory in 1141 against the Seljuks even became the basis for the legend of Prester John. Practicing religious tolerance and mostly indirect rule—leaving local rulers largely intact apart from in their capital Balāsāghūn (Burana, Kyrgyzstan)—and, using their Chinese and nomadic cultural capital, the Sinicized Buddhist nomads ruled over their heterogeneous but mostly Muslim sedentary population in rare harmony. The aging dynasty, however, could not survive the repercussions of Chinggis Khan's rise, which coincided with the bolstering of the Khwārazm Shāh's power. In the early 13th century, after a Naiman prince who had escaped from Chinggis Khan usurped the Qara Khitai throne, the Mongols vanquished the Qara Khitai, incorporating most of their troops into the Mongol army and channeling their skilled subject population for imperial needs. A scion of the Qara Khitai established the Muslim Qutlughkhanid dynasty of Kirman (south Persia, 1222–1306) that ruled under Mongol and later Ilkhanid aegis.


In Kaluza-Klein electromagnetism it is natural to associate modified gravity with strong electromagnetic fields. Hence, in this paper we investigate the combined effects of a strong magnetic field and perturbative f(R) gravity on the structure of neutron stars. The effect of an interior strong magnetic field of about 1017?18 G on the equation of state is derived in the context of a quantum hadrodynamics (QHD) equation of state (EoS) including effects of the magnetic pressure and energy along with occupied Landau levels. Adopting a random orientation of interior field domains, we solve the modified spherically symmetric hydrostatic equilibrium equations derived for a gravity model with f(R) = R+?R2. Effects of both the finite magnetic field and the modified gravity are detailed for various values of the magnetic field and the perturbation parameter ? along with a discussion of their physical implications. We show that there exists a parameter space of the modified gravity and the magnetic field strength, in which even a soft equation of state can accommodate a large ( > 2 M?) maximum neutron star mass.


Abstract The timing of regional deformation of the turbiditic Silurian–Devonian Hill End Trough in the northeastern Lachlan Orogen has been a contentious issue with one view ascribing the regional north–south folds and axial planar foliation to Middle Devonian basin inversion. Alternatively, it has been argued that given the low-angle discordance between Lower and Upper Devonian units on the Capertee and Molong highs, and the development of a dominant episode of folding mapped from the Hill End Trough into the adjoining highs, the major regional deformation is latest Devonian to early Carboniferous and predates intrusion of Bathurst-type granites at 358–314 Ma. We have approached the problem by analysing the gentle, upright, southeast-trending folds and deformation patterns in Devonian units of the northern Capertee High (Cudgegong area), drawing a cross-section across the Hill End Trough and reviewing the structure of two areas in the Molong High (west of Orange, and south of Wellington). Upper Devonian units on the highs are affected by fold patterns that extend into the underlying successions and have been interpreted as continuous into the central Hill End Trough, confirming the extent of the latest Devonian to early Carboniferous regional deformation in the northeastern Lachlan Orogen. Constraints from timing of deposition and radiometric ages are ambiguous and imply deformation was overlapping with sedimentation, as has also been inferred from sedimentary features of the Upper Devonian succession. Steeply dipping faults along the highs predated the Late Devonian and were probably formed in extension during formation of the Hill End Trough and were reactivated during basin inversion and potentially during Upper Devonian sedimentation. Our conclusion is that the simplest hypothesis is that the regional east–west shortening was of latest Devonian to early Carboniferous age, although poorly understood basin inversion occurred in the Middle to Late Devonian. KEY POINTS The timing of the development of regional north–south folds in the northeastern Lachlan Orogen has been a contentious issue and is difficult to resolve, given the broad stratigraphic constraints and ambiguous radiometric ages. The simplest hypothesis remains that the regional deformation was of latest Devonian to early Carboniferous timing. Middle to Late Devonian deformation included reactivation of basin-forming steeply dipping faults during basin inversion and ongoing sedimentation.


Verticillium wilt, caused by Verticillium dahliae, is a common disease of chile pepper (Capsicum annuum) in New Mexico. In August of 2007, wilted plants with vascular discoloration in the stem typical of infection by V. dahliae occurred in several fields in Luna County in southern New Mexico. In one field, Verticillium wilt incidence was between 60 and 70%. Approximately 30% of the field was infested with Physalis wrightii (Wrights groundcherry) and Anoda cristata (spurred anoda), and 60% of the field was infested with Ipomoea purpurea (tall morningglory). Except for vascular discoloration found in a few plants of Wrights groundcherry and spurred anoda, there were no other symptoms observed in the weeds present. Previously, Wrights groundcherry and spurred anoda were demonstrated as hosts to V. dahliae (2); however, to our knowledge, tall morningglory was not. A 5-cm segment was cut from the lower part of the stems and upper part of the tap roots of six tall morningglory plants and two chile pepper plants. The segments were washed, surface disinfested for 2 min in 0.5% sodium hypochlorite, and cut into pieces that were plated onto water agar. Mycelial colonies emerging from the pieces were transferred to either potato dextrose agar, prune extract agar, or Czapek-Dox agar medium. Putative V. dahliae isolates from tall morningglory and chile pepper plants were identified based on characteristic morphological features when cultured on prune extract medium (2,3). In addition, PCR of fungal DNA and sequencing the amplicons using primer pair ITS4/ITS6 showed a 99% homology with the sequence of the rDNA ITS of V. dahliae (1). Pathogenicity tests were conducted with two isolates of V. dahliae from tall morningglory and one from chile pepper. In the first of two methods, four pots were infested with conidia of each isolate (2 × 107 conidia per 500 cm3 of soilless mix) and planted (five seeds per pot, thinned to three seedlings) with chile pepper cv. AZ-20, which is susceptible to V. dahliae. Three noninfested pots served as the control. Pots were placed in a growth chamber at 26/20°C day/night temperature. In the second method, plants (cv. AZ-20) at the 6- to 8-leaf stage were inoculated in a greenhouse with V. dahliae by dispensing 5 ml of a conidial suspension (4 × 106 conidia/ml) into the root plug prior to transplanting. Four root plugs were inoculated per isolate and there were three noninoculated root plugs. Both experiments were repeated once. Isolates of V. dahliae recovered from tall morningglory and chile pepper were pathogenic on chile pepper. Leaf chlorosis, leaf drop, wilting, and vascular discoloration were observed within 8 weeks after sowing into infested soil or within 6 weeks after inoculation into the root plugs of transplants. No symptoms were observed on noninoculated plants. V. dahliae was reisolated from the stems of all symptomatic plants. To our knowledge, this is the first report to document the recovery of V. dahliae from tall morningglory and its pathogenicity on chile pepper. References: (1) P. V. Pramateftaki et al. J. Fungal Genet. Biol. 29:19, 2000. (2). S. Sanogo and M. Clary. Plant Dis. 87:450, 2003. (3) P. W. Talboys. Plant Pathol. 9:57, 1979.


BackgroundBasal cytotoxic activity of NK cells, a subtype of lymphocytes Involved In the nonspecific immune response to viruses, tumors, and some bacteria, is altered in the postoperative period. The current study examines the effects of halothane and isoflurane on interferon-induced stimulation of NK cell cytotoxicity in vivo and in vitro. MethodsMice were exposed to either anesthetic on days 10, 5, 1, or −1 relative to interferon treatment on day 0. NK cytotoxicity was assessed 24 h later. Similarly, splenic mono-nuclear cells containing NK cells were treated with Interferon, before or after in vitro exposure with either halothane or isoflurane, and cytotoxiclty was determined. ResultsIn vivo, isoflurane or halothane inhibited subsequent interferon-induced NK cell stimulation (>90% and 67%, respectively). No inhibition occurred if interferon was given before anesthetic exposure. Significant inhibition of interferon-induced NK cell stimulation could be observed 11 days after anesthesia. In vitro, both anesthetics inhibited the subsequent stimulation of NK cytotoxicity by interferon, however, cytotoxicity of NK cells treated with interferon before anesthetic exposure was comparable to untreated interferon-stimulated NK cells. ConclusionsHalothane and isoflurane inhibit interferon stimulation of NK cytotoxicity in naive (unstimulated) NK cells of the splenic mononuclear cell pool without affecting the cytotoxicity of previously stimulated (interferon) NK cells. This could occur directly by preventing the NK cell from responding or indirectly by altering other cells in the splenic mononuclear cell pool (T cells, macrophages), which then inhibit NK cell induction.


Reliable estimation of leaf chlorophyll-a and -b content (chl-a + b) at canopy scales is essential for monitoring vegetation productivity, physiological stress, and nutrient availability. To achieve this, narrow-band vegetation indices (VIs) derived from imaging spectroscopy data are commonly used. However, VIs are affected by canopy structures other than chl-a + b, such as leaf area index (LAI) and leaf mean tilt angle (MTA). In this study, we evaluated the performance of 58 VIs reported in the literature to be chl-a + b-sensitive against a unique measured set of species-specific leaf angles for six crop species in southern Finland. We created a large simulated canopy reflectance database (100,000 canopy configurations) using the physically based PROSAIL (coupling of PROSPECT and SAIL (Scattering by Arbitrarily Inclined Leaves) radiative transfer models) model. The performance of model-simulated indices was compared against airborne AISA Eagle II imaging spectroradiometer data and field-measured chl-a + b, LAI, and MTA values. In general, LAI had a positive effect on the strength of the correlation between chl-a + b and VIs while MTA had a negative effect in both measured and simulated data. Three indices (REIP (red edge inflection point), TCARI (transformed chlorophyll absorption ratio index)/OSAVI (optimized soil-adjusted vegetation index), and CTR6 (Carter indices)) showed strong correlations with chl-a + b and similar performance in model-simulated and measured data set. However, only two (TCARI/OSAVI and CTR6) were independent from LAI and MTA. We consider these two indices robust proxies of crop leaf chl-a + b.


This study was conducted for isolation and identification of Streptococcus iniae from Oreochromis niloticus fish farms using traditional and molecular PCR techniques. Forty-seven isolates of Streptococcus were recovered from 232 fish samples from successive 4 seasons during 2015. Summer showed the highest prevalence with 34.9%. S. iniae was identified as the causative agent for streptococcosisin 3 seasons by PCR using S. iniae specific-16S rRNA primers. Experimental infection was performed to determine the pathogenicity of S. iniae for O.nloticus and the best antibiotics to be used for treatment of streptococcosis. S. iniae caused 70% mortalities in experimentally infected fish. Several histopathological alterations were observed in the liver, spleen, kidney and gills of the infected fish. The most effective antibiotics for treatment were Ampicillin with no mortalities, followed by Penicillin and Tetracycline with 10% mortality for both.


High speed twist drills are probably the most common of all metal cutting tools and also the least efficient. In this study, detailed research was undertaken into aspects of drill performance and ways in which drilling could be improved in short hole depths of up to two diameters. The work included an evaluation of twist drill geometry and grinding parameters. It was established that errors in point grinding lead to increased hole oversize and reduced drill life. A fundamental analysis was made to establish predictive equations for the drill torque and thrust using modified orthogonal cutting equations and empirical data. A good correlation was obtained between actual and predicted results. Two new techniques for extending twist drill life by the use of coolant feeding holes and also the application of titanium nitride coatings were evaluated. Both methods were found to have potential for improving drill performance. A completely new design of carbide tipped drill was designed and developed. The new design was tested and it compared favourably with two commercially available carbide tipped drills. In further work an entirely different type of drill point geometry was developed for the drill screw. A new design was produced which enabled the drilling time to be minimised for the low thrust forces that were likely to be used with hand held power tools.


Models trained on one set of domains often suffer performance drops on unseen domains, e.g., when wildlife monitoring models are deployed in new camera locations. In this work, we study principles for designing data augmentations for out-of-domain (OOD) generalization. In particular, we focus on real-world scenarios in which some domain-dependent features are robust, i.e., some features that vary across domains are predictive OOD. For example, in the wildlife monitoring application above, image backgrounds vary across camera locations but indicate habitat type, which helps predict the species of photographed animals. Motivated by theoretical analysis on a linear setting, we propose targeted augmentations, which selectively randomize spurious domain-dependent features while preserving robust ones. We prove that targeted augmentations improve OOD performance, allowing models to generalize better with fewer domains. In contrast, existing approaches such as generic augmentations, which fail to randomize domain-dependent features, and domain-invariant augmentations, which randomize all domain-dependent features, both perform poorly OOD. In experiments on three real-world datasets, we show that targeted augmentations set new states-of-the-art for OOD performance by 3.2-15.2%.


Life Stories of Dutch Female Farmers Marisa Turesky Brandeis University Abstract My research asks: what are the lived experiences of female farmers in a Dutch agricultural community like the Netherlands? Although popular culture portrays most female farmers as uneducated individuals of lower socioeconomic status, the six women who I interviewed in the Netherlands over the course of a short ethnographic research study present life stories that complicate this stereotype. In my conversations with female farm owners in the Netherlands, it emerged that a patriarchal paradigm appears to persist in industrial, conventional agriculture, seeming to encourage larger numbers of women to own more small-scale farms. While there is substantial existing research on rural women's historical roles in farming, I add additional layers to this work, through my analysis of the personal experiences of a small sample of women farmers in the contemporary Netherlands. These women, who consider farming their lifestyle, discuss their inspiration, challenges, successes, and passion for their chosen occupation. In attempting to balance traditional roles of labor versus domesticity, these women actively challenge the gender binary through experiences in motherhood and business ownership.


The Algebraic Eraser Diffie–Hellman (AEDH) protocol, first introduced in 2005 as a key agreement and authentication protocol, has been proposed as a standard in ISO JTC-1/SC-31 (2916720) to protect various communication protocols like RFID, NFC, or Bluetooth for devices associated with ISO-18000 and the Internet of Things. A recent paper by M.J.B. Robshaw and Simon R Blackburn claims to recover sufficient data to impersonate a device or, with a bit more work, recover the private keys of a device if an attacker uses the draft 29167-20 protocol and gains direct access to the resulting shared secret computation. This paper shows that simply adding a Hash or a Message Authentication Code (MAC) to the proposed authentication protocol overcomes the purported attacks. These simple standard enhancements thwart all of these attacks; that is, attacks of this nature fail. As the 2916720 draft is currently a work item under active development within the ISO process, all these attacks would normally have been addressed in the working group, and no AEDH protocol in the public domain currently transmits the computed shared secret. Therefore, contrary to the conclusion of Robshaw and Blackburn, a simple addition to the draft protocol, similar in nature to protections in other protocols like TLS, makes the AEDH protocol perfectly suitable for authentication of passive tags and other low-power, constrained devices.


Introduction:
Open fractures of the leg represent a severe trauma. The combined approach, shared between plastic and orthopaedic surgeons, is considered to be important, although this multidisciplinary treatment is not routinely performed. Aim of this study was to verify whether the orthoplastic treatment is of any advantage over the traditional simply orthopedic treatment, through a multicentric inclusion of these unfrequent injuries into a prospective study.

Material and methods:
The following trauma centres were involved: Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute/University of Bologna (leading centre) and Maggiore Hospital (Bologna, Italy), Frenchay Hospital (Bristol, United Kingdom), Jinnah Hospital (Lahore, Pakistan). All patients consecutively hospitalized in the mentioned centres between January 2012 and December 2013 due to tibial open fractures were included in the study and prospectively followed up to December 2014. Demographics and other clinical features were recorded, including the type of treatment (orthopaedic or orthoplastic). The considered outcome measures included duration of hospitalization, time for bone union and soft tissue closure, Enneking score at 3, 6 and 12 months, the incidence of osteomyelitis and other complications.

Results:
A total of 164 patients were included in the study. Out of them 68% were treated with an orthoplastic approach, whereas 32% received a purely orthopedic treatment. All considered outcome measures showed to be improved by the orthoplastic approach, compared to the orthopaedic one: time for soft tissue closure (2 versus 25 weeks), duration of hospital stay (22 versus 55 days), time for bone union (6 versus 8.5 months) , number of additional operations (0.6 versus 1.2) and functional recovery of the limb at 12 months (27 versus 19, Enneking's score). All results were statistically significant.

Conclusion:
The combined orthoplastic approach to the treatment of open tibia fractures, in particular for high grade injuries (Gustilo 3B), is proven to improve the outcome of these severe injuries.


Individual quality of life (QOL) is a critical foundation of stable and cohesive societies. This research examines QOL among Iowa farmers, who as a group have seen their numbers decline precipitously over the past decades as the farm economy has undergone major restructuring processes. Farm families are nested in rural communities, many of which have also experienced persistent population loss and economic decline over the same period. A multilevel modeling approach is employed to examine determinants of subjective QOL over time, using 29 years of longitudinal data. Results point to positive relationships between household income, community vitality, and farm family QOL. Individual stress and economic dependence on farming were negatively associated with QOL. The finding that community vitality is a critical determinant of farm family quality of life supports long-standing appeals to increase investment in community development efforts.


Never before in history, aging was such a significant factor for epidemics as it is now for the current COVID-19 pandemic, which features a drastic shift of mortality towards older ages. Our analysis of data on COVID-19-related mortality in Spain, Italy, and Sweden has shown that, in the range of 30 to 90 years of age, each dependency of the logarithm of mortality upon age is linear, and all regression lines are strictly parallel to those related to the total mortality in accordance with the Gompertz law. In all cases, irrespective of the stage and place of epidemic, mortality doubling time in this age range is close to 7,5 years. The rates of being infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and of being diagnosed due to the symptomatic manifestations of the infection are dependent on age to a far lesser degree. With account for these observations, three messages are put forth: 1) Older persons are the principal victims of both SARS-CoV-2 and measures undertaken to control its spread; 2) Older persons are not the principal driving force of SARS-CoV-2 spread; 3) Older persons can and should be engaged in combating the pandemic and its consequences; however, not via selective social distancing and other discriminative measures. People aged over 65 years constitute a significant part of the current population. They have specific interests and needs, which deserve no less respect than those of any other age group. This includes the right for the quality of life that remains sustained under the emergency conditions. Since the prospects for controlling the SARS-CoV-2 are dubious, those in charge of decisions concerning «people aged above 65» should mind that currently, unlike in the medieval ages, 65+ is the individual future of almost everyone.


Correspondence Cynthia Lum, Department of Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, MS 6D12, Fairfax, VA 22030. Email: email@example.com Research Summary: In this article, we provide the most comprehensive narrative review to date of the research evidence base for body-worn cameras (BWCs). Seventy empirical studies of BWCs were examined covering the impact of cameras on officer behavior, officer perceptions, citizen behavior, citizen perceptions, police investigations, and police organizations. Although officers and citizens are generally supportive of BWC use, BWCs have not had statistically significant or consistent effects on most measures of officer and citizen behavior or citizens' views of police. Expectations and concerns surrounding BWCs among police leaders and citizens have not yet been realized by and large in the ways anticipated by each. Additionally, despite the large growth in BWC research, there continues to be a lacuna of knowledge on the impact that BWCs have on police organizations and police–citizen relationships more generally.


The life-limiting loading configuration of weakly bonded unidirectional titanium matrix composites is often transverse cyclic loading. Most fatigue tests under this loading configuration have been conducted at maximum stress levels above the monotonic proportional limit. However, the fatigue behavior at maximum stress levels below the monotonic proportional limit is often of interest, yet little work has been performed to identify this region on the fatigue life diagram. This investigation examined the behavior of a 16-ply SCS-9/Timetal 21S composite loaded transversely under generally low amplitude fatigue conditions. The fatigue limit under this loading configuration was found to be about one half the proportional limit. Residual strength tests were then conducted to determine the state of damage through measuring the change in stiffness using a number of unloading and reloading events. A damage mechanics methodology was demonstrated as a means to quantify the effects of the fatigue damage on the mechanical performance.


Background

After a stroke, a considerable proportion of people experience upper limb (UL) impairments, which may affect their activities of daily living. Focal spasticity is
common, for which botulinum toxin-type A (BTX-A) is used increasingly. However, published randomised controlled trials have not used valid outcome measures to assess the effects of BTX-A on spasticity and have hardly explored its impact on UL function. The primary aim of this thesis was to investigate whether task-specific UL practice in the form of an evidence-based, functional skill acquisition programme, administered after BTX-A, would have any differential effects on upper limb spasticity or functional UL activity in people more than six months after stroke. The
prerequisites were to: 1) clarify the definition of "spasticity", 2) pilot a novel biomechanical spasticity measurement device, 3) standardise the assessment of arm function, 4) systematically review the literature on the effects of BTX-A and 5) compile an evidence- and theory-based skill acquisition programme.

Methods

Design: randomised controlled feasibility study with four repeated measures and a blinded assessor. Fourteen participants (time after stroke: range 1.4 -11.0 years) gave informed consent and were randomised into either the experimental group (EG: BTX-A plus skill acquisition) or the placebo control group (CG: BTX-A plus inflatable arm splint). Outcome measures were: Action Research Arm Test, Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, grip force of the affected hand, Stroke Impact Scale, EMG of the elbow flexors, biomechanically measured resistance to passive movement and Ashworth scale. Outcomes were assessed at baseline and weeks 4, 7 and 13 following BTX-A injection. Differences in change between the two groups were analysed using the Mann-Whitney U-test. Applying the Bonferroni correction for three repeated measures yielded a critical p-value of 0.017.

Results

At baseline, there were no significant differences between the two groups in any of the dependent variables. Compared to the CG, the EG improved in self-reported hand function between baseline and week 4 (median change 25%, range 0 to 30% vs. CG: median change 0%, range -10 to 0%; p=0.04). The EG also improved in arm function between baseline and week 7 (median ARA T change 4 points, range 1 to 8 points vs. CG: median change -1 point, range -3 to 0 points; p=0.003) as well as in self-reported ADL between baseline and week 13 (median change 11.3%, range 5 to 20% vs. CG: median change 0%, range -2.5 to 5%; p=0.02). Only the differential improvement in ARAT by the EG reached statistical significance. There were no significant differences between the two groups in any of the other outcome measures. Although the programme was perceived as intensive, most participants in the experimental group had found the intervention to be enjoyable.

Conclusion

The main finding of this study was that people with severe and chronic upper limb spasticity may still improve in functional activity involving their affected arm, using a
combination of BTX-A and a functional skill acquisition programme - without exacerbating spasticity. BTX-A alone did not improve upper limb activity in this study. Implications for clinical practice and research were discussed.


This is the penultimate draft of an article, now available in published form, that examines the development of affirmative sexual consent in Canadian jurisprudence and legal theory and its adoption in Canadian law. Affirmative sexual consent requirements were explicitly proposed in Canadian legal literature in 1986, codified in the 1992 Criminal Code amendments, and recognized as an essential element of the common law and statutory definitions of sexual consent by the Supreme Court of Canada in a series of cases decided since 1994. Although sexual violence and non-enforcement of sexual assault laws are worldwide phenomena, the international scholarly literature reflects limited awareness of these developments in Canadian law. This article remedies that gap in the literature. The Canadian experience with the definition of sexual consent as communicated "voluntary agreement" demonstrates the value of this conceptualization of consent; the definition provides a well-defined set of non-discretionary reference points for legal analysis of the facts in sexual assault offenses. The effect is to facilitate effective enforcement of the sexual assault laws and affirm the right to sexual autonomy, sexual self-determination, and equality, consistent with fundamental principles of individual human rights. For all these reasons, familiarity with the Canadian experience may be useful to those engaged with the reform of rape and sexual assault laws in other jurisdictions.Available on Heinonline


This study assessed the extent and distribution of genetic diversity of 29 Faidherbia albida provenances from 10 African countries by employing amplified fragment length polymorphism with an aim of providing crucial genetic diversity information for in situ and ex situ management and utilization of the collections. Plant materials consisted of F. albida accessions held at World Agroforestry Centre [International Center for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF)] seed bank. A total of 676 bands ranging from 50 to 499 base pairs were scored using five primer sets. The average percentage of polymorphic loci over all populations was 31.7. The collection from the Taveta (Kenya) provenance had the highest percentage of polymorphic loci (69.5%), while those from Manapools (Zimbabwe) had the lowest (13.5). The average heterozygosity ranged from 0.05 to 0.28 with a mean of 0.16 across all the provenances. There was high and quite significant population differentiation among the populations (PhipT = 0.64, p = 0.001). Analysis of molecular variance revealed that 64% of the total variation was partitioned among the populations and 36% within the populations. Unweighed pair-group method with arithmetic averaging clustering generally reflected the geographical origins and similarity of the germplasm except West African provenances indicating complex evolutionary trends that have shaped the population structure and distribution of the species. The results show that the germplasm held at ICRAF seed bank is of low genetic variability with the western and some of the eastern Africa provenances having the highest diversity. More collections need to be done to cover the entire distribution range of this species to capture more diversity and enrich this gene pool.


So-called "robot" journalism represents a shift towards the automation of journalistic tasks related to news reporting, writing, curation, and even data analysis. In this paper, we consider the extension of robot journalism to the domain of social platforms and study the use of "news bots"—automated accounts that participate in news and information dissemination on social networks. Such bots present an intriguing development opportunity for news organizations and journalists. In particular, we analyze a sample of existing news bot accounts on Twitter to understand how news bots are currently being used and to examine how using automation and algorithms may change the modern media environment. Based on our analysis, we propose a typology of news bots in the form of a design and editorial decision space that can guide designers in defining the intent, utility, and functionality of future bots. The proposed design space highlights the limits of news bots (e.g., automated commentary and opinion, algorithmic transparency and accountability) and areas where news bots may enable innovation, such as niche and local news.


Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a severe immune-mediated disease characterized by chronically progressive inflammation and destruction of joints and associated structures. Significant advances in our understanding of its pathophysiology and early diagnosis have led to improved therapy and better outcome. Nevertheless, a number of details in the pathogenesis of RA are still unknown and thus the disease cannot be cured at present. Therefore, current therapy aims at accomplishing complete and long-lasting remission. However, this goal is only achieved in a small proportion of patients, and partial remission and frequent relapses are a common problem. A significant number of patients still do not respond at all to available treatments. In addition, all antirheumatic and immune-modulating drugs developed so far carry a considerable risk of adverse effects, some of which can be severe or even life threatening. This is due, at least in part, to a lack of specificity of most drugs for the target tissue, and to a high volume of distribution for systemic application, which, together with rapid clearance of most drugs, requires frequent application of high dosages. Targeted drug delivery and prolongation of bioavailability would alleviate this issue significantly. This article, therefore, reviews a selection of studies that report promising strategies for joint specific delivery of antiarthritic drugs.


The residential land and dwelling activity profiles are updated quarterly and provide a comprehensive summary of recent residential land development and dwelling activity indicators within the regional planning project areas. Topics covered include broadhectare land supply, residential lot approvals, operational works approvals, plan endorsements, lots lapsed, closing stock, lot registrations, lot consumption, lot sales, house and land packages, dwelling sales, and dwelling approvals.


Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease, which still today affects the Northern-hemisphere population, generating a socioeconomically burden. One of the most unfavorable symptoms in this chronic disorder is fatigue. In this review, we favor and sustain a main alteration of the hypothalamus-pituitary-axis complex and its physiopathologic consequences, mostly related to glutamate and corticoid levels. We try to sustain our hypothesis in what is already reported, corroborating that the inflammatory cells release mainly glutamate, a neuro-toxic substance which leads to a demyelinating effect and as a main result fatigue as a symptom. When this hypothesis is demonstrated, we could trace therapeutic targets to stop the release of glutamate of these immunologic cells, in order to avoid fatigue in multiple sclerosis patients.


This study highlighted the effects of secondary treated wastewater to macronutrients and trace elements availability in mustard greens grown under soil and soilless culture. Higher macronutrients and trace elements concentrations were found in
FSTW as compared to BSTW suggested seasonal variations and treatment system efficiency affected wastewater quality. The application of FSTW and BSTW for irrigation has significantly contributed to soil fertility and toxicity with most of macronutrients, micronutrients and beneficial elements being absorbed by plants for physiological activities otherwise interacted in soil particularly trace elements.Besides, higher macronutrients and trace elements level were measured in plant grown under soilless as compared to soil culture suggested soil media as good filter
for potentially toxic elements removal while soilless media have a greater metal tolerance. Meanwhile, the DIM and HRI conducted shown children were highly exposed to risk as compared to adults suggested that former may be vulnerable towards macronutrients and trace elements due to influence of assumed body weight
and consumption rates. Nevertheless, the HRI indicated values was <1 and concluded plants are safe to be consumed by adults and children. In addition, higher plants heights, diameter and number of leaves were observed in plant grown under soil as
compared to soilless culture suggested that role of soil as trace elements filter for plant uptake. Hence, the application of FSTW and BSTW has a potential application to irrigation crops with continuous monitoring in order to assess possible detrimental
effects to human and environmental resulted from short and long term irrigation


The last three years have realized significant structural changes in the U.S. agricultural policy environment. These changes include nearly complete planting flexibility and the elimination of target-price-based income support for agricultural producers. Many have questioned the extent to which such policy changes may influence the variability of agricultural prices. This analysis uses price series dating from 1944 to develop a multivariate framework to evaluate the long-run (inter-season) determinants of endogenous variability for the prices of corn, wheat, and soybeans. An annual measure of price variability is calculated from monthly spot market cash prices for each of the three commodities. The generalized method of moments estimation technique is used to model the price variability measure as a function of several supply and demand variables hypothesized to be relevant. Several explicit policy variables are tested for their effect on output price variability as well as on the variable parameter estimates. Output price variability is found to be sensitive to stocks, demand shocks, yield shocks, input price variability, and policy factors. Results vary somewhat for corn, wheat, and soybeans. Implications for recent farm policy changes are offered.


ObjectiveInsomnia both as a symptom and as part of chronic insomnia disorder is quite common in menopause. Comorbid conditions, such as restless legs syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea, occur with high prevalence among perimenopausal women with insomnia. Insomnia in this population group is associated with adverse health outcomes, and there are no clear standards on how to treat it. MethodsBased on extensive literature search, 76 articles were identified. Two authors independently graded evidence according to the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Levels of Evidence. ResultsEvaluation and treatment of other comorbid sleep disorders are recommended, as is cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia. Hormone therapy, eszopiclone, escitalopram, gabapentin, isoflavones, valerian, exercise, and hypnosis are suggested. Zolpidem, quiteiapine XL, citalopram, mirtazapine followed by long-acting melatonin, ramelteon, Pycnogenol, Phyto-Female Complex, yoga, and massage may be considered. Kampo formulas are not recommended. Acupuncture may not be suggested, and cognitive-behavioral therapy that is not tailored for insomnia probably should not be considered. ConclusionsAlthough a variety of interventions are shown to be helpful in improving sleep in menopause, there is a need for well-designed head-to-head trials with uniform outcome measures.


Upscaling the meat industry in the Netherlands since the 1950s caused some side effects, such as environmental problems, animal welfare issues and public health hazards. These problems could be solved by lowering both meat production and consumption. Due to the meat industry working in the background, most consumers are not aware of what happens in the meat industry, nor do they realise the consequences of the meat industry on their living environment. One way to deal with this is to close the experiential gap between the animal and the meat consumers buy. This can be done in two complementary ways: change of rules and regulation and education of consumers. Both ways are already happening concerning meat consumption, but change is slow. This can be explained by cultural and economic factors and with the theory of cognitive dissonance which argues that when people experience a difference in cognition and/or behaviour they perceive this as a conflict they want to solve. Solving cognitive dissonance can be done by using several cognitive dissonance reduction strategies of which only one leads to a change in behaviour. This implies that trying to change behaviour solely by educating consumers has little effect. In my thesis I want to argue that although educating is a useable tool to change behaviour it needs something extra. I believe this can be found in offering alternatives. By educating consumers in the supermarket and offering alternatives simultaneously, it is easier for consumers to solve the cognitive dissonance they experience by choosing the reduction strategy of changing behaviour. In addition, I think that adding the idea of the experiential gap as a new cognitive dissonance reduction strategy sheds an interesting light on consumer behaviour and may help to get a better insight in how people make moral choices in general.


Introduction: Pirfenidone is a newly licensed antifibrotic drug that might slow down disease progression and increase progression free survival in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). However, side effects may offset treatment benefits and patient compliance. Recent course of disease, side effects and compliance were analysed in a tertiary ILD centre observation. Methods: 60 patients suffering from mild-moderate IPF according to ATS guidelines started pirfenidone therapy after consensual multidisciplinary ILD Board decision. Pulmonary function tests and treatment side effects were recorded at each clinic visit. Data are presented as median (interquartile range 25-75%). Disease progression was defined as a reduction of vital capacity (VC) ≥10% or diffusion capacity (DLCO) ≥15%. Results: Patient age was 70 (63-74) years, with a VC of 68 (58-80)% and a DLCO of 38 (30-52)% of predicted normal. Follow-up time on treatment was 210 (120-383) days. 7 patients (12%) showed disease progression. Overall VC and DLCO changed by 0 (-6 to +2)% and 2 (-3 to +9)%, respectively. 38 patients (66%) reported treatment-related side effects leading to drug discontinuation in 8 patients (14%). In order of frequency, reported side effects were: nausea, anorexia, fatigue, skin reactions, dizziness and myalgias. Other reasons for treatment termination were death (n=4), incompliance (n=3) and lung transplantation (n=1). Discussion: The majority of IPF patients treated with pirfenidone showed stable disease. Drug-related side effects are common but mostly manageable with supportive care, however, treatment discontinuation was required in 1 out of 7.


Artificial tactile feedback systems can improve prosthetic function for people with amputation by substituting for lost proprioception in the missing limb. However, limited data exists to guide the design and application of these systems for mobility and balance scenarios. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of a noninvasive artificial sensory feedback (ASF) system on lower-limb function in the presence of a cognitive load and a liner interface. Reaction times (RTs) and accuracy of leg-movement responses to vibratory stimuli at the thigh were recorded for 12 nondisabled individuals and 3 participants with transfemoral amputation using a custom-built testing apparatus. The results indicate that the addition of a cognitive load increases response times relative to the baseline condition by 0.26 to 0.33 s. The prosthetic liner produced a less pronounced increase in RT of 0.06 to 0.11 s. Participants were able to correctly identify the stimulus location with nearly 100% accuracy. These increased RTs are nontrivial and must be considered in designing ASF systems.


This paper investigates the behavior of investors in the equity option market using a unique and detailed dataset of open interest and volume for all contracts listed on the Chicago Board Options Exchange over the 1990 through 2001 period. We document major stylized facts about the option market activity of three types of non-market maker investors over this time period and also investigate how their trading changed during the stock market bubble of the late 1990s and early 2000. Our key findings are: (1) non-market maker investors have about four times more long call than long put open interest, (2) these investors have more short than long open interest in both calls and puts, (3) each type of investor purchases more calls to open brand new positions when the return on underlying stocks are higher over horizons ranging from one week to two years into the past, (4) the least sophisticated group of investors substantially increased their purchases of calls on growth but not value stocks during the stock market bubble of the late 1990s and early 2000, and (5) none of the investor groups significantly increased their purchases of puts during the bubble period in order to overcome short sales constraints in the stock market.


PURPOSE
To investigate the dosmetric difference in the application of RapidArc using 6MV X and 15MVX X-ray for radiotherapy of multiple hepatic malignancy.

METHODS
12 cases with multiple hepatic tumors (primary 5 cases or secondary 7 cases) were selected. All patients underwent the three dimensional CT simulation in free breathing. For each patient, RapidArc plans with single or two 358° arcs using 6MV X or 15MVX-ray were designed respectively, the prescription dose was 2Gy/Fractionx25 Fractions. The dosimetric differences were compared among RapidArc plans.

RESULTS
All of RapidArc plans can meet the clinical requirement. There were no significant difference were found in the conformity index (CI), homogeneity index (HI), the maximum dose and the minimum dose of PTV among RapidArc plans(P>0.05), and all the CI can get to 0.91 and HI can get to 0.88. In the RapidArc plans with two 358° arcs, the V5,V10,V15 of normal liver were higher than with single arc, while V20, V25, V30, V35, V40 were lower than with single arc. The radiation dose of normal liver, stomach, duodenum and spinal cord differed no significantly among different plans(P>0.05). The monitor units of RapidArc plans using 6MV X- ray increased 12% compared to 15MV averagely.

CONCLUSIONS
The 6MV X-ray would be selected chiefly in the radiotherapy of multiple haptic tumor using RapidArc with single or two whole arcs.


One of the most invasive cancer types which affect women is breast cancer. Unfortunately, it exhibits a high mortality rate. Automated histopathological image analysis can help to diagnose the disease. Therefore, computer aided diagnosis by intelligent image analysis can help in the diagnosis tasks associated with this disease. Here we propose an automated system for histopathological image analysis that is based on deep learning neural networks with convolutional layers. Rather than a single network, an ensemble of them is built so as to attain higher recognition rates, which are obtained by computing a consensus decision from the individual networks of the ensemble. A final step involves the optimization of the set of networks that are included in the ensemble by a genetic algorithm. Experimental results are provided with a set of benchmark images, with favorable outcomes.


Summary Both recombinant interferon alpha and deoxycoformycin (dCF) are effective in the treatment of hairy cell leukaemia. In an attempt to reduce the complications from dCF therapy, a pilot study of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) first treated patients with interferon to improve peripheral blood cell counts before dCF treatment began. Thirty‐four patients were treated for 3 months with recombinant interferon alpha‐2a (rIFN alpha‐2a), 3 × 106 IU subcutaneously three times a week for 3 months, and then by dCF, 4 mg/m2 intravenously every 2 weeks for a maximum of 12 months. The overall response rate was 94% (32/34); 76% of patients (26/34) had complete response (CR) (90% confidence interval, 62–88%) and 18% (6/34) partial response. One patient was found to have a Mycobacterium avium infection while receiving rIFN alpha‐2a. Without specific antimycobacterial therapy and with continued administration of rIFN alpha‐2a and dCF, the infection resolved and he achieved CR. Three patients had culture‐negative febrile episodes during the dCF phase of treatment. Non‐disseminated herpes zoster developed in four patients, but three of the episodes occurred only after treatment was discontinued. Sequential administration of rIFN alpha‐2a and dCF resulted in fewer infections (P=0.027) than in ECOG's previous study of dCF used alone. Two patients died, one of combined hairy cell leukaemia and non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma of intermediate histologic type 17 months after entry into the study and the other of cardiac arrest 20 months after entry. Thirty‐two patients were alive with a median follow‐up of 21 months (range 13–31 months). This combination produces durable CRs with a low incidence of infection.