Psychoneuroendocrine immunology (PNEI) is the science which studies the interactions between psychological, neural, endocrine and immunological processes.
The concept of the PNEI system was developed in the seventies and eighties through the discoveries of the interaction between immune system and molecules with neuroendocrine activity targeting multiple organs; the interdependence between immunological, psychological and neuroendocrine mechanisms has been elucidated through several studies subsequently.
PNEI system is a self-regulation network which is involved in the homeostasis of the organisms, in the maintenance of chemical-physical-neuropsychological balance in response to stimuli of various nature.
The present review provides an overview of the fundamental scientific literature on PNEI and its interaction with chronic low grade cellular inflammation processes and consequently with longevity. Similarly literature data on the strict link between hormetic processes and PNEI system are discussed, with reference to resilience as a key-factor in the natural/pathologic evolution of aging.


Vision-based urban driving is hard. The autonomous system needs to learn to perceive the world and act in it. We show that this challenging learning problem can be simplified by decomposing it into two stages. We first train an agent that has access to privileged information. This privileged agent cheats by observing the ground-truth layout of the environment and the positions of all traffic participants. In the second stage, the privileged agent acts as a teacher that trains a purely vision-based sensorimotor agent. The resulting sensorimotor agent does not have access to any privileged information and does not cheat. This two-stage training procedure is counter-intuitive at first, but has a number of important advantages that we analyze and empirically demonstrate. We use the presented approach to train a vision-based autonomous driving system that substantially outperforms the state of the art on the CARLA benchmark and the recent NoCrash benchmark. Our approach achieves, for the first time, 100% success rate on all tasks in the original CARLA benchmark, sets a new record on the NoCrash benchmark, and reduces the frequency of infractions by an order of magnitude compared to the prior state of the art. For the video that summarizes this work, see this https URL


Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which accounts for a vast majority of lung cancers, has shifted to personalized, targeted therapy following discoveries of several targetable oncogenic mutations. Targeting of specific mutations has improved outcomes in many patients. This success has led to several target-specific agents replacing chemotherapy as first-line treatment in certain mutated NSCLC. Several researchers have reported that there may be imaging biomarkers that may be predictive of the presence of these mutations. These features, when present, have the potential in triaging patients into the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment algorithms. Distinct imaging features and patterns of metastases that have been associated with NSCLC with various targetable oncogenic mutations are presented in this review.


This paper studies how centralized decision-making can help local governments internalize regional environmental spillovers, and investigates the associated economic and welfare consequences. Utilizing novel firm-level geocoded emission and production panel datasets, and exploiting more than 3000 cases of township mergers in China, we find that as township mergers eliminate the borders between neighboring townships, the negative externalities of polluting firms located on these borders are suddenly internalized by the new jurisdiction. As a result, these firms spend more effort on emission abatement, which leads to lower emissions, as well as lower output and profit levels. Further analysis suggests that household welfare improves with the internalization of border spillovers, as reflected by increased residential land price around the merging borders.


Retrospective epidemiological studies have suggested that antioxidant therapy may decrease cardiovascular morbidity and mortality rates, although the mechanisms for this effect remain unclear. In the present study, we demonstrate that selective antioxidants can enhance expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). We found that the antioxidants nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), catechol, glutaryl probucol, and N-acetylcysteine increased eNOS expression in cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs). NDGA seemed to be the most potent of the phenolic antioxidants, producing a 3-fold increase in eNOS mRNA. This effect of NDGA was enhanced by nonphenolic antioxidants such as N-acetylcysteine and ascorbic acid. Nuclear run-on studies indicated that NDGA increased eNOS transcription. A similar increase in eNOS protein content was observed with Western blot analysis after treating BAECs or human aortic endothelial cells with NDGA. Exposure of BAECs to NDGA enhanced NO production, as measured by electron paramagnetic resonance spin trapping and eNOS activity, as measured by [14C]arginine-to-[14C]citrulline assay. Methylation of the phenolic hydroxyl groups completely inhibited the NDGA effect on eNOS mRNA levels. This effect of NDGA was not due to inhibition of lipoxygenase because cis-5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic acid did not alter eNOS expression. We conclude that antioxidants may not only increase the bioactivity of nitric oxide but also enhance expression of the eNOS enzyme. Such an effect may prove useful in conditions such as hypertension and atherosclerosis, in which nitric oxide production and/or biological activity is impaired.


Falls are an increasing problem of aging population, both in home-dwelling and institutionalized people. Automatic fall detection systems are a choice in supporting the independent and secure living of the older people. Typically, health technology applications such as fall detection systems are tested in experimental falls of young adults. However, sensitivity and specificity, and acceptability and usability of these systems in real-life conditions in end users should be the ultimate aim. This paper overviews our set of studies on the technology and algorithms for fall detection, from laboratory-based experiments to long-term real-life field tests. The data obtained during the incremental set of studies suggest that automatic accelerometric fall detection systems might offer a tool for improving safety among older people. Additional studies are needed for further improvement of fall detection sensitivity and decreasing the false alarm rate, and for the implementation of the technology to elderly care ICT platforms. Keywords: accelerometer, fall detector, field test, sensitivity, older people. Language: en


American filmmakers appropriate the "look" of horror in Holocaust films and often use Nazis and Holocaust imagery to explain evil in the world, say authors Caroline J. S. Picart and David A. Frank. In "Frames of Evil: The Holocaust as Horror in American Film", Picart and Frank challenge this classic horror frame - the narrative and visual borders used to demarcate monsters and the monstrous. After examining the way in which directors and producers of the most influential American Holocaust movies default to this Gothic frame, they propose that multiple frames are needed to account for evil and genocide. Using "Schindler's List", "The Silence of the Lambs", and "Apt Pupil" as case studies, the authors provide substantive and critical analyses of these films that transcend the classic horror interpretation. For example, "Schindler's List", say Picart and Frank, has the appearance of a historical docudrama but actually employs the visual rhetoric and narrative devices of the Hollywood horror film. The authors argue that evil has a face: Nazism, which is configured as quintessentially innate and supernaturally crafty. "Frames of Evil", which is augmented by thirty-six film and publicity stills, also explores the commercial exploitation of suffering in film and offers constructive ways of critically evaluating this exploitation. The authors suggest that audiences will recognize their participation in much larger narrative formulas that place a premium on monstrosity and elide the role of modernity in depriving millions of their lives and dignity, often framing the suffering of others in a manner that allows for merely "documentary" enjoyment.


By benchmarking one can set standards of quality and attributes to compare smart cities with each other based on various constructs and factors. In recent years, there have been many approaches to benchmark smart cities. Existing standards mainly focus on urban sustainability and resilience, which demonstrate that smart city efforts are, or will be placed mainly on these directions. The smart city concept is a powerful approach for moving cities towards sustainability in an increasingly urbanised world. Through the application of a sustainable and integrated development approach, current sustainability limitations of the smart city concept can be mitigated, leading cities to develop towards sustainability in a more efficient and effective manner. For good governance city managers are confronted with the challenge of balancing three overriding concerns: achieving a high quality of life for all citizens, maintaining economic competitiveness and protecting the natural environment. In order to deliver on these challenges, advance technologies, including ICTs, will have to be employed not only to increase the intelligence of socioeconomic systems but also to establish incentive structures promoting the creation of sustainable public value towards emerging smart cities. The real smart city will have to learn how to reconcile individual and collective needs, in other words to channel individual aspirations towards the creation of value for society at large through the attainment of economic, social and environmental objectives. In this paper, we will discuss some of the important dimensions of sustainability, benchmarking of laid down standards and governance aspects of the Smart cities.


With a view of the projected revision of the takeover directive, this paper calls attention to some items that would usefully be revised. Especially attention is drawn to the mandatory bid rule, the scope of which should restricted to share acquisitions - and not apply to other control changes, - while company law in general should strictly regulate conflicted transactions, thereby eliminating control premia, and hence the need to proceed to a mandatory bid. Multistate takeover should be reregulated, taking into account the new supervisory structure, esp. ESMA. Also some of the blanks should be filled e.g. on squeeze outs, sell outs, and other specific requirements like "acting in concert". As to the most controversial item of defensive techniques, a fundamental revision seems unlikely, but one could be considered to allow these techniques, but subject their effectiveness to a qualified vote in the general meeting, the shareholders voting according to the rules applicable before the bid.


This paper presents a technical review of the existing pumped storage plants in Norway. The power system is changing towards integrating more and more renewable energy, especially from variable renewable energy sources, leading to new challenges for the security of supply, power, frequency, and voltage regulation. Thus, energy storage options are a highly researched topic in the current situation. Even though there are many energy storage technologies, most are optimal for short term grid balancing, and few are capable of providing long term (weekly or seasonal) storage. One exception is pumped storage, a mature technology capable of delivering both short term and long term energy storage. In this paper, the ten existing pumped storage plants in Norway are presented, several of which are capable of seasonal energy storage. The Norwegian knowledge and experience with pumped storage plants technology is provided as a basis for future research within the field. The review provides information about energy production and storage capabilities, construction costs, specific costs per kW and stored kWh, electromechanical installation, technical specifications, and operational experience with focus on the design of the tunnel system layout. The data presented in this review are unique and previously unpublished. A discussion and conclusions regarding the current situation, trends, and future outlook for pumped storage plants in Norway within the European power market are provided.


Las Ramblas divides the old city of Barcelona, isolating El Raval for over 1000 years of urban development. The maintenance of the boundary allowed the neighbourhood to develop outside the norm of Barcelona proper. Despite its proximity to the city's major tourist attractions and as a part of the Ciutat Vella [old city], it is perceived and functions as it always has, on the margin.  This thesis will examine the urban fabric of Raval using a variety of urban methodologies with the intention of revealing the edge conditions. Rethinking the street and how it facilitates diverse, often 'transgressive', transactions between residents is measured against the cultural, government-funded civic interventions focused at bringing tourism to the neighbourhood. The thesis will go onto outline the protagonist of a series of narratives, how they thrive, exist, intersect and the paths that reveal a contemporary transgressive urbanism.


The purpose of this study is to examine wind data retrieved from the SKiYMET-radars at Trondheim and Andenes during the time period of the 27th of November to the 02nd of December 2012. These dates surrounds the night between the 29th-30th of November, were Hennum (2013) discovered large scale fluctuations in the hydroxyl layer due to gravity wave activity over Trondheim. Similar fluctuations where found over Andenes (although not mentioned in Hennum's thesis), providing for the possibility of a mesoscale connected gravity wave system with wavefronts stretching over 700 km in the middle atmosphere. The analyses of the wind data results in a significant correlation for the mean zonal and meridional anomalies over Andenes and Trondheim. Further, balloon soundings during the period show that the Scandinavian mountain range does not seem to be the source, but rather a large scale moving frontal wave system, or shear waves.


Tuberculosis is one of the oldest known diseases of the world, remaining, within today, with the higher mortality rates caused by a single infectious agent, mainly represented by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It's considered a greater public health problem, for reaching millions of people around the world, mainly in the developing countries, also highlighting their co-infection cases in immunocompromised patients, the example of HIV positive. Their high incidence rates are related to the non-adhesion to, and abandonment of, available treatment, due to its prolonged administration time, which allowed the appearance and increase of resistant strains causing tuberculosis. This evidences the need for the discovery and development of new drugs more efficient and powerful against pathogenic species of Mycobacterium genus. Classes of natural products, such as coumarins, have shown themselves to be powerful antimycobacteria agents in their evaluation against Mycobacterium strains. Thus, this work shows the synthesis, from protocols of O-Alkylation, O-Acetylation and Nitration well described in the literature, of coumarin derivatives, in good to greater yields, in most cases. This semi-synthetic derivatives, together with some commercial coumarins were evaluated according their antimycobacterial activities against M. tuberculosis H37Rv strains, where all demonstrated actives against the tested strains, inhibiting the growth of M. tuberculosis after eight weeks of observation, being more active than standard-drug used, Isoniazid, which non-inhibiting the growth of pathogens after the fourth week. Showing themselves as therapeutic alternatives in the development of new antimycobacterial active compounds.


The interrelationship between prostaglandins (PGs) and bradykinin (BK) was studied in isolated canine saphenous veins. The hypothesis that PGs mediate the venoconstrictor effect of bradykinin was evaluated by determining the influence of low concentrations of indomethacin (Indo) (1 muM) or eicosa-5,8,11,14-tetraynoic acid (ETA) (3 muM), two inhibitors of PG synthesis, on cumulative concentration-response curves for BK or norepinephrine (NE). In the tissue bath, responses to BK improved with time while responses to NE did not vary. When strips were least responsive to BK, Indo and ETA enhanced these responses. When strips were most responsive to BK, neither inhibitor enhanced the responses. Neither Indo nor ETA altered responses to NE. Phentolamine (10(-8) M) did not alter responses to BK. These data suggest that endogenous PGs act to attenuate, rather than mediate, the venoconstrictor response to BK. Progressive enhancement of responses to BK of untreated saphenous vein strips is associated with a decreased ability of inhibitors of PG synthesis to enhance those responses also. Thus, there may be a time-related decrease in the ability of this preparation to synthesize PGs. From the present results, it cannot be determined whether saphenous veins in vivo are highly responsive or relatively unresponsive to the peptide. However, these data do suggest that PGs are a determinant of venous responsiveness to BK.


Aiming at different grinding surfaces of hardened bearing steel GCr15, this paper made experimental research on detection method of surface roughness based on image technique. Adopting cold light source and five kinds of LED light sources, such as low-angle light, collimated light and coaxial light, we analyzed image characteristics of grinding surface under different processing conditions and found that there was a good correlation between standard deviation of gray variance and roughness of grinding surface. In comparison with the results from traditional surface roughness measuring instrument, we gained the corresponding relation between different grinding surface roughness and standard deviation of image gray variance. It was proved by calculating that they have a good correlativity.


The risk of potential transmission of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria from animals to humans via the food chain needs to be extensively evaluated. Retail pork products, including organic, non-organic and free-range, were purchased from four different sources and tested, along with pig carcass swabs taken from a small local non-commercial abattoir, for the presence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) E. coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus and Yersinia enterocolitica. Isolation methods were based on the ISO standards for each organism but some method variations were tested to improve isolation frequency. Eight Escherichia isolates were detected, six of which were identified as E. coli, twelve Yersinia isolates with six being identified as Yersinia enterocolitica, five as Yersinia frederiksenii and one as Yersinia sp. A total of four Gram positive coccoid isolates were detected with two identified as Staphylococcus aureus. No Salmonella isolates were obtained. All isolates were tested for phenotypic resistance using disc diffusion assays and antibiotic discs from fifteen antibiotic classes. Five of the eight Escherichia isolates, 12/12 Yersinia isolates and 1/3 Staphylococcus isolates were resistant to three or more antibiotics from different classes and so could be defined as MDR. Resistances observed among E. coli isolates include ampicillin, ampicillin/clavulanic acid, sulphonamides, streptomycin, tetracycline and chloramphenicol, while in Yersinia isolates resistances observed were to ampicillin, ampicillin/clavulanic acid, cefoxitin, cefpodoxime, sulphonamides and nitrofurantoin. PCRs were performed and all Escherichia and Yersinia isolates were positive for the possession of chromosomal AmpC. Staphylococcus isolates were tested for the presence of the mecA gene conferring resistance to methicillin but none showed possession of the gene. PCR was also performed for Staphylococcus isolates to detect if they were CC398 strains but none were. Gram-negative isolates were also tested for metal resistance using PCR for the detection of merA, merC and intl1 genes associated with mercury resistance, pcoE gene for copper resistance and silE and silP genes for silver resistance. Only two E. coli isolates were shown to possess genes associated with metal resistance. Escherichia isolates were tested for the presence of the pathogenic eae, astA, heat-labile (LT) and heat-stable (ST) toxin genes. Five of the eight Escherichia isolates tested positive for the possession of enteroaggregative astA gene and none tested positive for the rest of the genes. Yersinia isolates were tested for the chromosomal ail and inv pathogenic genes and for the virulence plasmid genes yadA and virF. All Y. frederiksenii tested positive for the possession of yadA gene and 2/5 Y. frederiksenii were positive for the ail gene, findings that are quite unusual since both genes are associated with pathogenic Yersinia. None of the Y. enterocolitica isolates showed possession of any pathogenic genes. This study demonstrated the possible transmission of MDR foodborne pathogens to humans via the food chain.


This article intends to present information and awareness to the society regarding issues related the importance of recycling textile and apparels. This is mainly due to the fact that the fashion industry is among the ones that produce great quantity of waste that could lead to environmental pollution. Textile material waste is becoming a common issue in the fashion industry. This happens when drastic changes occur in the fashion industry. Thus, the fashion industry now produces various designs of apparels by offering low prices. Therefore, the consumers are presented with more choices in choosing their clothing style that needs to be disposed and recycled. Due to this, the textile and apparel production should take into consideration the importance of sustaining the environment by producing environment-friendly products that can be recycled. The fashion industry players need to think of effective methods that encourage consumers to buy textile products that can be recycled and re-used. Designers need to be creative and innovative in re-designing apparels which are being recycled. The consumers need to be more positive and show tendency to buy textile products and environment-friendly apparels that are made of used materials and organic materials such as bamboo, chicken feather fibre and vegetable oil. All the related parties need to work together in order to overcome environmental pollution and this cooperation will ensure proper and effective handling of environmental pollution.


Scripting custom content for computer role-playing games requires the designer to tell a story by writing small fragments of computer code distributed among the characters, props, and locations of the game world. The main challenge of these games is to create believable motivations and behaviors for the dozens or even hundreds of characters and rooms with which the player may interact. We present the ScriptEase model of game scripting. This model is pattern-template based, allowing designers to quickly build complex game worlds without doing explicit programming. This is demonstrated by generating code for BioWare's game Neverwinter Nights.


BACKGROUND
Minority ethnic groups in the UK have worse outcomes for some cancer types compared with the white majority. Black males have worse staging at diagnosis of prostate cancer and often present as emergencies, suggesting possible delays in the diagnostic pathway. Delay may arise from lower awareness of cancer symptoms, reluctance to report symptoms, reduced desire for investigation, or a combination of these. Reduced desire for investigation was examined in this study

AIM
To investigate whether black males in the UK would choose to be tested for prostate cancer compared with the white majority.

DESIGN AND SETTING
A vignette (hypothetical scenario)-based, electronic survey of male patients aged ≥40 years from four general practices in Bristol, UK.

METHOD
The vignettes described possible prostate cancer symptoms (equating to risk levels of 2%, 5%, and 10%), investigative procedures, and possible outcomes. Participants indicated whether they would choose investigation in these scenarios. Analysis used logistic regression, with preference for investigation as the outcome variable and ethnicity as the main explanatory variable.

RESULTS
In total, 449 (81%) of 555 participants opted for investigation, regardless of risk levels; of these, the acceptance rate was 94% (251 out of 267) among white males and 70% (198 out of 285) among black males. In multivariable analyses, preference for investigation was lower in black males, even after controlling for relevant confounding factors including specific risk level (odds ratio 0.13; 95% confidence interval = 0.07 to 0.25; P<0.001).

CONCLUSION
Black males are less likely to opt for investigation at any risk level of prostate cancer compared with white males. This may explain some of their late-stage presentation at diagnosis and subsequent poorer outcomes.


With the recent advances in information technologies, Learning Management Systems have taken on a significant role in providing educational resources. The successful use of these systems in higher education is important for the implementation, management and continuous improvement of e-learning services to increase the quality of learning. This study aimed to identify the factors affecting higher education students' behavioral intention towards Learning Management Systems. A research model was proposed based on the belief factors of the technology acceptance model; namely perceived usefulness, perceived ease-of-use and external factors including self-efficacy, enjoyment, subjective norm, satisfaction, and interactivity and control. Then, a self-reported questionnaire was distributed online. A total of 470 higher education students participated in the survey. The proposed structural model was assessed and validated using structural equation modeling, in particular the partial least square method. The predictors of behavioral intention were identified as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, enjoyment, subjective norm, satisfaction, and interactivity and control with the validated structural model. The relationships between the influencing factors provided an insight about the students' behavioral intention towards the use of Learning Management Systems. It is expected that the academicians and practitioners will benefit from the design and findings of the current study in their future research.


Surgical Management of Hypothalamic Hamartomas with Epilepsy: The Stereoendoscopic Approach. Procaccini E, Dorfmuller G, Fohlen M, Bulteau C, Delalande O. Neurosurgery 2006 Oct;59(4 Suppl 2):ONS336–ONS346. OBJECTIVE: Hypothalamic hamartomas (HHs) require surgical treatment in patients presenting with refractory epilepsy. METHODS: The authors report on a single-center series of 33 patients (24 males, 9 females) who underwent surgery between January 1997 and April 2004. They experienced several types of seizure (gelastic, tonic, partial, atonic, generalized tonic-clonic, dacrystic, infantile spasm, mental retardation, and behavioral and endocrinological abnormalities). Forty-nine interventions were carried out. Every patient, with the exception of the first, underwent hamartoma disconnection (pterional approach, six patients; endoscopy, 15 patients; both, 11 patients). The endoscopic approach was carried out with a frameless stereotactic system to enhance feasibility and efficacy of the disconnecting procedure. RESULTS: Surgery-related neurological complications occurred in two patients, both after a pterional microsurgical approach. Furthermore, two patients experienced panhypopituitarism and one patient experienced transitory central insipid diabetes. All patients but one showed recovery or considerable improvement of their epilepsy (Engel Class 1, 48.5%; Engel Class 2, 3%; Engel Class 3, 45.5%; mean follow-up duration, 1 year 7 months). CONCLUSIONS: According to the proposed classification of sessile HH into four types, the best candidates for endoscopic disconnection are Type 2 and Type 3 HHs. In the present series, 90% of patients affected by Type 2 HH became seizure-free and the remaining 10% improved; of those with Type 3 HH at presentation, 35.3% recovered and 60% improved. Neuropsychological and endocrinological test results showed improvement in many patients. Data from our series demonstrate that frameless stereotactic endoscopic disconnection should be considered as the treatment of choice in the presence of favorable anatomic conditions.


This book chapter deals with kinematic modeling of serial robot manipulators (open-chain multibody systems) with focus on forward as well as inverse kinematic model. At first, the chapter describes basic important definitions in the area of manipulators kinematics. Subsequently, the rigid body motion is presented and basic mathematical apparatus is introduced. Based on rigid body conventions, the forward kinematic model is established including one of the most used approaches in robot kinematics, namely the Denavit-Hartenberg convention. The last section of the chapter analyzes inverse kinematic modeling including analytical, geometrical, and numerical solutions. The chapter offers several examples of serial manipulators with its mathematical solution.


Effective climate policy that addresses carbon dioxide emissions is essential to minimizing and addressing the impacts of ocean acidification (OA). Here we present a framework to assess the readiness of OA policy, using coral reefs as a focal system. Six dimensions encompass comprehensive preparation by ecosystems and societies for the impacts of OA and other anthropogenic hazards: (1) climate protection measures, (2) OA literacy, (3) area-based management, (4) research and development, (5) adaptive capacity of dependent sectors, and (6) policy coherence. We define standardized indicators, identify leading countries, and evaluate the case study of Australia, the country with the largest coral reef system. The framework provides a rubric for a government unit to self- assess strengths and weaknesses in policy preparedness and to prioritize future endeavors.


Commercial finite element modeling software ANSYS was used to calculate the stress distributions of diamond pick at different loads. The three-dimension model of the pick was built and the direction and magnitude of load were varied to determine their effect on the stress distributions of diamond pick. The results show that the stresses located on the pick increase with the increasing of the normal and lateral pressure, and if the maximum normal pressure and lateral pressure are not higher than 480 kN and 150 kN, respectively, the diamond pick will not be damaged. The results obtained can provide available data for pick selection, design and performance.


PURPOSE
To analyze the resistance mechanisms in Acinetobacter species by phenotypic methods.

METHODS
Antibiotic susceptibility profile for 150 clinical isolates of Acinetobacte r was determined by the standard disk diffusion method. Isolates detected to be meropenem resistant were tested further by broth microdilution minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for meropenem. The resistant isolates were also tested for metallo beta -lactamase (MBL) production by the double-disk approximation test, for AmpC beta-lactamase production and efflux pump detection by agar microdilution MIC with and without reserpine.

RESULTS
Twenty-one isolates were found resistant to meropenem by the standard disk diffusion method. Nine samples were from patients admitted in intensive care units (ICUs). Broth microdilution MICs of the isolates revealed low-level resistance to meropenem. MBL was not produced by any of these isolates. AmpC beta -lactamases were produced by nine (43%) isolates. 'Efflux pump'-mediated resistance to meropenem was detected in two out of nine random isolates tested for the same.

CONCLUSIONS
Carbapenem resistance is not uncommon in Acinetobacter isolates. AmpC production may cause carbapenem resistance. MBL and efflux pump may not be important causes of carbapenem resistance.


An influential theory of mammalian vision, known as the efficient coding hypothesis, holds that early stages in the visual cortex attempts to form an efficient coding of ecologically valid stimuli. Although numerous authors have successfully modelled some aspects of early vision mathematically, closer inspection has found substantial discrepancies between the predictions of some of these models and observations of neurons in the visual cortex. In particular analysis of linear-non-linear models of simple-cells using Independent Component Analysis has found a strong bias towards features on the horoptor. In order to investigate the link between the information content of binocular images, mathematical models of complex cells and physiological recordings, we applied Independent Subspace Analysis to binocular image patches in order to learn a set of complex-cell-like models. We found that these complex-cell-like models exhibited a wide range of binocular disparity-discriminability, although only a minority exhibited high binocular discrimination scores. However, in common with the linear-non-linear model case we found that feature detection was limited to the horoptor suggesting that current mathematical models are limited in their ability to explain the functionality of the visual cortex.


This paper has a twofold aim. First, we will analyze the system of family benefits in relation with the income tax system in France through the adoption of a historical and gender perspective. While typologies of welfare states frequently neglect taxation, in our view, one must take family taxation into account because it provides incentives and disincentives for paid income. Moreover, in the case of France, a close relationship exists between family benefits and taxation on income, one that stems from certain discussions—discussions led to the birth of the French system.Second, we will demonstrate how and to what extent France has moved away from the male-breadwinner model. However, any decline of the malebreadwinner model does not, in turn, indicate a corresponding shift toward a dual caregiver model. Indeed, the current French model has ambiguous effects on gender relations.


An evidence-based medicine approach was applied to evaluate analytic studies of exogenous risk factors for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) published since 1991. Classification systems for evaluating the literature and for drawing conclusions based on the class of available evidence were developed, modeled on those used by national societies. Considerations regarding the impact on the general public of confirming a role for putative risk factors were made explicit. There was evidence in support of smoking being a probable ('more likely than not') risk factor for ALS. Smoking has broad public health impact, no redeeming features, and is a modifiable risk factor. Evidence supported the conclusion that the following were probably not risk factors for ALS: trauma, physical activity, residence in rural areas and alcohol consumption. Evidence-based medicine methodology does not permit calculation of the magnitude of type I or type II errors in drawing these conclusions. New evidence may change these conclusions. Recommendations for future research include: draw on clinical trial methodology in designing future, confirmatory, case-control studies; consider utilizing cohort studies, recognizing the longer timelines for these to come to fruition; accord priority to investigating putative risk factors with greatest public health impact. Advances in study methodology may lead to development of finite research cycles for individual putative risk factors for sporadic ALS.


Iron is a micro-nutrient that is necessary for photosynthesis of the phytoplankton. It is now well known that the iron transported by the Amur River is deposited on the continental shelf in the northwestern shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk, and is then transported out to the intermediate layer of the Sea of Okhotsk; it further spreads to the western North Pacific and supports phytoplankton bloom there. Despite their significance in transporting dissolved and particulate iron, however, the paths of the Amur River discharge on the continental shelf in the Sea of Okhotsk are still unknown. In this study, we conduct a coupled ice-ocean simulation for the northern Sea of Okhotsk from June 1998 to September 2000 to answer a question: Can the Amur River discharge deposit materials to the pathway of the dense shelf water? In a series of numerical experiments, we identified two routes (the western and eastern routes) that could transport the river water more than 100 km offshore over the northwestern continental shelf. The two routes share the clockwise gyre in the Sakhalin Gulf and the northeastward flow on the northwestern continental shelf. These features are connected through the westward jet along the slope from the Sakhalin Gulf (the western route), and the northward transport over the shelf break canyon (the eastern route). The river water, the dense shelf water, and the easterly wind are in a fine geophysical balance for those features, and all are required for the formation of the two routes. The model results show these unique joint effects in the Sea of Okhotsk that allow the Amur River discharge to be effectively transported over the northwestern continental shelf, unlike a general river discharge that flows along the coast, and can deposits materials into the pathway of the dense shelf water.


Rapid growth in the area of multidatabase systems (MDBSs), which involve both the access of global data and distributed transaction processing, has created a need for programming languages that provide communication reliability and powerful synchronization. The requirements of MDBSs are reviewed, and the Vienna Parallel Logic programming language is presented. The ways to realize an MDBS communication protocol in this language are discussed. The Vienna Parallel Logic language incorporates a concurrent logic language, as well as features of both distributed operating systems and database management systems. These features combine to support the communication and synchronization required by distributed transaction processing. The Vienna Parallel Logic language is suitable for use as a general-purpose distributed programming and coordination language.<<ETX>>


Nanoparticles have recently gained interest as exogenous contrast agents in a variety of biomedical applications related to cancer detection and treatment. The objective of this study was to determine the potential of topically administered antibody conjugated gold nanorods (GNRs) for imaging squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) of the skin using near‐infrared narrowband imaging (NBI). Near‐infrared (NIR) NBI images narrow wavelength bands to enhance contrast from plasmonic particles in a wide field portable and noncontact device that is clinically compatible for real‐time tumor imaging and tumor margin demarcation.


Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is a relatively new prototyping technique in which parts can be produced rapidly and accurately. The component produced by FDM can be utilized for investment casting or it can be used for development of dies. The present work started with the identification of the bench mark/component. Prototypes were built with ABS plastic material and measurements were made on the co-ordinate measuring machine from which IT grades were calculated to check the dimensional accuracy of the components. The purpose of this study is to find whether the FDM process is capable of producing a pattern for manufacturing a die for hand tool with good dimensional accuracy. The study involves best settings of machine by varying the part orientations and studying the effect on the consumption of the model material, support material and the time taken for production. Measured mechanical properties like micro hardness indicated the suitability of the process. Final components produced are acceptable as per ISO standard UNI EN 20286-I (1995) and DIN16901.The results of study suggest FDM process lies within ± 6 sigma and value of cp, cpk is greater than 1 which conforms that FDM process is highly capable process for industrial applications.


Dielectric properties of particles adsorbed onto a planar interface between two dielectric media are considered, taking into account the dipolar fields created by polarization induced in nearby particles as well as by their image dipoles. The use of a dipolar approximation allowed us to derive a self-consistent expression for the effective field experienced by each particle. The expression uses the pair correlation function of the particle distribution and is presented in a close form for normal and tangential directions of the applied field. To obtain the correlation function for the distribution of irreversibly adsorbed particles and calculate the effective field, a computer simulation of random sequential adsorption was carried out at prefixed particle densities and until placing the next particle became extremely difficult. The effective field was also calculated for hexagonal closest packing. Results of these calculations were then used to estimate resonance wavelength shifts of whispering gallery mo...


The methods comparison study described in accompanying manuscripts demonstrated the potential value of microbial source tracking (MST) techniques, but also identified a need for method refinement. This paper provides three classes of recommendations to improve MST technology: optimization, development and evaluation. Optimization recommendations focus on library-dependent methods and include improved selection of restriction enzymes or antibiotics, better definition of appropriate library size, selection of target species and choice of statistical pattern-matching algorithms. Methods development recommendations focus on identifying new genomic targets and quantification procedures for library-independent methods. Longer-term methods development recommendations include integration of microarrays and other direct pathogen detection technology with MST. Studies defining host specificity and population dynamics should aid selection of target species during methods development. Evaluation recommendations include enhancements that should be incorporated into future methods comparison studies, along with studies to assess the value of MST results for risk characterization.


ABSTRACT The in vitro activity of tedizolid (previously known as torezolid, TR-700) against penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP) clinical isolates and the in vivo efficacy of tedizolid phosphate (torezolid phosphate, TR-701) in murine models of PRSP systemic infection and penicillin-susceptible S. pneumoniae (PSSP) pneumonia were examined using linezolid as a comparator. The MIC90 against 28 PRSP isolates was 0.25 μg/ml for tedizolid, whereas it was 1 μg/ml for linezolid. In mice infected systemically with a lethal inoculum of PRSP 1 h prior to a single administration of either antimicrobial, oral tedizolid phosphate was equipotent to linezolid (1 isolate) to 2-fold more potent than linezolid (3 isolates) for survival at day 7, with tedizolid phosphate 50% effective dose (ED50) values ranging from 3.19 to 11.53 mg/kg of body weight/day. In the PSSP pneumonia model, the ED50 for survival at day 15 was 2.80 mg/kg/day for oral tedizolid phosphate, whereas it was 8.09 mg/kg/day for oral linezolid following 48 h of treatment with either agent. At equivalent doses (10 mg/kg once daily tedizolid phosphate or 5 mg/kg twice daily linezolid), pneumococcal titers in the lungs at 52 h postinfection were approximately 3 orders of magnitude lower with tedizolid phosphate treatment than with linezolid treatment or no treatment. Lung histopathology showed less inflammatory cell invasion into alveolar spaces in mice treated with tedizolid phosphate than in untreated or linezolid-treated mice. These results demonstrate that tedizolid phosphate is effective in murine models of PRSP systemic infection and PSSP pneumonia.


In our Institution, 23 patients were selected for percutaneous resection of tumors of the upper urinary tract. Two patients underwent a second procedure: the first for ipsilateral recur and the second for an heterolateral tumor. Among these 23 patients, 11 presented a benign tumor, 9 were treated for a transitional carcinoma of whom 2 invasive state. Both underwent a nephro-ureterectomy. For the 7 superficial transitional carcinomas, the mean follow-up period is 30.4 months. The ipsilateral local recurrencee is 14.3% (1/7), and concern a poorly differentiated tumor (G III). The advantage of the endoscopic techniques to explore and treat the upper urinary tract tumors is double. With these techniques, we can diagnose and treat adequately benign tumors which don't justify radical surgery. In the case of transitional tumors, the percutaneous way is an acceptable method of management when it appears better to avoid a radical treatment (solitary kidney, bilateral synchronous tumors, impairment of total renal function, general injuries). However, it must be performed only in selected cases, and patients should be carefully selected.


This essay examines needlework samplers from Mary Balch's school and diaries produced by elite young women in Providence, Rhode Island in the late eighteenth century. Drawing on scholarship on material culture, social geography, and gender, it traces the physical mobility that characterized daily life, reading and writing practices, and social boundaries in the early republic.


A statistical analysis is carried out by using both the European Incoherent Scatter mainland radar (called EISCAT in the following) and the EISCAT Svalbard radar (ESR) data to investigate the morphology of large field-aligned ion upflows in the high-latitude F region ionosphere, emphasizing its dependence on geomagnetic activity and latitude. By binning data with respect to geomagnetic conditions, significant differences are found between quiet and disturbed periods in the morphology of field-aligned upflows obtained by EISCAT around solar maximum: (1) the occurrence frequency on the nightside is more than 3 times higher during disturbed times than during quiet times; (2) the starting altitude of upflows lowers from 350–400 km under quiet conditions to 200–250 km under disturbed conditions; (3) the magnetic local time (MLT) distribution of the occurrence frequency of upflows exhibits a dawn-dusk asymmetry above 400 km altitude, and it favors the dusk sector under quiet conditions but favors the dawn sector under disturbed conditions; (4) the disturbed-time upflow occurrence frequency exhibits a semiannual variation above 400 km, with higher values around equinoxes. ESR observations during the rising phase of the solar cycle reveal some preliminary features of upflows in comparison to EISCAT observations: (1) the occurrence frequency of upflows on the dayside becomes significantly noticeable at about 200 km altitude, which is lower than that at EISCAT; (2) the upflow occurrence frequency above 400 km exhibits an obvious MLT distribution, with higher values during 0400-1500 MLT, in contrast to 1800–0200 MLT at EISCAT; (3) the upflow occurrence frequency above ESR is higher than that above EISCAT during 0700–1500 MLT but is lower during 2000–0200 MLT. Possible clues on the driving mechanisms of upflows are drawn from these observations.


The objective of joint source channel coding (JSCC) is to optimally allocate the available channel bandwidth between source coding and channel coding in order to minimize the average distortion in the presence of packet losses. Unlike previous research, which focuses on determining distortion-optimized methods for JSCC using either assumptions about the rate-distortion (R-D) curve properties of source data (e.g., convexity) or experimental R-D data, we explicitly employ the analytical operational R-D model of a three-dimensional wavelet video coder to solve the JSCC problem. Using this model, we formulated the JSCC optimization as a nonlinear programming (NP) problem. By expressing the NP problem in terms of a dynamic programming equation, we derived the necessary conditions that facilitate the search for global optimal solutions. In this letter, we focus on finding the optimal JSCC problem for subband video coding and not on deriving computationally efficient methods for JSCC.


Firms and governments are increasingly interested in learning to exploit the value of lead user innovations for commercial advantage. Improvements to lead user theory are needed to inform and guide these efforts. In this paper we empirically test and confirm the basic tenants of lead user theory. We also discover some new refinements and related practical applications. Using a sample of users and user-innovators drawn from the extreme sport of kite surfing, we analyze the relationship between the commercial attractiveness of innovations developed by users and the intensity of the lead user characteristics those users display. We provide a first empirical analysis of the independent effects of its two key component variables. In our empirical study of user modifications to kite surfing equipment, we find that both components independently contribute to identifying commercially attractive user innovations. Component 1 (the "high expected benefits" dimension) predicts innovation likelihood, and component 2 (the "ahead of the trend" dimension) predicts both the commercial attractiveness of a given set of user-developed innovations and innovation likelihood due to a newly-proposed innovation supply side effect. We conclude that the component variables in the lead user definition are indeed independent dimensions and so neither can be dropped without loss of information - an important matter for lead user theory. We also find that adding measures of users' local resources can improve the ability of the lead user construct to identify commercially-attractive innovations under some conditions. The findings we report have practical as well as theoretical import. Product modification and development has been found to be a relatively common user behavior in many fields. Thus, from 10% to nearly 40% of users report having modified or developed a product for in-house use in the case of industrial products, or for personal use in the case of consumer products, in fields sampled to date. As a practical matter, therefore, it is important to find ways to selectively identify the user innovations that manufacturers will find to be the basis for commercially attractive products in the collectivity of user-developed innovations. We discuss the implications of these findings for theory and also for practical applications of the lead user construct, i.e. how variables used in lead user studies can profitably be adapted to fit specific study contexts and purposes.


Background: Truncating variants in desmoplakin (DSPtv) are an important cause of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy; however the genetic architecture and genotype-specific risk factors are incompletely understood. We evaluated phenotype, risk factors for ventricular arrhythmias, and underlying genetics of DSPtv cardiomyopathy. Methods: Individuals with DSPtv and any cardiac phenotype, and their gene-positive family members were included from multiple international centers. Clinical data and family history information were collected. Event-free survival from ventricular arrhythmia was assessed. Variant location was compared between cases and controls, and literature review of reported DSPtv performed. Results: There were 98 probands and 72 family members (mean age at diagnosis 43±8 years, 59% women) with a DSPtv, of which 146 were considered clinically affected. Ventricular arrhythmia (sudden cardiac arrest, sustained ventricular tachycardia, appropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapy) occurred in 56 (33%) individuals. DSPtv location and proband status were independent risk factors for ventricular arrhythmia. Further, gene region was important with variants in cases (cohort n=98; Clinvar n=167) more likely to occur in the regions resulting in nonsense mediated decay of both major DSP isoforms, compared with n=124 genome aggregation database control variants (148 [83.6%] versus 29 [16.4%]; P<0.0001). Conclusions: In the largest series of individuals with DSPtv, we demonstrate that variant location is a novel risk factor for ventricular arrhythmia, can inform variant interpretation, and provide critical insights to allow for precision-based clinical management.


Author(s): Daly, Tara Ann | Advisor(s): Tarica, Estelle | Abstract: In my project "Restless Bodies, Unquiet Minds: Poetry, Performance, and Power in the Andean Avant-Gardes" I argue that the avant-garde is not a discrete historical moment that has passed but rather a rhizomatic response to colonial legacies that have turned complex human beings into legible political subjects. Said transformation is part of an exclusionary method that privileges an enlightened, male criollo subject while depriving indigenous, poor, female, or queer persons of discursive agency. I examine how marginalized artists transgress normative conventions by incorporating embodied sentiments into their work, considering both the performative interruptions of avant-garde poetry and the linguistic disruptions of public stagings and installation art. Situating myself theoretically between a vitalist school that might conceive of the body as a source of limitless agency and Foucault's constructivist reading of it as a passive inscriptive surface, I first look at the 1930s work of Peruvian poet Cesar Vallejo, who uses neologisms to make visible the vulnerability of indigenous and working class bodies in Peru and Spain. I then engage Jose Maria Arguedas's work from the 1960s in Peru to explore how his confrontation with the abject aspects to being human calls for a new community through oral tradition and literature. Turning to Bolivia, my latter two chapters consider the performance art, television programs, and poetry of Bolivian feminist Julieta Paredes and the multimedia work of artist Alejandra Dorado. I analyze the way that their anagrams, parody, and laughter reconfigure structures that limit the conditions of gendered and sexual intersubjectivity in the Andes. The work I undertake in the project makes four principal contributions to the study of Latin American literatures and cultures. First, I theorize the avant-gardes as rhizomatic phenomena that continuously engage the theme of community across space, time, and bodies. While the term "avant-garde" is most commonly associated with the 1920s and 1930s in Europe and Latin America and the 1960s and 70s in the Americas, I revise such a linear genealogy to consider rhizo-gardes as part of an underground left that is in a perpetual state of becoming. Second, within my analysis of the rhizo-gardes, I demonstrate the way that the space of art enables the production of a desiring community outside of the "operability" of capitalism. This goal entails undertaking an analysis of how art produces and communicates desires that are aberrant to those of the ideal capitalist sovereign individual. Third, I come to understand the "common" as stemming from a subject's confrontation with the abject, objective, and finite aspects to being human. I consider the transformative implications of such an encounter on the current emphasis on visuality as it fuels biopolitical distinctions between subjects based on class, race, gender, and sexuality. How might the other senses - touch, taste, smell, and hearing - catalyze community in a different way? Lastly, particularly through my work in Bolivia, I aim to expand the archival corpus of the Andean avant-gardes by looking at understudied female artists as working in alliance with other historical avant-garde artists. Drawing on the Deleuzian concept of repetition, whereby repetition is not mimetic but is a mode of production characterized by difference and transformation, I open up the avant-gardes to a new temporal and spatial configuration.


Due to the coarse spatial resolution of imagery and heterogeneity of snow physical parameters, the currently available snow depth data sets derived from passive microwave sensors have shown significant accuracy variations in different parts of the world. This study aims to analyse the reliability of existing remote sensing snow depth products for the arid zone of China. Two long-term products were compared and evaluated including the GlobSnow Snow Water Equivalent product ('the GlobSnow product') and the Long-term Snow Depth Dataset of China ('the WestDC product'). Nine-year ground measurements from 35 sampling sites with diverse topographical conditions were used as ground references for the accuracy assessment. Statistical analysis methods such as intra-class correlation coefficient and root mean square error (RMSE) were adopted for the consistency test and accuracy assessment. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to examine whether the data reliability varied by seasonal or locational factors. The results show that the two products in general do not agree well in the study region. However, the generalized data with different temporal resolutions tend to yield better results in terms of data consistency and accuracy. Compared to the GlobSnow product, the WestDC product has shown a better accuracy with the RMSE of 8.23, 7.43, and 6.56 cm for the original daily, and generalized weekly, and monthly data, respectively. According to the ANOVA test, season and latitude show statistically significant impacts on data reliability, while altitude and terrain complexity do not. Data reliability declines with higher latitude and it rapidly falls down to an unacceptable level in snow melting periods. This study provides a quantitative assessment on the quality of the snow depth products and raises the awareness of data consistency issues of these products for regional applications.


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Mobile tourism applications are changing the way travelers plan and experience tourism in the years to come. A large and growing body of literature has investigated the development of context awareness mobile applications for tourism industry. Various aspects of context awareness are studied and applied in tour guide companions and recommendation systems. However, these context awareness mobile applications do not improve traveler's situation awareness especially in pre-visiting and during visiting phases. In other words, when using mobile applications, travelers may not perceive the situation correctly, fail to comprehend the situation or they are unable to anticipate the future development. This paper proposes a theoretical approach for designing mobile tourism applications using situation awareness. Three scenarios of traveler visiting experiences are presented and suitable designs for each scenario are discussed.


Entrepreneurs are turning to crowdfunding as a way to finance their creative ideas. Crowdfunding involves relatively small contributions of many consumer-investors over a fixed time period (generally a few weeks). The purpose of this paper is to add to our empirical understanding of backer dynamics over the project funding cycle. Two years of publicly available data on projects listed on Kickstarter is used to establish that the typical pattern of project support is U-shaped — in general, backers are more likely to contribute to a project in the first and last week as compared to the middle period of the funding cycle. We further establish that this U-shape pattern of support is pervasive across projects, including both successfully and unsuccessfully funded projects, those with large and small goals, and projects in different categories. We then empirically explore the dynamics associated with several factors, including collective attention effects from platform sorting options, the role of family and friends in supporting projects, the effects of social influence, and the role of project updates over the project funding cycle.


Based on the fiscal regime that prevailed in Argentina from 1988 to 2003, we estimate the effects that changes in intergovernmental transfers and hydrocarbon royalties had on provincial public consumption and debt. From a one-peso increase in intergovernmental transfers, all provinces spent 76 centavos on public consumption and decreased their debt by 22 centavos. However, when hydrocarbon-producing provinces faced a one-peso increase in royalties, they saved 95 centavos. We provide evidence that the exhaustible nature of royalties may explain this saving reaction in hydrocarbon-producing provinces.


The Indian state has conserved tigers by establishing reserves that are governed as a form of fortress conservation. Residence and local uses in these tiger reserves are often criminalized. It is in this context that we critique recent neoliberal attempts to estimate the economic value of ecosystem services from tiger reserves. Proponents of valuation argue that it will not only provide a justification for the reserves, but also recognize the importance of ecosystem services for human well-being. We use a political ecology approach to argue that economic valuation is never a benign tool, but is situated in wider institutional contexts that favor certain actors over others. In India, protected areas are being valued even as people living within them are being evicted and their use of the forest restricted. We draw from fieldwork in the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Hills of Karnataka and conversations with Soligas. We ask how nature is made legible and who benefits from such legibility? We suggest that economic valuation can hide complex human-nature relationships and undermine different ways of knowing and 'valuing' landscapes. Key Words : tiger reserves, Karnataka, economic valuation


Hashimoto's encephalopathy- or steroid responsive encephalopathy with autoimmune thyreoiditis (SREAT) - is a disease that can show multiple neurologic manifestations. So far, the pathogenesis of Hashimoto's encephalopathy is not clear. We report on a 47-year-old male patient suffering from a cerebral infarction of the right posterior cerebral artery within the framework of an angiographic confirmed cerebral vasculitis and an autoimmune thyreoiditis. The clinical presentation of the disease could hardly be distinguished from the symptoms of Hashimoto's encephalopathy. The concurrence of the present results supports the view of a possible vasculitic origin of Hashimoto encephalopathy.


The phrase "digital humanities" refers to a range of new media applications that converge at the intersection of technology and humanities scholarship. It is an evolving notion and conveys the role of information technologies in humanities scholarship. Based on a qualitative case study approach, this paper interprets the concept by eliciting the diverse perspectives — which nevertheless express several discernible themes — of a group of humanities scholars. It synthesizes the wide range of opinions and assumptions about information and communication technologies (ICTs) held by these humanists by using Bijker's (1995) notion of a technological frame . The digital humanities domain is interpreted through three lenses: digital media as facilitator of scholarly communication; digital media as a platform for creative expression and artistic endeavors; and, digital media as context for critical studies of digital culture. The article concludes that, while technologies are being positioned as driving forces behind academic innovation, it is more important than ever to understand the cultural, social, and political implications of new media and how they are perceived and used by humanities scholars.


A traditional two dimensional (planar) statistical analysis was used to identify the clustering types of North Central Texas traffic fatalities occurring in 2001-2006. Over 3,700 crash locations clustered in ways that were unlike other researched regions. A two dimensional (x and y coordinates) space was manipulated to mimic a one dimensional network to identify the tightest clustering of fatalities in the nearly 400,000 crashes reported from state agencies from 2003-2006. The roadway design was found to significantly affect crash location. A one dimensional (linear) network analysis was then used to measure the statistically significant clustering of flow variables of after dark crashes and daylight crashes. Flow variables were determined to significantly affect crash location after dark. The linear and planar results were compared and the one dimensional, linear analysis was found to be more accurate because it did not over detect the clustering of events on a network.


Purpose: The evaluation of the patients with clefts; the number, type, distribution by gender, etiological factors in Aegean region in Turkey between the years 2000 to 2011. Material and Method: The patients with clefts who referred to Ege University from different cities were evaluated. The number of the clefts, the type of the clefts, and the causative etiological factors which were known, were recorded for each year separately, from 2000 to 2011. At the same time, the distribution of the gender was made for each year. Chi-square test is used for the statistical evaluation. Results: According to the results of the study, the numbers of the patients with clefts were increased day by day. Totally 741 (49.6% female, 50.4% male) patients with clefts were identified. Unilateral complete cleft lip and palate appeared in the left side was seen more in males (23.8%), while seconder palate cleft was seen more in females (16.7%). Drugs, which were used in the first trimester of the pregnancy, were the most seen etiological factors for the clefts (42.5%), while genetic was 23.3% only. Conclusion: The prevention for one of the mostly seen congenital anomaly; cleft lip and palate is still unknown. For this reason, the determination of the newborn babies with cleft lip and palate has an important role in order to give these patients more effective treatment.


The system of supply management in the Canadian dairy sector requires that farmers acquire quota to produce milk. In Canada's largest dairy producing province, Quebec, a ceiling on the price of quotas has been in effect since 2007. Previous research established that the use of quota price ceilings create a new source of inefficiency in the Canadian dairy sector. An alternative method for lowering quota prices is to lower the rent from quotas through lowering the farm price of milk. I determine the magnitude of the decrease in the farm price of milk that would be required to reduce the valuation of Quebec dairy quotas to the current price ceiling of $25,000 per unit. Accomplishing this task requires modeling the implicit valuation of quotas during the price ceiling era. Starting from a dynamic model of the demand for quotas, I develop an econometric model to estimate producers' discount factor. Using my econometric results and the modeled equilibrium price, I estimate the price of dairy quotas over the period 1993-2010. In 2010, I estimate that dairy quotas in Quebec would have traded at a price of $31,955 in the absence of the price ceiling. My results indicate that lowering the valuation of quotas to $25,000 per unit would have required an 11.83% reduction in the farm price of milk.


BACKGROUND
Owing to the involvement of multiple professionals from various institutions, integrated care settings are prone to suboptimal patient care communication. To assure continuity, communication gaps should be identified for targeted improvement initiatives. However, available assessment methods are often one-sided evaluations not appropriate for integrated care settings.

OBJECTIVE
We developed an evaluation approach that takes into account the multiple communication links and evaluation perspectives inherent to these settings. In this study, we describe this approach, using the integrated care setting of Cerebral Palsy as illustration.

METHODS

RESULTS
The approach follows a three-step mixed design in which the results of each step are used to mark out the subsequent step's focus. The first step patient questionnaire aims to identify quality gaps experienced by patients, comparing their expectancies and experiences with respect to patient-professional and inter-professional communication. Resulting gaps form the input of in-depth interviews with a subset of patients to evaluate underlying factors of ineffective communication. Resulting factors form the input of the final step's focus group meetings with professionals to corroborate and complete the findings.

CONCLUSIONS
By combining methods, the presented approach aims to minimize limitations inherent to the application of single methods. The comprehensiveness of the approach enables its applicability in various integrated care settings. Its sequential design allows for in-depth evaluation of relevant quality gaps. Further research is needed to evaluate the approach's feasibility in practice. In our subsequent study, we present the results of the approach in the integrated care setting of children with Cerebral Palsy in three Dutch care regions.


This study x-rayed the World Bank intervention in rural water supply in Nigeria through Community and Social Development Agency of Ebonyi State. The objective of the study is to assess the impact of CSDP micro water projects on socio economic wellbeing of the rural settlers in Ebonyi State, identify the factors affecting the implementation of CSDP water projects in rural communities of Ebonyi State and to identify possible ways of sustaining CSDP water projects in Ebonyi State. Survey methods were adopted to elicit data for this study. The study revealed inter-alia that CSDP water infrastructure has not improved the socio-economic conditions of rural dwellers in Ebonyi state. The study recommends among other things that a pre-intervention survey be carried out with a view to determining the base line of infrastructures in the rural communities before actual programmes are implemented, community members should be involved in the execution and evaluation of quality and quantity of work done at all levels and periodic evaluation should not be left in the hands of community programme monitoring committee but should involve CSDP officials and community members in a community general meeting .Implication of this findings for both the rural dwellers and government officials is that it is only full implementation of World Bank intervention programmes that can bring about the attainment of all round development and consequently lead to socio-economic transformation of the rural populace.


: Background and objective : Traditional medicine (TM) was integrated into health systems in Africa due to its importance within the health delivery setup in fostering increased health care accessibility through safe practices. However, the quality of integrated health systems in Africa has not been assessed since its implementation. The objective of this paper was to extensively and systematically review the e ff ectiveness of integrated health systems in Africa. Materials and Methods : A systematic literature search was conducted from October, 2019 to March, 2020 using Ovid Medline, Scopus, Emcare, Web of Science, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), and Google Scholar, in order to retrieve original articles evaluating the integration of TM into health systems in Africa. A quality assessment of relevant articles was also carried out using the Quality Assessment Tool for Studies with Diverse Designs (QATDSS) critical appraisal tool. Results : The results indicated that the formulation and execution of health policies were the main measures taken to integrate TM into health systems in Africa. The review also highlighted relatively low levels of awareness, usage, satisfaction, and acceptance of integrated health systems among the populace. Knowledge about the existence of an integrated system varied among study participants, while satisfaction and acceptance were low among orthodox medicine practitioners. Health service users' satisfaction and acceptance of the practice of an integrated health system were high in the countries assessed. Conclusion : The review concluded that existing health policies in Africa are not working, so the integration of TM has not been successful. It is critical to uncover the barriers in the health system by exploring the perceptions and experiences of stakeholders, in order to develop solutions for better integration of the two health systems.


This study investigates the ability of the human convective boundary layer to transport pollution in a quiescent indoor environment. The impact of the source location in the vicinity of a human body is examined in relation to pollution distribution in the breathing zone and the thickness of the pollution boundary layer. The study, in addition, evaluates the effects of the room air temperature, table positioning, and seated body inclination. The human body is represented by a thermal manikin that has a body shape, size, and surface temperature that resemble those of a real person. The results show that the source location has a considerable influence on the breathing zone pollution concentrations and on the thickness of the pollution boundary layer. The highest breathing zone concentrations are achieved when the pollution is located at the chest, while there is negligible exposure for the pollution emitted at the upper back or behind the chair. The results also indicate that a decrease in personal exposure to pollutants released from or around the human body increases the extent to which the pollution spreads to the surroundings. Reducing the room air temperature or backward body inclination intensifies the transport of the pollution to the breathing zone and increases personal exposure. The front edge of a table positioned at zero distance from the human body can reduce the pollution transport to the breathing zone, or it can increase transport of the clean air from beneath if positioned at a 10-cm (0.33-ft) distance.


A feeding trial was conducted to evaluate effects of feeding different dietary protein levels on reproductive biology of African mud catfish under hapa system. Catfish fingerlings (mean body weight (4.50± 0.01g) and total length (8.0±0.2cm) were randomly stocked at 20 fish per hapa (1m 3 ). Five experimental diets with crude protein (CP): 50.00%, 47.50%, 45.00%, 42.50% and 40% were fed in three replicates to the fish at 5% of their body weight. Gonad development of 260-day old catfish was investigated histological and morphologically. Results revealed that fish fed 50% CP diets had significantly higher (P < 0.05) milt volume, milt density, sperm motility, ova diameter and proximate composition, and oocyte developmental stage than those fed all other diets. Coefficient of maturity and gonad somatic index increased with protein content of diet while hepatic and visceral somatic indices were proportional to fish body weight. Test of significance for the relationships between fecundity/total length, fecundity/body weight and fecundity/gonad weight indicated that the values of correlation coefficient (R 2 ) were highly correlated; R 2 0.9 at P Key Words : Crude protein, milt, oocytes, fecundity, Clarias gariepinus


This paper is focused on experimental characterization of new active liners technologies in acoustic flow duct facilities (FDF). These measurements have been performed in the NLR (Netherlands Aerospace Center). Different configurations of passive and active treatments have been tested using the same grazing flow conditions (Mach 0.3) in an aeroacoustic test bench: 1 conventional liner (standard SDOF sandwich panels with honeycomb core) used as reference and a 2D active liner based on an array of electroacoustic absorbers. The grazing flow test campaign comprises acoustics and aerodynamics measurements to characterize the aeroacoustics flow conditions, the membrane behavior, the acoustic impedance and the resulting insertion loss.


In this paper we present a novel method for remote breathing detection based on ultra-wide-band (UWB) radar. This is a method that does not require any wearable sensors, making it more comfortable and convenient for users. Furthermore, because of the wall penetrating characteristics of the transmitted signal, our system is useful in emergency situations such as monitoring people who may be trapped under earthquake rubble. For our investigation we used a Novelda UWB radar that provides high processing speed and low power consumption. In this paper we present two new convolution-based methods to extract breathing rate information from the received radar signal. This method was tested on several people who were monitored while laying down on a bed. The subject's position and breathing rate were calculated. Experimental results including 20 different subjects are provided, showing that this is a viable method for monitoring breathing rate using a low-power UWB radar.


Abstract— This paper proposes the modelling of Single Air gap Axial Flux Induction Machine and it is extended to Twin Rotor Axial Flux Induction Machine. It is also proposed to use a Twin Rotor Axial Flux induction Machine as a replacement for existing conventional mechanical differential. The possibility of having shorter axial length and two independent rotors in a single machine favours for above application. These motors are used as wheel motors and this also becomes one credential for using them in electric vehicle applications. Furthermore it is compact and has high power density. The present work is simulated in MATLAB environment.  Keywords— Axial flux Induction machine, TRAFIM, modelling, Differential, MAT-LAB.


Adaptation to cold temperature is mediated by RNA editing of a potassium channel in octopus neurons. Although organisms have evolved to live in diverse conditions, closely related species often inhabit vastly different environments. This is particularly true for aquatic animals such as squid and octopus, which are common in tropical waters but are also found at the poles. These cephalopods have highly developed nervous systems, and one challenging question is how temperature-sensitive neuronal synaptic transmission has adapted to function at a near-freezing temperature. On page 848 of this issue, Garrett and Rosenthal (1) show that RNA editing rather than changes in the genome sequence enable potassium (K+) channels in octopus to function at different temperatures.


To improve the broadband transduction capabilities of vibratory energy harvesters (VEHs) under random and non-stationary excitations, many researchers have resorted to purposefully introducing nonlinearities into the restoring force of the harvester. While performing this task, it is often very challenging to maintain a perfectly symmetric restoring force which usually yields a VEH with an asymmetric potential energy function. This paper investigates the influence of potential function asymmetries on the performance of nonlinear VEHs under white noise inputs. To that end, a quadratic nonlinearity is introduced into the restoring force of the harvester and its influence on the mean power for both mono- and bi-stable potentials is investigated. It is shown that, for VEHs with a mono-stable potential function, the mean output power increases with the degree of potential function asymmetry. On the other hand, for energy harvesters with a bi-stable potential function, asymmetries in the restoring force appear to worsen performance especially for low to moderate noise intensities. When the noise intensity becomes sufficiently large, the influence of the potential function's asymmetry on the mean power diminishes. Results also reveal that a VEH with a symmetric bi-stable potential function produces higher mean power levels than the one with the most asymmetric mono-stable potential. As such, it is concluded that a VEH with a bi-stable symmetric potential is most desirable to improve performance under white noise.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


Access to new sources of energy and their efficient conversion to provide useful work have been key drivers of economic growth since the industrial revolution. Western countries now need to transform their energy systems and move away from the single-minded pursuit of economic growth in order to reduce our carbon emissions, and to allow the environmental space for other countries to develop in a more sustainable way. Achieving this requires understanding of the dynamics of economic and industrial change with appreciation of the dependence of economies on ecological systems.
Energy and Economic Growth thus examines the links between three issues: history of energy sources, technologies and uses; ecological challenges associated with the current dominant economic growth paradigm; and the future low carbon energy transition to mitigate human-induced climate change. Providing a historical understanding of the relevant connections between physical, social and economic changes, the book enables the reader to better understand the connection between their own energy use and global economic and environmental systems, and to be able to ask the right questions of our political and business leaders.
This is a valuable resource for students, scholars and policy makers with an interest in energy,climate change and economic thinking.


Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are complex, highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorders affecting ∼1 in 60-100 children. The extracellular signal-regulated kinases, ERK1 and ERK2, are central elements of one of the most prominent intracellular signaling cascades, the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. They are genetically linked to ASDs and other syndromes typified by intellectual disability. In this study, we measured the concentration of phosphorylated (activated) ERK 1 and 2. We present evidence that ERK is decreased in individuals with autism, and that ERK levels are associated with decreased Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR).


The 'science' of eugenics emerged during the second half of the nineteenth century, with the aim of assisting nation states in formulating social policies which would improve the 'quality' of the population. The emergence of modern health and social policies from the turn of the twentieth century provided the institutional conditions for translating eugenic rhetoric into a policy programme. Nowadays, eugenics tends to be popularly associated with Nazi Germany, where large-scale experiments in social engineering included forced sterilisations and 'euthanasia' of 'degenerate' persons. In truth, however, eugenic ideas found support across the political spectrum, including amongst socialists and anarchists. Whilst feminists were to be found on both sides of the debate--supporting and opposing eugenics--most opposition came from liberals, who rejected state intervention in private life, and churches, particularly the Catholic Church. Eugenicists called for scientifically-founded state intervention to prevent further degeneration of the diseased national body. Social democrat reformers were amongst the pioneers of eugenic 'science' as well as policy practices in Europe. A number of eugenic policies such as forced sterilisation of 'degenerates' were strongly promoted by the Left and were first applied in countries such as Switzerland and Sweden. Other eugenic policies included education programmes, non-voluntary incarceration in psychiatric clinics, removal of children from parental homes, prohibition to marry, as well as measures that specifically targeted vagrants, 'gypsies', and, more generally, socially deviant groups such as unmarried mothers, 'sexual deviants', or people with physical or mental impairments. The emerging welfare state also added an additional motive to that of preventing degeneracy: limiting public expenditure. Indeed, rapidly expanding welfare institutions increasingly targeted the 'inferior' categories of the national population who became the main recipients of the growing welfare system. Limiting the number of 'weeds' in the national garden therefore appeared as a rational means of reducing welfare costs, which many social democrats as well as feminists supported enthusiastically. Recent developments in the area of genetics have not only returned collective preoccupations with heredity to the debate on the future of national welfare systems, but have also revived anxieties about past eugenic experiences. Against this backdrop, there are important lessons to be drawn from the role of social democracy in the European experience of eugenics. The aim of this article is to explore the connections between eugenics and social democracy, and to raise a number of issues concerning these links which are, given contemporary ethical concerns around the new human genetics, of continuing importance today. While focusing on Switzerland in particular, the Swiss case will be contextualised by eugenic experiences in other European countries, such as the UK, Germany and Scandinavia. EUGENICS, SEXUALITY, AND THE WELFARE STATE A series of prominent media scandals concerning Sweden and Switzerland made 1998 an important year in the history of European eugenics. In the Swedish case, a study which examined sterilisation policies generated considerable interest and concern throughout Europe's popular and scientific press. (1) Although social historians had been previously aware of the practice, the media and public alike were shocked to discover that Sweden, renowned for its strong welfare state and attendant protection of vulnerable social groups, had engaged in exclusionary practices such as eugenic sterilisations until as recently as 1973. In the Swiss case, 1998 saw the publication of a government report on the notorious Kinder der Landstrasse ('Children of the Country Lanes') programme, (2) which officially confirmed claims about the forced removal of 'gypsy' children from their biological families that had been reported in the Swiss press as early as 1972, resulting in public outrage. …


Purpose: To report 3 patients with corneal decompensation and anterior uveitis within 24 hours of cataract surgery from a single ambulatory surgery center using intracameral lidocaine HCl 1% and phenylephrine 2.5% inadvertently preserved with 10% benzalkonium chloride. Methods: This case series describes 3 patients who underwent traditional cataract extraction with a significant decrease in visual acuity in the immediate postoperative period resulting in secondary surgical intervention for corneal decompensation in 2 patients. Results: All 3 patients experienced a dramatic decrease in visual acuity on the day of surgery, ranging from 20/400 to light perception. They were treated with topical steroids and sodium chloride, with stabilization of vision at 20/60 in 1 patient. The remaining 2 patients did not recover with medical management. One underwent Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty with placement of the corneal graft on top of Descemet membrane, which could not be removed secondary to extensive fibrosis. The third patient underwent penetrating keratoplasty secondary to deep corneal scarring. Conclusions: This is the first case series of toxic anterior segment syndrome occurring secondary to the use of benzalkonium chloride-preserved intracameral lidocaine and phenylephrine. Clinicians should remain alert to this phenomenon, and should refrain from using intracameral preservatives during cataract surgery.


In heterogenous media with velocity field v(x,z), Fourier domain wavefield extrapolators are typically applied recursively over depth to perform migration or modelling. Due to the approximation in the theory, errors accumulate through depth steps. In this paper a dual algorithm is formulated that employs high-accuracy, integral, wavefield extrapolation to compute quality control wavefields at a grid coarser than the imaging grid and employs algorithms of lower accuracy to compute the intermediate wavefields.


The question whether cystometry is an accurate and reliable method for assessment and prognostication of neurogenic bladder dysfunction in infants and children has been discussed for many years. To elucidate this question, a search of the relevant literature has been made and the identified studies subjected to evidence based analysis. It was found that the great majority of authors recommend regular cystometry on the basis of non-controlled case series which carry a rather low level of scientific evidence (level of evidence 4, grade of recommendation C). There were two notable exceptions. One, the value of the bladder cooling test (BCT) has been validated in prospective studies comparing neurologically intact children and children with neurogenic bladder (Level of Evidence 2, Grade of recommendation B). Two, studies on natural fill (ambulatory) cystometry display Level 2 Evidence (good quality prospective matched cohort studies). Natural fill cystometry thus qualifies for a Grade B recommendation as the "golden standard" for urodynamics in infants and children.


A study was made of twelve cases with uveitis, glaucoma and hyphema (UGH) caused by rigid intraocular posterior chamber implants. Three of these patients were female and nine were males. The syndrome started in 75% of the cases two years after having been operated. The patients were followed for an average time of 42 months. Four patients responded to medical treatment. Eight patients required surgery. This syndrome is caused by the irritation and escoriation of the ciliary body at the inferior point which supports the hard lens. Serious complications arise from the removal of the lens. The author obtained good results in treating these patients with selective diathermy of the ciliary body under a scleral flap.


Safety Management Systems (SMS) have become an area of focus in recent years for both aircraft operators and regulators. Part 121 air carriers already face regulatory requirements regarding the implementation of SMS. Part 135 air carriers are not yet required by regulators to adopt and implement SMS. However, there are many operators that have implemented SMS ahead of a regulatory requirement. Additionally, several third party auditing agencies such as the International Business Aviation Council's (IBAC) International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and ARGUS International (ARG/US) encourage the development and implementation of SMS and provide their customers with SMS implementation services. Safety culture and the role of upper level management has also become a focal point surrounding the implementation of SMS and is especially critical for Part 135 carriers as management's decision regarding SMS implementation exists outside of regulator requirement.


Groundnut is predominantly grown by communal farmers in Zimbabwe. The price of shelled kernel is approximately double that of pod. Hand shelling of peanuts is a time consuming and laborious process which is mostly used in the remote areas in Zimbabwe. Manual shelling of peanuts using "Manual Sheller's" has been adopted to reduce the time invested in hand shelling. These machines have high defective rates of almost 50% which reduce the overall gain achieved by the farmer after harvesting. As a result, the need has risen to design an automated powered peanut Sheller machine automated using a Program Logic Controller and having a servomotor as its actuator to solve the high labour, huge amounts of time lost through shelling and the low efficiency of previous Sheller designs. First hand results were obtained in this project by determining the crushing force required to shell peanuts at approximately 10% moisture content. Regression models were then used to standardise these results to enhance accuracy. Shelling throughput, automatic gap adjustment, shelling efficiency, mechanical damage are some of the parameters used to determine the overall performance of the peanut Sheller. However exhaustive research on peanut engineering properties has to be done in future to lay out a foundation for improved future designs. On an overall note, this project includes the design and assembling of different components to come up with an environmentally friendly machine that meets the set objectives.


A relativistic generalization of the inviscid Burgers equation was introduced by LeFloch and co-authors and was recently investigated numerically on a Schwarzschild background. We extend this analysis to a Friedmann-Lemaı̂tre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) background, which is more challenging due to the existence of time-dependent, spatially homogeneous solutions. We present a derivation of the model of interest and we study its basic properties, including the class of spatially homogeneous solutions. Then, we design a second-order accurate scheme based on the finite volume methodology, which provides us with a tool for investigating the properties of solutions. Computational experiments demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed scheme for numerically capturing weak solutions. AMS subject classifications: 35L65, 76N10, 83A05


Despite decades of research, little is known about morphometric differences within the dentition of Asian colobines. Although some differences, such as the M3 hypoconulid, are often cited as distinct among genera, no comprehensive assessment has been made. The objectives of this study were to document size and shape differences in third molars in eight Asian colobine genera, including Kasi, Nasalis, Presbytis, Pygathrix, Rhinopithecus, Semnopithecus, Simias, and Trachypithecus, and to quantify length differences for all molars in order to understand the potential impact of an occlusal surface area that includes the hypoconulid. To achieve these objectives, the most extensive survey yet published of Asian colobine dentition was conducted. Differences within and among genera for continuous and categorical variables were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square, t-tests, and post hoc comparisons. Results indicate that species of Presbytis differ from all other Asian colobines in both the size and shape of the maxillary and mandibular third molars. Specifically, M3 of Presbytis is relatively shorter in length and less likely to exhibit a hypoconulid optimally positioned for occlusion with M3. Moreover, Presbytis expresses concomitant changes in the maxillary third molar such as absence of a distal shelf and/or a distal cusp with separated crests. We conclude that shape and size changes impact the molar size sequence patterns of Presbytis, setting this genus apart from all other Asian colobine taxa. These differences may reflect variation in overall body size, dietary adaptation, and phylogeny.


In lifecycle economics the Samuelson paradigm (Samuelson, 1969) states that optimal investment is in constant proportions out of lifetime wealth (composed of current savings and future income). It is well known that in the presence of credit constraints this paradigm no longer applies. Instead, optimal lifecycle investment gives rise to so-called stochastic lifestyling (Cairns et al., 2006), whereby for low levels of accumulated capital it is optimal to invest fully in stocks and then gradually switch to safer assets as the level of savings increases. In stochastic lifestyling not only does the ratio between risky and safe assets change but also the mix of risky assets varies over time. While the existing literature relies on complex numerical algorithms to quantify optimal lifestyling the present paper provides a simple formula that captures the main essence of the lifestyling effect with remarkable accuracy.


The media can play a positive role in peace building/conflict prevention. Recognition of this has led to increasing programmes on media/communications and peace building, with common interventions including training of journalists, and development of pro-peace programme content. However, there are significant challenges in designing and implementing such programmes, and even more in evaluation. While some interventions have generated positive results (e.g. reduced election-related violence), evidence is limited and it is hard to make causal links between interventions and impact. This highlights the need for more research. This review draws on a mixture of academic papers and grey literature. The literature was largely gender-blind and made no mention of persons with disabilities. The term 'media' in this report refers to both mass media (television, radio, newspapers) and to social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, online blogs) because today both are used as sources or tools of news and information (Betz, 2018: 2). 'Peace building' is defined as 'a process that facilitates the establishment of durable peace and tries to prevent the recurrence of violence by addressing root causes and effects of conflict through reconciliation, institution building, and political as well as economic transformation'. In this review peace building is taken in the wider sense to include conflict prevention as well as post-conflict restoration of peace.