The article gives the analysis of a number of principles of the police organization and activities worked out by the author. They are the following: legality, coordination of centralization and decentralization, humanity, community partipation in police activities, mobility, intensity, innevitable responsibility for crime and public order offences, coordination of strategy and tactics, usage of science and technology, dynamism and control. The article also presents a short reflection of the police goals because they are directly related to the principles of the police organization and activities.


The objective of this study was to quantify the zonal difference of the in situ chondron's Poisson effect under different magnitudes of compression. Fluorescence immunolabeling for type VI collagen was used to identify the pericellular matrix (PCM) and chondron, and a series of fluorescent confocal images were recorded and reconstructed to form quantitative three-dimensional models. The zonal variations in the mechanical response of the chondron do not appear to be due to zonal differences in PCM properties, but rather seem to result from significant inhomogeneities in relative stiffnesses of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and PCM with depth.


Direct seeding has some advantages compared to transplanting system in rice, however there are some constraints need to be addressed. One  constraint generally faced in the wet seeded rice is poor stand  establishment. The experiment was conducted to improve seedling  establishment by using selected growth regulators. Seeds of four rice  cultivars, i.e. Memberamo, Widas, MR 84, and MR 219 were treated with  GA3 (gibberellic acid-3) of 25, 50, and 100 mg 1-1, and IBA (indole-3  butyric acid) of 10, 20, and 40 mg l-1. Results showed that cultivar  response to GA3 was similar in all parameters observed, however the response of cultivars to IBA was different at the initial stage. In Indonesian cultivars (Memberamo and Widas), shoot length of IBA treated seedlings was comparable to the control, but the IBA treated seedlings of  Malaysian cultivars (MR 84 and MR 219) had slightly shorter shoots   compared to the control. GA3 as seed treatment induced favorable early emergence and shoot growth in the initial stage, but the shoots were  etiolated and resulted in susceptible to lodging even in the vegetative  stage. In comparison, exogenous application of IBA resulted in high number of adventitious roots contributing towards better establishment of seedling with broader and greener leaves. The growth regulator was lost its  effect by 2 or 3 weeks after sowing. All IBA concentrations also did not  show any significant differences on growth parameters or have any detrimental effect on grain yield in all cultivar tested. IBA 10 mg l-1 was  sufficient in providing the required improvement in the rice seedlings.


The epic genre has at its heart a fascination with the horror of viewing death. Epic heroes have active visual power, yet become objects, turned into monuments, watched by two main audiences: the gods above and the women on the sidelines. This stimulating, ambitious study investigates the theme of vision in Greek and Latin epic from Homer to Nonnus, bringing the edges of epic into dialogue with the most celebrated moments (the visual confrontation of Hector and Achilles, the failure of Turnus' gaze), revealing epic as massive assertion of authority and fractured representation. Helen Lovatt demonstrates the complexity of epic constructions of gender: from Apollonius' Medea toppling Talos with her eyes to Parthenopaeus as object of desire. She discusses mortals appropriating the divine gaze, prophets as both penetrative viewers and rape victims, explores the divine authority of epic ecphrasis, and exposes the way that heroic bodies are fragmented and fetishised.


Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) constitutes a major unpleasant symptom in the postoperative period. The prevention of PONV is judged equally important as the prevention of postoperative pain. Therefore, a working PONV-algorithm should be as self-evident as the approach to prevent and treat postoperative pain. None of the currently available pharmacological interventions is able to totally abolish PONV. However, using a multimodal approach with the combination of various antiemetic interventions, a substantial reduction or even elimination of PONV is already feasible. As a rule of thumb, each effective antiemetic intervention will lead to a relative risk reduction of approximately 30 %. Well documented interventions in terms of the aforementioned efficacy are the administration of ondansetron 4 mg, dexamethasone 4 mg, droperidol 1,25mg and dimenhydrinate 62 mg, as well oral Aprepitant. Metoclopramide may play a role for instance in a multimodal approach. Apart from the administration of antiemetics, the avoidance of inhalational anaesthetics by using propofol is associated with a comparable risk reduction. In general, using a risk-dependent approach, e.g. based on a simplified risk score, allows to avoid administering antiemetics to patients at low risk. However, due to the difficulties associated with the implementation of risk-score based algorithms and the inherent weaknesses of clinical risk scores to predict PONV in an individual patient, a general (multimodal) approach seem to be justified as well. Considering the fact that the currently available antiemetics are associated with few side effects, the administration of prophylactic antiemetics should not be associated with a high hurdle in the clinical setting. In case of any doubts regarding the individual risk, it seems justified to expand the (multimodal) prophylaxis rather than to wait until PONV occurs and impairs patient comfort.


Tensor methods are widely used tools for the approximation of high dimensional functions. Such problems are encountered in uncertainty quantification and statistical learning, where the high dimensionality imposes to use specific techniques, such as rank-structured approximations [1]. In this work, we introduce a statistical learning algorithm for the approximation in tree-based tensor format, which are tensor networks whose graphs are dimension partition trees. This tensor format includes the Tucker format, the Tensor-Train format, as well as the more general Hierarchical tensor formats [4]. It can be interpreted as a deep neural network with a particular architecture [2]. The proposed algorithm uses random evaluations of a function to provide a tree-based tensor approximation, with adaptation of the tree-based rank by using a heuristic criterion based on the higher-order singular values to select the ranks to increase, and of the approximation spaces of the leaves of the tree. We then present a learning algorithm for the approximation under the form u(x) ≈ v(z_1,...,z_m) where v is a tensor in tree-based format and the z_i = g_i(x), 1 ≤ i ≤ m, are new variables. A strategy based on the projection pursuit regression [3] is proposed to compute the mappings g_i and increase the effective dimension m. The methods are illustrated on different examples to show their efficiency and adaptability as well as the power of representation of the tree-based tensor format, possibly combined with changes of variables.


BACKGROUND
postoperative sore throat is the commonest complication after endotracheal intubation. The efficacy of intravenous non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in alleviating postoperative sore throat has not been investigated.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of intravenous diclofenac sodium on the occurrence and severity of postoperative sore throat.

METHODS
42 in-patients scheduled for laparoscopic surgery were randomized into two equal groups to receive either a single dose of 75mg intravenous diclofenac sodium in addition to standard treatment taken at our hospital for the prevention of postoperative sore throat or to receive standard treatment only. All patients were interviewed postoperatively at 2, 6 and 18 hours. Data of the baseline characteristics, the incidence and severity of sore throat were collected. If sore throat was present, a Visual Analogue Score was used to assess its severity.

RESULTS
the baseline characteristics of the participants were similar. The majority of the patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery were women. There was no statistically significant difference in the occurrence or severity of postoperative sore throat between the diclofenac and standard treatment groups at 2, 6 and 18 hours postoperatively.

CONCLUSION
Intravenous diclofenac sodium does not reduce the occurrence or severity of postoperative sore throat.


Today, the information sea is much bigger than anybody can touch. We need technology to help us wade through all the information and find the items we really want and need. INFOFUNNEL provides a new way for information sharing and dissemination, which is based on peer-to-peer data sharing and uses short range wireless connectivity for information exchanging among the mobile wireless devices without WAP. Here, we try to treat the social network as part of the information sharing and dissemination system, like information processing nodes, to help us recognize mobile users' needs and identify more interesting services. We use Opportunity Network (OppNet) as a channel to potentially combine the information exchange channels with users' information need, and carry out two steps to build the information exchange agent for each user. We discuss the design and an implementation of INFOFUNNEL. INFOFUNNEL has been implemented in Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices (NOKIA N800).


Mother larvae observer (Bumantik) empowerment is an effort empower communities to establish independency of the community in health, especially elimination of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF). Although most of the household (RT) good enough in conducting of 3M Plus, but this activity has not been optimally. This study aims to clarify the relationship of empowerment Bumantik with indicators of mosquito breeding eradication (PSN) in the Wonokromo Village, Surabaya.
Design used in this study was  cross sectional design. The population was all cadre Bumantik at RW 6 Wonokromo Village, Surabaya. Samples were collected by using the Total Sampling as many as 35 respondents. Data was collected using questionnaires and secondary data from the cadre Bumantik, and analyzed using a statistical test of correlation coefficient Cramer s V contingency with a significant level of p £ 0.01.
Results of analysis showed that no relation empowerment Bumantik with indicators larvae free rate (ABJ) (p = 0.588), an indicator of the Container Index (CI) (p = 0.512), 3M Plus activity indicators (p = 0.806).
Bumantik empowerment is not related to indicators of ABJ, CI, and 3M Plus. This is caused by various factors affecting the success of the mosquito breeding eradication, so that local communities should also be considered.


The responsiveness of hypophysectomized female rats bearing pituitary autotransplants to chronic, low dosage treatment with desoxycorticosterone acetate was compared with that of intact females. Intact animals reacted rapidly, developed malignant hypertension, and died within 10 weeks. By contrast hypophysectomized autograft-bearing rats developed hypertension more slowly, and the majority of them were alive at 16 weeks when the experiment was concluded. At autopsy, as compared with intact animals which had died earlier from the sequelae of malignant hypertension, hypophysectomized animals were found to have far more severe periarteritis nodosa, but a lesser development of nephrosclerosis and an extremely low incidence of cardiac damage. Hypertensive cardiovascular disease occurred in these animals despite extreme atrophy of the thyroid and adrenal glands, of the ovaries and uteri, and cessation of somatic growth. Therefore, except for LTH which such autografts are known to elaborate, or trace amounts of the other principals, none of the known regulatory hormones of the anterior pituitary singly or in combination is essential to this effect of DCA.


The Garnaut Climate Change Review was the most comprehensive government inquiry into climate change that has ever been conducted in Australia. The Final Report of the Review was published in late September 2008 and contains an extensive list of recommendations on adaptation and abatement policy options. Most controversially, the Review argues that Australia's climate response should be built around gaining an international consensus on stabilising the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases at 550 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2-e). While arguing that a lower stabilisation target of "450 ppm or less" would better suit Australia's interests, the Review concludes that anything significantly below 550 ppm is politically unrealistic. If there is a global agreement to pursue a 550 ppm outcome, the Review argues that Australia's mid- and long-term targets should be to reduce emissions net of international trading by 10 per cent from 2000 levels by 2020, and 80 per cent by 2050. This article provides a critique of the Review's mitigation recommendations, focusing on whether the proposed global and national targets are likely to lead to a 550 ppm outcome. It concludes that the international community, and especially Australia and other developed countries, should adopt abatement targets in excess of those proposed by the Review if there is a desire to keep the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases to 550 ppm.


On May 15, 1862, U.S. General Benjamin Butler, commander of occupied New Orleans, ordered that any woman who publicly insulted Union soldiers be subject to prosecution as a prostitute. Not all nineteenth-century women, Butler learned, felt their place was in the home. As his order implies, women were governed by an unwritten code of public conduct, appeared on public streets, spoke out on public issues, and were subjects of public policy. In "Women in Public" noted historian Mary P. Ryan examines each of these issues as it affected women in New York, New Orleans, and San Francisco. Contrary to current perceptions, Ryan contends, nineteenth-century women appeared in public in a variety of roles. They took part in civic ceremonies, from Independence Day celebrations to ethnic festivals. Whether they sonsorted in parks designed for "ladies" or in the increasingly regulated haunts of prostitutes, their place in the everyday life of the streets became more segregated and distinct. Denied access to the voting booth, they practiced "outdoor politics," waving handkerchiefs at rallies--and wielding brickbats in riots. Exploring little-noted aspects of nineteenth-century political discourse, Ryan shows how gender and sexual imagery in public language changed as the century progressed. She analyzes the construction of boundaries between private and public spheres and examines the American political system's failure to accommodate difference within democratic order.


The separation of the Baltics from the Soviet Union was a difficult process accompanied by both political and economic conflicts. The third party in the negotiation process was represented by Germany and the USA. This article sets out to identify the role of the USA and Germany in the restoration of Baltic independence. Historicism and objectivity principles serve as the methodological framework for the research. The regional approach was applied in order to integrate the features of regional development into the overall picture of world politics. The scientific and practical significance of the article consists in a scientific evaluation of the Soviet-Baltic relations in 1989-1991. This study can help understand the mechanisms of formulation of foreign policy by the USA, Germany, and the USSR, as well as the practice of political interaction between these countries and the Baltic States. The materials and conclusions of this article can be used for further research on the foreign policies of the USA, Germany, the USSR, and the Baltic republics. In the process of the Baltics gaining their independence, western countries showed an ambivalent position and hesitancy regarding support for the struggle for liberation. As a result of internal contradictions in the USSR, Baltic leaders managed to achieve independence without any effective support from western powers. The research significance of this study consists in a diverse selection of sources and a new formulation of the problem of Baltic independence. The practical significance of the article results lies in the applicability of its materials in the development of Russian foreign policy in the Baltic region, further research on the history of the Baltic region, Germany, and the USA, and preparation of lectures.


With the human rights situation in the Asia-Pacific region characterised by clashes resulting from religious and ethnic extremism, challenges to free speech, and attacks on women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, the year 2017 in the Asia Pacific remains unchanged from previous years. Incidents ranged from the systematic curtailment of basic freedoms and violent religious, ethnic, and gender-based conflict. Even though most Asia-Pacific nations are democratic in nature, arbitrary anti-democratic actions by government remain common. The major incidents that occurred during 2017 were the ongoing Rohingya crisis in Myanmar and religious extremism in countries such as Afghanistan, India and Malaysia. These setbacks were to some extent offset by the ratification of core human right treaties by countries such as Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. Regional organisations such as ASEAN, SAARC, and PIF continue to avoid systematically protecting international standards and following up on UN recommendations.


At present there is much debate about the impacts and benefits of increasing the amount of generation connected to the low voltage areas of the electricity distribution network. The UK government is under political pressure to diversify energy sources for environmental reasons, for long-term sustainability and to buffer the potential insecurity of uncertain international energy markets. UK Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) are processing large numbers of applications to connect significant amounts of Distributed Generation (DG). DNOs hold statutory responsibility to preserve supply quality and must screen the DG applications for their impact on the network. The DNOs often require network upgrades or DG curtailment, reducing the viability of proposed projects. Many studies exist that identify barriers to the widespread connection of DG. Among them are: suitability of existing protection equipment; rating of existing lines and equipment; impact in terms of expanded voltage envelope and increased harmonic content; conflict with automatic voltage regulating equipment. These barriers can be overcome by expensive upgrades of the distribution network or the expensive deep connection of DG to the higher voltage, sub-transmission network. This work identifies changes in network operating practice that could allow the connection of more DG without costly upgrades. The thesis reported is that adopting options for a more openly managed, actively controlled, distribution network can allow increased DG capacity without upgrades. Simulations have been performed showing DG connected with wind farm production time series to a representative section of the Scottish distribution network. The simulations include modelling of voltage regulation by network equipment and/or new generation. The cost and effects of the consequent network behaviour evaluated in monetary terms are reported. Alternative control strategies are shown and recommended, to reduce DNO operation and maintenance costs and the cost of connection to the developer with no reduction in supply quality. Declaration of originality I hereby declare that the research recorded in this thesis and the thesis itself was composed and originated entirely by myself in the School of Engineering and Electronics at The University of Edinburgh.


The performance of differential amplitude and phase-shift keying (DAPSK) with post-detection diversity combining over general fading channels is of great theoretical interest and practical importance. Hence, a general and accurate performance analysis is very useful. In this paper, we analyze the distribution of the phase and amplitude decision variable at the DAPSK receiver output by using the moment generating function (MGF) approach. Exact results for the error probability of DAPSK on general Rician and Nakagami fading channels are derived, taking into account the effects of all system and fading channel parameters including correlated signal branches and correlated noise. By using our analytical results, the effects of the ring ratio and the amplitude decision boundary, etc., on the DAPSK performance are investigated, and some new findings are presented.


We investigate a novel cross-layer optimization problem for jointly performing dynamic spectrum management (DSM) and periodic rate-scheduling in time. The large number of carriers used in digital subscriber lines (DSL) makes DSM a large-scale optimization problem for which dual optimization is a commonly used method. The duality-gap which potentially accompanies the dual optimization for non-convex problems is typically assumed to be small enough to be neglected. Also, previous theoretical results show a vanishing duality-gap as the number of subcarriers approaches infinity. We will bound the potential performance improvements that can be achieved by the additional rate-scheduling procedure. This bound is found to depend on the duality-gap in the physical layer DSM problem. Furthermore, we will derive bounds on the duality-gap of the two most important optimization problems in DSL, namely the maximization of the weighted sum-rate and the minimization of the weighted sum-power. These bounds are derived for a finite number of subcarriers and are also applicable to the respective problems in orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) systems.


The mitochondrion is a membrane-bound organelle found in most eukaryotic cells. Mitochondria are considered as the powerhouse of the cell because they function as the platform for generating the production of chemical energy. The visual information of mitochondria revealed by the recent advanced technology in nanoimaging opens doors to life-science researchers to gain insights into its spatial structure and its spatial distribution within the cell. In order to simulate and model mitochondria using a large amount of images, the first task in image processing is the automated detection of this organelle. This paper introduces a nonstationary indicator kriging model, which can model the spatial uncertainty in an image, for feature extraction. This feature can be effectively applied for the detection of mitochondria.


The space within the interlayer of 2-dimensional (2D) nanosheets provides new and intriguing confined environments for molecular interactions. However, atomic level understanding of the adsorption mechanism of CO2 confined within the interlayer of 2D nanosheets is still limited. Herein, we present a comparative study of the adsorption mechanisms of CO2 confined within graphene–molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanosheets using density functional theory (DFT). A comprehensive analysis of CO2 adsorption energies (EAE) at various interlayer spacings of different multilayer structures comprising graphene/graphene (GrapheneB) and MoS2/MoS2 (MoS2B) bilayers as well as graphene/MoS2 (GMoS2) and MoS2/graphene (MoS2G) hybrids is performed to obtain the most stable adsorption configurations. It was found that 7.5 Å and 8.5 Å interlayer spacings are the most stable conformations for CO2 adsorption on the bilayer and hybrid structures, respectively. Adsorption energies of the multilayer structures decreased in the following trend: MoS2B > GrapheneB > MoS2G > GMoS2. By incorporating van der Waals (vdW) interactions between the CO2 molecule and the surfaces, we find that CO2 binds more strongly on these multilayer structures. Furthermore, there is a slight discrepancy in the binding energies of CO2 adsorption on the heterostructures (GMoS2, MoS2G) due to the modality of the atom arrangement (C–Mo–S–O and Mo–S–O–C) in both structures, indicating that conformational anisotropy determines to a certain degree its CO2 adsorption energy. Meanwhile, Bader charge analysis shows that the interaction between CO2 and these surfaces causes charge transfer and redistributions. By contrast, the density of states (DOS) plots show that CO2 physisorption does not have a substantial effect on the electronic properties of graphene and MoS2. In summary, the results obtained in this study could serve as useful guidance in the preparation of graphene–MoS2 nanosheets for the improved adsorption efficiency of CO2.


The energy consumption of cellular networks is essential and this consumption increases with the development of generations of networks and the expansion of the database. The volume of data grows to very large volumes, in terms of the number of users covered by the base stations of this network. Some of the important limitations of cellular networks are the excessive production of carbon dioxide by base stations and the cost of installing enough base stations for good coverage. Our goal in this paper is threefold. Indeed, the cost of installing base stations must be minimized, CO2 emissions must be reduced and network coverage must be maximized. So we have a problem with three conflicting goals. We have modeled this problem as a multi-objective optimization problem. To resolve it, we propose a method based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithms. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, experiments are performed on a data set. The results showed that our approach improves the coverage of cellular networks, reduces carbon dioxide production, and reduces the cost of base stations installed, simultaneously.


Potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) are gradually gaining attention owing to their natural abundance, excellent security, and high energy density. However, developing excellent organic cathode materials for PIBs to overcome the poor cycling stability and slow kinetics caused by the large radii of K+ ions is challenging. This study demonstrates for the first time the application of a hexaazanonaphthalene (HATN)-based two-dimensional π-d conjugated metal-organic framework (2D c-MOF) with dual-active centers (Cu-HATNH) and integrates Cu-HATNH with carbon nanotubes (Cu-HATNH@CNT) as the cathode material for PIBs. Owing to this systematic module integration and more exposed active sites with high utilization, Cu-HATNH@CNT exhibited a high initial capacity (317.5 mA h g-1 at 0.1 A g-1 ), excellent long-term cycling stability (capacity retention of 96.8% at 5 A g-1 after 2200 cycles), and outstanding rate capacity (147.1 mA h g-1 at 10 A g-1 ). The reaction mechanism and performance  were determined by combining experimental characterization and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. This contribution provides new opportunities for designing high-performance 2D c-MOF cathodes with multiple active sites for PIBs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Mutations and elevated levels of the p53 tumor suppressor protein have been reported in Burkitt's lymphomas (BL). We investigated whether elevated levels of the mutant p53 protein can be due to transcriptional or posttranscriptional mechanisms. In surveying a series of B-lymphoid cell lines, we found that a high level of the p53 protein tended to reflect high steady-state levels of p53 mRNA. p53 mRNA exhibited high stability in all of the cells tested. Cycloheximide treatment of the cells showed that the low level of p53 mRNA in non-BL lymphoid cells can not be attributed to posttranscriptional regulation by a labile protein. Nuclear run-on experiments revealed that the transcription rate of the p53 gene is about four times higher in some high p53-expressing BL cell lines as compared to low p53-expressing lymphoid cell lines. Our data suggest that an increase in the rate of transcription of the p53 gene is one of the mechanisms that contribute to elevated levels of mutant p53 protein observed in many tumor cells.


The seeming ubiquity of spatio-temporal variation in pollination regime suggests that flowers ought to be adapted to a wide range of pollinators, yet many comparative biologists perceive that in groups with complex flowers there is considerable specialization onto pollination syndromes. Statistical documentation of such syndromes has been presented for very few groups of flowers. Accordingly, we measured, for 49 species of Penstemon and close relatives, both the morphology of the flowers and visitation by pollinators. We describe the mechanics of pollination for representative species. Ordinations show a distinct difference between hummingbird-pollinated species and hymenopteran-pollinated species. Flower color is particularly good at separating hummingbird- from hymenopteran-flowers. Other characters are also correlated with this dichotomy. Within the hymenopteran-pollinated species, there are additional relationships between floral morphology and the size of the principal pollinators. Flowers frequented by large bees, such as Xylocopa, have large open vestibules and relatively short floral tubes. Flowers frequented by smaller bees, such as Osmia, have long narrow floral tubes. Unlike nectar-collecting bees, pollen-collecting bees tend to be attracted to flowers of the hummingbird syndrome. The overarching pattern was that syndrome characterizations were successful at predicting pollination by hummingbirds versus Hymenoptera, two types of animals that are profoundly different, but less successful at predicting visitation by one kind of bee versus another.


"Economic accessibility of housing is becoming a real problem in Spain due to the so-called ""realstate boom"". The increase of price affects the Spanish economy especially since 1998. That is why the research in housing prices is increasing in this country. In this paper, we analyze in depth housing price dynamics in the Spanish provinces to test for the existence of convergence or divergence processes, as well as the presence of spatial externalities or spillovers. We use some exploratory spatial data analysis tools and spatial econometrics to control for spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity in the error terms of the regression. We demonstrate that there was a divergence trend in housing price growth during the last decade between Spanish provinces. We also state that housing price growth in a province is affected by housing price growth in its corresponding neighboring provinces, not only physically contiguous but also those belonging to the same region. Specifically, the own region impact over housing price growth is higher that the pure geographic contiguity. This fact has important conclusions in terms of housing policy, as it demonstrate the power of regional policies on housing price growth, even more that the effect of neighboring provinces of other regions. "


Inflammation in COPD is characterized by an increased presence and activation of airway neutrophils. However, since currently available treatment options have only limited effects on neutrophilic airway inflammation, great efforts are undertaken to develop novel therapies targeting the neutrophilic component of inflammation in COPD. The present review discusses the rationale for anti-neutrophilic treatment in COPD and provides a critical overview of recent developments in drug therapy. Moreover, open questions and limitations of clinical trials including choice of adequate outcome parameters for proof-of-concept studies with putative anti-neutrophilic drugs and potential safety issues are summarized.


Mushrooms received one of the following four treatments: washed with water, sliced with a blunt blade and stored in air (AIR) at 4 and 8C, or were treated with H2O2/isoascorbate, then gently sliced with a razor blade, followed by storage in controlled humidity and modified atmosphere (HMA) chambers (96% relative humidity, and 3% O2, 3% CO2 bal N2) at 4 or 8C. Sensory analysis showed that more severe processing with water washing and air storage resulted in an overall poor sensory quality with a greater loss of appearance, increased mushroom maturity, surface browning with tissue softening and a loss of aroma acceptability. Microbial loads were greater, particularly at 8C. By contrast, mild slicing and an antibacterial/anti-browning treatment combined with high HMA storage had beneficial effects on quality. These conditions resulted in better sensory scores, less cap development and lower microbial loads. Increasing storage temperature from 4 to 8C resulted in a shorter shelf life under both storage atmospheres.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

This study highlights the effects of different preparation and storage practices on the quality of sliced mushrooms to determine processing and storage conditions that improved quality. The results support the use of low impact slicing combined with an H2O2/isoascorbate treatment, followed by humidity and modified atmosphere storage at 4C as an effective strategy for extending the shelf life of sliced mushrooms. These data from chamber experiments illustrate the challenges faced in supplying packaging materials, which provide ideal storage environments. This work can be relevant for producers and processors who want a mushrom product with maximum quality, safe and has an extended shelf life.


In 2007, the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) and the International Society of Pharmacovigilance (ISoP) released guidelines for publishing case reports on adverse drug reactions (ADRs). These guidelines describe what authors should consider when constructing an ADR case report for publication in terms of key information about the affected patient, administered drugs, reported reaction, causality assessment and implications for clinical practice.1

In this study, we assessed the adherence to ISPE/ISoP guidelines for ADR case reports of paediatric patients published from January 2008 to December 2010 and entered in Pfizer's safety database. We also developed a case report quality score by assigning a value …


Manufacturing defects can cause hard-to-detect (HTD) faults in fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) static random access memories (SRAMs). Detection of these faults, such as random read outputs and out-of-spec parametric deviations, is essential when testing FinFET SRAMs. Undetected HTD faults result in test escapes, which lead to early in-field failures. This article presents a detailed analysis of HTD faults in FinFET SRAMs by exploring their sensitization and discussing solutions to improve HTD fault coverage during manufacturing testing. We first define the fault space for SRAMs and classify all faults in the space. Following this, we perform a systematic fault analysis based on injecting resistive defects in a memory cell, inspecting its behavior, and identifying HTD faults. Furthermore, we survey existing test solutions and discuss their HTD fault coverage and limitations. Based on our analysis, it is clear that no single test solution can fully detect all HTD faults, thus leading to test escapes. Hence, there is a need for new and more efficient test solutions. Improved detection of HTD faults could be achieved by using parametric test solutions, proposing solutions that cover yet-untargeted HTD faults, combining multiple test approaches into a single solution, and further exploring stress conditions. These new approaches would reduce test escapes and therefore improve the quality of FinFET SRAMs.


Last spring, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling reignited the perennial debate regarding American generalship with his article, "General Failure." He joined a number of critics in blaming America's senior military leadership, especially Army leaders, for the situation in Iraq. In his view, US generals failed the nation by not anticipating the nature of the war, thus failing to prepare the military for the war in which it is now engaged. Worse, he asserted that they failed to conduct counterinsurgency operations with competence, poorly integrating the political, military, economic, social, and information domains, if at all. In short, Yingling believed that America's generals had waged the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time. (1) One may stipulate that everything Colonel Yingling says is true, however, and still note that generals who succeeded according to his criteria are indeed rare in American military history. Historiography reveres George C. Marshall, but if President Franklin D. Roosevelt had followed his advice, the United States would have curtailed Lend-Lease aid to Great Britain in favor of an American military buildup, and the Allies might have launched a crossChannel attack in 1943 as the first major western offensive of the war. Ulysses S. Grant simply executed the military strategy President Abraham Lincoln had been urging on his reluctant generals since the fall of 1862, but when it became his responsibility to deal with the challenges associated with post-Civil War Reconstruction he was unable to institute Lincoln's vision and left the social and political order of the American South essentially unchanged from the antebellum era. Whatever happens in Iraq, it is highly unlikely that a similar critique will be uttered. In fact, Iraq is not the first war America has fought in which a brilliant conventional campaign captured the enemy capital, only to be followed by stalemate. That distinction belongs to the Mexican-American War, in which Winfield Scott's campaign to seize Mexico City left American forces mired there for months until Nicholas Trist's freelance diplomacy saved the day. (2) Given this record, it might be better to inquire as to what can reasonably be expected of American generals rather than lament their shortcomings. In that vein, this article will focus on the Joint Chiefs of Staff's (JCS) strategic advice in three crises: the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the decision to commit US forces to combat in Vietnam in 1964. The Joint Chiefs of Staff represent the pinnacle of America's military leadership. During the periods in question, they collectively served as the principal military advisers to the President, a role now held singly by the JCS's Chairman. Examining that advice permits us to examine the quality of strategic thought at the highest military levels. Moreover, collectively the Joint Chiefs were responsible for identifying the key military challenges to American security and preparing US forces to meet them. Finally, these three crises were the defining moments of the early Cold War, at first leading directly to the US decision to wage the Cold War and then, at the end, to a national desire to find another framework. This examination illustrates both the utility and limitations of military advice. It also demonstrates the tendency to expand the military's jurisdiction. During the Korean War, the JCS generally confined their efforts to the overall management of US military resources in support of national objectives, keeping the Korean conflict in proper perspective within America's Cold War military strategy. By the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, however, the JCS appeared to have expanded the definition of military advice to include all matters related to war and peace. They pressed President John F. Kennedy hard for an air strike against the deployed Soviet missiles, even though an attack carried with it a considerable risk of nuclear war by the JCS's own estimates. …


We report a highly sensitive and selective "turn-on" fluorescent/colorimetric probe, 5-(pentafluorophenyl)dipyrrin (1), for selected transition metal ions in aqueous medium at biological pH. The limit of detection for Zn(II), Hg(II), Cu(II) and Ni(II) is found to be 0.18 μM, 0.28 μM, 13.01 μM and 18.31 μM respectively. The mechanism of complexation is confirmed as a 1 : 2 ratio of metal to ligand by Job's plot analysis and mass spectrometry. The practical application of the probe in bioremediation of metal ions by B. subtilis (BS) and B. cereus (BC) is demonstrated and the tolerance level of these microorganisms against metal ions is identified. The emission peak centered at a long wavelength of 548 to 558 nm indicates the potential application of this probe in bio-imaging Zn(II) and Hg(II) by fluorescence microscopy. Thus, it is possible to track the ions absorbed by BS and BC.


—With ever increasing data volumes, large compute clusters that process data in a distributed manner have become prevalent in industry. For distributed stream processing platforms (such as Storm) the question of how to distribute workload to available machines, has important implications for the overall performance of the system. We present a workload scheduling strategy that is based on a graph partitioning algorithm. The scheduler is application agnostic: it collects the communication behavior of running applications and creates the schedules by partitioning the resulting communication graph using the METIS graph partitioning software. As we build upon graph partitioning algorithms that have been shown to scale to very large graphs, our approach can cope with topologies with millions of tasks. While the experiments in this paper assume static data loads, our approach could also be used in a dynamic setting. We implemented our proposed algorithm for the Storm stream processing system and evaluated it on a commodity cluster with up to 80 machines. The evaluation was conducted on four different use cases – three using synthetic data loads and one application that processes real data. We compared our algorithm against two state-of-the-art sched-uler implementations and show that our approach offers significant improvements in terms of resource utilization, enabling higher throughput at reduced network loads. We show that these improvements can be achieved while maintaining a balanced workload in terms of CPU usage and bandwidth consumption across the cluster. We also found that the performance advantage increases with message size, providing an important insight for stream-processing approaches based on micro-batching.


The effects of different filling materials and stabilizers in polymer based materials that are used as shoe solesin the shoemaking industry on the mechanical properties (strength, failure, tensile, tearing, bending etc.) of the final products have been examined in this study. Natural rubber (NR RSS3) and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR 1502) were used as the main matrix material. New compounds were formed by replacing the fillings in the general compound of the existing factory (SiO2, CaCO3) with 40% (1200 g) blast furnace flue dust, rice husk, reclaimed rubber (recycled) and woodash. Comparison of the new compounds with the existing compounds revealed a decrease in hardness, density, dimension stability, bending, tearing, % elongation and failure strength and an increase in wearing.


Our paper reflects on our experience with Weaving Music II—a web performance space we built with fifteen artists working across different disciplines. The website and our essay attempt to create alternatives to the "at-the-same-timeness" of streaming technologies as well as the forms of listening defined by data capitalism and corporate platforms like Google and YouTube. At the heart of the alternative practices we propose is an embrace of what we see as the creolizing potentiality of the Web and of listening. To unpack these potentialities, the essay and artwork critically reflect on listening that occurs through  Afrofuturistic modes of engagement with technology, space and time. We consider the historical origins of Web improvisations, our approach to collaboration using Weaving Music II, and theories of information that move beyond the need for predefined codes of understanding.


Introduction Penile carcinoma (PC) is a rare disease, however it is still considered a serious public health problem. The expression of p16INK4a, a protein associated with tumour suppression, can be used as a marker for the presence of high risk HPV DNA. The upregulation of this protein is understood to be an attempt to stop uncontrolled cellular proliferation in response to HPV infection. Objectives The goal of this study was to estimate the prevalence of HPV DNA and evaluate the expression and correlation of p16INK4a with HPV DNA in patients with PC in Goias, Brazil. Methods: this retrospective cohort study involved 190 patients with PC treated in the UroOncology service of Hospital Araujo Jorge (HAJ), a unit of the Association Against Cancer in Goias (ACCG), from January 2003 to November 2015. The paraffin blocks containing the cancerous tissue fragments were subjected to extraction of viral DNA, subsequently subjected to polymerase chain reaction testing with short PCR fragment (SPF PCR) primers to detect HPV DNA. The marking of the p16INK4a protein was performed with immunohistochemistry, using a commercial kit (Mach 4 Universal HRPPolymer Detection System – Biocare Medical, CA, USA). The slides were evaluated independently by two pathologists. Results Of the 190 samples tested, 89 (46.8%) (CI 95%: 39.8%–53.9%) showed positive HPV DNA and 98 (51.7.0%) (CI 95%: 33.2 to 53.2) showed expression of p16INK4a. The correlation between the presence of HPV DNA and p16INK4a was 63.6% (CI 95%: 46.3 to 78.6). Although there is no expression of p16INK4a in 100% of cases positive for HPVDNA, there was statistical significance between the presence of viral DNA and expression of p16INK4a (p<0.003). Conclusion Some studies suggest that the standard knowledge of the expression of the p16INK4a protein may be a useful marker for HPV activity in patients with penile cancer. The results of this study showed that there are significant differences between the expression of this protein in positive and negative HPV DNA samples.


Abstract:This essay examines the use of money in contemporary theatre, and the recent trend of spectators being encouraged by practitioners to interact with physical currency during performances. It analyzes Clare Duffy's MONEY the game show (2013) as an indicative example, in which spectators play with 10,000 pound coins via a series of games modeled on the speculative financial practices of hedge-fund managers. Placing this work within the context of the events that led to the 2008 financial crisis, the increasing immateriality and digitization of money, along with recent government cuts to the arts budget in the United Kingdom, the essay explores theatre's potential as a space where spectators can experience these economic shifts and evaluate their societal impact.Through a mixture of dramatic narrative and game show–style participation, MONEY the game show raises crucial questions around how money attains, retains, and loses its value. Duffy's work explores the relation between a specific money-object (a pound coin) and contemporary economic practices (short-selling, zombie banks), which in turn reveals the decisive gap between how money performs and the underlying socioeconomic realities on which this performing is based. By experiencing this relation for themselves, both physically and symbolically, spectators explore the materiality of money and its dependence on global financial markets. Drawing on continental philosophy, the essay claims that this materiality is more appropriately termed immateriality, and that understanding it as such renders visible how theatre in the UK has responded to the socioeconomic shifts that resulted in and were a result of the 2008 financial crisis.


Constitutive B-cell receptor signaling leads to overexpression of the antiapoptotic BCL-2 protein and is implicated in the pathogenesis of many types of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL). The BCL-2 small-molecule inhibitor venetoclax shows promising clinical response rates in several lymphomas, but is not curative as monotherapy. Radiotherapy is a rational candidate for combining with BCL-2 inhibition, as DNA damage caused by radiotherapy increases the activity of pro-apoptotic BCL-2 pathway proteins, and lymphomas are exquisitely sensitive to radiation. We tested B-NHL responses to venetoclax combined with either external beam radiotherapy or radioimmunotherapy (RIT), which joins the selectivity of antibody targeting with the effectiveness of irradiation. We first tested cytotoxicity of cesium-137 irradiation plus venetoclax in 14 B-NHL cell lines representing five lymphoma subtypes. Combination treatment synergistically increased cell death in 10 of 14 lines. Lack of synergy was predicted by resistance to single-agent venetoclax and high BCL-XL expression. We then assessed the efficacy of external beam radiotherapy plus venetoclax in murine xenograft models of mantle cell (MCL), germinal-center diffuse large B-cell (GCB-DLBCL), and activated B-cell (ABC-DLBCL) lymphomas. In each model, external beam radiotherapy plus venetoclax synergistically increased mouse survival time, curing up to 10%. We finally combined venetoclax treatment of MCL and ABC-DLBCL xenografts with a pretargeted RIT (PRIT) system directed against the CD20 antigen. Optimal dosing of PRIT plus venetoclax cured 100% of mice with no detectable toxicity. Venetoclax combined with radiotherapy may be a promising treatment for a wide range of lymphomas Cancer Res; 77(14); 3885-93. ©2017 AACR.


Background and Purpose: Clinical prediction rules (CPRs) involving physical therapy interventions have been published recently. The quality of the studies used to develop the CPRs was not previously considered, a fact that has potential implications for clinical applications and future research. The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the quality of published CPRs developed for physical therapy interventions. Methods: Relevant databases were searched up to June 2008. Studies were included in this review if the explicit purpose was to develop a CPR for conditions commonly treated by physical therapists. Validated CPRs were excluded from this review. Study quality was independently determined by 3 reviewers using standard 18-item criteria for assessing the methodological quality of prognostic studies. Percentage of agreement was calculated for each criterion, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was determined for overall quality scores. Results: Ten studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. Percentage of agreement for individual criteria ranged from 90% to 100%, and the ICC for the overall quality score was .73 (95% confidence interval=.27–.92). Criteria commonly not met were adequate description of inclusion or exclusion criteria, inclusion of an inception cohort, adequate follow-up, masked assessments, sufficient sample sizes, and assessments of potential psychosocial factors. Quality scores for individual studies ranged from 48.2% to 74.0%. Discussion and Conclusion: Validation studies are rarely reported in the literature; therefore, CPRs derived from high-quality studies may have the best potential for use in clinical settings. Investigators planning future studies of physical therapy CPRs should consider including inception cohorts, using longer follow-up times, performing masked assessments, recruiting larger sample sizes, and incorporating psychological and psychosocial assessments.


The greater cane rat, Thryonomys swinderianus, utilizes high fibrous plant material and is an important meat source in West Africa. An insight in its digestive physiology will enhance our understanding of its feeding habits. Digestibility coefficients of the food were determined during two seasons before the animals were euthanased. The distribution and concentrations of nutrients and energy in different parts of the gastrointestinal tract were determined at the time of day when animals practised coprophagy. Trial 1 diet in the wet season consisted of 36% neutral detergent fibre (NDF), 11% protein and 49% dry matter, while the Trial 2 diet in the dry season consisted of 53% NDF, 8–9% protein and 89% dry matter. The Trial 2 animals on the poor diet increased their daily nutrient intake, possibly increased the volume of digesta and practised frequently cophrophagy, so that faecal production was reduced and digestibility coefficients were relatively high. Coprophagy increased both protein and energy intake as soft pellets in the distal colon had higher protein and energy content than the hard faeces. Energy, protein and acid-detergent fibre were retained in the caecum of Trial 1 females and the caecum and proximal colon of the Trial 2 animals 16 hours after feeding, illustrating the importance of these two regions in the fermentation process. Water was absorbed in the distal colon as dry matter content of digesta increased 53%, 4% and 56% from the proximal colon to the distal colon. Animals produced hard faeces with only 16% and 5% lower moisture content in the dry season, compared to that produced in the wet season, as water was not a limiting factor during the trials. It was concluded that an increase in daily food intake, an increase in coprophagy and the presence of a colonic separation mechanism (that retains small particles) enable the greater cane rat to utilize high fibrous plant material. These digestive strategies seem to be comparable to those observed in other hystricomorph rodents.


Effect of annealing temperature is investigated on texture and creep anisotropy in a thinwalled tubing of titanium alloy. Creep anisotropy is studied under equibiaxial loading using internally pressurized tubing superimposed with axial load while monitoring in-situ the time variations of both hoop and axial strains. Relatively weak hoop direction in the cold-worked material became stronger following complete recrystallization. The analyses of the data reveal that the anisotropy parameter, P which is the contractile strain ratio for testing along hoop direction increases from around 0.6 for the cold-worked material to around 1.5 following complete recrystallization. Results indicate that planar isotropy should occur following annealing at around 800K. Work on the effects of annealing on the textures and deformation microstructures is in progress. We summarize here results from some of our earlier work on a different lot of Ti3Al2.5V tubing in the recrystallized states where the ODFs were used in conjunction with crystal slip models to predict creep anisotropy.


This article considers the human rights situation of religious minorities living in the Muslim Middle East. It notes the common thread of human rights abuses that they face, and analyzes this in the light of Muslim legal concepts and standards. The article then explores whether or not the improvement of the human rights situation of religious minorities in the Middle East could be attempted from within a Muslim religious framework. Can the emancipatory interpretation of Islamic traditions and laws be used to eliminate the obstacles to the realization of their rights? This examination is carried out in the light of the literature and activism on the promotion of the rights of women under Muslim and Middle Eastern rule.


Focusing on Dr. Edward Hammond Clarke, this article explores the formal structures linking nineteenth-century texts about drug abuse and women's education. Although Clarke's Sex in Education (1873) has been extensively studied for its antifeminist arguments, this article is unique in incorporating the materia medica (pharmacy) lectures he delivered at Harvard. Through the similar organization and use of clinical case reports in both types of texts, Clarke framed women's education as a potentially dangerous drug, and encouraged the treatment of female students as objects of medical research. This article analyzes formal patterns linking pharmaceutical literature with antifeminist arguments against women's education.


Key issues in this policy brief include: Poverty eradication policies have not paid enough attention to the growth of poor and very poor people's incomes, which depends on productive asset accumulation in agriculture and the nonfarm economy. Making financial services accessible to the poor and very poor (for instance, by linking them to burial societies and other ROSCAs), and work effectively is a priority, as are measures which ease access to land, livestock and productive equipment. In the latter, policies which make land easier to rent (in and out) would be especially helpful. Policies focused on helping poor people acquire or rent farm assets (e.g. irrigation and oxen) and nonfarm business assets should complement measures focused on land. Asset possession also underlies resilience against shocks. It is the absence of assets which makes people especially vulnerable. Therefore, protecting assets is a priority. This may be achieved through social protection, but also through specific policies such as soil and water conservation, price stabilisation schemes, or insurance linked to financial services. Burial societies and ROSCAs are also protective mechanisms, and can be strengthened by linking them to SACCOs and securing appropriate safeguards. The poor operate in labour, service and commodity markets which are over-supplied (e.g. petty trade, casual labour, brewing, and subsistence foods). Returns are low as a result. Getting people from poor households into higher return markets through skills upgrading, and tightening over-supplied markets are two ways of facilitating escaping poverty.There are categories of people who are especially vulnerable, usually to several sources of risk, and who therefore need broad protection: households mainly dependent on casual wage labour; single adult women (unmarried, separated, divorced, widowed, and bereaved) and their dependents, socially excluded women without children; orphaned youth headed households, older people, the chronically ill and carers of chronically ill. Well designed social assistance would support the greater involvement of these groups in growth and accessing health and education services, the latter especially important for interrupting inter-generational poverty. There is an underlying governance agenda which is different from the wider governance improvements sought in Tanzania. This concerns the access of vulnerable groups (e.g. poor and single women) to justice, and to more transparent, accountable and participatory governance at local level. While aspects of bad governance for the poor have been removed (e.g. the development levy), public information on systems, services, and entitlements is still limited. Effective user and community costs for education, health and water have also risen. Mkukuta II constructively addresses several of these agendas. However, there is little focus on practical measures to improve labour markets for the poor. Given the reliance of Mkukuta II on commercialising agriculture and releasing labour to other sectors, this would seem to be a priority. More detailed proposals are given section by section.


The aim of the present study was to assess changes in acute phase proteins fibrinogen and haptoglobin, as well as hematological, blood biochemical, and microbiological alterations in local Bulgarian goats with experimentally induced Staphylococcus aureus mastitis. The experiments were conducted with 6 clinically healthy local Bulgarian goats, 2 to 6 years of age, weighing 46-57 kg. The experimental infection was done with a stationary phase culture of a field Staphylococcus aureus strain isolated from a cow with clinical mastitis. Blood haptoglobin in goats was considerably higher (P < 0.05) as early as 8 h after the pathogen's inoculation. The most significant differences from baseline values occurred 24 and 48 h (P < 0.01) after infection. Plasma fibrinogen increased significantly (P < 0.05) 8 h after infection and reached the highest mean concentration (9.12 g/L) by 72 h. Leukocytosis was established as early as 4 h after the experimental infection when leukocyte counts were significantly higher than baseline (P < 0.001). The analysis of results indicates that in experimentally induced Staphylococcus aureus mastitis, significantly higher (P < 0.05) levels of the leukocyte, fibrinogen, and haptoglobin are established as early as 8 h after the infection.


Latin American experiments with pension reform began when Chile converted its public pay-as-you-go system to a system of private individual accounts in the early 1980s. Several other Latin American countries then followed suit, inspired both by Chile's reforms and by World Bank recommendations stressing compulsory government-mandated individual saving accounts. Individual accounts were subsequently introduced in a number of countries in Europe and Asia. Many are now re-evaluating these privatisations in an effort to 'reform the reform' to make these systems more efficient and equitable. This volume is the first to assess pension reforms in this new 'post-privatization' era. After a discussion on demographic trends in the foreword by Nobel laureate Robert W. Fogel, Section 1 of the book includes chapters on the role of pension system default options, the impact of gender, and a discussion of the World Bank's policies on pension reform. The chapter on the evidence from Chile's new social protection survey points to key lessons from the world's first privatization. Section 2 offers in-depth analysis of several significant reform initiatives in the hemisphere, and includes chapters on the United States, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Peru, Uruguay and Argentina. The volume provides an unparalleled account of the lessons from pension reform in the Americas, addressing the most pressing policy issues and highlighting a broad range of country experiences. Contributors to this volume - Maria De Los Angeles Yanez, Professor, Department of Actuarial Studies, Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico, Jere R. Behrman, W. R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, John Beshears, Department of Economics, Harvard University, David Bravo, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Chile, Robert Brown, Professor, University of Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of Waterloo, Eliana Carranza, Universidad del Pacifico, James J. Choi, Assistant Professor of Finance, Yale School of Management, John F. Cogan, Leonard and Shirley Ely Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, and Professor, Public Policy Program, Stanford University, Alejandra Cox Edwards, Professor of Economics, California State University, Long Beach, Michelle Dion, Assistant Professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology, Robert W. Fogel, Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of American Institutions, and director of the Center for Population Economics, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, Robert Holzmann, Director of the Social Protection Department of the World Bank, Estelle James, consultant to the World Bank and USAID, Stephen J. Kay, coordinator of Latin American analysis, Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, David Laibson, Professor of Economics at Harvard University and Research Associate, NBER's Programs on Aging, Economic Fluctuations, and Asset Pricing, Brigitte C. Madrian, Aetna Professor of Public Policy and Corporate Management, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard, Juliana Martinez Franzoni, researcher, Social Research Institute, University of Costa Rica, Milko Matijascic, Director of the Salesian Center for Public Policy at the Salesian University in Americana, Brazil, Alberto Arenas de Mesa, Budget Director, Finance Ministry of Chile , Olivia S. Mitchell, International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Professor of Insurance and Risk Management, Executive Director of the Pension Research Council, and Director of the Boettner Center on Pensions and Retirement Research, the Wharton School, Eduardo Moron, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Universidad del Pacifico, Peru, Truman Packard, senior Economist, Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office, World Bank, Rafael Rofman, Senior Economist for Social Protection in the Latin American and the Caribbean region of the World Bank, Rodolfo Saldain, principal partner of Saldain and Igarzabal, Tapen Sinha, ING Comercial America Chair Professor, Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM), Petra E. Todd, Professor of Economics, University of Pennsylvania,, Kurt Weyland, Professor of Government, University of Texas, Austin, Rebeca Wong, Associate Director of the Maryland Population Research Center, University of Maryland.


The aim of this paper is to discuss language policies in Brazil, especially in relation to the way they are implemented in the guidelines for the selection of textbooks for the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language (EFL). To subsidize the reflection herein proposed, the study analyzed the main principles and set of criteria used by the National Textbook Program (PNLD) to assess the textbooks designed for Brazilian secondary education. The results of the qualitative analysis carried out revealed a straightforward connection among modern foreign language learning policies in Brazil and the epistemology underlying the evaluation and choice of textbooks. The study concludes that a wider perspective on EFL teaching in Brazil is necessary, taking into account the need for the development of students' speaking skills required in the exercise of a global citizenship.


We have previously demonstrated that freshly isolated highly purified normal human peripheral blood CD4+ T cells pulsed with an IgM anti-CD3 mAb, 38.1, or the calcium ionophore, ionomycin, retained the phenotype of normal resting T cells but exhibited markedly reduced proliferative responses upon subsequent stimulation. Using this model of anergy, the sensitivity of naive (CD45RA+) and memory (CD45RO+) T cells was examined. CD4+ T cells were separated into memory or naive subsets based on their relative expression of CD45 isoforms. The memory T cells were found to be much more susceptible than naive T cells to anergy induction. After tolerance induction, memory T cells were inhibited in the ability to respond to the recall antigen, tetanus toxoid, and PHA. Anergy appeared to result from an inability to produce sufficient IL2 and proliferative responses could be restored by large numbers of accessory cells. T cell clones could also be anergized in a similar manner, but their capacity to produce IL2 could not be restored by accessory cells. In contrast to memory cells and T cell clones, the responses of naive T cells were only minimally inhibited by tolerogen. These results suggest that tolerance induced by occupancy of the TCR/CD3 complex in the absence of appropriate costimulation may be an effective means to limit the responses of memory T cells, but that such interactions are unable to limit the subsequent responses of naive T cells.


The goal of this article is to study the contribution of FCA (Formal Concepts Analysis) to (1) optimize (2) organize (3) discover new concepts or a better operation of the semantic memory of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system based on a cognitive approach. The system has been applied to game modeling (here the Reversi board game), since games are a very good experimental field for performance evaluation. After describing the COGITO project, which tries to assess the pros and cons of cognitive modeling over pure operational but non explicative paradigms in games modeling, the paper stresses out the benefits of FCA in providing a better abstraction, and a more reliable way to handle conflictual knowledge.


In order to study the mechanism of cutting fluid penetration during minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) machining, the flow field in cutting area was investigated through both theoretical analysis and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation on the basis of cutting experiments. Combining the capillary model of cutting fluid penetration, the flow field in the wedge-shaped area beside major flank of the tool was analyzed in detail. It was found that the flow pressure at the wedge angle was lower than the outer. It was favorable for cutting fluid to penetrate into the main cutting edge. Besides, the air supply pressure of MQL has great impact on cutting fluid droplet track. Proper air supply pressure was in favor of cutting fluid penetration.


This wide-ranging collection of essays, written over some twenty years, engages fully the general debates over the politics of gender and appraises women's movements in widely varying societies. Most chapters deal directly with Latin American issues and experiences, including anarchist feminism in nineteenth century Argentina; the politics of gender and those of abortion in Sandinista Nicaragua; the role of the official Cuban women's movement in the 1990s; and an appraisal of the relations between gender and state in twentieth century Latin America. The remaining chapters extend beyond the region to provide comparative analysis and an international context, paying particular attention to women's interests and rights, the law and the role of the state.


SUMMARY: The growth rate of Bacillus stearothermophilus cells in a chemically defined medium was inversely proportional to the concentration of Mn2+ between 15 and 300 mu;m. In the presence of > 100 mu;m-Mn2+, cells grew with doubling times of >60 min. Cessation of exponential growth due to a high concentration of Mn2+ was most pronounced in cultures low in sulphur or carbon. This was due to the toxic effect of high Mn2+ concentrations since dilution of cultures to a final Mn2+ concentration of 15 mu;m or less restored the growth rate to maximum. Sporulation depended upon the nature of the growth-limiting nutrient. The manganese effect on sporulation of sulphur-limited cells depended upon the concentration of glucose and the aeration rate in a qualitatively similar manner. The highest spore yield at optimal aeration rates was obtained when the initial Mn2+ concentration in the medium was 10–30 mu;m. Although the growth rate of bacteria in low-sulphate media was determined by the manganese concentration, its effect on sporulation frequency was independent of the growth rate.


The Covid-19 pandemic prompted healthcare systems around the globe to quickly explore and subsequently adopt digital health technologies and virtual care models that had been slowly growing in mainstream acceptance throughout the decade prior. In particular, telemedicine use skyrocketed as healthcare organizations and governments needed to provide access to infection risk-free health services. Telemedicine has been around in its current form for nearly two decades but grew significantly in utilization after the rapid acceleration of internet and smartphone adoption in the 2010s, and again in 2020 due to Covid-19. Beyond traditional audio-visual telemedicine modalities, newer, more advanced models of tech-enabled clinical services have begun to gain popularity. Fueled by ubiquitous modern telecommunication technologies (e.g., the Smartphone), a growing dissatisfaction with healthcare services among patients, and increasing chronic disease epidemics in developed countries, models like remote patient monitoring (RPM) and other hybrid virtual care models have entered the clinical toolbox. RPM-based care models can fill the gaps of transactional telemedicine in order to deliver longitudinal care appropriate for patients with chronic conditions. Despite the apparent recent acceleration of interest in and adoption of RPM-based virtual care models, substantial research exists on RPM covering patient reported outcomes, clinical effectiveness, and economic factors. In A Virtual Care Blueprint: How Digital Health Technologies Can Improve Health Outcomes, Patient Experience, and Cost-Effectiveness, Robert L. Longyear III explores the science, frontline clinical perspectives, and potential impact of RPM-based virtual care programs. Seeking to provide evidence-based information on RPM and virtual care in a market flooded with marketing materials, Longyear provides healthcare leaders, clinicians, and policymakers a clear outline of these increasingly important care models for a modern healthcare delivery system. © 2022 Taylor & Francis. All rights reserved.


Male F344 rats were fed N‐[4‐(5‐nitro‐2‐furyl)‐2‐thiazolyl]formamide (FANFT) for up to 4 wk, then were given the basal diets (Prolab 3200 or AIN‐76A) with or without 5% sodium saccharin for up to 100 wk. Eleven transitional cell carcinomas (TCCs), one undifferentiated carcinoma, and two sarcomas of the urinary bladder were examined for the expression of ras gene product, p21, by immunohistochemical staining and western blot analysis. Point mutation in codons 12 or 61 of the Ha‐ras genes amplified by polymerase chain reaction was examined by a slot‐blot screening procedure using allele‐specific oligonucleotide probes. Immunohistochemical staining showed enhanced immunoreactivity with the antibody to ras p21 in seven TCCs and one undifferentiated carcinoma. Western blot analysis showed faster migration of the p21 band in 6 of 11 TCCs. Oligonucleotide hybridization revealed the point mutation in codon 12 of Ha‐ras gene (GGA → GTA in 1 TCC) and in codon 61 (CAA → CGA in 5 TCCs and CAA → CTA in 1 TCC). Two mutations in codons 12 and 61 coexisted in one tumor, which were found to be present in different Ha‐ras alleles. The incidence of Ha‐ras gene mutations were similar in groups treated with (3 of 6) or without (3 of 8) sodium saccharin. These results suggest the involvement of activated Ha‐ras gene in rat urinary bladder carcinogenesis induced by FANFT.


Background and Purpose Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL), caused by mutations in the NOTCH3 gene, is the most common monogenic disorder causing lacunar stroke and cerebral small vessel disease (SVD). Fabry disease (FD) due to mutations in the GLA gene has been suggested as an underdiagnosed cause of stroke, and one feature is SVD. Previous studies reported varying prevalence of CADASIL and FD in stroke, likely due to varying subtypes studied; no studies have looked at a large cohort of younger onset SVD. We determined the prevalence in a well-defined, MRI-verified cohort of apparently sporadic patients with lacunar infarct. Methods Caucasian patients with lacunar infarction, aged ≤70 years (mean age 56.7 (SD8.6)), were recruited from 72 specialist stroke centres throughout the UK as part of the Young Lacunar Stroke DNA Resource. Patients with a previously confirmed monogenic cause of stroke were excluded. All MRI's and clinical histories were reviewed centrally. Screening was performed for NOTCH3 and GLA mutations. Results Of 994 subjects five had pathogenic NOTCH3 mutations (R169C, R207C, R587C, C1222G and C323S) all resulting in loss or gain of a cysteine in the NOTCH3 protein. All five patients had confluent leukoaraiosis (Fazekas grade ≥2). CADASIL prevalence overall was 0.5% (95% CI 0.2%-1.1%) and among cases with confluent leukoaraiosis 1.5% (95% CI 0.6%-3.3%). No classic pathogenic FD mutations were found; one patient had a missense mutation (R118C), associated with late-onset FD. Conclusion CADASIL cases are rare and only detected in SVD patients with confluent leukoaraiosis. No definite FD cases were detected.


INTRODUCTION T he goal of this chapter is to provide the investigator with sufficient information to undertake the design and perform the initial steps in trait gene discovery—i.e., in identifying genetic variations that modulate the risk of developing a particular trait or modulate the expression of a particular trait. It covers the stages from initial definition of a trait to through identification of the genetic markers that lie close to the causative, susceptibility, or functional variation. The approaches presented for ascertainment and the laboratory procedures presented for genotype generation can be applied to traits with either a simple or a complex genetic etiology. The data analyses presented for the simpler genetic traits provide the basis for understanding approaches to more complex traits. There have been numerous advances in analytical methods for complex genetic traits, but no standard or ubiquitous approach has yet emerged which is successful under all circumstances. To understand this chapter, the reader must have a basic understanding of genetics, including meiosis, recombination, and statistics (see recommended texts in the preface to this manual and citations below).


Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA; CF3 COOH) is produced by the degradation of the halocarbon replacements HFC-134a, HCFC-124, and HCFC-123. The formation of TFA occurs by HFC/HCFC reacting with OH to yield CF3COX (X = F or Cl), followed by in-cloud hydrolysis of CF3COX to form TFA. The TFA formed in the clouds may be reevaporated but is finally deposited onto the surface by washout or dry deposition. Concern has been expressed about the possible long-term accumulation of TFA in certain aquatic environments, pointing to the need to obtain information on the concentrations of TFA in rainwater over scales ranging from local to continental. Based on projected concentrations for HFC-134a, HCFC-124, and HCFC-123 of 80, 10, and 1 pptv in the year 2010, mass conservation arguments imply an annually averaged global concentration of 0.16 μg/L if washout were the only removal mechanism for TFA. We present 3-D simulations of the HFC/HCFC precursors of TFA that include the rates of formation and deposition of TFA based on assumed future emissions. An established (GISS/Harvard/ UCI) but coarse-resolution (8° latitude by 10° longitude) chemical transport model was used. The annually averaged rainwater concentration of 0.12 μg/L (global) was calculated for the year 2010, when both washout and dry deposition are included as the loss mechanism for TFA from the atmosphere. For some large regions in midnorthern latitudes, values are larger, 0.15–0.20 μg/L. The highest monthly averaged rainwater concentrations of TFA for northern midlatitudes were calculated for the month of July, corresponding to 0.3–0.45 μg/L in parts of North America and Europe. Recent laboratory experiments have suggested that a substantial amount of vibrationally excited CF3CHFO is produced in the degradation of HFC-134a, decreasing the yield of TFA from this compound by 60%. This decrease would reduce the calculated amounts of TFA in rainwater in the year 2010 by 26%, for the same projected concentrations of precursors.


Deep learning models have a risk of utilizing spurious clues to make predictions, such as recognizing actions based on the background scene. This issue can severely degrade the open-set action recognition performance when the testing samples have different scene distributions from the training samples. To mitigate this problem, we propose a novel method, called Scene-debiasing Open-set Action Recognition (SOAR), which features an adversarial scene reconstruction module and an adaptive adversarial scene classification module. The former prevents the decoder from reconstructing the video background given video features, and thus helps reduce the background information in feature learning. The latter aims to confuse scene type classification given video features, with a specific emphasis on the action foreground, and helps to learn scene-invariant information. In addition, we design an experiment to quantify the scene bias. The results indicate that the current open-set action recognizers are biased toward the scene, and our proposed SOAR method better mitigates such bias. Furthermore, our extensive experiments demonstrate that our method outperforms state-of-the-art methods, and the ablation studies confirm the effectiveness of our proposed modules.


The present study sought to compare 4 groups of age- and gender-matched children—(a) those reared in institutions for children without parental care in Russia; (b) those raised by their biological parents in Russia; (c) those adopted to the United States from Russian institutions; and (d) those born in the United States and raised by their biological parents—on indicators of cognition, language, and early learning. In addition, we aimed to compare the effects of the length of time spent in an institution, the age of initial placement in an institution, the age at adoption, and pre-institutional risk factors (i.e., prenatal substance exposure and prematurity and low birth weight) on the above-mentioned outcomes in the 2 groups of children with institutionalization experiences. Our results confirm previous reports demonstrating negative consequences of institutionalization and substantial ameliorating effects of adoption. They also underscore the complexity of the effects of institutionalization and adoption, showing that they are intertwined with the effects of pre-institutional risk factors.


Pollution due to petroleum-based plastic is a growing problem all over the world. Petroleumbased plastics that fill landfills and oceans take hundreds of years to degrade. One possible solution to this growing problem is to increase the use of bioplastics . Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a widely studied bioplastic that is biodegradable in both soil and marine environments. However, PHB use is limited due to its poor mechanical properties. Past researchers have investigated the use of natural additives, primarily different types of plant fibers , to enhance both the mechanical properties and degradation rates of bioplastics. The purpose of this project was to develop a composite bioplastic using PHB and algal biomass in order to enhance the mechanical and degradation properties of PHB. Composite bioplastic films were fonned using a solvent casting method with algal biomass to PHB ratios of 0, 5, 10, and 20% on a weight-to-weight basis. To test the mechanical properties of the biocomposites using a tensile testing machine, the films were cut into dogbones, 3 cm in length. The films were also cut into 2.5 x 3 cm ships that were placed into gas-tight serum vials filled with seawater to measure the degradation rate through CO2 evolution. The mechanical prope1iies of the biocomposite that were tested include ultimate tensile strength , modulus of elasticity, and percent elongation at break. The ultimate tensile strength and modulus of elasticity of the 20% algae biocomposite were found to be significantly lower than those of the neat , 5, and 10% algae biocomposite. The percent elongation at break of the different biocomposite blends, however, were not significantly different. For the rate of degradation, the neat , 5, and 10% algae biocomposites were found to degrade at significantly different rates, with the 10% blend having the highest rate of degradation followed by the 5% blend and then the neat PHB . The 20% algae biocomposite degraded at a rate that was not significantly different from the degradation rate of the 10% algae biocomposite. From the results of the mechanical properties and degradation rate testing, the 10% algae biocomposite was found to have mechanical properties similar to those of neat PHB and a degradation rate that was much higher than that of neat PHB. Therefore, it can be concluded that the addition of algal biomass to PHB on a 10% weight-to-weight basis enhances both the mechanical properties and degradation rate of PHB.


In order to reduce the environmental noise signals without multimedia signal distortion efficiently in U-Home's Smart Devices, we provide a new Wiener filtering based reduction technique which is based on the input-signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) estimation method with pre-processing on various IP-based smart devices at a pervasive home. First of all, our test-bed is composed by various smart consumer devices such as smart mirror, smart window, smart table, etc., which provide multimedia service over IP-network. Second, for various noisy conditions like White Gaussian, fan, air-conditioner, babble, shower-bath noises, etc., at home, the perceptual evaluation of speech quality (PESQ) evaluation is performed to evaluate the performance of the proposed QoE-aware reduction scheme method.


Plant parameters are critical inputs in crop simulation models and allow a general set of algorithms to represent features of specific cultivars. A subset of plant parameters is often referred to as ''genetic coefficients''. However, these genetic coefficients are developed from phenotypic observations, usually have a weak genetic basis, and are at best ''genotypic'' coefficients because they consider the genotype from a very integrative perspective and likely include some impact of environment on the trait or characteristic described. With increased understanding of crop genomes, we believe models can be improved by incorporating genetic coefficients that accurately describe the action of specific genes (within the genome) and therefore better represent the association between gene function and plant phenotype in simulation models. As an example, we discuss how knowledge of height genes in wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars, along with stronger genetic and environmental response algorithms, could substitute for the phenotypic parameter ''height class'' in the model SHOOTGRO. We also demonstrate how models containing responses based on known genetic variation can be used to identify traits to incorporate into cultivars better adapted to future climate scenarios. It remains for the geneticist, plant breeder, physiologist and modeler to cooperate and communicate with each other so that genetic information and responses with the genotype and environment and their interaction can be described in models and used to develop cultivars better able to exploit future climatic conditions.


Photo by Owen Beard on Unsplash
Introduction
Through its professional associations and healthcare organizations, the medical community has made numerous anti-racism statements in the past year, including the American Medical Association's ("AMA's) Organizational Strategic Plan to Embed Racial Justice and Advance Health Equity.[1] Converting these statements into practical change will take time and money. In addition to implementing anti-bias training and education on racism in clinical practice, the medical community should also advocate to enhance and enforce Title VI anti-discrimination laws. The current limitations on enforcement conflict with the medical community's ethical duty to improve health equity and treat all patients with a high standard of care. Advocating for legislation that meets the standards of other civil rights laws to hold the healthcare industry legally responsible for discrimination should be part of medical professionals' anti-racism work.
Development of Civil Rights in Health Care
Despite the lack of a federal constitutional right to health care, the United States does acknowledge the importance of health and health care through its laws and spending decisions. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act ("ACA") created health insurance options for 20 million additional Americans and reduced the gap in healthcare access among populations.[2] Although it did not ensure a right to health care and it does not guarantee a right to health, healthcare access is an important element of a healthy life and broadening the reach of health insurance is a worthy goal.
Outside of the ACA's offer of affordable health insurance, only a few stakeholders have gained "weak" statutory rights to publicly funded health care such as incarcerated people, the elderly, disabled, and the very poor.[3] Yet, the adoption of the public insurance programs Medicaid and Medicare in 1965, along with Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act ("Title VI"), did create some rights to sue for discrimination in health care, even for people who are not recipients of Medicaid and Medicare benefits. Under Title VI, private institutions that receive federal financial assistance are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, and national origin.[4] Initially, this civil rights legislation had a major effect on health care because more than 1000 segregated hospitals immediately integrated their facilities in order to comply with the legislation and participate in Medicaid and Medicare.[5] Medical professionals interested in anti-racist work would do well to learn the history of Title VI; grassroots support of civil rights laws in the 1960s encouraged huge steps forward in eliminating de jure segregation in health care.[6]
Title VI Lacks Mechanisms to Combat Structural Racism
Title VI has been less effective when addressing more subtle forms of discrimination. Despite being one of the broadest anti-discrimination statutes, Title VI has been referred to as a "sleeping giant" because its full power has not been used to great effect.[7] The ACA included some attempts to improve Title VI's effectiveness (see below), but much more could be done. Like most civil rights laws, Title VI discrimination may be alleged as disparate treatment (intentional) or disparate impact. Disparate impact claims are challenging to prove and may involve arguments such as how moving a hospital from an inner-city area to a wealthier suburban location will have a disparate impact on the local Black population. Besides the evidentiary challenges involved in demonstrating disparate impact, such a claim fails unless the plaintiffs can prove that a reasonable explanation for the action, such as cost savings, is a pretext for discrimination.[8]
Title VI claims are also challenging because of the limitation on plaintiffs, the limitation on the scope of defendants, and enforcement issues. In 2001, the US Supreme Court held that individual plaintiffs cannot sue under Title VI for disparate impact claims, requiring a federal agency to do so.[9] While hospitals and other entities are potential defendants under Title VI, individual medical professionals are not, even though approximately 40 percent of Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements now go to physician and outpatient care.[10] The primary enforcement mechanism for Title VI healthcare claims is forcing compliance with the law through the threat of withdrawal of federal reimbursement.[11] The  threat of financial punishments may harm communities, however, when low-resourced hospitals lose funding or are forced to fund rehabilitation programs.[12] Inequities between hospitals in different locations currently cannot be addressed under Title VI.
Recent attempts to improve Title VI have failed. In the ACA, legislators included several updates to Title VI that appeared to improve its potential as a tool for reducing healthcare inequities. Section 1557 of the ACA changed the definition of "federal financial assistance" programs to include Medicaid and Medicare Advantage, thus expanding the pool of possible defendants to include individual providers.[13] However, the Department of Health and Human Services issued an implementing rule that specifically did not include Medicare Part B, so as of now patients cannot bring suit against sue their doctors for Title VI discrimination.[14]
Some authors argue that the ACA also repealed the Supreme Court decision that prevented individuals from bringing disparate impact claims under Title VI.[15] So far, however, courts still interpret Title VI as supporting private claims only for intentional discrimination.[16] Individuals can still bring disparate impact claims to the Office of Civil Rights ("OCR") and the Federal government may take action on their behalf. Because of the lack of available private action, however, there is no robust group of Title VI attorneys developing these civil rights cases.[17] If the legislature wants to encourage private enforcement of Title VI discrimination cases, it could also add punitive and compensatory damages to the available remedies, as it did with Title VII employment discrimination cases,[18] thus empowering plaintiffs and their lawyers to seek private remedies for discrimination in health care. Private litigation could be used as an additional lever in strategic approaches to eliminating discriminatory practices and improving health equity.[19]
In 2003, the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Understanding and Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care recommended that the federal government increase funding for the OCR to encourage investigations into violations of Title VI based on systemic discrimination in health care.[20] The committee saw such enforcement as a "last line" of defense against systemic racism in health care, and a way to find such suspected racism through proactive investigations. Unfortunately, the OCR continues to be "notoriously" underfunded, but future administrations may be encouraged to rectify that problem.[21]
Permitting more individual lawsuits may improve Title VI by providing better enforcement mechanisms and broadening the scope of possible defendants. These litigation tools will never bring about a right to health but can reduce inequities in access to and treatment in the healthcare system. Health professionals can support such proposals as individuals and through their professional associations.
Of course, not all stakeholders agree that the federal government should enforce greater access to health care; after several states brought suit, the US Supreme Court struck down the ACA provision that would have effectively required states to expand Medicaid eligibility.[22] In addition, many health professionals will object to individual Title VI lawsuits. Distinguishing between malpractice litigation and discrimination litigation will be important so that healthcare practitioners do not feel their livelihoods are threatened by Title VI. If improving health equity and combating racism is seen part of one's ethical duty, then medical professionals should embrace a willingness to be held accountable personally, and even more importantly, as part of a healthcare organization.
The AMA has a well-documented history of racism, and the organization has apologized and sought atonement. Part of that history includes a failure to support civil rights legislation in the 1960s and active opposition to Medicare, Medicaid, and the desegregation of hospital staff.[23] Notably, the National Medical Association, an African American medical association, worked hard to support civil rights laws and integration in the 1960s, but could not convince the "White" AMA to follow suit. As part of its anti-racism efforts, the AMA could work with legislators to craft appropriate changes to Title VI and take on the task of educating its membership.
Health professionals should understand that the shortcomings of Title VI in eradicating racism in health care were due to decisions about and interpretations of the law which were influenced by the medical profession itself. Educating all the stakeholders about the connections between health, healthcare access, and strong enforcement of our civil rights statutes and regulations is one way that health professionals can actively engage in anti-racism work in the healthcare profession.
[1] "The AMA's Strategic Plan to Embed Racial Justice and Advance Health Equity," American Medical Association, accessed June 25, 2021, https://www.ama-assn.org/about/leadership/ama-s-strategic-plan-embed-racial-justice-and-advance-health-equity.
[2] "How ACA Narrowed Racial Ethnic Disparities Access to Health Care | Commonwealth Fund," accessed March 10, 2021, https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/2020/jan/how-ACA-narrowed-racial-ethnic-disparities-access.
[3] Aeyal Gross and Colleen Flood, The Right to Health at the Public/Private Divide : A Global Comparative Study, New York (Cambridge Unive


A saline solution of hydroxyethyl cellulose has been recommended for use as a tissue phantom in testing the behavior of medical devices in MRI scanners. It has been stated in the standards governing these tests that the viscosity of the fluid used should be large enough that bulk transport or convection currents are not supported. In this study we evaluated a hydroxyethyl cellulose phantom based on an ASTM standard to determine the degree to which it supports convective, as compared to conductive, heat transport. We study the rheological properties of this fluid, and find that it behaves as a typical viscoelastic polymer solution. As a result, it flows in response to local heating, such as would occur due to eddy-current heating of a metallic device in an MR scanner. We use laboratory experiments and numerical simulations to determine the convective and conductive contributions to the heat transport in a simple model of this system. Our results indicate that convective heat transport is of the same order of magnitude as conductive transport under conditions typical of MRI device tests. This indicates that heating tests conducted with this fluid are not completely conservative in terms of estimating local temperature changes for medical devices in vivo. It also indicates that convective processes should be included along with conduction in computer simulations of device heating in order to allow accurate comparison with experimental measurements.


Hearing loss is a major public health problem, and its treatment with traditional therapy strategies is often unsuccessful due to limited drug access deep in the temporal bone. Multifunctional nanoparticles that are targeted to specified cell populations, biodegradable, traceable in vivo, and equipped with controlled drug/gene release may resolve this problem. We developed lipid core nanocapsules (LNCs) with sizes below 50 nm. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the ability of the LNCs to pass through the round window membrane and reach inner ear targets. FITC was incorporated as a tag for the LNCs and Nile Red was encapsulated inside the oily core to assess the integrity of the LNCs. The capability of LNCs to pass through the round window membrane and the distribution of the LNCs inside the inner ear were evaluated in rats via confocal microscopy in combination with image analysis using ImageJ. After round window membrane administration, LNCs reached the spiral ganglion cells, nerve fibers, and spiral ligament fibrocytes within 30 min. The paracellular pathway was the main approach for LNC penetration of the round window membrane. LNCs can also reach the vestibule, middle ear mucosa, and the adjacent artery. Nuclear localization was detected in the spiral ganglion, though infrequently. These results suggest that LNCs are potential vectors for drug delivery into the spiral ganglion cells, nerve fibers, hair cells, and spiral ligament.