Objective In this secondary analysis of the Glyburide Advantage in Malignant Edema and Stroke (GAMES-RP) Trial, we report the effect of IV glyburide on adjudicated, edema-related endpoints. Methods Blinded adjudicators assigned designations for hemorrhagic transformation, neurologic deterioration, malignant edema, and edema-related death to patients from the GAMES-RP phase II randomized controlled trial of IV glyburide for large hemispheric infarct. Rates of these endpoints were compared between treatment arms in the per-protocol sample. In those participants with malignant edema, the effects of treatment on additional markers of edema and clinical deterioration were examined. Results In the per-protocol sample, 41 patients received glyburide and 36 received placebo. There was no difference in the frequency of hemorrhagic transformation (n = 24 [58.5%] in IV glyburide vs n = 23 [63.9%] in placebo, p = 0.91) or the incidence of malignant edema (n = 19 [46%] in IV glyburide vs n = 17 [47%] in placebo, p = 0.94). However, treatment with IV glyburide was associated with a reduced proportion of deaths attributed to cerebral edema (n = 1 [2.4%] with IV glyburide vs n = 8 [22.2%] with placebo, p = 0.01). In the subset of patients with malignant edema, those treated with IV glyburide had less midline shift (p < 0.01) and reduced MMP-9 (matrix metalloproteinase 9) levels (p < 0.01). The glyburide treatment group had lower rate of NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) increase of ≥4 during the infusion period (n = 7 [37%] in IV glyburide vs n = 12 [71%] in placebo, p = 0.043), and of change in level of alertness (NIHSS subscore 1a; n = 11 [58%] vs n = 15 [94%], p = 0.016). Conclusion IV glyburide was associated with improvements in midline shift, level of alertness, and NIHSS, and there were fewer deaths attributed to edema. Additional studies of IV glyburide in large hemispheric infarction are warranted to corroborate these findings. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT01794182. Level of evidence This study provides Class II evidence that for patients with large hemispheric infarction, IV glyburide improves some edema-related endpoints.


Ponds and lakes distributed across northern treeline in the Hudson Bay Lowlands near Churchill (Manitoba) were revisited to analyse and document the local ecoclimatic and limnological changes that occurred over the period 1997-2012. Our analyses revealed that single events may cause significant changes in salinity, pH and silicate content because of the limited buffer capacity of the inter-connected waters. Planktic freshwater microcrustaceans (Cladocera) presented less diverse assemblages and appeared to favour waters that are situated in the boreal forest, while the diversity of benthic species assemblages (Cladocera and Ostracoda) was highest in waters located closer to the coastline and in open tundra vegetation. We identified three species that are distinctive for the boreal ecozone (i.e., Candona acuta , Can. acutula and Can. decora ) and two species (i.e., Tonnacypris glacialis and Can. rawsoni ) that are elements of (sub-)arctic landscapes and potentially endangered as the northern treeline expands due to rapid warming. These species are thought to be useful indicators for future ecosystem quality assessments and/or ecosystem service management programs. Our findings were compared to other studies completed in the boreal Yukon Territory and revealed that species diversity is closely linked to landscape history.


We present discovery spectra of a sample of eight lensed galaxies at high redshift, 3.7 < z < 5.2, selected by their red colors in the fields of four massive clusters: A1689, A2219, A2390, and AC 114. Metal absorption lines are detected and observed to be blueshifted by 300-800 km s-1 with respect to the centroid of Lyα emission. A correlation is found between this blueshift and the equivalent width of the metal lines, which we interpret as a broadening of saturated absorption lines caused by a dispersion in the outflow velocity of interstellar gas. Local starburst galaxies show similar behavior, associated with obvious gas outflows. We also find a trend of increasing equivalent width of Lyα emission with redshift, which may be a genuine evolutionary effect toward younger stellar populations at high redshift with less developed stellar continua. No obvious emission is detected below the Lyman limit in any of our spectra or in deep U- or B-band images. The UV continua are reproduced well by early B stars, although some dust absorption would allow a fit to hotter stars. If B stars dominate, then their relatively prominent stellar absorption lines should separate in wavelength from those of the outflowing gas, requiring more detailed spectroscopy. After correcting for the lensing, we derive small physical sizes for our objects, ~0.5-5 kpc h-1 for a flat cosmology with Ωm = 0.3,ΩΛ = 0.7. The lensed images are only marginally resolved in good seeing despite their close proximity to the critical curve, where large arcs are visible and hence high magnifications of up to ~20 times are inferred. Two objects show a clear spatial extension of the Lyα emission relative to the continuum starlight, indicating a "breakout" of the gas. The sizes of our galaxies together with their large gas motion suggests that outflows of gas are common at high redshift and associated with galaxy formation.


This article analyses and compares the concept of power in elite and pluralist theories, particularly the work of Michels and that of the pluralists Lindblom and Woodhouse, with the aim of considering how power is interpreted within these theories. While elite theories emphasise the central role of the elite in shaping political change, pluralist theories oppose elite theories and do not attribute such a significant role to the elite. A comparison of elite and pluralist views on the issue of power consolidation, however, shows a basic assumption underlying the two bodies of work: for both, power is concentrated in the hands of the ruling elite, which is stable and which is slowly renewed with new members. Via direct or indirect assimilation, the ruling elite absorbs those connected with strategic state resources (military, economic, and so forth), and maintains its integrity and unity by, for instance, integrating opponents into state bureaucracy structures, or through the use of force, or assimilation or the creation of internal closure via internal rotation. Those not belonging to the elite – poor, marginal actors – are disconnected from the realisation of their interests.


Primary visual cortex (V1) in the mouse projects to numerous brain areas, including several secondary visual areas, frontal cortex, and basal ganglia. While it has been demonstrated that optogenetic silencing of V1 strongly impairs visually-guided behavior, it is not known which downstream areas are required for visual behaviors. Here we trained mice to perform a contrast-increment change detection task, for which substantial stimulus information is present in V1. Optogenetic silencing of visual responses in secondary visual areas revealed that their activity is required for even this simple visual task. In vivo electrophysiology showed that, although inhibiting secondary visual areas could produce some feedback effects in V1, the principal effect was profound suppression at the location of the optogenetic light. The results show that pathways through secondary visual areas are necessary for even simple visual behaviors.


Congestion in the RF spectrum is rapidly increasing, which has motivated the need for efficient spectrum sharing techniques. A cognitive radar system has been developed to implement a perception action cycle, for spectrum sharing, in which the RF spectrum is sensed, other RF signals are identified, and the radar frequency band of operation is adapted to avoid interfering signals in the spectrum. The system operates in real time and is capable of coexisting with common communications signals. A system with this capability requires efficient programming that pushes the limits of the technology available. In order to properly test the performance of a radar system designed for this kind of reactive spectrum sharing, a rigorous set of synthetic interference signals is generated and several informative evaluation metrics are defined. Additionally, the system's performance is evaluated with common communications signals such as LTE and GSM. The performance of the system is found to be adequate for avoiding signals that are either varying in frequency or turning on and off at rates on the order of 10 ms.


In order to shed light on the status and economic model of Banassac's Early Empire terra sigillata workshop, systematic surveys were carried out on the karstic terrain of the area surrounding the town. Due to a shortage of sources, the project was carried out as an integrative 'community archaeology' project, from the definition of the scope of research to the drawing of conclusions and consideration of results.With the synthesis of settlement dynamics from the Mesolithic times to the Middle Ages provided by the study and precise data about occupied sites in Roman times (38 villae and 55 workshops),it is now possible to see at Banassac a villa controlling a fundus through an integrated economic system linking clay, pitch and iron.


Objective: To determine the differences in postural stability measures and neurocognitive function between sport-related concussion, also known as mild head injury (MHI), subjects and healthy subjects. To determine the correlating factors of postural stability and neurocognitive function.Design and Setting: This descriptive study design assessed postural stability and neurocognitive function within 7 days of athletes sustaining a sport-related MHI and compared the group to a control group of healthy subjects. All testing was completed at the University of Pittsburgh Neuromuscular Research Laboratory.Subjects: Twenty subjects (10 healthy, 10 MHI) participated.Measurements: All subjects completed a single testing session consisting of a computerized neurocognitive test and postural stability assessment, including kinematics and force plate data collection, during which two balance tasks were performed three times each.Results: There were no significant differences in postural stability between groups. There were no significant differences in neurocognitive function. Additionally, no relationship existed between postural stability and neurocognitive function. Conclusions: Although not significant, hip flexion and extension was larger in the control subjects, indicating that there may be difficulty for MHI subjects to adopt either a hip or ankle strategy to maintain postural stability. While no significance was found in the study, there may be trends to suggest that visual memory (p=0.11) and reaction time (p=0.17) are different. The low number of subjects and time of testing with relation to injury may be contributing factors in the lack of significant results in the majority of test variables.


Coordinating the Clock In flies, the mechanosensory chordotonal organs help to coordinate the effects of temperature on circadian cycles. Simoni et al. (p. 525) provide a mechanism by which mechanosensory input is processed to help to synchronize the biological clock in Drosophila melanogaster. The chordotonal organs, which have similarities to the mammalian ear, were also required for sensation of a vibration stimulus and its effects on the endogenous brain clock. The chordotonal organs, present in the joints of the limbs, provide neuronal signals that allow the animal to sense its position or posture—and thus might mediate feedback of a range of behaviors onto the endogenous biological clock. Flies use a mechanosensory organ to sense a low-frequency vibration and reset the brain's biological clock. Circadian clocks attune the physiology of virtually all living organisms to the diurnal cycles of their environments. In metazoan animals, multiple sensory input pathways have been linked to clock synchronization with the environmental cycle (entrainment). Extrinsic entrainment cues include light and temperature. We show that (12-hour:12-hour) cycles of vibration and silence (VS) are sufficient to synchronize the daily locomotor activity of wild-type Drosophila melanogaster. Behavioral synchronization to VS cycles required a functional clock and functional chordotonal organs and was accompanied by phase-shifts of the daily oscillations of PERIOD protein concentrations in brain clock neurons. The feedback from mechanosensory—and particularly, proprioceptive—organs may help an animal to keep its circadian clock in sync with its own, stimulus-induced activities.


Thomas Henry Flewett was born on 29 June 1922 in India, where his father was a member of the Indian Civil Service. He attended Campbell College, Belfast, followed by medical education at Queen's University, Belfast, where he graduated with honours in 1945. He was a founder member (and subsequently fellow) of the Royal College of Pathologists and was elected (by distinction) a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London in 1978.

Diarrhoeal diseases, principally caused by viruses, are among the commoner causes of death in infants in tropical countries. Tom Flewett, who died on 12 December 2006, was the first to name one of the most frequent causes, rotaviruses, during the course of his seminal research into the causes of gastroenteritis.

In 1956 Tom was appointed consultant virologist to East Birmingham Hospital, where he established, and became director of, one of the first regional virus laboratories in England, serving a population of more than five …


The design and operational strategies of a sequencing batch moving bed biofilm reactor (SB-MBBR) to achieve nitrification in a food processing effluent characterized with high C:N:P ratio was investigated. The SB-MBBR operated an anaerobic/aerobic/anoxic (AOA) stage sequence aimed at removing both carbon and nutrients from the effluent. The potential to utilize an SB-MBBR has not been previously investigated for the treatment of cheese making effluent. Carbon removal was feasible in the SB-MBBR (98% removal) directly with two operational strategies further investigated for nitrification. The two strategies investigated were extending the aeration cycle and utilizing a second SB-MBBR in series to achieve nitrification. The first operational strategy required 33 days for the system to adapt and for nitrification to occur. The time required to achieve nitrification rendered this option infeasible. The second operational strategy confirmed that separating the carbon and ammonia removal resulted in the high removal of both compounds.


Sharing, as lived by Inuit in Nunavut, Canada, and as depicted in the primary ethnographic literature, is a set of normatively structured and quasi-institutionalized practices that together are as critical to Inuit subsistence culture and its economic relations as is hunting. More-over, as Inuit on numerous occasions have made clear, it is integral to their cultural ethos. According to Inuit, sharing is what sets them apart from Qallunaat; that is, Inuit are generous while non-Inuit behave selfishly. In no small way, ningiqtuq is a core cultural value.The central focus in this paper is not on the transactional aspects of Inuit sharing – whether these are best described as generalized, delayed or balanced reciprocal relations, or a form of gifting, exchange or normatively dictated transfers (see Damas 1969, 1972; Wenzel 1991, 1995; Hunt 2000; Kishigami 2004). The focus here is on how money has affected the normative sharing system and how its antinomical effects on the modern mixed economy adaptation have made women increasingly important in the maintenance of the Inuit subsistence system and the expanded contribution of women within the traditional subsistence system.This paper examines women's provisioning responsibilities and sharing practices vis a vis men's hunting in the community of Clyde River, Nunavut, focusing specifically on women's monetary contri-butions to subsistence practices. It seeks to under-stand how the specific gendered aspects of northern economic transformations, particularly increasing engagement in wage labour, have affected women's roles, responsibilities and obligations in subsistence practices.


Geometric and dimensional tolerances must be determined not only to ensure proper achievement of design function but also for manufacturability and assemblability of mechanical assemblies. We are investigating the degree to which it is possible to automate tolerance assignment on mechanical assemblies received only as STEP AP 203 (nominal) geometry files. In a previous paper, we reported on the preprocessing steps required: assembly feature recognition, pattern recognition, and extraction of both constraints and directions of control (DoC) for assembly. In this paper, we discuss first-order tolerance schema development, based purely on assemblability conditions. This includes selecting features to be toleranced, tolerance types, datums, and datum reference frames (DRFs), and tolerance value allocation. The approach described here is a combination of geometric analysis and heuristics. The assumption is that this initial geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) specification will be sent to a stack analysis module and iterated upon until satisfactory results, such as desired acceptance rates, are reached. The paper also touches upon issues related to second-order schema development, one that takes intended design function into account.


The overuse of cartap in tea tree leads to hazardous residues threatening human health. A colorimetric determination was established to detect cartap residues in tea beverages by silver nanoparticles (AgNP) sensor with magnetic molecularly imprinted polymeric microspheres (Fe3O4@mSiO2@MIPs) as recognition elements. Using Fe3O4 as supporting core, mesoporous SiO2 as intermediate shell, methylacrylic acid as functional monomer, and cartap as template, Fe3O4@mSiO2@MIPs were prepared to selectively and magnetically separate cartap from tea solution before colorimetric determination by AgNP sensors. The core-shell Fe3O4@mSiO2@MIPs were also characterized by FT-IR, TEM, VSM, and experimental adsorption. The Fe3O4@mSiO2@MIPs could be rapidly separated by an external magnet in 10 s with good reusability (maintained 95.2% through 10 cycles). The adsorption process of cartap on Fe3O4@mSiO2@MIPs conformed to Langmuir adsorption isotherm with maximum adsorption capacity at 0.257 mmol/g and short equilibrium time of 30 min at 298 K. The AgNP colorimetric method semi-quantified cartap ≥5 mg/L by naked eye and quantified cartap 0.1–5 mg/L with LOD 0.01 mg/L by UV-vis spectroscopy. The AgNP colorimetric detection after pretreatment with Fe3O4@mSiO2@MIPs could be successfully utilized to recognize and detect cartap residues in tea beverages.


Background: Tumor necrosis factor α-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) resistance in leukemia is not fully understood. Results: shRNA-targeted knockdown of WT1 oncogene sensitizes TRAIL-resistant leukemia cells to TRAIL-induced cell death. Conclusion: WT1 expression mediates TRAIL resistance in leukemia cells by inducing antiapoptotic protein Bcl-xL. Significance: Approaches to silence WT1 expression can be exploited to overcome TRAIL resistance in myeloid leukemias. Tumor necrosis factor α-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is considered a promising cancer therapeutic agent due to its ability to induce apoptosis in a variety of cancer cells, while sparing normal cells. However, many human tumors including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are partially or completely resistant to monotherapy with TRAIL, limiting its therapeutic utility. Therefore, identification of factors that contribute to TRAIL resistance may facilitate future development of more effective TRAIL-based cancer therapies. Here, we report a previously unknown role for WT1 in mediating TRAIL resistance in leukemia. Knockdown of WT1 with shRNA rendered TRAIL-resistant myeloid leukemia cells sensitive to TRAIL-induced cell death, and re-expression of shRNA-resistant WT1 restored TRAIL resistance. Notably, TRAIL-mediated apoptosis in WT1-silenced cells was largely due to down-regulation of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-xL. Moreover, WT1 expression strongly correlated with overexpression of Bcl-xL in AML cell lines and blasts from AML patients. Furthermore, we found that WT1 transactivates Bcl-xL by directly binding to its promoter. We previously showed that WT1 is a novel client protein of heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90). Consistent with this, pharmacological inhibition of Hsp90 resulted in reduced WT1 and Bcl-xL expression leading to increased sensitivity of leukemia cells to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis. Collectively, our results suggest that WT1-dependent Bcl-xL overexpression contributes to TRAIL resistance in myeloid leukemias.


The authors discuss problems associated with the use of the energy adequacy ratio as an indicator of nutritional status in population-based studies derived from household food consumption surveys. They describe the use of food consumption data to estimate family energy intake and to compare it among families and with family requirements to determine the family energy adequacy ratio. The article also discusses the use of international recommendations for human energy requirements and their limitations, based on the lack of consideration of non-food conditions, adaptive mechanisms, inadequacy of estimates of the baseline metabolism rate, and the lack of information to evaluate energy expenditure in non-work physical activities in the household surveys consulted. To illustrate the discussion, the authors use data from the National Family Budget Survey (ENDEF) conducted by the Brazilian Census and Statistics Bureau (IBGE) in 1974-1975. The article concludes that the main use of the adequacy ratio is to identify families suffering food restriction.


ABSTRACT In conventional RNA high-throughput sequencing, modified bases prevent a large fraction of tRNA transcripts to be converted into cDNA libraries. Recent proposals aiming at resolving this issue take advantage of the interference of base modifications with RT enzymes to detect and identify them by establishing signals from aborted cDNA transcripts. Because some modifications, such as methyl groups, do almost not allow RT bypassing, demethylation and highly processive RT enzymes have been used to overcome these obstacles. Working with Escherichia coli as a model system, we show that with a conventional (albeit still engineered) RT enzyme and key optimizations in library preparation, all RT-impairing modifications can be highlighted along the entire tRNA length without demethylation procedure. This is achieved by combining deep-sequencing samples, which allows to establish aborted transcription signal of higher accuracy and reproducibility, with the potential for differentiating tiny differences in the state of modification of all cellular tRNAs. In addition, our protocol provides estimates of the relative tRNA abundance.


Integrated sorption-membrane (ISM) processes combining low-pressure membranes with adsorbents are increasingly popular because they cost-effectively expand low-pressure membrane treatment to include dissolved contaminant removal. However, contemporary ISM processes often exhibit antagonistic tradeoffs between adsorption and membrane performance that were investigated using state-of-the-art adsorption models that include both of the predominant competitive effects of natural organic matter: direct site competition and pore blockage. Two currently used ISM process configurations, powdered activated carbon-ultrafiltration (PAC-UF) and adsorptive floc blanket reactor-ultrafiltration (FBR-UF), were compared with a novel configuration, upflow adsorption-ultrafiltration (UA-UF), which consists of a moving-bed of granular activated carbon upstream of a membrane. Model simulations quantitatively compared performance and evaluated potential improvements for each configuration. For instance, using contemporary PAC-UF practices and 90% atrazine removal as a baseline, alternative membrane backwashing procedures can lower carbon usage rates (CURs) by 75% but may also reduce membrane hydraulic performance. Using the same baseline, FBR-UF can reduce CURs by 92% while simultaneously improving membrane performance via pretreatment; however, process size increases 10-fold. The novel UA-UF configuration only increases process size modestly, but can still yield CURs 96% lower than the PAC-UF baseline while simultaneously providing beneficial membrane pretreatment and improving sustainability features by reducing residuals.


Abstract This article examines whether the attention to cultural products on the internet is more democratically structured (in terms of gender and genre distributions) than in traditional print media, and how these types of media attention affect commercial success. For the U.S. fiction book releases in February 2009, I analyze consumer ratings at the web store Amazon.com and the social networking site Goodreads.com. The results show that on the internet far more books receive attention, and that this indeed comes to the advantage of female authors and authors of popular fiction. Moreover, online publicity positively affects commercial success. These outcomes suggest that online attention to cultural products dampens the effects of institutionally embedded evaluations, while word-of-mouth mechanisms are becoming increasingly prominent in terms of how cultural products are discussed.


In the mammary gland, genetic circuits controlled by estrogen, progesterone, and prolactin, act in concert with pathways regulated by members of the epidermal growth factor family to orchestrate growth and morphogenesis during puberty, pregnancy and lactation. However, the precise mechanisms underlying the crosstalk between the hormonal and growth factor pathways remain poorly understood. We have identified the CUB and zona pellucida-like domain-containing protein 1 (CUZD1), expressed in mammary ductal and alveolar epithelium, as a novel mediator of mammary gland proliferation and differentiation during pregnancy and lactation. Cuzd1-null mice exhibited a striking impairment in mammary ductal branching and alveolar development during pregnancy, resulting in a subsequent defect in lactation. Gene expression profiling of mammary epithelium revealed that CUZD1 regulates the expression of a subset of the EGF family growth factors, epiregulin, neuregulin-1, and epigen, which act in an autocrine fashion to activate ErbB1 and ErbB4 receptors. Proteomic studies further revealed that CUZD1 interacts with a complex containing JAK1/JAK2 and STAT5, downstream transducers of prolactin signaling in the mammary gland. In the absence of CUZD1, STAT5 phosphorylation in the mammary epithelium during alveologenesis was abolished. Conversely, elevated expression of Cuzd1 in mammary epithelial cells stimulated prolactin-induced phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of STAT5. Chromatin immunoprecipitation confirmed co-occupancy of phosphorylated STAT5 and CUZD1 in the regulatory regions of epiregulin, a potential regulator of epithelial proliferation, and whey acidic protein, a marker of epithelial differentiation. Collectively, these findings suggest that CUZD1 plays a critical role in prolactin-induced JAK/STAT5 signaling that controls the expression of key STAT5 target genes involved in mammary epithelial proliferation and differentiation during alveolar development.


Dance plays an important role in how Javanese people represent themselves to each other and to non-Javanese. This study explores dance forms associated with the Sultan's palace in Yogyakarta, taken up by various interest groups after Indonesian independence. Part One presents a survey of current theoretical approaches to dance for anthropology, their limitations being illustrated by an analysis of palace dance, particularly the classification of forms, movements, and modes, and raises questions about the usefulness of the term 'dance', used here for convenience, not as an essentialised category (Chapters II-III). Implications are developed with reference to fields of aesthetics and semiotics, and I consider the relation of representations to reality (Chapter IV). Part Two introduces data about the traditional associations of these representations. Classifications and model- making in observer and informant accounts lead to how people make sense and how presuppositions generate discourses which allow meaningfulness to be delayed rather than fulfilled, and it is argued that 'poetic' features of this be rejected as constituting grounds for the formulation of the Javanese as 'other' (Chapters V-VI). How these styles of explanation affect our understanding of metaphysical dimensions is explored, from accounts of the self through Javanese theories of knowledge, to current Javanese polemics and what these make theories of communication look like, and how ideas about the past are used in the contest to define authenticity in 'classical' dance in Yogyakarta today (Chapters VII-VIII). The problem of closure in categories is the broadest concern of this study, particularly 'dance', 'Java', and also 'anthropology'. The perspectival approach aims to do justice to the ethnography, and to overcome misrepresentations arising from translations of indigenous terms and discourses. Though ignorance leads the fieldworker to take things too literally, informant ignorance is recognised. What data are is a matter of interpretation, and the conclusion hesitates to posit, and asks instead that we acknowledge our own tendency to create and rest on images, and take more note of what we are doing when we represent other societies to ourselves.


A 90-year-old female patient was admitted to our clinic complaining of pain in her left hip which occurred due to fall from a chair. Her medical history included memory loss and mental changes associated with Alzheimer's disease and depression. Patient's cooperation and orientation were weak. Range of motion of the left hip was restricted and painful. Radiographs of the left hip demonstrated subtrochanteric comminuted fracture of femur. Laboratory tests revealed anemia and liver insufficiency. Departments of internal medicine and anesthesiology reported high risk for surgery. Surgery was performed under spinal anesthesia on radiolucent table and in supine position. Using fluoroscopy, subtrochanteric comminuted fracture of femur was reduced. Proximally, two Schanz screws were placed through femoral neck and head in axial plane, and distally, three Schanz screws were placed through femoral shaft in coronal plane. Finally, fixation of the screws was achieved with an external fixator which was made of carbon fiber rods. Patient was allowed to sit in the bed and move around with a wheelchair as of the day of surgery. No infection or loosening of fixator occurred.


We examined the relative contributions of afferent input from the heart and from arterial baroreceptors in the stimulation of arginine vasopressin (AVP) secretion in response to hypotension caused by thoracic inferior vena caval constriction (TIVCC). Afferent input from cardiac receptors was reversibly blocked by infusing 2% procaine into the pericardial space to anesthetize the cardiac nerves. Acute cardiac nerve blockade (CNB) alone caused a rise in mean arterial pressure (MAP) of 24 +/- 3 mmHg but no change in plasma AVP. If the rise in MAP was prevented by TIVCC, plasma AVP increased by 39 +/- 15 pg/ml, and if MAP was allowed to increase and then was forced back to control by TIVCC, plasma AVP increased by 34 +/- 15 pg/ml. Thus the rise in MAP during CNB stimulated arterial baroreceptors, which in turn compensated for the loss of inhibitory input from cardiac receptors on AVP secretion. These results indicate that the maximum secretory response resulting from complete unloading of cardiac receptors at a normal MAP results in a mean increase in plasma AVP of 39 pg/ml in this group of dogs. When MAP was reduced 25% below control levels (from 95 +/- 5 to 69 +/- 3 mmHg) by TIVCC during pericardial saline infusion, plasma AVP increased by 79 +/- 42 pg/ml. However, the same degree of hypotension during CNB (MAP was reduced from 120 +/- 5 to 71 +/- 3 mmHg) led to a greater (P less than 0.05) increase in plasma AVP of 130 +/- 33 pg/ml. Because completely unloading cardiac receptors can account for an increase of only 39 pg/ml on average in this group of dogs, the remainder of the increase in plasma AVP must be due to other sources of stimulation. We suggest that the principal stimulus to AVP secretion after acute CNB in these studies arises from unloading the arterial baroreceptors.


OBJECTIVES
Childhood trauma is a common risk factor for adult psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar-I disorder (BD). However, its association with schizotypal personality traits, as well as cognitive and social cognitive abilities, is less well studied in these populations.

METHODS
In a cohort of 79 SZ cases, 84 BD cases, and 75 healthy controls (HCs), clinically significant levels of childhood trauma exposure (according to scores on the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire; CTQ) were evident in 54 SZ, 55 BD, and 26 HC individuals. Trauma-exposed and non-exposed groups were compared on schizotypal personality features (schizotypy) measured with the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). Cognitive assessments included executive function, working memory, attention, and immediate and delayed memory. Social cognitive measures assessed facial emotion processing and theory-of-mind abilities.

RESULTS
Trauma-exposed participants showed higher levels of schizotypy, especially suspiciousness, relative to non-exposed individuals, regardless of clinical or HC status. Furthermore, trauma-exposed individuals showed deficits specifically in social cognitive, but not general cognitive abilities, regardless of clinical or HC status. These trauma-related results were found in the context of higher schizotypy levels in both SZ and BD relative to HC, and lower cognitive and social cognitive performance in SZ, relative to BD and HC groups.

CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that childhood trauma exposure impacts long-term schizotypy outcomes, especially paranoid ideation (suspiciousness), as well as complex social cognitive abilities in both healthy and psychotic populations. However, cognitive deficits associated with psychotic illness may not be distinguishable from those related to trauma exposure in previous studies.

PRACTITIONER POINTS
Findings Childhood trauma exposure is associated with increased schizotypal features (in particular paranoid ideation) and complex social cognitive abilities, independently of the diagnosis of psychotic disorder. Cognitive and social cognitive deficits were larger in schizophrenia compared to bipolar-I cases and healthy controls, but increased schizotypal features were observed in both schizophrenia and bipolar-I disorder relative to healthy controls. Limitations We were unable to distinguish the specific effects of particular childhood trauma exposures due to the high rate of exposure to more than one type of maltreatment. Retrospective assessment of childhood trauma in adulthood cannot be externally validated, and associations with behavioural traits in later life may be confounded by other factors not studied here.


Neuromarketing is the application of neuroscience to the understanding of consumer preferences toward products and services. As such, it studies the neural activity associated with preference and purchase intent. Neuromarketing is considered an emerging area of research, driven in part by the approximately 400 billion dollars spent annually on advertisement and promotion. Given the size of this market, even a slight improvement in performance can have an immense impact. Traditional approaches to marketing consider a posteriori user feedback in the form of questionnaires, product ratings, or review comments, but these approaches do not fully capture or explain the real-time decision-making process of consumers. Various physiological measurement techniques have been proposed to facilitate the recording of this crucial aspect of the decision-making process, including brain imaging techniques [functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), steady state topography (SST)], and various biometric sensors. The use of EEG in neuromarketing is especially promising. EEG detects the sequential changes of brain activity, without appreciable time delay, needed to assess both the unconscious reaction and sensory reaction of the customer. Several types of EEG devices are now available in the market, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Researchers have conducted experiments using many of these devices, across different age groups and different categories of products. Because of the deep insights that can be gained, the field of neuromarketing research is carefully monitored by consumer and research protection groups to ensure that subjects are properly protected. This article surveys a range of considerations for EEG-based neuromarketing strategies, including the types of information that can be gathered, how marketing stimuli are presented to consumers, how such strategies may affect the consumer in terms of appeal and memory, machine learning techniques applied in the field, and the variety of challenges faced, including ethics, in this emerging field.


Purpose. Discussion of four cases of congenital corneal anesthesia with varied systemic associations and modes of presentation. Classification and systemic associations of congenital corneal anesthesia along with the importance of multi-specialty evaluation of such patients. Methods. Clinical examination of all four cases and corneal sensation assessment with Cochet–Bonnet esthesiometer. Thorough systemic examination and investigations including serum bio-chemical analysis, roentgenography, ultrasonography, nerve conduction studies, and CT scan of the patients to identify systemic associations. Results. All four patients proved to have bilateral congenital corneal anesthesia with Cochet–Bonnet esthesiometry confirming corneal anesthesia. Systemic examination revealed associated congenital mesenchymal anomalies in the first case. The second case had generalized reduction in pain sensitivity confirmed by nerve conduction studies. The third case was an isolated bilateral congenital corneal anesthesia, while the fourth was a case of congenital trigeminal nerve anesthesia involving all three divisions of both trigeminal nerves. Other causes of corneal anesthesia and self-inflicted corneal injuries were ruled out by clinical multi-specialty evaluation and appropriate investigations. Correct diagnosis and symptomatic treatment aided speedy relief of symptoms of all the patients. Conclusion. Congenital corneal anesthesia is a rare condition and is often a diagnostic dilemma. Although more common conditions that cause corneal anesthesia can mislead the clinician, the congenital variant should be kept in mind in any case of intractable corneal ulceration in children. Early diagnosis, symptomatic treatment and measures to prevent further corneal damage will immensely help in retaining useful vision for the affected children.


A new scheme to predict the behavior of atomic charges in molecules that depend on the environment is described. This method combines some advantages of earlier techniques (i.e., partial equalization of orbital electronegativities; fluctuating charge) and new approaches (i.e., two systems of σ and π electrons considered separately, with the use of new parameters). This method has avoided mistakes in the concept of dot charges on atoms. The new technique makes it possible to apply Thole's polarizabilities and van der Waals steric radii of atoms in molecules obtained from natural bond orbital (NBO) steric analysis. The new parameters demonstrate the degree of capability of the polarizabilities of atoms and bonds show the degree of mobility of electrons at creating the bond. The validity of our approximations is proved at a qualitative level. This new method can produce results showing good agreement with the results of ab initio calculations. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2007


Abstract Background. Decompressive craniectomy (DC) is an option for the treatment of increased intracranial pressure resulting from an acute neurological insult, including insults caused by trauma. When the brain swelling has receded, the skull is reconstructed with a wide choice of materials, each with its own advantages and disadvantages in terms of cost, cosmetic appearance, biocompatibility, implant strength and complication rate. Autologous cranioplasty (AC), where the patient's own bone flap is stored and reutilised, is common in many countries. No outcome studies have, however, been published on this technique for traumatic injuries. Methods. A retrospective study was conducted including all AC operations performed following DC due to traumatic brain injury. All operations were performed in one institution during a 4-year time period. Results were analysed for complication rates. Results. 44 cases were included. The mean time from craniotomy to cranioplasty was 86 (95% CI: 63–109) days. Complications severe enough to warrant readmission or further surgery were found in 13 cases (30%). No statistically significant predictor of complication from cranioplasty was detected. The complication rate was similar to published data on cranioplasty using artificial prosthetic materials. Conclusions. AC in the trauma setting is a valid treatment option with a complication rate that seems no worse than other alternatives.


Railway transportation hold a leading post in the long-distance passenger transport market. Passengers spend most of their time sitting, so seat affect passenger comfort most among interior facilities of coach. One of the major tasks of interior design is functionality and comfort of seat. Seat width, seat depth and seat height are basic functions factors of seat. The seat depth is major issue of functionality design of 25g car. The shape of cushion and backrest are main comfort factors of seat. The backrest angle is major issue of comfort design of 25g car now. The interior system design of railway passenger car can be developed if we stress and make rational use of these factors of seat design.


The Animal Welfare Act 1999 (New Zealand), which commenced on January 1 2000, provides that the use of non-human hominids in research, testing or teaching is not permitted unless the Director-General of Agriculture approves the use, and then, only if the use is in the interests of the non-human hominid itself or its species. The Animal Welfare Act 1999 originated with two parliamentary bills. The first, a private member's bill in the name of Pete Hodgson MP, was tabled in 1997, and the second, a Government measure, was tabled a year later. Neither bill made any reference to non-human hominids. The Great Ape Project made submissions that non-human hominids be afforded similar rights to humans, i.e. not to be deprived of life, not to be subjected to torture or cruel treatment and not to be subjected to medical or scientific experimentation. Proponents and opponents of the measure argued for and against the tenet of introducing "rights" issues into what was essentially "welfare" legislation. These arguments are analysed, and the legislative process that enabled this modification is examined.


The Hybrid Cellular Automata (HCA) algorithm has been used by several researchers to optimise structures during the last decade. Close observation of their work shows that the proposed optimisation algorithms are sensitive to the controller (local rule), the design variable and the field variable used. The aim of this work is to identify and understand the important parameters when using the HCA algorithm to optimise structures. For static loading, it is shown that the most important parameters are the design variable, the constraints on the design variable, the local rule, and the mesh density of the structure. The choice of the design variable affects the selection of the target value and the homogeneity of the resulting optimum structure. With constraints on the design variable, it is shown that the algorithm cannot always drive the structure to an optimum solution, as stresses in the resulting structure can be significantly higher than expected. Besides, the choice of the local rule and the mesh density of the structure can affect the convergence rate and may cause the algorithm to arrive at a local optimum rather than the global optimum solution.


Abstract.
 A new lonchidiid genus, Pristrisodus, from the Upper Triassic Tiki Formation of India is described based on multiple, well-preserved, isolated teeth. Comparative analysis resulted in synonymizing Parvodus tikiensis and Lissodus duffini, which are known from the same horizon and resulted in a new taxon, Pristrisodus tikiensis n. comb. These teeth are elongated with mesiodistal length greater than or equal to twice the labiolingual width and have a high principal cusp, lateral cusplets, a distinct ridge near the crown-root junction labially and higher up on the crown lingually, weak ornamentation, and linear depression along the crown-root junction. Five morphotypes based on overall shape, robustness and crown height are determined. The teeth show a gradual monognathic heterodonty. The anterolateral teeth (morphotypes I − II) have high, pyramidal principal cusp with two or three small but pointed cusplets, and triangular labial and lingual protuberance. The posterolateral teeth (morphotypes III − IV) have four incipient cusplets, relatively low principal cusp, bilobed/rounded, hanging labial and incipient lingual protuberances. Morphotype V comprises anterior teeth that are broad, triangular and robust, and have rounded/blunt principal cusp, one cusplet, and low, hanging labial peg. Multivariate analyses corroborate the qualitative assessment of the Indian hybodonts. Dental histology of Pristrisodus n. gen., shows that it is distinctly different from other lonchidiid genera. The assemblage of freshwater sharks, along with other vertebrate microfossils of the Tiki Formation, shows similarity with that of the lower Tecovas Formation of the Chinle Group, USA. The euryhaline nature resulted in the adaptation of the hybodonts to freshwater systems in India during the Carnian.


In this study, we are testing the effects of various colors of light on the growth rate of algae. Determining the best light setting will allow us to better understand what conditions allow for optimal growth rate in algae to be used for biofuels. We put algae in experimental groups of red food dye, blue food dye, and green food dye, with a control group of natural light. We found that algae has the fastest rate of growth in natural lighting. This result is likely because algae is to absorb all wavelengths of light n natural lighting rather than only one spectrum.


Tongue squamous cell carcinoma progresses from an oral premalignant lesion to invasive squamous cell carcinoma. The incidence of tongue carcinoma has been increasing markedly even in patients free of risk factors as the reporting case of a 22-years-old female complaining of small tender whitish discoloration over the left side of the tongue. First there was a dilemma in the diagnosis taking in consideration that she is young and free of risk factor, but the magnetic resonance imaging of the head and neck showed a heterogenous mass in the tongue with deep muscular invasion. After the result of positron emission tomography–computed tomography, the patient underwent left hemiglossectomy with left supraomohyoid neck dissection and histopathology report showed invasive squamous cell carcinoma. Thus, she was referred for adjuvant radiotherapy. At this point, it emphasized that early recognition is essential; as an extensive history should be obtained from the patient that includes the symptoms emerged and risk factors.


Over 90% of seniors prefer to age in place, which is an idea supported by the European semesters on long-term care strategic plans for member states, but they do not have the necessary innovation to improve the living of the elderly in a properly built environment with sustainable financing. The spatial dispersion of housing and density in a functional area should be particularly taken into consideration by facilities' managers and medical care institutions offering housing, healthcare and other services for the elderly in planning the built environment and other facilities for seniors because the costs of logistics (material transport, nurse workload, costs of other service providers, and transport of seniors in the case of daily programmes) greatly depend on it. Using data from a care centre in a Hungarian municipality, we simulated and optimised home healthcare routing and scheduling in various scenarios of spatial dispersion and changing density of clients. We modelled the rounds of caregivers visiting seniors in homecare as a multiple travelling salesman problem, and the solutions show the necessary workforce and service time requirements. The tool that enabled us to study the outputs of scenarios might help professionals forecast and plan for coming changes in the costs of nursing services caused by the growing number of seniors that may need help in maintaining their independence as long as possible, taking into account that the density and dispersion of households are also changing.


We move our eyes to place the fovea into the part of a viewed scene currently of interest. Recent evidence suggests that each human has signature patterns of eye movements like handwriting which depend on their sensitivity, allocation of attention and experience. Use of implicit knowledge of how earth's gravity influences object motion has been shown to aid dynamic perception. We used a projected ball‐tracking task with a plain background offering no context cues to probe the effect of acquired experience about physical laws of gravitation on performance differences of 44 participants under a simulated gravity and an atypical (upward) antigravity condition. Performance measured by the unsigned difference between instantaneous eye and stimulus positions (RMSE) was consistently worse in the antigravity condition. In the vertical RMSE, participants took about 200 ms longer to improve to the best performance for antigravity compared to gravity trials. The antigravity condition produced a divergence of individual performance which was correlated with levels of questionnaire‐based quantified traits of schizotypy but not control traits. Grouping participants by high or low traits revealed a negative relationship between schizotypy trait level and both initiation and maintenance of tracking, a result consistent with trait‐related impoverished sensory prediction. The findings confirm for the first time that where cues enabling exact estimation of acceleration are unavailable, knowledge of gravity contributes to dynamic prediction improving motion processing. With acceleration expectations violated, we demonstrate that antigravity tracking could act as a multivariate diagnostic window into predictive brain function.


Data from 769 steer calves that were fed as part of the South Dakota Retained Ownership Demonstration program were used for this study. At feedlot placement, initial weight, hip height, fat thickness, age, sire breed, and dam breed were recorded. Calves that were creep fed, vaccinated, and weaned prior to feedlot arrival were identified. Initial pay weight, initial fat thickness, prefeedlot arrival vaccination, Hereford, Angus, or Simmental sires, and intermediate or high milk dams accounted for only 17.16% of the variation in fall calf value as determined by feedlot gain and carcass merit. When using multiple regression techniques to predict value, including year, average daily gain, dressing percentage, and quality grade improved R2 to .8275. Initial variables accounted for only 8.22% of the variation in gain, 14.28% of the variation in dressing percentage, and 16.36% of the variation in percentage choice. Initial variables evaluated in this study are of limited value in predicting feeder calf value under dynamic market conditions.


The interaction of arbitrary three-dimensional light beams with optical elements is described by the generalized Jones calculus, which has been formally proposed recently [Azzam, J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 28, 2279 (2011)]. In this work we obtain the parametric expression of the 3×3 differential generalized Jones matrix (dGJM) for arbitrary optical media assuming transverse light waves. The dGJM is intimately connected to the Gell-Mann matrices, and we show that it provides a versatile method for obtaining the macroscopic GJM of media with either sequential or simultaneous anisotropic effects. Explicit parametric expressions of the GJM for some relevant optical elements are provided.


We study the class of Lorentzian polynomials. The class contains homogeneous stable polynomials as well as volume polynomials of convex bodies and projective varieties. We prove that the Hessian of a nonzero Lorentzian polynomial has exactly one positive eigenvalue at any point on the positive orthant. This property can be seen as an analog of Hodge-Riemann relations for Lorentzian polynomials. Lorentzian polynomials are intimately connected to matroid theory and negative dependence properties. We show that matroids, and more generally M-convex sets, are characterized by the Lorentzian property, and develop a theory around Lorentzian polynomials. In particular, we provide a large class of linear operators that preserve the Lorentzian property and prove that Lorentzian measures enjoy several negative dependence properties. We also prove that the class of tropicalized Lorentzian polynomials coincides with the class of M-convex functions in the sense of discrete convex analysis. The tropical connection is used to produce Lorentzian polynomials from M-convex functions. We give two applications of the general theory. First, we prove that the homogenized multivariate Tutte polynomial of a matroid is Lorentzian whenever the parameter q satisfies $0 < q \le 1$. Consequences are proofs of the strongest Mason's conjecture from 1972 and negative dependence properties of the random cluster model model in statistical physics. Second, we prove that the multivariate characteristic polynomial of an M-matrix is Lorentzian. This refines a result of Holtz who proved that the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial of an M-matrix form an ultra log-concave sequence.


The present study describes the hydrochemistry of ground waters found in the Mesta River Basin, located in the south-western part of Bulgaria. The groundwater's composition can be expressed as follows: Ca2+ > Na+ > Mg2+ > K+; Ca2+ > Mg2+ > Na+ > K+ in equivalent units for the cations, and HCO3– > SO42– > Cl– in equivalent units for the anions. The chemical composition of the studied groundwater can be described as calcium-bicarbonate. The calcium ions make up from 17.90% to 38.62% (30.18% on average), and the bicarbonate ions make up from 35.30% to 48.98% (43.70% on average) of all ions. Taken together, the calcium and bicarbonate ions make up from 61.44% to 87.60% (73.88% on average) of all ions. The groundwater itself is of slightly alkaline nature, having pH of 7.3 to 8.6, and TDS of 67 mg/l to 611 mg/l. One groundwater sample from the Mesta River catchment area was found to be of the low-mineralized type (TDS = 193 mg/l) alkaline water (pH = 9.8) in the Mesta Lowlands – the Banichan groundwater mineral source. The water can be described as sodium-bicarbonate, with sodium ions making up to 93.5% of the cations, and bicarbonate ions – 69.6% of the anions. Out of all ions, the sodium ions were found to be 48%, and the bicarbonate ions – 33.86%. The sequence of ions is in the following order: Na+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+ > K+, and HCO3– > Cl– > SO42– > CO32–.


T U.S. health care system often works well for persons with financial means and for many providers, but several countries achieve better outcomes at lower costs. This series of articles describes a vision and makes important recommendations to improve coverage and control costs; reform health care delivery and payment to promote person-centered; high-value primary care; and address social and environmental determinants of health (1–4). The recommendations include both commonly proposed and novel approaches to health reform, all of which are backed by thoughtful reasoning and often strong evidence. Nevertheless, powerful forces hinder many ideas for reform. Pharmaceutical and device manufacturers fight rigorous economic evaluation of their products (5). Hospitals, health systems, and insurers consolidate to reduce competition that could promote consumer choice, lower price, and enhance quality (6). Managed care grows despite decades-old evidence of worrisome effects on costly, vulnerable patients (7). Provider organizations support barriers to entry and limit competition (8). Politicians and policymakers rarely engage voters in complex issues of health reform. Accordingly, the recommendations in these articles face many barriers to implementation. Moreover, the effects of potential reforms are interdependent—implementation of 1 recommendation often affects the benefits, costs, and likelihood of implementing other recommendations. The interdependence of reforms is illustrated by the idea of eliminating tax exemption for employer contributions to health insurance. Economists have long criticized this exemption as reducing consumer and employer incentives to control health care prices and use. Yet, the private funds pushed into the health care system by this exemption subsidize the costs of the underinsured and uninsured that are inadequately covered by government payment. If those private funds were reduced, the system would quickly unravel. Therefore, the failure to adequately finance care for persons without private coverage makes it harder to address the inefficient incentives generated by employer-sponsored health insurance. Such connections among policies threaten the effectiveness of the health reform approach articulated in these articles if the recommendations are only partially implemented. Accordingly, it is critical to understand which reforms are more and less important and which may follow naturally if others are initiated first. This issue is especially important because the argument can be made that the fundamental origin—one might call it an "original sin," or the idea that human failings stem ultimately from Adam's failing in the Garden of Eden—of problems in the U.S. health care system is our failure to directly finance health care access for so many Americans. Instead, because we have uninsured persons and underfund Medicaid and likely Medicare, we subsidize private coverage to incentivize private spending to make the system work. Unfortunately, this creates incentives for price increases and overuse in private health care, especially for specialized services where competition fails to limit costs. High prices for specialized services that exceed costs produce profits that, in turn, promote excessive incentives for entry—of hospitals into well-insured markets and of physicians into highly paid specialties. Hospitals adorned with unnecessary luxury as well as training programs laden by institutional service are examples of wasteful sequelae of these economic rents. Judge Richard Posner has highlighted such waste as the hidden costs of monopolies and similar distortions of competitive markets, with profits eventually converted to social waste (9). Rational policies also mediate the wasteful sequelae of incentives for overuse resulting from subsidies for insurance. To control overuse, we develop costly bureaucracies, including managed care that replaces the financial incentives for overuse with those for underuse, in response to which we incur costly efforts to ensure quality. Moreover, extant approaches to risk adjustment under prospective payment incentivize directing care toward lower-cost patients that may have lower value, perhaps especially in competitive markets (10). Such rewards for risk selection also challenge proposals to address unmet social need through the health care system. To mitigate concerns of risk selection and compensate for inadequate funding for government programs, including the funding of biomedical research, we then tolerate reductions in health care competition that lower quality and increase costs (6). Failure to directly finance universal coverage thus contributes to many of the problems faced by the U.S. health care system. Seen through the lens of the American College of Physicians' recommendations, how might addressing an original sin of failure to directly finance universal coverage in the United States facilitate progress on other recommendations? First, fully funding health care for the uninsured and underinsured would immediately undermine the case for continued tax exemption of employer contributions for health insurance. This would reduce the cost paid by employers to insure their employees because premiums would no longer need to subsidize the care of the uninsured and underinsured and would attract more workers to jobs providing insurance. The removal of tax exemption would encourage greater use of copayments, or better yet, reference pricing to discourage low-value care. Greater employer and employee


—Software for creating mind maps is currently prevalent, and it should have strong usability and create a good user experience. Usability testing can help to uncover flaws in software's usability and support its optimization. This paper took the mind map software "Xmind" and "MindMaster" as study cases and conducted comparative research on three aspects: effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction. The research investigated 20 participants' interactions with the two software. Task completion rate, number of errors, and number of requests for help were collected to evaluate the effectiveness. Eye tracking data and task completion time are collected to evaluate efficiency. System usability, interface quality, and emotional dimensions were collected with subjective scales to assess the software's user satisfaction. The data together led to a conclusion: each software has a few usability issues. The use of jargon to explain functions was costly to learn and quickly undermined users' confidence in using the software; the interface's simplicity impacted satisfaction, although users tended to evaluate utility tools in terms of their ease of use and ease of learning. These findings could be used to optimize utility software.


As the leading legal voice of the American conservative movement, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has challenged the assumptions and legal methodology of American liberals. In this thorough and exacting study of the development of Justice Scalia's legal principles, Richard Brisbin explores the foundation and elaboration of the justice's conservative political vision. After reviewing Scalia's legal experiences before joining the Supreme Court and describing the influences on his political and legal thought, Brisbin undertakes a detailed analysis of Scalia's Supreme Court voting record and opinions. The conservative philosophy emerging from Scalia's legal decisions, Brisbin argues, assumes the legitimacy and propriety of political regimes functioning under the rule of law. It disciplines-sometimes harshly-inappropriate uses of liberty and accepts the proposition that the law can serve as an effective means to structure, interpret, and control political conflicts. The most comprehensive study of Justice Scalia's politics and jurisprudence yet published, Justice Antonin Scalia and the Conservative Revival joins a vital discussion on contemporary American conservatism and the use of the law to restrain or undermine the New Deal state.


Model selection, in order to learn the mapping between the kernel metrics of a machine in a server cluster and a service quality metric on a client's machine, has been addressed by directly applying Linear Regression (LR) to the observations. The popularity of the LR approach is due to: 1) its implementation efficiency; 2) its low computational complexity; and finally, 3) it generally captures the data relatively accurately. LR, can however, produce misleading results if the LR model does not characterize the system: this deception is due in part to its accuracy. In the client-server service modeling literature LR is applied to the server and client metrics without treating the load on the system as the cause for the excitation of the system. By contrast, in this paper, we propose a generative model for the server and client metrics and a hierarchical model to explain the mapping between them, which is cognizant of the effects of the load on the system. Evaluations using real traces support the following conclusions: The system load accounts for ≥ 50% of the energy of a high proportion of the client and server metric traces -modeling the load is crucial; the load signal is localized in the frequency domain: we can remove the load by deconvolution; There is a significant phase shift between both the kernel and the service-level metrics, which, coupled with the load, heavily biases the results obtained from out-of-the-box LR without any system identification pre-processing.


This dissertation is an argument for simultaneous, radical and innovative technological and attitudinal change. Attitudinal change is dependent upon the qualitative and quantitative persuasive effectiveness of those regrettably. few academics, trade unionists, journalists and hopefully some politicians who actually believe that the development of an activity/leisure/play ethos is not only feasible but extremely desirable. This treatise is intended to enhance the two-fold argument for change by persuasive advocacy, evidential illustration and by promoting further, extensive and lively discussion. The thesis is divided into 3 principal sections: historical-contemporary, contemporary and contemporary-futuristic analyses; these sections are in turn sub-divided into a series of individual chapters. Section 1: A Historical-Contemporary Perspective considers the history of automata, microelectronics and work in order to (a) set in context and (b) trace the development of microelectronic technology and the concomitant opportunity for change. Section 2: A Contemporary Perspective - Chapter 4: The Microelectronic Technology Employment Debate examines the fundamental, argument as to whether or not microelectronics can create as many jobs as it destroys. Chapter 5: discusses my own case study research which focuses upon north eastern office complexes (from various administrative/executive/clerical sectors) particularly susceptible to computerised automation. Section 3: A Contemporary-Futuristic Perspective - Chapter 6: reviews the current state of school computerisation. Chapter 7: looks at the author's research into primary and secondary schools. Chapter 8: argues for the development of a massive computerised/microelectronic orientated education industry incorporating a comprehensive range of subjects and activities. A re-definition of what we mean by traditional education. An education industry for anyone to learn about anything. Chapter 9: continues this theme and argues for a radical re-definition of our traditional concept of work and leisure; and proposes a revolutionary solution to the unemployment problem.


Recent advances in neuroscience led to the development of therapies for paraplegic patients, currently at the stage of clinical trials, that permit to some extent the restoration of the patients' natural control over their lower limbs through the electrical stimulation of the sensorial input to their spinal cord. Facedwith the individual's benefits of such therapies, future developments will focus on porting the technology to the upper limbs, thus bringing partial solutions for increasing the quality of life in tetraplegia. Beyond evident anatomical similarities, the primates are the only animals sharing the direct cortico-motoneuronal pathway with humans, making their study necessary to develop strategies of spinal cord stimulation. Throughout this thesis, a computational model of the primate's arm is developed on the OpenSim platform from a previously published but now obsolete SIMM model. Skeletal and muscular morphometric data is gathered, adapted and added until the model is validated dynamically, and its ability to reproduce the real animal's experimental motion in a closed loop is asserted. The model is then used to predict, in the spinal cord, the spatiotemporal patterns of neuronal activation underlying the subject's motor behaviour during a stereotypical reaching and grasping task. An estimation of the afferent fibres' firing rates will be critical to the understanding of the interactions between the stimulation and the neuronal circuitry, and will alleviate challenges faced in recording the normal sensorimotor activity in real time. As such, the model lays some foundations for the development of future therapies.


Context. Powerful methods are available to reconstruct the spectra of stars in orbit around each other, using a time-series of observed, composite spectra. They act either on the Fourier components of the observed spectra, or directly on these spectra in a velocity grid. Aims. We discuss under which conditions spurious patterns can appear in reconstructed spectra, either as a consequence of (quasi)degeneracy of the equations or as a consequence of bias in the observed spectra. Also we discuss the equivalence of Fourier and direct methods in practice. Methods. We show under which conditions the equations degenerate, and how to evaluate this. We pay special attention to spectra of binary stars and triple systems analysed in Fourier space. We apply the theory to real data sets and to artificial data sets with several types of data-reduction bias constructed to illustrate degeneracies and the transfer of bias to the reconstructed spectra. Results. Quasi-degeneracy of the equations depends on the lack of significant time-variability in the relative light contribution of the stars, on the length of the spectral interval in units of the involved Doppler shifts, on the presence of very faint stellar components, and on the distribution of the observations over the orbital phases. Eclipse spectra, possibly used with different weight in low- and highfrequency Fourier modes, remove quasi-degeneracies. But when the normalisation of the observed spectra is biased in a systematic way with relation to the orbital phase, then the bias amplifies strongly in the reconstructed spectra, particularly for the faintest components. Wavelength-locked bias is transferred more strongly to the spectrum of the star with the lowest velocity amplitude. Unrecognized variations in line strength lead to bias that is larger in spectral regions with high line-density. Most importantly, the bias in all reconstructed spectra is coupled in a unique, predictable way. This coupling allows us to design robust procedures for the removal of bias from the reconstructed spectra. Conclusions. When the spectral features of all stars visible in the observed spectra undergo a significant time-variable dilution effect, then the reconstructed spectra are well-defined. Otherwise, spurious patterns, mostly of low frequency, may be superimposed on the reconstructed spectra. The analysis presented in this paper allows observers to optimise their observing strategy, gives insight in the origin of spurious patterns and indicates ways either to suppress such patterns or to remove them a posteriori from the reconstructed spectra. In this way, a broader range of astrophysical analyses can be applied to the component spectra.


This community service aims to improve the understanding and skills of travel entrepreneurs in Samarinda in using integrated information system applications with macro in excel. The problems faced by travel entrepreneurs are bookkeeping and financial management which are still conventional so that the majority of them cannot know for sure their financial position and assets. This community service is carried out with training that begins with a process of observation and discussion with travel entrepreneurs in Samarinda. Furthermore, the entrepreneurs were given material about the urgency of an information system based on Macro in Excel for business management. The results of the service activities reveal that travel entrepreneurs can practically use the macro in excel well, but still need to be careful in the data input process. Programs that have been created can be developed because the facilities available in macro is very customizable.


The Glasgow Ophthalmic Institution was founded in 1868 by Dr. J. R. Wolfe, who is best known for his invention of the wholeskin graft bearing his name. To mark its centenary Professor Riddell has written a booklet on its history, and what an interesting tale it proves to be. By 1888 the Ophthalmic Institution contained 35 beds, an operating theatre, and all necessary accommodation for the matron, nurses, and servants. A course of instruction for medical students was given in the summer and winter session. In 1893 the Institution was amalgamated with the Royal Infirmary and reached its zenith during the tenure of Dr. Maitland Ramsay (1898-1920) as surgeon. His enthusiasm and publications attracted the attention of his ophthalmic contemporaries everywhere. By 1920 the building was quite inadequate for the work undertaken, as testified in the formal notes of many distinguished visitors, but because of the self-sacrifice and singlemindedness of H. Wright Thomson, J. N. Tennent, Janet Steel, and Miss C. J. McKellar, to name a few, a vast amount of clinical work was undertaken in cramped and appalling conditions. I attended the Glasgow Ophthalmic Institution as a postgraduate 'student during 1943 when a serving naval officer and felt then as I do now that the staff, by its extraordinary devotion in difficult circumstances, almost qualified for inclusion in the communion of saints. Twenty-five years later Professor Riddell writes: " Several months ago the Regional Hospital Board resolved that new inpatient accommodation must be found as a matter of urgency." Surgeons in English ophthalmic hospitals who are in danger of losing their boards of governors should take note of the priority they are likely to command in the event of a change in administration. STEPHEN MILLER.


This paper examines the causes and consequences of multiple borrowing in rural Bangladesh using long-term household and village panel data covering the years 2000 to 2014. Our empirical analysis reveals that sharply growing number of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in a wider set of villages over time, coincides with corresponding increase in household borrowing from multiple MFIs as well as households accessing loans generally. The climbing number of MFIs also explains the significant rises in the total values of household assets especially in the form of agricultural equipment. Although the increasing number of MFIs resulted in some households borrowing for the purposes of repaying previous loans, the fraction of such households is still relatively small. Overall, our results suggest that the majority of the cases of multiple borrowing are "healthy" or "solvent" overlapping loans that meet the large demand for credit for productive purposes.


Context: The chronic diabetes is associated with damage to the sensory and cognitive regions brain. The central auditory system is susceptible to the damage caused by high glucose level. Aims: Since the healthy auditory system plays an important role in communication, this study examined speech recognition in noise performance of these people so as to better identify the harmful impacts of diabetes on the auditory processing. Settings and Design: This cross-sectional comparative study compares the speech recognition in noise performance of 30 diabetic patients and 30 normal individuals aged 30–55 years with quick speech in noise (Q-SIN) test. Subjects and Methods: All people had normal hearing and the speech recognition performance in silent, the Persian version of the Q-SIN test was used. Statistical Analysis Used: Results of signal-to-noise ratio loss (SNR loss) and recognition of words at different SNR levels were analyzed with Chi-square test and independent t-test in two groups. Results: There was a significant difference between diabetic patients and normal individuals in mean of SNR loss (P < 0.05). The comparison of word recognition scores in each SNR showed no significant difference in 25, 20 SNRs between the two groups (P > 0.05), but the performance of diabetic patients was weaker in 15, 10, 5, 0 SNR (P < 0.05). Conclusions: In the absence of hearing loss, the diabetic patients have a significant speech perception disorder, especially at lower levels of SNRs, compared to normal people of the same age. Impaired speech comprehension in the presence of a competitive message can result from the damage to central auditory processing as a result of diabetes.


The electronic structure of hydrated SrTiO3 (001) surfaces is investigated using density-functional models. It is shown that adsorbed water molecules give rise to unoccupied electron states similar in localization and shape to wet-electron states recently reported for other oxide-water interfaces, and believed to serve as a preferred path for transfer of conduction electrons to the surface water molecules. Additionally, we found that chemisorbed water and hydrogen have donor levels in the band gap, and that chemisorbed hydrogen is oxidized and released in the presence of free holes. These gap states can serve as surface recombination centers in photoelectrochemical cells.


This article reports on a small-scale project which central purpose was to incorporate read-alouds in a pre-intermediate English as a foreign language class of preservice teachers during three weeks. Students responded orally and in a written way on their journals to these readings showing understanding of the texts, relating their personal experiences and / or making connections to them. The project involved students of the undergraduate program in English teaching at Universidad Distrital Francisco Jose de Caldas, Bogota. In all, 19 students were involved in the project. Data collection sources for this project include students' journals, after the fact notes on students' oral interactions and a group interview. Among the findings observed in this inquiry project include the intertextual connections (Short, 1993) students make across the texts read in class with their personal experiences. Most students' oral responses were characterized by code-switching; in general most students code switched depending on the difficulty of the answer. Students benefited from the reading-alouds in terms of opportunities to interact among themselves, practice their oral and written skills, and enjoy the pleasures of reading, thus building ground to a positive experience that may be emulated in their future teaching exercise. Finally, I discuss some implications of read-alouds with preservice teachers and teacher education programs in Colombia.


A calibration system has been developed that allows a direct determination of the sensitivity of the laser backscatter diagnostics at the Omega laser. A motorized mirror at the target location redirects individual pulses of a mJ-class laser onto the diagnostic to allow the in-situ measurement of the local point response of the backscatter diagnostics. Featuring dual wavelength capability at the 2nd and 3rd harmonic of the Nd:YAG laser, both spectral channels of the backscatter diagnostics can be directly calibrated. In addition, channel cross-talk and polarization sensitivity can be determined. The calibration system has been employed repeatedly over the last two years and has enabled precise backscatter measurements of both stimulated Brillouin scattering and stimulated Raman scattering in gas-filled hohlraum targets that emulate conditions relevant to those in inertial confinement fusion targets.


An empirical model for voltage and equivalent series resistance (ESR) has been developed for lead acid batteries used as a pulsed power source. During the design of the battery upgraded supply (BUS) for Eglin Air Force Base, the Center for Electromechanics at the University of Texas at Austin (CEM-UT) developed a model for the batteries to be used in this system. BUS is a 5 MA, 500 MJ inductive power supply charged by batteries for use as a railgun power supply. A series of tests was performed to determine the driving voltage and ESR of the batteries for discharge times from 2 to 10 s and current levels from 500 to 2500 A. A model for voltage and ESR was obtained from these tests. The methods used and sample data from the tests are presented. The main factors affecting battery voltage and ESR are discussed, and the models developed for the batteries tested are described. It is concluded that the proposed empirical model can be used to predict the performance of Pulsar batteries as long as the currents are around 500 to 2500 A and the timeframes are from 2 to 10 s. >


Parity-odd domains, corresponding to non-trivial topological solutions of the QCD vacuum, might be created during relativistic heavy-ion collisions. These domains are predicted to lead to charge separation of quarks along the orbital momentum of the system created in non-central collisions. To study this effect, we investigate a three particle mixed harmonics azimuthal correlator which is a \P-even observable, but directly sensitive to the charge separation effect. We report measurements of this observable using the STAR detector in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200 and 62~GeV. The results are presented as a function of collision centrality, particle separation in rapidity, and particle transverse momentum. A signal consistent with several of the theoretical expectations is detected in all four data sets. We compare our results to the predictions of existing event generators, and discuss in detail possible contributions from other effects that are not related to parity violation.


Introduction The following paper embodies the results of some studies which were begun by the writers in 1897, while students in the department of geology at Leland Stanford Junior University, and which have been continued intermittently ever since. The analyses were made by the junior author in the laboratories of the university. The writers are indebted to Dr James Perrin Smith, of Stanford University, and to Dr Waldemar Lindgren, of the United States Geological Survey, for helpful suggestions relating to the preparation of the paper. Location of the San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel mountains are a group of more or less intimately associated ridges and peaks occupying the territory between Cajon pass, in San Bernardino county, and the Santa Clara river, in Los Angeles county, their greater portion lying in the latter. They comprise an area of about 50 by 25 miles, nearly all of which lies within the . . .


Our research seeks to answer the question of how a conventional commodity supply chain can be transformed into a disintermediated commodity supply chain in the context of the fair trade (FT) movement. We present a normative framework for conceptualizing the disintermediation process, exploring the variables bearing on this process using the case of FT coffee to illustrate our insights. We highlight the motivational sources driving FT, suggesting that it is increasingly to the advantage of multinational enterprises to leverage their market power to circumvent intermediaries in the supply chain and, in so doing, shift a greater share of income and wealth to producing communities. A research agenda centered on building an FT supply‐chain disintermediation index is proposed.


Background: The beneficial effects of cardiorespiratory fitness on mortality are well known; however, the relation of muscular fitness, specifically muscular strength and endurance, to mortality risk has not been thoroughly examined. The purpose of the current study is to determine if a dose-response relation exists between muscular fitness and mortality after controlling for factors such as age and cardiorespiratory fitness. Methods: The study included 9105 men and women, 20–82 years of age, in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study who have completed at least one medical examination at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, TX between 1981 and 1989. The exam included a muscular fitness assessment, based on 1-min sit-up and 1-repetition maximal leg and bench press scores, and a maximal treadmill test. We conducted mortality follow-up through 1996 primarily using the National Death Index, with a total follow-up of 106,046 person-years. All-cause mortality rates were examined across low, moderate, and high muscular ...


GnRH neurons are the final central neural output regulating fertility. Kisspeptin neurons in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (KNDy neurons) are considered the main regulator of GnRH output. GnRH and KNDy neurons are surrounded by astrocytes, which can modulate neuronal activity and communicate over distances. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), synthesized primarily by astrocytes, increases GnRH neuron activity and downstream pituitary release of luteinizing hormone (LH). We hypothesized that glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-expressing astrocytes play a role in regulating GnRH and/or KNDy neuron activity and LH release. We used adeno-associated viruses to target designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) to GFAP-expressing cells to activate Gq- or Gi-mediated signaling. Activating Gq signaling in the preoptic area, near GnRH neurons, but not in the arcuate, increases LH release in vivo and GnRH firing in vitro via a mechanism in part dependent upon PGE2. These data suggest that astrocytes can activate GnRH/LH release in a manner independent of KNDy neurons.


AIM
To study the Epidemiology and Prevalence of Posterior Uveitis in Shimla Hills.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
It is a retro/prospective study of patients with retinal diseases attending the general ophthalmology clinic of a tertiary care facility at Shimla from August 2008 to April 2013.Out of 5600 subjects,4323 were taken as a sample. The data was taken from the hospital records and thereafter analyzed to determine their age, sex distribution and diagnosis. All patients underwent visual acuity, refraction, slit lamp examination and fundus evaluation.The diagnosis was confirmed from fundus clinic records and evaluation of fundus photographic records retro-prospectively.The photographs were taken on the fundus camera (KOWA'S FUNDUS CAMERA VX-10) and fundus fluorescein angoigraphy(FFA) done where ever indicated.

RESULTS
Amongst the 196 (4.54%) subject of Posterior Uveitis,Toxoplasmosis (TOXO-1.48%) was the most common while Acute Multifocal Placoid Pigment Epitheliopathy(AMPPE-0.02%) and Multiple Evanescent White Dot Syndrome ( MEWDS-0.02%) were the least common disease.

CONCLUSION
Retinal disorders appear to be a major public health problem in India.The present study shall help us in planning the management of such disorders in the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh to reduce the visual morbidity arising out of such disorders.


We study the time evolution of different Laponite suspensions from a low-viscosity ergodic state to a viscoelastic nonergodic state over a wide range of volume fractions and salt contents. We find that the evolution of nonergodicity parameter (Debye-Waller factor) splits into two branches for all the samples, which correspond to two distinct dynamically arrested states. At moderately high salt concentrations, on the other hand, a third nonergodic state appears that is different from the above two nonergodic states. Measurement of the conductivity of Laponite solutions in pure water shows that the contribution of counterions in the ionic strength is considerable and their role should be taken into account in interpretations of aging dynamics and the phase diagram. Based on these data and available data in the literature, we propose a (nonequilibrium) phase diagram for Laponite suspensions.


The world has been confronting a health crisis for two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The context of the crisis has the form of the first wave and subsequent waves that varied depending on the country. Undoubtedly, Algeria is one of the countries that have suffered severely from this pandemic. The recent wave has been marked with the huge number of casualties given the poor preparation. The country's preparation issue will be more complicated. In other words, in the context of an expected 4th wave that is characterized with the appearance of the new Omicron variant B.1.1.529. Thus, this news will consider the situation comprehensively and will provide recommendations to minimize the potential damage that will result from the fourth wave, and to attempt to limit the spread of the virus. The updated measures aim at rising the opportunities of improving the health situation in the country in the near future.


This paper analyzed the impact of plastic surgery related content generated by patients and by medical professionals on the self-perception and purchase intent of TikTok users. Doing so, this research project focused primarily on the short video platform TikTok, which displayed over 6 billion relevant content views, as well as a high demographic user-relevance to the main recipient of plastic surgery, females. Building upon an extensive literature review, insights and concepts from beauty, self-perception and influencer marketing research were conceptually related to frame the conceptual model for this project. Relevant user data was gathered by means of an online survey and the network sampling technique. This resulted in the receipt of 314 valid datasets. Successive data analysis revealed that patient generated plastic surgery related content negatively impacted the self-perception of TikTok users, whereas plastic surgeon created content positively moderated the impact on purchase intent, through surgeons' status as medical professionals or experts. The latter provided user legitimization for surgical procedures. Findings have been discussed in the light of platform banned plastic surgery related advertising and potential implications for regulatory bodies.


Abstract. Over the last ten years, a risk-based approach to manage natural hazards – termed the risk concept – has been introduced to the management of natural hazards in Switzerland. Large natural hazard events, new political initiatives and limited financial resources have led to the development and introduction of new planning instruments and software tools that should support natural hazard engineers and planners to effectively and efficiently deal with natural hazards. Our experience with these new instruments suggests an improved integration of the risk concept into the community of natural hazard engineers and planners. Important factors for the acceptance of these new instruments are the integration of end-users during the development process, the knowledge exchange between science, developers and end-users as well as training and education courses for users. Further improvements require the maintenance of this knowledge exchange and a mindful adaptation of the instruments to case-specific circumstances.


Although Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) can be used to generate the realistic image, improper use of these technologies brings hidden concerns. For example, GAN can be used to generate a tampered video for specific people and inappropriate events, creating images that are detrimental to a particular person, and may even affect that personal safety. In this paper, we will develop a deep forgery discriminator (DeepFD) to efficiently and effectively detect the computer-generated images. Directly learning a binary classifier is relatively tricky since it is hard to find the common discriminative features for judging the fake images generated from different GANs. To address this shortcoming, we adopt contrastive loss in seeking the typical features of the synthesized images generated by different GANs and follow by concatenating a classifier to detect such computer-generated images. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed DeepFD successfully detected 94.7% fake images generated by several state-of-the-art GANs.


In this paper the dynamic mechanical behaviour of two epoxy adhesives for structural bonding is investigated. The study has been focused on the influence of the strain rate on the tensile and compressive strength of specimens made of adhesive. The experimental tests have been performed with an hydraulic universal testing machine and a tension-compression Hopkinson bar. The results of the tests show that the σ−ε curve rises significantly increasing the strain rate. The Cowper-Symonds and Johnson-Cook models of strain rate dependence have been used to fit the experimental data with unsatisfactory results, thus a poly-linear fit has been adopted.


The nucleolus is the site of ribosome synthesis in the nucleus, whose integrity is essential. Epigenetic mechanisms are thought to regulate the activity of the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene copies, which are part of the nucleolus. Here we show that human cells lacking DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1), but not Dnmt33b, have a loss of DNA methylation and an increase in the acetylation level of lysine 16 histone H4 at the rRNA genes. Interestingly, we observed that SirT1, a NAD+-dependent histone deacetylase with a preference for lysine 16 H4, interacts with Dnmt1; and SirT1 recruitment to the rRNA genes is abrogated in Dnmt1 knockout cells. The DNA methylation and chromatin changes at ribosomal DNA observed are associated with a structurally disorganized nucleolus, which is fragmented into small nuclear masses. Prominent nucleolar proteins, such as Fibrillarin and Ki-67, and the rRNA genes are scattered throughout the nucleus in Dnmt1 deficient cells. These findings suggest a role for Dnmt1 as an epigenetic caretaker for the maintenance of nucleolar structure.


The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of school committees in governing Primary school capitation grant in Urambo District. The study was conducted in five primary schools (Urambo, Kapilula, Mabatini, Songambele and Sipungu) in Urambo district using a descriptive design. A sample of 43 respondents was chosen though only 39 respondents turned up. Questionnaires, documentary review and interview guide were used to collect data. The results indicate that rules on capitation disbursement and spending are not clear to some of school committee members and the mechanisms that were supposed to be used by school committees to monitor primary school capitation grant were not effectively used due to lack of training. There were also inadequate measures taken by Local Government to improve school committee effectiveness. So, the study conclude that school committees as decision making organs in capitation governance are still incapable in managing capitation grant in primary schools. This study recommends that there is a need for school committee training and more researches on the topic.


Our work focuses upon development of techniques for choosing among a set of altematives in the presence of incomplete information and varying costs of acquiring information. In our approach, we model the cost and utility of various alternatives using parameterized statistical models. By applying techniques from an area of statistics called parameter estimation, statistical models can be inferred from data regarding the utility and information cost of each of the various alternatives. These statistical models can then be used to estimate the utility and cost of acquiring additional information and the utility of selecting specific alternatives from the possible choices at hand. We apply these techniques to adaptive problem-solving, a technique in which a system automatically tunes various control parameters on a performance element to improve performance in a given domain. We present empirical results comparing the effectiveness of these techniques on speedup learning from a real-world NASA scheduling domain and schedule quality data from the same real-world NASA scheduling domain.


Silicate ceramics with clays are some of the most complicated ceramic systems because of the very complex relationship between the behavior of mineral materials during the ceramic processing and the transformations during heating. A major challenge is to predict the phase transformations in silicate ceramics, since complex relationship occur between the microstructural and structural characteristics of fired product and the physical properties. Clay minerals undergo strong structural transformations during heating, simultaneously to a complex path of thermal transformations. Individual reactions cannot simply identify since they are closely related and overlapped. At temperature above 800°C, new phases are recrystallized and many of the reactions are strongly topotactic. Mullite is the most important phase, which recrystallizes with a range of morphology and stoichiometry. Variables affecting the mullite formation include the clay mineral type and behavior during heating, the possible occurrence of liquid and impurities as Fe. It results in large variations of the stoichiometry and shape of mullite crystals, which are embedded in a low ordered phase to form a micro-composite microstructure. This presentation will review recent research, looking at structural transformations in some typically used phyllosilicate systems : (i) structural transformation of kaolinite and mica phases were identified at temperature up to 1100°C. They evidence a residual structural order of high temperature phases which is favorable to the topotactic recrystallization of mullite; (ii) from the high temperature form of phyllosilicates, an organized network of mullite can be obtained; (iii) the composition of a local and transient liquid and the presence of minor elements as Fe has a significant influence on the mullite morphology; (iv) mechanical properties are closely related to size and organization degree of the mullite network; (v) the process itself influence the kinetic of structural transformation and particularly the powder compact density and the thermal cycle. These research in silicate ceramics evidence multiple and complex challenges, providing opportunities for future development.