ABSTRACT Restorative practice (RP) is a behaviour management method that aims to help students develop conflict resolution and aggression management skills. This study aimed to explore the views of teaching professionals about the adoption of RP, as a whole school approach, over a five year period. Five staff (two females, three males) aged between 30 and 56, who worked within the school pastoral care team participated in individual interviews. A thematic analysis of the data identified four themes: the core of RP, restorative communication, learning opportunity, and the impact in practice. Participants' views about the core components of RP were consistent with those in the literature, with empathic, non-punitive communication being highlighted as essential. RP was seen as offering an important learning opportunity that shaped positive social relationships for both students and teachers, as well as being of benefit to behaviour and academic attainment.


Connecting teeth to osseointegrated implants presents a biomechanical challenge. This is due to the implant being rigidly fixed to the bone and the tooth being attached to the bone with a periodontal ligament. In order to overcome this problem, various connection types such as rigid and nonrigid have been proposed. However, the mechanism of attachment and the perceived problem of the differential support provided by the implant and the tooth have been discussed by many authors, and the ideal connection type is still controversial. The aim of this study was to carry out a review of all available literature addressing the tooth-implant connection and evidence-based understanding of the management of tooth-implant-retained restorations.


Block transmission systems which consist of a precoder transmit-filterbank and a block receiver have been used to combat frequency-selective fading in wireless channels. Several authors have addressed the problem of decision feedback equalizer (DFE) receivers for such systems. We attempt this problem in a general framework and obtain the optimal solution for the minimum mean-square error (MMSE) DFE of finite complexity. We show that several previously derived results are special cases of our general solution.


The potential of social media in helping businesses generate commercial values has attracted significant attention from researchers and practitioners alike in recent years. An important characteristic differentiating social media from traditional media is the central role of user interaction and participation in generating content that makes the platform sustainable and potentially profitable. It has been noted that social media may be particularly apt in promoting the sales of niche products, due to the tendency of consumers to generate reviews and discuss about such products that raise awareness about them. In this study, we build on and extend the extant literature to investigate how patterns of social interaction among the consumers in discussing about a niche product influence the overall level of participation, which in turn enhances consumption intention of the product. Through analyzing data from a social media site that allows consumers to comment on and discuss about books of philosophical genre (a niche product type), we show that the level of user participation can indeed have a significant positive effect on consumption intention. Furthermore, inclusiveness and betweenness centralization structures may enhance the participation level, but out-degree centralization has a detrimental effect. Implications for research and practice are discussed.


One of the important discussions in moral philosophy concerns the origins of morality or, in other words, the foundations, on which morality is based. There have been different theories in this regard that have based morality on natural law or human nature or human need or agreements made between the persons. Some of these theories, such as the agreement theory suffers from fundamental problems and cannot explain many of our moral experiences. Others such as the human nature theory are faced with difficulties, but it seems possible to develop a version of them that can answer to all the objections. The theory developed here has similarities with the human nature and the human need theories, but tries to avoid their problems. In this paper, in addition to the explanation of the nature of morals and the difference between them and customs, origins of morality are studied and the idea that morality is simply based on self-love is criticized. Genuine needs of human beings are emphasized on and their role in the process of decision making is discussed. The paper also studies the way moral concepts such as "good" and "bad" are abstracted from the relation between human nature, voluntary acts and their positive or negative effects upon the agent. 1 What does "Moral" Mean? Customs and morals both regulate and direct our voluntary actions. Failing to comply with them usually causes blame just as conformity to them brings about praise. A very important question arises here: what is the difference between customs and morals? I think customs are socially or culturally approved regulations for bringing some harmony in a society and avoiding confusion or discord, such as the customs about how to dress in a funeral ceremony or the rules of greeting or treating guests.2 In many cases uniformity and consistency are more important than the particular way of conduct decided by the society.3 People might wear white clothes or black ones at a funeral ceremony. What is more important is that there is an established custom to harmonise them.4 What about morals? It is true that morals too regulate our conduct. However, I think morals aim at something more important, that is, to direct us towards some ideals. Unlike customs which are generally social phenomena, morals may be very personal and private, such as the way one should behave in his relation to himself or to God. This is why people are more attached to their morals than to their customs. That is also why commitment to morality requires lots of spiritual efforts and determination because it is usually against one's selfishness and immediate desires. Therefore it is much easier to observe social customs than moral rules. 1.1. When does Morality Start? Morality or moral enquiry starts when one is faced with questions on how to act in respect to himself or others, such as: What should I do in relation to my parents? What should I do in relation to my relatives? What should I do in relation to my friends? What should I do in relation to my neighbour or strangers? What should I do in relation to my society? What should I do in relation to the nature and the environment around me? What should I do in relation to myself: my possessions, time, body, talents, potentialities and so on? Surely there are different ways of establishing these relations and every choice needs some criteria: defining a relevant ideal and defining a practical way to reach that ideal. Without having an understanding of an appropriate ideal in advance one cannot decide what to do. It is only after consideration of one's ideals that one can choose a course of action and be able to justify it for himself and others.5 Everything to be able to motivate an agent to act has to be something that both he has interest in it and is in interest of him (i.e. he gains benefit out of it); otherwise he would not care about it or would go for alternatives. Thus, we do not act if we believe that we will not get anything from our act. Even in nonserious acts such as playing a game or telling a joke or moving our rings in our hands we have certain purposes, to which we are not indifferent. 1.2. Is There Any Conflict between Self-Love and Love for Others? In this way, I think that morality is based on one's natural desire for one's improvement, one's desire to achieve one's ideal/s. This theory of morality can be called "morality of self-love". It has to be noted that this theory is different from egoism. I think to secure one's interests perfectly one needs to satisfy all sorts of genuine desires, including his benevolent desires.6 A person who loves himself not only loves his parents, children, relatives and friends, but also may love all human beings, animals and the nature. Human beings do not enjoy a comfortable life when they see that others are suffering or striving. Their concern for themselves, for their happiness and perfection requires them to be benevolent. This implies that we may have self-interest in what has no immediate effect on us. Thus, all voluntary actions of every agent derive from a basic desire or inclination in himself towards his concerns and interests, including his concerns for others.7 The satisfaction and the spiritual pleasure that one gains through giving one's food is much more than what one gains from eating the food itself. Such a person acts on what he wants, but the object of his want is to help others. He has discovered that benevolence is improving and selfishness is degrading.8 Regardless of what one may come to feel in respect to benevolence and helping others, my general argument in the whole paper is that human genuine desires and interests that shape morality depend on human nature.9 Therefore, they are binding on every human being, since there is a real relation between human nature and those desires and interests and the obligatoriness of moral requirements are derived from such a real relation. For example, every person should take care of his life (and any other innocent life), even if the life is boring or embarrassing for him and he is willing to die or commit suicide. Thus, my view is completely different from those who hold that moral requirements apply only to those people who are willing to adopt them. 1.3. Process of Making a Moral Decision Before making any decision, we have to go through a complicated process that consists of different stages: At first we conceive some action, to say, going to a party. It is impossible to make a decision without conceiving the subject. Then we start to think about that action and its outcomes: its benefits and/or harms. This evaluation helps us to decide whether to go to that party or not. It seems clear that unless we have already made or had an assessment of an action, we will not decide to do it before considering its results. A teleological approach better fits our moral experience. Later we will throw more light on this point. Although people might evaluate actions differently, all of them just do the action that they have overall evaluated positively. Even a criminal who knows that crimes are wrong commits a criminal act only when he takes that act to be good for him in that particular moment and actually better for him than not doing it. The evaluation is sometimes very easy, to the extent that it might not even be noticed. However the required evaluation or assessment sometimes may take a long time, since it might not be easy for the agent to study the action, its possible consequences and the available rules. Failure to come to any conclusion leads to non action. In other words, non-existence of a reason for action serves as a reason not to act, just as non-existence of a cause can be considered as a cause for the non-existence of its effect. I think there is a necessary link between two types of reasoning: "theoretical reasoning'' which is concerned with beliefs and what Aristotle called "practical reasoning" which is related to decision making and is concerned with desire or intention. Practical reasoning is always preceded by some sort of theoretical reasoning. At first the agent finds some reason to believe that in reality a certain act is or is not conducive to his ideal/s. Then having found some reasons to believe that one alternative is better, he will get the motivation to act accordingly . It is only after being motivated that we intend or decide or become determined to perform the given action. Here and during the assessment the role of emotions and desires are very important. Thus, unlike emotivism, this theory does not reduce everything to emotions and, therefore, does not ignore the rational aspect of the process of decision-making. This theory can explain why and how emotions become directed towards one of many alternatives. On the other hand, this theory is different from those rationalist theories which ignore the role of emotions and fail to explain how we follow our rational judgements. For example, according to Kant, reason is the only motivating source. To decide what to do you have just to ask yourself what you have reasons to do. Kant believes that basic moral principles are binding on all rational beings including angels and intelligent Martians. It means that those principles can be known by all rational beings. The subtle point here is that since any acceptance of those principles needs to be motivated to follow them, there must be a source of motivation in reason itself. 10 I think what Kant's argument really requires is that there must be a source of motivation in all rational beings, but it does not imply that the reason itself has to be such a source. Whenever we find some action good, that is, conducive to our ideal/s we get interested in doing it. There are always desires for doing whatever suits us. Usually we are not in need of any decision to create desires in ourselves, otherwise we would be in need of creating another desire for creating the first and again we need a third desire to create the se


As natural gas, and thus N fertilizer, prices increase, farmers are looking for ways to decrease N costs in farming operations. To potentially alleviate this cost burden, alternative synthetic N fertilizers are available as potential management tools for increasing crop yields and N use efficiency, and decreasing volatilization. In North Carolina specifically, little data exists on these new, synthetic N fertilizer products being marketed to farmers. Therefore, we undertook a study to compare them with aqueous urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) [(NH 2 ) 2 CO, NH 4 NO 3 ] during a 2-yr field experiment. Corn (Zea mays L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were grown in the three physiographic regions of North Carolina with four fertilizer sources (NutriSphere [Specialty Fertilizer Products, Leawood, KS], Environmentally Smart Nitrogen Polymer Coated Urea or ESN [Agrium Inc., Alberta, Canada] UCAN-23 [Yara, Tampa, FL], and UAN) at up to six fertilizer rates. The use of the alternative products did not regularly produce more corn or wheat grain compared to UAN, while wheat straw yield was greater with NutriSphere, UCAN, and UAN compared to ESN in three of four site years. Also, an aerobic incubation experiment was performed to evaluated N release profiles of the fertilizers at 25°C. The study found that NutriSphere and UCAN release time was similarly to UAN, while ESN showed a slower release profile. However, any difference in release did not affect yields of spring planted corn, NutriSphere and ESN increased corn stover yields in 3 of 6 site-years. In determining whether to use these alternative N fertilizer products, farmers should consider location, climatic conditions, and fertilizer costs in comparison to UAN.


This article aims to contribute to the understanding of the process of import substitution in Sub-Saharan Africa. The process of industrialization in Sub-Saharan Africa occurred in two phases: a first step, even very early during the colonial regime began around the 1920s and ended in the late forties; a second phase of industrialization began in the late fifties and gained momentum in the sixties, when import substitution was implemented more widely. Although these countries were the last to embark on the strategy of import substitution, they followed the same steps of Latin American countries, and as the structural domestic and external constraints were too strong, the failure of the policy of import substitution arrived early and the negative impact on these economies had a greater magnitude.


Since its inception in 2001, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has created a high stakes accountability climate by setting federal mandates for increasing levels of student achievement in the Kindergarten through twelfth grade (K - 12) public education arena. Consequently, schools and their Local Education Agencies (LEAs) failing to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) guidelines are subject to progressive levels of corrective action. Given this high stakes accountability climate, the role of school leadership takes on an even greater importance. As a result, educational leadership scholars continue to conduct numerous studies on the impact of leadership practices on school success. While these studies have been critical in identifying effective, research-based leadership practices, they have largely ignored the importance of the principal's sense of selfefficacy, which research suggests is fundamental for successfully implementing these practices. Utilizing Bandura's (1977) triadic reciprocal causation model rooted in social cognitive theory, this study explored the relationship between principals' perceptions of their levels of self- efficacy and environmental influences, such as Program Improvement. Within this quantitative study, I hypothesized that federal sanctions under NCLB would have an inverse relationship with a principal's own leadership beliefs. This central hypothesis was tested on a statewide sample of California Title I K - 12 public school principals. Results of statistical analysis indicated there to be a significant difference between the means of efficacy for principals of schools in Program Improvement (M=7.0, SD=1.07, effect size=.025) and those not in Program Improvement (M=7.3, SD=.89, effect size=.025). Two other hypotheses related to Program Improvement and other personal and school-level demographic variables were also tested and yielded significant findings. Furthermore, implications are offered for future research, policy, and practice


Human immunodeficiency virus-related oral lesions (HIV-OLs), such as oral candidiasis (OC) and oral hairy leukoplakia (OHL), have been recognized as indicators of immune suppression since the beginning of the global HIV epidemic. The diagnosis and management of HIV disease and spectrum of opportunistic infection has changed over the past 30 years as our understanding of the infection has evolved. We investigated the following controversial topics: (i) Are oral manifestations of HIV still relevant after the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)? (ii) Can we nowadays still diagnose HIV infection through oral lesions? (iii) Is the actual classification of oral manifestations of HIV adequate or does it need to be reviewed and updated? (iv) Is there any novelty in the treatment of oral manifestations of HIV infection? Results from extensive literature review suggested the following: (i) While HAART has resulted in significant reductions in HIV-OLs, many are still seen in patients with HIV infection, with OC remaining the most common lesion. While the relationship between oral warts and the immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome is less clear, the malignant potential of oral human papillomavirus infection is gaining increasing attention. (ii) Effective antiretroviral therapy has transformed HIV from a fatal illness to a chronic manageable condition and as a result expanded screening policies for HIV are being advocated both in developed and in developing countries. Affordable, reliable, and easy-to-use diagnostic techniques have been recently introduced likely restricting the importance of HIV-OLs in diagnosis. (iii) The 1993 EC-Clearinghouse classification of HIV-OLs is still globally used despite controversy on the relevance of periodontal diseases today. HIV-OL case definitions were updated in 2009 to facilitate the accuracy of HIV-OL diagnoses by non-dental healthcare workers in large-scale epidemiologic studies and clinical trials. (iv) Research over the last 6 years on novel modalities for the treatment of HIV-OLs has been reported for OC and OHL.


Coral reef community structure has remained remarkably stable over a 10 yr period within a small protected marine area despite repeated hurricane impacts. Local community dynamics have been highly variable, however. Sites that were destroyed by disease in the 1970s are showing little or no recovery, while sites less than a kilometre away that were devastated by Hurricane Hugo in 1989 are recovering well. Strong coral recruitment has occurred in shallow, exposed areas that showed the greatest hurricane impacts, and these areas are now more species rich than in 1988, although coral cover has not reached pre-hurricane levels. Coral colony survivorship has been high throughout most of the study area. Partial mortality rates were elevated for several years following Hurricane Hugo, but significant whole coral-head mortality only occurred during periods with hurricane impacts and only at the most exposed sites. Overall, the coral community has proved resilient to closely repeated major hurricane impacts. From a single case study we cannot attribute this resilience to the relatively low level of human impacts, but grazing fish populations have apparently remained high enough to keep macroalgae in check despite the mass mortality of the herbivore Diadema antillarum in the 1980s.


Giant magnetostrictive materials (GMM) can be integrated in actuator or sensor applications. The design of these systems is optimized based on a good knowledge of the material properties and conditions of use. Terfenol-D exhibits the greatest room temperature strain among commercially available GMM, however, its magneto-elastic behavior is very sensitive to pre-stress level. In this work, the design of an experimental setup dedicated to the characterization of GMM magneto-mechanical behavior under constant stress is described. A major difficulty is to master the mechanical boundary conditions while the sample is subjected to dynamic magnetic loading. The dynamic stress experienced by the sample is connected to the magnitude of the magnetostriction strain, the stiffness of the sample and the stiffness of the characterization setup. Results show that an appropriate setup is able to reduce the dynamic stress variations induced by magnetic excitation variations below 0.1 MPa, while this dynamic stress can reach up to 20 times the magnitude of the applied stress when the control system is not used. With the boundary conditions being controlled, magnetic and magnetostrictive behavior of Terfenol-D are characterized under various uniaxial compressive stress levels, from the stress-free conditions to 90 MPa. By comparing the results obtained under controlled and non-controlled stress conditions, it is shown that uncontrolled boundary conditions can be responsible for errors of several percent on the magnetic induction measurement. The measurement of strain is even more sensitive to the boundary conditions, with errors up to 40% and 30% on the longitudinal and transverse strains, respectively. This work highlights the utmost importance to control the boundary conditions in order to characterize the magneto-mechanical behavior of GMM.


Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a gas pollutant that can be measured from space and several operational products are now available from instruments on-board of satellite-based platforms. There are still, however, many unknowns about the accuracy of these products under different viewing and surface conditions since ground-based observations are generally scarce. This is particularly the case of high-altitude sub-tropical megacities such as the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA). In this study, we use more than five years of data from four ground-based MAX-DOAS instruments distributed within the MCMA in order to evaluate the DOMINO product from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on board the Aura satellite. We compare OMI against each MAX-DOAS site independently using the vertical column densities (VCDs) reported by each instrument. The VCDs are also compared after smoothing the MAX-DOAS profiles with the a priori and the Averaging Kernels of the satellite product. We obtain an overall correlation coefficient (R) of 0.6 that does not improve significantly after the smoothing is applied. However, the slopes in the linear regressions for the individual sites improve when applying the smoothing from 0.36 to 0.62 at UNAM, from 0.26 to 0.49 at Acatlán, from 0.78 to 1.23 at Vallejo, and from 0.50 to 0.97 at the Cuautitlán station. The large differences observed between the OMI and MAX-DOAS VCDs are attributed to a reduced sensitivity of the satellite product near the surface and the large aerosol loading typically present within the mixed layer of the MCMA. This may also contribute to a slight overestimation of the VCDs from the MAX-DOAS measurements that presents a total error (random + systematic) of about 20%. As a result of this comparison, we find that OMI retrievals are on average 56% lower than the MAX-DOAS without any correction. The near-surface concentrations are estimated from the lowest layers of the MAX-DOAS retrievals and these compare well with surface measurements from in situ analyzers operated at the co-located air quality monitoring stations. The diurnal variability for each station is analyzed and discussed in relation to their location within the city.


The potential use of sorbents to manage ultrafine ash aerosol emissions from residual oil combustion was investigated using a downfired 82 kW laboratory-scale refractory-lined combustor. The major constituents were vanadium (V), nickel (Ni), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn). The overall ash content of residual oil is very low, resulting in total ash vaporization at 1725 K with appreciable vaporization occurring at temperatures as low as 1400 K. Therefore, the possibility of interactions between ash vapor and sorbent substrates exists. Kaolinite powder was injected at various locations in the combustor. Ash scavenging was determined from particle size distributions (PSDs) measured by a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer. Impactor samples and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses supported these data. Injection of kaolinite sorbent was able to capture up to 60% of all the ash in the residual fuel oil. However, captures of ∼ 30% were more common when sorbent injection occurred downstream of the combustion zone, rather than with the combustion air into the main flame. Without sorbent addition, baseline measurements of the fly ash PSD and chemical composition indicate that under the practical combustion conditions examined here, essentially all of the metals contained in the residual oil form ultrafine particles (∼0.1 μ m diameter). Theoretical calculations showed that coagulation between the oil ash nuclei and the kaolinite sorbent could account for, at most, 17% of the metal capture which was always less than that measured. The data suggest that kaolinite powders reactively capture a portion of the vapor phase metals. Mechanisms and rates still remain to be quantified.


Transparency in government operations is widely regarded as an important precondition for macroeconomic fiscal sustainability, good governance, and overall fiscal rectitude. Notably, the Interim Committee, at its April and September 1996 meetings, stressed the need for greater fiscal transparency. Prompted by these concerns, this paper represents a first attempt to address many of the aspects of transparency in government operations. It provides an overview of major issues in fiscal transparency and examines the IMF's role in promoting transparency in government operations.


T he giant Wilmington oil field of Los Angeles County, California, on production since 1932, has produced more than 2.6 billion barrels of oil from basin turbidite sandstones of the Pliocene and Miocene. To better define the actual hydrologic units, the seven productive zones were subdivided into 52 subzones through detailed reservoir characterization. The asymmetrical anticline is highly faulted, and development pro-ceeded from west to east through each of the 10 fault blocks. In the western fault blocks, water cuts exceed 96%, and the reservoirs are near their economic limit. Several new tech-nologies have been applied to specific areas to improve the production efficiencies and thus prolong the field life. Tertiary and secondary recovery techniques utilizing steam have proved successful in the heavy oil reservoirs, but potential subsidence has limited their application. Case history 1 involves detailed reservoir characterization and optimization of a steamflood in the Tar zone of Fault Block II. Lessons learned were successfully applied in the Tar zone, of Fault Block V (4000 m to the east). Case history 2 focuses on 3-D reservoir property and geologic modeling to define and exploit bypassed oil. Case history 3 describes how this technology is brought deeper into the formation to capture bypassed oil with a tight-radius horizontal well.


Significant evidence has accumulated demonstrating that soil biochar amendment has many environmental benefits; however, adoption has been slow. This raises the question of how to align the environmental benefits with commercial motivations to drive more widespread implementation. Here, we examine the role that government policy can play in accelerating production and use at commercial scale. We identify three types of programs that can support biochar production: commercial financial incentives, nonfinancial policy support, and research and development funding. We also describe how these programs are currently used to support biochar production. For example, financial incentives can motivate immediate changes in business practices while nonfinancial policies can be important mechanisms to educate consumers and expand market demand. Research and development support can provide the necessary funding for early‐stage innovations that may one day become commercially viable options, even without other types of policy support. There are different risk–reward profiles for each policy mechanism, and these must be considered when evaluating a policy direction. Finally, we offer broad recommendations to the development of policy that maximizes the net benefits of biochar adoption. Key recommendations include improving policies that allow for the monetization of environmental benefits and avoided costs, recognizing soil as a resource through national preservation policy, and developing a broadly accepted set of product standards for biochar.


With a large variety and complexity of existing HPC machines and uncertainty regarding exact future Exascale hardware, it is not clear whether existing parallel scientific codes will perform well on future Exascale systems: they can be largely modified or even completely rewritten from scratch. Therefore, now it is important to ensure that software is ready for Exascale computing and will utilize all Exascale resources well. Many parallel programming models try to take into account all possible hardware features and nuances. However, the HPC community does not yet have a precise answer whether, for Exascale computing, there should be a natural evolution of existing models interoperable with each other or it should be a disruptive approach. Here, we focus on the first option, particularly on a practical assessment of how some parallel programming models can coexist with each other. This work describes two API combination scenarios on the example of iPIC3D [26], an implicit Particle-in-Cell code for space weather applications written in C++ and MPI plus OpenMP. The first scenario is to enable multiple OpenMP threads call MPI functions simultaneously, with no restrictions, using an MPI THREAD MULTIPLE thread safety level. The second scenario is to utilize the OpenMP tasking model on top of the first scenario. The paper reports a step-by-step methodology and experience with these API combinations in iPIC3D; provides the scaling tests for these implementations with up to 2048 physical cores; discusses occurred interoperability issues; and provides suggestions to programmers and scientists who may adopt these API combinations in their own codes.


X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is a powerful tool for surface and interface analysis, providing the elemental composition of surfaces and the local chemical environment of adsorbed species. Conventional XPS experiments have been limited to ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions due to a short mean free path of electrons in a gas phase. The recent advances in instrumentation coupled with third-generation synchrotron radiation sources enables in situ XPS measurements at pressures above 5 Torr. In this paper, we describe the basic design of the ambient pressure XPS setup that combines differential pumping with an electrostatic focusing. We present examples of the application of in situ XPS to studies of water adsorption on the surface of metals and oxides including Cu(110), Cu(111), TiO2(110) under environmental conditions of water vapor pressure. On all these surfaces we observe a general trend where hydroxyl groups form first, followed by molecular water adsorption. The importance of surface OH groups and their hydrogen bonding to water molecules in water adsorption on surfaces is discussed in detail.


Ilalutdinov Almaz - Senior Specialist, Department of analyzing and processing case practice at the Arbitrazh Court of the Republic of Tatarstan, postgraduate student of the Institute of Economics, Administration and Law (Kazan). Address: Kreml, korpus 1, Kazan, 420014, Russian Federation. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com article analyzes the essential characteristics and the internal structure of the hypothesis, disposition and sanction as the prerequisites of legal norms. The aim of the research is to implement the idea of structuring the elements of norm according to their primary legal tools and identifying the regulatory function of law. The article is based on the comparative analysis of doctrinal works of many Russian lawyers. A special attention is paid to identifying specific types of legal measures within each element and a three-element model of the norm is substantiated. The author attempts to find out what can be opposed to this element of norm, as a hypothesis - disposition of norm, or can a hypothesis contain conditions to take measures reflected in sanctions. The conclusion is that the essence of a hypothesis is conditions significant for a state, distinguishing the negation of disposition as a hypothesis should be erroneous as the choice between following and breaking rules is possible only in the case of disposition. The author gives a positive answer to the question on the possibility to qualify norms of law as primary legal means. The attention is paid to the variety of approaches to the regulatory function of law. It may be static, dynamic or protective. In particular, obligation, restriction and stimulation or protection may serve as subtypes of regulation. Another question discussed is devoted to the nature and essence of limitation and ban.


Granular cell tumors (GCTs) are benign neoplasms that are most commonly found in the head and neck region. We present a case of endobronchial granular cell tumor presenting as hemoptysis in a 22-year-old African American female. Patient subsequently underwent a right upper and middle lobectomy, and upon histologic analysis was found to have GCT with borders impinging upon cartilage and adjacent peribronchial lymph nodes.


The article focuses on the issue of the incorporation of non-formal types of lifelong learning (LLL) services delivery into the Greek Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). During the past three decades, this issue appears to have received significant attention as a result of relevant policies promoted worldwide and the strong political will demonstrated by the European states. After briefly presenting the consecutive stages of LLL incorporation into HEIs ,  the article will emphasise the incorporation of LLL into the Greek Universities and, especially, non-formal types of learning services delivery. The University has been undergoing a series of constant, rapid and profound transformations, in the last few years, that have, on the one hand, turned it into a vast and multi-dimensional organization and on the other, present it with unprecedented dilemmas and  perils . Among these, one of the most fundamental pertains to the severe impact induced by the adoption of non-formal types of learning by the University, which may act in a corrosive and/or rejuvenating and modernising way on what we are used to calling the University.


This paper proposes an ontology learning system model based on the Web search engine and Protege-OWL API, which emphasizes iterative learning approach by the extracted instances. We discuss taxonomic and non-taxonomic relationship learning separately in ontology learning system, and investigate the importance of verb plus noun phrase learning for extraction of activity concepts in Chinese. We also propose an algorithm of relevance measurement for extracting relation instances by binary keywords based on co-occurrence statistics. Finally, we build a practical system of ontology learning through learning relation instances of the Chinese festival ontology, and test the effectiveness of our method.


Background
Oral switch to linezolid is a promising alternative to standard parenteral therapy (SPT) in Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB).

Methods
We conducted a prospective cohort study of all adult cases of SAB between 2013 and 2017 in a Spanish University Hospital. We compared the efficacy, safety, and length of hospital stay of patients receiving SPT and those where SPT was switched to oral linezolid from day 3 to 9 of treatment until completion. We excluded complicated SAB and osteoarticular infections. A k-nearest neighbor algorithm was used for propensity score matching with a 2:1 ratio.

Results
After propensity score matching we included 45 patients of the linezolid group and 90 patients of the SPT group. Leading SAB-sources were catheter-related (49.6%), unknown origin (20.0%), and skin and soft tissue (17.0%). Patients in the linezolid group had less chronic renal disease (4.4% vs 22.2%). We observed no difference in 90-day relapse between the linezolid group and the SPT group (2.2% vs 4.4% respectively; P=0.87). No statistically significant difference was observed in 30-day all-cause mortality between the linezolid group and the SPT group (2.2% vs 13.3%; P=0.08). The median length of hospital stay after onset was 8 days in the linezolid group and 19 days in the SPT group (P<0.01). No drug-related events leading to discontinuation were noted in the linezolid group.

Conclusions
Treatment of SAB in selected low-risk patients with an oral switch to linezolid from day 3 to 9 of treatment until completion yielded similar clinical outcomes as SPT, allowing earlier discharge from the hospital.


The image has a fundamental role in the construction of social reality. Three major functions can be traced. First of all, there is an alethic function. The image serves to prove the existence of something. It is the function, for example, of the photo on the passport, or the identification drawings of institutional entities such as banknotes, or even religious symbols to ascertain the belonging of individuals or associations to a religious creed. Then there is a deontic function. The images express principles, rules, commands that sometimes language could not otherwise formulate. There are a lot of cases: road signs, land use plans, comic contracts, creative commons licenses, cadastral maps, border maps. In short, it is the world of visual rules discussed in this special issue of TCRS. Finally, the image has an axiotic function. In the Policraticus (1159) John of Salisbury embodies the image of aequitas in the "princeps iudex". The image does not simply aim to describe sovereign power, but to ideally represent justice to be celebrated and imitated. Imago aequitatis. It is, among other things, the extraordinary value of art. In these introductory pages, the poignant photo of Moro in the so-called "prison of people" (the photo was delivered on 19 March 1978 with the first terrorist communique) demonstrates it alongside the work Qui ne se grime pas? (1923) by Georges Rouault. The image here does not describe or order anything, but separates good from evil. Miserere mei, Domine!
Parole-chiave: Image; Social Reality; Rules; Justice; Function


Atomistic simulations using interatomic potentials are widely used for analyzing phenomena as diverse as crystal growth and plastic deformation in all classes of materials. The potentials for some material classes, particularly those for metal oxides, are less satisfactory for certain simulations. Many of the potentials currently utilized for metal oxides incorporate a fixed charge ionic component to the interatomic binding. However, these fixed charge potentials incorrectly predict the cohesive energy of ionic materials, and they cannot be used to simulate oxidation at metal surfaces or analyze metal/oxide interfaces where the local ion charge can be significantly different from that in the bulk oxide. A recent charge transfer model proposed by Streitz and Mintmire has in part successfully addressed these issues. However, we find that this charge transfer model becomes unstable at small atomic spacings. As a result, it cannot be used for the studies of energetic processes such as ion bombardment (e.g., plasma-assisted vapor deposition) where some ions closely approach the others. Additionally, the Streitz-Mintmire charge transfer model cannot be applied to systems involving more than one metal element, precluding study of the oxidation of metal alloys and dissimilar metal oxide/metal oxide interfaces. We have analyzed the origin of these limitations and propose a modified charge transfer model to overcome them. We then unify metal alloy embedded atom method potentials and the modified form of the charge transfer potential to create a general potential that can be used to explore the oxidation of the metallic alloy and the energetic vapor deposition of oxides, and to probe the structure of dissimilar metal oxide/metal oxide or metal alloy/oxide multilayers. Numerical procedures have been developed to efficiently incorporate the potential in molecular dynamics simulations. Several case studies are presented to enable the potential fidelity to be assessed, and an example simulation of the vapor deposition of aluminum oxide is shown to illustrate the potential utility.


The assessment of post-operative spine using computed tomography (CT) imaging is so challenging in the presence of metal artifacts induced by spinal implants. Metal artifacts can severely affect the quality o f CT images, and mislead the diagnosis interpretation. The artifacts are due to the beam hardening, photon starvation effect, and inappropriate correction algorithm during image reconstruction. Knowledge on factors affecting the artifacts is crucially important to minimize these artifacts. The main aim o f this study is to develop a novel technique for suppression of metal artifacts and this study generally consists three main parts. The first part is the development of a simple phantom useful for metal streaking analysis performed in the second part o f this work. A customized phantom was constructed with tissueequivalent materials and various metal inserts to simulate the streaking artifacts similar to the clinical findings in post-operative spine imaging. In this work, a thorough study on factors influencing the magnitude o f metal streak artifacts is presented. There are 3 different variables studied which were metal insert characteristics, exposure factors, and reconstruction parameters. The phantom was scanned using Siemens Definition AS+ CT scanner in Radiology Department, HUSM. All phantom images were acquired using standard field of view (FOV) of 230mm with various acquisition and reconstruction protocols depending on the parameters studied. Standardized regions of interest (ROIs) were defined within the streaking region to obtain 1625 attenuation measurements in Hounsfield units (HU). All data are displayed as mean ± standard deviation (SD). The severity of metal streak in each image was determined by CT fluctuation, and noise at each ROI. Results show similar degrees o f streaking artifacts noted in phantom images compared with the clinical CT outcomes. From artifacts analysis, it is found that smaller size and low density metal implants produce less severe artifacts. The result shows increased kVp and mAs has reduced streak artifacts with reduction in image noise and enhanced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) values. A sharper kernel reduces metal streaks, but produces significantly higher noise (P <0.05) in the images as compared to smooth kernel. Thicker slice also reduced metal artifacts and noise in image. The last part is the development of a metal artifact correction (MAC) algorithm and evaluation o f the proposed algorithm in artifacts reduction in CT images. The MAC algorithm was developed in MATLAB environment and was applied on virtual sinogram which directly computed through forward projection o f CT images. The missing projection data due to metal region is detected and extracted using an improved technique of dual-step adaptive thresholding. Then, the missing data are replaced by interpolated values by using the spline cubic interpolation. The interpolated and metal-only images were reconstructed and fused together to obtain the final corrected images. The corrected and non corrected phantom images were compared to evaluate the performance of the proposed MAC. It is shown that the streaking region close to metal inserts was reduced after applying the MAC algorithm. The result also shows significant reduction in image noise, and SNR is enhanced in corrected images. As a conclusion, the fabricated phantom is useful for metal streak analysis with a broad range of parameters can be studied and cost effective. It is concluded that the proposed algorithm allows significant reduction o f the streaking artifacts in both phantom and clinical CT images.


In his System des transzendentalen Idealismus, Schelling describes the philosophy of art as the "key stone" of the entire "arch" of the system.(1) The purpose of the following essay is to explore why this is so, why Schelling's idea of philosophy led him to take up the question of "art" not only as philosophically interesting, but as the key to understanding his system as a whole. That this is an issue in understanding Schelling's System des transzendentalen Idealismus is obvious--in several passages he clearly states that the relation between transcendental reflection and the philosophy of art is decisive. Transcendental philosophy can reach its ultimate goal only when it is in a position to understand the essence of art. Yet what philosophy is actually looking for in art, and what it finds there, is not altogether clear. What does it mean that philosophy, within its own movement of self realization, seeks out something like art, finds it and makes it its own? In order to answer this question it is necessary to engage in methodological considerations having to do with system building, something already suggested by the architectonic metaphor of "Gewolbe"--that is, considerations of how theoretical and practical philosophy are to be presented as an organic, thus systematic whole. We will leave aside the question of the extent to which in the end such an organic whole is achieved, and instead focus on the philosophical mode as such, the activity of constructing the system. In this way our guiding question will be the origin of transcendental philosophy according to Schelling. This, I believe, is where the key lies in understanding the relation between the philosophy of art and the system as a whole. The basic thesis runs thus: the reason why the philosophy of art is so important has to do with the mode of reflection that establishes transcendental idealism as a project of thinking. Specifically, the activity of transcendental reflection is comparable to the production of a work of art; thus the task posed by a reflection on "art" is not only that of understanding the aesthetic world, but of understanding philosophy itself. I The "Inner City" and the "I." However important the role of art may be in the System des transzendentalen Idealismus, the same is not the case when we turn to Schelling's so-called "identity philosophy," first formulated in 1801. Though the philosophy of art is by no means rejected, it no longer has the decisive significance it had in 1800. This in no way implies, however, that the philosophy of identity has nothing to tell us about the role of art in the 1800 system. The opposite is rather the case, and as illustrative let us cite two passages that express succinctly two themes essential in the interpretation of the System des transzendentalen Idealismus. The first passage is found in the lectures Schelling held in 1803 under the title Vorlesungen uber die Methode des akademischen Studiums. It appears near the beginning of the fourteenth lecture, which deals with the place of the "sciences of art" in a philosophically grounded curriculum.(2) Right away Schelling confronts what in the philosophical tradition would appear to be the most virulent objection against the inclusion of the study of art in education: Plato's banishment of the poem from the ideal city in the Republic. What can art teach us--so Plato--when it itself, as we philosophers well know, proffers only a false account of the truth? "It is essential," Schelling replies, "to recognize the particular standpoint from which Plato passes this judgment against the poets," namely that Plato is speaking from the standpoint of the "historical, not the philosophical, opposition" between poetry and philosophy. Historically, the poet as educator is the proponent of a "poetical realism," and this is what Plato reacts against: poetics as realism, or the claim that "truth" is itself something sensible, a part of the sensible world. …


RASSF1C is a major isoform of the RASSF1 gene, and is emerging as an oncogene. This is in contradistinction to the RASSF1A isoform, which is an established tumor suppressor. We have previously shown that RASSF1C promotes lung cancer cell proliferation and have identified RASSF1C target genes with growth promoting functions. Here, we further report that RASSF1C promotes lung cancer cell migration and enhances lung cancer cell tumor sphere formation. We also show that RASSF1C over-expression reduces the inhibitory effects of the anti-cancer agent, betulinic acid (BA), on lung cancer cell proliferation. In previous work, we demonstrated that RASSF1C up-regulates piwil1 gene expression, which is a stem cell self-renewal gene that is over-expressed in several human cancers, including lung cancer. Here, we report on the effects of BA on piwil1 gene expression. Cells treated with BA show decreased piwil1 expression. Also, interaction of IGFBP-5 with RASSF1C appears to prevent RASSF1C from up-regulating PIWIL1 protein levels. These findings suggest that IGFBP-5 may be a negative modulator of RASSF1C/ PIWIL1 growth-promoting activities. In addition, we found that inhibition of the ATM-AMPK pathway up-regulates RASSF1C gene expression.


Risk-taking is sometimes admired and sometimes disparaged. In this research, we examine previously unexplored questions concerning how membership in social groups is related to expectations and perceptions of risk-taking. We propose that prototypes of risk-takers incorporate racial associations. We conducted five studies (NTotal = 1,603, predominantly White residents of the United States) examining whether prototypes of risk-takers—primarily reckless and responsible ones—activate racial stereotypes and discrimination. We first focused on whether participants perceive Black (vs. White) men as more likely to engage in risk-taking, broadly construed (Study 1). Next, we tested whether the trait attributions (Studies 2 and 3) and mental images constructed with the reverse correlation task (Study 3) of reckless risk-takers are more stereotypically Black (and less White) than responsible risk-takers. In Study 4, we employed an investment game to investigate participants' willingness to trust targets we depicted using the racialized mental images of reckless and responsible risk-takers derived from Study 3. A final study examined whether thinking about reckless risk-takers evokes Black stereotypes broadly, including even positive stereotype content. Findings confirmed that reckless risk-takers were imagined as more phenotypically Black and as having more stereotypically Black traits (both positive and negative), compared with responsible risk-takers. Theoretical and practical implications for this novel stereotype content in the domain of risk are discussed.


LBA5 Background: Relapse after surgery for high-risk clear cell RCC (ccRCC) is associated with shortened life expectancy. Effective perioperative therapy to reduce this risk remains an unmet need. Adjuvant immune therapy is an attractive potential strategy for these pts. We conducted the KEYNOTE-564 trial to evaluate pembro vs placebo as adjuvant therapy for pts with RCC. Methods: KEYNOTE-564 is a phase III multicenter trial of pembro vs placebo in pts with histologically confirmed ccRCC, with intermediate-high risk (pT2, Gr 4 or sarcomatoid, N0 M0; or pT3, any Gr, N0 M0), high risk (pT4, any Gr, N0 M0; or pT any stage, any Gr, N+ M0), or M1 NED (no evidence of disease after primary tumor + soft tissue metastases completely resected ≤1 year from nephrectomy) (Leibovich et al, 2003; Fuhrman et al, 1982). Pts had undergone surgery ≤12 wks prior to randomization; had no prior systemic therapy; had ECOG PS 0 or 1. Study treatment was given for up to 17 cycles (≈1 yr). The primary endpoint was disease-free survival (DFS) per investigator assessment in all randomized pts (ITT population). Overall survival (OS) was a key secondary endpoint. Safety/tolerability were secondary endpoints, assessed in all treated pts. Results: Between Jun 30, 2017 and Sept 20, 2019, 994 pts were randomized 1:1 to pembro (n=496) or placebo (n=498). As of data cutoff date of Dec 14, 2020, median (range) follow-up, defined as time from randomization to data cutoff, was 24.1 (14.9−41.5) mo. No pts remain on study treatment. Baseline characteristics were generally balanced between arms. At first prespecified interim analysis, the primary endpoint of DFS was met (median not reached [NR] for both arms, HR 0.68, 95% CI 0.53−0.87; P=0.0010 [one-sided]). The estimated DFS rate at 24 mo was 77.3% with pembro vs 68.1% with placebo. Overall, DFS benefit was consistent across subgroups. A total of 51 OS events were observed (18 in the pembro arm, 33 in the placebo arm). Median OS was NR for both arms (HR 0.54, 95% CI 0.30−0.96; P=0.0164 [one-sided]); the p-value did not cross the statistical hypothesis testing boundary. The estimated OS rate at 24 mo was 96.6% with pembro vs 93.5% with placebo. 470 pts (96.3%) and 452 pts (91.1%) experienced ≥1 all-cause adverse events (AEs) with pembro vs placebo, respectively. Grade 3-5 all-cause AEs occurred in 158 pts (32.4%) with pembro and 88 pts (17.7%) with placebo. No deaths related to pembro occurred. Conclusions: Pembro demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in DFS vs placebo in pts with intermediate-high, high risk or M1 NED RCC. Additional follow-up is planned for the key secondary endpoint of OS. KEYNOTE-564 is the first positive phase III study with a checkpoint inhibitor in adjuvant RCC, and these results support pembro as a potential new standard of care for pts with RCC in the adjuvant setting. Clinical trial information: NCT03142334.


Accurate disease diagnosis and precise identification of any pathogens involved is an essential prerequisite for understanding plant diseases and controlling them effectively. Traditional methods of identifying plant pathogens can be slow and inconclusive, and this has prompted the search for alternative diagnostic techniques. Here, we review recent developments in antibody-based and nucleic acid-based diagnostic methods, and their applications in plant pathology. We also highlight some new developments in diagnostics that are likely to make an impact in the future.


PAPR is the major drawback of OFDM technique which is under consideration of LTE development. There are different techniques which are developed to reduce the PAPR in OFDM system. The different techniques include signal distortion techniques, signal scrambling techniques and signal coding techniques. This proposed work is under consideration of signal distortion technique. This proposed work is having hardware implementation very less but it produces in-bad and out-of band distortions. To overcome this drawback of in-band and out-of-band distortions we developed this work which is used to get cancelling pulses as well as to get the envelope threshold with peak cancellation is applied. To get its validity and limitations we applied peak cancellation to band limited OFDM signal. We developed level crossing rate to get achievable SDR (signal to distortion ratio).Again to check performance we applied different parameters such as ACLR (adjacent channel leakage ratio ),EVM(error vector magnitude) and SER( symbol error rate) which are applied to additive white Gaussian noise channel(AWGN).Proposed work is compared with state of art existing techniques to get the performance study of proposed work.  Finally, with the help of simulation results in MATLAB we can prove that proposed work outperforms compared to existing techniques.


Testing practices within the machine learning (ML) community have centered around assessing a learned model's predictive performance measured against a test dataset, often drawn from the same distribution as the training dataset. While recent work on robustness and fairness testing within the ML community has pointed to the importance of testing against distributional shifts, these efforts also focus on estimating the likelihood of the model making an error against a reference dataset/distribution. We argue that this view of testing actively discourages researchers and developers from looking into other sources of robustness failures, for instance corner cases which may have severe undesirable impacts. We draw parallels with decades of work within software engineering testing focused on assessing a software system against various stress conditions, including corner cases, as opposed to solely focusing on average-case behaviour. Finally, we put forth a set of recommendations to broaden the view of machine learning testing to a rigorous practice.


We present a recurrent canonical piecewise linear (RCPL) network based on canonical piecewise-linear (CPL) function and autoregressive moving average model, and apply it to adaptive channel equalization. It is shown that a recurrent neural network with piecewise linear activation function realizes an RCPL network. RCPL network has several advantages. First, it can make use of standard linear adaptive filtering techniques to perform training tasks. Second, it allows for efficient selection of the partition boundaries and the corresponding RCPL of appropriate complexity using CPL techniques. Third, being a generalized IIR filter, RCPL equalizer has a distinct dynamic behavior which is much more powerful than that attained by the use of finite duration impulse response feedforward structures. Overall, it is computationally efficient and conceptually simple. As an application, the learning algorithm for a simple RCPL network is derived and applied to multilevel equalization. The numerical experiments demonstrate the superior performance of RCPL network for adaptive equalization.


Aims: This study was to investigate the difference of osteogenic capacity between BMSC and ASC by quantifying the expression of Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP)-2 and BMP receptor (BMPR) II also the bone healing process by histomorphometry measurement. Study Design: This study was experimental study on animal (Sprague Dawley Rat). Duration Study: study also Methodology: Eighteen Sprague dawley (SD) healthy rats were induced with 5 mm femoral bone defect, then divided into three equal groups (n=6) consist of Control, Implementation of 2x10 6 BMSC + 5 cc Hydroxypatite (HA), and Implementation of 2x10 6 ASC + 5cc HA. They were sacrificed after 2 weeks, then underwent histomorphometry assessment with Image-J. The measured paramater were total area of callus, % of osseous area, % of cartilage area, and % of fibrous area. The immunohistochemistry (IHC) measurement was assessed by staining intensity and immunoreactivity score (IRS). Results: The BMSC group showed higher expression of BMPR II compare to others. The expression of BMPR II was analyzed statistically and showed significant result ( P = .04) among groups with median 4.00 ± 2.75. Both BMSC and ASC group have significantly better bone healing process compared with control group ( P = .001). There are no significant differences between ASC and BMSC measured in % total callus area ( P = 1.00), %Osseous area ( P = 1.00), %Cartilage area ( P = .49) and %Fibrous area ( P = .18). Conclusion: ASC bone healing ability are similar to BMSC. BMP-2 and BMPR II are important but not sole contributing factor for bone healing.


This paper examines the progress and outcomes of state-owned enterprise (SOE) reforms under international economic integration in Vietnam. While the literature has focused primarily on strategic SOEs that have been largely treated as exceptions under international commitments or domestic reforms, the paper focuses on the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), a major SOE group in the textile and garment (T&G) industry in which the impact of international economic integration was expected to be substantial. The main findings are as follows. First, unlike large-scale SOEs in strategic sectors that receive the most attention in the literature, the transformation of Vinatex in terms of ownership, organization, policy roles, and relationship with the state, albeit incomplete, has made significant progress. Second, nevertheless, there are indications that Vinatex's relationship with the state and its non-commercial roles may continue in subtle and indirect forms. Third, with the entry and growth of foreign-invested and domestic private enterprises, both SOEs and Vinatex have lost shares in the T&G industry. However, some Vinatex members stay among the country's top garment exporters, successfully competing with their foreign-invested rivals. These findings suggest the recent realities of Vietnamese SOEs that are increasingly hybrid, similar to those in many other countries.


The 2010 Annual General Meeting and Scientific Meeting of the Hong Kong Society for Immunology (HKSI), Hong Kong, 17 April 2010.


R we have added to the editorial board several new Associate Editors to a) fi ll gaps left by Associate Editors whose terms expired, b) strengthen expertise in areas where we are now receiving a large number of papers, and c) add editorial board members from countries that are not well represented. It is my pleasure to introduce these new Associate Editors: Amotz Bar-Noy, Mun Choon Chan, Tamer ElBatt, Dennis Goeckel, Marco Gruteser, Yunhao Liu, Petri Mahonen, and Cormac Sreenan. Together, these Associate Editors bring expertise in areas such as localization, cognitive networks, security, experimental systems, theoretical foundations, and mobile networks. Furthermore, these new members represent many different countries—Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States—thus tremendously enhancing the geographical diversity. I would like to thank them for agreeing to serve on the editorial board. Their biographies are included below. Additionally, I would like to thank several Associate Editors whose terms ended or who stepped down for personal reasons in recent months. These include Tarek Abdelzaher, Marco Conti, Mark Corner, Ravi Prakash, Krithi Ramamritham, Ram Ramanathan, Jie Wu, and Wei Ye. These AEs brought unique expertise to the journal, which we will miss. I would like to express my appreciation for their dedicated service in recent years. I would like to thank our readers and authors for their continued support of TMC, and also the members of the Editorial Board, the Steering Committee, and the Computer Society staff for their help in making this journal succeed. TMC continues to be the most desirable and cited journal in mobile and wireless computing and networking, and this would not be possible without all this support. Please feel free to send me your feedback and suggestions about the journal and its direction. I look forward to hearing from you.


This theoretical paper suggests that in addition to the recent work indicating that crowding (or feelings of isolation) is a subjective phenomenon, an adequate definition of density must also include a subjective component since density is a complex phenomenon in itself. In dealing with density, one needs to distinguish between physical density (e.g., people per unit area) and perceived density which, when matched against certain norms, leads to affective density, one aspect of which is crowding. A list of cues is proposed which may determine whether environments are &dquo;read&dquo; as dense, and a number of consequences of this approach are traced. The role of defenses available to control and modulate density (seen in terms of interaction and information processing) and the cultural variability of


Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of Internet and e-commerce technologies in the tourism industry. The tourism industry is one of the most important that contribute to Thailand's economic growth. The Thai government has promoted e-strategies in the tourism industry for economic reform. Although the government has encouraged the use of Internet technology for effective communication and collaboration across a broad range of tourism related activities, it has not yet been widely accepted. This study examines the roles of culture in the Thai business community, and how its underlying assumptions affect the adoption of technology in the Thai tourism industry. The findings are presented in two main parts: visions and currents issues from the Thai government and the actual technology adoption issues faced by practitioners.


The existence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the water environment is an emerging problem. In this study, we investigated the toxicity of eleven PPCPs through bioassays on bacteria, algae, crustaceans, amphibians and protozoa, and compared the toxicology indexes with the concentration of PPCPs in river water for ecotoxiclogical risk evaluation. Toxicity of the eleven PPCPs was observed and the values of EC50 or LC50 were in the order of mg/L. A distinctive finding is that antibacterial triclosan affected all aquatic lives tested. The effects of PPCPs varied according to species of lives. Contamination from PPCPs was detected at observation stations on the river, and the range of concentration was in the order of ng/L far lower than the values of toxicity indexes EC50 or LC50. Ecotoxicological risks posed by PPCPs at the observation stations was evaluated using the concentration in the river water and the NOEC examined by AGI tests. The results revealed that three PPCPs, triclosan, clarithromycin, and azithromycin, posed an ecotoxiclogical risk in rivers where wastewater treatment systems are not yet well developed.


BitTorrent has emerged as a very popular peer-to- peer file sharing system, which uses an embedded set of incentive mechanisms to encourage contribution and prevent free-riding. However, the capability BitTorrent has of preventing free-riding needs further study. In this paper, we present a fluid model with two different classes of peers to capture the effect of free-riding on BitTorrent-like systems. With the model, we find that BitTorrent's incentive mechanism is successful in preventing free-riding in a system without seeds, but may not succeed in producing a disincentive for free-riding in a system with a high number of seeds. The reason for this is that BitTorrent does not employ an effective mechanisms for seeds to effectively guard against free-riding. Therefore, we propose a seed bandwidth allocation strategy for the BitTorrent system to reduce the effect of seeds on free-riding. Finally, simulation results are given, which validate what we have found in our analysis and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.


Edge computing and Federated Learning (FL) can work in tandem to address issues related to privacy and collaborative distributed learning in untrusted IoT environments. However, deployment of FL in resource-constrained IoT devices faces challenges including asynchronous participation of such devices in training, and the need to prevent malicious devices from participating. To address these challenges we present CoLearn, which build on the open-source Manufacturer Usage Description (MUD) implementation osMUD and the FL framework PySyft. We deploy CoLearn on resource-constrained devices in a lab environment to demonstrate (i) an asynchronous participation mechanism for IoT devices in machine learning model training using a publish/subscribe architecture, (ii) a mechanism for reducing the attack surface in FL architecture by allowing only IoT MUD-compliant devices to participate in the training phases, and (iii) a trade-off between communication bandwidth usage, training time and device temperature (thermal fatigue).


Fault zones and fault-related fracture systems control the mechanical behaviors and fluid-flow properties of the Earth's crust. Furthermore, nowadays, modeling is being increasingly used in order to understand the behavior of rock masses, and to determine their characteristics. In this work, fault zones and fracture patterns are reviewed, and also comprehensive studies are carried out on the fracture geometry and density variations. A model to describe damage zones around the strike-slip faults is developed, in which the range of damage zone styles commonly found around strike-slip fault zones are shown. A computer code, named DFN- FRAC 3D , is developed for the two- and three-dimensional stochastic modeling of rock fracture systems in fault zones. In this code, the pre-existing and fault-related fractures are modeled by their respective probability distributions, and the joint density may be varied by the distance from the fault core. This work describes the theoretical basis and the implementation of the code, and provides a case study in the rock fracture modeling to demonstrate the application of the prepared code.


The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) has previously published transplant-specific guidelines with reference to COVID-19.([1]) The mortality is higher in dialysis patients with COVID-19 (12%-30%) than posttransplant COVID-19 patients (11.3%) and both are higher than the general population (<2%) in India.([2-5]) With the resumption of the kidney transplant program in various parts of India, new issues are expected to occur. There is uncertainty, regarding the safety of performing kidney,([ 6-8]) liver,([9-12]) and lunge([13]) transplantation in a recipient recently recovered from COVID-19. At present, we have limited evidence-based information about safety and feasibility of kidney transplantation from living donors, who have recovered from COVID-19.([4]) Recently, Indian Multi-center cohort studies have reported successful kidney transplantation in recipients from living donors with a previous diagnosis of COVID-19.([15, 16])


In this project, the design of an electromyography equipment for home use is proposed to obtain a bio-feedback of the correct performance of Kegel exercises, motivated by clinical investigations carried out on male patients with premature ejaculation. These investigations show an increase in the ejaculatory latency time as a result of performing these exercises. Finally, a portable and use-friendly prototype was manufactured, which sends the myoelectric signal detected in the pubococcygeus muscles wirelessly to receiving devices. These latter devices are simply responsible for showing this signal in a graphic or image easily understandable to the patient.


Could there be a relation between cardiovascular events and environmental stress in the form of sporting events, making winning or losing a life or death issue?

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a serious health problem which causes substantial morbidity and mortality. The seriousness of coronary artery disease is heightened by the fact that approximately a third of patients present with sudden death as their first manifestation,1 and efforts to prevent infarctions before they occur have fuelled an area of research which investigates inciting events, or "triggers", of MI, arrhythmias, and sudden death. The idea that an MI can be incited by an identifiable event is an old one, but research into cardiovascular triggers has only recently begun to elucidate specific culprits. Triggering research continues to evolve in concert with our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in MI, with the eventual hope of developing effective preventive strategies.

The circadian rhythm in the incidence of cardiac events was one of the first triggering patterns to be discovered; peak frequencies of MI and sudden cardiac death were observed in the morning hours after waking.2,3 Routine activities of daily life such as physical exertion and smoking,4 as well as a variety of negative emotions such as anger, tension, and sadness,5 were found to induce myocardial ischaemia. Sexual activity doubles the risk of MI, but because of a low absolute baseline risk and infrequent risk exposure, the proportion of MIs actually triggered by sexual activity is low at about 1%.6 Investigations into triggering have also extended into disasters, both man-made and natural. Studies have found an increased frequency of sudden cardiac death and MI in relation to catastrophes such as an earthquake7 or war,8 suggesting that psychological and emotional stress brought on by such disasters can trigger …


This work examines the link between descriptive representation and substantive representation: do female legislators, in sharing a common gender identity, promote public policies that improve women's rights and citizens' wellbeing? Mexico and Argentina are ideal case studies. Both countries have gender quota laws, compelling political parties to nominate thirty percent women to closed candidate lists. The countries vary, however, on the proportions of female legislators elected and on institutional support for gender policy. Mexico under- fills its quota, but formalizes women's representation through a Bicameral Commission on Equity and Gender. Argentina, by contrast, over-fills its quota, but lacks those institutional mechanisms that legitimate the development of gender policy. I use quantitative and qualitative data to compare female legislators' and male legislators' interventions throughout the policy process. This data includes an original dataset of bill introduction and bill passage, debate transcripts and policy proposals, over 50 interviews with male and female legislators in both countries, and case studies of successful reforms. I consider constituent demands, as expressed through public opinion, and whether these demands link to legislators' agenda setting initiatives. Next, I determine the frequency of bill introduction across policy areas, and compare this statistic to the frequency of legislative success. Finally, I analyze the implementation of successful policies, to evaluate whether or not material benefits reach female constituents. This dissertation is located at the intersection of the comparative politics literature on legislatures and policymaking, on the one hand, and women and politics, on the other. I find that female legislators, more than male legislators, advocate for policies dealing with health, minority rights, and women's rights; I further find that the vast majority of female legislators adopt progressive positions on women's roles and opportunities. Most importantly, I conclude that legislative institutions and practices--namely gender commissions and women's caucuses- -contribute significantly to whether or not the substantive representation of women unfolds


We have identified a member of the VEGF family by computer-based homology searching and have designated it VEGF-D. VEGF-D is most closely related to VEGF-C by virtue of the presence of N- and C-terminal extensions that are not found in other VEGF family members. In adult human tissues, VEGF-D mRNA is most abundant in heart, lung, skeletal muscle, colon, and small intestine. Analyses of VEGF-D receptor specificity revealed that VEGF-D is a ligand for both VEGF receptors (VEGFRs) VEGFR-2 (Flk1) and VEGFR-3 (Flt4) and can activate these receptors. However. VEGF-D does not bind to VEGFR-1. Expression of a truncated derivative of VEGF-D demonstrated that the receptor-binding capacities reside in the portion of the molecule that is most closely related in primary structure to other VEGF family members and that corresponds to the mature form of VEGF-C. In addition, VEGF-D is a mitogen for endothelial cells. The structural and functional similarities between VEGF-D and VEGF-C define a subfamily of the VEGFs.


We propose a new way to measure the extent to which countries compete in their exports. We augment the similarity index proposed by Finger and Kreinin (1979) with product quality. Quality is measured using unit export prices in the tradition of the horizontal/vertical intra-industry trade literature. We analyse the EU27 countries' export structures using 1) overall similarity à la Finger and Kreinin, 2) same-quality similarity, and 3) quality-adjusted similarity that combines the first two measures. We find that the similarity of the export structures of the new member countries and the cohesion countries visà-vis the non-cohesion EU15 countries has increased, but that there remains a divide between them especially in terms of same-quality exports.


We propose a new Iteratively Reweighted Least Squares (IRLS) algorithm for the problem of completing a low-rank matrix that is linearly structured, e.g., that possesses a Hankel, Toeplitz or block-Hankel/Toeplitz structures, which is of relevance for the harmonic retrieval or super-resolution problem. The algorithm optimizes a non-convex surrogate of the rank by minimizing well-chosen quadratic upper bounds of the smoothed surrogate.We establish a quadratic local convergence rate of the developed IRLS strategy if the linear structure is Hankel, with high probability if the provided entries of the matrix are sampled uniformly at random, and if the matrix to be completed fulfills a suitable coherence condition. Our strategy combines computational efficiency, as the dimensionality of its optimization variables scales sub-linearly in the matrix dimensions, with a favorable data efficiency, as it can be observed in experiments on hard completion tasks.In particular, our experiments show that the proposed algorithm exhibits an empirical recovery probability close to one from fewer samples than existing state-of-the-art approaches for the Hankel matrix completion task arising from the problem of spectral super-resolution of frequencies with small separation.


The Supreme Court of Canada has become increasingly involved in determining which of the laws that the Canadian Parliament has passed are constitutional. The authority or standard by which they judge Canadian law is The Constitution Act, 1982 (containing the Charter of Rights and Freedoms). If a particular law is deemed contrary to the guarantees of The Constitution, then the Supreme Court nullifies that law. If a particular law is considered to uphold the guarantees of The Constitution, then the Supreme Court upholds that law. All the laws of Canada are interpreted through the authority of The Constitution Act, 1982.
The use of written materials as an authority or standard by which we judge other writings or even behaviors is a common feature in our world today. Christians, for millennia, have operated in a similar vein. Christians use the Bible as the authority for living an obedient and faithful life. In particular, Reformed Christians have historically been known as "people of the Book." The formula of Declaration for Ministers of Word and Sacrament read by all Reformed Church in America candidates during their ordinations or installation services declares, "I accept the Scriptures as the only rule of faith and life." The Bible (or the Scriptures) is central to our Reformed heritage and faith. Thus, we believe that the Bible is the final authority by which we judge our beliefs, our patterns of thinking, our motives, our behaviors, and our attitudes.


In the field of animal nutrition, butyrate is used as a zootechnical ingredient and can be used as an unprotected salt or in the form of protected derivatives such as butyrate glycerides or butyrate-loaded matrices. Dietary butyrate supplementation has been shown to improve growth performance and resilience of broiler chickens through distinct mechanisms, operating on both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. Firstly, butyrate influences endogenous avian cells in multiple ways: it is an agonist of free-fatty acid receptors, an inhibitor of pro-inflammatory pathways, an epigenetic modulating agent and acts as an energy source. Secondly, butyrate influences the microbiota residing in the avian gastrointestinal tract (GIT) as a result of its bacteriostatic properties. The responses, e.g. changes in growth performance, gut morphology, carcass traits or nutrient digestibility of chickens, to dietary butyrate supplementation are inconsistent with factors such as additive inclusion level, diet composition, age and health status of the bird modulating the effects of butyrate and its derivatives. For many derivatives, the precise GIT segment wherein butyrate is released is unclear. Release location may affect the observed responses to butyrate given the diversity of cell types and pH conditions encountered throughout the gastrointestinal tract of poultry, and the differences in microbiota composition in the different gut segments. As a consequence, our understanding of the mode of action of butyrate is hampered. Characterisation of existing derivatives and development of targeted-release formulations are, therefore, important to gain insight in the different physiological effects butyrate can elicit in broiler chickens.


Plant diseases cause agricultural and economic loss and impact negatively on human and animal health through mycotoxins and allergens produced by them. They also have consequences for biodiversity conservation. The pathogens could be classified in five categories: new - detected within the last five years; emerging - have always been present in an area but have grown in importance over the years; re-emerging - have been previously controlled but are once more a major problem associated with chemical resistance or changes in management or cultivars; threatening - not reported or limited in distribution in Europe and chronic-spreading – known for longer than 20 years and causing increased concern. Diseases emerge or re-emerge due to changes in farming practices, development of new strains of the pathogen, climate change, introduction of the pathogen to new geographical locations, or introduction of more efficient pathogen vectors. During the last years emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) are of special concern to researchers. Among all pathogens fungi are responsible for the greatest damage to plants in both agricultural and natural ecosystems. They represent over 70 % of all plant pathogens and over 30 % of plant EIDs. Surveys on fungal diseases of medicinal and aromatic plants have been carried out in the framework of several research projects between Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Poland in the last two decades. EIDs have been reported, either as novel pathogens or as familiar pathogens affecting new host species. The importance of the problem could be illustrated by such examples as some phytopathogenic fungi on Apiaceae and Lamiaceae hosts discussed in the present work.


A large landmass was formed at the downstream of Feni river due to the construction of Muhuri regulator at a cross dam in Mirsaraiupazila of Chittagong district. But this land is more vulnerable to storm and tidal surges leading to saline water intrusion. The study site was selected from this area to investigate the relationship between salinity and crop production. Soil samples were collected from different hydrological regimes such as old protected area, new protected area, unprotected area and affected area from topsoil, subsoil and substratum in both wet and dry period. Crop yield of the sampling plots were recorded through farmer's interview. It was found that, salinity of the study area was less than 4 dS/m both in aman and rabi season. Rice is a semi-tolerant crop (it can tolerate salinity up to 4 dS/m). So no significant relationship between soil salinity and rice yield was observed. Farmers of this area mainly cultivate khesari crop in rabi season. A significant positive correlation (correlation coefficient 0.97) was found between the soil salinity and khesari yield in unprotected area. Water salinity inside the cross dam was around 0.1 dS/m (rabi season), which is considered excellent for irrigation. But outside the cross dam it ranged in between 4.8-5.4 dS/m in aman season and 12.4-20.8 dS/m in rabi season, which was extremely toxic for irrigation for the cultivation boro rice. Although soil salinity permits to cultivate HYV rice in a man season but water logging is the main constraint. HYV rice in boro season can be cultivated in old and new protected area by utilizing Feni river water inside the Muhuri regulator and closure dam for irrigation purpose. But in unprotected area, it can not be cultivated due lack of suitable irrigation water and tidal flooding. In the study area, non-irrigated crop like khesari can be grown successfully just after aman season by utilizing residual soil moisture.


Studies involving the associations between vitamin D supplementation taken before the onset of COVID-19 infection and the clinical outcomes are still scarce and this issue remains controversial. This study aimed to assess the relationships between vitamin D (VitD) status and supplementation and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity in older adults (average age of 78 years) hospitalized for COVID-19. We conducted an observational retrospective cohort study with 228 older hospitalized patients during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The outcomes were in-hospital mortality secondary to COVID-19 or critically severe COVID-19. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to test whether pre-hospital VitD supplementation was independently associated with severity. In this study, 46% of patients developed a severe form and the overall in-hospital mortality was 15%. Sixty-six (29%) patients received a VitD supplement during the 3 months preceding the infection onset. Additionally, a VitD supplement was associated with fewer severe COVID-19 forms (OR = 0.426, p = 0.0135) and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions (OR = 0.341, p = 0.0076). As expected, age > 70 years, male gender and BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 were independent risk factors for severe forms of COVID-19. No relationship between serum 25(OH)D levels and the severity of the COVID-19 was identified. VitD supplementation taken during the 3 months preceding the infection onset may have a protective effect on the development of severe COVID-19 forms in older adults. Randomized controlled trials and large-scale cohort studies are necessary to strengthen this observation.


Artificial intelligence has deeply revolutionized the field of medicinal chemistry with many impressive applications, but the success of these applications requires a massive amount of training samples with high-quality annotations, which seriously limits the wide usage of data-driven methods. In this paper, we focus on the reaction yield prediction problem, which assists chemists in selecting high-yield reactions in a new chemical space only with a few experimental trials. To attack this challenge, we first put forth MetaRF, an attention-based differentiable random forest model specially designed for the few-shot yield prediction, where the attention weight of a random forest is automatically optimized by the meta-learning framework and can be quickly adapted to predict the performance of new reagents while given a few additional samples. To improve the few-shot learning performance, we further introduce a dimension-reduction based sampling method to determine valuable samples to be experimentally tested and then learned. Our methodology is evaluated on three different datasets and acquires satisfactory performance on few-shot prediction. In high-throughput experimentation (HTE) datasets, the average yield of our methodology's top 10 high-yield reactions is relatively close to the results of ideal yield selection.


The use of Bell's theorem in any application or experiment relies on the assumption of free choice or, more precisely, measurement independence, meaning that the measurements can be chosen freely. Here, we prove that even in the simplest Bell test — one involving 2 parties each performing 2 binaryoutcome measurements — an arbitrarily small amount of measurement independence is sufficient to manifest quantum nonlocality. To this end, we introduce the notion of measurement dependent locality and show that the corresponding correlations form a convex polytope. These correlations can thus be characterized efficiently, e.g., using a finite set of Bell-like inequalities — an observation that enables the systematic study of quantum nonlocality and related applications under limited measurement independence.


A model is proposed in which stochastic choice results from noise in cognitive processing rather than random variation in preferences. The mental process used to make a choice is nonetheless optimal, subject to a constraint on available information-processing capacity that is motivated by neurophysiological evidence. The optimal information-constrained model is found to offer a better fit to experimental data on choice frequencies and reaction times than either a purely mechanical process model of choice (the drift-diffusion model) or an optimizing model with fewer constraints on feasible choice processes (the rational inattention model).


It is truly a sentimental journey which has led to my participation in a very small way in Facts,Views & Vision in ObGyn.

Not only do I count as friends many low country colleagues "past and present" but I came to know parts of the low countries, village by village, during the winter of 1944-45 as a U.S. Army surgeon caring for the seriously wounded during World War II.

This time span qualifies me to give a view from afar, regardless of its merit.

The purpose of FF&V was beautifully set forth by Jan Gerris in an editorial to the first issue of FV&V. All readers would benefit by a rereading of this from time to time. This is easy to do as this journal is easily accessible at www.fvvo.eu

And now three views from afar.

With modern electronic communications, attendance at intimate specialized scientific meetings has decreased. The surviving large meetings are short on time for discussion. This view from afar sees an opportunity for FV&V to use its electronic capability to emphasize its mission for discussion of recent articles in the journal. It is discussion of any subject that makes practicality and applicability. To that end, there is a point of discussion about the proliferation of the simplification, i.e., shortcuts, to the diagnosis and treatment of infertility. For example, "One-stop" Fertility Assessment Using Advanced Ultrasound Technology by Hrehorcak and Nargund from the January-March 2011 issue of FV&V. From the point of view of service to the masses such an approach has the advantage of economy of time and treasure. However, with this approach there well might be an outlier or two who requires more than a one-step investigation. In addition, if we can imagine a world totally committed to "one-stop" for the next decade, diagnostically the world of infertility diagnosis would still be exactly where it is today a decade hence. One-stop surely has its place in the service sector. However, there is also every reason to have comprehensive centers so that we can constantly improve. Traditionally, this is the role of the academic community, but in these times it is entirely possible that private centers would be financially structured in a better way to assume this role. There is every reason to hope that comprehensive centers will flourish.

I also like to comment on the review of Sergio Oehninger on poor responders in this issue of FVV others are more specific, as for example, mutations of Gdf-9, connexin 37, FSH and LH receptors and alternation in the secretion of FSH-β.

However, current therapy is "one size fits all". We have not yet reached the stage either in this particular situation or in many other situations where genetic associations have been made that were are able to take advantage of these associations and have a rifle-like shot of therapy, rather we still struggle along with using gunshot therapy hoping that we can improve the problem. As mentioned, this comment, criticism if you will, of the relation of therapy to the etiology is of general application. There are hundreds and hundreds of genetic mutations which have been associated with various conditions and yet I am unaware of any therapy which directs itself at correction this mutation or even jumping over it to supply what the mutation has denied the physiological process. I suppose we can only hope that with continued work, we will finally get there, but regrettably we are not there yet.

The third view from afar focuses on the fact that the reproductive sciences have more interface with society than other medical specialties. The quantity and quality of mankind as it is renewed passes through the hands and minds of all of us and could be modulated by our council and action.

Therefore, Facts, Views and Vision in ObGyn is to be encouraged to emphasize discussion of these societal interfaces. In the field of human reproduction possible topics might be:

• The relation of health insurance to reproductive outcome

• The influence of societal, particularly religious dogma on reproduction

• Reproduction and the law

• Gamete donor anonymity etc.

FV&V is a paragon of 21st century communication. In addition to new information, emphasis on discussion and the social interface makes it special while it strives to put related subspecialties in orbit around the star named reproduction.


Aim
Dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) use a discretization of forest vegetation based on plant functional types (PFTs). The physiological and ecological parameters used to model a given PFT are usually fixed, being defined from point-based observations, while model applications are often grid-based. This rigid approach causes spatial biases in the results of DGVM-simulated productivity and biomass-related variables. We aim to overcome this limitation with a new approach that uses a hierarchical classification of forest PFT parameters from traits retrieved from the literature and from the TRY global database of plant traits. This approach is applied to temperate conifers in the ORCHIDEE-FM DGVM, which has previously been shown to produce systematic biases in the simulation of biomass and biomass increments.

Location
Temperate coniferous forests in France.

Methods
The five major coniferous species in France, Abies alba, Picea abies, Pinus pinaster, Pinus sylvestris and Pseudotsuga menziesii, were grouped objectively into PFTs within the ORCHIDEE-FM DGVM using a hierarchical classification based on 12 key attributes related to photosynthesis, phenology and allometric relationships.

Results
We show that the single PFT covering all temperate coniferous forests used by default in ORCHIDEE-FM could be replaced by two representative subcategories defined by grouping species-level data without necessarily having to adopt a set of parameters for each species. The definition of new temperate conifer PFTs with this approach allows us to reduce the spatial heterogeneity by 40% on average in model–measurement misfit for stand volume, growth and stand density at the regional scale.

Main conclusions
The proposed approach to improve the representation of PFTs in DGVMs, while keeping the number of different PFTs manageable, is promising for application to regions where a single PFT can correspond to a number of different species.


Thoracic duct is a duct that drains the lymph from the cisterna chily into the venous angle of the cranial vena vava. Thoracic duct in the horse is situated on the right side, but in rare cases the left thoracic duct has been reported. In this report the course and left position of the thoracic duct in an embalmed donkey is described. Regarding many anatomical similarities between horse and donkey it seems that the existence of left thoracic duct in donkey should be considered as a rare condition.


There have been many reports on the recognition of vowels by cochlear implant patients fitted with various devices. Most of these reports, however, used a single male and/or female talker to test vowel recognition. This paper presents results on the recognition of vowels produced by a large number of men, women, and children [Hillenbrand et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 97, 3099–3111 (1995)]. The aim of this study was to investigate why certain groups of speakers, e.g., children, and certain vowels are harder for the cochlear implant patients to identify. A total of 5 Ineraid patients who had been fit with continuous interleaved sampling (CIS) signal processors were used in this study. Patients' performance on vowel recognition ranged from 54% to 84%. The sex and age of the talker (that is, the talker's vocal tract size) seemed to have a significant effect on the performance for some of the patients, and in particular the ''poor'' patients. Individual patient's results on vowel recognition, and a detailed anal...