One of the most salient features of heavy fermion superconductivity is its coexistence with various competing orders. Superconductivity often emerges near or at the border of these exotic orders and their interplay may give rise to many interesting quantum phenomena. In this paper, we give a brief review of the various heavy fermion superconductors discovered so far and show there may exist an intimate connection between their superconducting pairing and quantum critical spin/charge/orbital fluctuations. We classify these superconductors into three categories: (A) CeM2X2, CenMmIn3n+2m, CePt3Si, CeMX3, CeNiGe3, Ce2Ni3Ge5 and CePd5Al2, in which superconductivity emerges at the border of antiferromagnetic phase; YbRh2Si2, in which superconductivity was very recently found inside the antiferromagnetic phase at 2 mK; UX2Al3 and UPt3, in which superconductivity occurs inside the antiferromagnetic phase; and UBe13 and U6Fe, in which the connection between magnetism and superconductivity is not yet clear. Among them, CePt3Si and CeMX3 are noncentrosymmetric, while UPt3 exhibits spin triplet pairing inside an antiferromagnetic phase. (B) UGe2, URhGe, UCoGe, UIr and U2PtC2, are spin triplet superconductors under the influence of ferromagnetic order or fluctuations. (C) URu2Si2, PrOs4Sb12, PrT2X20, Pu-115, NpPd5Al2 and β-YbAlB4, in which superconductivity may be related to other exotic quantum states or fluctuations such as hidden order, valence fluctuations and quadrupolar fluctuations. In these compounds, f-electrons may participate in both superconductivity and other competing orders and often behave simultaneously itinerant and localized. These could be described by a phenomenological two-fluid theory, in which two coexisting fluids—an itinerant heavy electron fluid (the Kondo liquid) and a spin liquid of unhybridized local f-moments—compete to give rise to the various low temperature orders as well as superconductivity. Combining the two-fluid picture and the idea of spin-fluctuation-induced superconducting pairing, a BCS-like formula is proposed for calculating the superconducting transition temperature, and the results are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data for Ce-115. This model can explain naturally the microscopic coexistence of superconductivity and antiferromagnetism in these materials, and provides a promising guidance to other heavy fermion superconductors to achieve a systematic examination of the interplay between superconductivity and other exotic orders.


Islamism, as a popular socio-economic and political movement which seeks to transform Muslim states and societies on the basis of the shariah, is a late twentieth century phenomenon. Although the history of reform movements in Islam dates back to the very early years of the Caliphate, the Islamist challenge of the present era is the product of the failures of post-independence political and economic establishments in many Muslim countries. While this failure and the search for a workable alternative is a common political destabiliser in most parts of The Third World, in the Muslim countries in particular the lure of an Islamic model which is thought to have been implemented in the Prophetic past is acting as a powerful rallying point to most dissidents of the status quo. This Islamism, which is generally and rather disparagingly described as `Islamic fundamentalism' in the West, is, at present, the only remaining ideological challenge confronting the liberal democratic world order after the collapse of Stalinist communism.


The use of social media creates the opportunity to turn organization-wide knowledge sharing in the workplace from an intermittent, centralized knowledge management process to a continuous online knowledge conversation of strangers, unexpected interpretations and re-uses, and dynamic emergence. We theorize four affordances of social media representing different ways to engage in this publicly visible knowledge conversations: metavoicing, triggered attending, network-informed associating, and generative role-taking. We further theorize mechanisms that affect how people engage in the knowledge conversation, finding that some mechanisms, when activated, will have positive effects on moving the knowledge conversation forward, but others will have adverse consequences not intended by the organization. These emergent tensions become the basis for the implications we draw.


In the JEM-EUSO focal instrument four multianode photomultipliers (Elementary Cell unit) are powered by one high voltage generator. The HV control system for Photo Detection Module consists of 9 high voltage generators. HV generators are Cockcroft-Walton voltage multipliers with protection system and with 3 level very fast switches for HV at cathodes. Protection systems were made to protect HVPS itself against possible excess of power consumption, but might be as well used as a protection of PMTs in case of unexpected enlighting. Externally controlled switches can reduce 100 times or 10000 times the PMT collection efficiency to enlarge the PMT dynamics up to factor 10 6 . The HV control unit provides galvanic insulation of HV system, and
allows for input voltage in a range 15-35 V. Control unit provides interface for external voltage setting, control of switches, and emits information about the statuses of 9 HV generators.


Ossification of ligamentum flavum was reported usually lower thoracic and lumbar region, and rarely seen in the cervical region. Calcification of cervical ligamentum flavum is also relatively rare. We report a case of ossification and another of calcification of cervical ligamentum flavum, and discussed the difference of the clinical and radiological features in these conditions. Case 1: A 55-year-old man presented with numbness of the left shoulder and urinary dysfunction. Neurological examination revealed weakness, muscle atrophy and elevated deep tendon reflexes of the left extremities. CT showed ossified mass protruding into the right side of the canal and compressing the spinal cord at C 3/4 and C 4/5. MRI showed low intensity mass both on T1- and T2-weighted images and severe compression of the spinal cord. Left side partial hemilaminectomy with foraminotomy, so called "key hole" foraminotomy, satisfactorily decompressed the cord with clinical improvement. Case 2: A 70-year-old woman complained numbness of both hands for two years. She had sensory disturbance of both hands and spastic gait disturbance. Cervical X-ray films showed calcified nodules on the inner surface of lamina at C4/5. Axial CT demonstrated calcification in the ligamentum flavum at the C4/5 and C5/6 levels. MRI showed posterior spinal cord compression at the C4/5 and C5/6 levels. Osteoplastic laminotomy and removal of the affected ligamentum flavum were performed with successful result. Only 8 cases ossification of cervical ligamentum flavum above C6/7 have been so far reported. All are Japanese; four male and four female cases.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


BACKGROUND
Based on clinical observations in a series of studies on Finnish alcoholic, violent offenders, we asserted that the impulsive offenders represented an extreme group of type 2 alcoholics. We also observed that these subjects were vulnerable to hypoglycemia after the administration of oral glucose load. Furthermore, we believe that while being hypoglycemic, the impulsive offenders are particularly irritable and aggressive. In the present study, we addressed these issues by studying psychological trait and state variables in a new group of violent offenders and fire setters, and age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers.

METHODS
Fifty-eight alcoholic, violent offenders and impulsive fire setters and 21 healthy volunteers were administered the Karolinska scales of personality and the Rosenzweig picture frustration test after an oral aspartame and glucose challenge.

RESULTS
The psychological test results and the criminal histories of the offenders, together with biochemical measurements, suggest that a low 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentration in cerebrospinal fluid in the alcoholic offenders is associated with irritability and impaired impulse control, and a high free testosterone concentration in cerebrospinal fluid is associated with increased aggressiveness, monotony avoidance, sensation seeking, suspiciousness, and reduced socialization.

CONCLUSION
Finnish alcoholic, impulsive offenders have personality profiles characteristic of Scandinavian early-onset male alcoholics with antisocial traits, who have been also referred to as type 2 alcoholics.


Novel materials based on nanocarbons (e.g., carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene) have attracted much attention as sensing elements in miniaturized, low-power consumption, and ubiquitous electronic gas sensors due to their unique structural and electronic properties. This highlight discusses some recent progress in the research on nanocarbon-based electronic gas sensors, including CNTs, graphene, and their composites (i.e., nanocarbon–nanocrystal hybrids), identifies the technological barriers that impair their commercialization, and presents an outlook of the challenges and opportunities for the use of nanocarbon-based materials in next generation gas sensors.


Many time series are sampled at different frequencies. When we study co-movements between such series we usually analyze the joint process sampled at a common low frequency. This has consequences in terms of potentially mis-specifying the co-movements and hence the analysis of impulse response functions—a commonly used tool for economic policy analysis. We introduce a class of mixed frequency VAR models that allows us to measure the impact of high frequency data on low frequency and vice versa. Our approach does not rely on latent processes/shocks representations. As a consequence, the mixed frequency VAR is an alternative to commonly used state space models for mixed frequency data. State space models are parameter-driven whereas mixed frequency VAR models are observation-driven models as they are formulated exclusively in terms of observable data and do not involve latent processes as well as shocks and thus avoid the need to formulate measurement equations, filtering, etc. We also propose various parsimonious parameterizations, in part inspired by recent work on MIDAS regressions. We also explicitly characterize the mis-specification of a traditional common low frequency VAR and its implied mis-specified impulse response functions. The class of mixed frequency VAR models can also characterize the timing of information releases for a mixture of sampling frequencies and the real-time updating of predictions caused by the flow of high frequency information. Various estimation procedures for mixed frequency VAR models are also proposed, both classical and Bayesian. Numerical and empirical examples quantify the consequences of ignoring mixed frequency data.


An Integrated Machining Process Design Simulator (IMPDS) is developed and applied as a general tool for the design of face milling systems. The simulator includes four modules to accommodate the important factors that affect face milling operations. These modules are: a general purpose finite element program to analyze structural characteristics, a mechanistic face milling force module for both open-loop and closed-loop cutting force simulations, a machinability module to evaluate cutting process performance, and an efficient optimization module to automate the design process. The design variables, constraints, and objective function of the entire system include structural element size, shape, and weight, cutting forces and vibrations, and other machinability measures including tool life, metal removal rate, and surface finish. Several examples are included to demonstrate the capability of IMPDS in the machining system design process.


Finance capability as a firm-level technological capability has been neglected in debates on financing of increased sub-Saharan Africa local pharmaceutical drug manufacture, as it has in industrial development more generally. Finance capability has to date not been explicitly included in firm-level technological capabilities. Access to finance for African local pharmaceutical manufacture is not just about getting money. There are technological capabilities and complexities surrounding access to finance. Specifically for African pharmaceutical manufacture, there is little theorization and engagement with the specialist and knowledge-intensive capabilities needed by pharmaceutical firms and financial institutions. Based on fieldwork on the financing of antiretroviral drug manufacture in Zimbabwe in 2011, and interviews with pharmaceutical and financial institutions' executives up to 2013, this article sets out to better understand financial capability development, especially skills, knowledge and learning by doing. This research generates empirical data on finance capability and uses it to extend theory on technological capability, and suggests how such inclusion can improve the firm-level technological capability framework.


The Marine Network for Integrated Data Access (MaNIDA) aims to build a sustainable e-infrastructure to support
discovery and re-use of marine data from distinct data providers in Germany (see related abstracts in session ESSI 1.2). In order to provide users integrated access and retrieval of expedition or cruise metadata, data, services and publications as well as relationships among the various objects, we are developing (web) applications based on state of the art technologies: the Data Portal of German Marine Research.
Since the German network of distributed content providers have distinct objectives and mandates for stor-
ing digital objects (e.g. long-term data preservation, near real time data, publication repositories), we have to cope with heterogeneous metadata in terms of syntax and semantic, data types and formats as well as access solutions.
We have defined a set of core metadata elements which are common to our content providers and therefore useful
for discovery and building relationships among objects. Existing catalogues for various types of vocabularies are being used to assure the mapping to community-wide used terms.
We distinguish between expedition metadata and continuously harvestable metadata objects from distinct
data providers.
• Existing expedition metadata from distinct sources is integrated and validated in order to create an expedition metadata catalogue which is used as authoritative source for expedition-related content. The web application allows browsing by e.g. research vessel and date, exploring expeditions and research gaps by tracklines and viewing expedition details (begin/end, ports, platforms, chief scientists, events, etc.). Also expedition-related objects from harvesting are dynamically associated with expedition information and presented to the user. Hence we will provide web services to detailed expedition information.
• Other harvestable content is separated into four categories: archived data and data products, near real time data, publications and reports. Reports are a special case of publication, describing cruise planning, cruise reports or popular reports on expeditions and are orthogonal to e.g. peer-reviewed articles. Each object's metadata contains at least: identifier(s) e.g. doi/hdl, title, author(s), date, expedition(s), platform(s) e.g. research vessel Polarstern.
Furthermore project(s), parameter(s), device(s) and e.g. geographic coverage are of interest. An international
gazetteer resolves geographic coverage to region names and annotates to object metadata. Information is
homogenously presented to the user, independent of the underlying format, but adaptable to specific disciplines e.g. bathymetry. Also data access and dissemination information is available to the user as data download link or web services (e.g. WFS, WMS). Based on relationship metadata we are dynamically building graphs of objects to support the user in finding possible relevant associated objects. Technically metadata is based on ISO / OGC standards or provider specification. Metadata is harvested via OAI-PMH or OGC CSW and indexed with Apache Lucene. This enables powerful full-text search, geographic and temporal search as well as faceting.
In this presentation we will illustrate the architecture and the current implementation of our integrated ap-
proach.


Many heterogametic organisms adjust sex chromosome expression to accommodate differences in gene dosage. This requires selective recruitment of regulatory factors to the modulated chromosome. How these factors are localized to a chromosome with requisite accuracy is poorly understood. Drosophila melanogaster males increase expression from their single X chromosome. Identification of this chromosome involves cooperation between different classes of X-identity elements. The Chromatin Entry Sites (CES) recruit a chromatin-modifying complex that spreads into nearby genes and increases expression. In addition, a family of satellite repeats that is enriched on the X chromosome, the 1.688X repeats, promotes recruitment of the complex to nearby genes. The 1.688X repeats and CES are dissimilar, and appear to operate through different mechanisms. Interestingly, the siRNA pathway and siRNA from a 1.688X repeat also promote X recognition. We postulate that siRNA-dependent modification of 1.688X chromatin contributes to recognition of nearby genes. In accord with this, we found enrichment of the siRNA effector Argonaute2 (Ago2) at some 1.688X repeats.Mutations in several proteins that physically interact with Ago2, including the histone methyltransferase Su(var)3-9, enhance the lethality of males with defective X recognition. Su(var)3-9 deposits H3K9me2 on some 1.688X repeats, and this mark is disrupted upon ectopic expression of 1.688X siRNA. Furthermore, integration of 1.688X DNA on an autosome induces local H3K9me2 deposition, but enhances expression of nearby genes in a siRNA-dependent manner. Our findings are consistent with a model in which siRNA-directed modification of 1.688X chromatin contributes to recognition of the fly X chromosome by the MSL complex.


On the basis of reported data and questionnaires filled in by 26 pilots and 60 cadets an attempt was made to give a psychophysiological characterization to the "aircraft perception". It was compared with the characteristics of motor skills and thus the "aircraft perception" was interpreted as an objective property of flying skills, i.e. a specific expression of automatic actions the pilot performs when flying a plane. At a certain stage of the development of the flying skills some movements are controlled via direct sensations and perceptions of noninstrumented signals. The "aircraft sensation" unloads the pilot's attention allowing him to concentrate on other problems.


The article analyses paintings of wounded patients created by Scottish anatomist, neurologist, practicing surgeon and artist Charles Bell – graphic sketches in travel sketchbooks, paintings (1809) and watercolours (1815). His works provide a representation of the structure of wounds suffered during battle. The article compares 15 paintings from "The Wounded following the Battle of Corunna" series, (on display in the hall of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh) and 17 watercolours from the collection of Тhe Wellcome Library from the [Royal] Army Medical Services Museum. The authors stress that both the sketches and the paintings derived from sketches from Bell's early work were rudimentary and unsophisticated compared to later watercolours of the wounded during the Battle of Waterloo. Most of the paintings from 1815 are dated and accompanied by comments, detailing not only the circumstances and nature of the wounds, but the name (or surname) of the patient, place of treatment, arm of service, regiment number, as well as a brief excerpt of the medical record, as well as the fate of many of the patients who had undergone surgical treatment. These works provide an insight into not only Bell's work as a surgeon, but how his artistic style developed as well. The visual artefacts and details on the paintings are laconic, yet expressive. The eyes of the wounded soldiers convey an indescribable mixture of the joy of surviving battle, the fear of the irretrievability of physical loss incurred, incessant pain of the wound, its chilling inevitability and submission before its power, moral exhaustion, the after-effects of hypovolemic shock, agony from the impending or completed treatment, anxiety and fear of death. Familiarisation with Bell's paintings when training students of general surgery and the history of medicine acquires didactic significance, while the raising of awareness and provision of accessibility for the general public play a crucial role in understanding the true realities of war and sympathy for its victims.


Wall and floor tiles were fabricated by a dry pressing method using waste glass and clay. The properties of the tiles such as absorption, bulk density, porosity, compressive strength, and abrasion loss are investigated with the firing temperature and glass content. The properties are improved with increasing both the firing temperature and glass content. These properties, except the compressive strength, tend to be saturated from the glass contents of 70 wt % in the case of 1050 . The compressive strength shows the maximum values at the glass contents of 70 wt% and then which are decreased with increasing the glass contents. The optimal properties obtained in the tiles are the water absorption of about 0.9 %, the bulk density of about 2.3 g/cm3, the apparent porosity of about 2.1 %, the compressive strength of about 210 MPa, and the abrasion loss of about 0.022 g, when the composition containing the glass of 70 wt% is fired at 1050. These results are better than the properties of commercial clay tiles, due to easy melting and densification of glassy phase in the tiles.


proved results, their criticism is potentially valid for any study taking place over a period of time. We agree with the Cardiff workers that the value of induction of labour should be tested in a large, prospective, randomised trial. In view of the conflicting opinions regarding the place of induction of labour we feel that such a trial would be entirely ethical. We would be grateful to hear from any obstetrician willing to co-operate in a multicentre trial based on the model previously operated by Cole et al.1 PETER W HOwIE M B MCNAY G M MCILWAINE M C MACNAUGHTON


When inquiry-based learning is designed for a collaborative context, the interactions that arise in the learning environment can become fairly complex. While the learning effectiveness of such learning environments has been reported in the literature, there have been fewer studies on the students' learning processes. To address this, the article presents a study of science learning in a computer-supported learning environment called Collaborative Science Inquiry (CSI), which integrates guided inquiry principles for activity design, employs modelling and visualisation tools for promoting conceptual understanding and incorporates key computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) elements for enabling students' collaboration. With the aim of understanding the process of students' conceptual changes supported by the CSI learning environment as used in a secondary school, data on students' test achievements, responses to learning tasks and peer discussions in collaboration were collected, analysed and discussed. The results of the qualitative and quantitative data analysis indicated that guided inquiry coupled with CSCL elements facilitated by the CSI system can engage students in inquiry activities and promote their conceptual understanding in a progressive way.


Repeated glucose tolerance (GT) determinations were carried out at various intervals (under 3 years--I, from 3 to 6 years--II, from 6 to 9 years--III, and in 9 and more years--IV) in 964 women on free diet and free regimen. The initial character of GT (normal, suspicious, diabetic) and the duration of intervals between the examinations (I, II, III, IV) determiner its change in repeated examinations. The more pronounced the GT disturbances during the first examination and the longer the intervals between the examinations--the more frequently were GT disturbances of suspicious and diabetic type, and also the manifest diabetes mellitus detected.


This guide provides tips for searching the Library's Catalog (Encore) for books, and Catalog Plus for books and articles. It also explains some of the Catalog's "Advanced Search" features.


While the endonasal approach to the skull base continues to advance, this paper invokes its long history. The centuries of medieval neuroanatomy and early neurosurgery enabled the conception of the first transfacial approaches in the late 1800s; Henry Schloffer performed the first transsphenoidal surgery in 1907. Although the procedure was initially met with much interest, Harvey Cushing eventually led the field of neurosurgery to abandon the transsphenoidal approach in the 1920s. The following three generations of neurosurgeons contained several key figures including Norman Dott, Gerard Guiot, and Jules Hardy who were steadfast in preserving the technique as well as in addressing its shortcomings. The endoscopic approach developed simultaneously, and advances in magnifying and fiberoptics further resolved limitations previously inherent to the transsphenoidal approach. At last, in the 1960s, the transsphenoidal approach entered its renaissance. Today, the momentum of its development persists in the endoscopic endonasal approach, which has recently expanded the indications for transsphenoidal surgery across the skull base, far beyond its original jurisdiction of the sella. Continued progress must not take for granted the rich history of the transsphenoidal approach, which was developed over centuries by surgeons around the world. The authors present the evolution of modern endonasal surgery as a dynamic interplay between technology, medicine, and surgery over the past 100 years. Progress can be attributed to courageous surgeons who affirmed their contemporary practices despite gaps in technology or medicine, and to visionary individuals who produced and incorporated new elements into transsphenoidal surgery. And so while the new endoscopic technique brings forth new challenges, its development reaffirms the principles laid down by the pioneers of transsphenoidal surgery.


Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is currently experiencing multiple burden of disease as a result of demographic and epidemiologic transition. This is occasioned rapid urbanization, unhealthy diets rich in fats and salt, western lifestyle and sedentary living. Heart failure (HF) has become a global public health issue. It is associated with high morbidity and mortality, frequent hospitalization and high economic cost. In SSA, HF is a disease of young and middle-aged adults with the attendant high disability-adjusted life years. This is unlike to the clinical profile and pattern of HF in high-income countries of North America, Western Europe and Japan where HF is a disease of the elderly. In addition, while ischaemic heart disease is the commonest aetiologic risk factor for HF in high income countries, HF in SSA is essentially non-ischaemic in origin. Hypertensive heart failure, dilated cardiomyopathy, rheumatic heart disease, pericardial diseases and HIV associated cardiomyopathy are the common risk factors. The chapter reviews the contemporary information on HF in SSA in terms of socio-demographic features, clinical characteristics, aetiological risk factors, management, prognosis and burden. include chronic obstructive of pulmonary embolism (acute cor HIV/AIDs and thromboem bolic obliterative pulmonary hypertension.


Laser scanning is commonly used in railways for detecting problems related with the clearance profile which are quite common especially in old tunnels. By increasing the resolution of the scanner system it is possible to use the images for identifying problems affecting the structure of the tunnel such as, for example, cracks, empty joints, deformation and water inflows. Moreover, since the used scanner system records not only the position but also the temperature of each measured point, it is possible to combine laser and thermo images which allows recognising the presence of water and or empty cavities behind the lining which may be considered major causes of lining weathering. This paper will show how the application of this technique based on laser scanning images analysis modified the tunnel inspection process, necessary for assessing the tunnel condition.


SUMMARY: Transfer of derivatives of the bacteriocinogenic plasmid pRL1JI into eight symbiotically defective strains of R. leguminosarum resulted in suppression of the mutant phenotype in four cases. These included non-infective, ineffective and temperature-sensitive ineffective phenotypes. However, in none of these strains was the defect suppressible after high frequency transfer of derivatives of two other bacteriocinogenic plasmids, pRL3JI or pRL4JI. Nodulation ability was co-transferred at high frequency (> 95%) with bacteriocin production by the plasmid pRL1JI. The other two plasmids, pRL3JI and pRL4JI, also mediated the transfer of nodulation ability but at much lower frequency (10-3 to 10-4 per plasmid transfer). Sometimes, transconjugants that had acquired nodulation ability after the transfer of derivatives of plasmids pRL3JI or pRL4JI acted subsequently as high frequency donors for nodulation ability in a manner that was apparently similar to strains containing pRL1JI.


It has been inferred that the rias of Galicia on the passive margin of northwest Spain which trend nearly at right angles to the Paleozoic structural grain appear to be the result of erosion along a weathered fault zone. New data from the Ria de Pontevedra appears to verify such an origin. The sediment fill in Pontevedra indicates that deposition along the eroded fault zone probably began during the emplacement of the late Pleistocene S1 sequence. Deposition of the Holocene S2 sequence, resting unconformably on S1, reflects not only the Younger Dryas regression, but also the transgressions prior and subsequent to the Younger Dryas regression. Both the Pleistocene and Holocene sequences are disrupted by mud diapirs at the mouth of the Ria de Pontevedra; the Holocene sequence at the mouth on its southeast side also is disrupted by faults which may be due to slope failure. Mobilization of the mud intruding the strata is probably due to sediment loading.


Nonlinear systems and circuits, while required for many applications, presently require a design procedure that is often complex. In many cases, the design process is either based upon measurements or complex nonlinear models. This paper presents periodicity preservation (PP) and time invariant PP (TIPP) system theory as a simple way to characterize behavior for a significant class of nonlinear systems. PP systems preserve signal periodicity and are conducive to modeling harmonic coupling. When linearized to small perturbations, the harmonic coupling is described by the Jacobian about the operating point. The harmonic coupling weights, which are elements of the Jacobian, can be measured experimentally. For some TIPP systems such as LTI systems and memoryless nonlinearities, a single experiment suffices to determine the harmonic coupling weights. Other PP systems, including mixing and linear time variant systems, require more experimental queries. TIPP system theory is foundational to the theory of X-parameters®, S-functions and polyharmonic distortion.


This study investigates the observed positive relationship between educational attainment and likelihood of black-white interracial marriages. Different from the previous studies that focus only on the role of individual education levels in interracial marriages, this study contributes to the literature by examining the impact of the spatial variations in relative black/white educational distributions in marriage markets. The first contribution of this study is to provide an answer to the low black-white intermarriage rate puzzle by suggesting that as black and white educational differences in general between lessen and as individual educational attainment increase black-white interracial marriages may not become more common. The relative importance of three mechanisms through which education may affect intermarriage probability is examined: (1) racial adaptability effect, (2) enclave effect, and (3) educational dissimilarity effect. Using the U.S. Census Data, this study's second contribution is the finding that the enclave and the educational dissimilarity effects are more important than the racial adaptability effect in explaining intermarriage probability of black males. Our results suggest that rising black individual educational attainments may not always result in an increased intermarriage likelihood. Differences in the black and white education distributions have a significant impact on the black/white interracial marriage probability.


The distribution of about twenty inorganic elements was traced in the skeletons of black corals of the Antipathes salix species. Electron microprobe and PIXE mappings revealed the peculiar structure of this material, composed of the large cells (arranged in annual rings), surrounded by thin layers with an elevated level of iodine (up to 5%). Our current knowledge of the chemical composition of these corals' skeleton is not complete. Essentially the organic skeleton is saturated with inorganic elements and several of these could be commercially important. In fact, they have never been investigated for biomedical applications. In this preliminary current work, black corals from the Antipathes salix species were studied with the aim of detecting the inorganic components of their matrix and their suitability as biomedical materials.


During the last 30 years the proportion of deaths occurring in childhood caused by accidents has risen from 21 to 30 per cent. This development is not, however, as disturbing as it might initially appear for it is more a reflection of the elimination of infectious diseases from childhood mortality patterns than an indication of trends in accidental fatalities. Over this period the latter have fallen, both in volume terms and as rates per million population aged 1-14 years, by between 40 and 50 per cent. Furthermore, the performance of England and Wales in this particular area is currently one of the best in the world (Figure 1). Yet fatalities represent only the tip of the iceberg of injuries sustained accidentally by children each year. This point has emerged clearly from several local investigations carried out since the Court Report's comment in the mid-19705 that 'the extent of non-fatal accidents is unknown and the professional time spent in treating them unmeasured'. This Briefing draws together some of these findings and attempts to quantify the magnitude and economic costs of the problem from a national point of view. It also reviews recent trends in both fatal and nonfatal accidents and examines the prospects for successful preventive action.


Wet meadow sites represented more favourable microclimates for nesting Blue-winged Teal Anas discors than upland sites because of the denser vegetation, higher humidity, and less extreme temperatures. Behaviour of incubating females was examined to determine how they modify their behaviour to provide an optimal environment for developing eggs while meeting their own food requirements. Absences and movements on the nest were monitored and rate of egg heat loss during absences obtained. Absences were more common shortly after sunrise and after the high midday temperatures. Longer absences were correlated with higher ambient temperatures, but total time off the nest showed no clear relationship to mean daily ambient temperatures. More movement on the nest was also correlated with higher ambient temperatures, and with laying, early and late incubation, and hatching. Feeding was the most significant activity during absence of both laying and incubating females and the latter spent significantly more time feeding. Three different vocalizations at the nest were described during hatching: the 'maternal', the 'trill', and the 'alarm' call. Females vocalized infrequently during laying and incubation, but calling increased in response to the sounds and vocalizations from the hatching embryos, increasing dramatically at departure from the nest.


The study investigates the inhibition characteristics of rice husk extract (RHE) on the corrosion of mild steel in 1M acidic media. Mass loss, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), phytochemical analysis were used as basis for studying the corrosion inhibition behaviour of the extracts. The analyses of the results showed that as concentration increases, there was increase in the inhibitor while increase in temperature reduces the inhibition respectively. Moreover, the highest inhibition efficiency was 94.24 % at 40 o C and 0.25 g/l inhibition concentration in sulfuric acid medium while inhibition efficiency of 89 % at 60 o C and 0.20 g/l inhibition concentration in hydrochloric acid. The thermodynamic parameters revealed that the adsorption of extract onto the metal surface was spontaneous. Langmuir isotherm best fits the data obtained suggesting physical adsorption as the adsorption mechanism between the extract and the mild steel substrate. The results from the FT-IR spectroscopy showed that the organic compounds found in Rice husk made it a good inhibitor.


Abstract: The development of mobile applications and services has led to new challenges for software programmers. One of the main differences from standard PC programming is that the mobile environment is still limited in several aspects. Thus, there are many applications for mobile devices that share similarities, and implementing new applications may result in duplicated code within the same project or in similar projects. Moreover, current mobile development is still an error-prone task that may produce difficult-to-maintain applications. As a result, developers need new tools to help them to develop mobile software efficiently. This work focuses on a new framework for generating mobile applications and services, MobAppGen. The framework provides a set of components called modules that can be used to construct new applications using a Web interface. The architecture and functionalities of the framework are delineated, and several tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of the framework. For the tests, we created a number of projects using the available modules. In addition, a survey was conducted to estimate the acceptance and usefulness of the framework.


The aim of this study was to compare the diet composition based on rumen contents of mouflons from two localities differing in food supply. In northern Moravia (NM), secondary forests with dominance of conifers prevailed, whereas in southern Moravia (SM) forests with broad-leaved trees dominated. A total of 50 (NM, n = 23; SM, n = 27) quantitative and qualitative rumen analyses were carried out. In rumen specimens from both localities broad-leaved tree species predominated (NM 32.56% of volume; SM 38.92% v) during the autumn-winter season. Among the woody plants, ash was the most frequently consumed in both localities and in both diets approximately the same amount was found (17% v). In SM the mouflon consumed a high-energy diet of various seeds (34% v); acorns and horse chestnuts were the most abundant. Coniferous shoots were consumed in NM (14% v) twice as much as in SM (7% v). A higher number of food items (S = 70) and food diversity (H' = 3.49) was found in NM than in SM (S = 58; H'= 2.88). The quantitative similarity index (SI) of both diets (individual diet items) was low (SI = 39.12%). When calculated for the main diet groups the SI was higher (73.60%). The nutritional value (metabolisable energy) of the diet was correlated with diet quality (seeds, broad-leaved tree leaves). Mouflon is considered as a typical grazer but we found that during autumn and winter periods both Moravian subpopulations preferred browse and, where available, high-energy food for successful over-wintering. In SM the individuals had a non-significant tendency to be heavier and also their body fat content was higher (p = 0.035). The body condition of mouflons was thus related to the quality of the food supply in the biotope. Autumn, winter, diet, nutritional value, body condition, digestive tract mass


A proposed law designed to further standardize the patent process in European Union countries has sparked controversy with amendments relating to software and business methods. Dubbed the European Union Directive on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions, the directive and its series of revisions underscore the great differences between Parliament's and Council's approach to the future of EU software patent law. One of the directive's goals is to encourage progress, innovation, and competition in the software market. But the lawyers questioned the strength of the patent protections in Parliament's version, saying that without solid protections, firms could seek to protect technical information as trade secrets. Meanwhile, in the US, complaints continue to mount about the cost and complexity of the patent process for technology companies. Technology groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) say the process needs a tune-up, so they're taking action.


The effect of water absorption on the compressive strength after impact (CAI strength) and the post impact fatigue (PIF) properties of CFRP laminate were evaluated. Materials used were plain woven T300B-3K CFRP laminates and multi-axial knitted T700S-12K CFRP laminates molded by the vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) method with vinylester as the matrix. Coupon specimens, which were applied the impact energy (1 J per unit thickness), were soaked in a water bath at 95oC for 120 hours up to the saturation water content of 0.6 wt%. CAI and PIF strengths of 'Dry' and 'Wet' specimens of plain woven CFRP showed almost same values. Thus, for T300B plain woven CFRP laminates, the effect of water absorption on PIF properties was small. On the other hand, multi-axial knitted CFRP laminates showed the large effect of water absorption, and Wet specimens showed lower PIF properties than Dry ones. However, net CAI and PIF strengths of multi-axial knitted CFRP were larger than that of plain woven CFRP.


This paper provides a design framework for integration of Business Process Execution Language (BPEL), Grid computing and e-governance applications. BPEL is an XML-based language for defining business processes that provides an interoperable, portable language for both abstract and executable processes. It integrates with XPath, XSLT and XQuery for XML data manipulation. A Grid refers to an infrastructure that involves the integrated and collaborative use of all computing resources into a single virtual computing environment. E-Governance enables citizens to make best use of automated administration processes that are accessible online. In this paper, we provide details on how BPEL and grid can be integrated to provide e-governance services. Grid services exploit an emerging distributed computing technology that offers possibilities for distributed resource sharing and collaboration. The standards for WSRF (Web Service Resource Framework) have allowed grid services to converge more closely on web services. This has resulted in BPEL (Business Process Execution Logic) as a standard way of orchestrating web services. It will be seen how BPEL has been adapted for this purpose, using Active BPEL as the orchestration engine and Globus Toolkit 4 as the grid service container. The problems arising with orchestrating grid services are discussed, along with possible workarounds.


Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are over-represented in road related deaths and serious injury. Buckle-Up Safely was developed to work in partnership with twelve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in New South Wales to promote correct use of appropriate restraints. An important element of a community-based program is to ensure that it is tailored to suit the needs of the community and that it is part of a long-term strategy. Buckle-Up Safely adheres to these aspects, ensuring that the program promotes strong community engagement and program ownership.


While national aggregate statistics suggest employer-based transit subsidies may be inaccessible to the majority of the working poor, this is the first study to investigate the subject with disaggregate data while controlling for additional factors. This study uses household travel surveys for 10 of the largest Metropolitan Planning Organizations, grouped into seven cases. In each case, the share of workers offered an employer-based transit subsidy is lowest for workers in the lowest income quintile. Binary logistic regression results for the odds of being offered an employer-based transit subsidy are presented for two cases, Washington, DC, and Denver, CO, and the results largely confirm that low-income workers are less likely to have access to employer-based transit subsidies than workers in higher income groups, even after controlling for other relevant worker and employer characteristics. These findings may be relevant to policy makers interested in supporting affordable access to opportunities.


Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) have been identified as a promising cell-based therapy candidate to treat a number of unmet clinical indications, however, in vitro expansion will be required to increase the available number of cells and meet this demand. Scalable manufacturing processes, amenable to closed, single-use and automated technology, must
therefore be developed in order to produce safe, effective and affordable hMSC therapies. To address this challenge, a controlled serum-free end-to-end microcarrier process has been developed for hMSCs, which is amenable to large-scale manufacture and therefore increasing economies of scale. Preliminary studies in monolayer culture assessed the level of variability in growth between five hMSC donors, which was found to have a variance of 25.3 % after 30 days in culture. This variance was subsequently reduced to 4.5% by the development of a serum-free monolayer culture process with the maintenance of critical hMSC characteristics and an increased number of population doublings. In order to transfer this into a scalable system, the serum and serum-free expansion processes were transferred into suspension by the addition of plastic microcarriers in 100 mL spinner flasks without control of pH or dissolved oxygen (DO). This achieved a maximum cell density of 0.08 ± 0.01 · 106 cells.mL-1 in FBS-based medium, 0.12 ± 0.01 · 106 cells.mL-1 in HPL-based medium and 0.27 ± 0.03· 106 cells.mL-1 in serum free medium after six days. In order to drive consistency and yield into the manufacturing process, a process
control system was developed for the FBS-based microcarrier expansion process in a 100 mL DASbox bioreactor platform to control DO, pH, impeller rate and temperature. Reduced impeller
rates and DO concentrations were found to be beneficial, with a final cell density of 0.11 ± 0.02 · 106 cells.mL-1 and improved post-harvest outgrowth and colony-forming unit (CFU) potential compared to uncontrolled microcarrier and monolayer culture. This controlled bioreactor expansion process was then applied to the previously developed serum-free microcarrier process, eventually achieving a final cell density of 1.04 ± 0.07 · 106 cells.mL-1, whilst retaining key post-harvest hMSC characteristics. Following the controlled serum-free expansion and
harvest of hMSCs, a downstream and cryopreservation process was developed to assess the impact of prolonged holding times and subsequent unit-operations on hMSC quality
characteristics. This showed that hMSCs are able to maintain key characteristics throughout the entire end-to-end process, demonstrating their potential for commercial scale manufacture.


Recent few years are proved very progressive in terms of energy efficient protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks, but energy efficiency is still a point of focus in sensor networks. Among various MAC layer protocols, Wise MAC is known as one of the most energy efficient protocols. Non-Persistent Carrier Sense Multiple Access (NP-CSMA) and the preamble sampling are the main techniques used in basic Wise MAC protocol. Basically they are used to reduce the power consumption when energy is wasted in listening to idle medium. This paper investigates the Wise MAC protocol with different important schemes that are used in implementation of Wise MAC in sensor networks. These schemes basically emphasize on energy saving methods in Wise MAC. Various modifications are done to the original Wise MAC to make it more energy efficient, with the same motive of increasing energy efficiency, adaptive Wise MAC protocol with dynamic duty cycle and the adaptive Contention Window is proposed.


Effective cleaning and disinfection/sterilisation using a properly validated washer-disinfector/steriliser will protect patients and staff from infection; prolong the life of the equipment and ensure the quality of the diagnostic/therapeutic procedure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how instrument trays were received in the decontamination area, checked, sorted, cleaned, inspected, wrapped, sterilized and how each processing stage was validated. An audit of the CSSD facility was also conducted. This study was conducted at Tygerberg Hospital during the period of 18th of June to 18th of July 2013 as part of the Intermediate course in decontamination and sterilisation for Postgraduate diploma in Infection prevention and control. This was a descriptive survey, whereby an audit tool and other observational tools for capturing the required information were developed and used to collect information. The results from the audit conducted at CSSD from 21st June to 5th July 2013 indicated 86% compliance. The control of instruments before and after use was not documented in 37% and 60% cases respectively. There was lack of displayed written SOPs for reusable instruments onwards, and for instruments manual cleaning in CSSD. A good program of decontamination and sterilization was observed in the CSSD of TBH. However, some improvements are still needed such as proper use of detergents, hand hygiene practice, use of PPE, record keeping. Staff training, developing and displaying of required SOPs, regular monitoring and evaluation of activities should also be tackled to enhance the compliance.


Using data envelopment analysis (DEA) this study attempts to compare the relative efficiencies of supply chain management (SCM) and information system (IS) practices of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in food products and beverages in two neighbouring South East European countries, Turkey and Bulgaria. While there exist some significant differences between the efficiency level of SCM practices and the country of origin of the sample firms, no significant differences were found between the efficiency levels of both IS practices and the composite variable of SCM&IS practices, and the country of origin of the SMEs. Turkish SMEs tend to achieve higher efficiency level with respect to the implementation of SCM practices. There are also significant differences in returns to scale for each group of input variables with respect to the country of origin of the SMEs. The analysis of the improvement potential of inputs indicates that Bulgarian SMEs place more emphasis on managing most of the SCM practices to enhance their SCM efficiency. However, no statistically significant differences in general were noted between both groups of firms with regard to the level of resources and efforts exerted on IS and SCM and IS practices. In terms of the overall average of output deficits, Turkish SMEs were found to have significantly higher output deficits than Bulgarian SMEs with respect to all three groups of input variables.


The inter-relation between zero-field splitting (ZFS) parameters and local lattice structures of the (CrSe4)6− clusters in ZnSe semiconductors has been established by using the complete diagonalization (of the energy matrix) method. On the basis of this, the local lattice distortions, the ZFS parameters D, a, F and the optical spectrum for Cr2+ ions doped into ZnSe are theoretically investigated, and the contributions of the spin singlets have been taken into account. The calculated ZFS parameters are in good agreement with the experimental values. From our calculations, the tetragonal distortion parameters ΔR = 0.091Å and Δθ = 4.28° of Cr2+ in ZnSe are acquired, and the results suggest that there exists a tetragonal expansion distortion for the local lattice structure of (CrSe4)6− clusters in ZnSe crystals. The influence of the spin singlets on ZFS parameters is also discussed, indicating that the contributions to ZFS parameters a and F cannot be ignored.


Vanilla production is threatened by fungi, which cause diseases such as Fusariumoxysporum. This research aimed to identify Fusarium associated with rot of wild Vanilla in Nayarit, México, by morphological, molecular and pathogenic characteristics. Morphological characterization was based on colony color, development of microconidia, macroconidia and chlamydospores on specific media, and growth rate. Molecular analysis was by sequencing the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region of rDNA gene. Pathogenicity test was conducted in healthy leaves and stems of wild Vanilla. The colonies were classified on four groups by pigmentation. Strains of fast, moderate and slow growth were observed. Of the 40 isolates, morphological analysis showed that 38 corresponded to Fusariumoxysporum and two to Fusariumsolani. The sequences of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region of 38 strains had a similarity of 98% to 100% with Fusariumoxysporum, the remaining two strains with Fusarium sp. Nineteen strains originated lesions on leaves from the fourth day and up to 90 days in stems. It was found that F. oxysporum is mostly the causal agent of rot of wild Vanilla in Nayarit, Mexico.


Abstract. In this study, an airborne Ka-band Precipitation Cloud Radar (KPR) is used to carry out a cloud observation experiment.By analyzing the attenuation of the snow echo, it is found that during the snowfall, due to the low liquid water content, the KPR attenuation is small on the detection path, and after preliminary comparative analysis, the maximum attenuation correction value is 0.5 dBZ. According to the echo attenuation analysis of mixed precipitation, the melting layer is found to be the key factor affecting the attenuation correction. This study hereby proposes an adaptive echo attenuation correction method based on the melting layer (AEC), and uses the ground-based S-band radar to extract the echo on the aircraft trajectory to verify the correction results. The results show that the echo attenuation correction value above the melting layer is related to the flight position. The aircraft above the melting layer is dominated by ice particles, with small attenuation correction value, the maximum correction amount of 0.13 dBZ; when the aircraft is at and just below the melting layer, a water film is prone to be on the antenna, which leads to serious attenuation of the KPR detection path, with the attenuation correction value 1~2 dBZ. For the precipitation echo below the melting layer, due to the abundant rain and water vapor content, the KPR attenuation is significant with maximum correction value of about 5 dBZ. Compared with the S-band radar, before attenuation correction, the total mean relative error is 15 %, and the correlation coefficient is 0.82; after correction, the total mean relative error is 6 %, and the correlation coefficient is 0.90, indicating the significant improvement of the KPR data quality.


We report the preparation of ceramic pigments using industrial wa stes as primary sources. An Al-rich sludge (generated in the wastewater treatment unit of an anodising or surface coating industrial plant), a galvanizing sludge (from the Cr/Ni plating process ), a Fe-rich sludge (generated during steel wiredrawing), a foundry sand and a marble sawing sludge are combined to formulate distinct pigment structures via the solid state reaction method. In particular, a black spinel and a novel blue pigment based on the hibonite structure are detailed. A green olivine, and brown and pink sphenes are also reported. The pigments were fully characterized, and then were tested in a standard transparent bright ceramic glaze. Typical working conditions and colour development are fully described.


The paper reviews and draws lessons from the experience of fast growing economies including a sub-set of these termed High Growth Economies (HGEs) with a decadal rate of over 7 per cent. It then reviews the history of the Indian growth acceleration following the reforms of the 1990s and its future prospects given the recent slowdown. It analysis the potential dangers and reasons for India's growth slowdown and proposes policy reforms for sustaining fast growth.


In this comment we discuss the problem of reconciling the linear efficiency of price returns with the long-memory of supply and demand. We present new evidence that shows that efficiency is maintained by a liquidity imbalance that co-moves with the imbalance of buyer vs. seller initiated transactions. For example, during a period where there is an excess of buyer initiated transactions, there is also more liquidity for buy orders than sell orders, so that buy orders generate smaller and less frequent price responses than sell orders. At the moment a buy order is placed the transaction sign imbalance tends to dominate, generating a price impact. However, the liquidity imbalance rapidly increases with time, so that after a small number of time steps it cancels all the inefficiency caused by the transaction sign imbalance, bounding the price impact. While the view presented by Bouchaud et al. of a fixed and temporary bare price impact is self-consistent and formally correct, we argue that viewing this in terms of a variable but permanent price impact provides a simpler and more
natural view. This is in the spirit of the original conjecture of Lillo and Farmer, but generalized to allow for finite time lags in the build up of the liquidity imbalance
after a transaction. We discuss the possible strategic motivations that give rise to the liquidity imbalance and offer an alternative hypothesis. We also present some results that call into question the statistical significance of large swings in expected price impact at long times.


This Book Review contends that the perfectly rational market may be a myth, not just in the sense of a false or over-simplified account of reality, but also in the deeper, anthropological sense of cultural explanation. Part I describes how rational-market theories were developed by financial economists and applied to Wall Street, sometimes without adequate appreciation for the difference between simplified economic models and real-world behavior. Part II contends that if the rational-market theory has met with acceptance that outstrips its empirical support, the favorable reception may be explained in part by the theory's congruence with broader normative views about laissez faire social ordering.


Abstract Current theoretical models for predicting the concrete cone breakout capacity of tension loaded headed anchors do not consider the influence of member thickness, size of anchor head, and orthogonal surface reinforcement. In the present study, the influence of the aforementioned parameters was studied both numerically and experimentally. Both the numerical and experimental results showed that the tensile resistance of headed anchors increases by increasing the member thickness or if orthogonal surface reinforcement is present. In addition, the anchorage capacity further increases with increase of the anchor head size. The current model for predicting the concrete cone failure load of tension loaded headed anchors were refined and extended by incorporating three modification factors to account for the influence of the member thickness, size of anchor head, and orthogonal surface reinforcement. The accuracy of the proposed model was verified based on the results of 124 tests on single headed anchors from literature.


Oxygen plasma was employed to treat a fluorosilicone acrylate RGP contact lens material (Boston EO) in order to improve surface hydrophilicity. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was applied to characterize the surface chemical state. The surface morphology and hydrophilicity were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and contact angle measurement respectively. The surface contact angle measurement indicated an evident improvement of surface hydrophilicity after plasma treatment. XPS results indicated that the incorporation of oxygen and the transform of -Si-CH3 into hydrophilic -Si-O after plasma treatment were the main reasons for surface hydrophilicity improvement. SEM showed some decrease of surface roughness under moderate plasma condition. But plasma with higher power would etch the material surface.


BACKGROUND
Although recent evidence suggests worse outcomes for patients admitted to the hospital on a weekend, the impact of weekend discharge is less understood.

METHODS
Utilizing the 2012 California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development database, the impact of weekend discharge on 30-day hospital readmission rates for patients admitted with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), congestive heart failure (CHF), or pneumonia (PNA) was investigated.

RESULTS
Out of 266,519 patients, 60,097 (22.5%) were discharged on a weekend. Unadjusted 30-day hospital readmission rates were similar between weekend and weekday discharges (AMI: 21.9% vs 21.9%; CHF: 15.4% vs 16.0%; PNA: 12.1% vs 12.4%). Patients discharged on a weekday had a longer length of stay and were more often discharged to a skilled nursing facility. However, in multivariable logistic regression models, weekend discharge was not associated with readmission (AMI: odds ratio [OR] 1.02 [95% CI: 0.98-1.06]; CHF: OR 0.99 [95% CI: 0.94-1.03]; PNA: OR 1.02 (95% CI: 0.98-1.07)).

CONCLUSIONS
Among patients in California with AMI, CHF, and PNA, discharge on a weekend was not associated with an increased hospital readmission rate.


Multi-way loading technology provides an efficient method to form integral triple valve parts. However, some forming defects such as cracking and folding are prone to occur, which will weaken the forming limit and quality of formed triple valves. Based on numerical simulation, taking forming load, damage, stress, strain and folding as objectives the forming limit and feasibility were studied by changing geometric dimension of billet and triple valve to be formed. The results showed that (1) for a given billet, as the inner diameter of triple valve increasing, the forming load, maximum damage value, stress and strain increased, i.e. the larger the inner diameter of triple valve the more difficult to form; (2) For triple valves with a given inner-outer diameter ration the maximum damage, maximum stress and strain values increased as triple valve outer diameter decreasing while forming load changed a little. The possibility of folding would augment with the increase of inner-outer diameter ratio d/D, when d/D≥0.8, folding occurred under the forming condition in this paper.


Background: People in prison are at high risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and often have a history of injection drug use and mental health disorders. Simple test-and-treat regimens which require minimal monitoring are critical. Methods: This integrated real-world analysis evaluated the effectiveness of once daily sofosbuvir/velpatasvir (SOF/VEL) in 20 prison cohorts across Europe and Canada. The primary outcome was sustained virological response (SVR) in the effectiveness population (EP), defined as patients with a valid SVR status. Secondary outcomes were reasons for not achieving SVR, adherence and time between HCV RNA diagnosis and SOF/VEL treatment. Results: Overall, 526 people in prison were included with 98.9% SVR achieved in the EP (n = 442). Cure rates were not compromised by drug use or existence of mental health disorders. Conclusion: SOF/VEL for 12 weeks is highly successful in prison settings and enables the implementation of a simple treatment algorithm in line with guideline recommendations and test-and-treat strategies.


Abstract Anti-stigma campaigns have received a lot of media attention. They are of interest in the field of medicine, psychology and social care. Multimedia, through its specific means, may be an extremely useful tool in an anti-stigma campaign. We made an informative movie that presents an event in the life of two children with psychological disorders: specific phobia and obsessive compulsive disorder, respectively. The movie was played in 24 Cluj-Napoca schools and high schools and the 591 students, aged 14-18, who watched it filled in a set of five questions. This paper aimed to evaluate how children and adolescents may be influenced by a movie that was also intended to inform them and to fight preconceptions regarding children who suffer from such psychological disorders. The results obtained after quantifying the respondents' answers to the questions were mainly positive. Such movies may be a therapeutic tool as well as a valuable anti-stigma campaign. Keywords: anti-stigma campaign, obsessive compulsive disorder, specific phobia, movie Introduction Anti-stigma campaigns have received a lot of media attention. They are of interest in the field of medicine, psychology and social care. According to the Romanian Explanatory Dictionary (RED) to stigmatize means to openly characterize or mark as shameful; to express strong disapproval; to mark with a stigma or stigmata; to dishonor. Stigmatization refers to: * The use of disgraceful words or phrases in connection with certain behaviors or features of one or more persons with mental health problems (e.g. "insane", "loony", "nuts", "brainsick" etc); * Limiting someone's identity to a certain behavior or feature; * Aversion, negative attitude towards labeled persons and avoidance or refusal to support such persons; * Rejection, hostility, disdain, social exclusion and discrimination of such persons. ("Stigmatization" n.d.) The importance of anti-stigma campaigns lies in educating the population towards decreasing the negative attitudes that surround the mental illnesses. Such campaigns encourage young people to support and accept their friends who suffer from mental health problems. They should know that these problems can be treated. A study carried out by the Press Monitoring Agency between November 2006 and January 2007 revealed that out of 637 articles about persons with mental health problems or behaviors specific to such persons, almost 50% stigmatized individuals suffering from psychological problems while only 17% contained educational information (Press Monitoring Agency, 2007). Studies conducted by the World Health Organization concluded that over 450 million people all over the world suffer from psychological disorders. Romania is ranked fifth in Europe as far as the incidence of psychological disorders is concerned. Currently 20% of Romanians suffer from psychological disorders; 23000 cases of depression are diagnosed every year. It is estimated that one out of four Romanians will develop a mental disorder in the course of their life (World Health Organisation). Movies have become one of the most relaxing and pleasant leisure time activities since the invention of cinematography 100 years ago. After 1990 movies have been increasingly used in psychological and psychiatric counseling since they are able to move, motivate, and influence (Biris, 2006). Given this context, we made an informational/didactic movie that depicts an event in the life of two children with psychological disorders: specific phobia and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The aim of this movie was to inform the population and to increase the society's level of acceptance towards individuals suffering from psychological problems, especially children and adolescents. We also intended to use this movie in an anti-stigma campaign. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how children and adolescents may be influenced by a movie that was also intended to inform them and to fight preconceptions regarding people who suffer from OCD and specific phobia. …


Abstract First-principles simulations and high-pressure experiments were used to study the stability of BaCO3 carbonates at high pressures. Witherite, which is orthorhombic and isotypic with CaCO3 aragonite, is stable at ambient conditions. As pressure increases, BaCO3 transforms from witherite to an orthorhombic post-aragonite structure at 8 GPa. The calculated bulk modulus of the post-aragonite structure is 60.7 GPa, which is slightly less than that from experiments. This structure shows an axial anisotropic compressibility and the a axis intersects with the caxis at 70 GPa, which implies that the pressure-induced phase transition reported in previous experimental study is misidentified. Although a pyroxene-like structure is stable in Mg- and Ca-carbonates at pressures >100 GPa, our simulations showed that this structure does not appear in BaCO3.


We present a simple approximation of the nonperturbative renormalization group designed for the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation and show that it yields the correct phase diagram, including the strong-coupling phase with reasonable scaling exponent values in physical dimensions. We find indications of a possible qualitative change of behavior around d=4. We discuss how our approach can be systematically improved.


Cells exchanged during pregnancy can live on indefinitely in the mother and child. This so-called microchimerism, viewed at first as an oddity, has been linked to autoimmune diseases and complications of pregnancy. Indeed, microchimerism might help explain one of the puzzles about autoimmune diseases: why many of them strike more women than men.


OBJECTIVES
We investigated whether African American mothers' upward economic mobility across the life course and having been of low birth weight are associated with the preterm birth of their children.

METHODS
We performed stratified and multilevel logistic regression analyses on an Illinois transgenerational data set of African American infants (born 1989-1991) and their mothers (n = 11 265; born 1956-1976) with appended US Census income information.

RESULTS
African American mothers with a lifelong residence in impoverished neighborhoods had a preterm birthrate of 18.7%. African American mothers with early life impoverishment who experienced low, modest, or high upward economic mobility by adulthood had lower preterm birthrates of 16.0% (rate ratio [RR] = 0.9; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.8, 0.9), 15.2% (RR = 0.8; 95% CI = 0.7, 0.9), and 12.4% (RR = 0.7; 95% CI = 0.6, 0.8), respectively. In multilevel logistic regression models of former low birth weight and non-low birth weight mothers aged 20 to 35 years, the adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of preterm birth for those who experienced high upward economic mobility (vs those with lifelong impoverishment) was 0.9 (0.5-1.6) and 0.7 (0.5-0.9), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
African American mother's upward economic mobility from early life impoverishment is associated with a decreased risk of preterm birth. However, consistent with fetal programming, this phenomenon fails to occur among mothers born at low birth weight.


This report describes a rare case of invasive extramammary Paget disease of the vulva with signet ring cell morphology in a 58-yr-old woman with a history of signet ring cell carcinoma of the stomach. This case was initially misinterpreted as a metastatic gastric carcinoma to the vulva because an initial small, superficial biopsy specimen showed infiltration of signet ring cells in the dermis without intraepidermal Paget cells. However, a surgically resected specimen showed concordant immunophenotypes in both intraepidermal Paget cells and intradermal signet ring cell components with immunoreactivity to cytokeratin (CK) 7, CEA, and gross cystic disease fluid protein-15, and immunonegativity for CK20, MUC5AC, and MUC6. Gastric signet ring cell carcinoma showed immunoreactivity to CK7, CEA, MUC5AC, and MUC6, and immunonegativity for gross cystic disease fluid protein-15 and CK20. The diagnosis of primary invasive extramammary Paget disease of the vulva was also supported by a long interval after gastrectomy (7.5 yr), the solitary involvement of the vulva, and the absence of lymphovascular invasion. This case demonstrates that invasive extramammary Paget disease may have a signet ring cell morphology and immunohistochemical profile similar to those of gastric signet ring cell carcinoma, but the addition of gross cystic disease fluid protein-15 immunostain in the panel of markers is helpful in the differential diagnosis.


Introduction: As in many cosmetic procedures, assessment of surgical success in rhinoplasty depends on surgeon satisfaction and, mainly, o n patient satisfaction. Nevertheless, there are few studies on the patient's postsurgical point of view. The aim of this study is to evaluate the degree of satisfaction correlated with quality of life in the late post-operative period of patients undergoing rhinoplasty in the Integrated Plastic Surgery Services of the Ipiranga Hospital. Methods: Patients undergoing aesthetic rhinoplasty between 2013 and 2014 (n = 60) were selected for the application of two validated questionnaires. All procedures were performed as indicated with the same surgical routine. Results: Questions 2, 5b, 7, 9a, 9d and 11d of the SF -36 questionnaire showed significant to at least one question of the ROE questionnaire (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Quality of life is related to the degree of satisfaction in the postoperative of cosmetic rhinoplasty in six issues. ■ ABSTRACT


As part of the start-up strategy for Digital Semiconductor's Fab 6 facility, a project was implemented to use a new technology for monitoring particle levels in vacuum process tools. The current practice of running witness wafers to gauge surface defects has several drawbacks, including wafers cost and reduction of process tool throughput. A development project team was put into place to install, analyze, and implement vacuum In Situ Particle Monitors (ISPM) into Digital Semiconductor's Fab 6 manufacturing process. ISPM process sensors provide particle count information from inside a process tool in a real-time manner. ISPM sensors use light scattering techniques to detect particle levels within the vacuum system of a semiconductor process tool. By monitoring particle levels continuously, the ISPMs can quickly signal out of specification process events and monitor routine operations without impacting tool availability. This paper discusses the application of ISPM sensors onto both etch and deposition process tools. Specifically, data for an oxide etch process tool is presented. The ISPM data has shown correlation to tool conditions and been used to identify various process problems. Reduction of process monitor wafers has been achieved for the oxide etch process and is fully implemented in manufacturing. A crude ROI estimate shows a payback period of approximately 50 weeks. In all, the ISPM program in Fab 6 has demonstrated good results and is targeting other process applications.


Programmable Thermal Dissociation (PTD) has been used to investigate the chemical speciation of Reactive Gaseous Mercury (RGM, Hg2+). RGM was collected on denuders and analyzed using PTD. The technique was tested in a field campaign at a coal-fired power plant in Pensacola, Florida. Stack gas samples were collected from ducts located after the electrostatic precipitator and prior to entering the stack. An airship was used to sample from the stack plume, downwind of the stack exit. The PTD profiles from these samples were compared with PTD profiles of HgCl2. Comparison of stack and in-plume samples suggest that the chemical speciation are the same and that it is possible to track a specific chemical form of RGM from the stack and follow its evolution in the stack plume. Comparison of the measured plume RGM with the amount calculated from in-stack measurements and the measured plume dilution suggest that the stack and plume RGM concentrations are consistent with dilution. The PTD profiles of the stack and plume samples are consistent with HgCl2 being the chemical form of the sampled RGM. Comparison with literature PTD profiles of reference mercury compounds suggests no other likely candidates for the speciation of RGM.


Two lidar methods of determining an atmospheric extinction coefficient profile are compared. The methods are the Klett inversion method for elastic lidar return and the log-derivative method for rotational Raman backscattered signal processing. The comparison includes numerical modeling and processing of lidar measurements when both the elastic and the rotational Raman backscattered signals are measured simultaneously. The suggested idea is that such a comparison can be used as a criterion for the reliability of the results of lidar measurements, similar to the comparison between the results of lidar and contact measurements.


Groundwater is precious natural resource that has direct linkage with the livelihood of the people. The Nepalese Terai lying in the southern part of the country is the northernmost extension of Indo-Gangetic Plain that can be considered as having major groundwater reserve that has been significantly exploited to meet the domestic and irrigation water demand. Siraha district lies in the eastern part of Nepal and is highly populated. The southern part of the Siraha district is represented by Terai Plain with vast agriculture land and groundwater is being exploited principally for domestic and irrigation purposes. However, the study for proper understanding of the groundwater resources in the area has not been carried out so far and hence the present study is aimed to assessment of groundwater resources in the area. Information from 37 lithologs of the deep tube wells was analyzed to assess distribution of subsurface materials in the study area. The southward fining succession is seen in the lithological sections drawn from the borehole lithological data. In most of the study area, the coarser materials like sand and gravels are distributed more than 50 percent in average, within the drilled depth. Aquifers in the study area are both unconfined and confined types. The transmissivity is high in the middle part while water level is high in the southern part of the study area with the general flow of groundwater from north to south.


Satellite infrared imagery for three years (1980, 1981, 1982) are analysed using a colour enhancement technique to derive a cloud climatology of the southwest United States summer 'monsoon'. Diurnally-stratified and weekly statistics are obtained for different cloud levels and used as an index of the monsoon intensity in each year. Strong diurnal variations in cloudiness, related to surface heating, are identified for July and August, as are marked interannual differences. These regional-scale cloud variations are found to correlate more closely with the 700mb wind direction than with the height of the 700 mb pressure surface when considered for a representative station (Winslow, Arizona). A satellite-based definition of 'monsoon' best considers variations of the total cloud rather than of any individual cloud level(s).

Several surface and 700 mb synoptic circulation indices are identified and related statistically to the intraseasonal cloudiness changes. The most significant association is found for the variations in latitude of the Bermuda high pressure ridge that presumably relates to changes in subsidence. However, the sign of this relationship may reverse in years when other circulation systems, notably the North Pacific anticyclone, also influence the desert Southwest. Consideration of the zonal westerly index between 45 and 65°N tends to improve the correlation between the Bermuda ridge and summer monsoon cloudiness over the region. Such cloud-circulation studies have implications not only for climate dynamics but also for ongoing solar energy research in the American Southwest.


A numerical method for the modified time fractional Fokker-Planck equation is proposed. Stability and convergence of the method are rigorously discussed by means of the Fourier method. We prove that the difference scheme is unconditionally stable, and convergence order is , where and are the temporal and spatial step sizes, respectively. Finally, numerical results are given to confirm the theoretical analysis.


Regnase-1 is an RNA-binding protein with ribonuclease activities, and once induced it controls diverse immune responses by degrading mRNAs that encode inflammatory cytokines and costimulatory molecules, thus exerting potent anti-inflammatory functions. However, Regnase-1 is extremely sensitive to degradation by proteases and therefore short-lived. Here, we constructed a mutant Regnase-1 that is resistant to degradation and expressed this mutant in vivo as a transgene specifically in T cells. We found that the mutant Regnase-1 transgenic mice exhibited profound lymphopenia in the periphery despite grossly normal spleen and lymph nodes, and spontaneously accepted skin allografts without any treatment. Mechanistic studies showed that in the transgenic mice thymic T cell development was disrupted, such that most of the developing thymocytes were arrested at the double positive stage, with few mature CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the thymus and periphery. Our findings suggest that interfering with the dynamic Regnase-1 expression in T cells disrupts T cell development and functions and further studies are warranted to uncover the mechanisms involved.


Structural segmentation of musical audio signals is one of many active areas of Music Information Retrieval (MIR) research. One aspect of this important topic which has so far received little attention though is the potential advantage to be gained by utilizing multitrack audio. This paper gives an overview of current segmentation techniques, and demonstrates that by applying a particular segmentation algorithm to multitrack data, rather than the usual case of fully mixed audio, we achieve a significant and quantifiable increase in accuracy when locating segment boundaries. Additionally, we provide details of a structurally annotated multitrack test set available for use by other researchers.


After horseradish peroxidase has been injected into the cat parietal area, in the ipsilateral visual and limbic cortical areas, as well as in the contralateral parietal area long axonal associative and callosal stellate neural cells are revealed. Their bodies are round or oval, 18-25 mcm in size. In the associative neurons--they are always labelled better than the callosal ones--radial arrangement with nearly an equal distance between each other is specific for the dendrites, while in the callosal neurons they are grouped polarly. The associative stellate cells are situated in the layer II and in the upper part of the layer III of the visual and limbic cortex at the side where the enzyme is injected, and the callosal ones--in the lower part of the layer III and in the layer IV of the homotypical portions of the contralateral parietal cortex area. The main difference between the neurons detected is a various length of the axon. In the cortico-cortical ipsilateral neurons the axons are nearly 3--4 times shorter than those in the commissural stellate cells. Hence, the neuronal category described is present not only in the projection cortical zones, as it has been stated previously, but in the associative areas, as well.


5G networks are expected to be deployed in 2020 and are considered as a global game changer from a technological, economic, societal and environmental perspective with very aggressive performance levels in terms of latency, energy efficiency, wireless broadband capacity, elasticity, etc. Many experts say that the next big step for cellular networks is not 5G but its cloudifica-tion that will support the explosion of radically new services and applications ranging from immersive five-sense media to ambient sensing intelligence and a pervasive introduction of artificial intelligence. In our vision, the next generation of wireless systems will transform the 5G service-oriented networks into user and machine ad-hoc dynamic (re)configuration of network slices. This will be enabled by software-defined end-to-end solutions from the core to the radio access network, including the air interface as well as the RF and antenna systems which are envisioned as one of the keys to meet the user/service requirements. Users and machines will be indeed able to dynamically (re)configure network slices thanks to intelligent personal edges. This paper presents our perspective of the 6G air interface and raise the concept of software defined artificial intelligence and air interface (SD-AI 2) as a framework of 6G air interface. This concept is an extension of the one initially proposed for 5G [1]. Instead of a global optimized air interface, we envisage to bring agility and flexibility to air interface with the help of artificial intelligence and learning techniques to improve efficiency. The paper describes the proposed context and highlights the technical challenges at different levels.


Objective To evaluate the effect of guselkumab on enthesitis and dactylitis in a phase II trial of patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods This was a phase II, randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial of adults with active PsA (≥3 swollen and ≥3 tender joints and C reactive protein ≥0.3 mg/dL) despite conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, and/or oral corticosteroid therapy. Patients were randomised to subcutaneous injections of guselkumab 100 mg or placebo at weeks 0, 4 and every 8 weeks, with placebo crossover to guselkumab at week 24. Dactylitis was scored on a scale of 0–3 on each digit; enthesitis was assessed using the Leeds Enthesitis Index (0–6). Other assessments included American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and Psoriasis Area and Severity Index responses. Results Of 149 randomised patients, 107 patients had enthesitis (mean score=2.7) and 81 patients had dactylitis (mean dactylitis score=5.7) at baseline. Mean improvements in enthesitis and dactylitis at week 24 were greater in the guselkumab group versus placebo and sustained through week 56. Similar results were observed for the proportions of patients with resolution of enthesitis and dactylitis. At week 56, mean improvements in enthesitis and dactylitis among patients who switched from placebo to guselkumab treatment were similar to those in the guselkumab group. In the guselkumab group, ACR20 responders had greater improvements in enthesitis and dactylitis versus non-responders (week 24). Conclusions At week 24, the guselkumab group had greater mean improvements in enthesitis and dactylitis and greater proportions of patients with resolution of enthesitis and dactylitis versus placebo. ACR20 response was associated with improvements in enthesitis and dactylitis. Trial registration number ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02319759. URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02319759; Registered 18 December 2014.


Al2O3-B2O3-SiO2 glass containing europium ions was prepared by a sol-gel method. The excitation spectrum of the Eu3+ ions in the glass consists of the charge transfer and f-f transition absorptions of the Eu3+ ions. The emission spectrum indicates the coexistence of the Eu2+ and Eu3+ ions. The formation of some reducing agents in the heat-treatment process should be responsible for the reduction from Eu3+ to Eu2+ ions. The fluorescence line-narrowing spectra reveal that there are two different environments for the Eu3+ ions. Persist spectral hole was burned in the excitation of the 5D0-7F0 transition of the Eu3+ ions. We suggested a possible mechanism on the persistent spectral hole burning of the Eu3+ ion in the glass.


The study of volcanic activity is important from a scientific point of view as it allows for a better understanding of one of the most spectacular geological phenomena and of the working principles that are at the basis of geophysics. Furthermore, there are numerous events that directly result from volcanic eruptions and that affect many populations. Therefore, improving the prediction methods of eruptive phenomena would be of great benefit. There are more than 1,500 potentially active volcanoes in the world, and roughly 10% of the world's population live in areas directly threatened by volcanoes. In all of these areas, volcanoes have a strong influence on many day-to-day activities. The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland in April 2010 caused the cancellation of more than 100,000 European flights and, consequently, left more than 10 million passengers stranded. Each year, on a graver note, many regions in the world are destroyed or heavily damaged by lava or pyroclastic flows, in some cases, resulting in numbers of casualties that could have been avoided with the improvement of early warning systems.


: This paper attempts to elucidate whether common (nonspecific) brain mechanisms are responsible for seizures of epileptic and nonepileptic origin. A comparative study of the following 4 paroxysmal disorders--partial epileptic seizures, paroxysmal dystonia, pseudoseizures and panic attacks was performed. Spontaneous (EEG-mapping) and evoked (contingent negative variation-CNV) bioelectrical activity was measures in all patients several times during interictal periods and after 24-hour sleep deprivation. The main common neurophysiological features of these types of paroxysmal disorders were the increased total power of spontaneous electrical activity, an asymmetric increase of theta-EEC power in the right hemisphere, an increase in total amplitude of CNV. Readiness of the brain for the development of the paroxysms was characterized by dynamic increases of the above parameters of spontaneous and evoked bioelectrical activity.


Gastric cancer, if diagnosed at the symptomatic stage, has a poor prognosis, with an overall 5 year survival of about 5%. The surgical treatment of early gastric cancer increases this 5-year survival rate to 90%. In Japan, endoscopic surveillance has increased the proportion of gastric cancer detected at an early stage from 15% in 1960 to 50% in 1985, and the overall 5 year survival has been increased from 35% to 70%. Mass screening in Japan is worthwhile because the incidence of gastric cancer is about 80 cases per 100,000 population per annum (age standardized). But in other countries where the incidence is much lower the case for mass screening is weak and selective screening of those at high risk is advocated.


Pre-brachytherapy biopsies and post-brachytherapy oesophagectomy specimens of 10 patients with early squamous cell carcinoma of the middle third of the oesophagus were examined for the expression of p53, bcl-2 and apoptosis using immunohistochemical markers. There was no expression of p53 in one patient in both pre- and post-brachytherapy specimens. In 8 patients, p53 staining was strongly positive (3+) with approximately 50% or more cells, and with diffuse and no specific pattern in the pre-brachytherapy biopsies. The tumour areas of the post-brachytherapy specimens of this group showed strong 3+ positivity with p53 (10-50% positive cell count), with the pattern being focal and peripheral in the tumour islands. The centre of the tumour islands showed necrosis and/or keratinisation. In one patient, the pre-brachytherapy biopsy showed expression of p53 while the post-brachytherapy specimen was negative. bcl-2 expression in both pre- and post-brachytherapy was equivocal and inconclusive in both the pre- and post-brachytherapy specimens. Apoptosis was negative in all the pre- and post-brachytherapy tissue sections in the presence of positive controls. Brachytherapy does not cause cell death by apoptosis but by necrosis and maturation of the cells into better differentiated cells, which is caused by OH free radical, and induction of the keratin gene respectively. It is possible that brachytherapy may cause destruction of cells containing wild-type p53, while mutant p53 in cells located at the tumour periphery escape the effect of brachytherapy. This may be responsible for the high incidence of local recurrence and distant metastasis in oesophageal cancer treated with radiotherapy. There is no effect of brachytherapy on bcl-2 expression in oesophageal cancer.


Abstract Coercive measures and social pressures may affect patients and the treatment for substance abuse disorder. This study analyzes the reactions of adolescents who use psychoactive substances to potentially coercive situations and its effects during treatment. The collected data were analyzed with mixed methods. Results show the prevalence of informal social pressures (48.1%). We classified patients' reactions as acceptance (17.5%), resistance (31.6%), and lack of motivation (14%). Resistance and lack of motivation can affect the treatment and patients' autonomy. The use of mixed methods was essential to analyze the medical records regarding senses and meanings and allowed us to quantify and compare the findings with the literature and the qualitative data.


Purpose: To compare a novel, sustained release formulation and a bolus injection of a targeted nanocarrier for the ability to specifically deplete cells responsible for the development of posterior capsule opacification (PCO) in week-long, dynamic cell cultures. Methods: A novel, injectable, thermosensitive poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid)-b-poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA-PEG-PLGA) triblock copolymer hydrogel was engineered for the sustained release of targeted, nucleic acid nanocarriers loaded with cytotoxic doxorubicin (G8:3DNA:Dox). Human rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cells were used due to their expression of brain-specific angiogenesis inhibitor 1 (BAI1), a specific marker for the myofibroblasts responsible for PCO. Under constant media flow, nanocarriers were injected into cell cultures as either a bolus or within the hydrogel. Cells were fixed and stained every other day for 7 days to compare targeted depletion of BAI1+ cells. Results: The formulation transitions to a gel at physiological temperatures, is optically clear, noncytotoxic, and can release G8:3DNA:Dox nanocarriers for up to 4 weeks. In RD cell cultures, G8:3DNA:Dox nanocarriers specifically eliminated BAI1+ cells. The bolus nanocarrier dose showed significantly reduced cell depletion overtime, while the sustained release of nanocarriers showed increased cell depletion over time. By day 7, <2% of BAI1+ cells were depleted by the bolus injection and 74.2% BAI1+ cells were targeted by the sustained release of nanocarriers. Conclusions: The sustained release of nanocarriers from the hydrogel allows for improved therapeutic delivery in a dynamic system. This method can offer a more effective and efficient method of prophylactically treating PCO after cataract surgery.


We study identification in static, simultaneous move finite games of complete information, where the presence of multiple Nash equilibria may lead to partial identification of the model parameters. The identification regions for these parameters proposed in the related literature are known not to be sharp. Using the theory of random sets, we show that the sharp identification region can be obtained as the set of minimizers of the distance from the conditional distribution of game's outcomes given covariates, to the conditional Aumann expectation given covariates of a properly defined random set. This is the random set of probability distributions over action profiles given profit shifters implied by mixed strategy Nash equilibria. The sharp identification region can be approximated arbitrarily accurately through a finite number of moment inequalities based on the support function of the conditional Aumann expectation. When only pure strategy Nash equilibria are played, the sharp identification region is exactly determined by a finite number of moment inequalities. We discuss how our results can be extended to other solution concepts, such as for example correlated equilibrium or rationality and rationalizability. We show that calculating the sharp identification region using our characterization is computationally feasible. We also provide a simple algorithm which finds the set of inequalities that need to be checked in order to insure sharpness. We use examples analyzed in the literature to illustrate the gains in identification afforded by our method.


Significance Using administrative register data with information on family relationships and cognitive ability for three decades of Norwegian male birth cohorts, we show that the increase, turning point, and decline of the Flynn effect can be recovered from within-family variation in intelligence scores. This establishes that the large changes in average cohort intelligence reflect environmental factors and not changing composition of parents, which in turn rules out several prominent hypotheses for retrograde Flynn effects. Population intelligence quotients increased throughout the 20th century—a phenomenon known as the Flynn effect—although recent years have seen a slowdown or reversal of this trend in several countries. To distinguish between the large set of proposed explanations, we categorize hypothesized causal factors by whether they accommodate the existence of within-family Flynn effects. Using administrative register data and cognitive ability scores from military conscription data covering three decades of Norwegian birth cohorts (1962–1991), we show that the observed Flynn effect, its turning point, and subsequent decline can all be fully recovered from within-family variation. The analysis controls for all factors shared by siblings and finds no evidence for prominent causal hypotheses of the decline implicating genes and environmental factors that vary between, but not within, families.


Part of the highly successful Shelly Cashman series, ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS4: COMPREHENSIVE CONCEPTS AND TECHNIQUES follows the proven Shelly Cashman step-by-step, screen-by-screen approach to learning the Photoshop CS4 software.