In recent years, health care providers across the spectrum have begun to knit back together a system that has become excessively and dangerously fragmented. My own organization, Scripps Health1, has been working to connect health care data with other public and private providers through regional health information systems2. In addition, we are working collaboratively with the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency on a federally funded project to help patients move more easily between public and private health care providers (1).

Notwithstanding efforts, such as these, it is often difficult for public health practitioners and health care providers to collaborate. Such collaborative efforts should reduce inefficiencies in the greater healthcare system, result in improved responses to public health crises, and improve the support of public health. By developing improved organizational structures in both public health and health care organizations, as well as by improving communication between the two, collaboration can and will improve, but in doing so, it will require strong leadership at all levels on both sides of the public health/health care delivery divide. As we consider the Scripps Health experience in collaborating with public health organizations, we should remember that the definition of public health is broad, encompassing the prevention of epidemics and disease, protection against environmental hazards, prevention of injuries, promotion of healthy behaviors and mental health, disaster and recovery assistance for communities, and provision of accessible and quality health services (2).

Scripps Health has had a range of experiences engaging with public health practitioners, most notable in response to disasters. During Hurricane Katrina, Scripps answered the call from the Surgeon General of the United States and sent a medical response team to care for the evacuees, treating 500 patients a day at one point in Houston. Other teams of physicians and nurses assisted area clinics in treating survivors. In Houston, I supported and protected our teams, putting to use my training as a former police officer, and describing our efforts to proud employees at home (3).

We responded again in 2010, when a massive earthquake devastated the country of Haiti. We called for Scripps volunteers and almost 2,000 employees answered, resulting in two response teams being sent to provide medical care to desperate survivors. Before our teams left Southern California, I assessed the conditions in Haiti to determine opportunities for us to be of assistance, and to assure the safety of our volunteers. What I saw stunned me: people suffering from horrific injuries, and medical personnel lacking such basics as oxygen, anesthetic drugs, antibiotics, and blood. I had the opportunity to recall my EMT training when asked to assist with a surgical procedure; leaders need to show front-line staff that they are both capable of and willing to undertake the activities that they are asking of others. Our teams stayed in Haiti for a week, working with clinicians from the University of Maryland to ease the suffering of the earthquake survivors and to help them begin the long healing process.

For us, Katrina and Haiti were not merely incidental opportunities to help improve public health; they were organizational turning points. As employees at home learned how their colleagues responded to these emergencies, their pride in Scripps Health swelled, and the usual "silo" mentality fell by the wayside. More than ever before, we knew that we were all in this together and that we really were One Scripps. I will never forget how our supply chain managers responded to our Katrina response team, "We're here for you," and how one of our computer programmers called her co-workers on the team "heroes," writing, "Be safe and take care. T-E-A-M Together Everyone Accomplishes More" (4).

Opportunities to serve others in times of crisis can serve as key moments to bridge professional differences and bring people together, but the impetus for this must come from leaders, who set the tone. Leaders need to engage, get their hands dirty, and work with others outside their disciplines. They need to articulate a sense of higher purpose that can elevate individuals beyond their narrow interests and familiar circle of colleagues. They also need to serve as documenters of the collaboration, thus allowing their organizations to know the good that occurs when people venture beyond their comfort zones to work together.

If leaders work only for further collaboration during moments of crisis, they are not doing enough. The gospel of collaboration must not only be preached every day on a number of levels but also must be demonstrated and supported through the structures that leaders put in place within their organizations. Individually, leaders can nurture a collaborative mindset simply by venturing not only outside of their offices to engage with employees across their own organizations but also across organizational boundaries (5). Staying in touch with employees is important for many reasons, since it conveys the message that leaders need to move beyond the confines of their four walls or their cubicles to see what their colleagues are doing, and to understand the challenges they face on the job.

At Scripps, as leaders, we have created structures within our organization that break down disciplinary boundaries, developing and deploying multi-disciplinary teams to redesign areas of our operations. In redesigning our emergency rooms, a group of practitioners, including physicians, nurses, technicians, and administrators, worked together for weeks, sharing their points of view, addressing challenges, and arriving at solutions. As part of our structural changes, we have also created a "matrix" organization that brings local and system-wide executives together to make decisions. When people in different disciplines work together, applying a variety of points of view to pressing problems, our entire organization wins.

Communication is a central issue that leaders should address when seeking to enhance collaboration, which will result in bridging existing gaps. When I took over as CEO at Scripps, our organization was beset by conflict between administrators and physicians. Drawing on my earlier training as a police officer, I realized that both sides needed to understand better the other's point of view, so that the two sides could come together as partners. A formal structure was required in order to make this happen, and the Physician Leadership Council (PLC) was created, charged with advising administrators – up to and including the CEO – on key decisions faced by the organization. Although physicians were skeptical at first, it was not long before collaboration between the PLC and the administration was helping the organization come to compromise solutions that could be accepted by all. The PLC remains an important voice in the running of Scripps, and the organization has yet to reject a PLC recommendation, and the mutual trust that has emerged has enhanced collaboration.

Public health practitioners and health care providers may come from different backgrounds, but I believe that we have far more which unites us than divides us. What is now required is leadership drawn from both. Every opportunity should be seized to build organizational structures that will result in improved collaboration. Leaders of both public health and health care organizations are required to provide positive examples for creating structures that will lead to change.


Dibenzylsulfid (DBS) as a model of the organic sulfur compounds in crude oil was converted by a mixed culture (containing Pseudomonas aeruginosa) into several water soluble organic substances. Whereas these compounds are detectable with DC- and IR-spectroscopic techniques, benzylmercaptoacetic acid (BMA) was the only isolated product of DBS utilization. Efficiency of degradation, respectively, accumulation of BMA were dependent on aeration and pH-regulation.


We study the effect of surface tension on the incompressible Rayleigh–Taylor instability. We modify Goncharov's local analysis [1] to consider the surface tension effect on the Rayleigh–Taylor bubble velocity. The surface tension damps the linear instability and reduces the nonlinear terminal bubble velocity. We summarize the development of a finite-volume, particle-level-set, two-phase flow solver with an adaptive Cartesian mesh, and results from convergence and validation studies of this two-phase flow solver are provided. We use this code to simulate the single-mode, viscous Rayleigh–Taylor instability with surface tension, and good agreement in terminal bubble velocity is found when compared with analytic results. We also simulate the immiscible Rayleigh–Taylor instability with random initial perturbations. The ensuing mixing flow is characterized by the effective mixing rate and the flow anisotropy. Surface tension tends to reduce the effective mixing rate and homogenizes the Rayleigh–Taylor mixing flow. Finally, we provide a scaling argument for detecting the onset of the quadratic, self-similar Rayleigh–Taylor growth.


The paper examines loan portfolio of bank holding companies in the US during the years 2006-2008 to identify any significant differences in bank lending before and during the financial crisis. The results of the study suggest that for the largest banks there was no significant change in loan portfolio throughout 2006-8. However, for small banks, the share of real estate loans slightly increased in 2008 where as the share of consumer loans declined suggesting some possible substitution of consumer loans by real estate loans. The study also examines the relationship between loan types and overall performance of bank holding companies in order to identify any significant difference in the effect of loan on bank profitability between the years 2006, 2007 and 2008. The empirical evidence suggests that higher aggregate loans were consistently associated with lower bank performance throughout 2006-08 where as evidence for the varying effect of loan portfolio on performance throughout 2006-08 is limited.


Electronic-communications as internal communications tools are use by many organizations to enhance team work and to provide security. To provide a transaction in E-Business, it is important that the electronic-communication has high degree of security and privacy. Protection of the data is required during data transmission and thereby there is increasing utility of network security. Parties who are exchanging sensitive and important business information in secured manner find usage of Cryptography as highly reliable. Relationship between the randomness and Cryptography is going to be established here. If there is higher the randomness of predicting the next bit in Cipher, higher will be the secrecy and thereby increasing the efficiency. By combining imbricate Cryptography with the result of the linear Congruential Pseudo Random Number Generator an algorithm is generated. This algorithm involve layered approach. Layers of Encryption and Decryption provide security. In second layer key is used, which is implanted in the message. To recover the message correct key is used. Here the message and key are inwardly plaited. One of the advantage here is that the any of the user can choose key of variable lengths so that key cannot find with permutation and combination.


We show that, on a $2$-dimensional compact manifold, the optimal transport map in the semi-discrete random matching problem is well-approximated in the $L^2$-norm by identity plus the gradient of the solution to the Poisson problem $-\Delta f^{n,t} = \mu^{n,t}-1$, where $\mu^{n,t}$ is an appropriate regularization of the empirical measure associated to the random points. This shows that the ansatz of Caracciolo et al. (Scaling hypothesis for the Euclidean bipartite matching problem) is strong enough to capture the behavior of the optimal map in addition to the value of the optimal matching cost.
As part of our strategy, we prove a new stability result for the optimal transport map on a compact manifold.


Hydantoin bromide is an effective catalyst for chemoselective thioacetalization of aldehydes in the presence of ketones under neutral conditions. In addition, a simple and efficient procedure for the deprotection of 1,3-dithianes and 1,3-dithiolanes of aromatic, aliphatic, and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones in solvent-free conditions to the corresponding parent carbonyl compounds was successfully carried out with hydantoin bromide in excellent yields. Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Silicon and the Related Elements to view the free supplemental file.


Any choice of a state for a cross-border insolvency regime involves a trade-off between increased cross-border economic activity and application of less-preferred substantive insolvency law. A state may be relatively more dependent ('dependent state') on the economy of another, less dependent, state ('dominant state') than vice versa. This paper shows that the dependent state, to increase its gains from cross-border economic activity, has an interest in the dominant state applying territorialism. Applying unilateral universalism vis-a-vis the dominant state, the dependent state increases these gains even more. Within the conceptual framework of historical and comparative institutional analysis (HCIA), the influence of the United States on the drafting of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency is used as a case study.


Fitness is the currency of natural selection, a measure of the propagation rate of genotypes into future generations. Its various definitions have the common feature that they are functions of survival and fertility rates. At the individual level, the operative level for natural selection, these rates must be understood as latent features, genetically determined propensities existing at birth. This conception of rates requires that individual fitness be defined and estimated by consideration of the individual in a modelled relation to a group of similar individuals; the only alternative is to consider a sample of size one, unless a clone of identical individuals is available. We present hierarchical models describing individual heterogeneity in survival and fertility rates and allowing for associations between these rates at the individual level. We apply these models to an analysis of life histories of Kittiwakes ( Rissa tridactyla ) observed at several colonies on the Brittany coast of France. We compare Bayesian estimation of the population distribution of individual fitness with estimation based on treating individual life histories in isolation, as samples of size one (e.g. McGraw & Caswell, 1996).


Fibered sources of photon pairs can be easily integrated into future quantum communication networks. However, in silica-core fibres, the broadband spectrum of spontaneous Raman scattering strongly contributes to uncorrelated noise photons degrading the quality of the source. To overcome the problem of the silica Raman scattering, a new architecture was recently proposed, with hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (LF-HCPF) whose core and cladding are filled with a non-linear liquid. As opposed to the Raman scattering spectrum of silica, which is broadband and continuous, the Raman scattering spectrum of liquids is composed of narrow lines. Thus, generating photon pairs between these narrow lines permits to avoid the spectral overlap between the SFWM pairs and the Raman photons. A near infra-red LF-HCPCF photon pair source has been demonstrated, featuring a three order of magnitude suppression of the Raman noise [1]. We have also demonstrated the first non-linear LF-PCF with a transmission band and a zero-dispersion-wavelength (ZDW) in the telecom wavelength range combined with a non-linearity of the same order of magnitude as the one of silica, as a first step towards a Raman-free photon pair source in the telecom band [2]. Injecting light on both sides of this fiber in a Sagnac loop configuration can then be used to obtain entanglement.


Objective: To evaluate the endothelial function in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome(OSAS) children and to identify related factors of endothelial dysfunction. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Children with habitual snoring (snoring ≥3 nights per week) admitted to the ward of otolaryngology, head and neck surgery, Beijing Children's Hospital were recruited to this study between 1(st) June 2015 and 1(st) March 2016. All children aged 3 to 11 years and of them 245 were boys and 110 were girls. All subjects underwent an overnight polysomnography (PSG), as well as endothelial function testing. All subjects were grouped into primary snoring (PS) and OSAS group according to the obstructive apnea hypopnea index (OAHI). T test or Wilcoxon test were used to compare the differences in PSG results between the two groups, and univariate and multivariate correlation analyses were used to explore the relevant factors affecting the endothelial function. Results: A total of 355 subjects were enrolled and 248 had OSAS, and 107 had PS. There were no significant differences in age, gender and body mass index (BMI) Z-score between the two groups (all P>0.05). OSAS group had higher OAHI, oxgen desaturation index and respiratory related arousal index (5.2 (2.2, 13.2) vs. 0.4 (0.1, 0.7), 4.1 (2.0, 13.1) vs. 0.5 (0.1, 1.0), 2.5 (1.0, 4.8) vs. 0.4 (0.1, 0.9), Z=-14.957, -11.790, -10.378, all P<0.01), and lower minimum oxygen saturation and reactive hyperemia index (RHI) than those of PS (0.89 (0.85, 0.92) vs. 0.94 (0.91, 0.95), 1.2±0.2 vs. 1.1±0.1, Z=-9.337, t=5.354, P<0.01). Univariate regression analysis showed that RHI was linearly correlated with age (parameter estimate=0.017, P<0.01), gender (parameter estimate=0.065, P<0.01), OAHI (parameter estimate=-0.023, P<0.01), oxygen desaturation index (parameter estimate=-0.019, P<0.01), respiratory related arousal index (parameter estimate=-0.031, P<0.01), and oxygen saturation nadir (parameter estimate=0.067, P=0.045). The relationship between BMI Z-score and RHI was quadratic. Multivariate regression analysis showed that age (parameter estimate=0.015, P<0.01), BMI Z-score (parameter estimate=0.040, P<0.01), BMI Z-score quadratic form (parameter estimate=-0.010, P<0.01), respiratory related arousal index (parameter estimate=-0.020, P<0.01) were independently correlated with RHI. Conclusions: Children with OSAS have significant endothelial dysfunction compared with PS. Frequent arousals due to obstructive respiratory events during sleep may be a candidate risk factor for endothelial dysfunction in children with OSAS.


Glycoproteins from NIH 3T3 transformed by transfection with human tumor DNA had altered glycosylation. That is, the glycoproteins have a decrease in biantennary oligosaccharides with a concomitant increase in tri- and tetraantennary oligosaccharides. After swainsonine treatment, glycosylation of oncogene transfected NIH 3T3 was more similar to the normal counterpart. Thus, this inhibitor of glycoprotein processing is able to reverse at least one phenotypic expression of transformation, the formation of more highly branched oligosaccharides. The mechanism may be by inhibition of a specific glycosyl transferase.


This study discusses about the testament wajibah to differently religious heirs (an Analysis of Supreme Court decision number: 368 K/AG/1995). The purpose of this study are to know about the principle of inheritance under islamic law, and to understand the status of testament to differently religious heirs , and to analyze the constitute of consideration and the legal basis used in deciding the rights of differently religious heirs. The result show that the testament wajibah given to differently religious heirs become a problem because of the status of differently religion, these heirs cannot get inheritance rights. Through the decision of supreme court, judge ruled that differently religious heirs have the right to get inheritance with some consideration. Although there is no rule on testament wajibah to differently religious heirs, the judge have succeeded in ijtihad, finding and exploring the value of existing law. This decree shows that the judges actually carry out duties as a legislator who receive, examine, and decide cases such a new through benefit consideration based on the Qur'an and Hadith


The pronouncement of the Eisenhower Doctrine in 1957 was the first major American official policy announcement and acceptance of responsibility in the Middle East. Prior to 1957, Great Britain, France, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics had been decisive factors in the political and economic life of that part of the world. The purpose of this study is, first of all, to explain briefly the major events leading to the formulation of the Eisenhower Doctrine, and secondly, to evaluate the Doctrine by using a selected number of opinions expressed in the press by a number of critics, government officials, members of the Congress , news papermen, political analysts, and others. The opinions expressed in the press and the reactions of the governments involved are mostly given in a chronologic al order. A few books and documents are used for the purpose of providing the background information pertaining to the Doctrine. This study concentrates on the period from January 5, 1957, the day President Dwight D. Eisenhower introduced the Doctrine to a joint session of the Congress, to January 20, 1961, the terminating date of the Eisenhower Administration.


OBJECTIVE
To review current understanding and approach to diseases resulting from gastroesophageal reflux (GER) in infants and children.

QUALITY OF EVIDENCE
Very few randomized or blinded controlled trials have been reported in this area. MEDLINE searches for gastroesophageal reflux, gastroesophageal reflux disease, esophagitis, and pulmonary aspiration, using age-limited (all childhood) data, find most articles. Very thorough reviews undertaken by both European and North American societies for pediatric gastroenterology provide up-to-date consensus statements.

MAIN MESSAGE
Gastroesophageal reflux is a normal phenomenon recognized in infants as "spitting up." Understanding the mechanism of transient lower esophageal relaxation episodes allows physicians to counsel concerned parents that reflux and spitting up occur universally, but are less visible in children older than 6 to 12 months. In infants and children, GER can result in a variety of diseases and can cause esophageal and tracheopulmonary damage. Investigation of these diseases can be specific and accurate. Therapy is available, but no drug will stop reflux. Some children suffer intractable GER with secondary complications (GERD) despite medical treatment. Failure of therapy could mean patients require surgical intervention.

CONCLUSION
Visible GER is very common in infants and children and can usually be managed with explanation, reassurance, and simple measures. Diseases caused by GER can be investigated specifically and managed with accurately defined therapy.


We conduct a series of numerical experiments into the nature of three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamics in the postbounce stalled-shock phase of core-collapse supernovae using 3D general-relativistic hydrodynamic simulations of a 27 M⊙ progenitor star with a neutrino leakage/heating scheme. We vary the strength of neutrino heating and find three cases of 3D dynamics: (1) neutrino-driven convection, (2) initially neutrino-driven convection and subsequent development of the standing accretion shock instability (SASI), and (3) SASI-dominated evolution. This confirms previous 3D results of Hanke et al. and Couch & Connor. We carry out simulations with resolutions differing by up to a factor of ∼4 and demonstrate that low resolution is artificially favorable for explosion in the 3D convection-dominated case since it decreases the efficiency of energy transport to small scales. Low resolution results in higher radial convective fluxes of energy and enthalpy, more fully buoyant mass, and stronger neutrino heating. In the SASI-dominated case, lower resolution damps SASI oscillations. In the convection-dominated case, a quasi-stationary angular kinetic energy spectrum E(ℓ) develops in the heating layer. Like other 3D studies, we find E(ℓ) ∝ℓ−1 in the "inertial range," while theory and local simulations argue for E(ℓ) ∝ ℓ−5/3. We argue that current 3D simulations do not resolve the inertial range of turbulence and are affected by numerical viscosity up to the energy-containing scale, creating a "bottleneck" that prevents an efficient turbulent cascade.


Magnetostratigraphy of 222 remanent directions together with late Oligocene to early Miocene mammal and charophyte paleontology suggest that 2179 m of the Xishuigou section (Subei, Gansu Province, China) were deposited from ∼26 to ∼19 Ma. Stratigraphic patterns of bulk susceptibility, anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility parameters, and natural and anhysteretic remanent magnetization intensities demonstrate that (1) faulting does not significantly affect the record, (2) sediment deposition was relatively continuous, (3) sediment source changed around 23 Ma, and (4) rapid uplift near Subei occurred at 21 Ma. Subei rotated 27°±5° counterclockwise with respect to the 20 Ma pole from the Eurasian synthetic apparent polar wander path. Folding and rotation of the section took place after 19 Ma. The paleolatitude of Subei is 14° less than at present and 19°±3° less than predicted from the reference pole. Both rock magnetic and paleomagnetic data sets suggest that the unusually low paleolatitude is the result of synsedimentary inclination shallowing, a phenomenon which has likely affected other paleomagnetic data from central Asia.


This paper studies the role of US political factors in the allocation of World Bank concessional lending, where US political interests are proxied by voting similarity in the United Nations General Assembly on issues identified as important by the US Department of State. In contrast to previous studies we find that the US exerted a significant influence on IDA lending during the period 1993–2000. We demonstrate that the influence was both statistically as well as economically significant. Finally, we demonstrate that our result is robust with respect to the omission of the IDA Country Performance Rating index.


Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death in most developed countries. In the United States alone, 500 000 deaths a year are caused by coronary artery disease, over half of which are due to sudden cardiac arrest.1 Often cardiac arrest is the initial manifestation of coronary artery disease, so many of these patients if successfully resuscitated could have years of productive life remaining. Improvements in cardiopulmonary resuscitation therefore could have an appreciable impact on total mortality.

Although cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has been practised for nearly 40 years, survival after cardiac arrest outside hospital remains low (table 1).2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Most events are associated with underlying coronary artery disease, but only a minority of patients will have an associated acute myocardial infarction.9 Holter monitor studies of patients who had a cardiac arrest outside hospital have found that most patients initially develop ventricular tachycardia before they progress to ventricular fibrillation. If untreated, cardiac rhythm deteriorates to asystole in several minutes.10 The most important predictors of survival after cardiac arrest are whether the arrest was witnessed, the time from collapse to defibrillation, and the initial cardiac rhythm identified by emergency staff. Patients with asystole rarely survive.5 11

View this table:

Table 1
Survival to discharge in studies of prehospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) that included comparison of patients who received or did not receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation from bystanders

#### Recent advances in cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Sudden cardiac arrest remains a major cause of death in developing countries

Despite years of experience with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, survival after cardiac arrest continues to be quite low

Automatic external defibrillators and bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation improve survival after sudden cardiac arrest

Doctors should identify and counsel those patients who are not candidates for cardiopulmonary resuscitation

### Automatic external defibrillators

Because two of the best predictors of survival of cardiac arrest are time to …


Pandemic, health crisis, climate risk after decades of stressing natural capital because of overexploitation of resources and moreover increasing socio-economic inequalities are considered by many scholar to cause a tipping point in the evolution of bio-physical and socio-technical processes on a global level. In light of the systemic interdependencies of a hyper-connected world, the scenario of a global systemic crisis does not appear unlikely. We can try to avoid it by taking on new strategic priorities and mindset, then defining theoretical imperatives and application criteria. In this perspective, an example is the paradigm shift represented by the passage from the so-called shareholder capitalism to the stakeholder capitalism.


Modeling of the dynamic behavior and motion are
renewed interest in the improved tractive performance of an
intelligent air-cushion tracked vehicle (IACTV). This paper presents
a new dynamical model for the forces on the developed small scale
intelligent air-cushion tracked vehicle moving over swamp peat. The
air cushion system partially supports the 25 % of vehicle total weight
in order to make the vehicle ground contact pressure 7 kN/m2. As the
air-cushion support system can adjust automatically on the terrain, so
the vehicle can move over the terrain without any risks. The springdamper
system is used with the vehicle body to control the aircushion
support system on any undulating terrain by making the
system sinusoidal form. Experiments have been carried out to
investigate the relationships among tractive efficiency, slippage,
traction coefficient, load distribution ratio, tractive effort, motion
resistance and power consumption in given terrain conditions.
Experiment and simulation results show that air-cushion system
improves the vehicle performance by keeping traction coefficient of
71% and tractive efficiency of 62% and the developed model can
meet the demand of transport efficiency with the optimal power
consumption.


Advective solute travel times and their distributions in hydrological catchments are useful descriptors of the dynamics and variation of the physical mass transport among and along the different source‐to‐recipient pathways of solute transport through the catchments. This article investigates the scale dependence and the effects of model and data resolution on the quantification of advective travel times and their distributions in the Swedish catchment areas of Norrström and Forsmark. In the surface water networks of the investigated (sub)catchments, the mean advective travel time increases with (sub)catchment scale, whereas the relative travel time variability around the mean value (coefficient of variation, CV) is scale‐invariant and insensitive to model resolution. In the groundwater and for the whole (sub)catchments, both the mean value and the CV of travel times are scale‐invariant, but sensitive to model resolution and accuracy. Such quantifications and results of advective travel times constitute important steps in the development of improved understanding and modelling of nutrient, pollutant and tracer transport through catchments. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Simultaneous recording of the spirogram, pneumotachogram and transpulmonary pressure as well as total plethysmography were applied in 30 patients with bronchial asthma to study the respiratory ventilation and mechanism before and after single procedures of acupuncture. The bronchodilatory action of acupuncture has been proved, related, in particular, with a significant decrease of non-elastic resistance of the lungs. At the same time pronounced changes in the elastic resistance were noted. However, they appeared to be of different directions. The improvement of ventilatory function was determined not only by a decrease in the intrapulmonary resistance but also by shifts in respiratory regulation and in the activity of the respiratory musculature, confirmed by an analysis of the curves of the respiratory work obtained before and after acupuncture. The curative action of acupuncture in bronchial asthma cannot be adequately explained by the placebo effect.


Photoluminescent carbon dots (CDs) represent an exciting new class of oxygen containing
carbonaceous emitters. Serendipitous discovery of carbon dot as a by-product of single
walled carbon nanotube purification has triggered extensive studies to explore fluorescence
properties of CDs. Since then various synthetic methods have been developed to produce
highly luminescent CDs. Previously reported CDs were of low photoluminescence quantum
yield (PLQY) and the composition of these CDs was not known. Most of the CDs exhibit
either excitation dependent emission and /or multiexponential decay behaviour. Thus, the
first challenge was to understand the molecular origin of photoluminescence of CD. There is
ambiguity regarding the location of fluorescing moiety in CD. Some researchers have
surmised that the fluorescing unit is at the surface, whereas, some researchers have
mentioned that the fluorescing unit is inside CD. However, there is no direct evidence
regarding the location of fluorescing unit. Hence, it is necessary to investigate the exact
location of fluorescing unit in CD. In order to utilise the CD for bioimaging it was necessary
to increase the PLQY of CD in aqueous medium. Most of the carbon based nanomaterials
have been shown to act as fluorescence quencher. Thus, to increase applicability of the CD it
was necessary to show that CD does not act as a fluorescence quencher. It would be better if
it is possible to show that CD can act as fluorescence donor especially in resonance energy
transfer (RET) based experiment. For many nanomaterials it has been shown that Forster
model of RET cannot explain the experimental observables of RET. It was thus necessary to
check whether the vastly applied Forster model can be useful to understand the RET
phenomenon involving CD. Previously reported CDs have been shown to exhibit
multiexponential PL decay, however, fluorescence dynamical analyses becomes much easier
if the PL decay is single exponential. Moreover, multiexponential PL decay rises concern
about the origin of different decay channels. Those problems can be alleviated if the PL
decay is single exponential.


Purpose Gardner syndrome, a variant of familial adenomatous polyposis, is characterized by colonic polyps that undergo malignant change and benign and malignant extracolonic lesions. Tumors frequently associated with Gardner syndrome include carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater, papillary carcinoma of the thyroid, and, in children, hepatoblastoma. The childhood malignancies often precede the appearance of other manifestations by several years. Patients and Methods Two patients are described. Gardner syndrome was diagnosed in a 15-year-old girl with fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma after desmoid tumors and colonic polyposis developed. Classic hepatocellular carcinoma was also diagnosed in a 9 1/2-year-old boy with familial adenomatous polyposis. Results In patient I, the diagnosis of fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma preceded the diagnosis of Gardner syndrome by almost 2 years. The diagnosis was confirmed by identifying a germline mutation of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene. This is the first patient reported with fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma associated with Gardner syndrome. Patient 2 had a strong family history of familial adenomatous polyposis but no manifestations of Gardner syndrome. He was not tested for the APC mutation. The current literature and previously reported cases of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with Gardner syndrome or familial adenomatous polyposis are reviewed. Conclusions Because hepatocellular carcinoma is uncommon in the pediatric and adolescent population, it is important to consider the possibility of Gardner syndrome or familial adenomatous polyposis in these patients.


High blood pressure (BP) is a well-documented risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic kidney disease progression.1,2 These associations, however, are based on BP measured at a single time point in middle- or older-aged persons.3 Consequently, traditional CVD risk prediction models4 consider BP level only at the time of risk prediction and ignore cumulative BP levels over time. This is also true for the majority of outcome trials used to form clinical practice guidelines.


That universities—existing and to-be-invented—will by necessity be more entrepreneurial in the future is enshrined in higher education policy in Ireland and, indeed, has been seemingly uncritically accepted by higher education institutions, old and new. Commercializing research output, nurturing spin-out commercial activity, embracing on-campus private, commercial companies, forming entrepreneurial graduates with entrepreneurial training embedded in the curriculum—all these strategies are encouraged, if not required, of a new higher education culture that promises, in adopting these strategies, a pathway towards "economic renewal". An industryand business-led vision of the future of higher education sits uneasily with faculty in Humanities, however, where a linear correlation between the curriculum, research activity and commercial, economic benefit is not always easy to see, if it exists at all. Moreover, the principles on which the entrepreneurial university is build sit uneasily with the conception of the university favoured by Humanities: clearly a utilitarian conception of education finds little space for art, poetry, history, metaphysics and other disciplines that perhaps until recently have not needed to justify their existence within the academy nor the expenditure of resources in their support. This paper will seek to critique current higher education policy from the Humanities perspective (thus resisting, to a degree, the notion of the entrepreneurial university), and will offer some ways of thinking about transformed universities that are informed by principles other than those promoted by policy. The paper will examine some of the consequences for the configuration of higher education in Ireland into the future if these alternative principles are embraced. These reflections emerge from Waterford Institute of Technology's efforts to create a Technological University in the South-east of Ireland and some consideration will be made of the experience to date of seeking to invent a new kind of higher education body in the light of higher education policy.


Although more than 40% of Nairobi's lower-income groups consume street foods, there is paucity of information available for urban policy makers and programmers on the potential contribution of street foods to micronutrient intake. A cross-sectional survey and a non-repetitive 24-hour dietary recall were employed to determine household intake of vitamin A, iron and zinc, and the proportion of the intakes from street foods in the selected Kangemi and Dandora estates in Nairobi, Kenya (low and middle-low income groups respectively). Results indicate that there was no significant statistical difference in the consumption pattern of street foods between the two sites. Absolute vitamin A, iron and zinc intake from street foods were comparatively lower among the low income groups as compared to middle-low income groups, these variations were not significant except for zinc. Street foods were less important vitamin A source in Kangemi (4.4% of total intake and 2.64% of the RDA) than in Dandora (26% of total intake and 9.46% of the RDA). The proportion of those who obtained at least 50% of total vitamin A from street foods was also significantly higher in Dandora. Iron intake contributed by street foods significantly differed with Dandora being higher (30%) than Kangemi (21%). Although not significantly different, those who obtained at least 50% iron from street foods was higher in Dandora than Kangemi. Iron intake from street foods in both sites (15mg/AE in Kangemi and 25mg/AE in Dandora) was sufficient to meet the RDA for iron for adults (5-28mg/AE). Zinc intake contributed by street foods was not significantly higher in Dandora (25.2%) than Kangemi (16.7%). The proportion of those who obtained at least 50% of their zinc intake from the street foods was also insignificantly higher in Dandora (12%) than Kangemi (7%). Overall, street foods are better contributors of iron (26% of total intake) and zinc (21%) than vitamin A (12%). Apparent factors that tend to potentially influence street foods contribution to micronutrient nutrition are economic status, availability and proximity to street foods, consumption pattern and the type of street foods sold. Street food trade deserves recognition by urban policy makers in order to improve the opportunities of vendors to support their livelihood and to ensure the availability of affordable, safe and nutritious food for low income consumers.


A comparative phylogenetic approach was used to test the following adaptive hypotheses pertaining to the physiological abilities of the Namib desert tenebrionid beetle genus Onymacris to withstand the hot, dry desert environment: (1) Desert‐interior species evolved longer legs (relative to body size) than beetles in the cooler coastal region to facilitate stilting, i.e., elevating their bodies out of the hot boundary layer of air close to the substrate. (2) Wax blooms on the exoskeleton, which reduce evaporative water loss, are more likely to evolve in desert‐interior species than in coastal species. (3) The high costs of activity in the extreme climates select for perfect coadaptation of preferred body temperatures (i.e., optimal temperatures for activity) and those they achieve in the field. All three of these adaptive hypotheses were supported by the results of squared‐change parsimony and independent‐contrasts analyses. Additionally, a parsimony approach suggested that a novel means of obtaining water from periodic fogs, known as fog basking, has evolved independently on two occasions.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
The combination of a hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease inhibitor, peginterferon, and ribavirin is the standard of care for patients with HCV genotype 1 infection. We report the efficacy and safety of response-guided therapy with danoprevir (a potent second-generation protease inhibitor), peginterferon alfa-2a (40 KD), and ribavirin in these patients.

METHODS
Treatment-naïve patients (N = 237) were randomly assigned to groups given 12 weeks of danoprevir (300 mg every 8 hours; 600 mg every 12 hours, and 900 mg every 12 hours) or placebo plus peginterferon alfa-2a and ribavirin, followed by peginterferon alfa-2a and ribavirin. Patients given danoprevir who had an extended rapid virologic response (eRVR4-20: HCV RNA <15 IU/mL during weeks 4-20) stopped therapy at week 24; those without an eRVR4-20 continued therapy to 48 weeks. Patients who were given placebo received 48 weeks of peginterferon alfa-2a and ribavirin. The primary efficacy end point was sustained virologic response (SVR: HCV RNA <15 IU/mL after 24 weeks without treatment).

RESULTS
Rates of SVR were higher among patients given danoprevir 300 mg (68%), 600 mg (85%), and 900 mg (76%) than placebo (42%) (95% confidence interval: 26%-59%). Seventy-nine percent of patients given danoprevir 600 mg had an eRVR4-20; among these, 96% had an SVR. Serious adverse events were reported in 7% to 8% of patients given danoprevir and 19% given placebo. Four patients given danoprevir (1 patient in the 600-mg group and 3 in the 900-mg group) had reversible, grade 4 increases in alanine aminotransferase, which led to early discontinuation of the 900-mg arm of the study.

CONCLUSIONS
The combination of danoprevir, peginterferon alfa-2a, and ribavirin leads to high rates of SVR in patients with HCV genotype 1 infection, but high doses of danoprevir can lead to grade 4 increases in alanine aminotransferase. Studies of lower doses of danoprevir with ritonavir, to reduce overall danoprevir exposure while maintaining potent antiviral activity, are underway; Clinicaltrials.gov number, NCT00963885.


Research on paraphrase has mostly focussed on lexical or syntactic variation within individual sentences. Our concern is with larger-scale paraphrases, from multiple sentences or paragraphs to entire documents. In this paper we address the problem of generating paraphrases of large chunks of texts. We ground our discussion through a worked example of extending an existing NLG system to accept as input a source text, and to generate a range of fluent semantically-equivalent alternatives, varying not only at the lexical and syntactic levels, but also in document structure and layout.


It has been said and re-said that reference librarians only answer roughly 50% of referencequestions correctly. But while this statistic is passed around as fact - where does it come from? Inthis paper, I track down the elusive citation using backwards chaining, citation analysis, andhistorical tracing. And then, I will re-examine the study that appeared to start it all through amodern lens, ultimately suggesting that we abandon the idea of half right reference once and forall.


PREMISE OF THE STUDY
Numerous studies have treated the mass of a whole seed as an integrated unit, although the components seed kernel and seed coat play different roles and are subject to different evolutionary selection pressures. In this study, we provided the first global-scale quantification of the relative biomass investments in seed coats and seed kernels. We tested the following hypotheses: there is a negative allometry between seed kernel mass and seed coat mass, and therefore, seed coat ratio (SCR) is negatively correlated with seed mass.

METHODS
We compiled a global-scale data set from the published literature, including 680 plant species from 420 genera and 108 families. The relationships between seed components were quantified using standardized major axis regression, ordinary least squares regression, and phylogenetic independent analyses.

KEY RESULTS
We found a weak but significantly negative allometry between seed kernel mass and seed coat mass, which resulted in a negative relationship between seed mass and SCR. Similar results were found after accounting for the phylogeny.

CONCLUSIONS
The finding that smaller seeds invest more in protective tissues but less in stored reserves may explain the general prediction that larger seeds suffer greater predation than smaller seeds. Furthermore, this weak allometry may also explain, at least in part, why so many studies failed to identify a clear pattern of the effect of seed mass on many ecological processes. Our study suggests that the allometry between the two seed components must be considered when evaluating the ecological significance and evolutionary history of seed mass.


Through analyzing U type bending parts that has bottom-holes, a suitable Compound die that can complete 4 procedures - lancing, bending , punching and be cut off at in the same forming-position was synchronously designed. The die working process and the main points of the design are introduced here. Production testing confirmed that there were different levels of improvements in the product quality, production efficiency and economic efficiency. In order to meet the design and development requirement of the die, the proportion of the compound and progressive dies in the dies production has been increased in consideration of the structure and production costs of the die.


Correction of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) imagery for the aerosol effect requires retrieval of the aerosol loading from the images. Two retrieval algorithms that were previously developed for Landsat are modified for the AVHRR. The methods determine the aerosol optical thickness over land surfaces from AVHRR band one data independently of ancillary information. The first method retrieves aerosols based on the atmospheric effect on the path radiance. This method requires the surface reflectance to be 0.02+or-0.01, which is found over forests in the red channel. Two techniques are used to screen an AVHRR scene for pixels that have this low reflectance. The qualifying requirements for these techniques are discussed, and the method is demonstrated to retrieve aerosol optical thicknesses to approximately +or-0.1. The second method uses the change in contrast for several scenes to determine the change in the optical thickness between the scenes. A reference scene allows absolute determination. The method has an rms error of approximately 0.1. >


PurposeDrawing on Adams (2017a) conceptualisation of value creation by organisations published in the Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, the purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptualisation of how national governments can create value for society and the economy through their approach to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Design/methodology/approachAn initial conceptual framework was developed from literature situated at the intersection of accountability, public policy and sustainability/sustainable development. The authors' review of extant research on national policy development on value creation, sustainability and the SDGs identified gaps in (understanding of) approaches to national accountability and national governance (by state and civil society) processes. The subsequent thematic analysis of 164 written submissions made to the Australian Senate inquiry on the SDGs between December 2017 and March 2018, together with transcripts of five public hearings where 49 individuals and organisations appeared as witnesses during the second half of 2018, focussed on addressing these gaps.FindingsInput to the Australian Senate Inquiry on the SDGs overwhelmingly emphasised the importance of transparency and stakeholder participation in accountability systems, commenting on data gathering, measuring and communicating. There was an emphasis on the need to involve all parts of society, including business, investors and civil society, and for strong central co-ordination by the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. These data allowed the authors to refine the conceptualisation of how national governments can enhance social and economic value through a focus on the UN SDGs and their approach to accounting, accountability and governance.Practical implicationsThe findings have implications: for national governments in developing approaches to achieve sustainable development; and, for supranational bodies such as the UN in developing agreements, frameworks and guidance for national governments.Originality/valueBuilding on the extant literature about how global governance should be engaged to improve accountability in achieving the SDGs, the conceptual framework developed through the study shifts focus to national governance and accountability, and provides a blueprint for national governments to create value for the economy and society in the face of global sustainable development issues.


A simplified cycle analysis is presented for a compound engine of the free-piston type. To allow ready algebraic formulation, the assumption of perfect-gas behavior with suitably averaged specific-heat magnitudes is employed. The influence of compressor, turbine, and mechanical "inefficiencies" as well as the effects of valve-pressure drops and coolant-jacket heat transfer are included. The calculated parameters of specific flow rate, specific fuel consumption, and turbine-inlet temperature are consequently realistic performance estimates, as shown by comparison with available test information. Results of the analysis clearly indicate the importance of component losses on turbine-inlet temperature and plant specific-fuel consumption and point out the unique characteristics of the cycle. Consideration also is given to the "supercharged-intercooled" and the "reheat" variants of the simple free-piston compound engine. A study of methods of load governing leads to the important conclusion that in order to realize a flat part-load economy characteristic, comparable to that of a diesel, it will be necessary to obtain a turbine design which achieves high part-load fuel efficiency. The reheat cycle has an excellent part-load fuel economy, but probably will require the use of a variable-area nozzle turbine.


The Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has been mandated to collect testimonies from survivors of the Indian Residential Schools system. The TRC demands survivors of the residential school system to share their personal narratives under the assumption that the sharing of narratives will inform the Canadian public of the residential school legacy and will motivate a transformation of settler identity. I contend, however, that the TRC provides a concrete example of how a politics of recognition fails to transform relationships between Native and settler Canadians not only because it enacts an internalization of colonial recognition, but because it fails to account for what I call "settler ignorance." Work in epistemologies of ignorance and epistemic oppression gives language to explain sustained denial and provide tools to further understand how settler denial is sustained, and how it can be made visible, and so challenged. For this task, Mills's articulation of white ignorance should be expanded to a consideration of white settler ignorance. Over and above an account of white ignorance, such an account will have to consider the underlying logics of settler colonialism. This characterization of settler ignorance will show that the denial of past and ongoing violence against Indigenous peoples, through the reconstruction of the past to assert the primacy of settlers, is not explainable in terms of a lack of recognition but is rather structural ignorance.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To present information about recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved indications regarding drug therapy for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and about the nursing care of patients receiving these therapies and to review the significance of the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays in the management of patients with these leukemias.

DATA SOURCES
Published articles, book chapters, and production information.

DATA SYNTHESIS
Two agents with newly approved FDA indications are changing the focus of leukemia treatment from the cytotoxicity of specific drugs to the reversal of arrested maturation of myeloid cells. All-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) induces remission in patients with relapsed or refractory APL. Interferon alfa (IFN-alpha) administered to patients with chronic-phase, Philadelphia-chromosome-positive CML produces improved survival rates and delays disease progression as compared to standard therapy. PCR assays are used with both of these diseases to confirm diagnosis, monitor response to these agents, and predict disease progression.

CONCLUSIONS
The care of patients with leukemia continues to change as new agents such as ATRA and are approved for treatment and new assays such as PCR become available for diagnosis and treatment monitoring.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE
The nursing care of patients with leukemia requires keeping knowledgeable about the latest information regarding the molecular biology of the disease, the mechanism of action of newly approved agents, and the clinical implications of developing tests. This knowledge allows nurses to assimilate new therapies into practice, which, in turn, enables them to help patients to understand and cope with treatment through patient education and innovative interventions for symptom management.


Thirty-two pigs were randomized into group I (aortic cross clamping, antegrade cardioplegia, moderate hypothermia) and group II (normothermia, beating empty heart). Groups were subdivided into subgroups A, B and C, receiving no lung perfusion, perfusion with arterial blood and perfusion with venous blood. Swan-Ganz catheter was used to take mean pulmonary artery pressure which would be used as lung perfusion pressure. Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was established through cannulating aorta and double venae cavae, mechanical ventilation was interrupted and lung perfusion was carried out for 30 min. Blood samples and pulmonary specimens were withdrawn pre- and postoperatively for gasometrical, histological and genic analyses. Postoperative comparison revealed that pulmonary vascular resistance was lower in IC than IA (P=0.01) and it was lower in IIC than IIA (P=0.005). Subgroup IIB had increasing venous oxygen tension (P=0.01) as well as arterial and venous oxygen saturation (P=0.01) compared to IIA. Arterial oxygen saturation was decreased in IIC vs. IIA (P=0.006). Histological differences were observed between subgroups A and B as well as A and C (P=0.003). Lung perfusion during CPB may improve pulmonary hemodynamic performance, optimize gas exchange and maintain cellular integrity.


Malignancy potential of pleomorphic xanthoastrocytomas (PXAs) has rather been an underestimated reality. We report the case of a 13-year-old boy who presented with signs of increased intracranial pressure. The child had been epileptic since the age of 2. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance scans revealed a huge left frontal mass. At surgery, a subtotal excision was accomplished. Histopathological diagnosis was anaplastic PXA (grade III; WHO, 2000). The tumor showed an increased mitotic index and minimal endothelial proliferation. The patient died 3.5 months later due to a fatal intracranial hemorrhage. A review of the entire PXA literature revealed 15 well-documented cases of PXA with subsequent malignant transformation and 11 cases of primary anaplastic PXA. The prognosis was grim for both subsets of patients. Anaplastic PXAs clearly represent the transition between the original PXA concept and lipidized giant-cell glioblastoma.


Periodic intensity variations as a function of incident and azimuthal angles were observed upon rotating a face-centered-cubic photonic crystal with respect to a linearly polarized microwave beam. These intensity variations also depended on the radiation frequency. We have studied propagating wavelengths that were smaller than, comparable with, and larger than the crystallographic pitches. It is suggested that the observed transmission variations arise from the combination of a periodic structure with transverse confinement of the propagating wave. Such diffraction configurations may permit spatial filtering techniques with subwavelength periodic structures.


The spatial abilities literature is reviewed. Psychometric studies indicate two Spatial factors : Visualiztion and Orientation. Perdictive studies argue for social, enviornmental, and sex differences, revealing sources of variation such as genetic and hormonal with special emphasis on age. Consequently, trainging studies (direct and indirect) reported the visual-spatial skills being developed through the utiliza¬tion of proper techinques including motion picture and the like media such as tele¬vision and video.
This study based on a sample of 120 fifth grade subjects, examined training by visual cueing method via ten video programs displaying animated geometrical fig¬ures, on developing spatial visualization abilitiy, and also examined interaction of gender with trainimg method.
The purpose was to compare the realtive effectiveness of the ten video pro-garams with traditional mathematics teaching, therefore, subjects chosen ran¬domly were assigned four groups : 1- experimental males, 2 - experimental females (trained by video), 3 - control males, and 4 - cntrol females (trained by traditional mathematic teaching).
Prior to the experiment , two teacher training sessions on teaching "geometical and architectural conceptes" using the ten video programs were presented by the
researchers. Test of Spatial relations was administered to students before and after
the training period (five weeks).
Through Analysis of Covariance, statisically significant differences on posttest scores were found among subjects trained by the video programs. There was no

statistically significant differences between the two genders, however, there was statistically significant interaction between subjects' gender and training methods favoring male subjects.
In the final analysis, the study recommended some related research topics such as :
1 - transformation of spatial ability training to various perceptual and cognitive
tasks,
2 - interaction of different training models with different spatial ability levels,
3 - hormonal influences at the beginning of the teen-age period on spatial
ability, and
4 - interaction of individual differences in visual learning with spatial ability.


Computer architecture embraces a tremendous number of ever-changing inter-connected concepts and information, yet computer architecture education is very often static, seemingly motionless. Computer architecture is commonly taught using simple piecewise methods of explaining how the hardware performs a given task, rather than characterizing the interaction of software and hardware. Visualization tools allow students to interactively explore basic concepts in computer architecture but are limited in their ability to engage students in research and design concepts. Likewise as the development of simulation models such as caches, branch predictors, and pipelines aid student understanding of architecture components, such models have limitations in the workloads that can be examined because of issues with execution time and environment. Overall, to effectively understand modern architectures, it is simply essential to experiment the characteristics of real application workloads. Likewise, understanding program behavior is necessary to effective programming, comprehension of architecture bottlenecks, and hardware design. Computer architecture education must include experience in analyzing program behavior and workload characteristics using effective tools. To explore workload characteristic analysis in computer architecture design, we propose using PIN, a binary instrumentation tool for computer architecture research and education projects.


The parameters uncertainty and external disturbance play a negative role to improve electro-hydraulic position servo system performance. The valve controlled cylinder system model is established, using the traditional PID control strategy and reaching law control strategy for simulating the system, respectively, the two methods have similar control effects in the ideal model, but considering the external disturbances, the index approaches sliding mode control law has better response speed and stability. Research shown that sliding mode control algorithm has an important role for improving the performance of hydraulic servo position control system.


In some previous works, the analytic structure of the spectrum of a quantum graph operator as a function of the vertex conditions and other parameters of the graph was established. However, a specific local coordinate chart on the Grassmanian of all possible vertex conditions was used, thus creating an erroneous impression that something ``wrong'' can happen at the boundaries of the chart. Here we show that the analyticity of the corresponding ``dispersion relation'' holds over the whole Grassmannian, as well as over other parameter spaces.
We also address the Dirichlet-to-Neumann (DtN) technique of relating quantum and discrete graph operators, which allows one to transfer some results from the discrete to the quantum graph case, but which has issues at the Dirichlet spectrum. We conclude that this difficulty, as in the first part of the paper, stems from the use of specific coordinates in a Grassmannian and show how to avoid it to extend some of the consequent results to the general situation.


Abstract. Ground-based radar observations show that, over the eastern North Atlantic,
50 % of warm marine boundary layer (WMBL) hydrometeors occur below 1.2 km
and have reflectivities of −17  dBZ, thus making their detection from
space susceptible to the extent of surface clutter and radar sensitivity. Surface clutter limits the ability of the CloudSat cloud profiling radar (CPR) to
observe the true cloud base in ∼52  % of the cloudy columns it
detects and true virga base in ∼80  %, meaning the
CloudSat CPR often provides an incomplete view of even the clouds it does
detect. Using forward simulations, we determine that a 250 m resolution
radar would most accurately capture the boundaries of WMBL clouds and
precipitation; that being said, because of sensitivity limitations, such a
radar would suffer from cloud cover biases similar to those of the
CloudSat CPR. Observations and forward simulations indicate that the CloudSat CPR
fails to detect 29 %–43 % of the cloudy columns detected by ground-based
sensors. Out of all configurations tested, the 7 dB more sensitive
EarthCARE CPR performs best (only missing 9.0 % of cloudy columns)
indicating that improving radar sensitivity is more important than
decreasing the vertical extent of surface clutter for measuring cloud cover.
However, because 50 % of WMBL systems are thinner than 400 m, they tend to
be artificially stretched by long sensitive radar pulses, hence the
EarthCARE CPR overestimation of cloud top height and hydrometeor fraction. Thus, it is recommended that the next generation of space-borne radars
targeting WMBL science should operate interlaced pulse modes including both a
highly sensitive long-pulse mode and a less sensitive but clutter-limiting
short-pulse mode.


OBJECTIVES: After completion of the prevalent screening round of the breast cancer screening programme in Limburg, The Netherlands, incidences started rising once again. This increase was contrary to expectations, which had predicted a slightly higher, but stable, incidence after the first screening round. The trends in incidence were studied to find explanations for the observed rise in incidence. SETTING: Breast cancer screening programme in mid-Limburg and southern Limburg, the Netherlands. METHODS: The data files of the breast cancer screening programme and the Maastricht cancer registry were linked to evaluate the effect of breast cancer screening. Only the first primary breast tumour was included in the evaluation. RESULTS: The second peak of incidence after the prevalent screening round was 45% higher than the incidences before the start of the screening. Also, the decrease in incidence of large and node positive tumours was interrupted. Compared with national detection rates, the number of screen detected cancers was lower before 1995 and higher after that year. After 1997, incidence decreased again of all breast cancers, but also of large and node positive tumours. The incidence of node positive tumours showed large fluctuations, probably due to the introduction of the sentinel node procedure and immunohistochemistry. In 1999, incidence of large tumours and node positive tumours was 18% and 28%, respectively, lower than before the start of the screening. CONCLUSIONS: An increase in the background incidences and improved detection in the screening programme most likely explain this trend. The improved detection after 1995, and the lower than desirable decrease in large tumours, indicate that the screening performance was not optimal before 1996. The incidence of node positive tumours cannot be used any more as an indicator of the success of the screening programme because of detection bias.


The unprecedented amounts of data have catalyzed the trend of combining human insights with machine learning techniques, which facilitate the use of crowdsourcing to enlist label information both effectively and efficiently. One crucial challenge in crowdsourcing is the diverse worker quality, which determines the accuracy of the label information provided by such workers. Motivated by the observations that same set of tasks are typically labeled by the same set of workers, we studied their behaviors across multiple related tasks and proposed an optimization framework for learning from task and worker dual heterogeneity. The proposed method uses a weight tensor to represent the workers' behaviors across multiple tasks, and seeks to find the optimal solution of the tensor by exploiting its structured information. Then, we propose an iterative algorithm to solve the optimization problem and analyze its computational complexity. To infer the true label of an example, we construct a worker ensemble based on the estimated tensor, whose decisions will be weighted using a set of entropy weight. We also prove that the gradient of the most time-consuming updating block is separable with respect to the workers, which leads to a randomized algorithm with faster speed. Moreover, we extend the learning framework to accommodate to the multi-class setting. Finally, we test the performance of our framework on several datasets, and demonstrate its superiority over state-of-the-art techniques.


This article proposes a joint application of online network analysis and NLP techniques to explore dynamics of "polarized intersectionality"—that is, how (mis)representations of women that develop online and at the intersection of different axes of discrimination entwine with ideological and affective polarization. We look in particular at whether and how digital (mis)representations change together with political scenarios in which political parties, leaders, and partisan communities more in general swing from collaboration to hostility. Our analysis of two Twitter conversations that put women at the center of attention show that changing political scenarios generate different digital conversations which, in turn, reflect patterns of alliances and rivalry. Regardless of these changes, women are invariantly (mis)represented in narratives that are often weaponized against political enemies in ways that foster both ideological and affective political polarization.


In this paper, we present the greedy reconfiguration algorithm (GRA) and the fast greedy reconfiguration algorithm (FGRA)-two reconfiguration algorithms that minimize the energy not supplied (ENS) of medium-voltage (MV)-distribution network (DNs). The algorithms are derived from a graph-theoretic model for the MV-DNs and an iterative formulation for the ENS. Given a DN composed of n loads, GRA yields an initial radial topology with minimal ENS after executing n-1 iterations of a multistage decision process. Next, GRA executes a verification algorithm to evaluate all of those candidate topologies randomly discarded during the decision process. After the second stage, GRA announces the optimal topology as well as the minimum ENS of the system. The second algorithm proposed is called FGRA and is obtained when heuristic graph compression is performed throughout the execution of GRA. The aforementioned graph compression reduces the dimension of the problem, thereby producing substantial savings in computing time at the expense of possibly achieving a suboptimal solution.


The relevance of this article is related to the study of problems of professional and creative self-development of high school teachers as one of the major segments of their professional competence. Objective is to develop the conditions, stages and methods of forming the university teacher's readiness for their independent professionally oriented creative self-development in conditions of university education environment. The main methods are the overview of the theoretical positions of foreign and Russian researchers concerning the professional activity of the teacher; best practice of educational process organization in the M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU); survey among teachers regarding the innovative mobility and creative approach to high school education; NEFU students and postgraduate students questioning. The authors have determined the main professional-significant qualities and personal characteristics of university teachers, as well as weaknesses hampering the teacher's professional development as a self-developing creative personality. The materials have a practical value for beginning and experienced teachers of modern high school focused on continuous process of professional and creative self-development.


In what ways does Computer Aided Design (CAD) software and manufacture affect 'material' 1 and process in sculptural methods as evidenced in outcomes? For this paper the dual reading of materiality is taken. The word matter "came into English from the old French materie," referring to "a building material usually timber" (Hong, 2003). Material however is not solely defined as being made of matter; it can be, for example, information used for writing a book. The latter terminology applies to digital artefacts substantially being information. Leonardi writes about "digital artefacts as having 'material' properties, aspects, or features, we might safely say that what makes them 'material' is that they provide capabilities that afford or constrain action." He further proposes, "in the case of digital artefacts, what may matter most about 'materiality' is that artefacts and their consequences are created and shaped through interaction" (Leonardi, 2010). This research aims to investigate processes through utilising CAD and Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM) to inform specific historical sculptural methods based upon traditional sculptural processes (reductive, additive, fusion of material and reproduction) such as those of carving wood, modelling in clay, joining of metals, mould making and casting for reproducing form. 1 Material as in the matter of which a thing is made. Towards Defining 'Process': a rereading of CAD methods within sculptural practice 9


Finite-difference and spectral methods for the numerical solution of partial differential equations with convective terms are discussed. The finite accuracy and limited stability properties of such schemes are shown to follow from their non-recognition of the convective nature of the solutions which they seek, unlike schemes based on the use of characteristics. A numerical method for convective equations is proposed which incorporates the solution nature. The method is obvious and can be trivially derived, but seems not to have been exploited as it might have been. It uses interpolation only, rather than numerical differentiation, and for linear equations with constant coefficients it is exact and unconditionally stable. Although for more general equations the basic two-time level scheme is of relatively low accuracy, it can be simply used to generate a hierarchy of single-step multi-level methods of high accuracy.


electrical discharge machining performance is generally evaluated on the basis of material removal rate (mrr), tool wear rate (twr), relative wear ratio (rwr) and surface roughness (sr). the important edm machining parameters affecting to the performance measures of the process are discharge current, pulse on time, pulse off time, arc gap, and duty cycle [9]. a considerable amount of work has been reported by the researchers on the measurement of edm performance on the basis of mrr, twr, rwr, and sr for various materials. several approaches are proposed in the literature to solve the problems related with optimization of these parameters. it is felt that a review of the various approaches developed would help to compare their main features and their relative advantages or limitations to allow choose the most suitable approach for a particular application and also throw light on aspects that needs further attention. in view of above, this paper presents a review of development done in the optimization of edm related process parameters. Keywordsedm, taguchi method, optimization, anova


A probiotic fermented PCMT food mixture was developed by fermentation of an autoclaved and cooled slurry of pearl millet flour, chickpea flour, skim milk powder and fresh tomato pulp (PCMT 2:1:1:1, w/w) with Lactobacillus acidophilus (105 cells/ml), a probiotic organism at 37°C for 24 h. Such a fermented mixture inhibited the growth of pathogenic organisms, namely Shigella dysenteriae, Salmonella typhosa and E. coli. A significant decline in pH with a corresponding increase in titratable acidity due to probiotic fermentation occurred in the developed food mixture. Feeding of the freshly developed fermented. mixture to mice suffering from E. coli induced diarrhoea, could help to arrest diarrhoea, reduce moisture, protein and ash contents in their faeces. The counts of lactobacilli increased whereas those of E. coli decreased remarkably in the faeces of mice from the 3rd day of the feeding trial till the end of experimental period. The beneficial effect of probiotic feeding may be due to antimicrobial substances produced by L. acidophilus, which might have neutralized the enterotoxins from E. coli. The cost of one 200 ml glass full of this probiotic drink is no more than one rupee.


Nares Strait is one of three main passages of the Canadian Archipelago that channel relatively fresh seawater from the Arctic Ocean through Baffin Bay to the Labrador Sea. Oxygen isotopic profiles along the growth axis of bivalve shells, collected live over the 5 – 30 m depth range from the Greenland and Ellesmere Island sides of the strait, were used to reconstruct changes in the hydrography of the region over the past century. The variability in oxygen isotope ratios is mainly attributed to variations in salinity and suggests that the northern end of Nares Strait has been experiencing an increase in freshwater runoff since the mid 1980s. The recent changes are most pronounced at the northern end of the strait and diminish toward the south, a pattern consistent with proximity to the apparently freshening Arctic Ocean source in the north and mixing with Baffin Bay waters as the water progresses southward. This increasing freshwater signal may reflect changes in circulation and ice formation that favor an increased flow of relatively fresh waters from the Arctic Ocean into Nares Strait.


Abstract
Background: Recently, our laboratory demonstrated that an adenosine and lidocaine (AL) non-depolarizing cardioplegic arrest solution conferred superior protection during arrest and recovery compared with the hyperkalemic depolarizing St. Thomas' Hospital cardioplegic solution in isolated rat hearts. The aim of this thesis was to extend those findings by applying an adenosine and lidocaine (AL) solution at nonarresting concentrations before and during ischemia in an in vivo rat model of acute myocardial ischemia. No study has investigated the effect of AL combination treatment to reduce ischemic injury. Yet, previous studies in the 1990s have used the sequential and separate administration of lidocaine (2 mg/kg i.v.) and adenosine (150 μg/kg/ml/min i.c) as reperfusion therapy with conflicting results.
Methods: In all four studies, ischemia-reperfusion was achieved by placing a reversible tie around the left coronary artery of anaesthetized (sodium pentobarbital, 60 mg/ml/kg i.p.) and ventilated male Sprague-Dawley rats (300 - 400 g). The ischemic period lasted 30 min while reperfusion times were maintained for either 40 min or 120 min. Where applicable, a lead II electrocardiogram, heart rate, and systolic and diastolic pressures were recorded and mean arterial pressure and rate-pressure product calculated. The primary end points included infarct size, episodes and durations of ventricular arrhythmias, pH and changes in the concentration of ATP ([ATP]) and phosphocreatine ([PCr]) during ischemia-reperfusion recorded every 5 min. The level of statistical significance was P < 0.05.
Experimental design: The first two studies examined the cardioprotective potential of adenosine and lidocaine using the following treatment strategies: i) three AL solutions with varying concentrations of adenosine (A: 152, 305 and 457 μg/kg/min plus L: 608 μg/kg/min i.v., n = 18) compared to saline controls (0.9% saline, n = 12), adenosine only (adeno-only, 305 μg/kg/min i.v., n = 8) and lidocaine only (lido-only, 608 μg/kg/min i.v., n = 8); all of these treatments were given 5 before ischemia and continued throughout 30 min ischemia but not reperfusion; and ii) the separate and sequential administration of adenosine (150 μg/kg/min i.v.) and lidocaine (2 mg/kg i.v) during reperfusion (n = 7); the sequential administration of AL solution (A: 305 μg/kg/min plus L: 608 μg/kg/min i.v.) of 5 min pretreatment and again 5 min before and during 30 min reperfusion, n = 6 and a 5 min pretreatment of AL solution (A: 305 μg/kg/min plus L: 608 μg/kg/min i.v.) continued throughout ischemia and 30 min of reperfusion (n = 6). In the third study, 31P nuclear magnetic resonance was used to investigate the changes in [ATP], [PCr] and pH during ischemia (30 min) and reperfusion (40 min) with AL solution treatment (n = 6) or in controls (n = 7). In the fourth study, AL solution (A: 305 μg/kg/min plus L: 608 μg/kg/min i.v.) was compared to that of ischemic preconditioning (three 3 min cycles of ischemia-reperfusion) (IPC) (n = 6), the adenosine receptor A1 agonist, 2-chloro-N6-cyclopentyladenosine (CCPA) (5 μg/kg i.v.) plus lidocaine (n = 6), and CCPA alone (n = 7).
Results: Seven of the 12 saline-control rats and 4 of the 8 Adeno-only treated rats died during the ischemic period from an episode of ventricular fibrillation. No deaths occurred in the Lido-only treated rats (n = 6) or in any group where AL solution was infused. Ventricular tachycardia (VT) occurred in 100% of saline controls (18 ± 9 episodes), 50% of the adeno-only group (11 ± 7 episodes), and 83% of lido-only treatment (23 ± 11 episodes). VT was also experienced in 60% of low-dose AL treated rats (2 ± 1 episodes) (P < 0.05), 57% of mid-dose AL (2 ± 1 episodes) (P < 0.05), and 67% of high-dose AL treated rats (6 ± 3 episodes). Ventricular fibrillation (VF) occurred in 75% of saline controls (4 ± 3 episodes), 100% of adeno-only (3 ± 2 episodes), and in 33% lido-only treated rats (2 ± 1 episodes). Low-dose AL and mid-dose AL completely prevented VF from occurring during ischemia. The mean infarct size of mid dose-AL (38 ± 6%) was significantly reduced from saline controls (61 ± 5%), adeno-only (56 ± 4%), and lido-only (66 ± 8%) (P < 0.05) but not from low-dose AL (45± 9%) and high-dose AL animals (45 ± 6%).
The separate and sequential administration of lidocaine and adenosine resulted in 2 out of 7 deaths and ischemia-induced VT (6 ± 3 episodes, 4 ± 2 sec) was not prevented while VF (1 ± 0 episodes, 1 ± 0 sec) was reduced. Infarct size (52 ± 5%) was not significantly different from saline-controls (61 ± 5%). When AL was given at pretreatment, stopped for ischemia and resumed 5 min before reperfusion, infarct size reduction (67 ± 8%) and protection from ventricular arrhythmias (VT: 39 ± 23 episodes, 84 ± 49 sec; VF: 2 ± 1 episodes, 21 ± 8 sec) were lost; though, there were no deaths in this group. AL solution given continuously from pretreatment through ischemia and reperfusion provided similar protection to AL infusion during pretreatment and ischemia (41 ± 10% vs. 38 ± 6%, 2 ± 1 VT and 0 VF).
During ischemia, control [ATP] fell to 61% of baseline at 15 min and recovered 68% - 88% of baseline during reperfusion. AL treatment maintained [ATP] in a steady state throughout ischemia and reperfusion with changes ranging of 95 ± 7 % to 117 ± 10% of baseline. Control [PCr] was significantly reduced compared to AL treated hearts during ischemia at 10 min (62 ± 7 vs. 89 ± 9%), 15 min (45 ± 4% vs 81 ± 7%), 20 min (44 ± 9% vs. 92 ± 9%) and 30 min (45 ± 8% vs. 77 ± 7%) and during reperfusion at 10 min (44 ± 19% vs. 92 ± 9%) and 15 min (50 ± 8% vs. 90 ± 7%) (P < 0.05). The pH of AL and control hearts were similar throughout ischemia ranging from pH 7.6 to 6.4 in control and pH 7.5 to 6.8 in AL hearts. Controls maintained a mean pH below baseline for the first 20 min of reperfusion (pH 7.1) while AL hearts pH recovered to baseline within the first 5 min of reperfusion (pH 7.4 ± 0.1).
Pretreating the heart before and during ischemia with AL or with CCPA plus lidocaine resulted in no deaths, and no lethal arrhythmias. Infarct size reduction in CCPA plus lidocaine treated rats (12 ± 4 %) was similar to ischemic preconditioning (11± 3%), whereas in AL- and CCPA- treated rats, the infarct size was 38 ± 6% and 42 ± 7% respectively.
Conclusions: i) The intravenous infusion of AL solution before or during 30 min was more cardioprotective than adenosine alone, lidocaine alone, or the separate and sequential infusion of adenosine and lidocaine; ii) the AL combination led to no death, virtually no episodes of VF, few episodes of VT, and a significantly reduced infarct size; iii) AL cardioprotection appears to be associated with preservation of high energy phosphates and a better balance between supply and demand during ischemic conditions; iv) low pH was not an indicator of myocardial damage in AL treated rats, and v) when adenosine was substituted with an adenosine A1 receptor agonist, CCPA, plus lidocaine cardioprotection was significantly enhanced and similar to IPC. In summary, targeting adenosine receptors, especially the A1 adenosine receptor, with lidocaine Na+ fast channel modulation may offer a new combination therapy to delay myocardial damage during ischemia and prevent ischemia-induced arrhythmias.


BACKGROUND
Our recent data indicate that 21% of critically ill, adult, multiple-trauma patients receiving specialized nutrition support experience hypocalcemia. However, evidence-based methods for the treatment of moderate to severe acute hypocalcemia (ionized calcium concentration [iCa] <1 mmol/L) are lacking.

METHODS
The efficacy of an infusion of 4 g of calcium gluconate was evaluated in 20 critically ill, adult, multiple-trauma patients with moderate to severe hypocalcemia (iCa <1 mmol/L). The calcium gluconate was infused at a rate of 1 g/h in a small volume admixture. A serum iCa determination was obtained on the following day.

RESULTS
Calcium gluconate infusion significantly increased serum iCa from 0.90 +/- 0.08 mmol/L to 1.16 +/- 0.11 mmol/L (p < .001) on the following day. This dosage regimen was successful for achieving a serum iCa >1 mmol/L for 19 of 20 (95%) hypocalcemic patients and achieved a concentration >1.12 mmol/L in 14 (70%) of the patients. Two patients developed mild hypercalcemia (iCa of 1.34 mmol/L and 1.38 mmol/L) postinfusion.

CONCLUSIONS
A short-term infusion of 4 g of intravenous (IV) calcium gluconate for the treatment of moderate to severe hypocalcemia appears to be a promising regimen for critically ill, adult, multiple-trauma patients.


Programmed death 1 (PD-1) is an immune checkpoint molecule that negatively regulates T-cell immune function through the interaction with its ligand PD-L1. Blockage of this interaction unleashes the immune system to fight cancer. Immunotherapy using PD-1 blockade has led to a paradigm shift in the field of cancer drug discovery, owing to its durable effect against a wide variety of cancers with limited adverse effects. A brief history and development of PD-1 blockade, from the initial discovery of PD-1 to the recent clinical output of this therapy will be first summarized. Despite its tremendous clinical success rate over other cancer treatments, PD-1 blockade has its own pitfall; a significant fraction of patients remains unresponsive to this therapy. The key to improve the PD-1 blockade therapy is the development of combination therapies. Since this approach has garnered worldwide interest, here, I will overview the recent trends in the development of PD-1 blockade-based combination therapies and the ongoing clinical trials. These include combinations with checkpoint inhibitors, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and several other existing cancer treatments. Energy metabolism has emerged as one of the important regulatory mechanisms for the function and differentiation of T cells. I will discuss here the recent results regarding the augmentation of PD-1 blockade efficacy by augmenting mitochondrial energy metabolism of T cell.


Poaching is one of the greatest threats to wildlife conservation world-wide. However, the spatial and temporal patterns of poaching activities within protected areas, and the effectiveness of ranger patrols and ranger posts in mitigating these threats, are relatively unknown.
We used 10 years (2006–2015) of ranger-based monitoring data and dynamic multi-season occupancy models to quantify poaching-related threats, to examine factors influencing the spatio-temporal dynamics of these threats and to test the efficiency of management actions to combat poaching in Nyungwe National Park (NNP), Rwanda.
The probability of occurrence of poaching-related threats was highest at lower elevations (1,801–2,200 m), especially in areas that were close to roads and tourist trails; conversely, occurrence probability was lowest at high elevation sites (2,601–3,000 m), and near the park boundary and ranger posts. The number of ranger patrols substantially increased the probability that poaching-related threats disappear at a site if threats were originally present (i.e. probability of extinction of threats). Without ranger visits, the annual probability of extinction of poaching-related threats was an estimated 7%; this probability would increase to 20% and 57% with 20 and 50 ranger visits per year, respectively.
Our results suggest that poaching-related threats can be effectively reduced in NNP by adding ranger posts in areas where they do not currently exist, and by increasing the number of patrols to sites where the probability of poaching activities is high.
Synthesis and applications. Our application of dynamic occupancy models to predict the probability of presence of poaching-related threats is novel, and explicitly considers imperfect detection of illegal activities. Based on the modelled relationships, we identify areas that are most vulnerable to poaching, and offer insights regarding how ranger patrols can be optimally deployed to reduce poaching-related threats and other illegal activites, while taking into account potential sampling biases. We show that poaching can be effectively reduced by increasing ranger patrols to areas under high risk of poaching activities, and by adding ranger patrols near these sites. These findings are broadly applicable to national parks and protected areas experiencing a high degree of poaching and other illegal activities.


Access to markets is increasingly seen as an essential element in providing a route out of poverty, especially for small producers of food crops in rural areas. However, the nature of those markets is changing and bringing about shifts in both levels and forms of participation by small producers in global food systems. Small producers face new difficulties, for example in meeting high standards, but there are also new initiatives, for example by fair trade companies and co-operatives. This article focuses on nine initiatives and asks what small producers must do to achieve effective and sustainable access to markets, and how different private and public organisations can contribute to this.


Well-defined microgel particles were prepared by combining coacervate-driven cross-linking of ionic triblock copolymers with the ability to control particle size and encapsulate functional cargos inherent in microfluidic devices. In this approach, the efficient assembly of PEO-based triblock copolymers with oppositely charged end-blocks allows for bioinspired cross-linking under mild conditions in dispersed aqueous droplets. This strategy enables the integration of charged cargos into the coacervate domains (e.g., the loading of anionic model compounds through electrostatic association with cationic end-blocks). Distinct release profiles can be realized by systematically varying the chemical nature of the payload and the microgel dimensions. This mild and noncovalent assembly method represents a promising new approach to tunable microgels as scaffolds for colloidal biomaterials in therapeutics and regenerative medicine.


Sport psychology researchers have studied careers of Canadian ice hockey players in the National Hockey League (NHL) and devised an empirical NHL career model. The model was comprised of career stages, statuses, demands and barriers to career progression without any indication of coping. The intent in the present article is to feature coping resources and strategies utilized by players during each status and career stage within the empirical model. Five rookies, 5 veterans, and 13 retirees participated in conversational interviews and the data underwent a deductive thematic analysis. Prospects seeking to gain entry into the NHL set controllable expectations rather than playing to impress coaches and staff. Most prospects played in the minor leagues where they adjusted their expectations to accept roles that they were likely to have during an NHL call-up. The career stage of developing as an NHL player was about rookies producing immediately in their role while holding off internal competition for their roster spot. In the same stage, sophomores were in their second full NHL season and they studied their opponents to avoid the sophomore slump. The stage of reaching the NHL elite involved constant pressure for point production and winning playoff games. The final stage was about seasoned veterans maintaining NHL play involvement by preserving their physique despite being worn down from long careers in a contact sport. The authors will discuss the significance of the model for sport psychology researchers and practitioners, and NHL stakeholders.


Whenever I am called upon to make prescriptive statements to a group which can't easily hold me accountable for the consequences, I am always reminded of the story of the chicken and the pig. For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, a chicken and a pig were walking down the street one day and came upon a restaurant that had a big sign in the window, "Special Today: Bacon and Eggs." The chicken got all excited and said, "Isn't that great, they are featuring us together." The pig looked kind of dour and said, "That's okay for you, for you it's a contribution; for me it's a total commitment." I am very pleased to be here to contribute some ideas which are evolving in the innovation diffusion and planned change areas. These ideas have important implications for anyone concerned with introducing new information or diffusing new behaviors among some particular target group.


Context: Medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS) is an overuse injury studied in endurance (ED) runners with minimal data on sprint (SP) athletes. Incorporating patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) into clinical practice with running athletes may provide an objective way to track and treat MTSS. Purpose: To investigate PROMs as a means to monitor MTSS and general wellness in all running (i.e., ED and SP) track athletes during a competitive season. Results: The PROMs overall showed few MTSS symptoms and good global health (mean MTSS score: 0.35 ± 0.85, mean Global Health score: 33.6 ± 3.5). Sprinters reported significantly poorer MTSS scores and Global Health scores (0.544, 95% confidence interval, CI, [0.370, 1.050], p = .04]; 32.50, 95% CI [30.84, 34.16], p = .028) than ED runners (0.04, 95% CI [0.000, 0.041]; 35.5, 95% CI [33.29, 37.65]). There was a main deteriorating effect over time for the MTSS score (p = .047). Conclusions: Sprinters reported more symptoms than ED runners and need to be further researched as an independent population. The PROMs may be useful in tracking symptoms and modifying practices for individual track athletes.


Model quantization is a crucial step for deploying super resolution (SR) networks on mobile devices. However, existing works focus on quantization-aware training, which requires complete dataset and expensive computational overhead. In this paper, we study post-training quantization (PTQ) for image super resolution using only a few unlabeled calibration images. As the SR model aims to maintain the texture and color information of input images, the distribution of activations are long-tailed, asymmetric and highly dynamic compared with classification models. To this end, we introduce the density-based dual clipping to cut off the outliers based on analyzing the asymmetric bounds of activations. Moreover, we present a novel pixel aware calibration method with the supervision of the full-precision model to accommodate the highly dynamic range of different samples. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed method significantly outperforms existing PTQ algorithms on various models and datasets. For instance, we get a 2.091 dB increase on Urban100 benchmark when quantizing $EDSR\times4$ to 4-bit with 100 unlabeled images. Our code is available at both PyTorch and MindSpore.


Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) flowers were subjected to low oxygen to investigate the physiological effects on flower senescence. The effect of ultra low oxygen (0.6-0.8%) led to low accumulation of ethanol that amounted to 8 mg/l in the tissue pulp in 19 days. The content of acetaldehyde showed an exponential decrease in its previous value after a subsequent exposition of cut carnations to air but still at a cold storage temperature. The content of sugars such as sucrose, glucose and fructose linearly decreased with small differences between ULO and RA conditions. The sucrose content was at a trace concentration. Visual symptoms of injury were observed in ULO conditions after 19 days of storage when brown spots appeared at the top of petals.