Background and objectives: Social factors have demonstrated to affect pain intensity and quality of life of pain patients, such as social support or the attitudes and responses of the main informal caregiver. Similarly, pain has negative consequences on the patient's social environment. However, it is still rare to include social factors in pain research and treatment. This study compares patient and caregivers' accuracy, as well as explores personality and health correlates of empathic accuracy in patients and caregivers. Materials and Methods: The study comprised 292 chronic pain patients from the Pain Clinic of the Vall d'Hebron Hospital in Spain (main age = 59.4 years; 66.8% females) and their main informal caregivers (main age = 53.5 years; 51.0% females; 68.5% couples). Results: Patients were relatively inaccurate at estimating the interference of pain on their counterparts (t = 2.16; p = 0.032), while informal caregivers estimated well the patient's status (all differences p > 0.05). Empathic accuracy on patient and caregiver status did not differ across types of relationship (i.e., couple or other; all differences p > 0.05). Sex differences in estimation only occurred for disagreement in pain severity, with female caregivers showing higher overestimation (t = 2.18; p = 0.030). Patients' health status and caregivers' personality were significant correlates of empathic accuracy. Overall, estimation was poorer when patients presented higher physical functioning. Similarly, caregiver had more difficulties in estimating the patient's pain interference as patient general and mental health increased (r = 0.16, p = 0.008, and r = 0.15, p = 0.009, respectively). Caregiver openness was linked to a more accurate estimation of a patient's status (r = 0.20, p < 0.001), while caregiver agreeableness was related to a patient's greater accuracy of their caregivers' pain interference (r = 0.15, p = 0.009). Conclusions: Patients poorly estimate the impact of their illness compared to caregivers, regardless of their relationship. Some personality characteristics in the caregiver and health outcomes in the patient are associated with empathic inaccuracy, which should guide clinicians when selecting who requires more active training on empathy in pain settings.


During the last decade, we have witnessed a substantial change in content delivery networks (CDNs) and user access paradigms. If previously, users consumed content from a central server through their personal computers, nowadays they can reach a wide variety of repositories from virtually everywhere using mobile devices. This results in a considerable time-, location-, and event-based volatility of content popularity. In such a context, it is imperative for CDNs to put in place adaptive content management strategies, thus, improving the quality of services provided to users and decreasing the costs. In this paper, we introduce predictive content distribution strategies inspired by methods developed in the Recommender Systems area. Specifically, we outline different content placement strategies based on the observed user consumption patterns, and advocate their applicability in the state of the art CDNs.


Objectives: Comparing effects of mitral stenosis and mitral regurgitation on LA deformation using twodimensional speckle tracking echocardiography. Methods: Fifty patients with isolated moderate to severe MS, fifty patients with isolated moderate to severe MR and normal left ventricular ejection fraction (EF≥ 55%) were compared using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test with two-group comparisons. LA reservoir strain was calculated as peak systolic atrial longitudinal strain, LA reservoir strain rate as peak systolic positive value, LA conduit SR as the early diastolic negative peak, and LA contractile SR as the late diastolic negative peak with QRS onset as the reference point. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between the LA average PALS (p<0.001), SRS (p=0.012), SRE (p<0.001), TTP strain (p<0.001), SRA (p=0.010), and TTP SRE (p=0.005) of the 2 patient groups. LA average PALS was significantly higher in MR compared to MS patients (p<0.001).The average SRS, SRE and SRA were nearly similar in MS and MR patients. The TTP strain and TTP SRE were significantly shorter in MR compared to MS patients (p<0.001and p= 0.005, respectively). Significant inverse correlations were noted between the LA volume index (LAVI) and average PALS (r=-0.898, P<0.001), SRS (r=-0.927, P<0.001), SRE (r=-0.938, P<0.001) and SRA (r=-0.957, P<0.001) in MR patients. Conclusion: Left atrial PALS, TTP strain, and TTP SRE can differentiate between volume overloaded and pressure overloaded left atrium. Pressure overload seems to have a more pronounced effect on LA mechanics.


Mum effect is the risk arising from project members' reluctance to report negative information. We investigate the cultural factors contributing to this risk in offshore outsourcing. The study was conducted in Thailand with participation from both students and IT professionals. In order to understand the influence of the IT work environment on the risks, we used the student data as a control sample since students and professionals share the same cultural background but only the professionals have the work experience in the IT industry. We use three of Hofstede's cultural characteristics (power distance (PD), long-term orientation and individualism) and three mum effect factors (fear of consequences, communication gap and team solidarity). Our findings show that PD (i.e. inequality based on seniority and other status symbols) has a significant influence on a mum effect factor. Professionals correlate it with team solidarity (Pearson's r = 0.7, p < 0.001) indicating that PD with superiors is likely to influence team members to be protective of each other. There were also significant differences between students' and professionals' mean response to PD (t(75) = -2.97, p = 0.004), fear of consequences (t(75) = -3.67, p < 0.001) and communication gap (t(75) = -3.5, p = 0.001), with professionals producing lower mean values, indicating that the work environment within the IT companies is possibly less risky than the general culture.


The 2019 major drought in northern France highlighted the necessity to design an efficient and reliable low-flow forecasting system. Most forecasting tools, based on rainfall-runoff surface models, could benefit from an utilization of piezometric data, broadly available over the French metropolitan territory: obviously, surface water/groundwater interaction are a key process to explain low-flow dynamics.

Indeed, aquifers carry most of the hydroclimatic memory of a catchment, which determines the intensity and duration of droughts: a catchment beginning summer with empty aquifers will not have the same trajectory as the same catchment with higher than average piezometric levels. However, the piezometric data itself is not straightforward to use in a hydrological model, since aquifer-river connexions are often equivocal. Thus, a prior analysis of available data is necessary.

In this work, using 100 catchments of the national French hydroclimatic database and available piezometric data from the national aquifer monitoring network, we performed a comparative memory analysis of piezometry and streamflow, through a simple convolution function. The results were then compared to the behaviour of GR6J, a conceptual lumped rainfall-runoff model. For each catchment of the dataset, a selection of relevant piezometers was made, in the perspective of developing a model incorporating their levels as input data.


Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) play an essential role in the signal transduction events initiated by the binding of extracellular signals to their cell surface receptors. There are eight known PI3Ks in humans, which have been subdivided into three classes (I-III). The class I(A) of PI3K comprises the p110alpha, p110beta and p110delta isoforms, which associate with receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). On the other hand, the class I(B) PI3K p110gamma is regulated by G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Gene targeting studies in mice have revealed specific biological functions for the class I(A) p110delta in lymphocyte activation, and the class I(B) p110gamma in inflammatory cell responses. In human cancer, recent reports have described activating mutations in the PIK3CA gene encoding p110alpha, and inactivating mutations in the PTEN gene, a tumor suppressor and antagonist of the PI3K pathway. Thus, individual PI3K isoforms are potential drug targets for a variety of human diseases, including allergies, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and arterial thrombosis. In this review, we will discuss recent patents relating to class I PI3Ks, including patents on the cDNA sequences of p110gamma and p110delta. Moreover, we will review patents on novel pharmacological PI3K inhibitors and on methods of manipulating T cell responses through PI3K.


We investigated the analytical acceptability of ethylene glycol-basedcontrolseraby preparing setsofaqueous and ethylene glycol-based specimens that had added uric acid, calcium, creatinine, glucose, urea, sodium, and potassium. Ethylene glycol caused a significant systematic proportional bias in procedures involving dialysis, but had no discernible effect on methods not involving dialysis. The extent of bias was proportional to the concentration of ethylene glycol, was independent of protein concentration, and differed according to the type of dialysis system used. We conclude that ethylene glycol-based control materials can have useful applications in clinical chemistry, but caution must be exercised in their use with analytical systems that employ dialysis.


Background and purpose: Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) not always implies a good prognosis. There is a need for robust and simple classification systems of severity after CVT that help in clinical decision-making.

Methods: We studied 467 patients (81.6% women, median age: 29 years, interquartile range: 22-38 years) with CVT who were hospitalized from 1980 to 2014 in two third-level referral hospitals. Bivariate analyses were performed to select variables associated with 30-day mortality to integrate a further multivariate analysis. The resultant model was evaluated with the Hosmer-Lemeshow test for goodness of fit, and on Cox proportional hazards model for reliability of the effect size. After the scale was configured, security and validity were tested for 30-day mortality and modified Rankin scale (mRS) >2. The prognostic performance was compared with that of the CVT risk score (CVT-RS, 0-6 points) as the reference system.

Results: The 30-day case fatality rate was 8.7%. The CVT grading scale (CVT-GS, 0-9 points) was integrated by stupor/coma (4 points), parenchymal lesion >6 cm (2 points), mixed (superficial and deep systems) CVT (1 point), meningeal syndrome (1 point) and seizures (1 point). CVT-GS was categorized into mild (0-3 points, 1.1% mortality), moderate (4-6 points, 19.6% mortality) and severe (7-9 points, 61.4% mortality). For 30-day mortality prediction, as compared with CVT-RS (cut-off 4 points), CVT-GS (cut-off 5 points) was globally better in sensitivity (85% vs 37%), specificity (90% vs 95%), positive predictive value (44% vs 40%), negative predictive value (98% vs 94%), and accuracy (94% vs 80%). For 30-day mRS >2 the performance of CVT-GS over CVT-RS was comparably improved.

Conclusion: The CVT-GS is a simple and reliable score for predicting outcome that may help in clinical decision-making and that could be used to stratify patients recruited into clinical trials.


Objective The objective of this paper is to assess, in individuals with clinically stable multiple sclerosis (MS), the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK) and exploratory pharmacodynamics of the monoclonal recombinant human antibody IgM22 (rHIgM22). Methods Seventy-two adults with stable MS were enrolled in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, single ascending-dose, Phase 1 trial examining rHIgM22 from 0.025 to 2.0 mg/kg. Assessments included MRI, MR spectroscopy, plasma PK, and changes in clinical status, laboratory values and adverse events for three months. The final cohort had additional clinical, ophthalmologic, CSF collection and exploratory biomarker evaluations. Participants were monitored for six months. Results rHIgM22 was well tolerated with no clinically significant safety signals. Noncompartmental PK modeling demonstrated linear dose-proportionality both of Cmax and AUC0–Last. The steady-state apparent volume of distribution of approximately 58 ml/kg suggested primarily vascular compartmentalization. CSF:plasma rHIgM22 concentration increased from 0.003% on Day 2 for both 1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg to 0.056% and 0.586% for 1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg, respectively, on Day 29. No statistically significant treatment-related changes were observed in exploratory pharmacodynamic outcome measures included for the 21 participants of the extension cohort. Conclusions Single doses of rHIgM22 were well tolerated and exhibited linear PK, and antibody was detected in the CSF.


In recent years, the development of computer and Internet has brought the amount of information to an unprecedented extent, and the world has entered the era of big data. The emergence of big data has epochmaking significance for statistics. Featuring diversity, scale and high speed, the big data makes up for the disadvantages (high cost and high error) of statistics. However, this does not mean that the age of statistics is over, and the processing of big data still needs to rely on statistical methods. The age of big data brings both opportunities and new challenges to the development of statistics. This paper analyzes the relationship between big data and statistics, discusses the change of statistics teaching mode and teaching concept in the era of big data, analyzes the impact of big data on statistics and summarizes some problems existing in the research and teaching about big data.


Civic virtue consists of a set of moral values which can be cultivated through personal living habits to promote successful community. With greater moral sense, people are less likely to be selfish and more social trust can be created which lead to higher level of social capital. Strong family ties are sometimes seen as a menace to the society as it could result in selfish behavior and lack of trust outside the family, impeding economic development. An alternative view is that strong family ties and kinship networks drive successful economies. These values vary across different countries and cultures. Since past researchers have mainly focused on the West, this study provides insightful information on the strength of family ties and civic virtues from the Eastern perspective. Given the vast differences in economic conditions and life chances according to social class and education and income group, it is not controversial to argue that individuals with different level of social class and education exhibit different level of civicness. Using a Hierarchical Linear Model approach, this research examines the: effect of the strength of family ties on civic virtues in East Asia and the West; relationship between the education level and civic virtues; and the prevailing impact of class based system on individual level of civicness. Findings reveal that stronger family ties promote civic virtues and upper class individuals from the East and the West are less civic. While education level is important in fostering civicness in the West, it is not a significant indicator in the East.


The aim of this paper is to present an alternative method that can be used to improve existing gravity field models via the application of gradient data from Gravity field and Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE). First, the proposed algorithm used to construct the observation equation is presented. Then methods for noise processing in both time and space domains aimed at reducing noises are introduced. As an example, the European Improved Gravity model of the Earth by New techniques (EIGEN5C) is modified with gradient observations over the whole lifetime of the GOCE, leading to a new gravity field model named as EGMGOCE (Earth Gravitational Model of GOCE). The results show that the cumulative geoid difference between EGMGOCE and EGM08 is reduced by 4 centimeters compared with that between EIGEN5C and Earth Gravitational Model 2008 (EGM08) up to 200 degrees. The large geoid differences between EGMGOCE and EIGEN5C mainly exist in Africa, South America, Antarctica and Himalaya, which indicates the contribution from GOCE. Compared to the newest GOCE gravity field model resolved by direct method from European Space Agency (ESA), the cumulative geoid difference is reduced by 7 centimeters up to 200 degrees.


The aim of the author of this paper is to familiarize readers with crop insurance in the EU and Serbia. A comparative method of research has been used and the paper presents types of crop insurance policies typical of the European continent. The paper points out the factors which affect the supply of this insurance and the demand for it. Since premium subsidy is one of the important features of this insurance a part of this paper relates to this issue. The crop insurance in Serbia is also presented here with the conclusion that the crop insurance coverage is very modest. Due to frequent changes of climate and natural disasters it is expected that in the future we will have a growing demand for crop insurance. The unfavorable economic situation, insufficient knowledge and lack of interest of farmers are the main reasons why is crop insurance in Serbia very modest and undeveloped. Because of the frequency of claims and their intensity, this image should be amended.


Abstract. Deterministic forecasts of wind production for the next 72 h at a single wind farm or at the regional level are among the main end-users requirement. However, for an optimal management of wind power production and distribution it is important to provide, together with a deterministic prediction, a probabilistic one. A deterministic forecast consists of a single value for each time in the future for the variable to be predicted, while probabilistic forecasting informs on probabilities for potential future events. This means providing information about uncertainty (i.e. a forecast of the PDF of power) in addition to the commonly provided single-valued power prediction. A significant probabilistic application is related to the trading of energy in day-ahead electricity markets. It has been shown that, when trading future wind energy production, using probabilistic wind power predictions can lead to higher benefits than those obtained by using deterministic forecasts alone. In fact, by using probabilistic forecasting it is possible to solve economic model equations trying to optimize the revenue for the producer depending, for example, on the specific penalties for forecast errors valid in that market. In this work we have applied a probabilistic wind power forecast systems based on the "analog ensemble" method for bidding wind energy during the day-ahead market in the case of a wind farm located in Italy. The actual hourly income for the plant is computed considering the actual selling energy prices and penalties proportional to the unbalancing, defined as the difference between the day-ahead offered energy and the actual production. The economic benefit of using a probabilistic approach for the day-ahead energy bidding are evaluated, resulting in an increase of 23% of the annual income for a wind farm owner in the case of knowing "a priori" the future energy prices. The uncertainty on price forecasting partly reduces the economic benefit gained by using a probabilistic energy forecast system.


ABSTRACT Environmental conditions can exert a strong influence on the growth and energy demands of chicks. We hypothesized that postnatal growth in a cold, aquatic environment would require a high level of energy metabolism in semiprecocial Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata) chicks. We measured body-mass growth and daily energy expenditure (DEE) of free-ranging chicks in the Arctic. We used daily gains in body mass and DEE to estimate daily metabolizable energy (DME, kJ day−1) and total metabolizable energy (TME, kJ chick−1). Chicks gained body mass quickly, with a logistic growth rate constant 57% greater than the allometric prediction, yet were at only 60% of adult body mass at fledging. Males grew at a rate similar to that of females but for a slightly longer duration and so reached an asymptotic body mass 23% greater, and tarsus length 8% longer, than that of females. Chick growth performance was similar between first- and second-hatched chicks within broods of 2, which suggests that food availability was not limited. DEE increased in proportion to body mass, and DME peaked at 1,214 kJ day−1 on day 25 posthatching. Over the average 49-day postnatal period, TME was 49.0 MJ, which is within the range of error of the allometric prediction. Parents provided 58.6 MJ as food to meet this energy requirement. Given this chick energy requirement and the range of energy content of prey observed in the chick diet, selecting prey with higher energy content would greatly reduce adult provisioning effort. Red-throated Loon chicks did not have a high postnatal energy requirement, but rather grew quickly and fledged at a small size—with the effect of reducing the length of the postnatal period and, consequently, parental energy investment in chicks. Palabras clave: asignación de energía, buzo, desarrollo postnatal, tasa de crecimiento


For a long time, the Chinese development direction of emphasizing urban area but despising rural area results in the great differences in configuration standard of regional facilities, large gap between urban and rural facilities and low level of urbanization, and limits the materialization of equalization between urban and rural public facilities, which is especially obvious in the western region of China. Western cities and countryside are always of poor ecological environment, small scale of towns, decentralized layout, comparatively backward economy and limited construction capital, therefore, posing great challenge in the face of urban-rural integration, in particular the infrastructure. Directed towards this, this paper takes the practice of urban-rural integration planning in Xunyi County as an example, and brings forth new train of thought for advancing the implementation of infrastructure equalization in counties.


Patterning nanoscale features across macroscopic areas is challenging due to the vast range of length scales that must be addressed. With polymer pen lithography, arrays of thousands of elastomeric pyramidal pens can be used to write features across centimeter-scales, but deformation of the soft pens limits resolution and minimum feature pitch, especially with polymeric inks. Here, we show that by coating polymer pen arrays with a ∼175 nm silica layer, the resulting hard transparent arrays exhibit a force-independent contact area that improves their patterning capability by reducing the minimum feature size (∼40 nm), minimum feature pitch (<200 nm for polymers), and pen to pen variation. With these new arrays, patterns with as many as 5.9 billion features in a 14.5 cm(2) area were written using a four hundred thousand pyramid pen array. Furthermore, a new method is demonstrated for patterning macroscopic feature size gradients that vary in feature diameter by a factor of 4. Ultimately, this form of polymer pen lithography allows for patterning with the resolution of dip-pen nanolithography across centimeter scales using simple and inexpensive pen arrays. The high resolution and density afforded by this technique position it as a broad-based discovery tool for the field of nanocombinatorics.


Astronomy is fairly a new course for preservice science teachers in Turkey. Regardless of many science courses taken, preservice science teachers hold several misconceptions about astronomy. It is essential to find out those misconceptions to facilitate astronomy teaching. The aim of this study is to develop a new astronomy instrument specifically related to the topics of grade 4 through grade 8. The main reason for that is to find out preservice science teachers' astronomy misconceptions
specifically related to these topics. Preservice science teachers wrote journals after each astronomy class during a semester and the test has been developed mainly based on these journals. After a pilot study, the instrument had reduced to 18 items. The cronbach alpha value determined as 0.71 for the main study. Data analyses showed that preservice science teachers hold several misconceptions
about astronomy. The instrument is a multiple choice test, but in addition participants asked to state if they were sure or not sure of their answers at the end of each question. Results showed that the majority of preservice science teachers that gave correct answers were not sure of their answers.


DC hybrid power systems are of interest for future low emission, fuel-efficient vessels. In spite of the advantages they offer onboard a ship, they result in a complex, interconnected system, which requires effective analysis tools to enable a full realization of the advantages. Modeling and simulation are essential tools to facilitate design, analysis, and optimization of the system. This paper reviews modeling of hybrid electric ship components including mechanical and electrical elements. Power electronic converters are modeled by nonlinear averaging methods to suit system-level studies. A unified model for bidirectional converters is proposed to avoid transitions between two separate models. A simulation platform using the derived models is developed for the system-level analysis of hybrid electric ships. Simulation results of power sharing among two diesel generators, a fuel cell module, and an energy storage system are presented for three modes of operation.


ATPase activities and lipid peroxidation as measured by malonaldehyde formation in rat cerebral cortex synaptosomes depend on the time of incubation of the tissue. ATPase activities decreased but lipid peroxidation activity increased with increasing incubation periods. Effects of catechol- and non-catechol molecules on lipid peroxidation in synaptosomes have been determined. Drugs previously shown to stimulate ATPases inhibited lipid peroxidation. It seems likely that close relationships exist between stimulation of ATPase activities and inhibition of lipid peroxidation.


We present a case of brachial artery infected aneurysm in a patient with infective endocarditis caused by Streptococcus bovis. A 49-year-old man presented with fever dyspnea and a pansystolic murmur with irradiation to axilla. The echocardiogram revealed vegetation in native mitral valve. After mitral valve replacement with bioprosthesis, it was observed pulsatile mass of five centimeters in diameter at antecubital fossa of right upper limb. It was made the diagnosis of infected aneurysm of the brachial artery, and the surgery was performed successfully. The aim of this case report is to show a rare complication after infective endocarditis.


Ruminants are a diverse group of mammals, both domestic and wild species, that exhibit microbial fermentation prior to gastrointestinal activity. During the digestive process, glycosides and other natural products are exposed to ruminal microorganisms and metabolised as substrates. Most compounds are converted into nutrients but some become toxic metabolites. At least 10 types of toxic glycosides occur in forage species. Glycosides are characterized by the presence of one or more sugars linked to the alcohol or thiol functions of the non-sugar portion of the molecule, which is called the aglycone. The biological activity of the glycoside is usually determined by the chemical nature of the aglycone. The aglycones are released by microbial enzymes and may undergo further enzymatic or non-enzymatic transformations to yield toxic metabolites that can be absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. Microbial detoxification of the aglycone is also possible. Further biotransformation of the aglycone can occur in the liver. A review is presented on glycosides that are toxic to ruminants. The discussion covers aliphatic nitrocompounds, cyanogenic glycosides, cardiac glycosides, saponins, glucosinolates, diterpenoid glycosides, bracken glycosides, calcinogens, phenolic glycosides and ranunculin. Clinical signs of poisoning and treatment of livestock as well as management strategies for the prevention of poisoning are considered. DOI:10.2458/azu_jrm_v54i4_majak2


Three phases of tubule development can be distinguished in males of the Fayomi breed: (i) the first 12 weeks, when only slight increase in tubule diameter and cell count occurs. During this period two stages in spermatogenesis are to be found. (ii) from the 16th to the 24th week, when rapid increase in tubule diameter and cell count occurs, and all stages of spermatogenesis are present. Sexual maturity, judged by the appearance of the first spermatozoa in the seminiferous tubules, occurs at about 16 weeks and is associated with a rapid increase in the size of the testes. The increase in testis weight is due, however, to increase in length of the tubules rather than to increase in diameter. (iii) from the 24th to the 52nd week, when only slight changes occur in microscopical appearance.


This study investigates the dialectical relationships between state-centred interventions and community-based actions in reducing disaster risks by focusing on everyday practices of the informal settlers living in 'danger areas'. Past research has reduced the interactions between state and community by focusing on tensions between the two as top-down/bottom-up or knowledge/action. This research attempts to illustrate community-based disaster risk reduction as a process itself in which multiple and contingent paths emerge.

To this aim, adopting Lefebvre's production of space, this research elaborates on the concept of 'space of risk', which is distinguished from the term 'danger areas'. Specifically, the term 'danger areas' is defined exclusively by law and is based on scientific knowledge and policy orientation; however, local communities directly involved in a series of disasters are relatively excluded in the construction of meanings. If an urban area is declared a 'danger area', the state has a legal basis to evict informal settlers living in that area. Those who determine a danger area have the power to dictate who has access to urban lands. Hence, in conceptualizing 'space of risk' as an analytical tool, this thesis highlights the roles of informal settlers in producing this space and, potentially, reproducing existing social relationships. This framework is used to address whether the state potentially depoliticizes community-based actions, how community involvement in disaster risk reduction can bring changes to the state mode of production, and under which conditions community-based actions can obtain political dimension.

Empirical narratives are grounded in the city of Metro Manila, the Philippines. Guided by a qualitative case study methodology, fieldwork was conducted in three sites of low-income communities, facing a range of disaster risks. Whilst the government-led relocation plan increases the vulnerability of people and, as a result, depoliticizes community-based actions, the informal settlers living in 'danger areas' self-organize, initiate, and participate in disaster risk reduction activities. However, within a community that is disaggregated are sub-communities that develop and pursue their own agendas; especially, the most active participants of disaster risk reduction who negotiate with the governments for basic services or access to land ownership. Thus, when acknowledging different agendas, aspirations, and needs of each group, community-based actions can regain their political dimension.


1. The effect of spinal GABAergic neurons on the segmental neuronal network generating locomotion has been analyzed in the lamprey spinal cord in vitro. It is shown that gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)A- and GABAB-mediated effects influence the burst frequency and the intersegmental coordination and that the GABA system is active during normal locomotor activity. 2. Fictive locomotor activity was induced by superfusing the spinal cord with a Ringer solution containing N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA, 150 microM). The efferent locomotor activity was recorded by suction electrodes from the ventral roots or intracellularly from interneurons or motoneurons. If a GABA uptake blocker was added to the perfusate, the burst rate decreased. This effect was counteracted by GABAB receptor blockade by phaclofen or 2-(OH)-saclofen. If instead a GABAB receptor agonist (baclofen) was added during fictive locomotion, a depression of the burst rate occurred. It was concluded that a GABAB receptor activation due to an endogenous release of GABA caused a depression of the burst activity with a maintained well-coordinated locomotor activity. 3. If a GABAA receptor antagonist (bicuculline) is applied during fictive locomotion elicited by NMDA, a certain increase of the burst rate occurred. Conversely, if a selective GABAA agonist (muscimol) was administered, the burst rate decreased. Similarly, if the GABAA receptor activity was potentiated by activation of a benzodiazepine site by diazepam, the burst rate was reduced. If, however the GABAergic effect was first enhanced by an uptake blocker (nipecotic acid), an administration of a GABAA antagonist (bicuculline) increased the burst rate, but in addition, the burst pattern became less regular with recurrent shorter periods without clear reciprocal burst activity. The GABAA receptor activity appears important for the rate control and for permitting a regular burst pattern. 4. The intersegmental coordination in the lamprey is characterized by a rostrocaudal constant phase lag of approximately 1% of the cycle duration between the activation of consecutive segments during forward swimming. This rostrocaudal phase lag can be reversed during backward swimming, which can be induced also experimentally in the isolated spinal cord by providing a higher excitability to the caudal segments. In a split-bath configuration, a GABA uptake blocker or a GABAB agonist was administered to the rostral part of the spinal cord, which caused a reversal of the phase lag as during backward swimming. If GABAA receptors were blocked under similar conditions, the intersegmental coordination became irregular. It is concluded that an increased GABA activity in a spinal cord region can modify the intersegmental coordination.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


This paper developed a measurement-while-drilling instrument based on predigested inertial measurement unit (PIMU) and presented a PIMU design with a rotational modulation device, thus improving precision of inertial sensors. Then, this paper proposed an integral surveying method based on inertial navigation system and dead reckoning, measuring motion parameters characterized by long-term high accuracy. The semi-physical simulation was conducted under the laboratory conditions. The results indicate that, the suggested methodology dramatically improves measuring accuracy of attitude angles (azimuth, pitch, and roll) and position.


This thesis deals mainly with central New Zealand. The writer's archaeological excavations are described in Appendices. Lists are prepared giving all archaeological radiocarbon dates on wood, charcoal, moa bones, human bones and marine shells, for New Zealand up to 1974. The dates are sorted according to material, and the dates and their standard errors corrected. A stratigraphic system based on soils and Loisels pumice and tied to the corrected radio carbon dates is set up for central New Zealand. Radiocarbon and stratigraphy provide dates for vegetation changes' Moahunter sites, cultivation sites, and for the artifact assemblages that are independently grouped as either Early or Late. Change from Early to Late is explained by cultural breakdown and an initial movement of culture from south to north, The sequence of events postulated is summarised in a Table at the end of the text.


Abstract Double stranded RNA-binding domain (dsRBD) is a ubiquitous domain specialized in the recognition of double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs). Present in many proteins and enzymes involved in various functional roles of RNA metabolism, including RNA splicing, editing, and transport, dsRBD generally binds to RNAs that lack complex structures. However, this belief has recently been challenged by the discovery of a dsRBD serving as a major tRNA binding module for human dihydrouridine synthase 2 (hDus2), a flavoenzyme that catalyzes synthesis of dihydrouridine within the complex elbow structure of tRNA. We here unveil the molecular mechanism by which hDus2 dsRBD recognizes a tRNA ligand. By solving the crystal structure of this dsRBD in complex with a dsRNA together with extensive characterizations of its interaction with tRNA using mutagenesis, NMR and SAXS, we establish that while hDus2 dsRBD retains a conventional dsRNA recognition capability, the presence of an N-terminal extension appended to the canonical domain provides additional residues for binding tRNA in a structure-specific mode of action. Our results support that this extension represents a feature by which the dsRBD specializes in tRNA biology and more broadly highlight the importance of structural appendages to canonical domains in promoting the emergence of functional diversity.


A three-area, interregional Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) model is used to assess the effects of structural policies implemented in the rural town of Archanes (Crete, Southern Greece) during the 1990s, in terms of changes in the structure of the local economy, the extent of economic impacts and their diffusion patterns to adjacent rural and urban localities. Structural changes within a time span of 10 years are estimated using a causative matrix approach, while structural decomposition analysis provides an indication of the attribution of local output growth to changes in the economic structure or final demand. Results reveal that final demand effects on gross production were more important than changes in technical coefficients. Structural policy injections was responsible for around 20.3% of gross production change in Archanes during this period. Also, structural policy specific impacts seem to be quite different, as CAP support measures are associated with comparatively high output and household income benefits for Heraklion and high output and employment benefits for N. Kazantzakis. In contrast, development measures are more successful in generating firm and household incomes in Heraklion and firm income and employment in N. Kazantzakis.


Grain growth in Ga2O3 and MnO co-doped ZnO was investigated for sintering from 950° to 1250°C in air. Microstructural observation revealed that the samples sintered at lower temperatures consist of uniform equiaxed grains while the samples sintered at higher temperatures consist of plat-like grains, implying that the grain growth mechanism for the examined ZnO ceramics changes when the sintering temperature increases above about 1150°C. The traditional kinetic grain growth equation was employed to analyze the variation of grain size with sintering temperature and sintering holding time. It was shown that the grain growth exponent, n, increases from 2.17 for samples with uniform equiaxed grain structure to 4.30 for samples with plate like grain structure, while the apparent activation energy, Q, increases from 237 kJ/mol for low-temperature-sintered sample to 405 kJ/mol for high-temperature-sintered samples. The increases in both n and Q were mainly attributed to the difference between the grain morphologies in low- and high-temperature ranges. The underestimation of the sizes of the plate-like grains was also considered to be another important origin for the higher values of n and Q for the high-temperature-sintered samples.


SystemC is a new modeling language based on C++ that is intended to enable system level design and IP exchange. This tutorial paper briefly reviews the hardware modeling features available in SystemC 1.0 and then introduces the new system level modeling features in SystemC 2.0. A small design example is presented that demonstrates how the new features facilitate system level design tasks such as communication refinement and mapping of design specifications to hardware and software implementations. Also discussed is how the new modeling features enable a wide variety of models of computation to be cleanly expressed within SystemC.


INTRODUCTION
Few studies have evaluated positive measures for therapeutic response. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess the effects of resilience on severity of depressive and anxious symptoms after brief cognitive psychotherapy for depression.

METHODS
This was a clinical follow-up study nested in a randomized clinical trial of cognitive therapies. The Resilience Scale was applied at baseline. The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) were used at baseline, post-intervention, and at six-month follow-up.

RESULTS
Sixty-one patients were assessed at baseline, post-intervention and at six-month follow-up. Resilience scores were significantly different between baseline and post-intervention assessments (p<0.001), as well as at baseline and at six-month follow-up (p<0.001). We observed a weak negative correlation between baseline resilience scores and HDRS scores at post-intervention (r=-0.295, p=0.015) and at six-month follow-up (r=-0.354, p=0.005). Furthermore, we observed a weak negative correlation between resilience scores and HARS scores at post-intervention (r=-0.292, p=0.016).

CONCLUSION
Subjects with higher resilience scores at baseline showed a lower severity of symptoms at post-intervention and at six-month follow-up.


Since the first publication by Tartter in 1982 [3] multiple studies were performed concerning the association between blood transfusion and outcome in surgical oncology. The hypothesis was that blood transfusion-associated immunosuppression influences postoperative infection rates and long-term prognosis. Due to the fact that most of these studies were uncontrolled observational the decisive question about the causal relationship could not be answered so long. In randomized studies different methodological approaches were performed. Jeekel from Rotterdam and our group tried to control the allogeneic transfusion-associated immunosuppression by use of autologous transfusions. We found in our monocentric study with a very homogenous study population a significantly reduced infection rate in the autologous blood group which was not observed in the multicentric Dutch trial. The second approach was chosen by Jensen from Denmark and van de Velde from the Netherlands. They used leucocyte-depletion to create a less immunosuppressive blood product, which was then randomized and compared with conventional allogeneic transfusions. Whereas the monocentric Dutch study showed a significant effect in the pilot study and also in the later larger confirmational study, again this was not found in the multicentric Dutch trial. Concerning the association between prognosis and transfusion the results of two randomized studies are available. The multicentric study from Jeekel from Rotterdam and our monocentric study found also in this endpoint different results. Whereas in our study allogeneic transfusions were an independent risk factor demonstrated in the intention-to-treat comparison by a clear trend (p = 0.067), this could not be detected in the multicentric Dutch study. In conclusion, the results from actually available randomized studies are not compulsive. Whereas the homogeneous monocentric studies showed a significant transfusion effect for the postoperative infection rate and also for long-term prognosis, this could not be verified in two multicentric trials. Also the cumulative meta-analyses are not able to answer the decisive question concerning the causal relationship between transfusion and long-term prognosis. Therefore new and innovative study designs are mandatory.


Engaging the thought of the Danish thinker Søren Kierkegaard, I challenge a tendency within the analytic tradition of philosophy on the subject of meaning in life. Taking as a starting point Kierkegaard's insights about meaning in life, the striving needed to attain an imagined ideal self, and his paradoxical conception of the perfection available to human life, I claim that meaning in life is a function of an individual's striving for an ideal self. This continuous effort to achieve myself is marked by suffering, an indispensable part of Kierkegaard's project of identity formation. The imagined grasp of a possible ideal self is essential to this process but insufficient for it because the imagination can only ever glimpse a kind of static perfection, not the lived perfection that only results from willed actualization of an ideal self. The meaning of a human life, then, consists in the suffering that results from a struggle to actualize the ideal I aspire to become in the process of identity formation. I contrast this view with a tendency shared by many contemporary analytic philosophers of meaning in life, for whom meaning in life is constituted by achievement of valued goods, without much attention to one's relation to the process of achieving them. In that respect, I will focus on the position of Iddo Landau. After clearing a number of his misconceptions about Kierkegaard's philosophy, I claim that, for a life to be meaningful, valued goods in life must be complemented by a conscious enactment of the process of the formation of one's identity that includes striving to attain a kind of perfection. I conclude that Kierkegaard's paradoxical account of perfectionism makes him more of an ally to Landau than an opponent.


Abstract. The energy imbalance at the top of the atmosphere over the last century has caused an accumulation of heat within the ocean, the continental subsurface, the atmosphere and the cryosphere. Although ~90 % of the energy gained by the climate system has been stored in the ocean, the other components of the Earth heat inventory cannot be neglected due to their influence on associated climate processes dependent on heat storage, such as sea level rise and permafrost stability. However, there has not been a comprehensive assessment of the heat inventory within global climate simulations yet. Here, we explore the ability of thirty advanced General Circulation Models (GCMs) from the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) to simulate the distribution of heat within the Earth's energy reservoirs for the period 1972–2005 of the Common Era. CMIP5 GCMs simulate an average heat storage of 247 ± 172 ZJ (96 ± 4 % of total heat content) in the ocean, 5 ± 9 ZJ (2 ± 3 %) in the continental subsurface, 2 ± 3 ZJ (1 ± 1 %) in the cryosphere, and 2 ± 2 ZJ (1 ± 1 %) in the atmosphere. However, the CMIP5 ensemble overestimates the ocean heat content by 83 ZJ and underestimates the continental heat storage by 9 ZJ and the cryosphere heat content by 5 ZJ, in comparison with recent observations. The representation of terrestrial ice masses and the continental subsurface, as well as the response of each model to the external forcing, should be improved in order to obtain better representations of the Earth heat inventory and the partition of heat among climate subsystems in global transient climate simulations.


OBJECTIVES
To explore how the potent vasoconstrictive features of vasopressin impact the rate of cardiovascular collapse and metabolic derangements associated with prolonged hemorrhagic shock.

DESIGN
A prospective randomized trial.

SETTING
University hospital-based animal laboratory.

PARTICIPANTS
Sixteen swine.

INTERVENTIONS
Swine were bled in an isobaric fashion to achieve a linear decrease in the mean arterial blood pressure to 40 mmHg. The mean arterial blood pressure was then maintained at 40 mmHg until the onset of cardiovascular decompensation, defined as the need to reinfuse shed blood to maintain the blood pressure at 40 mmHg. Once at the onset of cardiovascular decompensation, animals were randomly assigned to 2 resuscitation groups: the crystalloid group received lactated Ringer's solution and the vasopressin group received lactated Ringer's solution and arginine vasopressin. Resuscitation consisted of infusing lactated Ringer's solution with and without vasopressin (0.05 U/kg/min) to maintain a blood pressure of 70 mmHg for 60 minutes.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
The rate of crystalloid infusion was compared between groups using an unpaired 2-tailed t test. Metabolic and hemodynamic parameters between groups over time were compared with a repeated measures analysis of variance. Vasopressin decreased the rate of crystalloid infusion during resuscitation by 50%. During resuscitation, the cardiac index in the crystalloid group was restored to near baseline levels and was decreased to near half of baseline levels in the vasopressin group. Animals in the vasopressin group developed a lactic acidemia, but animals in the crystalloid group revealed no change from baseline in the arterial pH and a slight decrease in the plasma lactate.

CONCLUSIONS
Administration of vasopressin used as an adjunct to maintain blood pressure in the decompensatory phase of hemorrhagic shock slows cardiovascular collapse, but has an adverse effect on metabolic and hemodynamic function. Further investigation is warranted to clarify the role of vasopressin in the delayed management of severe hemorrhagic shock.


Vladislaus of Opole (1326/1330-1401), a representative of the Upper Silesian line of the Piast dynasty, played an important role in the history of a few countries in the central and eastern Europe. He was certainly one of the most skillful monarchs in the second half of tcentury. He owed his career not only to his skills but also to the protection of the HungarEurope. He was certainly one of the most skillful monarchs in the second half of the 14th century. He owed his career not only to his skills but also to the protection of  theHungarian court. On all lands that he ruled, starting from Hungary, through Red Ruthenia, the land of Wielun, the land of Dobrzyn, Kujawy, to the inherited Duchy of Opole, he was known as a great landlord and organizer. Due to the fact that he was assigned numerous tasks by the king's court and he ruled on lands that were part of the Kingdom of Poland, and for a short period of time also in the kingdom itself as a regent (1377/1378), Vladislaus of Opole remained in contact with Krakow. During the 30 years (1363–1393), his itineranium mentions his presence in the city seven times. His visits wer connected to political matters and economic affairs. When it comes to the former, the most important visits include his presence on the Krakow convention (1364), participation in the funeral of Casimir the Great and the coronation of his successor Louis I of Hungary in 1370 (then he was granted Wielun as a fief), meetings with the regent Elizabeth Piast (1374, 1379) and Queen Jadwiga (1385). Vladislaus of Opole could not work out proper relations with the King Vladislaus Jagiello and in May 1389 (after meeting with the Polish monarch) he was accused of an attempt of taking over the Krakow castle. For a long time, Duke carried out financial operations with Krakow city councilors, borrowing money from them. There are a couple of records in the city bills that notify about sending money to Vladislaus of Opole and maintaining the messengers of the Duke that were sent to collect that money. Contacts of Vladislaus of Opole with Krakow stopped with  the outburst of wars with the Kingdom of Poland (1391–1396).


This report presents three cases of IgG4 related sclerosing disease complicated with chronic sclerosing sialadenitis. The clinical, radiographic and pathologic findings later suggested that the patients had chronic sclerosing sialadenitis. The submandibular gland tumour regressed in two patients. These patients were suspected to have Mikulicz's disease or Sjögren's syndrome, but the diagnostic criteria were not satisfied. The workup for chronic sclerosing sialadenitis revealed a significantly elevated value of serum IgG4. The patient was then diagnosed with IgG4 related sclerosing disease complicated with chronic sclerosing sialadenitis. After administering prednisolone to these patients, the serum IgG4 values decreased after 4 weeks. The current cases may represent a new category for Mikulicz's disease or Sjögren's syndrome as an IgG4 related sclerosing disease.


The performance of a variable compression ratio compression ignition engine operating on ethanol-diesel fuel blends has been evaluated experimentally. We aimed to determine the optimum percentage of ethanol and the compression ratio of the engine that give the best performance and efeciency at the same time. The engine was operated with ethanol-diesel fuel blends having 2, 4, and 6% ethanol on a volume basis as well as on diesel fuel alone. The experiments were performed for the compression ratios of 19, 21, and 23. Experimental results indicate that the addition of 4% ethanol to diesel fuel increases power output and efeciency of the engine while it decreases speciec fuel consumption for various compression ratios. The best efeciency was attained at the compression ratio of 21 with an increment ratio over 3.5%.


In this letter, the relationship between corn crop progress stages and fractal dimension derived from remote sensing data has been revealed. Due to the effects of soil background and farming practices on emerged and harvested stages of the corn crop, the roughness of their corresponding normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) images significantly changes. Therefore, image fractals, which normally indicate such roughness, are proposed to detect corn progress stages. There are four steps in the proposed procedure: 1) NDVI maximum composite process is conducted to eliminate the influence of cloud cover or missing data; 2) Cropland Data Layer (CDL) is used to remove noncorn pixels; 3) fractal dimension is calculated to estimate the spatial roughness of NDVI image; and 4) curve fitting is used to detect peaks that infer the certain progress stages. It is worth mentioning that a dimensionality-reduction-based differential box-counting algorithm is developed to estimate the fractal dimension of NDVI image in an irregular region of interest. The algorithm is applicable for masked NDVI image. Experiments based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer NDVI time series and CDL of the State of Iowa are conducted. Comparison of the results with corn crop statistics from the National Agricultural Statistics Service indicates that the proposed method is able to detect corn emerged and harvested stages with success.


Rapid proliferation of cancer cells is enabled by favoring aerobic glycolysis over mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). P32 (C1QBP/gC1qR) is essential for mitochondrial protein translation and thus indispensable for OXPHOS activity. It is ubiquitously expressed and directed to the mitochondrial matrix in almost all cell types with an excessive up-regulation of p32 expression reported for tumor tissues. We recently demonstrated high levels of non-mitochondrial p32 to be associated with high-grade colorectal carcinoma. Mutations in human p32 are likely to disrupt proper mitochondrial function giving rise to various diseases including cancer. Hence, we aimed to investigate the impact of the most common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs56014026 in the coding sequence of p32 on tumor cell metabolism. In silico homology modeling of the resulting p.Thr130Met mutated p32 revealed that the single amino acid substitution potentially induces a strong conformational change in the protein, mainly affecting the mitochondrial targeting sequence (MTS). In vitro experiments confirmed an impaired mitochondrial import of mutated p32-T130M, resulting in reduced OXPHOS activity and a shift towards a low metabolic phenotype. Overexpression of p32-T130M maintained terminal differentiation of a goblet cell-like colorectal cancer cell line compared to p32-wt without affecting cell proliferation. Sanger sequencing of tumor samples from 128 CRC patients identified the heterozygous SNP rs56014026 in two well-differentiated, low proliferating adenocarcinomas, supporting our in vitro data. Together, the SNP rs56014026 reduces metabolic activity and proliferation while promoting differentiation in tumor cells.


The importance of domestic timber market in Malaysia is recognised with the launch of the National Timber Industry Plan in 2009, which calls for promoting and encouraging the use of timber products by the local construction industry. A study was conducted to provide information on the current use of timber products in the single-family residential building sector as it is one of the major development projects undertaken by the construction industry. In specific, the study aimed to identify the types and to estimate the amount of timber products used in the construction and those installed in the completed single-family residential building units. Data for the study were collected using a self-administered, openended questionnaire sent to constructions firms in Selangor and the Federal territory of Kula Lumpur advertising the sale of their residential building units in the local newspapers and the internet during the survey period. The respondents of the study were project managers or quantity surveyors who were involved directly in the supervision and monitoring of the residential projects constructed by the construction firms. The amount of sawn timber and plywood used for the construction of the residential units ranges from 0.05 to 0.07 cu. m/sq. m. and 0.01 to 0.07 cu. m./sq. m., respectively. The most common timber products installed in the completed residential units are wooden/timber doors. Other traditional timber-based products are still being used but they are continually replaced by other building materials such as aluminium, steel and glass. Efforts to promote timber products to the single-family residential building sector should target on their uses in the completed residential building units.


Cross-border Mergers and acquisitions (CBMAs) form a large portion of foreign direct investment flows in developed world, and an increasing share in emerging markets especially to the Asian countries after Asian Financial Crisis in 1997/98. Various studies have been done on wealth effects and financial performance of firms in different countries and have yielded mixed results. This study covers CBMAs in five Asian countries most affected by the Asian financial crisis namely, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Korea. Malaysia reported the highest number of CBMAs but a rather low percentage of CBMAs in proportion to total M&As. The majority of the CBMAs in these countries were in the financial sector, followed by the industrial and material sectors. Analysis on post-merger performance on a sample consisting of public listed firms with completed deals of more than ten percent of share acquisition by foreigners was performed using the event study method, key financial ratios and Tobin's q. From a sample of 94 targets for event study analysis and 114 targets for ratio analysis, the results for average abnormal returns of firms in Indonesia and Korea were inconclusive. However, the results for Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines suggest that the market had reacted positively by adding value to the target firms upon merger announcements. The results show a marginal improvement in the performance or perceived growth opportunities as measured by the adjusted Tobin's q. The findings reflect the heterogeneity and complexity of the causes and effects of CBMAs in this region.


Enhancer elements are essential for tissue-specific gene regulation during mammalian development. Although these regulatory elements are often distant from their target genes, they affect gene expression by recruiting transcription factors to specific promoter regions. Because of this long-range action, the annotation of enhancer element–target promoter pairs remains elusive. Here, we developed a novel analysis methodology that takes advantage of Hi-C data to comprehensively identify these interactions throughout the human genome. To do this, we used a geometric distribution-based model to identify DNA–DNA interaction hotspots that contact gene promoters with high confidence. We observed that these promoter-interacting hotspots significantly overlap with known enhancer-associated histone modifications and DNase I hypersensitive sites. Thus, we defined thousands of candidate enhancer elements by incorporating these features, and found that they have a significant propensity to be bound by p300, an enhancer binding transcription factor. Furthermore, we revealed that their target genes are significantly bound by RNA Polymerase II and demonstrate tissue-specific expression. Finally, we uncovered that these elements are generally found within 1 Mb of their targets, and often regulate multiple genes. In total, our study presents a novel high-throughput workflow for confident, genome-wide discovery of enhancer–target promoter pairs, which will significantly improve our understanding of these regulatory interactions.


Discussion | Periosteal ganglia are uncommon single or multiloculated subcutaneous cystic nodules. These lesions are rarely encountered by dermatologists and are usually seen in the orthopedic setting. Although described mainly in men, these lesions also have been reported1,2 in children. Periosteal ganglia typically involve the tibia, but reports2-4 have also described involvement of the medial malleolus, femur, ilium, radius, and ulna. Duration before presentation varies from several weeks to years.1 Lesions can be asymptomatic or tender, and a history of trauma is variable.3 Mucoid degeneration of the periosteum is the most frequently proposed pathogenesis for the formation of periosteal ganglia.1-6 Fibroblasts are thought to form intercellular mucin, which coalesces to form cystic lesions. Accumulation of mucoid material compresses the surrounding tissue, thereby inducing further fibroblast proliferation, collagen production, and ultimately an encapsulating fibrous wall.4 The central cystic contents are composed of an acellular mucinous or gelatinous fluid.4 Although communication with the underlying joint space has not been reported, cases have shown3,5 varying degrees of underlying cortical erosion with scalloping and spiculated bone reactions. Choi and colleagues4 described a case with an underlying interosseous component. However, as in our patient, these cysts frequently have no underlying connection to the cortical bone. Several imaging modalities to evaluate periosteal ganglia have been described. Plain radiographs, although helpful in detecting underlying bony changes, are nonspecific and do not differentiate pretibial ganglion cysts from other surface tumors.3 Computed tomography is helpful in further discerning characteristics of the soft-tissue mass, but magnetic resonance imaging is the modality of choice.3 Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrates a homogeneous signal intensity, which appears isointense to muscle on T1-weighted images and has a high signal intensity when compared with fat on T2weighted images.3,5 Definitive treatment of periosteal ganglia is by surgical excision. Some authors1-3 recommend excising an adjacent margin of normal periosteum to prevent recurrence. Although recurrence after surgical excision has been described,1,3 this may represent continued mucoid degeneration rather than incomplete excision. The clinical differential diagnosis for pretibial subcutaneous masses or nodules is broad and includes erythema nodosum, nodular pretibial myxedema, subcutaneous sarcoidosis, periosteal chondroma, parosteal lipoma, subperiosteal hematoma, subperiosteal abscess, periosteal aneurysmal bone cyst, chondromyxoid fibroma, or periosteal osteosarcoma.1-3,5 Although uncommon and rarely encountered by dermatologists, periosteal ganglion cysts remain an important condition to consider in the differential diagnosis of subcutaneous pretibial lesions. This case highlights the need for dermatologists to recognize this uncommon diagnosis to facilitate appropriate workup and referral.


We investigated the role of zinc in food intake regulation using rats during early-stage zinc deficiency without decreased zinc concentrations in plasma and tissues. Plasma, liver, and hypothalamic zinc concentrations were not affected in male Sprague-Dawley rats fed a zinc-deficient (Zn-Def) diet for 3 d compared with the pair-fed control group, which was fed a zinc-sufficient diet to the intake of the Zn-Def diet. Zinc sulfate at a dose of 19 micromol/kg body weight was orally or intraperitoneally (i.p.) administered to rats fed a Zn-Def diet for 3d and food intake was measured. We found that zinc stimulated food intake after oral but not i.p. administration. The mRNA expression of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and orexin in the hypothalamus significantly increased 3 h after oral but not i.p. administration of zinc. Pretreatment with an antagonist for the NPY Y(1) receptor or the orexin OX(1) receptor blocked orexigenic activity after oral administration of zinc. The stimulation of food intake by oral administration of zinc was abolished by vagotomy. Taken together, orally administered zinc may stimulate food intake via orexigenic peptides coupled to the afferent vagal stimulation in rats after short-term treatment with a Zn-Def diet.


Intensity–duration–area–frequency (IDAF) curves are increasingly demanded for characterising the severity of storms and for designing hydraulic structures. Their computation requires inferring areal rainfall distributions over the range of space scales and timescales that are the most relevant for hydrological studies at catchment scale. In this study, IDAF curves are computed for the first time in West Africa, based on the data provided by the AMMA-CATCH Niger network, composed of 30 recording rain gauges having operated since 1990 over a 16 000 km 2 area in south-western Niger. The IDAF curves are obtained by separately considering the time (intensity–duration–frequency, IDF) and space (areal reduction factor, ARF) components of the extreme rainfall distribution. Annual maximum intensities are extracted for resolutions between 1 and 24 h in time and from point (rain gauge) to 2500 km 2 in space. The IDF model used is based on the concept of scale invariance (simple scaling) which allows the normalisation of the different temporal resolutions of maxima series to which a global generalised extreme value (GEV) is fitted. This parsimonious framework allows one to use the concept of dynamic scaling to describe the ARF. The results show that coupling a simple scaling in space and time with a dynamical scaling that relates to space and time allows one to satisfactorily model the effect of space–time aggregation on the distribution of extreme rainfall.


The article describes a theological paradigm shift taking place in congregations in South Africa that empower them to become involved in development work as a way of serving their neighbor. It also opens the possibility of working interdisciplinary without compromising theological and faith values. The perspectives and assumptions of the new paradigm are outlined and the basic methodology of doing theology is described. The new paradigm is a missional one, taking the focus on God as its point of departure and describing the identity and purpose of the church by looking at God's identity and plan or mission with creation and humankind. Social development is seen as being in line with God's mission and as such the church should not have difficulty in working with those who pursue the same goals.


Abstract Background Rhinovirus (RV) quantitation by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR is limited by variable amplification efficiency across genotypes. We used a precise viral quantitation method, reverse transcription-digital PCR (RT-dPCR), to characterize the role of viral load in clinical outcomes and in viral co-infections in children presenting to a tertiary hospital emergency department (ED). Methods Children < 18 years with respiratory symptoms for ≤ 14 days were enrolled from December 1, 2016 to December 31, 2018. Participants had nasal and throat specimens obtained and multiplex PCR testing with a commercial assay (FilmArray; bioMerieux). RV positive samples were quantified using RT-dPCR. Samples with sufficient viral load were sequenced at a 543 bp fragment of the RV VP4/VP2 region. RV species were assigned by comparison to RV sequences in GenBank using BLAST. Clinical data were collected into REDCap. T-tests were used to compare mean viral loads between groups. Results Of 1703 children enrolled in the ED, 697 were RV/enterovirus positive by FilmArray [median age 18 months (interquartile range 9–39 months)]. Of 590 subjects with viral load available, 276 (47%) were admitted to the hospital. Among RV mono-infections (N = 434), mean viral load did not differ between subjects admitted vs. discharged from the ED (7.03 log copies/mL for both, P = 0.97). Among admitted subjects with RV mono-infection, viral load also did not differ between subjects requiring supplemental oxygen vs. not (7.01 vs. 7.10 log copies/mL, P = 0.6). Subjects with viral co-infections had lower mean RV viral loads (6.31 log copies/mL) compared with those with RV only (7.03 log copies/mL; P < 0.001) (figure). Significantly different RV viral loads were seen with co-infections with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), metapneumovirus (MPV) and parainfluenza (PIV), but not with influenza, adenovirus or coronavirus. In 525 sequenced samples (46% RV-A, 4% RV-B, 50% RV-C), viral load did not vary between RV viral species (P = 0.09). Conclusion Precise viral quantitation demonstrates children co-infected with RV and RSV, MPV or PIV have lower nasal viral loads than those with RV alone. Among RV mono-infections, RV viral load was not associated with admission or need for supplemental oxygen. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


A number of studies demonstrate the clinical relevance of systems for computer assisted surgery (CAS systems). As however studies on human error in medicine indicate, reliability of the results strongly depends on aspects of usability and error tolerance of the system. This paper presents studies which aim to assess these aspects of reliability of CAS systems. In a clinical study, interaction with a CAS system by 16 expert and novice surgeons was observed and assessed. From 133 recorded incidents 41% were rated to have significant impact on the clinical result or to inhibit successful completion of the task, which indicates a low degree of error tolerance of the system. These findings are supported by the results obtained from questionnaire, were learnability and error tolerance were judged to be not sufficient.


This article explores the mechanisms by which corporate prestige produces distorted legal outcomes. Drawing on social psychological theories of status, we suggest that prestige influences audience evaluations by shaping expectations, and that its effect will differ depending on whether a firm's blameworthiness has been firmly established. We empirically analyze a unique database of more than 500 employment discrimination suits brought between 1998 and 2008. We find that prestige is associated with a decreased likelihood of being found liable (suggesting a halo effect in assessments of blameworthiness), but with more severe punishments among organizations that are found liable (suggesting a halo tax in administrations of punishment). Our analysis allows us to reconcile two ostensibly contradictory bodies of work on how organizational prestige affects audience evaluations by showing that prestige can be both a benefit and a liability, depending on whether an organization's blameworthiness has been firmly established.


Two simultaneous strategies have been used in this work to reduce the diesel engine emissions. First, using novel manifold designs to generate strong turbulence and improve the fuel-air mixing inside the cylinder. The second strategy is the usage of alternative fuels, namely Gas-To-Liquid (GTL) fuel and its blends with diesel fuel. In this study, six new spiral-helical manifolds designs have been tested, which could be divided into two groups. The first group is m(2.6,30,1t), m(2.6,30,2t), m(2.6,330,3t) and m(2.6,30,4t) which contains manifolds that have the same inner diameter (2.6 cm), same outlet angle (30°), but different number of spiral turns (1t, 2t..etc). The second group is m(2.1,30,3t), m(2.6,30,3t) and m(2.9,30,3t) which contains the same parameters but different inner diameters. It should be mentioned that the outlet angle of all manifolds has been tested in previous investigations [18, 52] and 30° showed the best performance.
 The results of the current study showed that the highest pressure and heat release achieved by manifold m(2.6,30,1t) for the blended diesel-GTL fuel. It was observed that the heat release rate decreases with the increase in number of turns. The lowest pressure raise rate was recorded for the combination of m(2.6,30,1t) and diesel fuel. Same combination also reduced the pressure raise rate (dP/dθ) by about 24% compared to the normal manifold. The bsfc for all fuels and m(2.6,30,1t) were almost the same as the normal manifold. For the emissions, NO emissions were reduced by about 25% compared to normal manifold when m(2.6,30,4t) and GTL are used. On the other hand, the normal manifold recorded the least NO emissions for the other fuels. The manifold m(2.6,30,1t) recorded slightly higher NO emissions compared to the normal manifold for all fuels. The total particulate matters (PM) were the lowest for m (2.6,30,1t) and normal manifold in case of diesel fuel. In general, It was found that the combination of m(2.6,30,1t) with diesel fuel gave the optimum performance among all manifolds, while using m (2.6,30,4t) with GTL fuel produced low emission levels.


For the artists and expatriates, the aristocrats and arrivistes, Paris in the 1930s lost none of its magical allure, as this lavishly illustrated chronicle of a fascinating decade in the city's cultural history shows. At salons, galleries, palaces, and cafes, Henry Miller, Helena Rubinstein, Anais Nin, Coco Chanel, Salvador Dali, and Katherine Anne Porter joined illustrious exiles of the twenties like Gertrude Stein, Sylvia Beach, Pablo Picasso, Janet Flanner, and Man Ray. Jazz orchestrated the city nights, surrealism flourished, haute couture reinvented itself. James Joyce redefined modern literature with Finnegans Wake and at her Chez Josephine Baker redefined the derriere. In a lively narrative, which is accompanied by a superb selection of period photographs, the award-winning author William Wiser follows Elsa Schiaparelli, T. S. Eliot, Peggy Guggenheim, the Windsors, Collette, Jean Cocteau, and a host of other colorful celebrities and literary luminaries through the ten years that continued to foster the creative revolution of the expatriate era in Parisan era that began extravagantly with Elsa Maxwell's famous masquerade ball and ended with perhaps the grimmest event in modern French history: the fall of Paris and the Nazi occupation in 1940.


Using ferric nitrate, zinc nitrate, ammonia liquor and binder as main raw materials, five kinds of zinc ferrite sorbents were prepared by the co-precipitation method. The effects of the different binders on the structure and texture of zinc ferrite sorbents were investigated. The morphology, composite structure, pore properties, and mechanical strength were studied by using modern several physicochemical techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), strength tester and gas absorption meter. It is showed that spinel structure ZnFe2O4 is not affected by different binders,and its particle diameter is in micron leve1. The spinel structures are present in the sorbents that have been calcined at 750 0C.. The sorbent employed kaolinite as binder is the best one of the five types of sorbents for desulfurization, while the one employed diatomite is the worst.Different binders modify the textural properties, modifying consequently the sorbent reactivity. Furthermore, the reactivity and sulfur capacity of sorbents are increasing with an increase in the pore volume.


Efficient communication in wireless networks is typically challenged by the possibility of interference among several transmitting nodes. Much important research has been invested in decreasing the number of collisions in order to obtain faster algorithms for communication in such networks. This paper proposes a novel approach for wireless communication, which embraces collisions rather than avoiding them, over an additive channel. It introduces a coding technique called Bounded-Contention Coding (BCC) that allows collisions to be successfully decoded by the receiving nodes into the original transmissions and whose complexity depends on a bound on the contention among the transmitters. BCC enables deterministic local broadcast in a network with n nodes and at most a transmitters with information of l bits each within O(alogn + al) bits of communication with full-duplex radios, and O((alogn + al)(logn)) bits, with high probability, with half-duplex radios. When combined with random linear network coding, BCC gives global broadcast within O((D +a+logn)(alogn+l)) bits, with high probability. This also holds in dynamic networks that can change arbitrarily over time by a worst-case adversary. When no bound on the contention is given, it is shown how to probabilistically estimate it and obtain global broadcast that is adaptive to the true contention in the network.


IIn this interview, actor, writer, and comedian Mary Walsh discusses how comedy is part and parcel of Newfoundland's social fabric. She recounts her early days in theatre, which soon led to her forming comedy troupes with performers who would become lifelong collaborators. She outlines the basic skills for becoming a comedian as well as the challenges of being an older woman in comedy. In conclusion, she poignantly connects comedy to the importance of knowing one's history: "A bit of comedy helps the truth go down . . . they always say the truth will set you free. It'll make you mad first, but it'll make you free . . . We found right across the country that people were very open to the message because they got it with a laugh . . ."


The self-catalytic role of zirconium n-propoxide has been investigated with respect to the synthetic parameters of ZrO2/Y2O3-CeO2 compound powders. When zirconium n-propoxide is prehydrolyzed, the gelation time is prolonged, resulting in a more transparent gel. It is found that gelation time can be shortened with a high concentration of tetraethoxysilane in the presence of a small amount of zirconium n-propoxide. On the basis of the synthetic data, a mechanism for the zirconium n-propoxide catalytic reactions has been discussed. A linear correlation between the mixing level and metal content holds up to 45 mol% of ZrO2/Y2O3 under the studied conditions.


This paper presents a toolset formed by a timing library and a clock synchronization library for a cluster. These are tools developed to measure both execution and communication times in distributed environments for performance evaluation. The toolset scalability is shown by experimentation as well as the instrumentation of a parallel matrix multiplication algorithm, based on broadcast communications. The performance evaluation toolset overhead is analyzed per depending on the number of computers. Possible performance penalization is identified by the accurate data provided by the toolset.


Background: Post-exposure prophylaxis administered to infants shortly after birth prevents approximately 90% of cases of perinatal hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that all pregnant women be tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) at an early prenatal visit during each pregnancy to detect active infection with HBV. This study sought to determine the proportion and characteristics of pregnant women tested\not tested according to Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations. Methods: We analyzed MarketScan databases to assess prenatal HBsAg testing among women with commercial and Medicaid health care coverage according to demographic and clinical characteristics. Pregnant women 15–44 years of age continuously enrolled in a health plan in the MarketScan database during 2013 and 2014 and with a live birth in 2014 were included. Results: Among commercially insured women, 239,955 (87.7%) received HBsAg testing and 59.6% were tested during their first trimester. Among Medicaid-enrolled women, 57,268 (83.6%) received HBsAg testing and 39.4% were tested during their first trimester. Among women with high risk pregnancies, HBsAg testing occurred in 87.3% of those with commercial insurance and 84.8% with Medicaid. Testing also varied by maternal age; among women with commercial insurance, testing was greatest among women 26–44 years of age, and among women with Medicaid, testing was greatest among younger women (15–25 years). Testing was lowest among women residing in the Northeast (commercial insurance only). Conclusions: Prenatal HBsAg testing identifies HBV-infected pregnant women so their infants can receive timely immunoprophylaxis. Efforts to optimize HBsAg testing among all pregnant women are needed to further prevent perinatal HBV transmission.


Toys in the American marketplace are heavily gender stereotyped, creating a variety of social and economic consequences. Beginning at an early age, children foster different cognitive abilities based on play with toys deemed appropriate for their gender. While boys' toys promote skills in math and science fields, girls' toys promote verbal and linguistic skills. This difference in cognitive ability has shown to influence a child throughout his or her lifetime, beginning with the education gap in schools and continuing on to influence a child's choice in college major as well as his or her future occupational choice. Additionally, gender specific toys are raising concern about promoting violence in young boys and an obsession with appearance in young girls. While it is clear that children historically prefer toys designated for their own gender, this paper concludes that children's preferences in toys are heavily influenced by parental, teacher and societal expectations regarding which toys are appropriate for each gender. Lastly, this paper aims to explore the future consequences of toy segregation as well as several potential solutions to gendered toys in the marketplace.


The Mariana Ridge is one of the prominent mixing hotspots of the open ocean. The high-resolution underway marine seismic reflection technique provides an improved understanding of the spatiotemporal continuous map of ocean turbulent mixing. Using this novel technique, this study quantifies the diapycnal diffusivity of the subthermocline (300–1200-m depth) turbulence around the Mariana Ridge. The autotracked wave fields on seismic images allow us to derive the dissipation rate ε and diapycnal diffusivity Kρ based on the Batchelor model, which relates the horizontal slope spectra with +1/3 slope to the inertial convective turbulence regime. Diffusivity is locally intensified around the seamounts exceeding 10−3 m2 s−1 and gradually decreases to 10−5–10−4 m2 s−1 in ~60-km range, a distance that may be associated with the internal tide beam emanating paths. The overall pattern suggests a large portion of the energy dissipates locally and a significant portion dissipates in the far field. Empirical diffusivity models Kρ(x) and Kρ(z), varying with the distance from seamounts and the height above seafloor, respectively, are constructed for potential use in ocean model parameterization. Geographic distributions of both the vertically averaged dissipation rate and diffusivity show tight relationships with the topography. Additionally, a strong agreement of the dissipation results between seismic observation and numerical simulation is found for the first time. Such an agreement confirms the suitability of the seismic method in turbulence quantification and suggests the energy cascade from large-scale tides to small-scale turbulence via possible mechanisms of local direct tidal dissipation, near-local wave–wave interactions, and far-field radiating and breaking.


In the Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI), resource
certificates completely obscure names or any other information which
might be useful for contacting responsible parties to deal with issues
of certificate expiration, maintenance, roll-overs, compromises, etc.
This draft describes the RPKI Ghostbusters Record containing human
contact information which may be verified (indirectly) by a CA
certificate. The data in the record are those of a severely profiled
vCard.


TGF-β has limited effects on ovarian cancer cells, but its contributions to ovarian tumor growth might be mediated through elements of the tumor microenvironment. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that TGF modulates ovarian cancer progression by modulating the contribution of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) that are present in the microenvironment. Transcriptome profiling of microdissected stromal and epithelial components of high-grade serous ovarian tumors and TGF-β-treated normal ovarian fibroblasts identified versican (VCAN) as a key upregulated target gene in CAFs. Functional evaluations in coculture experiments showed that TGF-β enhanced the aggressiveness of ovarian cancer cells by upregulating VCAN in CAFs. VCAN expression was regulated in CAFs through TGF-β receptor type II and SMAD signaling. Upregulated VCAN promoted the motility and invasion of ovarian cancer cells by activating the NF-κB signaling pathway and by upregulating expression of CD44, matrix metalloproteinase-9, and the hyaluronan-mediated motility receptor. Our work identified a TGF-β-inducible gene signature specific to CAFs in advanced high-grade serous ovarian tumors, and showed how TGF-β stimulates ovarian cancer cell motility and invasion by upregulating the CAF-specific gene VCAN. These findings suggest insights to develop or refine strategies for TGF-β-targeted therapy of ovarian cancer.


A patient's preferred place of death (PPD) is frequently used as a marker for quality of end of life care. However, surveys of patients with life-limiting conditions indicate that "dying in preferred place" is not their highest priority (Actions for End of Life Care NHSE 2014-2016). As end of life approaches other priorities often take precedence and PPD may change. Aim of our audit To establish how many inpatients referred to our hospital Supportive and Palliative Care Team (SPCT) had PPD recorded, what their preferences were and whether they changed. Methods Data was extracted retrospectively from a database of inpatient deaths referred to the SPCT between July and August 2016 Results 63 patients had a PPD recorded - 33 patients at initial consultation and 30 patients at subsequent consultation. Initial PPD was acute hospital (25), home (16), no preference (9), hospice (9), care home (4).13 patients (21%) changed their PPD during their admission. 6 patients with initial PPD home or hospice changed to acute hospital. 4 people changed their preference to care home (from hospice or home). From 16 patients whose initial PPD was home, this remained their final preference in 7 cases. 6 patients changed their PPD more than once. Conclusions Our data shows that almost half of patients do not discuss PPD at initial consultation but are happy to state preferences subsequently. This could be due to development of rapport and relationship with SPCT members. Interestingly, PPD changed during the hospital admission in one fifth of cases with the majority electing to not spend last days of life at home. This could be due to changes in condition, symptoms and performance status coupled with perceived burden on caregivers. Discussing preferences for place of death should be a dynamic process as care related priorities may change as end of life approaches.


Minority Game is receiving an increasing interest because it models emergent properties of complex systems including rational entities, such as for instance the evolution of financial markets. As such, Minority Game provides for a simple yet stimulating scenario for system simulation. In this paper, we aim at presenting a logic approach to the Minority Game whose goal is to overcome the well-known limits of the equation model in the verification of the system behaviour. We realise the social system simulation using a novel MAS metamodel based on agents and artifacts, where the agent rationality is obtained using a BDI architecture. To this end, we adopt the TuCSoN infrastructure for agent coordination, and its logic-based tuple centre abstractions as artifact representatives. By implementing Minority Game over TuCSoN, we show some of the benefits of the artifact model in terms of flexibility and controllability of the simulation. A number of parameters can affect the behaviour of Minority Game simulation: such parameters are explicitly represented in the coordination artifact, so that they can be tuned up during the simulation. In particular, experiments are shown where memory size and number of wrong moves are adopted as the tuning parameters.


In the present work, the effect of Sn addition on the corrosion behavior of Mg–5Al–1Zn alloys was investigated. Microstructure, potentiodynamic polarization and immersion tests were carried out in 3.5% NaCl solution of pH 7.2 to estimate the corrosion behavior of AZ51 alloys with and without Sn addition. Mg17Al12 and Mg2Sn phases were mainly precipitated in inter-dendrite structures. With increasing the Sn content, the volume fraction of the Mg2Sn phase was increased and coarsening tendency was observed. The corrosion resistance was increased by Sn addition. Especially, the AZ51-5wt.%Sn alloy characterized the superior corrosion resistance among the four alloys. The Sn is known for a high hydrogen overvoltage and the secondary phases effectively formed the network structure, resulting in a drastically decreasing corrosion rate of AZ51 alloy.


Objective To determine whether maternofetal transfer of NMDA receptor (NMDAR) antibodies has pathogenic effects on the fetus and offspring, we developed a model of placental transfer of antibodies. Methods Pregnant C57BL/6J mice were administered via tail vein patients' or controls' immunoglobulin G (IgG) on days 14–16 of gestation, when the placenta is able to transport IgG and the immature fetal blood-brain barrier is less restrictive to IgG crossing. Immunohistochemical and DiOlistic (gene gun delivery of fluorescent dye) staining, confocal microscopy, standardized developmental and behavioral tasks, and hippocampal long-term potentiation were used to determine the antibody effects. Results In brains of fetuses, patients' IgG, but not controls' IgG, bound to NMDAR, causing a decrease in NMDAR clusters and cortical plate thickness. No increase in neonatal mortality was observed, but offspring exposed in utero to patients' IgG had reduced levels of cell-surface and synaptic NMDAR, increased dendritic arborization, decreased density of mature (mushroom-shaped) spines, microglial activation, and thinning of brain cortical layers II–IV with cellular compaction. These animals also had a delay in innate reflexes and eye opening and during follow-up showed depressive-like behavior, deficits in nest building, poor motor coordination, and impaired social-spatial memory and hippocampal plasticity. Remarkably, all these paradigms progressively improved (becoming similar to those of controls) during follow-up until adulthood. Conclusions In this model, placental transfer of patients' NMDAR antibodies caused severe but reversible synaptic and neurodevelopmental alterations. Reversible antibody effects may contribute to the infrequent and limited number of complications described in children of patients who develop anti-NMDAR encephalitis during pregnancy.


In Global Navigation Satellites Systems (GNSS), multipaths (MP) are still one of the major error sources. The additional signal replica due to reflection will introduce a bias in conventional Delay Lock Loops (DLL) which will finally cause a strong positioning error. Several techniques, based on Maximum Likelihood estimation (ML), have been developed for multipaths mitigation/estimation such as the Narrow correlator spacing [1] or the Multipath Estimating Delay-Lock-Loop (MEDLL) [2] algorithm. These techniques try to discriminate the MP from the Line Of Sight Signal (LOSS) on the time and frequency domains and thus, short delay multipaths (<0.1Chips) can not be completely mitigated. Antenna array perform a spatial sampling of the wave front what makes possible the discrimination of the sources on the space domain (azimuth and elevation). As the time-delay domain and space domain can be assumed independent, we can expect to mitigate/estimate very short delay MP by using an antenna array. However, we don't want to increase too much the size, the complexity and the cost of the receivers and thus, we focus our study on small arrays with a small number of antennas: typically a square 2x2 array. Consequently, conventional beamforming (space Fast Fourier Transform) is not directive enough to assure the mitigation of the multipaths, and then this first class of solutions was rejected. In order to improve the resolution, adaptive beamformers have also been tested. However, the LOSS and the MP signal are strongly correlated and thus, classical adaptive algorithms [3] are not able to discriminate the sources. These preliminary studies have shown that the mitigation/estimation of multipaths based on the space domain will exhibit limited performances in presence of close sources. Then, in order to propose robust algorithms, we decided to investigate a space-time-frequency estimation of the sources. Space Alternating Generalized Expectation maximisation (SAGE) algorithm [4], which is a low-complexity generalization of the Expectation Maximisation (EM) algorithm, has been considered. The basic concept of the SAGE algorithm is the hidden data space [4]. Instead of estimating the parameters of all impinging waves in parallel in one iteration step as done by the EM algorithm, the SAGE algorithm estimates the parameters of each signal sequentially. Moreover, SAGE algorithm breaks down the multi-dimensional optimization problem into several smaller problems. In [5], it can be seen that SAGE algorithm is efficient for any multipaths configurations (small relative delays, close DOAs) and space-time-frequency approach is clearly outperforming classical time-frequency approaches. Notwithstanding, SAGE algorithm is a post processing algorithm. Thus, it's necessary to memorise in the receiver the incoming signal in order to apply SAGE estimation. For example, if we want to process 10ms of signal with a 10MHz sampling rate, we need to store a matrix of m*105 with m the number of antennas. In such condition, we can understand than SAGE algorithm is hardly implemented in real time. The challenge is then to find a new type of algorithms that reach the efficiency of the SAGE algorithms, but with a reduced complexity in order to enable real time processing.
Furthermore, the implementation should be compatible with conventional GNSS tracking loops (DLL and PLL). To cope with these two constraints, we propose to apply the SAGE algorithm on the post-correlated signal. Indeed, the correlation step can be seen as a compression step and thus, the size of the studied signal is strongly reduced. In such a way, SAGE algorithm is able to provide estimates of the relative delay and Doppler of the received signals with respect to the local replicas. Thus, a post correlation implementation of SAGE can be seen as a discriminator for both the DLL and the PLL.


This paper describes the process of privatization of China's Township Enterprises. Findings from a recent field survey by the authors show how far privatization has proceeded and how it has affected firm performance. The pervasiveness and impact of privatization are readily apparent. The privatization in the mid-1990s was deep and fundamental. More than 50% of local government-owned firms have transferred their shares to the private sector, partially or completely. Privatization is widespread, regardless of what definition we use (share shifting, controlling interest shifting, or complete). Although we do not find any evidence in our descriptive statistics that private and privatized firms outperform government ones, the private sector does appear to be beginning to manage its firms (e.g., labor and inventories) somewhat differently. Our multivariate analysis, however, finds a positive impact of privatization on technical efficiency. Efficiency of China's rural industries, including agro-industrial firms, would rise, if township enterprises privatized. The impact of privatization, however, does not occur immediately. Transitional costs apparently reduce private firm efficiency in the year that firms are being privatized. It is possible to surmise that as privatized firms complete their ownership transition and continue to learn how to adapt to China's business environment that the gains could rise further. However, we cannot say if the gain in efficiency is enough to make rural industries competitive in the future. © 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.