Human plague still exists in different parts of the world, including some landscapes in north-eastern Tanzania. Wherever the hotspot of plague, small mammals seem to play a key role as host. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between vegetation habitats types and small mammals in a plague endemic area of Lushoto District in Tanzania. A combination of field survey and Landsat images was used to identify the vegetation habitats. Small mammals were trapped in the mapped vegetation units, and identified. In total, six main types of vegetation habitats were investigated. A total of 13 small mammal species, potentially related to plague were trapped. Results show that annual cultivated crops habitat accounted for 80% of Mastomys natalensis while natural forest accounted for 60% of Praomys delectorum. These findings have shed new light on the diversity of rodents in different habitats of natural and semi-natural vegetations, and agricultural crops in the study area, which is an important intermediate step in unravelling the complex human plague system.


The purpose of this contribution is to discuss what roles the different economic sectors, and in particular services activities (the tertiary sector) play in regional development, understood as growth in production, incomes and employment in weakly developed regions. This question is approached in two ways. The contribution first contains a - primarily theoretical - re-examination of the so-called economic base model, which states that services play a passive role in regional development. The discussion leads to substantial modifications of the model. The second approach is more empirical. It will take as its point of departure the proposition - often heard, but rarely examined - that since service activities are more concentrated in big cities than other activities and in recent decades have shown higher growth rates than other economic activities, it follows that the economic development is now pulled towards big city regions. Examined by way of a statistical analysis in Denmark and France, this proposition could not be verified


Summary form only given. FPGA tools have become very complex software systems. Today's FPGA tool sets include state of the art synthesis, place and route, timing analysis and power analysis tools. They also include complex graphical interfaces like floor plan and RTL viewers and system level integration tools like SOPC builder. In this article, the author gives a brief description of the history of Altera software tools. The author describes some of the key tools in the portfolio. The author also describes the development of new TimeQuest timing analyzer as a case study


In this paper, a formalism to encode patterns of events which occurrences must be monitored by a context-aware system is introduced. The Situation Definition Language is a tool used to specify relationships among sensory data in a distributed system, without posing any assumption on how data are acquired. The language capabilities are discussed with respect to an Ubiquitous Robotics scenario, where several robots cooperate with smart environments to perform given tasks.


People change over the course of their lives, yet little is known about how people think about these changes. We expected that evaluative judgments of changes would relate to the type of metaphors people use to describe those changes. Specifically, we predicted that the more positively a change is evaluated, the more likely it is to be perceived as a self "discovery" (i.e., a change driven by discovering something within the self). Study 1 established a correlational relationship between perceived positivity and self-discovery in changes in both the self and a close other. Study 2 manipulated the valance of the change and found that positive changes were more likely to be endorsed as self-discover ies than negative changes. These findings highlight the importance of self-discovery metaphors in understanding how people make sense of changes in the self and close others. Implications for meaning making, well-being, and narrative research are discussed.


Feminists, socialists, Afro-Puerto Rican activists, and elite politicians join laundresses, prostitutes, and dissatisfied wives in populating the pages of Imposing Decency. Centring her analysis around several major Puerto Rican anti-prostitution campaigns, Eileen Findlay exposes the race-related double standards of sexual norms and practices in Puerto Rico between 1870 and 1920, the period that witnessed Puerto Rico's shift from Spanish to U.S. colonialism. In showing how political projects and alliances in Puerto Rico were affected by racially contingent definitions of "decency" and "disreputability," Findlay argues that attempts at moral reform and the state's repression of "sexually dangerous" women were weapons used in battles between elite and popular, American and Puerto Rican, and black and white. Based on a thorough analysis of popular and elite discourses found in both literature and official archives, Findlay contends that racialised sexual norms and practices were consistently a central component in the construction of social and political orders. The campaigns she analyses include an attempt at moral reform by elite male liberals and a movement designed to enhance the family and cleanse urban space that ultimately translated into repression against dark-skinned prostitutes. Findlay also describes how U.S. colonial officials railed against prostitution by focusing on marriage and divorce and how feminist, labour, and Afro-Puerto Rican political demands escalated after World War I, again making prostitutes a tool for those attempting to maintain stability and political consensus. Imposing Decency forces us to rethink previous interpretations of political chronologies as well as reigning conceptualisations of both liberalism and the early working-class in Puerto Rico. Her work will appeal to scholars with an interest in Puerto Rican or Latin American studies, sexuality and national identity, women in Latin America, and general women's studies.


Study Design: Cross-sectional, international survey. Objectives: The current study addressed the multi-dimensional impact of COVID-19 upon healthcare professionals, particularly spine surgeons, worldwide. Secondly, it aimed to identify geographical variations and similarities. Methods: A multi-dimensional survey was distributed to surgeons worldwide. Questions were categorized into domains: demographics, COVID-19 observations, preparedness, personal impact, patient care, and future perceptions. Results: 902 spine surgeons representing 7 global regions completed the survey. 36.8% reported co-morbidities. Of those that underwent viral testing, 15.8% tested positive for COVID-19, and testing likelihood was region-dependent; however, 7.2% would not disclose their infection to their patients. Family health concerns were greatest stressor globally (76.0%), with anxiety levels moderately high. Loss of income, clinical practice and current surgical management were region-dependent, whereby 50.4% indicated personal-protective-equipment were not adequate. 82.3% envisioned a change in their clinical practice as a result of COVID-19. More than 33% of clinical practice was via telemedicine. Research output and teaching/training impact was similar globally. 96.9% were interested in online medical education. 94.7% expressed a need for formal, international guidelines to manage COVID-19 patients. Conclusions: In this first, international study to assess the impact of COVID-19 on surgeons worldwide, we identified overall/regional variations and infection rate. The study raises awareness of the needs and challenges of surgeons that will serve as the foundation to establish interventions and guidelines to face future public health crises.


We report on Facebook's deployment of MIA (Metamorphic Interaction Automaton). MIA is used to test Facebook's Web Enabled Simulation, built on a web infrastructure of hundreds of millions of lines of code. MIA tackles the twin problems of test flakiness and the unknowable oracle problem. It uses metamorphic testing to automate continuous integration and regression test execution. MIA also plays the role of a test bot, automatically commenting on all relevant changes submitted for code review. It currently uses a suite of over 40 metamorphic test cases. Even at this extreme scale, a non–trivial metamorphic test suite subset yields outcomes within 20 minutes (sufficient for continuous integration and review processes). Furthermore, our offline mode simulation reduces test flakiness from approximately 50% (of all online tests) to 0% (offline). Metamorphic testing has been widely-studied for 22 years. This paper is the first reported deployment into an industrial continuous integration system.


The methods of modal and coupling field analysis for optical fibers with circularly distributed cores and a central core are presented. The point-matching technique combined with group theory is used for the modal analysis. The coupling field characteristics are analyzed by the superposition of eigenmode fields thus obtained.


The supply chain of packaged cylinder gases at welding distributors is a closed loop, where both the inbound and outbound flow of materials must be controlled. The importance of the placement of cylinder inventory within the distribution network of a welding distributor is a key component of profitability for a firm, seen primarily through the distribution costs associated with moving cylinders throughout the network. This project creates an inventory stratification to prioritise the vital few SKU items within the case study firm. This project develops a web-based platform called a branch stock planner in which inventory managers throughout the supply chain are provided ample information for cylinder order purposes. The branch stock planner minimises the Bullwhip effect currently present at the case firm, reducing distribution costs. Further, the project develops a visual production schedule based on distribution branch order activity. The combination of ideas creates an innovation unique in the independent welding supply industry.


With the help of the Frenet frame of a given pseudo null curve, a family of parametric surfaces is expressed as a linear combination of this frame. The necessary and sufficient conditions are examined for that curve to be an isoparametric and asymptotic on the parametric surface. It is shown that there is not any cylindrical and developable ruled surface as a parametric surface. Also, some interesting examples are illustrated about these surfaces.


Roger Scruton argues that to understand adequately the roots of Islamic terrorism, one must understand both the unique historical evolution of the state and the dynamic of globalization. Scruton reveals the philosophical and theological roots of the current clash of civilizations. He addresses issues such as the conflict between Islam and secular law, notions of citizenship, fulfilling the human need for belonging, and why globalization provokes such an apparent desire for revenge against the West in some Islamic minds.;Scruton's narrative raises fundamental questions about the West's ability to recover and defend its own religious heritage while limiting the harmful effects of its decadent hyper-individualism and the culture of repudiation it has sparked both within its own societies and the societies it touches. Finally, Scruton calls for the West to re-examine some of its assumptions about such matters as immigration, multiculturalism, progress and prosperity.


The building sector is one of the main bodies responsible for primary energy consumption in Europe. Consequently, energy certification of buildings is being promoted under the policy to monitor and reduce energy consumption. By means of the European Directive 2002/91/EC on the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD), and the recast in the Directive 2010/31/EU, the legislative framework for all members of the European Union has been created and certification has become compulsory in all Member States. The primary aim of this energy framework is saving final energy and in consequence any related parameter such as primary energy, CO2 emissions or energy costs, without compromising comfort or productivity. Green building rating systems are developed to provide independent assessment standards that evaluate in a few categories about the performance and sustainability of buildings. However, and despite being based on the same legislative framework, the energy performance of buildings is calculated in different basis of methodology depending on the European country or region, and thus the same category might weigh differently in each of the rating systems. Therefore, this paper aims to compile and compare the existing energy rating systems in European countries in order to better ascertain the uniformity of energy performance evaluation.


Ultrastructural characteristics of the cirrus sac and vagina of progenetic and monoxenic spathebothriidean tapeworm, Diplocotyle olrikii from the body cavity of Gammarus oceanicus are described. Five loosely arranged muscle layers make up the cirrus sac wall. The nucleated syncytial cytoplasm of the ejaculatory duct's wall has apical lamellae and 3 well-developed muscular layers under epithelim. Numerous prostate ducts pass through syncytial epithelium of it. The numerous prostate glands are localized around cirrus sac. Unique morphology of the prostate granules with an electron-dense core surrounded by a matrix of lower density is revealed for the spathebothriidean tapeworms. The epithelial lining of the cirrus in D. olrikii is nucleated and also is connected to subsurface sunken perikarya. The apical surface of the cirrus is covered with small cone-shaped microtriches. Well-developed 10 closely arranged muscle layers support the cirrus. Three regions of the vagina are distinguished. The distal part of vagina has filamentous microthrix type on the surface similar to tegumental one, as well as middle and proximal regions are covered with small cone-shaped microtriches, reducing in their number to proximal part. Anucleate epithelial lining of vagina is connected to numerous sunken parikarya. The cirrus and vagina epithelial lining has numerous vesicles. A comparison is made of the fine structure of the cirrus sac and vagina of monoxenic and dixenic spathebothriidean species. Ultrastructural data on the cirrus sac and vagina of the Spathebothriidea are compared with those for monozoic and polyzoic cestodes. The ultrastructural spathebothriidean features are discussed.


The following exchange took place between 10 and 13 July 1999 as a self-contained module of the
 American Scientist Forum (a final postscript being added on 23 November, 1999). http://amsci-forum.amsci.org/archives/september98-forum.html
The main participants in the exchange were Stevan Harnad of the University of Southampton and Hal Varian, of the University of California, Berkeley. The exchange focuses on the problematic issue - crucial to Harnad's thesis - of the extent to which academic authors are prepared to give their work away by making it freely available, without charge, on the Net. Although the exchange has been edited slightly to make the discussion easier to follow, it seemed appropriate, given the subject matter, to retain it in its original quote/comment form. Harnad begins by emphasising 11 of his argument's main points, and by providing addresses for the various locations on the Net where the relevant publications can be found.


BACKGROUND
Dyspepsia is a common symptom with a broad differential diagnosis and complex pathophysiology which annually affect about 25% of the general population. Results of Helicobacter pylori eradication in the patients with dyspepsia symptoms in the different studies are controversy. Aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of Helicobacter pylori eradication in the patients with functional dyspepsia.

METHODS
In order to doing the clinical trial study, demographic and clinical symptoms of the patients that referred to the gastroenterology center of the Ilam County from 1391 to 1392 was recorded in a standard questionnaire (including criteria of ROM III). Overall 120 patients with dyspepsia were selected and divided into two groups of "control" and "treatment". Helicobacter pylori presence was confirmed by stool antigen test in all of the patients. Selected patients were randomly divided into two groups. Standard therapy for the Helicobacter pylori eradication was done for two weeks periods in the one group. Then in this group antacid medication (morning and night) was continued. Four weeks treatment with antacid medication (morning and night) was performed for second group (control) and then both groups were treated with antacid for three month and both groups were finally evaluated with same questionnaire.

RESULTS
The mean age of patients was 32 years; 55.8% of the patients were female. The most prevalent symptoms of functional dyspepsia (25.7%) were in the age groups of 16-34 years and 35-43 years. All of dyspepsia symptoms in the both groups of cases (Helicobacter pylori standard treated) and control (treated with antacid) decreased after treated. However, this reduction in all symptoms was not significant except for epigastric pain and vomiting.

CONCLUSIONS
Helicobacter pylori eradication has a little effect in improving of the functional dyspepsia syndrome and the effect was justly seen in the symptoms of epigastric pain and vomiting.


Background Obesity is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and certain types of cancer and other diseases. Among Asians, this risk is of special concern because they tend to occur at lower body mass index (BMI). The mean BMI of Filipino adults was observed to exhibit an increasing trend based on National Nutrition Surveys (NNS). In these surveys, weight and height of participants are measured by a weighing scale and microtoise, respectively. Objectives Since the scale is heavy and entails additional space and cost during travel and the microtoise requires a levelled surface, this study utilized an automated health kiosk to estimate the incidence of overweight and obesity in the National Capital Region (NCR) as an alternative technique for community-based assessment. Methods Sixty-eight apparently healthy volunteers from four NCR cities used the automated machine in a retail pharmacy outlet. Machine print-out was collected. Civil status and highest educational attainment were asked via a short interview. Result Results show that the mean BMI was 24.5±0.5 kg/m2 indicating adequate nutrition with 42.6% being overweight and obese. This is comparable to the results of the 2013 NNS in the region (BMI=24.3±0.8, prevalence=39.9%). BMI was significantly higher among older adults (25.9±0.9 vs 23.8±0.5, p=0.034), and married participants (25.3±0.6 vs 23.4±0.6, p=0.034). A moderately high correlation between BMI and percentage of body fat-free mass (r=−0.688, p=0.000) was also observed. Conclusion The automated health kiosk can be used an alternative device to estimate the incidence of overweight and obesity in the community. Validation of the results of the automated health kiosk vis-à-vis the weighing scale and microtoise is encouraged to provide an alternative mode of assessing overweight and obesity in the community. In addition assessments should not only focus on the incidence but should underscore the detrimental consequences of being overweight and obese.


Teachers in secondary and higher education who wish to widen and develop their students' understanding of minorities should welcome this book, which deepens coverage of issues in Germany and provides broad perspectives on other German-speaking countries and minorities often neglected in the study of this topic. Original contributions by migrant writers complement analysis of the culture produced by minorities and surveys are presented of the debate on citizenship, the position of indigenous minorities and the development of attitudes towards Sinti and Roma.


The retail electricity market in New Zealand is evolving as the government continues to promote the development of a competitive and efficient market. Encouraging consumer switching through the "What's My Number" campaign is expected to put pressure on electricity retailers to reduce prices. Recent reports indicate that relatively few customers have switched supplier in the past two years despite potential average savings of NZ$165 per year per household. This suggests that non-price factors are also important determinants of switching behavior. We use choice experiments to investigate residential consumers' preferences for the attributes of electricity suppliers and the possible role of attitudes in explaining preference heterogeneity among the sampled respondents. Data required for the study was collected through a web survey administered to an online panel of bill payers in New Zealand. Willingness to pay (WTP) is estimated for attributes of electricity suppliers such as renewable portfolio, local ownership, discount rates, fixed rate plan, loyalty rewards and supplier type. WTP estimates indicate the importance of the attributes and hence provide guidance to suppliers in designing their price and service offers. Knowledge of how attitudes influence switching behavior may inform future policy directed at stimulating competition in the retail market.


Tommy (as he was invariably called by his numerous friends) Gold was a most unusual scientist in several respects. One of these is that at school and even as an undergraduate it never crossed his mind that he might become a professional scientist. Only a remarkable chain of events brought this about. He came from a very well–to–do family in Vienna. His father (who was Jewish, while his mother was not) was a hard–working senior director in a major industrial firm. Tommy admired him greatly. It seemed natural to Tommy that he would follow his father in business.


We examine the significance of Russian markets for Finnish business. After analysing Russia's economic structures we evaluate and use econometrics to explain the development of Finnish exports there. If all re-exports are removed from export statistics, Russia's share in Finnish goods exports was about 8 per cent in 2007–2013.The share recovered fully from its decline in 2009. However, Finland's share in total Russian imports has been declining, and particularly so during the past few years. The trend has been similar to the trend in Finland's share in world trade. This indicates that the reason is a general decline in product-related and price competitiveness of Finnish exports. Relative to all Finnish exports, the exports to Russia of output manufactured in Finland is more specialised in final goods for households and investments than in intermediate goods. Even though the exported output is mainly produced by manufacturing industries, a considerable part of the exports of value added is produced by service sectors. Russia's WTO membership supports Finnish exports, but many other factors will tend to suppress Russia's future GDP growth more than has been the case during the past decade. The impact of crude oil price fluctuations on Russia's economy is particularly large. International openness and market-oriented reforms would be the best and most sustainable way to support economic growth in Russia, and Finnish exports there.


Background Measuring the brain's response to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with electroencephalography (EEG) offers a unique insight into the local cortical circuits and networks activated following stimulation, particularly in non-motor regions where less is known about TMS physiology. However, the mechanisms underlying TMS-evoked EEG potentials (TEPs) remain largely unknown. Objective We assessed TEP reliability, site-specificity, and sensitivity to changes in excitatory neurotransmission mediated by n-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors following stimulation of non-motor regions. Methods In fourteen male volunteers, resting EEG and TEPs from prefrontal (PFC) and parietal (PAR) cortex were measured before and after administration of either dextromethorphan (an NMDA receptor antagonist) or placebo across two sessions separated by at least a week in a double-blinded pseudo-randomised crossover design. Results At baseline, TEPs showed lower within-than between-subject variability for both stimulation sites across sessions, demonstrating the reliability of non-motor TEPs within individuals. There were differences in amplitude between PFC and PAR TEPs across a wide time range (15-250 ms), however the signals were correlated after ∼80 ms, suggesting that early peaks reflect site-specific activity, whereas later peaks reflect global activity patterns independent of stimulation site. TEPs were not altered following dextromethorphan compared to placebo, however low frequency resting oscillations were reduced in power. Conclusions Our findings suggest that TEPs from PFC and PAR: 1) are reliable within and variable between individuals; 2) reflect stimulation site specific activity across early (<80 ms), but not late time points; and 3) are not sensitive to changes in NMDA receptor-mediated neurotransmission.


Organizations, in their pursuit of accomplishing their vision and goals, need effective management of human resources. Performance Management, among other Human Resources Management (HRM) practices, is the central function, as it delivers the necessary data that complements and enables the other functions. Building an effective performance management system is a multicriteria problem that requires contribution from experts having diverse backgrounds. Moreover, performance management is an inherently vague concept since almost the whole process requires linguistic assessments rather than numerical ones. Hence, to handle all those issues, an intuitionistic fuzzy multi-criteria and multi-expert analytical hierarchy process (AHP) based management model is proposed in this paper. In the determination of the criteria weights of the model, both the aggregated and compromised assessments of the experts are used in order to observe the effects of these two methods on the results. A numerical application is given to illustrate the use of the model.


One key step in producing insulin-secreting cells from human embryonic stem (hES) cells is the generation of pancreatic and duodenal homeobox gene 1 (PDX1)-expressing pancreatic progenitor cells. All-trans retinoic acid (RA) has important roles in pancreas development and is widely used to induce pancreatic differentiation of ES cells. When RA was added directly to the activin A-induced hES cells, <20% cells were positive for the pancreatic marker PDX1, whereas the other cells were mainly hepatic cells. We found that when the activin A-induced hES cells were replated and seeded at low cell densities, the addition of RA induced significant pancreatic differentiation and over 70% of cells in culture expressed PDX1. When the endodermal cells were isolated with the surface marker CXCR4 from the activin A-induced culture and further differentiated with RA, a homogeneous PDX1(+) cell population (over 95% pure) was generated. The PDX1(+) cells could further differentiate into cells that expressed pancreatic transcription factors and pancreatic endocrine or exocrine markers. We also found that RA inhibited the hepatic differentiation of endodermal cells that were seeded at low cell densities, and this inhibition may have been through the inhibition of Smad1/5/8 activity. Thus, we present a highly efficient and reproducible protocol for generating PDX1(+) pancreatic progenitor cells from hES cells.


In order to exploit the 430-cavity in the active sites of neuraminidases, 22 zanamivir analogs with C-1 and C-4 modification were synthesized, and their inhibitory activities against both group-1 (H5N1, H1N1) and group-2 neuraminidases (H3N2) were determined. Compound 9f exerts the most potency, with IC(50) value of 0.013, 0.001, and 0.09 μM against H3N2, H5N1, and H1N1, which is similar to that of zanamivir (H3N2 IC(50) = 0.0014 μM, H5N1 IC(50) = 0.012 μM, H1N1 IC(50) = 0.001 μM). Pharmacokinetic studies of compound 9f in rats showed a much longer plasma half-life (t(1/2)) than that of zanamivir following administration (po dose). Molecular modeling provided information about the binding model between the new inhibitors and neuraminidase, with the elongated groups at the C-1-position being projected toward the 430-loop region. This study may represent a novel starting point for the future development of improved antiflu agents.


The flow of CO2 foam for mobility control in porous media is dictated by the foam texture, or bubble density, which is commonly expressed as the number of bubbles per unit of flowing gas. In most high-pressure laboratory studies of foam in porous media, the local foam texture cannot be determined due to opaque flow systems. Here, we unlock real-time foam texture dynamics at high pressure (100 bar) by utilizing a realistic pore network with an extended field of view. We identified snap-off as the dominant foam generation mechanism, with additional fining of foam texture caused by backward foam propagation. Foam coalescence during continuous CO2 injection resulted in large gas channels parallel to the general flow direction that reduced the overall foam apparent viscosity. A large fraction of the CO2 foam remained trapped (X t > 0.97) and stationary in pores to divert CO2 flow and increase sweep efficiency. The gas mobility was calculated from the fraction of trapped bubbles at the pore-scale, and the apparent foam viscosity was in agreement with similar injection test performed at core-scale. Hence, improved understanding of CO2 foam texture evolution (n f ) can strengthen the validation of numerical foam models for physical upscaling of flow phenomena, instrumental in the development of field scale implementation of CO2 foam for in carbon utilization and storage applications.


Attribute-based representation has shown great promises for visual recognition due to its intuitive interpretation and cross-category generalization property. However, human efforts are usually involved in the attribute designing process, making the representation costly to obtain. In this paper, we propose a novel formulation to automatically design discriminative "category-level attributes", which can be efficiently encoded by a compact category-attribute matrix. The formulation allows us to achieve intuitive and critical design criteria (category-separability, learn ability) in a principled way. The designed attributes can be used for tasks of cross-category knowledge transfer, achieving superior performance over well-known attribute dataset Animals with Attributes (AwA) and a large-scale ILSVRC2010 dataset (1.2M images). This approach also leads to state-of-the-art performance on the zero-shot learning task on AwA.


Features of farmers' professional cooperatives in China are introduced. The establishment of these organizations is spontaneous. Their operation shows self-government. And their targets are highly pertinent. Then, I analyze the existing problems in farmers' professional cooperatives and vacancy of government functions. These cooperatives are single in content, narrow in service field, not scientific in management mode, and low in efficiency. In addition, government policy support is not put in place for these cooperatives. In view of these situations, firstly, it is proposed to speed up construction of service-oriented government at grass-roots level and promote development of farmers' professional cooperatives. Secondly, it is suggested to set up awareness of service-oriented government and enhance guidance and service for farmers' professional cooperatives. Thirdly, we should increase financial support and guide these organizations to achieve a benign development. Fourthly, we should strengthen propaganda to raise popularity and influence power of these organizations. Fifthly, it is recommended to make clear the guidance and leading functions of regional supply and marketing cooperatives to raise service efficiency. Finally, we should establish scientific evaluation and incentive system to push forward healthy development of farmers' professional cooperatives.


With the increasing prevalence of mobile technology and high-profile crashes bringing attention to distracted driving, data on cell phone involvement in collisions is critical for understanding the extent of the problem, examining the effectiveness of policies, and developing interventions to improve safety. Some limitations of existing data have been previously identified, but this paper examines the specific case of California's collision data. Temporal, geographic, and jurisdictional trends are analyzed to identify the source and type of inconsistencies in the cell phone involvement data. Matching and comparison of state and federal data sources highlight further limitations. Data could be improved by simplifying the California crash report form and aligning variables to be more consistent with federal standards. In the meantime, it is not recommended that existing data on cell phone involvement in collisions be used for any analyses to evaluate policy or driver behavior.


Therapy of Joint cartilage Injuries is still a major problem. In order to understand the nature of repairment or persisterit injury process one should first clarify the still unsolved, cartilage physiology, Many different repairment patterns in the literarure and clinical problems caused by cartilage injuries in daily life have motivated us jor such a study. For better undersranding of joint cartilage injuries and their repairment, various joint cartilage lesions were produced experimentally at knees of 7 adult and 11 nonadult rabbits. The repairment processes were evaluated by macroscopic appearance, stereodissection and light microscopic findings our results were evaluated in the light of related literature.
In our study, other than the osteochondral lesions the adult ones, no repairment tissue that could be defined as in differentiated connective tissue was observed. We could see immature cartilage cells, that could be called atypical chondrons, in the superficial and whole tihickness (more evidently) defects of adult and nonadult animals. However we could not detect any effect of these cells in filling up the cartilage detect.
Our findings were in the direction that there was no repairment process in superficial defects.
Comparing our findings and others in various literature is obviousthat there are many different models in repairment of jo int cartilage defects. This reveals that factors determining the cartilage recovery are not fully known yet.
In order to state what type of recovery model is preeminent in cartilage defects we believe that it is necessary to make researches on many other animal groups for a much longer period of time


BACKGROUND
Numerous randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have demonstrated the superiority of paclitaxel drug-coated balloons (DCBs) over non-coated angioplasty balloons for treatment of femoropopliteal peripheral arterial disease (PAD). There is a paucity of clinical evidence in more complex patients who are often excluded from RCTs and long-term data up to 5 years are very limited in PAD revascularisation studies.

AIMS
This is a report of the 5-year outcomes from the prospective, single-arm, international IN.PACT Global Study. The IN.PACT Admiral DCB was evaluated for femoropopliteal atherosclerotic disease treatment in a real-world patient population.

METHODS
In total, 1,535 patients were enrolled at 64 international sites. The prespecified clinical cohort included 1,406 patients with claudication or rest pain. Patients were evaluated up to 5 years for the occurrence of adverse events and clinically driven target lesion revascularisations (CD-TLR).

RESULTS
The mean lesion length was 12.1±9.5 cm in 1,774 lesions, 18.0% had in-stent restenosis, 35.5% were total occlusions and 68.7% were calcified. Per independent clinical events committee adjudication, the Kaplan-Meier estimate of freedom from CD-TLR up to 5 years was 69.4%, and the restricted mean survival time to first CD-TLR was 1,470.1 days. Outcomes were similar for males and females; freedom from CD-TLR was 69.1% in females and 69.6% in males (p=0.602). The cumulative incidence of major adverse events for the clinical cohort was 45.9% and freedom from all-cause mortality with the vital status update was 78.9% up to 5 years.

CONCLUSIONS
The IN.PACT Admiral DCB demonstrated safe and durable outcomes in real-world participants with complex femoropopliteal disease.

CLINICALTRIALS
gov: NCT01609296.


The effects of aluminising on the hot corrosion resistance of two nickel-chromium alloys containing 10 and 30 weight percent chromium, respectively, were examined. The Ni/Cr specimens were aluminised by pack cementation in Ar and underwent cyclic hot corrosion testing in Na2SO4- NaCl molten salt. XRD analysis indicated that a NiAl phase formed between the coating layer and substrate. Cyclic hot corrosion test results indicated that the effects of aluminising are more pronounced in the case of the 10 % Cr than in the case of 30 % Cr. The ductile NiAl phase suppressed the potential for crack initiation during thermal cycling of the 10 % Cr specimens, and reinforced the hot cyclic corrosion resistance in molten salt for the 30 % Cr specimens.


This paper presents a three-dimensional transient finite element analysis code for solving the flow and heat transfer during polymer injection molding. The problems of interest present important challenges for both the physical modeling and the solution algorithm. The free surface flow of molten polymer moving inside the filling cavity has to be computed as well as the heat transfer between the polymer and the mold. During filling, heat transfer occurs at high Prandtl numbers because of the low material conductivity, resulting in sharp temperature gradients close to the walls. In this work the momentum, energy and front tracking equations are solved in a segregated manner. The energy equation is solved in an operator splitting approach. The methodology is robust and effective in solving three-dimensional industrial parts.


High-level actions (HLAs) are essential tools for coping with the large search spaces and long decision horizons encountered in real-world decision making. In a recent paper, we proposed an "angelic" semantics for HLAs that supports proofs that a high-level plan will (or will not) achieve a goal, without first reducing the plan to primitive action sequences. This paper extends the angelic semantics with cost information to support proofs that a high-level plan is (or is not) optimal. We describe the Angelic Hierarchical A* algorithm, which generates provably optimal plans, and show its advantages over alternative algorithms. We also present the Angelic Hierarchical Learning Real-Time A* algorithm for situated agents, one of the first algorithms to do hierarchical lookahead in an online setting. Since high-level plans are much shorter, this algorithm can look much farther ahead than previous algorithms (and thus choose much better actions) for a given amount of computational effort.


Millennial climate change such as D-O cycles, AIM recorded in ice cores in both Hemispheres is known to show a relatively higher amplitude in the middle-level of a glacial cycle than in the interglacial state or severe glacial state. Although massive discharge or melt water of Ice sheet to ocean is one of the cause thought to be responsible for the millennial climate change, the thermal response to fresh water release in North Atlantic in global models and/or the paleoclimatic data in the region far from North Atlantic do not agree and even do not explain the dependence of the amplitude upon the level of climate state. Here we ran several sensitivity experiments using a coupled atmosphere and ocean GCM (MIROC3.2.2) and show that the response to fresh water release to the ocean and bipolar response is highly dependent on the background climate. The experiments were conducted with 500 years water hosing of 0.05 to 0.1 Sv (where 1 Sv is equivalent to the water flux of 10m sea level rise in 100 years) in the North Atlantic 50-70N in the same manner and position as CMIP/PMIP protocol under different basic states; Modern Hosing under modern climate with the pre-industrial condition, and Glacial hosing under LGM condition (21ka as PMIP, with ice sheets and lowered Greenhouse Gases). The results show largest cooling response in North Atlantic and a reasonable bipolar warming signal as in the ice cores of Antarctica, and the dependence upon background climate is not relatively the same for the both hemisphere. The mechanism of different responses are discussed in detail through the analysis of model experiment of atmosphere, ocean and sea ice coupling.


Recently it was shown that recombinant vaccinia virus GLV-1h68 is a promising tool for treating different type of cancers in animal models. The goal of the present study was to enhance the oncolytic potential of GLV-1h68 without decreasing its safety. A derivative of GLV-1h68 containing the gene for a Walker A motif mutant of the essential cell cycle protein Cdc6, GLV-1h237, was engineered. The characteristics of GLV-1h237 and its efficiency in treating human breast cancer GI-101A cells were compared with that of GLV-1h236 (carrying the wild-type gene for Cdc6), GLV-1h71 (a derivative of GLV-1h68) and GLV-1h68, respectively. RT-PCR and immunoblot analyses revealed that Cdc6 is efficiently overexpressed in GLV-1h237-infected GI-101A cells. GLV-1h237 was found to have higher replication efficiency and enhanced cytotoxity than GLV-1h68 in cell culture. In the GI-101A tumor xenograft animal model, GLV-1h237 turned out to be the most potent oncolytic virus strain investigated. A single i.v. injection of GLV-1h237 resulted in enhanced anti-tumor activity compared to GLV-1h68 concomitant with a high tumor selectivity and a comparable safety profile. Thus, the strategy to combine oncolytic virotherapy with agents that interfere with host cell DNA synthesis is a promising approach for effective cancer therapy.


The possibility for Turkey to become a Member State of the Community is provided by the Ankara Association Agreement concluded between the parties on 12 September 1963. The Agreement sets up one of the most comprehensive external relationships that the Community has ever established with a third country. According to the EC-Turkey association law, the customs union constitutes a transitory framework prior to complete integration between the parties. However, academic and political works are proposing that the integration of Turkey to the EU acquires a dimension other than the accession framework. These works put forward that the EU-Turkey customs union should be conceived, not as a transitory stage preparing Turkey to a complete accession to the EU, but as a definitive framework which should continue to govern the relations without a membership perspective. The paper strives to assess the possibility of using the EC-Turkey customs union as a definitive framework of the relations between the parties and seeks to demonstrate that such a framework proves to be not only improbable but also impossible.


While lung anatomy is well understood, pulmonary structure-to-function relationships such as the complex elastic deformation of the lung during respiration are less well documented. Current methods for studying lung anatomy include conventional chest radiography, high-resolution computed tomography (CT scan) and magnetic resonance imaging with polarized gases (MRI scan). Pulmonary physiology can be studied using spirometry or V/Q nuclear medicine tests (V/Q scan). V/Q scanning and MRI scans may demonstrate global and regional function. However, each of these individual imaging methods lacks the ability to provide high-resolution anatomic detail, associated pulmonary mechanics and functional variability of the entire respiratory cycle. Specifically, spirometry provides only a one-dimensional gross estimate of pulmonary function, and V/Q scans have poor spatial resolution, reducing its potential for regional assessment of structure-to-function relationships. We have developed a method which utilizes standard clinical CT scanning to provide data for computation of dynamic anatomic parametric models of the lung during respiration which correlates high-resolution anatomy to underlying physiology. The lungs are segmented from both inspiration and expiration three-dimensional (3D) data sets and transformed into a geometric description of the surface of the lung. Parametric mapping of lung surface deformation then provides a visual and quantitative description of the mechanical properties of the lung. Any alteration in lung mechanics is manifest by alterations in normal deformation of the lung wall. The method produces a high-resolution anatomic and functional composite picture from sparse temporal-spatial methods which quantitatively illustrates detailed anatomic structure to pulmonary function relationships impossible for translational methods to provide.


s | 27 nicotinic and muscarinic receptors have been shown in animal models to contribute to restoring cognitive function in various rodent models of CIAS while excessive D2 receptor blockade has a negative influence on cognition. Data from recent GWAS studies will be presented which demonstrate that the efficacy of atypical APDs to improve psychopathology in schizophrenia is mediated by gene products that affect synaptic structure and function, e.g. neurexin and other synaptic adhesion gene products. The synaptic mechanisms that are required for normal reality testing, rewarded behavior, and higher cognitive function may be impaired by too much or too little stimulation of all five DA receptors, certainly not just D2 receptors. The atypical APDs are better able to achieve optimal stimulation of these receptors through a variety of mechanisms, many of which are serotonergic. D2 receptor blockade is not necessary but sometimes sufficient which has led to long standing overvaluation of its importance. The heterogeneity in response to APDs may be related to genetic variations which govern the various ways in which synapses can be made to work effectively.


The present paper analyzes 3 key problems influencing the study of standardization of acupoint indications, i. e. identification and selection of literatures, comprehensive usage of literatures, and selection of acupoint indications, and puts forward principles and methods for treating problems of this link through concrete samples.


The role of the avb3 Integrin in lamina cribrosa cells and the possible role in glaucoma pathogenesis A. Hopkins, R. Murphy, M. Irnaten, D. Wallace, D. Brennan, A. Clarke, C. O'Brien Mater Hospital, Ophthalmology, Dublin, Ireland, University College Dublin, Clinical Research CentreCatherine Mcauley CentreSchool of MedicineUniversity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, University College Dublin, AnatomySchool of Medicine, Dublin, Ireland, University North Texas USA, Pharmacology & Neuroscience and the North Texas Eye Research Institute, Texas, United States


A method to detect high impedance faults (HIFs) based on low-order harmonics is proposed. Short-time Fourier transform (STFT) is used to extract the main harmonic components of phase current, as magnitude and phase of the third harmonic and magnitude of the second and fifth harmonics, which are used to identify HIF occurrence. In addition, this study presents an analysis of the window length and type used in STFT and its suitability for the application. The method proposed is able to detect HIF occurrence at various points of the test system, as well as HIF happening on different soil surfaces. It is also capable of distinguishing HIF events from similar distribution system disturbances such as capacitor banks switching and feeder energising. Furthermore, it is effective when real HIF oscillography is applied, indicating its tolerance to typical noises present on real signals.


Substantial clearance of forests and conversion of forest into various land use types contribute to deterioration of soil fertility and associated nutrients loss. Soils from natural and rehabilitated forest in Chikus Forest Reserve and also enrichment planting forest and secondary forest of Tapah Hill Forest Reserve, Perak, Malaysia were selected in order to assess the influence of land use change on biological properties. This study was carried out to provide fundamental information on soil biological properties and also to compare the differences between natural forest, mono-rehabilitated forest, mixed planting forest and natural regenerated forest (secondary forest). Six subplots (20×20 m) were established at each study plot and soil samples were collected at the depths of 0-15 cm (topsoil) and 15-30 cm (subsoil). Soil microbial population was determined using spread-plate technique. Fluorescein Diacetate (FDA) hydrolysis was used to assess the amount of microbial enzymatic activity for each forest plot. Soil Microbial Biomass C (MBC) and N (MBN) were extracted using chloroform fumigation extraction technique and the amount of MBC was determined by dichromate digestion, while MBN via Kjeldahl digestion technique. Soil acidity was determined by pH meter and moisture content was elucidated using gravimetric method. The levels of microbial population of bacterial and fungal at natural significantly exceeded the corresponding values of rehabilitated and secondary forest. However, microbial population is much higher in rehabilitated forest of Tapah Hill compared to that of secondary forest and also Chikus Forest Reserve planted forest which proves that rehabilitation activities do help increase the level of microbial community in the soils. Longer period of time after planting as in enrichment planting compared to mono planting of S. leprosula plantation showed that restoring and recovery of the planted forest needed time. Deforestation activities decrease soil biological activities; however, proper forest management and rehabilitation activities are able to restore the condition of degraded forest land to its original state.


Background: Situs inversus viscerum is a rare condition with a genetic predisposition. We report 2 patients with situs inversus totalis and symptomatic cholelithiasis successfully treated via laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Patients and Methods: The first patient was a 61-year-old female presenting with pain in the left upper quadrant associated with fever, chills, nausea and vomiting. The abdomen was tender with guarding and rebounding pain in the same region. Abdominal ultrasound and CT scan confirmed the diagnosis of gallstones as well as situs inversus with the liver and gallblader on the left side and the spleen on the right. The second patient was a 37-year-old male with known situs inversus who presented with biliary colic due to cholelithiasis. In both patients cholecystectomy was performed laparoscopically in a reverse fashion. Results: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was carried out successfully despite the reversed anatomic relationships and both patients made a smooth recovery. Conclusion: Cholelithiasis occurring with situs inversus totalis is rare and may present a diagnostic problem. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be safely and effectively applied in the setting of situs inversus, although attention must be paid to the details of left-right reversal.


This book is motivated by the positive view of the non-Christian religions expressed by the Fathers of the Vatican Council II (cf. NA 2a), a revolutionary view considered from the official teaching of the tradition of the Church up till then, and much more in such a central issue as the belief in God. This book aims at initiating a healthy interaction between the Christian understanding of God and the understanding of God in the traditional religion of the Igbo people of West Africa. In approaching this task this special study pursues some major aims. In the first place it engages itself in the clarification of some basic issues: Are the religious experiences which are phenomenologically found in all religions including the Igbo religion only mere human fabrications or do they originate from a revelation of God? Secondly, this publication working with the innovative analysis of the theophoral personal names provides some profound factual information about the concrete contents of the Igbo religion on God. Thirdly, the author tries to find out whether there could be a basic agreement between the understanding of God in Igbo religion and the biblical revelation. In this work the fundamental agreement is found in the conviction that God in traditional Igbo religion, Chukwu and the God of the Bible is the God of life. The purpose of this book therefore, is to bring back the question of God to the centre of existential Christian life: it is to make the theme of God the motivation and criterion for the whole Christian life and spirituality - both individually and communally. The theme of the God of life introduces God into life and connects the problems and questions of men and women of todayto the theme of God.


AIMS
A randomized trial investigated the impact of risk-tailored messages on mammography in diverse women in the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System's gynecology clinics.

METHODS
From 2003 to 2005, 899 patients > or =40 years of age were randomized to receive risk-tailored information or general information about breast health. Multiple logistic regression analyses summarize their breast health practices at 18 months.

RESULTS
At baseline, 576 (64%) women reported having a mammogram in the past year. At 18-month follow-up, mammography rates were 72.6% in the intervention group and 74.2% in the control group (N.S.). Women (n = 123) who reported worrying about breast cancer "often" or "all the time" had significantly higher mammography rates with the intervention (85.0%) vs. the controls (63.5%). No significant differences existed in clinical breast examination, self-examination, or mammography intentions between the two study arms. However, intervention women with lower education reported significantly fewer clinical breast examinations at follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS
The brief intervention with a risk-tailored message did not have a significant effect overall on screening at 18 months. However, among those who worried, mammography rates in the intervention group were higher. Individual characteristics, such as worry about breast cancer and education status, may impact interventions to improve breast cancer prevention practices.


Purpose – This study explored the utilization of ICT tools and resources in developing ICTeachMUqPO. This information e-learning module system is a web-based application designed to support the academic needs of both faculty and students, in particular to track learning progress.Method – The proponents conducted a group discussion and collaboration with the end users and reviewed literature on faculty development and related studies to gather preliminary information. They also identified all software and hardware specifications necessary in developing the system through a survey. The descriptive method of research was employed in designing the system evaluation process. Judgmental or purposive sampling was used in selecting the respondents (n=113) who answered the evaluation survey. Result – The system evaluation survey was patterned after ISO 25010 and consisted of the following components: functionality, usability, reliability, performance, security, compatibility and supportability. The overall rating of the system was 4.11, which indicated a "very good" grade.  The portability test showed that the system can run on any computing platform using different web browser applications. Conclusions – The result of the system evaluation by the respondent implied that the system's overall internal and external performance exhibited consistency and met the compliance requirements set by the developers.Recommendation – The authors recommend that teachers and students undergo ICT capability training to get the most out of the functionalities of the ICTeachMUqPO e-learning management system. The school administrators may provide support in terms of enhanced accessibility of facilities, higher internet bandwidth allocation and better network infrastructure. The proponents suggest that further research be conducted using other variables, taking another direction such as assessing the learning outcome and behavior of the students using the system.Research Implication – E-learning or learning management systems can save faculty members time when preparing for their classes. The system can make use of additional features but in its present form it can already be a very useful educational tool to both the teacher and the student users. Making use of this technology could be an impetus for transitioning to other methods of instruction, such as online teaching.


The designation of Marine Protected Areas has become an important approach to conserving marine ecosystems that relies on robust information on the spatial distribution of biodiversity. We used GPS tracking data to identify marine Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) for the Endangered northern rockhopper penguin Eudyptes moseleyi within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic. Penguins were tracked throughout their breeding season from 3 of the 4 main islands in the Tristan da Cunha group. Foraging trips remained largely within the EEZ, with the exception of those from Gough Island during the incubation stage. We found substantial variability in trip duration and foraging range among breeding stages and islands, consistent use of areas among years and spatial segregation of the areas used by neighbouring islands. For colonies with no or insufficient tracking data, we defined marine IBAs based on the mean maximum foraging range and merged the areas identified to propose IBAs around the Tristan da Cunha archipelago and Gough Island. The 2 proposed marine IBAs encompass 2% of Tristan da Cunha's EEZ, and are used by all northern rockhopper penguins breeding in the Tristan da Cunha group, representing ~90% of the global population. Currently, one of the main threats to northern rockhopper penguins within the Tristan da Cunha EEZ is marine pollution from shipping, and the risk of this would be reduced by declaring waters within 50 nautical miles of the coast as 'areas to be avoided'.


The authors present the current view of the women in Surgery since the end of the XIX century until now. They discuss the difficulties they face when they choose Surgery as a career and the progress now achieved.


Learning at the border" refers to learning that occurs in the border settings between the highly-structured realm of schools and the more diffuse realms of life in neighborhoods, such as after-school programs, boys and girls clubs, libraries, museums, and community centers. A second meaning relates to participants who learn through their interactions with those of different languages, cultural background, race, or social class. This paper describes projects in which university students and faculty work with community members to create spaces in which young people learn about new technologies and develop academic potential through self expression. In the projects, young people learn through modules such as operating systems, networking, multimedia and podcasting, GIS/GPS, and video game design. A common thread is that they learn how to use ICTs for community building, thus becoming active sustainers of their own communities.


The history, taxonomy and nomenclature of the genus Ensete and particularly the Ethiopian enset, E. ventricosum, have been put in African and global perspective; although the genus Ensete occurs widespread in Africa, on Madagascar and in parts of Asia, and the species E. ventricosum is widespread in tropical Africa, the early history of its scientific study is closely linked to Ethiopia, where it is domesticated. A full synonymy of the genus Ensete has been compiled in an appendix. The objectives of the International Workshop on "Enset (Ensete ventricosum) for Sustainable Development: Current Research Trends, Gaps and Future Direction for a Coordinated Multidisciplinary Approach in Ethiopia" are outlined. It is intended to bring together researchers from both the natural and social sciences in order to capture the wealth of vital scientific information from various research areas carried out in the past four to five decades and identify research gaps in their areas of expertise. On the way forward to reach a consensus on the need to fill the gaps identified, for a concerted effort for a multidisciplinary approach, the scientific results from research to feed into policy and the identification of a centre of excellence for enset research and its sustainable use through a declaration.Keywords/phrases: Enset (Ensete ventricosum), Research and research gaps, Unique Ethiopian crop, Way forward


Porous polyvinyl formal (PVF) resin and poly(lactide-caprolactone) [P(LA/CL)] sponges were examined as three-dimensional matrices for chondroinduction of cultured bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Approximately 5 x 10(5) mouse MSCs were seeded in porous PVF resin or P(LA/CL) sponges and were cultured for up to 1 month in serum-free high-glucose Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium containing 10 ng/mL transforming growth factor-beta3 and 100 nM dexamethasone for chondroinduction. After the 1-month culture period, the PVF resin and P(LA/CL) sponges contained approximately twice the amount of glycosaminoglycans compared with the control pellet. Safranin-O staining of PVF and P(LA/CL) after 1 month of culture revealed a cartilage-like extracellular matrix containing glycosaminoglycans and collagen. When implanted into nude mice, PVF and P(LA/CL) seeded with MSCs were found to be both biocompatible and chondroinductive. These highly porous scaffolds can maintain a large number of cells in a three-dimensional structure. Both are potentially promising for the chondroinduction of bone marrow MSCs for research and clinical applications.


CdZnTe detectors have been employed in diagnostic X-ray spectroscopy. This paper presents the Monte Carlo calculation of X-ray deposited energy in a CdZnTe detector for different energies of photon beam. In incident photon direction, the distribution of absorbed dose as deposited energy in detector is determined. Based on the dependence of the detector response on the thickness and different Zn fractions, some conclusions about changes of the material characteristics could be drawn. Results of numerical simulation suggest that the CdZnTe detector could be suitable for X-ray low energy.


Tasks that involve remembering to carry out future intentions (such as remembering to attend an appointment), and the cognitive processes that enable the completion of such tasks (such as planning), are referred to as prospective memory (PM). PM is important for promoting quality of life across many domains. For instance, failures in remembering to meet social commitments are linked to social isolation, whereas failures in remembering to fulfill occupational goals are linked to poorer vocational outcomes. Declines in PM functioning are of particular concern for older adults because of the strong links between PM and functional capacity. The relationship between age and PM appears to be complex, dependent on many factors. While some aspects of PM appear to hold up relatively well in late adulthood, others appear to show consistent age-related decline. Variability in age differences appears to partially reflect the fact that there are diverse types of PM tasks, which impose demands on a range of cognitive processes that are differentially affected by aging. Specifically, the level and type of environmental support associated with different PM task types appears to be a meaningful determinant of age-related effects. Given the worldwide changing age demographics, the interest in age-related effects on PM will likely intensify, and a primary focus will be how to optimize and maintain PM capacity for this population. This is already reflected in the increasing research on interventions focused on enhancing PM capacity in late adulthood, and points to important future directions in this area of study.


– The systematics of the subfamily Parthenopinae MacLeay, 1838 (Parthenopidae MacLeay, 1838) is revised. Two subfamilies, the Cryptopodiinae Stimpson, 1871, and Lambrachaeinae Stevcic, 1994, are synonymised with the Parthenopinae. The generic composition of subfamily Parthenopinae is reviewed and 32 genera are now recognised globally, of which 12 are diagnosed as new, and comparisons with other genera made. A key is provided for all recognised genera of the Parthenopinae.


Rates of protein synthesis were measured in the white myotomal muscle of carp ( Cyprinus carpio ) and rainbow trout ( Salmo gairdneri ) at a number of environmental temperatures before and after they had spent an acclimatory period at these temperatures. For carp previously kept at a mid-range temperature of 15°C the rates of muscle protein synthesis showed a Q 10 of 3.07 over the range of 10–25 °C. Acclimation to low temperatures resulted in the rate of protein synthesis being elevated whilst acclimation to high temperatures resulted in the depression of protein synthesis rate. Rainbow trout also initially maintained at 15 °C showed an initial Q 10 of 3.57 between 5 and 20 °C. In this species, however, there was no significant difference in protein synthesis rates after being kept for 1 month at any given temperature within this temperature range. In the carp where acclimatory changes were recorded, it was found that these changes occurred at a faster rate at 25 °C than at 10°C. The ability of the carp to modify its protein metabolism in this way is discussed as a strategy for reducing temperature effects upon growth and muscle function.


This thesis is an effort to apply Elias's thinking on social development to the Chinese social situation. At first glance his account of the civilizing process would appear incompatible with this context, in that, after state formation with the Qin and Han dynasties beginning in 221 BC, Chinese civilization remained both stable and highly traditional for well over two millennia. It is argued, however, that closer scrutiny reveals a process that was merely interrupted for a considerable period. The traditional system relied upon a symbiotic relationship between local society and the centre whereby the centre remained relatively small and aloof, not interfering with local social relations, as long as local society provided the required taxes and labour. In this situation the state had the monopolies of both violence and taxation that Elias would look for, but left local society to its own devices primarily because it was already pacified. This self-reinforcing system was enshrined and codified in the Confucian cannon over the course of centuries from the Han dynasty.

Central control of the distribution of resources was eventually required to re-start the Chinese civilizing process, for this was the mechanism through which the local social structure would finally be altered. This only happened within the past century as the Chinese people struggled to grapple with their own 'backwardness' in the face of incessant Western and Japanese incursions. At this point the old system was toppled and replaced by progressively more aggressive central governments who saw as their most important task the destruction of the traditional social order in the interest of modernization. As the Chinese state consciously and forcibly took control of the distribution of resources at all levels of society, traditional social relations were stretched and warped, and the Chinese civilizing process re-commenced its long-stalled march toward modernization. This has been evidenced both by the dramatic growth in mobility and the rapidly extending chains of interdependence in the form of guanxi connections primarily during the Post-Opening period after 1978.


Viscosities and excess viscosities for three binary systems (2-propanol + benzyl alcohol, 2-propanol + 2-phenylethanol, and benzyl alcohol + 2-phenylethanol) were computed at T= (298.15, 308.15, and 318.15) K over the concentration range 0.05-0.95 at atmospheric pressure and compared with the experimental work of Ching-Ta et al.   Different theoretical models assuming association and non-association of the components of the mixtures, were used to predict the behavior of the studied liquids, which would typically show strong interactions. The properties were fitted to the Redlich-Kister polynomial equation to estimate the binary coefficients and standard errors. The excess viscosities were used to study the nature and extent of the molecular interactions in the binary mixtures. McAllister multi body interaction model was used to correlate the properties of the binary liquid mixtures. Testing of the models for the different systems showed that, compared with the non-association model theoretical results, the association model theoretical results were more consistent with the experimental results.


A new chromatic dispersion profile of a single-mode optical fibre is proposed for generating a supercontinuum with a flatly broadened spectrum. The chromatic dispersion D(λ,z) is a convex function of wavelengths and has no zero-dispersion wavelengths over the whole part of the fibre as D(λ,z) is negative. It is shown that the flat supercontinuum spectrum is obtained when the pump wavelength is set in the vicinity of the wavelength at which the peak chromatic dispersion is near zero and the strong residual pump component is eliminated.


Purpose
To assess the predictive factors and describe the imaging features of mediastinal lymph node (MLN) metastases in patients with head and neck cancer.

Materials and Methods
We compared the clinical features and disease characteristics (sex, age, site of primary tumor, histologic type, history of prior treatments, TNM stages, and metastasis in cervical LNs) of patients with head and neck cancers between the MLN metastasis and no MLN metastasis groups. We also evaluated the chest CT (distribution and maximum dimension of the largest LN) and PET/CT (maximum standardized uptake value) features of MLN metastases based on the MLN classification.

Results
Of the 470 patients with head and neck cancer, 55 (11.7%) had MLN metastasis, involving 150 mediastinal stations. Hypopharynx cancer, recurrent tumor, T4 stage, N2/N3 stages, and M1 stage were found to be significant predicting factors for MLN metastasis. The most common location of MLN metastasis was ipsilateral station 2 (upper paratracheal LNs, 36.4%), followed by ipsilateral station 11 (interlobar LNs, 27.3%) and ipsilateral station 10 (hilar LNs, 25.5%).

Conclusion
Metastasis to MLNs should be considered in patients with head and neck cancer, especially in cases that are associated with a hypopharyngeal cancer, recurrent tumor, and high TNM stages.


This study proposes a two-step solution approach for aircraft conflict resolution and fuel consumption due to resolution maneuver occurring in free-route airspace. This model aims to provide a mathematical basis for a decision-support system that is used during the pretactical conflict resolution in air traffic management. Mathematical model of the first step presents alternative entry points on both sides of existing sector entry points to minimize delays by directing aircraft to the most convenient entry points. The second step suggests a vector deflection maneuver to minimize extra fuel consumption caused by conflict resolution. GAMS/CPLEX solver is used to solve the first step of the model but the solution is not produced in a reasonable time. To obtain feasible solutions, genetic algorithm and tabu search algorithms are implemented in the first step. Small size test problems are generated to evaluate the metaheuristic algorithms, and results are compared with GAMS/CPLEX solver solutions. According to this comparison, both metaheuristics algorithms produce near optimal solutions in a reasonably short time. The proposed approach has made significant improvements for airborne delays and extra fuel consumption caused by aircraft conflicts resolution in large-scaled airspaces.


In this teaching report I demonstrate the use of the so-called beer distribution game in teaching business-to-business eCommerce courses. The beergame is a role-play supply chain simulation game that lets students experience typical coordination problems of (traditional) supply chains without information sharing and collaboration. With this paper I want to show how the beergame can be used to provide students with a more profound understanding of the reasons why eCommerce technologies are used in contemporary supply chains; I also want to share my experiences and beergame materials with other information systems scholars in the field. To this end, I will introduce the beergame, demonstrate its use in a classroom setting, and show how I embed the game in a typical B2B eCommerce syllabus.


How to maintain a zebrafish brain Even in the zebrafish brain, which seems better able than the human brain to generate new neurons, regenerative capacity may not be unlimited. Barbosa et al. mapped the fates of individual neuronal cells in live zebrafish over time. Seen as glowing dots, neural stem cells sustain the population of neurons, although not quite at full replacement rates. After injury to the brain, more of the stem cells were pulled into neuronal pathways, with fewer remaining to feed future replacement. Science, this issue p. 789 In zebrafish brains, changes in the behavior of stem cells underlie generation of additional neurons during regeneration. Adult neural stem cells are the source for restoring injured brain tissue. We used repetitive imaging to follow single stem cells in the intact and injured adult zebrafish telencephalon in vivo and found that neurons are generated by both direct conversions of stem cells into postmitotic neurons and via intermediate progenitors amplifying the neuronal output. We observed an imbalance of direct conversion consuming the stem cells and asymmetric and symmetric self-renewing divisions, leading to depletion of stem cells over time. After brain injury, neuronal progenitors are recruited to the injury site. These progenitors are generated by symmetric divisions that deplete the pool of stem cells, a mode of neurogenesis absent in the intact telencephalon. Our analysis revealed changes in the behavior of stem cells underlying generation of additional neurons during regeneration.


Impurity doping has a significant influence on the nucleation and growth of nanocrystals. The influence of the ionic radius of the dopant and grain size on the crystallographic phase of KLu2F7:Yb3+/Er3+ nanocrystals has not been systematically investigated. Herein, we demonstrate an M ion (M = Mn2+, Gd3+, Nd3+) doping approach to dynamically fine-tune the grain size of KLu2F7:Yb3+/Er3+ nanocrystals, and study the influence of the ionic radius of the doping M ions and particle size reduction on the crystallographic phase. Through a comprehensive investigation of the impurity doping induced phase transition phenomenon and the growth mechanism of KLu2F7:Yb3+/Er3+ nanocrystals, we speculated that the impurity doping induced phase transition mechanism of KLu2F7:Yb3+/Er3+ mainly depends on the grain size of nanocrystals ignoring the ionic radius of the dopant. With the decrease of the grain size, high surface tension triggers phase transformation from anisotropic (orthorhombic KLu2F7:Yb3+/Er3+) to isotropic (cubic KLu3F10:Yb3+/Er3+). What is more, we have systematically investigated the visible (VIS)-upconversion and near infrared (NIR)-downshifting emission of various-sized KLu2F7:Yb3+/Er3+ UCNPs and Mn2+, Gd3+ or Nd3+ ion doped KLu2F7:Yb3+/Er3+ UCNPs. The findings provide keen insights into understanding the effect of size reduction on the phase transition mechanism and the photoluminescence properties of KLu2F7:Yb3+/Er3+ UCNPs, while offering the possibility for good academic studies and application prospects.


A study has been made of the copper catalyst employed in the
oxidative coupling of phenols and also of some polynuclear copper (II)
complexes which are closely related to the catalyst system.
The preparation of pyridine complexes of copper (I) halides and
their characterisation by infrared spectra is described and the nature
of these complexes in the solid state and in solution discussed.
The preparation and properties of several new tetranuclear
copper (II) complexes of the type cu4ox64L, where X is Cl or Br and L is a monodentate ligand, are described and, in addition, several of
these tetranuclear complexes containing mixed halide bridges have been
prepared for the first time and characterised. In theory, several of
these mixed halide complexes should exhibit structural isomerism, and
the two isomers of the complex cu40Cl2Br44py have been positively
identified .from physical measurements. Tetranuclear copper (II)
complexes have been shown to undergo halide, exchange reactions in
solutions and from conductivity studies it is postulated that these
complexes may well be considerably dissociated in solvents such as
nitromethane. In addition, tetranuclear complexes with pyridine
ligands have been shown to undergo redox decomposition reactions at
temperatures above l50°C to yield copper {I) halide and a halopyridine....


ABSTRACT: Children who are orphaned and vulnerable due to poverty, war, or disease (HIV/AIDS) may experience childhood traumatic grief. A qualitative phenomenological approach was implemented to explore and compare the lived experiences of orphaned children, adolescents, and caregivers who had used the Memory Book intervention at six children's homes in India, Kenya, and South Africa. Study findings revealed similar themes between the countries, with primary themes of identity and relationships, and secondary themes of coping, hope, and emotion. Findings suggest the value of Memory Book resources to encourage the preservation of a child's story and grief recovery that can be used for any child facing recovery from difficult life events.


The lower receiver of the M16 rifle is an anodized forging of aluminum alloy 7075-T6. Degradation of the receivers was observed after three years of service in a hot, humid atmosphere. The affected areas were those in frequent contact with the user's hands. There was no question that the material failed as a result of exfoliation corrosion, so an investigation was undertaken, centered around the study of thermal treatments that would increase the exfoliation resistance and still develop the required 448 MPa (65 ksi) yield strength. The results of the study concluded that rolled bar stock should be preferred to extruded bar stock. Differences in grain structure of the forgings, as induced by differences in thermal-mechanical history of the forged material, can have a significant effect on susceptibility to exfoliation corrosion. Regarding thermal treatment, the results show conclusively that large changes in strength and exfoliation characteristics of 7075 forgings can be induced by changes in temperature or time of thermal treatment. With regard to the effect of quenching rate on exfoliation characteristics, a cold-water quench below 25 deg C (75 deg F) would appear to be far superior to an elevated-temperature quench to minimize exfoliation for 7075 forgings in the T6 temper.


Magnetic resonance studies of nuclear spins in solids are exceptionally well suited to probe the limits of statistical physics. We report experimental results indicating that isolated macroscopic systems of interacting nuclear spins possess the following fundamental property: spin decays that start from different initial configurations quickly evolve towards the same long-time behavior. This long-time behavior is characterized by the shortest ballistic microscopic time scale of the system and therefore falls outside of the validity range for conventional approximations of statistical physics. We find that the nuclear free-induction decay and different solid echoes in hyperpolarized solid xenon all exhibit sinusoidally modulated exponential long-time behavior characterized by identical time constants. This universality was previously predicted on the basis of analogy with resonances in classical chaotic systems.


Increasing amounts of residues and waste materials coming from industrial activities in different processes have become an increasingly urgent problem for the future. The paper presents the problem of mine tailings generated in mine "Sase" (Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina) with high metal content (Pb, Cu and Zn). Dumpsite of this tailing represents potential risk for water bodies in the vicinity of this location. Chosen treatment process was stabilization/solidification (S/S). Inorganic agents used in this study were fly ash and red mud that represent secondary industrial waste generated on locations relatively near the mine. Therefore, their application can be used as an example of a sustainable solution of regional environmental problem. Further investigations are related to the impact of various factors on metals leaching from mine tailings solidified/stabilized material using the above mentioned immobilization agents. The performance of the immobilizing procedures was examined using several leaching tests: ANS 16.1, TCLP, DIN, MWLP. The results indicated that all S/S samples can be considered as non-hazardous waste, as all leached metal concentrations met the set criteria. These results will further enable the modelling of metals behaviour during long-term leaching from treated mine tailing. The data are invaluable in terms of economically and environmentally sound management of mine tailing.


"Constructionism shares constructivism's connotation of learning as "building knowledge structures" irrespective of the circumstances of the learning. It then adds that this happens especially felicitously in a context where the learner is consciously engaged in constructing a public entity, whether it's a sandcastle on the beach or a theory of the univ erse... If one eschews pipeline models of transmitting knowledge in talking among ourselves as well as in theorizing about class rooms, then one must expect that I will not be able to tell you about my idea of constructionism. Doing so is bound to trivialize it. Instead, I must confine myself to engage you in experiences (including verbal ones) liable to encourage your own personal construction of something in some sense like it. Only in this way will there be something rich enough in your mind to be worth talking about." (Papert, 1991) This essay is intented as a contribution to the philosophical discussion of the development of science, i.e. the process of adopting, keeping and rejecting scientific theories. The aim of this short investigation is to make a contribution to the understanding of constructionism and other scientific theories like chaos theory and self-organization, which influences organization theories. The present essay constitutes rather an elaboration of views than a solution to given problems but perhaps the views gives another piece to the puzzle of understanding the development of scientific theories.


ABSTRACT Over the past twenty-five years, per capita water use has declined in many US cities. Technological and policy changes partially explain this decline, but variables beyond the control of water managers also influence water use including external (e.g. drought) and emergent (e.g. public attention) changes. Importantly, these variables interact and the relationships between these variables and water use are non-stationary. However, many models assume fixed relationships between water use and its drivers, and limited interaction between variables. Here we present a flexible socio-hydrological approach to model how conservation strategies, and external and emergent changes, interact to influence per capita water use. We apply this approach to Las Vegas and find that marginal water rates, code changes coupled with population growth, and conservation response to water stress are the key drivers of the observed decline. Critically, modeling these strategies in absence of their connections to population growth and water stress cannot fully account for observed changes.


The aim of the present study was to investigate the correlation of STAT3 and AKT in HCC cells. HCC cells were transfected with si-STAT3 and si-AKT2 in vitro and the mRNA expression of STAT3 and AKT was detected by RT-PCR, and the protein expression was measured by western blot. MTT assays were used to evaluate cell proliferation, and Transwell assays were performed to detect the ability of migration and invasion. The relationship between STAT3 and AKT was analyzed by ChIP and Dual-luciferase reporter (DLR) assays. A nude mice experiment was used to verify the correlation. In the present study, we found that the expression of p-AKT2 and its downstream molecules were reduced in HCC cells transfected with si-STAT3, and the expression of p-STAT3 and its downstream molecules was decreased in HCC cells transfected with si-AKT2. Moreover, the ability of HCC cells proliferation, migration and invasion was decreased in si-STAT3 transfection group, but AKT2 reversed the role of si-STAT3 in HCC cells. The ChIP experiment found that STAT3 could bind to the AKT2 promoter in HCC cells. The DLR assay showed that the luciferase activity of AKT2 promoter was enhanced in HCC cells treated by IL-6. The nude mice experiment found that the tumor grew slowly after transfection with the STAT3-siRNA lentiviral vector, while AKT2 reversed the effect. STAT3 and AKT2 had mutual regulatory relationship, and STAT3 promoted the occurrence and development of HCC by regulating AKT2.


Substantial changes in the prevalence of the principal kidney and bladder cancer risk factors, smoking (both cancers) and body fatness (kidney cancer), have occurred but the contemporary cancer burden attributable to these factors has not been evaluated. We quantified the kidney and bladder cancer burden attributable to individual and joint exposures and assessed whether these burdens differ between population subgroups. We linked pooled data from seven Australian cohorts (N = 367,058) to national cancer and death registries and estimated the strength of the associations between exposures and cancer using adjusted proportional hazards models. We estimated exposure prevalence from representative contemporaneous health surveys. We combined these estimates to calculate population attributable fractions (PAFs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), accounting for competing risk of death, and compared PAFs for population subgroups. During the first 10‐year follow‐up, 550 kidney and 530 bladder cancers were diagnosed and over 21,000 people died from any cause. Current levels of overweight and obesity explain 28.8% (CI = 17.3–38.7%), current or past smoking 15.5% (CI = 6.0–24.1%) and these exposures jointly 39.6% (CI = 27.5–49.7%) of the kidney cancer burden. Current or past smoking explains 44.4% (CI = 35.4–52.1%) of the bladder cancer burden, with 24.4% attributable to current smoking. Ever smoking explains more than half (53.4%) of the bladder cancer burden in men, and the burden potentially preventable by quitting smoking is highest in men (30.4%), those aged <65 years (28.0%) and those consuming >2 standard alcoholic drinks/day (41.2%). In conclusion, large fractions of kidney and bladder cancers in Australia are preventable by behavior change.


Objective
Chronic pain is associated with school difficulties; however, there is limited published evidence on the cognitive or neuropsychological functioning of youth with chronic pain.

Method
When beginning intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment, 94 youth (age = 10-18) with chronic pain completed neuropsychological assessment (e.g., intelligence, academic skills, learning and recall, and attention) and clinical questionnaires (e.g., pain and physical and psychological functioning). We compared neuropsychological scores with test norms and with clinical questionnaires.

Results
Youth with chronic pain had higher verbal comprehension and full scale IQ scores than expected, below-average nondominant hand dexterity, and difficulty with visual recall. Self-reported difficulties with executive functioning were associated with small-to-moderate difficulties with objectively measured attention. Performance on neuropsychological measures was generally not associated with pain, impairment, anxiety, or depression, though catastrophizing was negatively correlated with perceptual reasoning. An expected number of these youth had learning disorders (14%); however, more than expected had an autism spectrum disorder (9%) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (18%), and nearly a quarter demonstrated characteristics of nonverbal learning disability (22%).

Conclusions
Some of these cognitive findings may be a consequence of chronic pain, and others may reflect subtle neurodevelopmental differences that may predate or be comorbid with pain. Regardless of etiology, with more than half the current sample experiencing some type of learning challenge, often undiagnosed, pediatric psychologists evaluating youth with chronic pain may wish to screen for comorbid learning difficulties.


Innovation capacity is essential for farmers to remain competitive and overcome the challenges facing Mediterranean agricultural systems. Based on an extensive empirical study, this paper elucidates the common attributes of innovative farmers in the Region of Valencia (Spain). The model presented in this study investigates whether an innovative attitude can be explained by market-entrepreneurial orientation, learning orientation, individual profile traits and farm size. The findings provide insights into how age and experience affect innovation in agricultural smallholdings. The study shows that the most innovative farmers run large farms and have a strong market-entrepreneurial orientation. Farm size and learning orientation are key requirements to enhance the innovative attitude of farmers.


Increasing traffic and the necessity of stateful analyses impose strong computational requirements on network intrusion detection systems (NIDS), and motivate the need of distributed architectures with multiple sensors. In a context of high traffic with heavy tailed characteristics, static rules for dispatching traffic slices among distributed sensors cause severe imbalance. Hence, the distributed NIDS architecture must be combined with adequate mechanisms for dynamic load redistribution. In this paper, we propose and compare different policies for the activation/deactivation of the dynamic load balancer. In particular, we consider and compare single vs. double threshold schemes, and load representations based on resource measures vs. load aggregation models. Our experimental results show that the best combination of a double threshold scheme with a linear aggregation of resource measures is able to achieve a really satisfactory balance of the sensor loads together with a sensible reduction of the number of load balancer activations.


Mucociliary epithelia are found in the human airways and act as the first line of defence against inhaled foreign agents. Mucus traps potentially damaging particles and the cilia transport the mucus away from the airways to remove the threat. Modelling mucociliary epithelia for research purposes is challenging. This is because the airways are enclosed and are thus difficult to study directly. Instead, tissue is extracted or in vitro techniques are employed. Whilst these systems are useful, there is a need for accessible in vivo models to complement them. In this thesis I assess a new model system for studying mucociliary epithelia. This system is the larval epidermis of the amphibian, Xenopus tropicalis. Its epidermis comprises multi-ciliated cells that beat in a polarised direction reminiscent of those found in the human airways. It is also proposed to have a number of other cell types including mucus-secreting cells, but very little is known about them. The epidermis is open and accessible to manipulation meaning that it has great potential to be used in the study of mucociliary epithelia in live, native conditions. Such a system would be a valuable addition to the current models employed. However, the epidermis has not been thoroughly characterized before so its utility as a model system remains speculative.To develop and evaluate this new model, I fully characterize the epidermis, showing that it has five distinguishable cell types. This includes a population of cells called ionocytes that are shown to be essential for the health and function of the epidermis. I also test for the presence of mucins, the structural component of mucus, secreted from the epidermis in order to evaluate the proposal that mucus-secreting cells are present in the epidermis. A mucin-like protein called otogelin is identified. After characterizing the epidermal cell types, I compare them to the human mucociliary epithelium and consider potential applications and future perspectives for this model.


M rs. W is my first patient of the afternoon. She is a new patient with no chief complaint, so the purpose of the visit is simply to establish care. I find out that Mrs. W lost her job and her health insurance six months ago and has not been treated for several chronic diseases for some time. She is part of a growing number of patients in our community who, because of the economic downturn, have turned to our facility, a safety net hospital and clinic, for help. Unfortunately, while this group of patients has grown, our resources have not. During my brief initial visit with Mrs. W, I call on all my efficiency tools to try to meet as many of her needs as possible. I fit in a couple of minutes for the valuable "tell me about yourself" part of the visit. I learn that she has been out of her medications for several weeks, and her heart failure, diabetes, and moderate depression are uncontrolled. We attempt to prioritize her goals and accomplish a few of them during our limited time. I then try to arrange short-term follow up for her; however, all of my clinic appointments are booked for the near future. So I squeeze her into my already full schedule for the following week, aware that each patient that day will now have less time with me. I could send her to a cardiologist for her basic heart failure care, an endocrinologist for her diabetes care, and a counselor for her depression care, but over the years I've seen the confusion, bad outcomes, and high costs that result if I recommend this path. In my care of Mrs. W, I have just rationed one of the most critical resources in primary care: physician time. I have not given Mrs. W the full time that she requires, and I have taken time away from other patients by squeezing her into next week's already full schedule. This rationing of time affects my ability to communicate with my patients, build relationships, and make high-quality, evidence-based plans that fit with their goals. This can have real health consequences, especially for the chronically ill. As physicians, we are taught to avoid bedside rationing, that is, distributing health care resources based on unfair, subconscious decision-making, personal feelings, or the patient's perceived social worth. Rightly, we don't want to restrict care or distribute it unfairly, yet we do this with our time every day. More assertive patients are often more adept at demanding the time they need, leaving less assertive or less articulate patients with less of our time and attention. From a distributive justice standpoint, is it ethically acceptable for me to spend more time on Mrs. W's heart failure management, directly reducing the time I have for another patient's diabetes management, because I think that her heart failure treatment is more efficacious? If Mrs. W were more assertive or more demanding of my time, would it be fair to spend an extra five minutes with her, further limiting the time the next few patients would receive? The need to ration time creates an ethical dilemma for physicians. However, we should not acquiesce to this assault on the time needed to foster quality, trusting relationships with our patients. We must continue to develop new and creative ways to meet our patients' needs yet preserve adequate time for the critically important patient-physician direct "face time." These ideas include group visits, chronic disease management teams, improved patient education, and a well-resourced "medical home." In addition, since the doctor-patient relationship serves as the foundation for quality health care, it is time to advocate for more resources for all patients in primary care, including the less advantaged. Until then, we should openly acknowledge that this rationing of time exists. We should not accept inadequate physician time for providing high-quality care to our patients.


We describe an optimization technique for multiuser resource allocation assuming adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) in OFDMA radio downlink communications. The resource allocation process is based on the dual solution of a weighted sum-rate maximization problem. In particular, to realistically address IP-based video and data communications, the set of considered constraints include the number of bits actually present in the different transmission buffers. Furthermore, we propose an innovative AMC solution, based on M-QAM modulation and LDPC codes, jointly working with the scheduler and capable to maximize the throughput while guaranteeing a given set of performance requirements. A simple weight adaptation algorithm is introduced to properly tune the trade off between opportunistic transmissions and fairness among users. Several simulation results are presented to validate the proposed approach and a comparison with more traditional schemes is provided. In particular, we show that a good trade off between user fairness and opportunistic exploitation of the radio channel can be reached with the proposed strategies, improving the communication quality for both real-time video and non real-time data applications.