AIM
to investigate the effects of apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) on the peripherial blood dendritic cell (PBDC) and monocyte derived DC (MDDC) in vitro.

METHODS
isolate PBDC or monocyte by cell isolation kit, monocyte were induced to MDDC by treated with GM-CSF plus IL-4 for 6 days, and then collect PBDC and MDDC treated them with apoA-I, LPS or TNF-α for 24 hours. Then check the cell surface marker and phagocytic capacity by flow cytometry. ELISA was used to detect the levels of cytokine secretion. T cells were stained with CFSE and T cell proliferation was assessed by flow cytometry.

RESULTS
collect the PBDC and MDDC with high purity. In the presence of ApoA-I, the surface markers on MDDC, such as CD40, CD86 and MHC-II, were up-regulated which were detected by flow cytometry. CD83 expression on both PBDC and MDDC was remarkably increased. ApoA-I DC demonstrated decreased the phagocytic capacity. ApoA-I also stimulated MDDC to produce IL-12 and TNF-α. Furthermore, ApoA-I can induce considerable Th cell proliferation.

CONCLUSION
ApoA-I can induce the maturation and activation of MDDC and PBDC, including the cytokine secretion, specific antigen presentation and T cell proliferation and decreasing the phagocytic capacity. Therefore, ApoA-I may attribute to the immune response in AS process.


A programme of archaeological evaluation was undertaken at a site located at Blackburn and Price Garage, Silver Street, Berwick-Upon-Tweed (grid reference NT 999 526). The garage buildings had formally been those of the Border Brewery. The
site covers c 0.3ha, and is bounded by Silver Street to the north, Palace Street East to the east, Oil Mill Lane to the south and properties fronting Foul Ford to the west. In
total, three evaluation trial trenches ranging between 15m to 20m were excavated by Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) in February 2007.
Prior to the evaluation, a planning application had been submitted for the demolition of much of the existing buildings and the construction of a residential scheme. An
archaeological desk-based assessment had previously been undertaken in support of the planning application (CgMs 2005).
The evaluation detected buried archaeological remains in all three trenches positioned to gauge the potential adverse impact of the development. The remains were generally
preserved from a depth of 0.3m below the present ground level and, in at least two of the trenches (Trench 2 and 3), were seen to continue to depths exceeding 2.14m and
1.65m respectively. The remains comprised make-up deposits, cobbled surfaces, elements of stone structures and the deposits associated with them. There were several
successive phases of activity in Trenches 2 and 3, probably domestic habitation predating the brewery and extending from the medieval to the post-medieval periods.
Trench 1 detected several phases of post-medieval activity, probably related to the brewery, although the earliest phase may pre-date this.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Older adults face significant long-term care and health care costs. But some of these costs can potentially be offset through family caregivers who may serve as substitutes for formal care or directly improve the care recipient's health and reduce health care utilization and expenditures. This article reviews the current literature to determine whether it is possible through existing work to compare the costs of care for individuals with versus without family caregivers and, if not, where the data, measurement, and other methodological challenges lie.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
A mapping review of published works containing information on health care utilization and expenditures and caregiving was conducted. A narrative approach was used to review and identify methodological challenges in the literature.

RESULTS
Our review identified 47 articles that met our criteria and had information on caregiving and health care costs or utilization. Although findings were mixed, for the most part, having a family caregiver was associated with reduced health care utilization and a decreased risk of institutionalization however, the precise difference in health care expenditures for individuals with caregivers compared to those without was rarely examined, and findings were inconsistent across articles reviewed.

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS
The number of family caregivers providing care to loved ones is expected to grow with the aging of the Baby Boomers. Various programs and policies have been proposed to support these caregivers, but they could be costly. These costs can potentially be offset if family caregivers reduce health care spending. More research is needed, however, to quantify the savings stemming from family caregiving.


In some video coding applications, it is desirable to reduce the complexity of the video encoder at the expense of a more complex decoder. Distributed video (DV) coding is a new paradigm that aims to achieve this. To allocate a proper number of bits to each frame, most DV coding algorithms use a feedback channel (FBC). However, in some cases, a FBC does not exist. In this paper, we therefore propose a rate allocation (RA) algorithm for pixel-domain distributed video coders without FBC. Our algorithm estimates at the encoder the number of bits for every frame without significantly increasing the encoder complexity. Experimental results show that our RA algorithm delivers satisfactory estimates of the adequate encoding rate, especially for sequences with little motion.


A survey of Christian doctrine quickly exposes the importance of any study of the theology of image, as it stands in at least some relation to the Doctrine of the Trinity, as well as Christology and the Doctrine of Creation. It is in recognition of this importance that leads one to a comparative study of Saint Augustine (354-430 AD) and the Pseudo Dionysius (5th Century), who represent different understandings of the theology of image. The significance of a comparative study of these two is amplified when it is recognized that the former is perhaps the most influential Christian thinker in the West, while the later fulfils the same role, through his interpreters, in the East. The approach of this study proceeds from an Augustinian point of view, with chapters following the basic movements of the De Trinitate, moving form exteriora, to interiora. Hence this thesis includes a study of the role and ontologicai place of the images of the scriptures. It then proceeds to discuss the Trinitarian vestigia in comparison with the various triads manifested by the Dionysian Corpus, and concludes with a two chapter discussion of the image of God in Man. One of these last two chapters is devoted to a study of Augustine and Dionysius in relation to a diverse sampling of Fathers' interpretation of Genesis 1:26. The second chapter takes up the implications of the breach with tradition made by Augustine, particularly as it affects the relationship between image and archetype. The conclusion calls for further study, specifically evaluation of the differences detected in this paper, through the lense of Catholic doctrine, a study of the Medieval Latins and an understanding of Doctrinal Development.


Price distortions induce inefficient utilisation of resources by giving incorrect signals to producers and consumers. Since distorted prices do not reflect the real value of resources, quantities of goods and services produced may not be consistent with their demand. The price Distortions may be caused by a number of different reasons. They may, for instance, be caused by monopolistic tendencies, preferential treatment of a particular sector of economy, establishment of diffusion of a particular product or an input, etc. In fact, price distortions occur sometimes from deliberate and sometime inadvertent Government policies of subsidies and price supports in pursuance of certain social or economic objectives. Both producers and consumers maximise their economic welfare by allocating their resources in response to price signals from a fully comPetitive market. Since movements in commodity prices especially food prices affect producers and consumers in exactly the opposite way, fixation of their prices in developing countries represents a policy dilemma. While prices of all items used by consumers and .producers are iml?ortant, food prices carry a unique significance in low income countries where the marginal propensity to consume is very high. Since farm producers are also food consumers, the net impact of a food price change in their case will depend on the extent to which they have emerged from a subsistence economy. However, if inputs are subject to price fixation, the impact will be felt more readily and directly. In fact, where there is no Government intervention, prices equilibrate consumer demand with the productive capacities of producers. If prices are distorted by any agency~ their allocative role is seriously diminished. Imperfections of both size and operation being prevailed ultimately induce misallocation of resources in the country. Resource use efficiencies increase, if government restricts its role to ensuring proper functioning of the market and lets the prices to be determined by the forces of demand and supply.


As unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) become more accessible with a growing range of applications, the potential risk of UAV disruption increases. Recent development in deep learning allows vision-based counter-UAV systems to detect and track UAVs with a single camera. However, the coverage of a single camera is limited, necessitating the need for multicamera configurations to match UAVs across cameras - a problem known as re-identification (reID). While there has been extensive research on person and vehicle reID to match objects across time and viewpoints, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no research in UAV reID. UAVs are challenging to re-identify: they are much smaller than pedestrians and vehicles and they are often detected in the air so appear at a greater range of angles. Because no UAV data sets currently use multiple cameras, we propose the first new UAV re-identification data set, UAV-reID, that facilitates the development of machine learning solutions in this emerging area. UAV-reID has two settings: Temporally-Near to evaluate performance across views to assist tracking frameworks, and Big-to-Small to evaluate reID performance across scale and to allow early reID when UAVs are detected from a long distance. We conduct a benchmark study by extensively evaluating different reID backbones and loss functions. We demonstrate that with the right setup, deep networks are powerful enough to learn good representations for UAVs, achieving 81.9% mAP on the Temporally-Near setting and 46.5% on the challenging Big-to-Small setting. Furthermore, we find that vision transformers are the most robust to extreme variance of scale.


We present the green telecommunication network planning problem with switchable base stations, where the location and configuration of the base stations are optimized, while taking into account uncertainty and variability of demand. The problem is formulated as a two‐stage stochastic program under demand uncertainty with integers in both stages. Since solving the presented problem is computationally challenging, we develop the corresponding Dantzig‐Wolfe reformulation and propose a solution approach based on column generation. Comprehensive computational results are provided for instances of varying characteristics. The results show that the joint location and dynamic switching of base stations leads to significant savings in terms of energy cost. Up to 30% reduction in power consumption cost is achieved while still serving all users. In certain cases, allowing dynamic configurations leads to more installed base stations and higher user coverage, while having lower total energy consumption. The Dantzig‐Wolfe reformulation provides solutions with a tight LP‐gap eliminating the need for a full branch‐and‐price scheme. Furthermore, the proposed column generation solution approach is computationally efficient and outperforms CPLEX on the majority of the tested instances. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 63: 351–366, 2016


This article introduces the three kinds of solar thermal power systems existing in the world, and analyzes the key technologies affecting the continuous and stable running of solar thermal power plant (STPP). According to the fact that STPP can't operate stably and continuously, the article puts forward a new running mode with an auxiliary boiler. The auxiliary boiler plays three roles in the system, which is stable combustion, reheat and acting as a heat source.


In the coastal municipality of Rodoy there are 377 islanders living on eight different islands. Traditionally most of them would have their own school and function as self-sufficient communities. Today there are three schools left and children have to travel by boat every day to get to school. When a school is closed it is almost as the island gets a death sentence. This project is about re-thinking the island school in terms of form, space and community.

The first condition is to regard the island school as a type. This type has to be connected to water, so the site is on a ferry quay at Gjeroy, one of the most central islands in the archipelago. Secondly it has to belong to everyone, not only the islanders of Gjeroy. In an attempt to awake a sense of ownership, it is treated as an object that is visible for everyone traveling by. Its very foundations are grounded to the seafloor, connecting it to the vast public sphere that is the ocean surface, a sphere that is shared by all islanders.
There is a tradition of building structures along the fairway, structures that are both symbols of something, and have a specific function. In a symbiosis of autonomous external form and internal spaces of a trivial program, the School in the Isles appears.

The main construction of the curved concrete walls retains the social spaces of the gymnasium and the kitchen on the ground floor. The spaces for learning and working are in the attic, under the big protective roof that keeps out the rough weather of the Nordland coast. Opposed to the concrete world below, the roof is a light timber structure. Openings are carefully made to let light in, but not exaggerated so that the feeling of shelter is prevailed. A bridge from the adjacent hill brings the children directly out in the schoolyard.


Structural changes of graphene oxide (GO) in silver/graphene oxide (AGO) nanocomposites are investigated using tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS). Because of markedly high spatial resolution of the TERS technique, the measurements of molecular information at specific nano-scaled positions can be achieved by constructing line-profile TERS spectra straight from the center of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on GO layers. The results show evidences that AgNPs cause shortening of C-C bonds beneath AgNPs, flattening of GO layers, and critical bending on GO layers. Additionally, a connection of carbon atoms via a C-C network subsequently expands structural changes with a distance of 200-250 nm from the center of AgNPs, even though this distance is larger than the size of AgNPs. The proposed model of GO structural changes unveils new understanding about changes in properties from GO to AGO nanocomposites, which will contribute to a development of advanced nanostructures/nanocomposites in the near future.


The management of small water supplies presents a unique challenge globally, in countries at all stages of development. A combination of lack of resources, limited understanding of the risks and poor expertise means that individuals and communities may face serious health risks from these supplies. This is not only due to microbiological contamination, but also from contamination by metals, either due to natural or man-made contamination of the source water or through leaching from plumbing materials due to inadequate conditioning and corrosion inhibition and use of inappropriate materials.

This Best Practice Guide aims to share best practice and experience from around the world on a practical level. It looks at general issues relating to small supplies and ways of managing these, adopting a Water Safety Plan approach to deliver sound and lasting improvements to quality. Management techniques and treatment relating to specific metals will be covered, from a theoretical and practical perspective, to deliver a publication that will act as an authoritative guide for all those faced with the problem of ensuring the quality of a small water supply. Varied case-studies will help to illustrate issues and ways in which they have been resolved.

This title belongs to Best Practice Guides on Metals and Related Substances in Drinking Water

ISBN: 9781780406404 (eBook)

ISBN: 9781780406398 (Print)


Evidence-driven disaster risk management (DRM) relies upon many different data types, information sources, and types of models to be effective. Tasks such as weather modelling, earthquake fault line rupture, or the development of dynamic urban exposure measures involve complex science and large amounts of data from a range of sources. Even experts can struggle to develop models that enable the understanding of the potential impacts of a hazard on the built environment and society.In this context, this guidance note explores how new approaches in machine learning can provide newways of looking into these complex relationships and provide more accurate, efficient, and useful answers. The goal of this document is to provide a concise, demystifying reference that readers, from project managers to data scientists, can use to better understand how machine learning can be applied in disaster risk management projects. There are many sources of information on this complex and evolving set of technologies. Therefore, this guidance note is aimed to be as focused as possible, providing basic information and DRM-specific case studies and directing readers to additional resources including online videos, infographics, courses, and articles for further reference. A machine learning (ML) algorithm is a type of computer program that learns to perform specific tasks based on various data inputs or rules provided by its designer. Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence (AI), but the two terms are often used interchangeably. For a thorough discussion of the differences and similarities of the terms ML and AI, see Section 2. As the name implies, an ML algorithm's purpose is to "learn" from previous data and output a result that adds information and insight that was not previously known. This approach enables actions to be taken on the information gathered from the data; sometimes in near real time, like suggested web search results, and sometimes with longer term human input, like many of the DRM case studies presented in this document. Over the past few decades, there has been an enormous increase incomputational capacity and speed and available sensor data, exponentially increasing the volume of available data for analysis. This has allowed the capabilities of ML algorithms to advance to nearly ubiquitous impact on many aspects of society. Machine learning and artificial intelligencehave become household terms, crossing from academia and specialized industry applications into everyday interactions with technology—from image, sound, and voice recognition features of our smartphones to seamlessly recommending items in online shopping, from mail sorting to ranking results of a search engine. The same technology is being leveraged to answer bigger questions in society, including questions about sustainable development, humanitarian assistance, and disaster risk management.


Agricultural utilization of biosolids poses a potential risk to ruminant animals due to transfer of Mo from biosolids to forage to the animal in amounts large enough to suppress Cu uptake by the animal. Alkaline-stabilized biosolids (ASB) must be given particular consideration in assessment of Mo risk because the high pH of these biosolids could increase Mo and decrease Cu uptake by forage legumes. In this 3-yr field experiment, ASB and ground agricultural limestone (AL) were applied based on their alkalinity at rates equivalent to 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 times the lime requirement of the soil and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) was grown. Alfalfa yield was similar with AL and ASB except in the second year when ASB produced larger yields, apparently due to increased B availability with ASB. Application of ASB did not detectably increase extractable soil Mo (0- to 15-cm depth), but increased alfalfa Mo uptake in all cuttings with yield-weighted uptake coefficients (UCs) of 8.07 and 7.11 following the first and second ASB applications, respectively. Although ASB increased extractable soil Cu, and alfalfa Cu content was greater with ASB than with AL, yield-weighted alfalfa Cu to Mo ratio was decreased by ASB to levels near 3. These results suggest that ASB may have a greater effect on Mo uptake and Cu to Mo ratio of forage legumes than do other biosolids. Additional research is needed to determine implications of larger Mo cumulative loading with ASB for Mo risk, particularly in the soil pH range of 7 to 8.


The research objective : The study is aimed at developing a method for the rational IS architecture synthesis based on the methods of multiple integration. The relevance of the research: The increase in the size and functionality of modern information systems (IS) is one of the trends in the development of information technologies. This is associated both with the development of technologies and methodologies for building IS, and with the nature of the tasks that are put before the developers. In these conditions, the task of building a rational IS architecture becomes one of the tasks determining the course and success of modern IT projects. Methods of the research : The article uses methods of linear and nonlinear optimization, systematic analysis, and the theory of information processes and systems. Results : As a result of the study, a method is proposed for the synthesizing the IS architecture, taking into account the business requirements, the existing and planned ecosystem, within which the IS will be deployed, as well as the compatibility of individual components. The article considers the limits of the applicability of this solution, and proposes the algorithm for calculating the conditional probabilities of compatibility of various IS components . Conclusion : The developed method will significantly improve the decision-making process in the course of building the IS architectures through preliminary evaluation of architecture options and provision of a choice from a variety of suboptimal options.


Since December 2019, the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become the most serious public health issue. As the special population with immature immune function, newborns with COVID-19 have been reported. Newborns with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 should be transferred to designated hospitals for isolation treatment. An emergency transfer response plan for newborns with COVID-19 has been worked out. This plan puts forward the indications for neonatal COVID-19 transfer, organization management, protection strategies for medical staff, work procedures, and disinfection methods for transfer equipment, in order to provide guidance and suggestions for the inter-hospital transfer of suspected or confirmed neonatal COVID-19.


We consider the problem of learning a low-rank matrix, constrained to lie in a linear subspace, and introduce a novel factorization for modeling such matrices. A salient feature of the proposed factorization scheme is it decouples the low-rank and the structural constraints onto separate factors. We formulate the optimization problem on the Riemannian spectrahedron manifold, where the Riemannian framework allows to develop computationally efficient conjugate gradient and trust-region algorithms. Experiments on problems such as standard/robust/non-negative matrix completion, Hankel matrix learning and multi-task learning demonstrate the efficacy of our approach. A shorter version of this work has been published in ICML'18.


We consider a functional language that performs non-deterministic tests on real numbers and define a denotational semantics for that language based on Smyth powerdomains. The semantics is only an approximate one because the denotation of a program for a real number may not be precise enough to tell which real number the program computes. However, for many first-order total functions f : n → , there exists a program for f whose denotation is precise enough to show that the program indeed computes the function f. In practice, it is not difficult to find programs like this that possess a faithful denotation. We provide a few examples of such programs and the corresponding proofs of correctness.


Ferritic stainless steels have nowadays been used as materials for interconnectors in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) at intermediate temperatures (800°C). Their degradation in contact with dry synthetic biogas used instead of other fuel gas has already been studied. In such biogas atmosphere, humidity may play an important role. The objective of this study is therefore to understand the effect of H2O on the corrosion kinetics of the ferritic stainless steels type AISI441 (18CrTiNb) under synthetic biogas (70%CH4 and 30%CO2) mixed with 3%H2O. The thermodynamic analysis by FactSage was used to determine the partial pressure of oxygen and the activity of carbon in the humid biogas. The results showed that the partial pressure of oxygen is in the range 10–24.8 to 10–21.2 bar for temperatures between 600-800°C and that the formation of solid carbon can occur in these conditions. This was not different compared with the conditions in dry biogas. These conditions lead to the stability of some important oxides such as Cr2O3 and Cr-Mn spinel and to carbon deposition and/or carbide formation. The surface morphology of 441 subjected to humid biogas showed oxide scale composed mainly of Cr2O3 topped with Cr-Mn spinel. Some carbide such as Cr7C3 was found in chromia scale. Kinetic experiments under both dry and humid biogas at temperatures between 600 and 800°C showed linear weight changes. Arrhenius law was followed and the rate-determining steps were identified as parallel oxidation and carburization limited by oxide-gas interface reactions.


Assembly of extracellular filaments and matrices mediating fundamental biological processes such as morphogenesis, hearing, fertilization and antibacterial defense is driven by a ubiquitous polymerization module known as zona pellucida (ZP) "domain". Despite the conservation of this element from hydra to human, no information is available on the filamentous conformation of any ZP module protein. Here we report the cryo-electron microscopy structure of uromodulin (UMOD)/Tamm-Horsfall protein, the most abundant protein in human urine and an archetypal ZP module-containing molecule, in its mature homopolymeric state. UMOD forms a one-start helix with an unprecedented 180-degree twist between subunits enfolded by interdomain linkers that have completely reorganized as a result of propeptide dissociation. Lateral interaction between filaments in the urine generates sheets exposing a checkerboard of binding sites to capture uropathogenic bacteria, and UMOD-based models of mammalian and avian heteromeric egg coat filaments identify a common sperm-binding region at the interface between subunits.


Road pricing has an established history in the literature of transport economics, and its use as a
theoretical and practical means of traffic restraint and management has attracted considerable
interest for more than half a century. The theory of road pricing asserts that the optimal price
should be the one that reflects the full cost of making an additional trip. Evidently, the
magnitude of such a congestion toll varies over time and space. However, a review of some
practical applications of road pricing in different countries reveals that no policy has as yet
been implemented which aims to charge road users directly in relation to the congestion they
actually cause and the time delay they impose on others. Therefore, the aim of this study is to
model such a time-varying pricing scheme,t en-ned:T ime-DependentR oad Pricing, TDRP, and
evaluate its various impacts on a single bottleneck as well as a traffic network.
The TDRP function is derived basedo n the solution of the time-dependentq ueuesa nd delays
problem at traffic junctions. The derived function is demonstrated to lead to a very unstable
user equilibrium for a single bottleneck. Therefore, two different approaches are adopted to
modifý this function: first, by considering the schedule delay changes imposed by vehicles on
one another; and second, by using the day-to-day adjustment process. The former approach is
demonstrated to eliminate queues completely and thus lead to system optimal SO for a single
traffic bottleneck. Besides, the simulation solution demonstrates that TDRP, modified by the
second approach, could lead to a stable equilibrium, and although it does not lead to SO it
results in a very substantial reduction in queuing delay and travel time.
To evaluate the stability of the results and the different impacts of TDRP on a traffic network,
a traffic assigrunent model is developed. This model embraces route choices, departure time
choices and the TDRP function, and it has the ability to evaluate the road network under
different charging systems. Before evaluating the different impacts of TDRP on a traffic
network, the importance of the phenomenon of interaction between nodes and its impacts on the
value of TDRP are discussed. A general solution under specific traffic conditions as well as
different TDRP scenarios are suggested.
A set of numerical simulation experiments using the assignment model and a typical traffic
network for urban areas is conducted. The results demonstrate that although TDRP does not
eliminate the queues completely, it leads to a very substantial saving in travel time and queuing
delay for all movements throughout the network under different levels of congestion. On the
other hand, exempting some nodes (or links) from tile charges, would lead to a very substantial
fall in the benefit obtained. The comparative analysis demonstrates that 7, DRP is a superioi
charging system compared with other charging systems. It Is also concluded that TDRP docý'
not represent the optimal charging system for a…


An ionic polymer–metal composite (IPMC) is typically based on a Nafion membrane with electrode plating on both sides and has a promising potential for biomimetic robotics, biomedical devices and human affinity applications. In this paper, the shape memory properties of IPMC were theoretically and experimentally studied. We presented the multiple shape memory properties of a Nafion cylinder. A physics based model of the IPMC was proposed. The free energy density theory was utilized to analyze the shape properties of the IPMC. To verify the model, IPMC samples with Nafion as the base membrane were prepared and experiments were conducted. A simulation of the model was performed and the results were compared with the experimental data. It was successfully demonstrated that the theoretical model can well explain the shape memory properties of the IPMC. The results showed that the reheat glass transition temperature of the IPMC is lower than the programming temperature. It was also found that the back-relaxation of the IPMC decreases as the programming temperature increases. The current study may be useful in order to better understand the shape memory effect of IPMC.


Acute necrotic collections (ANC) and walled-off necrosis (WON),
often performed at least two weeks after the onset of symptoms [1],
become infected in about one-third of patients [2].


Budget allocations to Clinical Commissioning Groups include adjustments for unmet need for healthcare, but there is a lack of robust evidence to support this. This article describes a literature review with an objective to understand the available evidence regarding unmet need. We developed a conceptual framework for what constitutes ideal evidence that; defines unmet need for a given population, indicates how that need can be met by health care, establishes the barriers to meeting need and provides relevant proxies based on observable measures. Our search focused on recent and empirical UK data and conceptual papers. We found no one article which satisfied all requirements of ideal evidence; the literature was strongest in defining need but weakest in regard to establishing observable proxies of need capable of being used in budget allocations. Our review was limited by its timescale and a vast body of literature, which translated into a limited number of key words for the search. We conclude that further research to inform budget allocation is required and should focus on conditions or services where adverse health outcomes from unmet need are amenable to healthcare interventions and which affect a sizeable proportion of the population


Hatherill M. Arch Dis Child (2011). doi:10.1136/adc.2011.214494 1 of 6 Accepted 6 March 2011 ABSTRACT Control of childhood tuberculosis must be considered in the context of active tuberculosis disease among adults, who form the main reservoir of transmission. The elimination target of the Stop TB Partnership is a reduction of global incidence to less than one case per million per year by 2050. There is an urgent need for a new, safe and effective tuberculosis vaccine that prevents all forms of tuberculosis, in all age groups and in HIV-infected people. Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccination protects against disseminated forms of childhood tuberculosis, but protection is variable against pulmonary tuberculosis and adult disease. 14 new tuberculosis vaccines have entered human clinical trials, including viral-vectored vaccines, recombinant fusion proteins, recombinant BCG vaccines and inactivated whole or fragmented mycobacteria. Effective pre-exposure and postexposure vaccination, in conjunction with mass campaigns, is the most promising tuberculosis control strategy to approach the elimination target by the middle of the 21st century.


In the present study, the relationship between student characteristics and mathematics performance was evaluated using a structural equation modeling approach. Italian students participated at Timss 2011 field test (N = 1264; 52% female, mean age: 13 years and 10 months ± 6 months) completed a questionnaire including measures of socio-economic and cultural background, general reasoning ability and self-concept in mathematics and the Timss mathematics achievement test. A mediation structural equation model assessed the direct and indirect effects of the general reasoning ability test and socio-economic and cultural background through the mediation of selfconcept in mathematics. The results showed that all measures were significantly associated with mathematics achievement test, furthermore selfconcept partially mediated the effects of socio-economic status and general reasoning ability.


The Domeyko Basin of northern Chile records Late Triassic to Early Cretaceous mixed carbonate and siliciclastic marine deposition along the western margin of Gondwana. Sequence stratigraphical analysis has identified five long-term sequences of 11–17 Ma duration. Comparison of the relative sea-level fluctuations interpreted from the Domeyko Basin succession with those documented from other similar-aged South American marginal basins and northern hemisphere basins allows the distinction of regional from global events. Relative sea-level fall in the Early Pliensbachian, Early Aalenian and Early Valanginian, and rises in the Early Hettangian, Early and Late Toarcian, Early and Late Bajocian, Late Bathonian and Early Oxfordian of the Domeyko Basin appear time-equivalent to similar events in other southern and northern hemisphere basins and are thus interpreted to be products of global sea-level cycles. Long-term relative sea-level falls in the Early Bathonian, Late Oxfordian, Early Valanginian and rise in the Late Kimmeridgian are interpreted to be tectonically driven, continental-scale changes in sediment-accommodation space. The Domeyko Basin succession thus appears to have been dominantly controlled by global sea-level fluctuations during the Early to Mid-Jurassic and by continental-scale (but not global) fluctuations during the Mid-Jurassic to Mid-Cretaceous, interpreted to have been driven by the fragmentation of Gondwana.


Recently, a number of most significant digit (msd) first bit parallel multipliers for recursive filtering have been reported. However, the design approach which has been used has, in general, been heuristic and consequently, optimality has not always been assured. In this paper, msd first multiply accumulate algorithms are described and important relationships governing the dependencies between latency, number representations, etc. are derived. A more systematic approach to designing recursive filters is illustrated by applying the algorithms and associated relationships to the design of cascadable modules for high sample rate IIR filtering and wave digital filtering.<<ETX>>


Explores the problems in controlling and evaluating a radical process innovation in a batch manufacturing firm. Data come from interviews with individuals in various hierarchical levels and functions. The decision to adopt tended to be qualitative in nature and essentially made by two representatives of the organization's technostructure. Their major objective was to minimize the chance of disaster rather than to maximize efficiency. During implementation, quality control faced frequent, complex technical problems at the same time that there was pressure for immediate solutions. Cost accounting procedures were affected by the difficulty in developing completely objective standards. The strategies employed to solve these problems are discussed along with implications for the design of control procedures. One intriguing implication is that the characteristics of a radical new technology, along with other factors, influence the validity of the control procedures designed to evaluate it.


Geostatistical theory has shown promise in dealing with issues of stability, uniqueness, and identity of estimates inherent in inverse problems of subsurface flow. Here the geostatistical method is extended to three‐dimensional, unsteady flow in variably saturated porous geological media (the vadose zone) that are modeled using the Richards equation and the van Genuchten‐Mualem constitutive equations. The saturated hydraulic conductivity, α, and n parameters of this relationship are treated as spatially correlated, statistically independent, stochastic processes for representing heterogeneity of porous media. For given covariance functions of the parameters the adjoint‐state sensitivity method is used to calculate first‐order approximations for covariances of capillary pressure and moisture content and cross covariances between capillary pressure, moisture content, and the hydraulic properties. These covariances and cross covariances are then used in a successive linear estimator (SLE) to estimate the conditional means of the heterogeneous hydraulic property fields based on measurements of pressure and moisture content data. A sequential conditioning approach for our SLE was also applied to data sets collected at different sampling times during a transient infiltration event. This approach has the benefit of reducing the size of the matrices and so helps avoid numerical stability problems. On the basis of our study, pressure and moisture content data sets collected at later times of an infiltration event or during steady state flow were found to provide better estimates (smaller mean‐square error compared to the true field) of the hydrological parameters of the vadose zone than data from very early times.


The development of projections from the retinas to the cortex is mathematically analyzed according to the previously proposed thermodynamic formulation of the self-organization of neural networks. Three types of submodality included in the visual afferent pathways are assumed in two models: model (A), in which the ocularity and retinotopy are considered separately, and model (B), in which on-center/off-center pathways are considered in addition to ocularity and retinotopy. Model (A) shows striped ocular dominance spatial patterns and, in ocular dominance histograms, reveals a dip in the binocular bin. Model (B) displays spatially modulated irregular patterns and shows single-peak behavior in the histograms. When we compare the simulated results with the observed results, it is evident that the ocular dominance spatial patterns and histograms for models (A) and (B) agree very closely with those seen in monkeys and cats.


Purpose. To extend our knowledge about how monovision contact lenses may affect reading eye movements, reading speed and reading comprehension. Methods. A sample of 21 presbyopes was selected based on stringent inclusion criteria. Six trials of the Ober2 Visagraph were performed on each subject within hours of initiating monovision Rx. In three of the trials, the subject wore a distance vision contact lens correction with near reading spectacles; in the other three trials, the subject was tested wearing a monovision contact lens correction. Results. Reading eye movements, reading speed and reading comprehension were measured by the Ober2 Visagraph. The Ober2 results indicated no difference in reading efficiency between the two conditions. Monovision and distance vision correction with near spectacles showed no significant differences in reading eye movements, reading speed or reading comprehension. Conclusion. Monovision contact lens correction is a convenient modality for presbyopic correction and does not negatively influence reading efficiency as measured by the Ober2 when first worn. Further studies are needed to determine the effect of long-term monovision contact lens wear on reading.


Objective – To survey the faculty members of American Library Association (ALA)-accredited library schools to gain insight into their perceptions on academic librarians obtaining faculty status and how the library school curricula prepare academic librarians for faculty roles.
Design – Survey questionnaire.

Setting – An e-survey was distributed online to 57 ALA-accredited library schools during April 2007, using Zoomerang.

Subjects – The population consisted of 906 tenure-track or tenured faculty members.

Methods – The 24 item survey was designed to answer eight specific research questions and evoke responses scored on a five-point Likert scale that corresponded to (1) Strongly Disagree, (2) Disagree, (3) Neutral, (4) Agree, and (5) Strongly Agree. For the analysis of data in questions 1 and 3 through 8, the perceptions of faculty members of ALA-accredited library schools were determined by calculating the mean and standard deviation. For the analysis of question 2 a t test was used to determine differences in faculty members' perceptions based on gender and tenure. A one-way analysis of variance, or ANOVA, was used to determine library school faculty members' perceptions based on academic rank.

Main Results – A total of 906 individuals were sent the link to the survey, and 187 individuals completed the survey, making the response rate 20.6%. Of the respondents, 38.5% were professors, 25.7% were associate professors, 33.7% were assistant professors, and 2.1% were lecturers. The majority of respondents were female (60.0%) and tenured (65.0%).

Faculty members of the ALA-accredited library schools agreed that courses in statistical concepts, procedures, and research (both experimental and non-experimental) should be required of those seeking a master's or doctoral degree. They agreed that the Master of Library Science (MLS) degree is insufficient in preparing librarians for faculty status, and that additional graduate degrees improve performance of academic librarians in discipline-specific positions.

Conclusion – It is clear that library school faculty have a strong interest in the curriculum and the future directions of librarianship. It is also clear that faculty status for academic librarians, equivalent to that of teaching faculty, will remain a contentious issue for some time. The author had five recommendations for practice: Librarians who want a faculty-status position should earn another graduate degree, in addition to the MLS; ALA-accredited library schools should require that PhD and masters students have courses in experimental and non-experimental research; ALA-accredited library schools should require that PhD and masters students have courses introducing statistics; Librarians with faculty status should be involved in university governance as well as library governance; and, Librarians with faculty status should be eligible for the same sabbatical and research leaves as other faculty.

There are three recommendations for further study identified by the author. First is a qualitative study to identify the reasons behind the perceptions that faculty members have of the issues that surround faculty status for academic librarians. Second is a qualitative study to assess how faculty status affects the lives of academic librarians, both personally and professionally. Lastly, additional research should be conducted to gain a greater understanding of how faculty status impacts academic librarians within the institutions they are a part of.


The backscattering of 100, 300, and 500 eV Ar atoms from the {100} and {110} planes of a Al crystalline target is investigated with a computer code based on the Molecular Dynamics(MD) method. The interactions between particles are described by a screened Coulomb type potential. The angular (both azimuthal and radial) distribution of the backscattered particles together with the distribution of the energy and of the energy loss of scattered particles are calculated using the Lindhard-Scharff parameterization. The azimuthal distribution shows high peaks for 300 and 500 eV incident energies and a cvasi-continuum for 100 eV incident energy in the case of {100} plane, and a single peak for the {110} plane. The radial distribution of backscattered particles evidences the symmetry properties of the crystal. The relative energy loss decrease when increasing incident energy, and is compatible with the backscattered energy distribution. The results do not agree with the Binary Collision Approximation(BCA).


Submarine mining is unprecedented in China. XinLi Mining area, affiliated to Sanshandao Gold mine, is the first metal mining carrying out submarine mining exploitation in domestic. No occurrence of uniform settlement, cracking and collapse is the key point during the mining exploitation. According to the mining choosing principle and combining the production practice and relevant experience of Sanshandao Gold mine, the representative schemes are put forward. Two representative test stopes of 63# and 71# are chosen. After the comprehensive comparison and analysis, high-drift back-filling method is adopted to research the safety of submarine mining. Industrial test results show that the high-drift back-filling method has the significant advantages of safety mining, low ore dilution and so on. The mining production ability is improved greatly, obtaining remarkable effect and realizing the key points of higher efficiency and lower loss rate of ores.


Featuring a fantastic line up of contributors, The City A-Z introduces students to a refreshingly new way of thinking about and understanding cities and urban life. Specially comissioned short entries capture moments of the city, constantly surprising the reader with entries ranging from poetry to prose, from paintings to a photo-essay, and from rigorous noisy analysis to quiet stories of city life. An "ideas" map, similar to the London Underground map, links all the different themes providing a route through this unique text.
Includes contributions from: Ash Amin , Anette Baldauf , David Bell, Walter Benjamin, Alistair Bonnett, Iain Borden, Stephen Cairns, Iain Chambers, Steve Graham, Dolores Hayden, Steve Hinchcliffe, Mary King, Deborah Levy, Eugene McLoughlin, Harvey Molotch, Miles Ogborn, Steve Pile, Roy Porter, Jane Rendell, Saskia Sassen, David Sibley, Sharon Zukin


Data transmission over multiple-hop networks is impaired by random deleterious events, and characterizing the probability of error for the end-to-end transmission is challenging as the size of networks grows. Adams et al. showed that, when re-encoding at intermediate nodes is enabled, coded transmission over tandem/parallel links can be reduced to a single equivalent link with a specified probability function. Although iterative application of the tandem/parallel reduction techniques in alternation can simplify the task, they are generally not sufficient to reduce an arbitrary network to a single link. In this paper, we propose upper- and lower- bounding processes to bound the end-to-end probability distribution of a network by combining the parallel/tandem link reduction with the structure of flows over the network. We evaluate the performance of the proposed bounding methods at the 99% success rate of end-to-end data transmission over randomly generated acyclic networks. The numerical results demonstrate that our bounding approaches enable us to characterize a network by a single probability function to a very good precision.


Abstract: We examine the moral and managerial significance of some empirical studies in cognitive psychology. We suggest that these results may plausibly be interpreted as expressing deontological commitments of experimental subjects, even though psychologists who discuss the results seem to suppose that they show that people are irrational consequentialists. We argue that the plausibility of our interpretation suggests how managers who wish to take seriously entrenched social views on morality might best craft corporate policy on corporate responsibility, and we suggest that the form of argument we employ may be regarded as a kind of appeal to reflective equilibrium.


Demand for Total Knee Replacement (TKR) surgery is high and rising; not just in numbers of procedures, but in the diversity of patient demographics and increase of expectations. Accordingly, greater efforts are being invested into the pre-clinical analysis of TKR designs, to improve their performance in-vivo. A wide range of experimental and computational methods are used to analyse TKR performance pre-clinically. However, direct validation of these methods and models is invariably limited by the restrictions and challenges of clinical assessment, and confounded by the high variability of results seen in-vivo. Consequently, the need exists to achieve greater synergy between different pre-clinical analysis methods. By demonstrating robust corroboration between in-silico and in-vitro testing, and both identifying & quantifying the key sources of uncertainty, greater confidence can be placed in these assessment tools. This thesis charts the development of a new generation of fast computational models for TKR test platforms, with closer collaboration with in-vitro test experts (and consequently more rigorous corroboration with experimental methods) than previously. Beginning with basic tibiofemoral simulations, the complexity of the models was progressively increased, to include in-silico wear prediction, patellofemoral & full lower limb models, rig controller-emulation, and accurate system dynamics. At each stage, the models were compared extensively with data from the literature and experimental tests results generated specifically for corroboration purposes. It is demonstrated that when used in conjunction with, and complementary to, the corresponding experimental work, these higher-integrity in-silico platforms can greatly enrich the range and quality of pre-clinical data available for decision-making in the design process, as well as understanding of the experimental platform dynamics. Further, these models are employed within a probabilistic framework to provide a statistically-quantified assessment of the input factors most influential to variability in the mechanical outcomes of TKR testing. This gives designers a much richer holistic visibility of the true system behaviour than extant 'deterministic' simulation approaches (both computational and experimental). By demonstrating the value of better corroboration and the benefit of stochastic approaches, the methods used here lay the groundwork for future advances in pre-clinical assessment of TKR. These fast, inexpensive models can complement existing approaches, and augment the information available for making better design decisions prior to clinical trials, accelerating the design process, and ultimately leading to improved TKR delivery in-vivo to meet future demands.


Background

To evaluate the efficacy of a newly developed electric toothbrush in reducing dental plaque via a quantitative light-induced fluorescence-digital (QLF-D)-applied visualisation system in the brush head.

Methods

Participants included 20 adults aged 19 to 28 years. Participants were randomly assigned either (i) an electric toothbrush with a monitor to visualise red-fluorescent dental plaque via a camera built into the brush head (monitor usage group, n = 10) or (ii) an electric toothbrush without a monitor (monitor-non-use group, n = 10). The amount of dental plaque was assessed by personal hygiene performance (PHP) at baseline and 1 week later.

Results

In the monitor-usage group, PHP score was significantly lower at the 1-week follow-up than at baseline (6 vs 16; range, 0–12 vs 13–21; P = 0.029). This change was not observed in the monitor-non-use group. After 1 week, the change in PHP scores in the monitor usage group was significantly greater than that in the monitor non-use group (−10 vs 0; range, -21 to 9 vs -8 to 16; P = 0.021).

Conclusions

Our results clearly demonstrate that brushing teeth while looking at a monitor that depicts red-autofluorescent dental plaque via application of QLF-D improved the efficacy of dental-plaque removal relative to brushing teeth without a monitor.


Citalopram is a antidepressant drug, generally prescribed for the treatment of major depression. It comes under the SSRI's class (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor). It is frequently used off-label to treat anxiety, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, premenstrual dysphoric disorder. As per forensic point of view citalopram which is non tricyclic antidepressant is generally prescribed for treating depression because of its undesirable side effects than classical tricyclic antidepressants so they are nowadays more commonly used as the drugs of first choice and therefore the chance of detecting it in the biological materials analyzed in toxicology division is high. Present study has been structured with an aim to test citalopram, present in blood and the comparison of citalopram and escitalopram which are the enantiomers. For extraction of citalopram from blood, sodium tungstate method was used followed by liquidliquid extraction. The alkaline extract of blood obtained from Sodium Tungstate was used for identification by color tests. Citalopram is basic in nature, but it does not respond to commonly used color test for benzodiazepines/alkaloids. Hence various color tests were performed which were reported in literature out of which marquis & mandelin gives positive result. cobalt thiocyanate has also given positive test for presence of citalopram which can be used in future for testing citalopram. Further the identification of the drug was carried out by thin layer chromatography by various solvent systems. In search for different solvent systems various combinations of solvents were tried and reproducible results were produced. For the separation of citalopram & Escitalopram solvent system Toluene: Acetonitrile: methanol has given the good Rf values and reproducible. Results: Other instrumentation technique, like UV visible spectroscopy, Gas liquid chromatography (GLC), GC-MS was also used for the qualitative analysis.


In his comprehensive survey of vaccination controversies past and present, Arthur Allen quotes US vaccine chief Walter Orenstein's recollection that 'for those trained in pediatrics in the 1970s, Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b) was a horror.' It was indeed. I recall a mother whose infant died of Hib meningitis, secondary to an apparently trivial otitis media, within minutes of arriving in hospital. Already at an advanced stage of her second pregnancy, she promptly went into labour and had an uncomplicated delivery. The way her grief at the loss of one child overwhelmed her joy at the arrival of another is my enduring memory of the horror of Hib, which was still killing 60 children every year in Britain in the 1980s.

Thanks to the introduction of routine Hib immunization in 1992, this disease has now become a rarity. Yet, as Orenstein points out, when the immunization was introduced there was much uncertainty about its impact on the ecology of Haemophilus and the long term consequences. As he observes, some things are 'only knowable in the long run;' in the meantime, 'we have to take our chances and then follow up.' One of the themes of Allen's book is that this courageous and enterprising approach to vaccination policy—vindicated by its historic achievements in the conquest of disease—is now threatened by the contemporary climate of risk aversion.

Allen does not ignore the history of vaccine disasters. He includes the fiasco in the US military in 1942, when yellow fever vaccine contaminated with hepatitis B caused 100 deaths, and the mass vaccination against smallpox in New York in 1947 that caused six deaths (four more than the outbreak itself). In the Cutter incident in the 1950s, inadequately inactivated polio vaccine caused 164 cases of paralysis and 10 deaths. While acknowledging these failures, Allen pays tribute to immunization authorities—such as Henry Kempe and Bob Chen—who have campaigned to improve vaccine safety.

The great irony underlying current vaccination controversies is that, as vaccines have become more effective and safer than ever before, an anti-vaccine world view, reflecting a combination of nostalgia and cultural pessimism, has become more prevalent. Allen reports how one family with an autistic child described 'going down the rabbit hole' into a 'spooky realm of herbalists and populist mavericks and—not to put too fine a point on it—conspiracy kooks, who view America as a toxic hell.' Recognizing that parents' anger and inclination to blame vaccines reflect difficulties in coming to terms with their children's disabilities, Allen has himself bravely challenged anti-vaccine campaigners who have had such a damaging impact on the world of autism.

Allen concludes with Orenstein's prescient warning that a precautionary approach, reflecting corporate concerns about a low profit, high risk area of investment and government sensitivities to public anxieties, 'could paralyze' innovation in vaccines.


Selection indexes have been extensively applied in the estimation of breeding value of dairy cattle for single traits as well as for combinations of traits for selection purposes. Milestones in methodology, such as multiple-trait evaluation procedures by BLUP, (co)variance component estimation, nonlinear models, discounted gene flow, dynamic programming, and international sire evaluations, together with increased computing power and the development of integrated AI and recording schemes, have contributed to efficient implementation of selection indexes and are reviewed in this article. Results of an international survey on evaluation practices and breeding programs are presented, demonstrating wide adoption of index selection for total merit and the need for further applications. Results from a simulation study on the efficiency of index selection for total merit are also presented; when the breeding goal includes, in addition to production traits, functional nonproduction traits such as mastitis resistance and fertility, failure to consider these traits in the selection index decreases efficiency 15 to 25%. Future applications are also discussed in view of advances in the areas of genome mapping, marker detection, and international comparisons. Further research should focus on functional


STUDY OBJECTIVE To investigate the association between material deprivation and 10 leading causes of death by gender. DESIGN Small area cross sectional ecological study using two dimensions of material deprivation (Index 1 and Index 2) drawn from 1991 census and cause specific mortality data aggregated for 1987–1995. SETTING 2218 small areas in Spain. MAIN RESULTS Strong detrimental associations of two deprivation indices were found with top six leading causes of death for men and top seven leading causes of death for women, except breast cancer. For men, the highest percentages of excess mortality (between 40% and 60%) were found for smoking and alcohol related causes of death such as lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, and cirrhosis while for women the highest percentages of excess mortality (between 40% and 60%) were found for diet related causes such as diabetes and ischaemic heart disease. CONCLUSIONS Health inequality is a widespread phenomenon in the majority of the top leading causes of deaths of the nation. Increasing levels of deprivation indices are associated with mortality risk differently by both cause and gender. Results suggest that deprivation effects mainly captured by Index 2 may manifest largely as unfavourable health behaviours leading to gender specific sets of causes of deaths. Findings of this study are consistent with the idea that material deprivation determines health inequality through both an increase of general susceptibility to ill health, leading to excess mortality in a wide range of causes, and a set of specific factors, resulting in an increased risk of death from a specific set of causes in each gender.


The probabilistic model of the development of decompression disease was modified by introducing the corrections into its equation that refine the dependence of the risk of the injury of tissues by gas bubbles on their blood supply and the intensity of nucleation processes. The parameters of the "worst" virtual tissues and theoretical curves were determined that correspond to the empirical data on the cumulative probability of the development of decompression disease symptoms during some procedures of high-altitude decompression. It was shown that the parameters of these hypothetical tissues depend on the final pressure, the physical load, and the duration ofpreoxygenation. The ways of constructing a working hypothesis about the gradation of real body tissues with respect to the parameters determining the risk of their injury by bubbles and developing the method for the theoretical prognosis of the probability of development of decompression disease during any decompression procedure are discussed.


Nosocomial infections are significantly important health problems for both hospitals and patients. No data are available on nosocomial infections in South-East Anatolian region of Turkey region. This study was performed to determine the nosocomial infection rate and type in Kiziltepe State Hospital, Mardin within one year. The surveillance data of nosocomial infections in Kiziltepe State Hospital between January 1st and December 31th, 2010, was evaluated retrospectively. The epidemiological data was collected by laboratory and hospital-based active surveillance method between January and December 2010. 10,410 patients were hospitalized during this period. 27 (0.26%) hospital-acquired infections were detected. Incidence density was calculated to be 1.46. The highest rate of hospital infections (0.50%) was seen in the intensive care unit. The highest rate of infection was observed in the Thoracic Surgery Clinic (4.1%). In total, 55.5% of detected hospital-acquired infections were surgical site infections, 25.9% urinary tract infections and 11.1% were pneumonia. The frequency of nosocomial infections was found to be low in this hospital compared to other hospital infection rates reports from Turkey. The low infection rate was related with rapid patient circulation. The rate of nosocomial infection is high in intensive care unit patients, especially for surgical site infections. The results provide epidemiological information that will help to implement infection control policies in this hospital.


Born in Birmingham and living in Vienna since 1893, Amelia Sarah Levetus devoted her life to facilitating the mediation between Austrian and British culture, finding a vital connection between the two countries in the thought of John Ruskin. In addition to its intense publishing activities as Vienna correspondent for The Studio magazine. An illustrated magazine Magazine of Fine and Applied Arts, Levetus was strongly committed to adult education. She was a founding member of Volksheim, the people's university, where she taught English language courses and where the John Ruskin Club was founded in 1903. This contribution traces the activity of Amelia Sarah Levetus up to the First World War and places it in the broader debate on architecture and the figurative and applied arts.


At the inception of the social sciences in the late 19 th century, early psychologists, an- thropologists, archaeologists and sociologists frequently proposed evolutionary explanations for social phenomena. Yet by the mid-20 th century Darwin's theory had virtually disappeared from the social sciences, and most social scientists continue to reject evolutionary approaches within their disciplines. This special issue of the Journal of Evolutionary Psychology contains six papers each of which addresses the question of why social scientists rejected evolution, and why they still do. Three broad reasons are identified by our contributors. First, many social scientists past and present hold distorted views of evolution leading to, in our view, an unfounded rejection of evolutionary theory. This distortion might be addressed by improved education and communica- tion of evolutionary theory. Second, many past applications of evolutionary theory to social phe- nomena have been inadequate for explaining the kinds of phenomena that social scientists are most interested in, such as rapid cultural change and the emergence of large-scale cooperative in- stitutions. This situation is changing as modern Darwinian approaches incorporate behavioural flexibility, group-level explanations and culture. Finally, certain strands of the social sciences have rejected the scientific method in general, instead adopting non-scientific perspectives such as social constructionism. While this is a broader epistemological issue, the application of evolution- ary methods to social phenomena may provide the best and most direct support for the value of the scientific method.


ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to verify the effects of loaded exercises associated with a task-oriented training (TOT) program in the recovery of upper-limb function in individuals with chronic hemiparesis after stroke. DesignThis study used a single-blinded, randomized controlled trial. Patients were included into two TOT groups: one that performed the task-oriented therapy without load (TOT group, n = 10) and another one that performed task-oriented therapy with personalized resistance (TOT_ST group, n = 10) for 6 wks, for a total of 12 sessions. Main measures included The Upper Extremity Performance Test, shoulder flexor and handgrip strength, shoulder active range of motion, motor impairment (Fugl-Meyer Scale), and muscle tone. ResultsThe TOT_ST group demonstrated better scores relating to unilateral tasks and in the quality aspects of bilateral movements (The Upper Extremity Performance Test, P = 0.04) at the end of rehabilitation protocol. The highest muscle force gain was reached by the TOT_ST group for the shoulder flexors (P = 0.001). Similarly, the active range of motion (P = 0.01) and Fugl-Meyer scores (P = 0.001) were higher in the TOT_ST group compared with the TOT group. Both groups showed improvement after training. ConclusionsStrength training was able to intensify the upper-limb rehabilitation, as demonstrated by the superior scores achieved by the TOT_ST group in most of the evaluated parameters. Muscle strength training might be a pivotal element of the task-oriented rehabilitation program of chronic patients with mild impairment after stroke.


Little is known about the influence of asthma status on humoral and cell-mediated immune responses to measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine viruses. We compared the virus-specific IgG levels and lymphoproliferative response of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to MMR vaccine viruses between asthmatic and nonasthmatic patients. The study subjects included 342 healthy children aged 12-18 years who had received two doses of the MMR vaccine. We ascertained asthma status by applying predetermined criteria. Of the 342 subjects, 230 were available for this study of whom 25 were definite asthmatic patients (10.9%) and the rest of subjects were nonasthmatic patients. The mean of the log-transformed lymphoproliferative responses between definite asthma and nonasthma who had a family history of asthma were for measles, 0.92 ± 0.31 versus 1.54 ± 0.17 (p = 0.125); for mumps, 0.98 ± 0.64 versus 2.20 ± 0.21 (p = 0.035); and for rubella, 0.12 ± 0.37 versus 0.97 ± 0.16 (p = 0.008), respectively, adjusting for the duration between the first MMR vaccination and determination of the immune responses. There were no such differences among children without a family history of asthma. MMR virus-specific IgG levels were not different between study subjects with or without asthma. The study findings suggest asthmatic patients may have a suboptimal cell-mediated immune response to MMR vaccine viruses and a family history of asthma modifies this effect.


Virtual Verification of Designs against Requirements (vVDR) is a method for model-based system design verification. This paper discusses enhancements to the vVDR method and its implementation in ModelicaML to further improve the support of system verification activities by automation. In the vVDR method there are different kinds of models that are created independently. However, they will become dependent and need to be related to each other in some concrete verification context. The aim is to reduce modeling errors and modeling efforts by automatically composing verification models from their constituting sub-models based on data dependencies that are defined using so-called mediators, which allow the expression of data dependencies between models without affecting, i.e. changing, the models themselves.


As a result of globalisation of trade, the research on the role of global mindset (GM) in enhancing performance has gained momentum in the new millennium. Even though GM is considered as an essential prerequisite to performance in the current international business environment, the empirical evidence of the direct effects of GM on performance is mixed. One of the reasons for this mixed evidence is the existence of other mechanisms, such as mediators and moderators, which influence GM–performance relationships. This study focuses on one such mechanism, namely networks (NWs), and examines how NWs mediate the association between GM and the performance of the global grain and oilseed traders. The study argues that GM has little direct effect on trader performance (TP). Rather, GM strengthens network structure (NWS), which collectively leads to enhanced network leverage (NWL) and thus increased TP.  Based on a sample of 78 traders in the global grain and oilseed sector (GGOS), the study finds that both the network (NW) components – NWS and NWL – mediate the association between GM and TP. The finding of full path mediation provides empirical evidence that superior GM leads to superior NWS, which results in superior NWL and thus superior TP. The method used in data analysis is Partial Least Square Structural Equations Modelling (PLS-SEM), using SmartPLS software.  This study makes two main contributions. Firstly, the study endorses the critical role of GM in enhancing the performance of traders in the GGOS. Secondly, the study provides a deeper understanding of how GM enhances performance; that is, the serial mediating roles of NWS and NWL. The current research has largely suggested single mediation of relationship quality. This study goes a step further and introduces NWL into the argument. The key implications of the study include the need to strengthen the GM and NWs of traders, as the interplay between the two is critical in enhancing their performance. The findings need to be interpreted carefully, as the study suffers from limitations of small sample size and single sector study.


The historical record of large subduction earthquakes in Guerrero, Mexico, reveals the existence of an ∼230 km length segment below the coast where no major rupture has occurred in the past 60 years. Reliable quantification of the hazard associated with such a seismic gap is urgently needed for risk mitigation purposes by means of state-of-the-art observations and modeling. In this article, we introduce and quantitatively assess the first seismogeodetic amphibious network deployed in Mexican and Central American soils that will provide the opportunity to achieve this goal in the near future. Deployed in 2017, the network is the result of a collaborative effort between Mexican and Japanese scientists. It consists of 15 onshore broadband and 7 ocean-bottom seismometers, 33 Global Positioning System (GPS) stations, 7 ocean-bottom pressure gauges, and 2 GPSacoustic sites, most of them installed within the Guerrero seismic gap. Initial data from the network revealed the occurrence of a 6-month-long slow-slip event in Guerrero, starting in May and ending in October 2017. To illustrate the performance of the various instruments, we also present the first ocean-bottom pressure and GPS-acoustic measurements in Mexico; the latter was obtained by means of an autonomousWave Glider vehicle. The ground motion of the devastating 19 September 2017 Mw 7.1 earthquake in central Mexico is presented as well. Nominal resolution of the seismogeodetic network is estimated through different synthetic inversion tests for tomographic imaging and the seismic coupling (or slow-slip) determination on the plate interface. The tests show that combined onshore and offshore instruments should lead to unprecedented results regarding the seismic potential (i.e., interface coupling) of the seismic gap and the Earth structure from the Middle America trench up to 70-km depth across the Guerrero state.


Background Evidence on technology-based psychological interventions (TBIs) for the treatment of depression is rapidly growing and covers a broad scope of research. Despite extensive research in this field, guideline recommendations are still limited to the general effectiveness of TBIs. Objective This study aims to structure evidence on TBIs by considering different application areas (eg, TBIs for acute treatment and their implementation in health care, such as stand-alone interventions) and treatment characteristics (eg, therapeutic rationale of TBIs) to provide a comprehensive evidence base and to identify research gaps in TBIs for diagnosed depression. Moreover, the reporting of negative events in the included studies is investigated in this review to enable subsequent safety assessment of the TBIs. Methods Randomized controlled trials on adults diagnosed with unipolar depression receiving any kind of psychotherapeutic treatment, which was at least partly delivered by a technical medium, were eligible for inclusion in our preregistered systematic review. We searched for trials in CENTRAL (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; until August 2020), MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PSYNDEX, CINAHL; until the end of January 2018), clinical trial registers, and sources of gray literature (until the end of January 2019). Study selection and data extraction were conducted by 2 review authors independently. Results Database searches resulted in 15,546 records, of which 241 publications were included, representing 83 completed studies and 60 studies awaiting classification (ie, preregistered studies, study protocols). Almost all completed studies (78/83, 94%) addressed the acute treatment phase, being largely either implemented as stand-alone interventions (66/83, 80%) or blended treatment approaches (12/83, 14%). Studies on TBIs for aftercare (4/83, 5%) and for bridging waiting periods (1/83, 1%) were scarce. Most TBI study arms (n=107) were guided (59/107, 55.1%), delivered via the internet (80/107, 74.8%), and based on cognitive behavioral treatment approaches (88/107, 79.4%). Almost all studies (77/83, 93%) reported information on negative events, considering dropouts from treatment as a negative event. However, reports on negative events were heterogeneous and largely unsystematic. Conclusions Research has given little attention to studies evaluating TBIs for aftercare and for bridging waiting periods in people with depression, even though TBIs are seen as highly promising in these application areas; thus, high quality studies are urgently needed. In addition, the variety of therapeutic rationales on TBIs has barely been represented by identified studies hindering the consideration of patient preferences when planning treatment. Finally, future studies should use specific guidelines to systematically assess and report negative events. Trial Registration International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) CRD42016050413; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42016050413. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.1136/bmjopen-2018-028042


Staphylococcus aureus can adhere to and invade endothelial cells by binding to the human protein fibronectin (Fn). FnBPA and FnBPB, cell wall-attached proteins from S. aureus, have multiple, intrinsically disordered, high-affinity binding repeats (FnBRs) for Fn. Here, 30 years after the first report of S. aureus/Fn interactions, we present four crystal structures that together comprise the structures of two complete FnBRs, each in complex with four of the N-terminal modules of Fn. Each ≈40-residue FnBR forms antiparallel strands along the triple-stranded β-sheets of four sequential F1 modules (2–5F1) with each FnBR/2–5F1 interface burying a total surface area of ≈4,300 Å2. The structures reveal the roles of residues conserved between S. aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes FnBRs and show that there are few linker residues between FnBRs. The ability to form large intermolecular interfaces with relatively few residues has been proposed to be a feature of disordered proteins, and S. aureus/Fn interactions provide an unusual illustration of this efficiency.


Pieces of human psoriatic skin and suspensions of mouse bone marrow cells as non-epidermal control tissue were cultured for four days in diffusion chambers implanted intraperitoneally in 40 mice. The mice were divided into three groups. On the second and third day of the culture partially purified epidermal extract containing epidermal chalone, granulocyte extract containing granulocyte chalone, and Hanks' solution were injected intraperitoneally into the mice of the three groups, respectively. On the fourth day, incorporation of 3H-TdR into the diffusion chamber cultures and various epithelia and several non-epidermal tissues of the host animal was studied autoradiographically and radiochemically. The results showed that the epidermal chalone induced a marked, statistically significant, depression in the labelling index of the cultured psoriatic epidermal cells and in the number of labelled cells in the host ear epidermis (31% and 62%, respectively); the other host epithelia were not significantly inhibited. A crude granulocyte extract used in most experiments was clearly toxic; the semipurified granulocyte chalone used in one experiment had no effect on the psoriatic and cultures, but affected weakly the cultured bone marrow cells. Neither the epidermal nor the granulocyte extract had any inhibitory effect on the non-epidermal tissues studied.


Activin A can induce the Xenopus presumptive ectoderm (animal cap) to form different types of mesoderm and endoderm at different concentrations and the animal cap treated with activin can function as an organizer during early development. The dissociated Xenopus animal cap cells treated with activin form an aggregate and it develops into various tissues in vitro. In this study, to induce jaw cartilage from undifferentiated cells effectively, we developed a culture method to manipulate body patterning in vitro, using activin A and dissociated animal cap cells. An aggregate consisting only of activin A-treated dissociated cells developed into endodermal tissues. However, when activin A-treated cells were mixed with untreated cells at a ratio of 1:5, the aggregate developed cartilage with the maxillofacial regional marker genes, goosecoid, Xenopus Distal-less 4 and X-Hoxa2. When this aggregate was transplanted into the abdominal region of host embryos, maxillofacial structures containing cartilage and eye developed. We raised these embryos to adulthood and found that tooth germ had developed in the transplanted tissue. Here, we show the induction of jaw cartilage, tooth germ and eye structures from animal caps using activin A in the aggregation culture method. This differentiation system will help to promote a better understanding of the regulating mechanisms of body patterning and tooth induction in vertebrates.


Analyzing road-test data is important for developing automated vehicles. L3Pilot is a European pilot project on level 3 automation, including 34 partners among manufacturers, suppliers and research institutions. Targeting around 100 cars and 1000 test subjects, the project will generate large amounts of data. We present a data format, allowing efficient data collection, handling and analysis by multiple organizations. A project of the scope of L3Pilot involves various challenges. Data come from a multitude of heterogeneous sources and are processed by a variety of tools. Recorded data span all data types generated in various vehicular sensors/systems and are enriched with external data sources. Videos supplement time-series data as external files. Derived measures and performance indicators – required to answer research questions about effectiveness of automated driving – are processed by analysis partners and included for each test session. As a file format, we chose HDF5, which offers a data model and software libraries for storing and managing data. HDF5 is designed for flexible and efficient I/O and for high volume and complex data. The usage of different computing environments for specific tasks is facilitated by the portability that comes with the format. Portability is also important for exploiting the rising potential within artificial intelligence (e.g. automatic scene detection and video annotation). Based on lessons learned from past field tests, we defined a general frame for the common data format that is aligned with the data processing steps of FESTA "V" evaluation methodology. The definitions include representation of the source signals and a hierarchical structure for including multiple datasets that are gradually supplemented (post-processed or annotated) during the various analysis steps. By using the HDF5 format, analysis partners have the freedom to exploit their familiar tools: MATLAB, Java, Python, R, etc. First comparisons between time-series data in previous projects (e.g. AdaptIVe) and the proposed data format show a reduction in storage size of around 80 %, without losses in performance. Much of that is due to efficient internal compression and structuring of data. Considering the amount of objective data involved in automated driving, this leads to a great benefit, in terms of usability. This paper presents a compact, portable, and extensible format aimed at handling extremely large amounts of field test data collected in automated driving pilots. As a harmonized format between tens of organizations performing tests in the L3Pilot project, the proposed format has the potential to promote data sharing as well as development of common tools and gain popularity for use in other projects. The format is designed to allow efficient storing of data and its iterative processing with analysis and evaluation tools. The format also considers the requirements of AI tools supporting neural network training and use.


In this paper, we address the potential benefits of dual-polarized arrays in multi-antenna wireless systems. After an extensive literature overview of experimental data, we present a new and simple analytical framework to model dual-polarized Rayleigh and Ricean fading channels for arbitrary array sizes. The model relies on a limited number of physical parameters, such as the channel spatial correlations, the channel co-polar and the cross-polar ratios and the antenna cross-polar discrimination. Then, we investigate the multiplexing advantage of dual-polarized transmissions through the evaluation of the ergodic mutual information, for both TITO and MIMO systems. Finally, the performance of two space-time coding schemes (Alamouti OSTBC and uncoded spatial multiplexing) is evaluated via a detailed analysis of the pairwise error probability.


The authors have developed a method for applying the active vision paradigm for a vision-guided mobile robot to acquire 3D structure of a man-made environment. The robot plans a circular path by itself, moves along the planned circular path by the visual feedback, computes the camera rotation from the vanishing points of horizontal lines in the scene, and estimates the 3D structure of the environment. Experimental results showed that this method was robust to the disturbances in real environments.<<ETX>>


The overall 'Motor Vehicle Incident (MVI) Reduction Pilot' (called hereafter the 'Linfox PeerSafe project' for the purpose of this report) was designed to reduce MVIs in Linfox utilising peer teams and rewards/recognition. The main objective of the Linfox PeerSafe Project pilot was to reduce MVIs although the project was initiated with the following underlying assumptions:

• Peer groups (teams) have a significant effect on how people choose to behave.
• When an individual becomes part of a team they will likely behave in a way that meets the team's needs.
• Driver teams are likely to create a strong enduring link between driver performance and Site MVI performance and will enhance the sense of ownership of drivers to take responsibility for MVI performance.
• The Linfox PeerSafe project will enhance key motivators such as driver autonomy, decision making and responsibility.

Overall, the results discussed in this report strongly support these assumptions.

The report outlines the results of the pilot conducted at Schweppes Archerfield, BOC Rocklea and WoW Larapinta. The pilot for Schweppes Archerfield and BOC Rocklea was conducted from 3 September until 3 March 2013. The pilot at Larapinta initially also commenced on 3 September 2012 but there was a change in site management during the first three months of the pilot which caused disruption to the execution of the pilot. The pilot then recommenced with new site management on 1 March 2013. A pre-pilot survey was conducted during April–May 2012 and pre-pilot focus groups were conducted during May 2012 involving three potential pilot sites, including Wow Larapinta, Schweppes Archerfield and BOC Rocklea. This was done to determine the feasibility of conducting the pilot at the three sites and identify issues that may negatively impact upon the conduct of the pilot. The pre-pilot survey and focus groups constituted two steps in the overall project (see Steps 6 and 7 in Figure 1). The pilot was launched at these three sites on 3 September 2012. Post-pilot focus groups were conducted at Schweppes Archerfield and BOC Rocklea during April 2013 and a post-pilot survey was conducted at these sites during May 2013. With the recommencement of the pilot at Larapinta in March 2013, post-pilot focus groups and a post-pilot survey were conducted at WoW Larapinta during September 2013. Importantly, the findings in this report relate to the three mentioned sites only and a viability analysis needs to be conducted at other sites prior to implementation of the Linfox PeerSafe project within the wider Linfox. This is important to identify any specific issues that may have a negative impact on the execution of the project and to ascertain positive issues that could be leveraged in the conduct of the PeerSafe project.

The objective of this report is to evaluate the success of the PeerSafe pilot. The following interrelated tasks inform this objective:
• A comparison of MVI statistics pre- and post-pilot.
• A comparison of the cultural key performance indicators (KPIs), pre- and post-pilot. These KPIs were measured with pre-pilot surveys and focus groups.
• An examining of the issues important in the successful conduct of the PeerSafe project.
• An outline of recommendations.
• An outline of the lessons learnt in the PeerSafe project.
• A outline of recommendations


The JVT video coding scheme (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264) is a promising technique due to its high coding efficiency. Hypothetical reference decoder (HRD) is a very important part in JVT video coding, which represents a set of normative requirements on bitstream for the purpose of avoiding buffer overflow and underflow. The problem of HRD requirements can be solved by rate control. This paper proposes an effective rate control scheme for JVT video coding with HRD considerations. First, bit allocation with HRD constraints is presented, and second, based on a simple rate distortion model, a single pass rate control is implemented on both frame level and macroblock level. Experimental results show that the proposed rate control algorithm can achieve the target bit rate with very little bit rate or image quality fluctuation, and meanwhile it can well meet the HRD requirements. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm is so simple that it only introduces little computation complexity. Therefore, it can be used in real time video coding.


This randomized controlled trial investigated the effects of a smoking cessation workshop on physician practices and on patients' smoking behavior. Eighty-three community family physicians were randomly allocated by practice to either 1) a Usual Care condition, 2) a group in which physicians were not trained but were asked to address smoking cessation with specific patients, or 3) a condition which included physician training as well as printed resources and in which specific patients were identified as smokers. The intervention taught to the physicians through a four hour training workshop included providing advice about stopping smoking, the setting of a date for stopping, the offer of nicotine gum, take-home materials, and the offer of follow-up visits. The intervention was described, demonstrated, and the physicians practiced with simulated patients. The outcome of the intervention was assessed in terms of physician behavior and patient smoking behavior. Exit interviews with patients demonstrated that patients of trained physicians did not differ from patients of untrained physicians on how willing they were to try to stop smoking nor on their receptiveness to nicotine gum. However, there was a small but statistically significant difference favoring the patients from the trained physician group who successfully stopped smoking.


Introduction. Some evidence suggest an increase in the prevalence of focal segmental glomerular sclerosis (FSGS) in children. To date, there has been no study of the outcome in children with FSGS and its frequency over several decades in Iran. We aimed to report the changing trend of FSGS incidence and its outcome in a sample of Iranian children. Materials and Methods. Between 1982 and 2008, all 716 kidney biopsies performed in children referred to Ali Asghar Children Hospital were recorded and confirmed cases with FSGS lesions were further evaluated. Baseline and clinical characteristics of all FSGS patients were assessed and the therapies and outcomes were reviewed. Results. The incidence rate of FSGS was 10.1% between 1982 and 1990, which was significantly increased to as high as 20.5% after the year 2000 (P = .001). Among 64 children with FSGS, 20 progressed to end-stage renal disease with a mean survival time of 11.45 years (standard error of mean, 1.34 years). Kidney survival rates were 90.4%, 69%, and 47% at 1, 5 and 10 years of follow-up. Conclusions. Our study demonstrates an increasing trend in FSGS incidence in Iranian children. However, kidney survival rates of our patients were similar to those reported by others in different countries.


The diheme enzyme MauG catalyzes the posttranslational modification of a precursor protein of methylamine dehydrogenase (preMADH) to complete the biosynthesis of its protein-derived tryptophan tryptophylquinone (TTQ) cofactor. It catalyzes three sequential two-electron oxidation reactions which proceed through a high-valent bis-Fe(IV) redox state. Tyr294, the unusual distal axial ligand of one c-type heme, was mutated to His, and the crystal structure of Y294H MauG in complex with preMADH reveals that this heme now has His-His axial ligation. Y294H MauG is able to interact with preMADH and participate in interprotein electron transfer, but it is unable to catalyze the TTQ biosynthesis reactions that require the bis-Fe(IV) state. This mutation affects not only the redox properties of the six-coordinate heme but also the redox and CO-binding properties of the five-coordinate heme, despite the 21 Å separation of the heme iron centers. This highlights the communication between the hemes which in wild-type MauG behave as a single diheme unit. Spectroscopic data suggest that Y294H MauG can stabilize a high-valent redox state equivalent to Fe(V), but it appears to be an Fe(IV)═O/π radical at the five-coordinate heme rather than the bis-Fe(IV) state. This compound I-like intermediate does not catalyze TTQ biosynthesis, demonstrating that the bis-Fe(IV) state, which is stabilized by Tyr294, is specifically required for this reaction. The TTQ biosynthetic reactions catalyzed by wild-type MauG do not occur via direct contact with the Fe(IV)═O heme but via long-range electron transfer through the six-coordinate heme. Thus, a critical feature of the bis-Fe(IV) species may be that it shortens the electron transfer distance from preMADH to a high-valent heme iron.


Aim: Earlier research in Kent, UK showed that few referrals of people with ID were made to specialist palliative care providers even though this ageing population have increased health care needs including progressive diseases such as cancer, heart and respiratory disease and dementia. This study looked at the attitudes of ID carers to palliative care, the aim being to delineate whether such views are prohibiting the referral process.

Method: A series of focus groups were held with informal and formal carers of people with ID to ascertain their perceptions and attitudes of palliative care services.

Results: Initial results show that there is little understanding of palliative care services within ID services and there are concerns that ID clients will be admitted to the hospice, whereas the aim is to provide care in the most appropriate setting for both clients and carers.

Conclusions: Education of ID carers is necessary to increase understanding of palliative care services, so that care can be provided in a collaborative way, with the aim of improving the quality of life of ID clients with progressive disease.


: Mosquitoes of the Culex genus are active bloodsuckers and vectors of many dangerous human and animal diseases. Special interest has been shown in the Culex pipiens complex in recent years. The complex comprises closely related mosquito species. The specific feature of the complex is that there are significant ecophysiological differences between morphologically similar species and subspecies. Taxonomy of the complex by classical morphological methods is hardly feasible and therefore molecular-genetic markers are being actively searched for to identify the members of the Culex pipiens complex. The proposed polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment-length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay based on the analysis of the nucleotide composition of the 5'-end of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I gene permits differences in the nucleotide sequences of this region to be found and serves as a rapid way of differentiating Cx. pipiens (f. pipiens and f. molestus), Cx. quinquefasciatus, Cx. torrentium, as well as Cx. modestus.


Quality control is a procedure for examining the problems, work processes as well as making improvements preceding to transport of products. In the global markets, the rising competition between manufacturers and producers has guided firms in recognizing the competitive benefits. However, in the previous eras, the importance has been attentive on the continuous upgrading of quality for the success of several kinds of business in present and future. Employing a universal quality assurance background will help in more effective organization and improve the quality of statistical output in international organizations. Quality values are an essential part of the quality system. They are deliberated to support regulatory requirements of the laboratories, including monitor laboratory functions and local health regulations, thus confirming the safety of the local health regulations and reliability of performance. This chapter highlights the elements essential for effective implementation of quality control.