This thesis examines the elevation and surface morphologies developed by massive Porites microatolls growing in reef flat, interisland passage and lagoonal habitats around the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Indian Ocean. It has long been known that corals adopt the microatoll form near to the sea surface, and microatolls are widely recognised as important and relatively precise indicators of sea-level position, particularly through the mid to late Holocene. Recently it has also been suggested that the upper surface microtopographies of modern microatolls may yield valuable information about recent sea-level change. However, rarely has the elevation of microatolls been accurately surveyed to a known datum, or the microtopographies of their upper surfaces accurately measured. This thesis has addressed this shortcoming by accurately surveying the upper limit to coral growth around the rims of 282 microatolls from 19 separate sites around the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Indian Ocean to a known datum (MSL at the H o m e Island tide-gauge), and by systematically sampling and documenting the morphological development of more than 120 microatolls. Relationships between microatoll surface form and sea-level and environmental change were also explored. The height of living coral (the 'aHLC') around individual microatolls was found to vary 'intrinsically' by approximately 2cm, irrespective of where the microatoll grew, representing the precision level with which the a H L C and the constraining water level (ra) are typically coupled. The aHLC did not vary systematically around microatoll rims; the majority of microatolls on Cocos have relatively horizontal upper surfaces. Separate elevational groups were statistically discriminated at most survey sites, and were attributed to the combined occurrence of microatolls that were confined at sea-level and/or one or more ponded water levels, or because some microatolls were not water-level limited. Reef flat microatolls were typically constrained at greatest depth, with interisland passage microatolls gradually becoming higher as the passages shallowed toward the lagoon. The aHLC of lagoonal microatolls was variable, and appeared to be controlled by the depth of the underlying substrate. The upper limit to coral growth around microatolls freely connected to the open sea at low tide was restricted at a level approximately midway between M H L W and MLLW, though their actual elevations varied around the atoll, reflecting variations in reef morphology and tidal hydrodynamics. Most microatolls had statistically similar microtopographies across separate growth axes. Lagoonal and reef flat microatolls were the most consistently symmetric, and typically developed prominent concentric 'bumps' over their upper surfaces. In contrast, interisland passage microatolls were least often symmetric, and typically developed flat upper surfaces with little topographic relief, ft was concluded that surface symmetry is promoted in freedraining reef flat and lagoonal habitats where the potential amplitude of water-level change is large relative to both the noisiness of the water level surface and the range of intrinsic aHLC variability, because a strong and persistent water-level change signal is produced that is reflected in the direction, if not the magnitude of rim growth. Where the microtopographies of individual microatolls are symmetric, adjacent microatolls were also most likely to be similar. The similarity of microatoll microtopographies in like habitats around the atoll was generally low. It was speculated that this divergence reflects the variety of physiographic conditions possible within each habitat type, and the complexity of biological responses to this diversity. The surface microtopographies of two long-lived open water reef flat microatolls from different sites, dominated by broad undulations of 5-10cm amplitude developed over 18-20 year cycles, were determined to be similar statistically. The independent development of this congruent morphology by these separated microatolls implies the influence of a common environmental signal. Statistical correlations between microatoll surface morphology and the short and fragmented tide-gauge record available for Cocos are not strong, but this was expected given the extent and quality of the tide-gauge data and the fact that microatoll response to water-level change is biologically mediated and unlikely to be sensitive to shortterm or subtle fluctuations. Nevertheless, a visual comparison between microatoll surface microtopography and the tide-gauge record shows similar trends. Microatoll microtopography and a range of other environmental variables for which instrumental data were available were very weakly correlated. An intriguing temporal coincidence between the 18.6 year cycle of lunar tides (related to slight variations in the tilt of the moon's orbit relative to the sun's equator) and the broad undulations that dominate the microtopographies of large open water reef flat microatolls on Cocos was identified, suggesting the possibility that the broad undulations develop in response to tidal adjustments to the 18.6 year lunar cycle. A tentative link between ENSO events and low water levels on Cocos may also be speculated from the timing of stronger events and marked falls in the upper limit to coral growth represented by depressions over the microatoll plane, though this hypothesis requires further investigation. It was concluded that the surface morphologies of open water reef flat microatolls on Cocos were principally influenced by sea-level, though their microtopographies are more likely to preserve filtered, longer-term sea-level trends than interannual variation. The surface microtopographies of large microatolls on Cocos are clearly dominated by the cyclic undulations described above, suggesting that the water level that constrains upward coral growth on Cocos has fluctuated through a series of regular cycles over at least the last century. The surface form of microatolls on Cocos does not support the 10-20cm rise in global sea level over the last one hundred years, indicated in aggregated tide-gauge records, but instead indicates sea level at Cocos has undergone little net change over this period. It was concluded that microatoll upper surfaces preserve subdued, low temporal resolution records of sea-level change, and represent a valuable source of retrospective sea-level data in areas where tidegauge records are short or lacking.


The concept of "efficient breach"--the idea that a contracting party should be encouraged to breach a contract and pay damages if doing so would be more efficient than performance-is probably the most influential concept in the economic analysis of contract law. It is certainly the most controversial. Efficient breach theory has been criticized from both within and without the economic approach, but its most prominent criticism is that it violates deontological ethics-that the beneficiary of a promise has a right to performance, so that breaching the promise wrongs the promisee. This essay argues that this criticism is misplaced, and that efficient breach theory, properly understood, is not inconsistent with parties' complying with their deontological obligations. Instead, the intuitive resistance that most people experience to the concept may be better explained by aretaic concerns-specifically, that failing to complete a contractual relationship is not conducive to virtuous character or to the maintenance of a flourishing community. While efficient breach can be squared with deontological ethics, it cannot be squared with virtue ethics unless one is prepared to argue that seeking efficiency is a virtue, or at least that it is not a vice.


This study investigated whether delayed receipt of antibiotics in infants with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is associated with disease severity. In this retrospective, single-center cohort study of infants diagnosed with NEC over 4 years, we compared the timing of antibiotic administration in infants (time order placed to time of receipt) in medical and surgical NEC. Cases were independently reviewed, then various clinical factors were compared. Of 46 suspected cases, 25 were confirmed by a panel of radiologists with good interrater reliability (ICC 0.657; p < 0.001). Delays in antibiotic receipt were 1.7× greater in surgical than medical NEC cases (p = 0.049). Every hour after order entry increased the adjusted odds of surgical NEC by 2.4 (1.08–5.23; p = 0.032). Delayed antibiotic receipt was more common in infants with surgical than medical NEC. Larger studies will be needed to investigate if optimizing antibiotic expediency could improve intestinal outcomes.


For the past several decades, Congress has steadily expanded the exclusion of securities market operations from core bankruptcy protections. This Article focuses on three of the most important of these issues: the exclusion of brokerage firms from Chapter 11; the protection of settlement payments from avoidance as preferences or fraudulent conveyances; and the exemption of derivatives from the automatic stay and other basic bankruptcy provisions. In Parts I, II and III of the Article, I consider each of the issues in turn, showing that each has had serious unintended consequences. Both Drexel Burnham and Lehman Brothers evaded the brokerage exclusion, for instance; and the settlement provision has been invoked in several high profile contexts that do not fit neatly within the core cases for which it was designed. The application of the special derivatives provisions has also raised even more questions, once again most prominently in the Lehman bankruptcy. In the final part of the Article and in a brief conclusion, I explore the implications of the awkward interaction between bankruptcy and securities law. I begin by speculating about how bankruptcy courts will handle each of these issues if Congress does not alter the current rules. I then consider how Congress might intervene in these areas to address some of the problems that have arisen. I focus most extensively on the most complex of the issues, bankruptcy's special protections for derivatives and other financial contracts. After surveying possible alternatives to the existing framework, I propose and defend two strategies for reform: under the first and more novel, the stay would apply in cases involving systemically important firms but not in other cases; and the second would simply remove the existing exemptions, imposing the stay in all cases. I argue that the choice between the two approaches depends on the overall structure of financial services regulation.


Lymphocytic meningitis was originally described as an acute, self-limited, benign inflammation of the meninges. However, since the original presentation of this condition as a primary clinical syndrome by Wallgren, 1 in 1925, several interesting case reports have appeared in the literature which indicate that this may not always be an innocuous disease. The condition in Wallgren's cases was characterized by an acute onset, and the symptoms usually consisted of nausea, vomiting, slight elevation of temperature and evidences of meningeal irritation. The disease had a benign course, lasting about ten days. Recovery was complete, and there were no sequelae. Since the original account by Wallgren, the same syndrome has been described by numerous investigators. The clinical features of the illness have come to be well recognized, and, in addition, a virus has been isolated within the past few years which is considered to be the etiologic agent in at least one


A numerical model based on the critical-state approximation and on a magnetic-energy minimization procedure is presented to simulate the levitation of a system composed of two isolated infinitely long superconductors levitating over permanent-magnet guideways. Three different sets of magnetic guideways are simulated and compared with experimental tests of a linear superconducting magnetic bearing for a prototype of a real magnetic levitation vehicle. In spite of the complexity of the permanent-magnet guideway design, the model serves as a first approach to calculate the vertical levitation force of these superconducting bearings. The measured and calculated force results validate the model applied to study these systems, in addition to some limitations caused by simplifications considered in the theoretical model.


Introduction: Combined oral contraceptive (OC) use strongly and consistently reduces the risk for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC); longer durations of use and more recent use are associated with the strongest reductions in risk. However, it is unknown if exclusive OC use before the first birth is associated with a reduction in EOC risk many years later. Therefore, we investigated the risk for EOC among parous women associated with exclusive OC use before the first birth. Methods: From a population-based case-control study in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, 2001–2011, we included 1144 invasive EOC cases and 2513 controls who were >40 years at diagnosis/reference date. Participants reported OC use and all pregnancies via a telephone interview or self-administered questionnaire (in the early years of the study). Duration of OC use was evaluated as a continuous variable and by categories: non-users (never use or <6 months of use), <5, 5–<10, >10 years, unknown. Using logistic regression, we estimated adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), controlling for study site, age, parity, breastfeeding, first degree family history of breast/ovarian cancer, tubal ligation, and BMI. Results: OC use at any time during reproductive life was associated with a 42% reduced risk for EOC relative to non-users (aOR = 0.58, 95% CI, 0.49–0.69). Among parous women, each additional year of exclusive OC use before the first birth conferred an 11% risk reduction relative to non-users (aOR = 0.89 95% CI, 0.86–0.94, linear trend p-value <0.01). Results were similar when we restricted to cases with high grade serous cancers (aOR = 0.90 95% CI, 0.84–0.95, linear trend p-value <0.01) and for cases with endometrioid/clear cell cancer (aOR 0.88 95% CI, 0.80–0.95, linear trend p-value < 0.01). Discussion: Among parous women, exclusive use of OCs before the first birth was associated with a strong reduction in EOC risk many years later. Because OCs stop ovulation, this reduced risk may be due to a reduction in lifetime ovulatory cycles. However, it is also possible that OC use at younger ages, before the first birth, represents a window of opportunity to have a substantial impact on reducing risk that remains for many years, informing possible prevention strategies.


The thesis outlined in this report is a pre-feasibility study of the potential to use waste-to-energy technology in the region Kutai Kartanegara, Borneo, Indonesia. The project is a collaboration between the Kutai Kartanegara government, Uppsala University, the Swedish University of Agricultural sciences and the technology consulttancy Sweco.The current waste management system in Kutai Kartanegara consists of landfills in the cities and open burnings and dumping in the lesser developed sub-districts. This is a growing problem both environmentally and logistically. The electrification in the sub-districts is sometimes as low as 17 % and access to electricity is often limited to a couple of hours per day. The current electricity production in the region is mainly from fossil fuels.Data was collected during a two month long field study in Tenggarong, the capital of Kutai Kartanegara. From the collected data, various waste-to-energy systems and collection areas were simulated in Matlab. Results from the simulations show that a system using both a waste incineration and biogas plant would be the best solution for the region.The chosen system is designed to handle a total of 250,000 tons of waste annually, collected from Tenggarong and neighbouring districts. The system will provide between 155 and 200 GWh electricity and between 207 and 314 GWh of excess heat energy annually. Some of this is used in a district heating system with an absorption-cooling machine. The system investment cost is around 42.5 MUSD and it is expected to generate an annual profit of 16 MUSD. The recommended solution will decrease the emissions of CO2-equivalents compared to the current waste system and fossil electricity production with 50%. The results in the study clearly show that there are both economic and environmental potential for waste-to-energy technologies in the region. But the waste management and infrastructure has to be improved to be able to utilize these technologies.By implementing waste-to-energy technologies, the supplied waste can be seen as a resource instead of a problem. This would give incentives for further actions and investments regarding waste management.


We consider the following advertisement problem in online social networks (OSNs). Given a fixed advertisement investment, e.g., a number of free samples that can be given away to a small number of users, a company needs to determine the probability that users in the OSN will eventually purchase the product. In this paper, we model OSNs as scale-free graphs (either with or without high clustering coefficient). We employ various influence mechanisms that govern the influence spreading in such large-scale OSNs and use the local mean field (LMF) technique to analyze these online social networks wherein states of nodes can be changed by various influence mechanisms. We extend our model for advertising with multiple rating levels. Extensive simulations are carried out to validate our models, which can provide insight on designing efficient advertising strategies in online social networks.


Abstract Y2O3:Eu3+ phosphors were prepared by NH4HCO3 based precipitation method and C2H5NO2–nitrate solution combustion synthesis method respectively. The phosphors were systematically investigated by field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (XPS) and fluorescence spectrometer. Luminescent properties of Y2O3:Eu3+ phosphors synthesised by two different methods were also compared. The results show that Y2O3:Eu3+ phosphor prepared by precipitation technique is spherical with nanometre particle size from 55 to 60 nm, whereas the one synthesised by combustion technique exhibits extensive sheet porosity structure. X-ray diffraction spectra indicate that both of the samples have pure cubic phases and the crystallinity of phosphor synthesised by combustion technique is improved. The main emission peaks of Y2O3:Eu3+ phosphors at 613 nm are due to the 5D0–7F2 transition of Eu3+ ions, and phosphor obtained by precipitation method shows higher emission intensity. The results reveal that Y2O3:Eu3+ phosphor with spherical particle shape can exhibit good luminescent properties and morphology of Y2O3:Eu3+ phosphor is a more crucial factor than crystal structure to the enhanced luminescence.


This is a creative-critical discussion of my expatriate arts practice (literature and performance) using re/conceptualisations of the border as the underpinning framework. The Tahao Road ("Middle/Border Road") is a very busy road in my original home, Legazpi. The road cuts across the heart of the city. It was built in the late 90s (long after I left home) to relocate and ease the congested traffic from the old road. Using this as a metaphor for my "border practice" away from home and the national/ist imaginary, I will trace how the expatriate writer relocates "the traffic" of the imaginary from the nation to the transnation in order to help it survive between its new and old home. This survival strategy de-territorialises the sensibility but also renders it "suspect," in terms of loyalty and currency, to both sides of the border: Australia and the Philippines. More dangerously, it cuts/fragments the heart of the artist; the only way to "make whole" is to embody the border. To live the "Tahao Road," thus find a way back home.


Detailed and reliable information about the current traffic state is hardly obtainable by the road user. Therefore, we propose a web based visualization of the current and future traffic load of the autobahn network of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. This novel traffic information system called OLSIM is based on an efficient and highly realistic traffic flow model, which is fed by traffic data of 4,000 detecting devices across the road network every minute, and a graphical user interface which can be accessed at www.autobahn.nrw.de.


About the Authors. Preface. Acknowledgments. Introduction. Part I: Introduction. Chapter 1: Why Care About Database Security? Part II: Oracle. Chapter 2: The Oracle Architecture. Chapter 3: Attacking Oracle. Chapter 4: Oracle: Moving Further into the Network. Chapter 5: Securing Oracle. Part III: DB2. Chapter 6: IBM DB2 Universal Database. Chapter 7: DB2: Discovery, Attack, and Defense. Chapter 8: Attacking DB2. Chapter 9: Securing DB2. Part IV: Informix. Chapter 10: The Informix Architecture. Chapter 11: Informix: Discovery, Attack, and Defense. Chapter 12: Securing Informix. Part V: Sybase ASE. Chapter 13: Sybase Architecture. Chapter 14: Sybase: Discovery, Attack, and Defense. Chapter 15: Sybase: Moving Further into the Network. Chapter 16: Securing Sybase. Part VI: MySQL. Chapter 17: MySQL Architecture. Chapter 18: MySQL: Discovery, Attack, and Defense. Chapter 19: MySQL: Moving Further into the Network. Chapter 20: Securing MySQL. Part VII: SQL Server. Chapter 21: Microsoft SQL Server Architecture. Chapter 22: SQL Server: Exploitation, Attack, and Defense. Chapter 23: Securing SQL Server. Part VIII: PostgreSQL. Chapter 24: The PostgreSQL Architecture. Chapter 25: PostgreSQL: Discovery and Attack. Chapter 26: Securing PostgreSQL. Appendix A: Example C Code for a Time-Delay SQL Injection Harness. Appendix B: Dangerous Extended Stored Procedures. Appendix C: Oracle Default Usernames and Passwords. Index.


PURPOSE
To compare cell cycle kinetics in corneal endothelial cells from young and old donors.

METHODS
Human corneas were obtained from the eye bank and separated into two groups: young (19 corneas, <30 years of age) and old (40 corneas, >50 years of age). Corneas were cut in quarters, and the endothelium was released from contact inhibition by producing a 2-mm scrape wound. Unwounded endothelium acted as a negative control. Corneal pieces were exposed for 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, and 84 hours to medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum, 20 ng/ml fibroblast growth factor, and 50 mg/ml gentamicin or the same medium supplemented with 10 ng/ml epidermal growth factor (EGF). Tissue was fixed, immunostained for Ki67 (a marker for the late G1-through M-phase) or for 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU; a marker for the S-phase), and mounted in medium containing propidium iodide (PI) to visualize all nuclei. Confocal images were evaluated using an image analysis program to count Ki67-positive and PI-stained cells and to evaluate cell cycle position. Cells were counted in 15x100 microm2 areas randomly selected from each wound, and the mean was used for subsequent calculations.

RESULTS
Human corneal endothelial cells could be reliably scored for their position within the cell cycle using Ki67 staining patterns. In both age groups, cells repopulating the wound area stained positively for Ki67, whereas no Ki67 staining was observed in unwounded areas under any condition tested. Cells from old donors treated with fetal bovine serum and FGF stained positively for Ki67, indicating that these cells were actively cycling. Compared with cells from young donors, old cells entered the cell cycle more slowly (48 versus 36 hours), the peak of Ki67 staining occurred later (72 versus 60 hours), and fewer cells proliferated (23% versus 47%) or exhibited mitotic figures (4% versus 7%). Addition of EGF to the culture medium increased Ki67 staining in both groups, but the effect on old cells was more dramatic. More cells from old donors entered the cell cycle by 36 hours after wounding, the number of proliferating cells increased 1.6-fold, and the relative number of mitotic figures increased 2.5-fold over cells treated in the absence of EGF.

CONCLUSIONS
Regardless of donor age, corneal endothelial cells can enter and complete the cell cycle. In the presence of fetal bovine serum and FGF, cells from old donors can proliferate but respond more slowly and to a lesser extent than cells from young donors. EGF added to the medium stimulates cells from old donors to enter the cell cycle faster, increases the relative number of actively cycling cells, and increases the number of cells exhibiting mitotic figures. The resultant hypothesis is that it is possible to stimulate a significant proliferative response in corneal endothelial cells from old individuals. Administration of an optimal combination of stimulatory growth factors is required under conditions in which cells have been transiently released from contact inhibition.


Therapeutic effects of metronidazole (Flagyl), tinidazole (Tricolam 500) and chlorhydrate of quinacrine in a study of 106 children with symptomatic giardiasis are compared. To evaluate results, cure percentage, efficacy and presence of secondary effects were quantified. Tinidazole was demonstrated most effective drug (96% effective) when compared with quinacrine (83.3% effective) and metronidazole (70.2%) (p less than 0.05). Authors recommend following regime: tinidazole 50-75 mg/kg divided in 2-3 doses, one day; chlorhydrate of quinacrine 6 mg/kg/day divided in 3 doses, five days; metronidazole 15-20 mg/kg/day divided in 3 doses, seven to ten days.


Osteoporosis is a common condition in older people. This condition leads to increased risk of fractures and is associated with morbidity and mortality. The number of patients with osteoporosis will increase significantly in the years to come due to the increasing numbers of older people and increasing life expectancy. This will be accompanied by increasing demand for care and clinical practice will be faced with questions about therapeutic options and the optimal treatment duration for patients with osteoporosis or increased risk of fractures. In this educational article, we are using practical questions to provide an overview of pathophysiology, diagnostics and treatment of osteoporosis and increased risk of fractures.


We propose and experimentally demonstrate a hierarchical modulation scheme to improve power margin for orthogonal frequency division multiple access-passive optical networks (OFDMA-PONs). In a PON system, under the same launched optical power, optical network units (ONUs) have different power margins due to unequal distribution fiber lengths. The power margin of the PON system is determined by the ONU with the lowest power margin. In our proposed scheme, ONUs with long and short distribution fibers are grouped together, and downstream signals for the paired ONUs are mapped onto the same OFDM subcarriers using hierarchical modulation. In a pair of ONUs, part of the power margin of the ONU with short distribution fiber is re-allocated to the ONU with long distribution fiber. Therefore, the power margin of the ONU with the longest distribution fiber can be increased, leading to the power margin improvement of the PON system. Experimental results show that the hierarchical modulation scheme improves the power margin by 2.7 dB for an OFDMA-PON system, which can be used to support more users or extend transmission distance.


BACKGROUND
Chronic atrial fibrillation (CAF) is a serious condition with significant morbidity and mortality. The mainstay of drug therapy for the conversion of atrial fibrillation to sinus rhythm continues to be quinidine. The value and safety of intravenously (i.v.) administered amiodarone therapy vs quinidine sulfate therapy was compared in a cohort of patients with CAF of more than 3 weeks' duration.

OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the efficacy of i.v. administered amiodarone and oral quinidine sulfate containing 300 mg of quinidine in the conversion of CAF and to assess the effect of oral amiodarone in the conversion of CAF in the patients in whom CAF did not convert with IV amiodarone.

METHODS
Thirty-two patients with CAF of more than 3 weeks' duration were randomized to either i.v. amiodarone treatment or oral digoxin/quinidine treatment in a randomized unblinded single crossover study. The converters continued either oral amiodarone therapy or quinidine extended-action tablet (Quinidex) therapy.

RESULTS
Seventeen patients were randomized to the quinidine group and 15 patients to the amiodarone group. Nonconverters from the quinidine group crossed over to the amiodarone group. Amiodarone and quinidine were equally effective at 24 hours in converting CAF (eight [47%] of 17 patients in the quinidine group vs 12 [44%] of 27 patients in the amiodarone group; P, not significant). At 2 and 9 months of oral therapy, amiodarone was superior to quinidine in maintaining sinus rhythm. Only two of eight patients in the quinidine group tolerated the medication. All patients in the amiodarone group tolerated the medication. One additional patient converted to sinus rhythm at 2 months (13 [48%] of 27), and five more patients converted at 9 months (18 [67%] of 27). Amiodarone therapy and digoxin/quinidine therapy were equally effective at 48 hours in controlling ventricular response at rest.

CONCLUSIONS
During the first 48 hours of treatment, i.v. amiodarone and oral quinidine were equally effective in converting CAF to sinus rhythm. At 2 and 9 months of therapy, treatment with oral amiodarone was superior to that of quinidine in restoring sinus rhythm. Long-term treatment with oral amiodarone is better tolerated than with quinidine.


AIM
To investigate the long term effects of cardiac events on renal function, a prospective study of patients with acute myocardial infarction was conducted.

METHODS
A total of 137 patients with acute myocardial infarction were followed for 1 year. The change of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in cardiac patients was compared with that in background-matched controls, and the factors associated with eGFR changes were analyzed.

RESULTS
The eGFR decrease was much larger after myocardial infarction, from 73.7 ± 1.9 ml/min/1.73 m2 (mean ± SEM) at baseline to 64.7 ± 1.7 at 1 year, (p < 0.001), compared with that of controls (from 72.8 ± 1.2 to 72.1 ± 1.3, p = 0.305). Multiple regression analysis showed that eGFR change was associated negatively with age, baseline eGFR, proteinuria, and positively with the administration of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers, but not the severity of cardiac damage and comorbidities. Longitudinal analysis 1 year before and 2 years after myocardial infarction showed that eGFR decrease was larger during baseline and 6 months after the event (-7.0 ± 1.0).

CONCLUSIONS
Renal decline was rapid after myocardial infarction and was affected by clinical characteristics of patients. Careful follow-up of renal function is recommended to prevent the progression of renal and cardiac disease.


On average, 10.52% of the total population was found to fish for recreation across the industrialised world (N = 27 countries), amounting to an estimated 118 million (95% confidence interval 81–154 million) people in North America, Europe and Oceania. Participation rates declined with population density and gross domestic product, indicating a negative effect of urbanisation and post-modernisation on fishing interest. Participation rates also declined with increasing median age, average household size and unemployment rate, suggesting resource limitation to constrain participation in fishing. By contrast, two indicators of the cultural importance of fish (fish landings and per capita fish consumption) and an indicator of perceived need for leisure (weekly working hours) were positively correlated with fishing participation. Based on these findings, which explained 60% of the variance in fishing participation across the industrialised world, reduced fishing interest is to be expected with post-industrialisation. Dedicated management and marketing intervention is needed to reverse the track of diminishing fishing interest in industrialised countries. K E Y W O R D S : angler, demographics, socio-economic drivers, urbanisation, values, videophilia.


We discuss the implications of a recently proposed pattern of Lorentz symmetry violation on very high-energy cross sections. As a consequence of the breaking of local Lorentz invariance by the introduction of a fundamental length, $a$ , the kinematics is modified and the properties of final states are fundamentally different in collider-like (two incoming particles with equal, opposite momenta with respect to the vacuum rest frame) and fixed-target (one of the incoming particles at rest with respect to the vacuum rest frame) situations. In the first case, the properties of the allowed final states are similar to relativistic kinematics, as long as the relevant wave vectors are much smaller than the critical wave vector scale $a^{-1}$ . But, if one of the incoming particles is close to rest in the vacuum rest frame, energy conservation reduces the final-state phase space at very high energy and can lead to a sharp fall of cross sections starting at incoming-particle wave vectors well below the inverse of the fundamental length. Then, the Froissart bound may cease to be relevant, as total cross sections seem to become much smaller than it would be allowed by local, Lorentz-invariant, field theory. Important experimental implications of the new scenario are found for cosmic-ray astrophysics and for very high-energy cosmic rays reaching the earth.


Virtualization has become a mainstream technology that allows efficient and safe resource sharing in data centers. In this paper, we present a large scale workload characterization study of 90K virtual machines hosted on 8K physical servers, across several geographically distributed corporate data centers of a major service provider. The study focuses on 19 days of operation and focuses on the state of the practice, i.e., how virtual machines are deployed across different physical resources with an emphasis on processors and memory, focusing on resource sharing and usage of physical resources, virtual machine life cycles, and migration patterns and their frequencies. This paper illustrates that indeed there is a huge tendency in over-provisioning CPU and memory resources while certain virtualization features (e.g., migration and collocation) are used rather conservatively, showing that there is significant room for the development of policies that aim to reduce operational costs in data centers.


Based on the analysis of geometric errors of mechanism assembling, this paper applies the multi-body system kinematics theory in building the orientation error model of three-axis turntable induced by assembling errors. The results using the model could be easily applied in controlling turntable by error's compensation, and shows which assembling error item has the larger effect. Furthermore,referenced by the measuring means of three-axis turntable, this paper conceives the definitions of the volumetric and orientation accuracy aimed at the turntable system, enlightened from the conception of NC machine tool. This research may be helpful to the foundation of the systematic conception of the turntable accuracy no matter in theory or in measuring method.


In this paper, three different scale HA/PDLLA porous scaffolds, nano-HA/PDLLA, micro-HA/PDLLA and pure PDLLA were successfully fabricated using solvent casting/particulate leaching method. Chondrocytes adhesion and proliferation on these scaffolds were investigated. In detail, the cells attachment rate and proliferation on nano-HA/PDLLA, micro-HA/PDLLA and pure PDLLA were quantitatively evaluated by cytometry. The interaction between the scaffolds and chondrocytes were observed by optical microscope with HE staining and FE-SEM. The results exhibited that nano-HA/PDLLA scaffold has a modified cell adhesion property, and cells on the nano-scaffold grow much better both in biological and morphological characteristics than on the micro-HA/PDLLA and pure PDLLA scaffolds. This work suggested that nano-HA/PDLLA composite scaffold can significantly improved cell adhesion and proliferation tendency with the existing of nano-effects,and could be used as a potential scaffold material for bone defect repair.


Background and Purpose— Social problem-solving therapy shows promise as an intervention to improve the well-being of family caregivers. There is some evidence that training in problem solving may be effectively delivered by telephone. The purpose of this study was to quantify the impact of social problem-solving telephone partnerships on primary family caregiver outcomes after stroke survivors are discharged home from a rehabilitation facility. Methods— Using a randomized 3-group repeated-measures experimental design, 74 stroke survivors with an admitting diagnosis of ischemic stroke and their primary family caregivers were entered into the study. The intervention consisted of an initial 3-hour home visit between a trained nurse and the family caregiver within 1 week after discharge to begin problem-solving skill training. This initial session was followed by weekly (the first month) and biweekly (the second and third month) telephone contacts. Results— Compared with the sham intervention and control groups, family caregivers who participated in the social problem-solving telephone partnership intervention group had better problem-solving skills; greater caregiver preparedness; less depression; and significant improvement in measures of vitality, social functioning, mental health, and role limitations related to emotional problems. There were no significant differences among the groups in caregiver burden. Satisfaction with healthcare services decreased over time in the control group while remaining comparable in the intervention and sham intervention groups. Conclusion— These results indicate that problem-solving training may be useful for family caregivers of stroke survivors after discharge from rehabilitative facilities.


Anisotropic etching of silicon is of such fundamental importance in silicon micromachining that it has been studied and continues to be studied by many researchers. Yet, even with all the attention that it has received, there remain many difficulties, such as toxicity of the most commonly-used etchants. This work is an extensive experimental investigation of anisotropic etching of silicon in the relatively non-toxic tetra-methyl-ammonium hydroxide (TMAH). Using a temperature-controlled etch apparatus, basic etch rate experiments on both Sid and Sin confirm and extend previous literature results. Extensive underetch experiments shows that the TMAH is qualitatively similar to other more common etchants such as KOH and EDP, but has several quantitative differences. The underetched planes are found to be a sensitive function of etchant composition. Under certain etchant conditions, {110) planes are found to be planes that etch slower than expected. The evolution of hillocks on {100) etched surface is characterized, as a function of etchant parameters. Hillocks are found to occur only at TMAH concentrations less than 20 wt.%. Re-etch experiments show that hillock-producing conditions at the etched surface are disturbed if the etch is interrupted. The effect of externally applied stress on the etch rate is investigated and found to be not significant. However very subtle stress-induced features are observed. The use of TMAH in CMOS-compatible micromachining is explored in certain device geometries.


AIM
To investigate the formula of amino acid enriched BCAA on nutritional support in traumatic patients after operation.

METHODS
40 adult patients after moderate or large abdominal operations were enrolled in a prospective, randomly and single-blind-controlled study, and received total parenteral nutrition (TPN) with either formula of amino acid (AA group, 20 cases) or formula of amino acid enriched BCAA (BCAA group, 20 cases). From the second day after operation, total parenteral nutrition was infused to the patients in both groups with equal calorie and equal nitrogen by central or peripheral vein during more than 12 hours per day for 6 days. Meanwhile, nitrogen balance was assayed by collecting 24 hours urine for 6 days. The markers of protein metabolism were investigated such as amino acid patterns, levels of total protein, albumin, prealbumin, transferrin and fibronectin in serum.

RESULTS
The positive nitrogen balance in BCAA group occurred two days earlier than that in AA group. The serum levels of total protein and albumin in BCAA group were increased more obviously than that in AA group. The concentration of valine was notably increased and the concentration of arginine was markedly decreased in BCAA group after the formula of amino acids enriched BCAA transfusion.

CONCLUSION
The formula of amino acid enriched BCAA may normalize the levels of serum amino acids, reduce the proteolysis, increase the synthesis of protein, improve the nutritional status of traumatic patients after operation.


We describe a new method for identifying and characterizing the thermodynamic state of large samples of evolved galaxy groups at high redshifts using high-resolution, low-frequency radio surveys, such as those that will be carried out with LOFAR and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). We identify a sub-population of morphologically regular powerful (FRII) radio galaxies and demonstrate that, for this sub-population, the internal pressure of the radio lobes is a reliable tracer of the external intragroup/intracluster medium (ICM) pressure, and that the assumption of a universal pressure profile for relaxed groups enables the total mass and X-ray luminosity to be estimated. Using a sample of well-studied FRII radio galaxies, we demonstrate that our method enables the estimation of group/cluster X-ray luminosities over three orders of magnitude in luminosity to within a factor of ∼2 from low-frequency radio properties alone. Our method could provide a powerful new tool for building samples of thousands of evolved galaxy groups at z > 1 and characterizing their ICM.


The particle morphology and in vitro release of protein from porous and non-porous PCL-F127 blended microparticles were evaluated. The BSA loaded PCL microparticles were prepared by the w/o/o/o emulsion-solvent evaporation method. Two types of homogenizer, a Polytron® homogenizer and a probe ultrasonicator, were used to prepare the emulsion systems. The effects of solvent evaporation rate on the crystallinity and the performance of the microparticles were investigated. Both microparticles showed quite different shapes as well as surface morphology and release characteristics. The microparticles prepared with a Polytron® homogenizer were quite porous in structure, which created channels for protein to continuously diffuse out, and resulted in sustained- and controlled-release characteristics. In addition, the initial burst release of protein from the microparticles was also reduced. Alteration of the evaporation rate of solvent did not change the crystallinity of the final microparticles. An influence of evaporation rate on the size of resulting microparticles was observed. The porous PCL microparticles were developed by choosing a proper homogenizer and fabrication conditions. Carefully controlling these variables resulted in microparticles with desirable release performance.


This research investigated the influence of culture and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on global autobiographical remembering (Study 1a) and on the phenomenological properties (Study 1b) and memory-content variables (Study 1c) of trauma-specific autobiographical remembering. Australian, British, and Iranian trauma survivors with and without PTSD completed the Autobiographical Memory Test, Self-Defining Memory Task, and Autobiographical Memory Questionnaire and provided trauma- and negative-memory narratives. We found that there were pan-cultural deficits and distortions in the global autobiographical remembering of participants with PTSD (Study 1a). In addition, the presence of PTSD moderated the usual effect of culture on the phenomenological properties of the trauma memory (Study 1b). Finally, participants with PTSD, regardless of cultural background, had significantly fewer expressions of autonomy and self-determination in their autobiographical remembering than did those without PTSD (Study 1c). The findings suggest that pan-culturally, individuals with PTSD have similar disruptions and distortions in their autobiographical remembering.


Magnesium is one of the lightest structural metals have the capability to replace the conventional alloys for mass saving applications and provides higher strength and stiffness. Additionally, it also has the ability to absorb the hydrogen in the form of hydrides and can be used as a future source of energy carrier. The theoretical hydrogen capacity of 7.6 wt% makes it more suitable for future energy sources but needs to reduce the working sorption temperature. Moreover, magnesium is the primary source of the body and has strength equal to the bone, making it more suitable for biomedical applications and higher biocompatibility. Some challenges of magnesium-based metal matrix composites are still encountering structural applications, hydrogen energy storage, and biomedical applications due to manufacturing methodologies and proper materials selection to get required results.


To assure the quality of software by running test cases and evaluating the results is one of the difficult parts of the entire software development project. The difficulty usually comes from the lack of appropriate supporting tools and the complexity of the software. In the past ad hoc supporting tools were made for each project and test results were usually not used across projects. This conventional way of test and evaluation (T & E) is time consuming, and the most important decision "When is this software ready to ship?" is left to the engineers depending on his/her experience. Our objective is to build a knowledge-based T & E environment such that test cases, test results, object snapshots and other information are accumulated in a database. These longitudinal data can be automatically tracked and analyzed to provide decision support information. As a result, test results can be reviewed repeatedly and software quality can be assured by analyzing these data from various perspectives. We describe the details of object testing in our testing environment.


Beginning in the 1630s, colonial assemblies in English America and later the new United States used legislation and constitutions to enslave Africans and deny free blacks civil rights, including free movement, freedom of marriage, freedom of occupation and, of course, citizenship and the vote. Across the next two centuries, blacks and a minority of whites critiqued the oppressive racialist system. Blacks employed varied tactics to challenge their enslavement, from running away to inciting revolts. Others used fiery rhetoric and printed tracts. In the 1760s, when whites began to search for political and philosophical arguments to challenge what they perceived as political oppression from London, they labeled their experience as "slavery." The colonists also developed compelling arguments that gave some of them the insight that enslaving Africans was as wrong as what they called British oppression. The Massachusetts lawyer James Otis wiped the mirror clean in The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved, stating "The colonists, black and white . . . are free-born British subjects . . . entitled to all the essential civil rights." The Declaration of Independence polished the stained mirror by asserting, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." However, the Constitution of the United States negated these gains by offering federal protection for slavery; it was a covenant with death, as abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison later asserted. After the Revolution, many states passed black laws to deprive blacks of the same rights as whites. Blacks commonly could not vote, testify in court against a white, or serve on juries. States barred black children from public schools. The Civil War offered the promise of equality with whites, but when the war ended, many southern states immediately passed black codes to deny blacks the gains won in emancipation.


I examine how firms' global sourcing strategies aect their responses to economic crises such as the 2008-2009 recession. I model firms' entry, exit and sourcing decisions (integrated production or outsourcing) under demand uncertainty. Uncertainty increases the option value of waiting, resulting in less integration as well as less entry and exit. Additionally, I show that trade decisions of integrated firms are less sensitive to uncertainty shocks. I test these predictions using detailed U.S. firm level exports during 2002-2011 and find that integration reduces the probability that a firm exits by as much as 8%, while moving from 25th percentile in the uncertainty distribution to the 75th increases this probability by 7%.


ABSTRACT Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) activity developed against the major infected target cells of rickettsial infections, endothelial cells and macrophages. Spleen cells from mice immune to Rickettsia conorii exerted specific major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-matched CTL activity against R. conorii-infected SVEC-10 endothelial cells, with peak activity on day 10. Similarly, spleen cells from Rickettsia australis-immune mice exerted specific CTL activity against an R. australis-infected macrophage-like cell line. Gamma interferon (IFN-γ) gene knockout mice were more than 100-fold more susceptible to R. australis infection than wild-type C57BL/6 mice. MHC class I gene knockout mice were the most susceptible, more than 50,000-fold more susceptible to a lethal outcome of R. australis infection than wild-type C57BL/6 mice. These results indicate that CTL activity was more critical to recovery from rickettsial infection than were the effects of IFN-γ. The observation that perforin gene knockout mice were more than 100-fold more susceptible than wild-type C57BL/6 mice indicates that perforin-mediated activity accounts for a large component, but not all, of the CTL-mediated antirickettsial effect. CTL activity was expressed by immune CD8 T lymphocytes. Adoptive transfer of immune CD8 T lymphocytes from IFN-γ gene knockout mice intoR. australis-infected IFN-γ gene knockout mice dramatically reduced the infectious rickettsial content in the organs, confirming that CD8 T lymphocytes provide immunity against rickettsiae besides that provided by the secretion of IFN-γ. CTLs appear to be crucial to recovery from rickettsial infection.


This study investigated the relationship among type of school, academic resilience and academic achievement among secondary school students in Kiambu County, Kenya. A descriptive correlational design was used. A randomly selected sample of 390 students in the third year of secondary education was involved. The participants were drawn from four categories of secondary schools: Boys boarding, girls boarding, coeducational boarding and coeducational day. Data were collected using a demographic form and the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) resilience scale. A significant mean difference (F (3,386) = 9.39, p < .05) was reported in the academic resilience scores when type of school was considered. The difference was in favour of girls' boarding schools. The mean academic resilience and achievement for boys' boarding was found to be significantly lower than that of girls' boarding, boys' day, and mixed day secondary schools.  It was recommended that educational stakeholders should shift from considering type of school as being peripheral to academic outcomes and instead regard it as a key contributor to the educational outcomes of secondary school students.


Objectives. Risk perceptions are central to good health decisions. People can judge valid probabilities but use 50% disproportionately. The authors hypothesized that 50% is more likely than other responses to reflect not knowing the probability, especially among individuals with low education and numeracy, and evaluated the usefulness of eliciting "don't know" explanations. Methods. Respondents (n = 1020) judged probabilities for living or dying in the next 10 years, indicating whether they gave a good estimate or did not know the chances. They completed demographics, medical history, and numeracy questions. Results. Overall, 50% was more likely than other probabilities to be explained as "don't know" (v. "a good estimate"). Correlations of using 50% with low education and numeracy were mediated by expressing "don't know." Judged probabilities for survival and mortality explained as "don't know" had lower correlations with age, diseases, and specialist visits. Conclusions. When judging risks, 50% may reflect not knowing the probability, especially among individuals with low numeracy and education. Probabilities expressed as "don't know" are less valid. Eliciting uncertainty could benefit theoretical models and educational efforts.


Lusi is one of the big rivers of Serang Lusi Juana (Seluna) River System that contributes to flood event on the downstream part of the system. To cope with the flood problem occurred in Seluna River System. Kedungombo Dam has been constructed on the upstream part of Serang River. However, flood flow from Lusi River, which covers 2.100 km2 of catchment area, cannot be controlled. By calculating the Lusi River design flood discharge, the flood discharge contribution of Lusi River to the Seluna River System can be predicted. Design flood hydrograph of Lusi River is determined using the synthetic unit hydrograph approach due to inadequate data. The synthetic unit hydrograph of Gama I is used in this study. To distribute design daily rainfall into hourly rainfall units to be applied in flood hydrograph calculation, hypothetic rainfall distribution is used by employing the Alternating Block Method (ABM) and Tadashi Tanimoto methods for several floods returning period. Design flood discharge applied for the calculation is the results of the ABM Rainfall distribution based on the two-daily rainfall data. The results of design flood discharge under this method show 748m3/s for return period of 2 years, 1036m3/s for return period of 50 years, 1097 m3/s for return period of 100 years and 1158 m3/s for return period of 200 years. 96% of Lusi River design flood gives contribution to the Seluna River System which is approximately 1200m3/s gained from Q200 design flood discharge in Klambu barrage Key Words : Flood discharge, synthetic unit hydrograph, hypothetical rainfall distribution, design discharge.


Companies engaged in the field of services is the company that every operational activities within the company depends on the human resources of the company. The management of human resources service companies are vital by reason of it can affect the performance of the company as a whole. AN Tour & Travel is one of the service company in the field of tour operator. However, due to a less good leadership and compensation that can not meet the needs of employees, employees motivation level of AN Tour & Travel are decline. The purpose of this research is to determine the influence of leadership and compensation towards employee motivation of Public Department travel agencies AN Tour & Travel employees. This research type is explanatory research. The population in this study i.e., all employees of the Public Department of 44 employees. Sampling using the saturated samples which means the number of samples are every members of the population. The measurement scale using the scale Likert. Methods of analysis used is correlation test, determination of linear regression, simple, multiple linear regression, t-test and F-test with SPSS program version 23. Based on the results of the research it is known that partially, leadership and compensation has positive effect towards the employees motivation which is indicated with the value t calculate more than t table. Significantly, variable leadership and compensation has positive effect towards employee motivation indicated by the value of F test greater than F table. Advice that can be given, namely an increase in the ability of the leadership in providing instruction and leadership capabilities in providing the working motivation for employees. In addition the diversity of types of compensation and the amount of the compensation provided to employees needs to be supplemented in order to meet all the needs of the employees.


Low frequency plasma instabilities driven by plasma inhomogeneity and velocity anisotropies are major candidates for the explanation of various phenomena observed in fusion and space plasmas. For low-β fusion plasma, the influence of plasma rotation and finite ion temperature on the structure and the type of toroidal drift eigenmodes in tokamaks is investigated rigorously, including the effects induced by the toroidal geometry such as the coupling mode, the radial variation of plasma rotation velocity and the magnetic shear. The conditions at which global or propagating drift modes are formed and the analytical dispersion relations are obtained for various cases. For high-β space plasma, a unified theory of the mirror instability based on a quasi-hydrodynamic approach and a unified fully kinetic theory of the drift mirror instabilities have been developed. The obtained results are applicable for arbitrary distribution functions and can be used to determine whether mirror and drift mirror modes are stable or unstable in a multi-component plasma, including electron temperature effects and electron pressure anisotropies. A major outcome of the theory of drift mirror instabilities, is the prediction of a hydrodynamic drift mirror instability with threshold lower than the classic ion drift mirror instability.


Declining birth rates and an aging population will pose a challenge in sustaining economic growth in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, as in most provinces in Canada and OECD countries. Demographic challenges are particularly acute in rural regions. A vibrant and engaged rural youth populace is crucial for the transformation of the economy of the province as it moves forward. However, the fisheries collapse compounded with few economic opportunities in rural areas has resulted in a net out-migration of youth from rural areas. This has led to an unprecedented loss of local conservation and economic knowledge and potential, important for future development of these sectors.

Research has shown that youth place a high priority on protection of the environment and sustainable regional development. However, civic engagement among youth is at an all-time low while seniors in rural areas are becoming over-burdened with community-level duties. In the context of the social economy, especially within the conservation and resource management sectors local knowledge is crucial for sustainable future economic growth and to find new solutions for local environmental and economic problems that have roots in past actions and behaviours.

This report seeks to address the need for increased understanding of the interplays that exist between the engagement of rural youth, their relationship with and understanding of their local environment and how building more capacity and knowledge about their locales can increase the resilience of rural communities. The report provides a background on the state of youth, youth engagement and programs to increase youth engagement in general, and insights on increasing their involvement in environmental stewardship, conservation and the 'green economy'. Despite the proliferation of youth engagement programs at community organisation levels, there are very few examples of governments trying to effectively engage youth in determining their own futures. Furthermore, although much literature exists on the importance and benefits of intergenerational knowledge programs, few specific best practices were found to make a strong case for this practice. The report concludes with the acknowledgement that more detailed and long-term research needs to be undertaken on youth perceptions of environmental stewardship, linking intergenerational knowledge and increased community development.


INTRODUCTION In this chapter, we further develop the economic analysis of global warming, focusing our attention on the role played by terrestrial forests in moderating processes of global warming, on the one hand, and in affecting the level of the welfare of people in the society by providing a decent and cultured environment, on the other. As in the previous chapters, we are primarily concerned with examining those time patterns of economic development that are either dynamically optimum or sustainable with respect to both the atmospheric environment and the market economy. The analysis we have developed so far is already complicated enough that the introduction of another factor would make the problems extremely difficult to handle. Therefore, we would like to keep our discussion simple enough to derive relevant theoretical conclusions and policy proposals while still reflecting the crucial characteristics of global warming. To make the discussion as self-contained and heuristic as possible, we would like, at the risk of repetition, to describe the premises of the model in full detail and to explain each deductive step thoroughly. The analysis of the simple, dynamic model of global warming introduced in this chapter leads us to those institutional arrangements and policy measures that are effective in stabilizing the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases with minimal governmental intervention into private economic activities. Our analysis will guarantee that the allocation of scarce resources, including the global atmosphere and terrestrial forests, will be sustainable in the sense precisely defined in Chapter 5 without unduly hindering economic progress in the developing countries.


Background: Acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrom e (ARDS) are the leading causes of death after lungresection. Neutrophil elastase is thought to be an important mediator in the pathogenesis of ALI. Sivelestat is a new neutrophil elastase inhibitor which may improve the outcome in patients with ALI/ARDS after lung resection. The objective of this study was to determine whether or not sivelestat can reduce mortality in pa- tients with ALI after pulmonary resection for lung cancer. Methods: This study was a retrospective case-control study of twenty three patients who developed ALI/ARDS within seven days of lung resection for lung cancer. The control group (n = 12) received standard care, while the sivelestat group (n = 11) received a continuous infusion of siv elestat (0.2 mg/kg/hr) for seven days in addition to standard care. Results: There was no significant difference in the baseline characteristics between the control and sivelestat groups, except for heart rate. Six of twelve patients (50%) in the control group survived, while seven of twelve pa- tients (64%) survived in the sivelestat group (p = 0.34). There was also no significant difference between the two groups in the progression to ARDS. In the sivelelestat group, survivors had lower APACHE II and SOFA scores than the patients in the control group. Conclusions: There was no additional effect of a neutrophil elastase inhibitor in the treatment of ALI after pul- monary resection for lung cancer.


This article begins by suggesting a wider or more formal understanding of the movement known as ressourcement. After engaging a recent volume of essays on retrieval, the article takes up the work of one contemporary and one bygone theologian in order to highlight how their work embodies the call for a broader understanding of returning to the sources. It then uses Johann Adam Möhler's reading of Anselm and later medieval theology as exemplary of this call.


Graph queries on large networks leverage the stored graph properties to provide faster results. Since real-world graphs are mostly dynamic, i.e., the graph topology changes over time, the corresponding graph attributes also change over time. In certain situations, recompiling or updating earlier properties is necessary to maintain the accuracy of a response to a graph query. Here, we first propose a generic framework for developing parallel algorithms to update graph properties on large dynamic networks. We use our framework to develop algorithms for updating Single Source Shortest Path (SSSP) and Vertex Color. Then we propose applications of the developed algorithms in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) based delivery systems under time-varying dynamics. Finally, we implement our SSSP and vertex color update algorithms for Nvidia GPU architecture and show empirically that the developed algorithms can update properties in large dynamic networks faster than the state-of-the-art techniques.


Africa's financial systems face challenges across many dimensions, as discussed in the report financing Africa: through the crisis and beyond. The analysis in that report was based partly on several detailed background papers that are included in this volume. The next six chapters are written by experts in their respective areas and provide an in-depth analysis of these challenges and present possible solutions. In this introduction, the authors provide an overview of the different chapters and how they are related to each other and the main volume. The three chapters in first part focus on key challenges concerned with access to financial services, including financial and operational deficiencies in the microfinance market, reaping the benefits from the technological revolution of retail banking, and deepening and broadening agricultural finance across Africa. The three chapters thus each cover different aspects with a different focus, ranging from an institutional approach to a focus on innovation as a driver of financial broadening to an important element of financial infrastructure to a specific sector. The second part includes the fourth chapter, it involves documents the sizable need for additional housing in many African countries, based on these countries' continuous population growth and an ongoing urbanization trend. The third part includes fifth chapter, which discuss the repercussions of regulatory reforms in Europe and North America for African regulators as well as local challenges. The fourth part includes the sixth chapter, which is the final chapter of this volume. It discusses the politics of financial sector reform in Africa and, more specifically, the space needed for an activist role for government to help create the markets and coordination mechanisms necessary for financial markets to deepen and broaden.


A huge amount of data concerning the position of individual is often gathered in surveillance scenarios, to prevent crimes or to collect evidence of unlawful behaviour. Given the abundance of data available, detectives need advanced analysis means in order to set apart the interesting locations. This paper proposes a solution that makes use of radial basis neural networks to find the points of interests, i.e. Locations that have been used for meeting, for surveilled people whose paths have been traced. In our solution newly gathered data will be analysed in order to find points of interest, and will also be given to our neural network for further training. Our results show that the proposed approach is accurate enough and can improve the unaided search for meeting points between observed individuals.


Background:
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Clinical guidelines, based on the results of randomised controlled trials, state that effective secondary prevention therapies should be prescribed following a diagnosis of particular CVD unless there are contraindications. Although evidence shows that use of evidence based pharmacotherapies after diagnosis of CVD reduces mortality and disease progression, many inequalities exist in prescribing practice. Many studies have documented that women and the elderly are less likely to receive evidence based therapies than men and the young, respectively. Greater socioeconomic deprivation has also been shown to be associated with lower rates of prescribing of therapies. However, prior studies have all focussed on one particular CVD or failed to adjust for confounders. Also, few studies have examined trends in the prescribing of evidence based pharmacotherapies over time and documented whether prescribing inequalities are static, narrowing or widening. This project aims to describe the pharmacotherapy received by patients with CVD in Scotland, and to describe the factors associated with prescribing of evidence based pharmacotherapy.

Methods:
In this retrospective cohort study I examined a linked database of primary care records (Continuous Morbidity Records) and secondary care records (Scottish Morbidity Records) covering 238064 individuals in Scotland (approximately 6% of the total population) from 1997 to 2005. Patients with a first diagnosis (defined as a first hospitalisation or first recording of the diagnosis in primary or secondary care) of myocardial infarction (MI), angina, and peripheral arterial disease (PAD) were identified. Patients who died within the first 30 days of diagnosis/first hospitalisation were excluded from further analysis. Data on prescribing of evidence based therapies (angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI)/angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), β-blockers, statins and antiplatelet agents [aspirin or clopidogrel]) within 30 days of diagnosis was obtained from primary care database records. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted to examine the association between prescribing of evidence based pharmacotherapies and age, sex, socioeconomic status, comorbidities and year of diagnosis.

Results:
Between 1997 and 2005, 4305 (83.4%) patients with a first diagnosis of MI, 7210 (98.6%) with angina, and 3385 (95.8%) with PAD had survived to 30 days after their first diagnosis.
Increasing age was associated with lower odds of being prescribed evidence based therapies. This association persisted after adjustment for sex, socioeconomic status, year of diagnosis, and comorbidities. In general, older patients ≥ 85 were significantly less commonly prescribed evidence based therapy (EBTs), however they were significantly prescribed nitrates (OR 1.29; 95% CI 1.05-1.59, P<0.01) for angina.
Generally men were more likely to be prescribed evidence based therapies than women. After adjustment, prescribing of evidence based therapies was significantly higher in men with a MI for β-blockers (OR 1.18; 95% CI1.04-1.33, P< 0.01), ACEI/ARBs (OR1.26; 95% CI1.05-1.47, P< 0.01) in angina, and statins in men (OR 1.39; 95% CI1.01-1.93, P< 0.04) with PAD and coronary heart disease (CHD). In contrast, men diagnosed with isolated PAD were significantly less commonly prescribed statins than women (OR 0.73; 95% CI0.59-0.91, P< 0.004).
Prescribing of evidence based therapies varied negligibly between the most deprived and least deprived patients. These minor differences disappeared after adjustment except for β-blockers which were significantly less likely to be prescribed for patients who had been diagnosed with angina and were residing in quintile 9 compared to the least deprived area (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.58-1.00, p= 0.05).
Prescribing of evidence based therapies increased between 1997 and 2005, particularly for ACEIs/ARBs, β-blockers, statins and antiplatelet agents.
Generally the presence of comorbidities was associated with lower odds of being prescribed evidence based therapies.
When comparing prescribing rates between the different diagnoses, patients with a first MI were more likely to be prescribed ACEI/ARBs, β-blockers, statins, aspirin and clopidogrel compared to angina. All evidence based therapies were less likely to be prescribed for those with PAD compared to patients with a MI or angina.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, I have shown that prescribing of evidence based therapies has improved over time, though rates remain low. Prescribing evidence based therapies is inequitable, though not always significant, for age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Concomitant disease decreased the odds of being prescribed evidence based therapies. More studies are needed to identify the reasons for the prescribing inequalities and low rates observed. Further studies are needed to examine the existence of other inequalities in using evidence based therapies such as dosing and to find strategies to improve prescribing rates.


Recent advancements in solar technology offer an enormous opportunity for the people of Pacific Islands to use electricity from the off-grid solar system for both their energy needs and farming activities. However, a farm's productivity and animal health might be seriously threatened if it experiences stray voltages caused by the improper grounding of its installed electrical systems. As a shift in the neutral point of an electrical system creates a current flow to the ground through conducting elements, the impacts of stray voltages need to be addressed from both technical and economic viewpoints. In this research, the effects of stray voltages passing through animals are explored using circuit designs for solar sources considering variable grounding resistances due to the different body resistances of various types of animals, and environmental and grounding design issues. A comparison of the stray voltages of two different sources (off-grid solar and traditional grid) with various configurations are conducted to determine their effects on a farm. Finally, their economic impacts together with possible techniques for mitigating them are explained.


With the rapid development of manufacturing technology, high speed, high efficiency and high performance have been the characteristics of metal cutting. And cutting technology has been faced with a lot of opportunities and challenges. But at the same time, cutting parameter optimization has gradually been one of the most outstanding bottle-necks that restrict the rapid enhancement of cutting technology. Since the essences of cutting process, such as cutting force and temperature, are invariable, force and heat constraint are performed here to optimize milling parameters of titanium alloy. Influences of cutting edge strength and cutting temperature on milling parameters are analyzed. Finally, feasible region of milling parameters are obtained.


Method: A total of 200 ping-pong players definitely diagnosed as lumbar disk hernia were enrolled. All patients were randomized into research group and control group. Of those, 100 patients of the control group were subjected to traction therapy while the other 100 of the research group underwent Tuina treatment.US Biodex System III Multi-joint Isokinetic Speed Test System and TeleMyo2400T Surface EMG were applied to detect the biomechanical characteristics of lumbar extensor before and after therapy, thus comparing the therapeutic efficacy between both groups. Results: Results showed that the total therapeutic efficacy of the research group (96.00%) was significantly higher than that of the control group (81.00%) (P < 0.05). And the peak torque of the patients in research group was markedly superior than that of the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Application of Tuina therapy on the patients with lumbar disk hernia could yield significant results.


Jatropha curcas L. is a multipurpose shrub with a variety of applications and enormous economic potentials for its seed oil, which can be converted into biodiesel- an alternative to petro-diesel. It aims to overcome energy crisis problem and also to reduce environmental changes. The fact that the oil of J. curcas cannot be used for nutritional purposes without detoxification makes its use as an energy source for fuel production very attractive. The present study deals with oil extraction by various methods and its physico-chemical analysis. In this study, extraction of Jatropha oil from seeds was optimized using organic solvents. The effects of parameters on the oil extraction namely type of organic solvents and different techniques were also investigated to optimize the processing conditions for achieving maximum oil yield. The acid value and antioxidant property of the oil were also investigated. The maximum oil yield was obtained by using Soxhlet extraction method and hexane as a solvent. Petroleum ether was found to be the best solvent; though its yield is lesser when compared with hexane and isopropanol. This is because it gives pure and colorless oil, whereas hexane gives faint yellow color oil. The acid value of oil was found to be 2.24 ± 0.01 mg KOH/g. The scavenging activity of leaf and oil extract was found to be 29.92 ± 4.72 and 19.94 ± 1.39%, respectively. The oil can also be used as a source of antioxidants. Key words : Biodiesel fuel, oil, Soxhlet extraction, antioxidants.


Despite the widespread use of in-stream structures in stream restoration projects to enhance the quality of physical habitat, it is only recently that the hydraulics of these structures have been studied in detail, typically using simplistic geometries in laboratory experiments. The objective of this study is to examine hydraulics around complex flow deflectors using a combination of laboratory, field and three-dimensional (3D) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approaches. In the laboratory, Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) measurements revealed that flow overtopping the structure modifies the scour zone and bed shear stress pattern compared to a greater structure height. In the field, a 3D CFD model, which was calibrated at low flow using ADV and Particle Image Velocimetry measurements, was used to investigate both low and high flow (overtopping) conditions. A complex 3D pattern in the recirculation zones downstream of the deflectors is observed in the overtopping simulations, highlighting the limits of habitat structure studies based on depth-averaged (2D) models. The comparison with laboratory data is complicated by the fact that a dug pool was used in the field, which does not correspond to the position of the pools that developed near deflectors over a mobile bed in the laboratory. As natural rivers exhibit a wide range of discharges with various overtopping ratios, it is essential to pursue work using 3D CFD to test how different deflector height, length and angle designs affect the position and dimension of scour zones and the long-term viability of fish-habitat restoration projects.


This article explores virtual common singing in the time of partial lockdown in Denmark through an auto-ethnographic account The phenomenon of singing together on Danish public service television gained immense popularity as a response to the pandemic as one-fifth of the population tuned in, in many cases broadcasting themselves while signing Looking at common singing as an emergent 'infrastructure for troubling times', this article takes up questions of digitally mediated intimacy during the COVID-19 lockdown, exploring who sings, what is sung, and the affective responses (tears, feelings of intimacy, ambivalence) to the singing More than merely reviving vernacular singing traditions, the article argues, this new-found sonic comradery forms not only an affective infrastructure that moves people to tears but also somatic building blocks for national imageries © Berghahn Books and the Association for Anthropology in Action


The structure of gas blower group is complex. There are many types of fault and many fault are hidden, such as axial channeling move, rotor rubbing, resonance of sliding bearing oil film, gear fault , unbalanced, misalignment .etc. The happening of these kind of fault, will affect seriously the efficiency and safety of operation of the gas blower, leading to the paralysis of the production system. Therefore, it is necessary to design an On-line fault intelligent monitoring diagnosis system for gas blower group as soon as possible. When on-line monitoring , at the same time ,the computer in the background online real-time analysis all kinds of dynamic vibration signal automatically, discriminate the operating status of these blower group, depend on consequence of all kinds of analysis , by intelligent reasoning, online real-time display fault type, the cause, site and severity. Can also be offline man-machine interactive for intelligent diagnosis precision.


This study presents petrologic, chemical, geochronological and isotopic data, as well as petrogenetic interpretations about a unique subvolcanic locality in southern Mexico that contains deep-seated xenoliths and xenocrysts (igneous and metamorphic), albeit affected by extreme pyrometamorphism during rapid ascent in a composite andesitic dike. The intrusion has a K-Ar age of 29.2 ± 0.3 Ma on volcanic matrix and 30.5 ± 0.6 Ma on hornblende xenocrysts,and it is part of an arc-related regional magmatic event in southern Mexico. This magma at Puente Negro intruded quartzo-feldspathic gneisses and micaceous schists of the Paleozoic Acatlan Complex. Xenoliths consist of high-grade garnet-bearing gneisses, aluminous metapelites, impure quartzites, and abundant hornblende-rich gabbroic rocks. Garnet, corundum (including purple-blue sapphire), spinel, and aluminous orthopyroxene constitute the main types of deep-seated xenocrysts derived from disaggregation of metamorphic rocks in the andesite. Low pressure assemblages with tridymite, spinel, Al-silicates (mullite and sillimanite), two pyroxenes, Fe-Ti oxides, and high-silica anatectic glasses indicate peak temperatures of pyrometamorphism above 1100 oC. Decompression coronas of spinel-plagioclase-orthopyroxene ± corundum ± glass about polyphase garnet porphyroblasts in plagioclase-orthopyroxene-spinel restitic gneisses, Al-rich orthopyroxene coring Al-poor orthopyroxene xenocrysts, spinel-plagioclase-corundum xenocrystic pseudomorphs probably after garnet, and local preservation of orthopyroxene-sillimanite and garnet-hypersthene-spinel-quartz assemblages strongly support interaction of original basaltic magmas with the lower crust. Aluminum in orthopyroxene (up to 11.6 Al2O3 wt. %) coexisting with spinel, ilmenite-magnetite pairs, and Fe/Mg partitioning between orthopyroxene and spinel in garnet coronas yield decompression metamorphic temperatures around 990 oC, whereas coexisting hornblende-plagioclase and two pyroxenes in gabbroic xenoliths yield magmatic temperatures of 800 to 950 oC. The first basaltic hydrous magma represented by the gabbroic xenoliths differentiated in a magmatic chamber in the middle crust at 4–6 kbar based on Al-in-hornblende barometry. The subsequent injection of this partially to totally crystallized magma chamber by a new basaltic batch apparently caused disaggregation of the hornblende-rich rocks and transported the xenolith-xenocryst load to the surface. Based on major and trace elements and Sr, Pb, and Nd isotope data, we conclude that the Puente Negro "andesite" was the end product of a mantle-derived, relatively long-lived plumbing system of original basaltic composition that in the early Oligocene (29–30 Ma) interacted with the continental crust at lower, middle and shallow levels, which are represented, respectively, by xenoliths of granulite facies quartzites and metapelites, mafic and ultramafic gabbroic rocks, and sanidinite facies quartzo-feldspathic buchites.


The article discusses the conceptual and methodological challenges of comparative economic history, focusing on recent debates concerning alternative pathways of development in Europe and Asia, the agricultural systems of early modern England and the lower Yangzi region in China, and the historical demography of Eurasia. The article concludes that such debates support the perspective that there is substantial path dependency and contingency in economic history and that alternative development paths can be discerned across and within Europe and Asia.


Most of those whose contributions to the development of southern African archaeology in the nineteenth century have been valued by later archaeologists, seem to have come from privileged social backgrounds that allowed them ready access to international learned societies, museums and publications. Andrew Anderson, a polymath but someone of comparatively little education or social standing, has been largely written out of these narratives. Combining previously published sources with new information obtained during work on the southern African collections of the British Museum, this paper first constructs Anderson's biography. It then examines his interests in Stone Age archaeology, rock art and the monuments of the Zimbabwe Tradition, assessing his knowledge and observations within the context of his time, before considering why he has largely escaped the attention of later archaeologists. To cite this paper: Mitchell, P. 2001. Andrew Anderson and the nineteenth century origins of southern African archaeology . Southern African Humanities 13 : 37-60.


This collection offers an intriguing cross-section of case studies relating to what could be called, 'the performance of being'. The editors, Rune Gade and Anne Jerslev, see performativity as a useful lens through which to view and explain current developments in a broader cultural sense, as well as within the art world. Most of the nine contributors are affiliated with the University of Copenhagen, which established the Museum Tusculanum Press, and the fields covered include; theatre, documentary film, photo books, literature, performance art, installation, and live action role-playing (LARP). Gade and Jerslev cite the title of Jon McKenzie's book Perform or Else (2001), as indicative of the way in which performance has become a social and cultural mandate from which it is increasingly difficult to secede. As a result, while the concept of 'freedom of choice' – in terms of the construction of identity – is a misnomer, Gade and Jerslev suggest that that the field of aesthetics is a site where resistance to the pressure to perform/conform can be explored. Setting out the discourses to which this volume responds, they see J.L. Austin's influential book 'How to Do Things With Words' as the inception point of performative theory, recognising its impact on arts and cultural studies as well as other disciplines. The rise of performance studies, while not necessarily congruous with the linguistic associations of performative theory, does share its engagement with real actions and the 'reality' of everyday life and social worlds. Hence, the crux of the books enquiry is 'reality' and how it 'is produced and mediated within various contexts' (10), which clarifies the book's paradoxical title. In the chapters that follow, debates around authenticity, live presence and documentation are considered, and the perceptively challenging work discussed in this volume offers an insightful contribution to these ongoing discourses.


The vascular anatomy of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) is highly variable. In respect to the neurovascular relationship in the internal auditory canal (IAC), the AICA is intimately related with vestibulocochlear and facial nerve. Vascular loop of AICA, especially located in the IAC, is rare. This vascular loop of the IAC may result in the compression over the vestibulocochlear nerve. Microvascular compression of the eighth cranial nerve is an important cause for disabling tinnitus, vertigo, and hearing loss. Disabling tinnitus and vertigo due to intrameatal vascular loop of AICA compression, the vestibulocochlear nerve can be treated with help of drilling the internal acoustic meatus and separate the vascular loop from the vestibulocochlear nerve. The intrameatal AICA and vestibulocochlear nerve conflict produce specific pathological features and their surgical treatment is also invariably challenging. Decompression of the vestibulocochlear nerve by the opening of the IAC and transposition of the AICA is thought to be an effective treatment modality for radiologically confirmed cases with clinical presentations of unilateral sensorineural hearing loss and pulsatile tinnitus. The aim of this review article is to describe the details of vascular anatomy, etiopathology, clinical presentations, diagnosis, neurophysiology, and current treatment of the vascular loop of AICA in IAC which often pose challenge to the clinicians.


This market-leading textbook provides just the "right amount" of maternity and pediatric content in an easy-to-understand manner. Divided into two sections, the first part of the book includes 28 chapters on maternity nursing and the second part contains 27 chapters covering pediatric nursing. Numerous illustrations, photos, boxes, and tables clarify key content and help you quickly find essential information. And because it's written by market-leading experts in maternity and pediatric nursing, you can be sure you're getting the accurate, practical information you need to succeed in the classroom, the clinical setting, and on the NCLEXВ® examination. UNIQUE! Nursing Alerts point out critical information to consider when caring for patients. UNIQUE! Guidelines boxes outline instructions for skills or procedures in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step format. UNIQUE! Emergency boxes offer quick reference to emergency procedures for critical maternity and pediatric emergencies. UNIQUE! Home Care boxes offer helpful guidelines for delivering effective care in the home environment. UNIQUE! Atraumatic Care boxes in the pediatric section illustrate how to provide competent nursing care without creating undue physical or psychological stress for pediatric patients, families, and nurses. UNIQUE! Community Focus boxes examine community issues and provide resources and guidance on caring for families outside the clinical setting. UNIQUE! Cultural Awareness boxes address culturally competent care for patients with a variety of customs and beliefs. UNIQUE! Family-Centered Care boxes discuss the family's role and needs in caring for the patient. UNIQUE! Nursing Process boxes offer quick access to nursing process information for major diseases and conditions. Critical Thinking Exercises provide case scenarios to promote sound clinical decision making. Nursing Care Plans include rationales for interventions and provide specific guidelines for delivering effective nursing care. Patient Teaching boxes highlight important information for communicating continuing care instructions to patients and families. New and consolidated content on pain assessment and management focuses on this key aspect of pediatric nursing. Updated content on evidence-based practice illustrates how current research can be used to improve patient outcomes. The latest information in the field is included throughout, including expanded coverage of the late preterm infant and fetal heart rate pattern identification.


Many selection processes such as finding patients qualifying for a medical trial or retrieval pipelines in search engines consist of multiple stages, where an initial screening stage focuses the resources on shortlisting the most promising candidates. In this paper, we investigate what guarantees a screening classifier can provide, independently of whether it is constructed manually or trained. We find that current solutions do not enjoy distribution-free theoretical guarantees -- we show that, in general, even for a perfectly calibrated classifier, there always exist specific pools of candidates for which its shortlist is suboptimal. Then, we develop a distribution-free screening algorithm -- called Calibrated Subset Selection (CSS) -- that, given any classifier and some amount of calibration data, finds near-optimal shortlists of candidates that contain a desired number of qualified candidates in expectation. Moreover, we show that a variant of CSS that calibrates a given classifier multiple times across specific groups can create shortlists with provable diversity guarantees. Experiments on US Census survey data validate our theoretical results and show that the shortlists provided by our algorithm are superior to those provided by several competitive baselines.


This article examines the main aspects of the UKs foreign and security policy across the 2005–2010 Parliament. It begins by discussing the highpoint of foreign policy during the period, and goes on to consider the evolution of the UKs foreign policy doctrine, looking in particular at whether Brown established a world view that was distinctive from his predecessor. The analysis then turns to the key foreign policy actors in the period and in particular the extent to which changes of foreign secretary impacted on the UKs foreign and security policy. The article assesses the foreign and security policy issues that predominated from after the 2005 General Election, through Browns anointment as Prime Minister in 2007 and until the 2010 General Election. The final part of the article considers the minimal role that foreign policy played in the 2010 General Election campaign. There was a considerable convergence of views between each of the three main political parties in their foreign policy platforms. Labour faced criticism for its resourcing of the war in Afghanistan, rather than objection to continuing engagement. The renewal of the Trident weapons system was one of the few substantive issues dividing the Conservatives and Labour from the Liberal Democrats.


PURPOSE
We investigate the impact of a treatment couch and its modeling in a treatment planning system on accurate dose delivery in Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT).

METHODS
A cone-beam CT of a Varian couch on a Varian Clinac 21EX unit, consisting of a carbon-fiber imaging couch top and supporting rails, was acquired, and a couch model was created in Philips Pinnacle 9.0 TPS based on the geometry of the couch top and the rails. The densities of the modeled couch top and the rails were based on the Hounsfield Unit and CT number-to-density information obtained from the CBCT scan. The densities were then adjusted based on the ion chamber measurements of a beam transmitting through the couch posteriorly at different gantry angles varying 1-5 degrees. SmartArc VMAT plans for patient treatment with and without the modeled couch were then generated and dose distributions were verified using the IBA MatriXX 2D ion chamber array.

RESULTS
We found that depending on the gantry angle the beam can be attenuated by up to 17% when going through the supporting rails, and up to 5% when passing through the couch top. Because of this, dose distributions of SmartArc plans were not accurate and did not pass the dose verification criteria without accurate modeling of the treatment couch. Adding the couch model remedies this problem and avoids underdosing the target.

CONCLUSIONS
We showed that the impact of a treatment couch in radiation therapy can be significant, and it is essential to include an accurate model of the couch in the treatment planning system, particularly for SmartArc VMAT plans in Philips Pinnacle TPS.


. We have been conducting pathological diagnosis of routine cases in the Federated States of Micronesia by telepathology since 2018, using realtime screen sharing via the Internet with Japan. The number of cases covered in the last three years was 378, and by specimen type, gynecologic specimens were the most common, followed by oral cavity / ENT, skin, and mammary gland. Thirty four out of 60 oral cavity cases were diagnosed as malignant including suspicious. The turnaround time between submission of the specimen and the report of pathological diagnosis was markedly decreased. For the continuous development of global telepathology, it is necessary not only to build a system but also to recruit or train those who perform it.