In the period from May through June 1994, an increase in the number of domestic cases of Shigella sonnei infection was detected in several European countries, including Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In all three countries epidemiological evidence incriminated imported iceberg lettuce of Spanish origin as the vehicle of transmission. The outbreaks shared a number of common features: a predominance of adults among the case patients, the presence of double infections with other enteropathogens, and the finding of two dominant phage types among the bacterial isolates. In Norway 110 culture-confirmed cases of infection were recorded; more than two-thirds (73%) were adults aged 30 to 60 years. A nationwide case-control study comprising 47 case patients and 155 matched control individuals showed that the consumption of imported iceberg lettuce was independently associated with an increased risk of shigellosis. Epidemiological investigation of a local outbreak incriminated iceberg lettuce from Spain, consumed from a salad bar, as the source. The presence of shigellae in the suspected food source could not be documented retrospectively. However, high numbers of fecal coliforms were detected in iceberg lettuce from patients' homes. Three lettuce specimens yielded salmonellae. The imported iceberg lettuce harbored Escherichia coli strains showing resistance to several antimicrobial agents, including ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. During the outbreak it is likely that thousands of Norwegians and an unknown number of consumers in other countries were exposed to coliforms containing antibiotic resistance genes.


Introduction: Cataract is a common disease across the world and the most common cause of vision loss and blindness. Several factors contribute to the disease, the most important of which is aging. Other contributors include sex, smoking, sunlight, place of residence, family, job, and systemic disease. This study was aimed to enquire into the epidemiology of cataract cases referred to Noor Ophthalmology Clinic of Birjand from March 2015 to February 2016. Methods: In this descriptive and cross-sectional study, the patients with cataract admitted to Noor Ophthalmology Clinic in Birjand from March 2015 to February 2016, who were available, were selected. A total of 386 patients were selected. Information was collected by a checklist concerning variables such as age, sex, smoking history, diabetes, location, separate left and right eye, family, job, and cataract diagnosis. Their records were collected, and the obtained data were analyzed by SPSS software (V: 16). The significant level was set at P<0.05. Results: The majority of the 386 cases under study were women (56.5%). The mean age of patients was 67.4±2.9 years. Cataract was more commonly seen in the right eye, diabetes (13.50%), hypertension (21.1%), and urban (31.9%) and rural (68.1%) areas. The prevalent cataract types were respectively nuclear cataract, cortical cataract, and sub-capsular


Investigation of a single-offset-duct system designed to prevent entrance of water into a turbojet engine was conducted on a half-scale nacelle model. An investigation was made to determine ram-pressure recovery and radial velocity profiles at the compressor section and icing characteristics of such a duct system. At a design inlet velocity of 0.77, the maximum ram-pressure recovery attained with effective water-separating inlet was 77 percent, which is considerably less than attainable with a direct-ram inlet. Continuous heating of the accessory-housing surface would be required for inlets that have a small ice storage space.


In this paper, simulation experiments with different control laws are given, based on a new approach to solving the control tasks for robots in contact with the environment. The comparison of these control laws with the improved versions of the traditional hybrid control are also analyzed. The simulation experiments performed on a real-scale six-degrees-of-freedom industrial robot demonstrate the advantage of the new control concept and improved performances of the robot interacting with a dynamic environment. The tests conducted on industrial robot Manutec r3 are also presented. >


The next phase of health-care reform will accelerate the formation of integrated delivery systems and the creation of value and savings through population health management. Accomplishing this goal requires 3 key factors, including (1) enabling groups of physicians and hospitals to legally work together to cover a broad geographic area, (2) the formation of integrated delivery systems that cover the low to high-acuity and post-acute care spectrums, and (3) identifying mechanisms through which a subspecialty can impact the health of a population of patients.At first glance, it would be easy to assume that this is largely a primary care initiative and that orthopaedic surgeons cannot influence population health since they often just repair things after they have broken or worn out. This symposium will challenge that assumption and demonstrate the potential for orthopaedic surgeons to play a major role in population health management. Some of the mechanisms include implementing shared decision-making for elective procedures, reducing premature/unnecessary imaging and subspecialty referrals, improving bone health (osteoporosis prevention and fall risk assessment), and developing payment methodologies to reward population-based, rather than individual-based, positive musculoskeletal outcomes.


Acute viral myocarditis progresses through several stages, including acute viral infection, autoimmunity, and dilated cardiomyopathy. Recent studies have identified an important role for the myocardial inflammatory response during the initial phases of acute viral myocarditis. In this review, we discuss new insights into the innate host response to viral myocarditis and the various therapeutic strategies that have been attempted in managing the deleterious consequences of the myocardial inflammatory response in acute viral myocarditis.


Did you write C code last week? Does your code work? Is your design clean? If you answered yes to the first question but got queasy over the second two, you need to know about Test Driven Development. TDD helps you write code that works the first time, and then helps you keep it running as the code evolves to meet new needs. In Test Driven Development for Embedded C, author James W. Grenning shows embedded software developers how to bring the benefits of TDD to embedded C. In the book, you'll see how to apply TDD to C and the world of embedded software development. Learn how to break key dependencies, allowing code to be tested thoroughly. Explore how to test-drive your product's core logic, exploiting the power of your development environment to deliver better software. In fact, as the book shows, you can test-drive a device driver before you even have the device soldered into a circuit board. Avoid the natural delays when testing on the target by using the tailored TDD Microcycle, employing off-target tests and dual-targeted code. Learn how to make code testable and more flexible, better able to handle the inevitable changes demanded by the market. The tests drive development and then serve as an executable specification, keeping track of the critical details and assumptions baked into the code. In Test Driven Development for Embedded C, you'll find that TDD is a different way to program-unit tests are written in a tight feedback loop with the production code, producing testable code and greatly reducing wasteful debugging. TDD also influences design. When tests are considered part of design, you create modular and loosely coupled code, the hallmarks of a good design. With Test Driven Development for Embedded C, C developers-even embedded C developers-can finally write cleaner, testable code with TDD.


This paper explores the distributional impact of commodity price shocks over the both the short and very long run. Using a GARCH model, we find that Australia experienced more volatility than many commodity exporting poor countries between 1865 and 2007. A single equation error correction model suggests that commodity price shocks increase the income share of the top 1, 0.05, and 0.01 percent in the short run. The very top end of the income distribution benefits from commodity booms disproportionately more than the rest of society. The short run effect is mainly driven by wool and mining and not agricultural commodities. A sustained increase in the price of renewables (wool) reduces inequality whereas the same for non-renewable resources (minerals) increases inequality. We expect that the initial distribution of land and mineral resources explains the asymmetric result.


Serra do Sudeste, located in Southern Campos and included in the Pampa biome, displays a high biological importance in Brazil. The vegetation is made up of a mosaic of pasture transition zones and Semideciduous Seasonal Forest, with most of the area strongly threatened. In this context, the aim of the present study was to assess the diversity of local snake communities using several capture methods. Natural history aspects, activity patterns, habitat use, and the diet of some species are discussed. The snake community is made up of 33 species, representing more than one third of the species of the known species for the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and the highest species richness observed in areas influenced by temperate climates in neotropical regions. Bothrops pubescens (Cope, 1870) and Philodryas patagoniensis (Girard, 1858) presented the highest relative abundance. The active search and resident collector methods were the best sampling methods for measuring species richness.


Aquatic invertebrates utilize multiple forms of sensory perception including chemical signaling, to evaluate their surrounding environment. The hermit crab Calcinus latens is able to detect external chemical cues within the complex coral rubble habitat. These discrete chemicals whether emanated from a potential predator, competitor or conspecific are received through chemosensory structures and elicit a specific behavioral response. This study examines the effect of four chemical treatments (control-ambient sea water, predator-Octopus bocki, potential competitor-Saron marmoratus and conspecific-Calcinus latens) on the number of times an individual Calcinus latens is observed in active, exploratory behavior verses stationary, defensive behavior. The results demonstrate a significant difference in the amount of time observed in defensive behaviors by the hermit crabs exposed to the treatment containing octopus chemical cues when compared to the other treatments. Across the four chemical treatments, there was a significant difference in the observed use of six specific behaviors, indicating a patterned behavioral response, unique for each treatment. Additionally, an experiment testing the response of Calcinus latens individuals to artificially introduced treatment species, (octopus Octopus bocki, shrimp Saron marmoratus as well as conspecifics) in which tested individuals could utilize all modes of sensory perception, was compared to the chemically stimulated behaviors. Analysis of the response behavior to chemical cues verses multimodal sensory assessment of actual treatment species demonstrated a statistically significant similarity in elicited behavior which underlines the importance of chemical signaling in modulating the behavior of Calcinus latens within the coral rubble microhabitat.


Nontracking planar concentrators are a low-cost method of increasing the performance of traditional solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. This paper presents new methodologies for properly modeling this type of system using a bidirectional reflectance function for nonideal surfaces rather than traditional geometric optics. This methodology allows for the evaluation and optimization of specular and nonspecular reflectors in planar concentration systems. In addition, an outdoor system has been shown to improve energy yield by 45% for a traditional flat glass module and by 40% for a prismatic glass crystalline silicon module when compared with a control module at the same orientation. When compared with a control module set at the optimal tilt angle for this region, the energy improvement is 18% for both systems. Simulations show that a maximum increase of 30% is achievable for an optimized system located in Kingston, ON, Canada, using a reflector with specular reflection and an integrated hemispherical reflectance of 80%. This validated model can be used to optimize reflector topology to identify the potential for increased energy harvest from both existing PV and new-build PV assets.


Mosaic attenuation is a commonly encountered pattern on computed tomography that is defined as heterogeneous areas of differing lung attenuation. This heterogeneous pattern of attenuation is the result of diverse causes that include diseases of the small airways, pulmonary vasculature, alveoli, and interstitium, alone or in combination. Small airways disease can be a primary disorder, such as respiratory bronchiolitis or constrictive bronchiolitis, or be part of parenchymal lung disease, such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis, or large airways disease, such as bronchiectasis and asthma. Vascular causes resulting in mosaic attenuation are typically chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, which is characterized by organizing thrombi in the elastic pulmonary arteries, or pulmonary arterial hypertension, a heterogeneous group of diseases affecting the distal pulmonary arterioles. Diffuse ground-glass opacity can result in a mosaic pattern related to a number of processes in acute (eg, infection, pulmonary edema), subacute (eg, organizing pneumonia), or chronic (eg, fibrotic diseases) settings. Imaging clues that can assist the radiologist in pinpointing a diagnosis include evidence of large airway involvement, cardiovascular abnormalities, septal thickening, signs of fibrosis, and demonstration of airtrapping at expiratory imaging.


Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) single crystals (for 9.5 and 18 mol% yttria) were irradiated at room temperature (RT) by X-rays (W white spectrum) and 2.5-MeV electrons. The growth curves of the so-called T-centre (for trigonal centre, i.e. Zr3+ sitting in a trigonal symmetry site) were studied as a function of absorbed dose, or irradiation time, by UV–visible optical absorption (OA) spectroscopy and X-band electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. The defect concentration at saturation and the production rate are increased by a factor around two for 18 mol% yttria with respect to 9.5 mol%. Defect decay was then followed after irradiation by OA spectroscopy as a function of ageing time at RT. Growth and decay curves of the T-centre are modelled on the basis of rate equations of charge-exchange reactions with the zirconium lattice ions. Increase in yttrium content is thought to decrease hole trapping on Zr3+ ions, thereby enhancing T-centre formation.


This paper presents fundamental changes in social, economic and technological environments that will have an impact in shaping working environments. It contains future forecasting done by various organisations and a radically new vision that aims to turn conventional ways of working practices upside down into more creative ones. As well as some recommendations for guiding business into a direction that encourages innovation.


In an auction market, the auctioneer exerts significant influence in choosing and administering a selling strategy. We make the case for viewing the auctioneer as a market maker, whose success depends on how well he manages externalities without jeopardizing the trust of the buyers and sellers. We illustrate that incentives of the market maker may not be aligned with that of individual sellers. Using a unique data set, from tea auctions in Chittagong, Bangladesh, we argue that an auctioneer's actions maintain a careful balance of his own incentives vs. those of his clients, and the auction outcomes are affected by how much discretion the auctioneer has in choosing the selling strategy. Specifically, we find that raising the reserve price for a lot exerts a positive price externality on subsequent lots within the auction. To manage the momentum of market prices, the auctioneer chooses higher reserve prices for tea produced by tea estates in which he has an ownership stake. While these teas receive a higher price when sold, they sell less frequently creating a short run cost to the auctioneer but an overall positive impact on market prices. Thus, consistent with the role of a market maker, a desire to appear non-opportunistic, rather than opportunism, seems to better explain the auctioneer's actions.


Harlequin syndrome represents a partial autonomic neuropathy. The characteristic appearance is sharply demarcated hemifacial erythema (arrow) and diaphoresis. The underlying pathologic process involves ipsilateral interruption of the autonomic pathway between the hypothalamus, intermediolateral column of the spinal cord, cervical sympathetic ganglia, and postganglionic sympathetic fibers, resulting in relative ipsilateral facial pallor and anhidrosis with contralateral overcompensation. The patient pictured was noted to have right-sided facial erythema and right upper limb diaphoresis with concomitant hypotension after receiving a left-sided T3 erector spinae plane block with 20 ml of adrenalized 0.5% ropivacaine for radical mastectomy and axillary dissection. The patient's symptoms were transient. The image, acquired at 6 h, followed partial resolution. Complete resolution of the hemodynamic and sudomotor/vasomotor features occurred within 4 h and 12 h, respectively. Sympatholysis after erector spinae plane block implies paravertebral local anesthetic spread with activity at the rami communicantes or sympathetic chain. Oculomotor fibers exit the spinal cord at T1, whereas sudomotor and vasomotor fibers supplying the face and upper limb exit the spinal cord at T2–T3 and T4, respectively. Harlequin syndrome with upper limb symptoms in the absence of Horner's syndrome indicates sympathetic blockade from T2–T4, which correlated with the T2–T5 sensory block observed. To the best of our knowledge, Harlequin syndrome has not previously been reported after erector spinae plane block. We present this image to educate fellow clinicians about this rare, self-limiting condition which, in the absence of additional neurologic findings, warrants gentle reassurance, and to support the hypothesis that erector spinae plane block is a paravertebral block by-proxy that potentially predisposes to similar hemodynamic consequences.


This paper will study the problems of food supply and analyze the reasons for the slow growth in the production of foodgrains [in Bangladesh]. The foodgrain distribution system will also be addressed and its role in the food shortage problem of Bangladesh. Past evidence shows that landlordism has obstructed the incentives of the peasants and has depressed the maximum productivity of owner-operated farms. This paper will briefly discuss the history of land reform and the measures undertaken to bring about tenancy reforms in Bangladesh.


Equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) is an innovative emerging approach to mental health treatment. This narrative synthesis explores the current state of knowledge and areas for future research in EAP. Specifically reviewed are qualitative and quantitative empirical studies, including both articles published in peer-reviewed journals and research presented in theses and dissertations. We selected 24 studies for final inclusion in this study, dating between 2005 and 2013, and including the first EAP empirical research completed in 2005. Four of these studies are peer-reviewed journal articles, while 20 are master's theses or doctoral dissertations. The reviewed qualitative research provides initial evidence for the value of EAP for enhancing adolescents' communication and relationship skills. The reviewed experimental and quasi-experimental research provides initial evidence for the value of EAP for enhancing children's and adolescents' emotional, social and behavioural functioning. Yet, conclusions about the effectiveness of EAP must still be considered preliminary due to various methodological limitations in the reviewed research. The narrative review describes these methodological limitations and concludes with recommendations for future research.


Background: Sierra Leone is a low income country in West Africa that has a history of conflict. Sierra Leone have signed and ratified the Convention of Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Aim: To evaluate persons with disability that use prosthetic and orthotic assistive devices access to human rights. The addressed areas were; right to health, right to a standard of living adequate for health, right to vote, right to marry and found a family, right to education, right to work and. A further aim was to compare groups of participants regarding gender, area of residence, income and type and level of device.

Methods: Questionnaires were used to collect self-reported data from 139 prosthetic and orthotic users in Sierra Leone.

Results: About half of the patient considered their overall physical health as good or very good. Thirty-seven percent of the participants said their mental health is bad or very bad. The majority said they did not have access to medical care and the most common reason given was that they could not afford doctors fee. The orthotic users reported they required medical care outside home more often than the prosthetic users. About half of the participants could not access afford medication when they needed it. About half of the participants had regularly access to safe drinking water and only 10% had the possibility to eat three times a day. The majority had a reasonably or adequate house to live. Half of the participants were married and 70% had children. Almost all reported that they could vote if they wanted. About half were working but often self-employed with small business. Sixty percent could read and write.

Discussion & Conclusion: There was still a need for significant progress in increased access to medical care and medication when needed for persons with lower limb physical disability in Sierra Leone. Increased access to food and clean water to facilitate an acceptable standard of living adequate for health were also necessary in order to strive towards implementing the rights to health for persons with disability.


With a global search mechanism, particle swarm optimization (PSO) has shown promise in feature selection (FS). However, most of the current PSO-based FS methods use a fix-length representation, which is inflexible and limits the performance of PSO for FS. When applying these methods to high-dimensional data, it not only consumes a significant amount of memory but also requires a high computational cost. Overcoming this limitation enables PSO to work on data with much higher dimensionality which has become more and more popular with the advance of data collection technologies. In this paper, we propose the first variable-length PSO representation for FS, enabling particles to have different and shorter lengths, which defines smaller search space and therefore, improves the performance of PSO. By rearranging features in a descending order of their relevance, we facilitate particles with shorter lengths to achieve better classification performance. Furthermore, using the proposed length changing mechanism, PSO can jump out of local optima, further narrow the search space and focus its search on smaller and more fruitful area. These strategies enable PSO to reach better solutions in a shorter time. Results on ten high-dimensional datasets with varying difficulties show that the proposed variable-length PSO can achieve much smaller feature subsets with significantly higher classification performance in much shorter time than the fixed-length PSO methods. The proposed method also outperformed the compared non-PSO FS methods in most cases.


Abstract The purpose of this study was to assess the agreement in body composition measurements of wheelchair athletes using skinfolds, bio-impedance analysis (BIA) and air displacement plethysmography (ADP) relative to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). A secondary objective was to develop new skinfold prediction equations to estimate %fat for this sample. 30 wheelchair games players were recruited and the body composition outcomes of BIA, ADP, and skinfolds were compared to the DXA outcomes by a paired-samples t-test (systematic bias), intraclass correlation (ICC, relative agreement) and Bland-Altman plots (absolute agreement). Regression models to predict the %fat as measured by DXA by the sum of skinfolds or BIA were calculated. Results showed that the predictions of %fat when using BIA, ADP or skinfolds systematically underestimated the %fat mass as measured by the DXA. All ICC values, except for the measurement of fat (kg) by ADP (ICC=0.702), were below 0.7. New prediction models found the ∑7 skinfolds and calf circumference as the best model to predict %fat (R2=0.84). In conclusion, BIA, ADP and existing skinfolds equations should be used with caution when estimating %fat of wheelchair athletes with substantial body asymmetry, lower body muscular atrophy and upper body muscular development.


One of the challenges of creating applications from confederations of Internet-enabled things is the complexity of having to deal with spontaneously interacting and partially available heterogeneous devices. In this paper we describe the features of the MAGIC Broker 2 (MB2) a platform designed to offer a simple and consistent programming interface for collections of things. We report on the key abstractions offered by the platform and report on its use for developing two IoT applications involving spontaneous device interaction: 1) mobile phones and public displays, and 2) a web-based sensor actuator network portal called Sense Tecnic (STS). We discuss how the MB2 abstractions and implementation have evolved over time to the current design. Finally we present a preliminary performance evaluation and report qualitatively on the developers' experience of using our platform.


The role of serotonin in the nucleus raphe pallidus (NRP) development and the dynamics of its serotonin-producing neurons were studied during various time points of the postnatal period in normal Wistar rats and in animals developing prenatally under the conditions of serotonin deficiency. It was shown that NRP contained 2 populations of serotoninergic neurons with different morphological characteristics. At the initial stages of postnatal development (Day 5) serotonin-producing neurons included only large neurons, while the synthetic activity of small neurons appeared later (by Day 10). With age, under normal conditions,the size of large neurons and their number were increased which is indicative of continuing process of differentiation and/or functional load augmentation. The size and number of small neurons were practically unchanged with age. Serotonin deficiency during prenatal development lead to the disturbance of NRP structural organization. In comparison with the control animals, the size and the number of serotonin-producing neurons of both populations was decreased, their size remained unchanged with the age. Part of the neurons underwent degeneration, resulting in the reduction of their numbers. The damage observed may change the serotoninergic innervation of the medullary nuclei, responsible for the cardiorespiratory the control, thus causing the disturbances of cardio-vascular and respiratory systems.


The present study was conducted to find out the water requirements and most suitable irrigation frequencies for cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) var grown under drip irrigation. The treatments were based on the IW: CPE ratio at different empirical pan factors 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.,1.4, and 1.6 Ef (where Ef = IW/CPE). It was observed that the irrigation interval was variable values decreased by increasing Ef value and with the progress of the growing season. The 1.2 and 1.0 IW: CPE treatments with approximately 4 d irrigation interval were achieved the best results. The total amount of applied water during Cowpea growing season was varied between 247.7 and 266.5 mm with 254.8 mm as a mean. Irrigation treatment with Ef1.2 was superior over the rest of other treatments in fresh seed yield (5.13 ton. hec.-1), crop water productivity (2.14 kg. m-3), biological yield (6.88 ton. hec.-1), fresh pod yield (7.33 ton. hec.-1), weight of 100 seed (31.28 gm), number of seed/pod (9.34) and netting percentage (37.1). The lowest values of the most parameters used in this study were obtained by Ef 0.6 irrigation treatment.


Emerging from a research trip to New Orleans in March/April 2018, this article explores questions about the politics 'staging' wreckage in relation to conceptualizations and practices of tourism, class and race. Taking as it's central case studies a private vehicular tour of the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans (the area most devastated by flooding as a result of Katrina) and Goat in the Road's immersive, promenade production The Stranger Disease, the work seeks to understand how these two very different cultural objects might be seen to be 'staging' New Orleans in different but inter-related ways that illuminate and critique the politics of (disaster) tourism in the city, and cognate (urban) contexts. Reflecting on the phenomenological experience of the tour and the play in relation to more 'normal' modes of being a tourist in New Orleans, the argument proposes that the embodied experience of performance spectatorship can make radical interventions into process and practice of tourism by rupturing dominant paradigms of power, equity, race and environmental change.


Recent development has witnessed the emergence of new economy where knowledge has become a valuable resource and asset. As things change speedily in this new economy, fire concern is not only on how much you know, but also how quickly you can capture and apply what you have learnt. fit many ways, knowledge sharing is envisaged as a natural activity of academic institutions. Tire number of seminars, conferences and publications by academics is far exceeding any other profession, signifying the eagerness and generosity of academics to share knowledge. However, a closer look tit the problem might reveal a different story; instead of knowledge sharing, "knowledge hoarding" could be more prevalent in academic institutions. This paper examines the knowledge sharing behaviour among academics. The overall findings revealed that incentive system and personal expectation are two key factors in driving academics to engage in knowledge sharing activity


This book explains the causal relationship between human health and environment, describing how environmental elements including man-made structures, plants, and animals as well as natural forces such as winds and sunlight to foster the recovery process of ill children in hospital setting. It provides empirical evidences on why and how direct and visual experiences in garden help to increase the physical, cognitive and social performances of hospitalised children leading to their health recovery. The evidences are derived from a research design which has been synthesized from research methods from the fields of healthcare management, paediatric psychology, paediatric nursing and childhood development. It sum, this book describes the theoretical framework of health recovery with natural environment, methods to elicit children's responses and evaluate their psychological well–being, and it explains the design and planning guidelines how to create garden in hospital for children's restoration.


122 Erciyes Med J 2021; 43(2): 122–9 • DOI: 10.14744/etd.2020.47827 ORIGINAL ARTICLE – OPEN ACCESS This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Rahşan Ilıkçı Sağkan , Dilara Fatma Akın Balı Epidermal Growth Factor-Like Repeats and Discoidin I-Like Domains 3 is a Novel Regulator of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma: In Silico Analysis Objective: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) contributes to cancer metastasis and recurrence, which are major obstacles in changing the course of cancer. However, studies on the mutational and gene expression profiles of epidermal growth factor-like repeats and discoidin I-like domains 3 (EDIL3) that reveal the relationship between clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and EMT markers are limited. The aim of our study was to reveal the correlation between tumor and EMT markers (E-cadherin and vimentin) and EDIL3 expression. Additionally, we evaluated target gene expression levels and mutational profiles in kidney cancer tissue and normal tissue. Materials and Methods: We investigated the mutational profile and mRNA expression of EDIL3 and compared them with that of VIM and CDH1 in 523 patients with ccRCC using validated bioinformatics analysis. Additionally, Polymorphism Phenotyping v2 (PolyPhen-2), Screening for NonAcceptable Polymorphisms (SNAP) were used to predict and confirm the pathogenicity of the mutations detected. Studies were performed in silico using bioinformatics tools. Results: EDIL3 and VIM expression was statistically significantly higher in the healthy group and exhibited a positive correlation in patients with ccRCC. Patients with elevated VIM and CDH1 expression and low EDIL3 expression had prolonged survival time. In addition, 7 mutations were detected in the evaluated genes, 6 of which had potential pathogenic features. Conclusion: Our study provides insights for further experimental studies. EDIL3 can be used as a diagnostic or prognostic indicator of cancer development to help cure renal clear cell cancer.


Sharp profiles of boron were prepared by Low Pressure (Rapid Thermal) Chemical Vapor Deposition (LP(RT)CVD). Two different approaches for the delta doping were used. In the first case the dopants were incorporated into the growing film. The process was kinetically controlled. By this way B-delta-layers with a steepness of 1.7 nm/decade were measured by Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) for the profiles prepared. In the second case the doping was performed during an interruption of layer growth. The process was controlled by the surface adsorption equilibrium of dopants. Using this regime B-delta-layers of 1 monolayer and with a steepness of 1.4 nm/decade were obtained in SiGe. The values of the estimated steepness represent an extremely sharp profile for a CVD process. Structural properties of the delta-doped layers were investigated using cross sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM). The steepness estimated by SIMS was compared with high depth resolution spreading resistance (SR) measurements which detect the electrical active boron only.


Curve matching is a new big data technique to predict an outcome given earlier measurements. Here we apply curve matching to predict the future growth of a specific child, the target child. The method searches in large datasets of longitudinal growth data for other children who are similar to the target child in terms of factors that influence growth. The observed growth curves of these matched children provide valuable insights into the future growth of the target child. The TNO Groeivoorspeller (TNO Growth Predictor) plots the expected growth of the target child, as well as the uncertainty of the prediction. Curve matching is a general technique that can also be used for other health measures. The key requirement is the availability of relevant longitudinal data on the outcome and its determinants.


In her second collection of poems, Fleda Brown Jackson holds with a meditative rapture to the place she call home--home as family, the source of trouble and joy; home as the embellished stories of family; and home as a place called Central Lake. And when the poems move outward--to Stonehenge, Edinburgh, Kitty-Hawk, Roanoke, St. Pete Beach, and the Mississippi River--the past keeps resonating. At last, the voice that remembers becomes "nothing but a riding, a hunger." "If I were a swan," she imagines, "The world would move / under me / and I would always be exactly / where I am."


Mantle xenoliths have been discovered in Ibal-Oku basalts from Oku Massif, Cameroon Volcanic Line. These xenoliths analyzed in term of major elements by scanning electron microscope, atomic emission spectrometry, traces and rare earth elements by mass spectrometry are peridotites and pyroxenites. Peridotites comprise Fe-rich lherzolites, harzburgites and wehrlites. Pyroxenites comprise websterites, olivine-websterites, clinopyroxenites and olivine-clinopyroxenites. Mineralogically, olivine Fo% values and NiO content vary from 85 to 91 and 0.26 to 0.43 wt.%, respectively. Orthopyroxene is enstatite, Mg# values and Al content ranging from 0.83 to 0.92 and 0.12 to 0.27 atom per formula unit (apfu), respectively. Clinopyroxene is augite and diopside, Mg# values and Al content ranging from 0.83 to 0.93 and 0.23 to 0.37 apfu, respectively. Spinel is aluminous, Cr# and Mg# values ranging from 0.07 to 0.23 and 0.67 to 0.82, respectively. Micas are biotites (Fe#: 0.52-0.76). Feldspars, which are secondary are sanidine, andesine and labradorite. Geochemically, peridotite Mg# values vary from 82.7 to 89.9 and pyroxenites from 80.1 to 83.6. The major element variations and some compatible elements are described in terms of partial melting (14-15 vol.% in lherzolites and 17-18 vol.% in harzburgites), whereas the heterogeneities in trace elements are related to carbonatitic/silicic metasomatism. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ees Energy and Earth Science Vol. 3, No. 2, 2020 81 Published by SCHOLINK INC.


We consider the conceptual problems fac- ing the application of functional imaging, particularly functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to psy- chiatric disorders. We first divide the problems facing the fMRI of normal function into problems of the task, power, and analysis. We then argue that each of these is more pronounced when fMRI is applied to psychi- atric patients. Although fMRI has been instrumental in shaping the biological conception of psychiatry, the challenges it faces in delivering on the promise of a bridge from cognitive psychopathology to brain func- tion are daunting.


In the light of the #MeToo movement, this paper explores how the positionality (in terms of caste and class) of female university students in Kolkata, India is employed as an instrument of backlash to pushback their efforts at making progressive change with regard to sexual harassment. The study includes an analysis of six semi-structured interviews based on an amalgamation of conventional and alternate understandings of backlash. It argues that conventional and alternate understandings are not independent of each other, but are interlinked and exist side by side. Backlash silences women and forestalls their demands and pushes crucial gender issues to the backburner.


: A case of bilateral hypernephroma treated by right heminephrectomy in situ and "benchwork" excision of two tumors from the left kidney followed by autotransplantation is presented. Follow-up examination has demonstrated good renal function with no evidence of tumor recurrence or metastasis. This case illustrates the feasibility of benchwork operation and its application to renal tumors, particularly when these tumors are bilateral and preservation of renal tissue is imperative. Long-term follow-up of patients managed by this technique is mandatory.


THE EFFECTS OF CORPORATE DIVERSIFICATION AND CONTROL ON DIVISION RISK-TAKING STRATEGY AND PERFORMANCE Hae Ryong Kim Old Dominion University. 1998 Director: Dr. Kae H. Chung This research explored two major functions o f corporate strategic management, corporate diversification (core-business relatedness) and corporate control, and their implications for divisional strategic management. Four research questions were raised to address these issues: (1) does core-business relatedness matter to division performance? (2) how does core-business relatedness influence corporate control? (3) how does corebusiness relatedness influence division risk-taking strategies and performance? and (4) how does corporate control influence division risk-taking strategies and performance? Adopting the resource-based view and organizational learning theory, this study proposed that core-business related divisions would outperform unrelated divisions and that core-business related divisions would have higher commitment to risk-taking strategies than would unrelated divisions. From a strategic management perspective, it was hypothesized that corporate control would be differentiated by core-business relatedness. Viewing the relationship between a corporate office and its divisions from an agency theoretical perspective, this study suggested that corporate control would influence division risk-taking strategy. Finally, from a strategic management perspective. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. this study proposed the moderating effects o f core-business relatedness and corporate control on the relationship between division risk-taking strategy and performance. Korean business groups were selected as samples because they provided objective divisional performance data. Data was collected from 57 affiliated companies o f 32 Korean business groups. Two indicators o f risk-taking strategy were used to test the hypotheses: R&D investment and internationalization. T-test. analysis o f variance, analysis o f covariance, and multiple regression analysis were used to test the hypotheses. The results show that core-business relatedness positively influences division performance. Core-business relatedness was found to positively affect divisional R&D investment but not divisional internationalization. Corporate control was found to be not differentiated by core-business relatedness. The moderating effect o f core-business relatedness on the relationship between division risk-taking strategies and performance was not found. The results show that decentralized corporate control positively influenced division R&D investment. In contrast, centralized corporate control positively influenced division internationalization. The moderating effect o f corporate control was not found. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.


Objective cost management and Activity-Based cost management are both more advanced cost management methods, but they are difficult to overcome their own shortcomings. In order to overcome the defects of these two methods of cost management, in the meanwhile, to find a new way to perfect the cost control system in enterprise, the writer planned to make this study. By analyzing and summarizing the domestic and international research results based on the integration of the Objective cost management and Activity-Based cost management, the writer pointed out the lack of current research and raised from the development, design, procurement, production and service to the full range of "Target-Operation" cost management, and designed three functional modules, including target cost estimate module, operation chain optimization module, cost breakdown and control module and auxiliary module to improve the model's content. This study offers a new way for the managers of enterprises in the field of cost control system and strengthening enterprise competitive power.


ABSTRACT This study was designed to investigate the effect of bilingualism and reading difficulties (RD) on episodic and semantic memory. The subjects included 190 children (aged 9–12 years): 45 Iranian-Swedish bilinguals and 59 Swedish monolinguals with typically developed reading, along with 41 bilinguals and 45 monolinguals with RD. To measure episodic memory, subject-performed and verbal tasks were used for encoding, and both free and cued recall were used for retrieval. Letter and category fluency tasks were used to test semantic memory. In action memory, bilingual children with RD benefited less from enactment encoding form compared to children with typically developed reading. Additionally, bilingual with RD had lower rates of recollection in category fluency compared to their monolingual counterparts. However, in letter fluency, there was not found a difference between performances of bilinguals and monolinguals with RD. We discuss the involvement of long-term memory in both bilingualism and reading.


A nanostructured poly(5-amino-2-naphthalene sulfonic acid) (nanostructured PANS) electrode has been prepared using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a soft template by potentiodynamic method. The effect of CTAB at various concentrations was analyzed during electrochemical synthesis of the PANS electrode. As the concentration was near to cmc of CTAB, well growth and nanostructured PANS electrode was obtained. The formation mechanism and the reason for the increase of the peak current of the nanostructured PANS electrode are discussed. The surface morphology of PANS electrode was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and a nanoribbon like structured PANS polymer was obtained near cmc of CTAB. The electrochemical properties of nanostructured PANS electrode were studied. The catalytic utility of nanostructured PANS electrode was investigated and it exhibited electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of iodate with a low potential. The amperometric detection of iodate was tested at nanostructured PANS electrode. Linear range and detection limit were found to be 0.1 to 0.4 µM and 0.1 µM, respectively. The present work involves a simple, and one-step approach to fabricate a nanostructured PANS film with unique electrochemical properties, which can have great potential in various applications such as sensors, and energy source systems.


Experience with racism and its relationship to meaning in life (i.e., the degree to which a person feels the world is a safe and caring place), African American identity, and African American acculturation were explored in a sample of Black college students ( N = 48) who attended a predominately White, public, state university in the Northeastern United States. Black men and women who have Black nationalistic ideals and were immersed in Black culture reported more lifetime racist experience than those students who were less immersed in African American culture. As a group, Black women who were under the age of 21 and Black men over 21 reported similar levels of racist experiences while Black women over 21 and Black men under 21 reported similar levels of racist experience. The former group reported experiencing more racism and found these experiences more stressful than the latter group. Black women reported more racist experiences across their lifetimes than other respondents, whereas Black men reported more racism over the past year. Black women reported greater social support from their families than did Black men. Black students who grew up in Black neighborhoods reported greater immersion in Black culture than those students who grew up in White neighborhoods. The confluence of community, family, African American culture, religiosity, and how racist experiences affect the identity development process differently for Black men and women are discussed.


For the development of a bladder instillation of the indoloquinone agent EO-9, use of the complexing agent 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) was considered. Therefore, a complexation study of EO-9 with HPβCD was performed. Complexation was studied in aqueous solution and in solid freeze-dried products. A phase solubility study, UV-visible spectroscopy (UV/VIS), and analysis of the effect of HPβD on the stability of EO-9 were performed. With the phase solubility study, a complexation constant (K1:1) of 32.9, a complexation efficiency (CE) of 0.0457, and a utility number (UCD) of 38.3 were calculated. These K1:1 and CE values indicate a weak complex, but the UCD shows that HPβCD can be very useful as solubilizer in the desired formulation. Furthermore, a positive effect of HPβCD on the chemical stability of EO-9 in solution was seen. Subsequently, complexation in the freeze-dried products was studied more thoroughly using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses. HPβCD was found to be an excellent pharmaceutical complexing agent for application in formulations for EO-9 bladder instillations. Reconstitution before use of the developed freeze-dried products can be simply accomplished with water for injection.


: Over the past 20 years, drug use review (DUR) activities have become an integral component of inpatient care to assure that medications are being used in the most cost-effective manner. The term drug use evaluation (DUE) has supplanted DUR, because DUE implies an expansive, integrated program that includes retrospective, concurrent, and prospective drug performance evaluations made possible through automation. DUE monitors drug experience outcomes, which allows the Pharmacy & Therapeutics (P&T) Committee to revise the drug formulary in response to patient care and cost-analysis research. Computerized HMOs are now embracing DUE as a result of the competitive drive to balance quality of care and cost-containment. United HealthCare (UHC) has used DUE to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of therapeutically similar medications. The UHC database captures medical and pharmacy claims data, and allows analysis of the total cost of care. UHC has used the system to make rational formulary decisions based on global costs, rather than drug ingredient costs. As data processing systems such as this flourish, other HMOs will be able to conduct similar DUE activities. The HMO environment provides a fertile site for such research to be conducted by pharmaceutical manufacturers.


Abstract Cover of perennial species in long-term experimental plots in a creosotebush ( Larrea tridentata Sess. & Moc. Ex DC.) dominated community in the Chihuahuan Desert was monitored for 56 years. Sixteen 21·3×21·3 m plots were established in 1938–39 to evaluate the effects of lagomorph exclusion and shrub removal. Major dominant shrubs were individually severed at ground level and removed by hand in 1939, and this process was repeated after measuring plant cover in 1947, 1956, 1960, 1967, 1989, and 1995. Lagomorphs were excluded with poultry wire fencing. Shrub removal increased ( p ≤0·05) the basal cover of two major desert grass species, black grama ( Bouteloua eriopoda Torr.) and spike dropseed ( Sporobolus contractus A.S. Hitch.) between 1939 and 1995, but differences were not evident until 50 years after initial treatment. Temporal effects of lagomorph exclusion were less pronounced than shrub removal. Clearly, shrub dominance has an extremely important and lasting role in determining vegetation community structure in this arid environment, even when above-ground shrub structures are periodically removed.


We present a multimedia teleteaching system that integrates an electronic whiteboard with our multimedia conferencing system which supports a motion video and a shared chalkboard. The teleteaching system uses personal computers that contain a motion video CODEC, and transmits data through the ISDN basic interface (128 kbps). An electronic whiteboard is attached to the personal computer for direct input by the teacher and display of that input. With this system, a teacher can use the electronic whiteboard as a real chalkboard. He can directly write test and draw figures in the area of the shared chalkboard by using the pen provided for the electronic whiteboard with a digitizer in it. When the teacher draws something on the shared chalkboard, it is automatically transmitted to the students' site and displayed on their shared chalkboard using the functions of multimedia conferencing system. The teacher's gestures and the contents of the whiteboard are captured by a video camera and transmitted to the students' computer. Conversely, a motion video of the students is transmitted from their site to the teacher's site.<<ETX>>


Octopus are pleased to announce the fourth edition of Full of Noises, a weekend of new music and sound art taking place in and around Barrow-in-Furness between July 31st and Aug 2nd 2015.

This year's expanded programme includes specially commissioned live performances, talks, installations and workshops by a broad spectrum of composers, musicians and sound artists from across UK, Europe and Japan. Individual strands include contributions from our first ever FON guest curator, Helen Frosi of SoundFjord and new works by two of Japan's leading sound artists co-curated by Ryoko Akama.

Venues include a return visit to St James Church with its superb acoustic, Barrow park, screenings and installations at Cookes Studios and a festival hub in which artists and audiences will be invited to eat, drink, meet and be entertained and informed by all manner of diverse FON goings-on.

Artists include: Oscilanz, Minoru Sato, Kanta Horio, Andie Brown, Aine O'Dwyer, Leslie Deere, Ingrid Plum, Alison Blunt, Stephan Barrett, Floodtide, Mark Vernon, Brona Martin, Hear This Space, Patrick Farmer, Lachenalia, Lisa Skuret, Mary Stark, Jenn Mattinson, DunningWebsterUnderwood, Ryoko Akama, SoundFjord, film screenings and more to be announced.


High-throughput sequencing techniques generate large volumes of DNA sequencing data at ultra-fast speed and extremely low cost. As a consequence, sequencing techniques have become ubiquitous in biomedical research and are used in hundreds of genomic applications. Efficient data structures and algorithms have been developed to handle the large datasets produced by these techniques. The prevailing method to index DNA sequences in those data structures and algorithms is by k-mers (k-long substrings) known as minimizers. Minimizers are the smallest k-mers selected in every consecutive window of a fixed length in a sequence, where the smallest is determined according to a predefined order, e.g., lexicographic. Recently, a new k-mer order based on a universal hitting set (UHS) was suggested. While several studies have shown that orders based on a small UHS have improved properties, the utility of using a small UHS in high-throughput sequencing analysis tasks has not been demonstrated to date. Here, we demonstrate the practical benefit of UHSs for the first time, in the genome assembly task. Reconstructing a genome from billions of short reads is a fundamental task in high-throughput sequencing analyses. de Bruijn graph construction is a key step in genome assembly, which often requires very large amounts of memory and long computation time. A critical bottleneck lies in the partitioning of DNA sequences into bins. The sequences in each bin are assembled separately, and the final de Bruijn graph is constructed by merging the bin-specific subgraphs. We incorporated a UHS-based order in the bin partition step of the Minimum Substring Partitioning algorithm of Li et al. (2013). Using a UHS-based order instead of lexicographic- or random-ordered minimizers produced lower density minimizers with more balanced bin partitioning, which led to a reduction in both runtime and memory usage.


This investigation addresses the issue of what truth there is behind the widespread belief that too few Latvian produced food products are available in Latvian shops. Using some simple concepts from economics we construct a number of empirical indicators that permit international comparisons to be made. These are indicators of revealed comparative advantage, of the extent to which home consumption of food products is covered by domestic production, indicators of the share of domestic production that is exported and imported, and indicators of productivity relative to the EU-27. We find that Latvia does not differ much in most respects from our Baltic neighbours. Both Latvia and Estonia are net importers of food products while Lithuania is marginally a net exporter. Perhaps surprisingly Latvia covers about 50% of its food products consumption from domestic production which is more than in Estonia or Lithuania. This 'selfsufficiency' indicator is highest in countries such as Poland and Romania, with self sufficiency ratios of around 80% and as high as 97% for some individual products. Low self sufficiency ratios are found in for example the Netherlands which covers only 15% of its food products consumption by local production. At the same time it turns out that the high self-sufficiency countries export very little of their food products whereas the Netherlands exports very nearly 90% of its food products output. We conclude that Latvia is about average in terms of the availability of local products and in fact local products are more available here than in Estonia and Lithuania. If there is a problem in Latvia it concerns low productivity levels in the food products sector. Thus in food products as a whole Latvian productivity is less than 50% of the average while in the most productive countries, such as Netherlands and Belgium it is more than three times higher. In fish products productivity is less than 30% of the EU average while in Belgium it is more than six times higher. It is here that attention should be focussed and we recommend the creation of both working groups and research to address the productivity issue.


In this study, structural thermal analyses for steam trap valve considering contact boundary condition have been conducted for high temperature and pressure conditions using nonlinear finite element method. Full steam trap model also including regulator and housing structures is considered in order to accurately simulate the complex valve mechanism and investigate thermal stress levels and behaviors of core structural parts. It is typically shown that the present computational approach can give very useful results for design engineers so that they can verify the operating performance and structural safety of the steam trap valve in the design process.


The bipolar point spread function (PSF) corresponding to the Wiener filter tor correcting linear-motion-blurred pictures is implemented in a noncoherent optical processor. The following two approaches are taken for this implementation: (1) the PSF is modulated and biased so that the resulting function is non-negative and (2) the PSF is split into its positive and sign-reversed negative parts, and these two parts are dealt with separately. The phase problem associated with arriving at the pupil function from these modified PSFs is solved using both analytical and combined analytical-iterative techniques available in the literature. The designed pupil functions are experimentally implemented, and deblurring in a noncoherent processor is demonstrated. The postprocessing required (i.e., demodulation in the first approach to modulating the PSF and intensity subtraction in the second approach) are carried out either in a coherent processor or with the help of a PC-based vision system. The deblurred outputs are presented.


The author reviews the trends in development of views of interaction of the basic regulating systems (nervous, endocrine and immune) supporting control and adaptive functions of the brain. Two historical periods are singled out: the period of neuroendocrinology and neuroimmunoendocrinology. Mechanisms of interaction of brain regulating systems and various autoimmune diseases resulting from defects in the above mechanisms are considered. Development of cooperative interactions of the above regulating systems at early evolutionary stages is suggested.


The physical structure and properties of protoplanetary disks are typically derived from spatially resolved disk images. Edge-on disks in particular provide an important view point on the vertical structure and degree of settling of disks. Such analyses rely on radiative transfer (RT) calculations that are generally computationally intensive due to the high optical depth of disks. Here we present a machine learning framework that has the potential to dramatically speed up the forward modeling process by approximating the results of RT calculations. This framework, trained on an initial set of RT calculations, utilizes an autoencoder neural network to enable the generation of synthetic scattered light images of edge-on disks directly from a set of physical parameters. We demonstrate that this framework generates synthetic images 2–3 orders of magnitude faster than using RT calculations. These machine learning-generated images appear to approximate the RT images well, in particular preserving their size and shape. We also find a strong correlation between the latent space representations of the generated disk images and several of their associated physical parameters. Finally, we discuss potential changes to the framework, such as methods to further improve the image quality, extending the framework to multiple wavelengths, and inverting the process to infer physical parameters from observed images. Overall, these new tools have the potential to enable a more efficient and uniform analysis of edge-on disk properties and the initial conditions of planet formation.


The world of cut flower industry is a highly dynamic environment. Product varieties, the origin of production, production techniques, marketing and distribution arrangements are all undergoing continuous change. This characteristic of the industry is challenging the adaptive nature of all exporters. The floriculture industry is increasingly becoming an important foreign exchange earner for Kenya hence this study is sought to investigate the types of distribution channels that flower exporters in the country use and the challenges they face when deciding on the choice of these channels. The research study involved 50 flower farms registered with FPEAK and who have offices in Nairobi environs. A questionnaire was used to collect data, and the findings were analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). It is hoped that the results from this study will have important managerial implications for operators in the cut-flower industry and other stakeholders participating in the distribution process.


A 57-kb region of tomato chromosome 7 harboring five different genes was compared with the sequence of the Arabidopsis genome to search for microsynteny between the genomes of these two species. For all five genes, homologous sequences could be identified in a 30-kb region located on Arabidopsis chromosome 1. Only two inversion events distinguish the arrangement of the five genes in tomato from that in Arabidopsis. Inversions were not detected when the arrangement of the five Arabidopsis genes was compared with the arrangement in the orthologous region of Capsella, a plant closely related to Arabidopsis. These results provide evidence for microcolinearity between closely and distantly related dicotyledonous species. The degree of microcolinearity found can be exploited to localize orthologous genes in Arabidopsis and tomato in an unambiguous way.


Background. National performance measures monitor the proportion of diabetic patients with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels ≥130 mg/dL, but such simple intermediate outcomes measure poor control, not necessarily poor care. "Tightly linked" quality measures define good quality either by a good intermediate outcome (LDL <130 mg/dL) or by evidence of appropriate responses to poor control (eg, starting or optimizing medications for high LDL or not doing so in the face of contraindications). Objectives. We examined hyperlipidemia therapy for patients with diabetes to determine the relative accuracy of quality assessment using simple intermediate outcome versus tightly linked quality measures. Research Design. Retrospective longitudinal cohort. Subjects. A total of 1154 diabetic patients with an LDL test done between October 1, 1998, and March 31, 1999, in 2 large VA facilities. M>easures. LDL levels, medication treatment, and explanations for poor quality. Results. Although 27% (307 of 1154) of patients had an LDL ≥130 mg/dL using the simple intermediate outcome measure, only 13% (148 of 1154) were classified as having substandard quality using the tightly linked measure. Among the 159 reclassified to adequate quality, 117 had lipid-lowering medication started or increased within 6 months of an LDL ≥130 mg/dL, 8 were already on high-dose medication, 12 had a repeat LDL <130 mg/dL, and 22 had contraindications to treatment. Conclusion. Simple intermediate outcome measures can be an inaccurate reflection of true quality of care, and many patients classified as having substandard quality by "poor control" might actually be receiving good quality of care.


: The activity and substrate specificity of alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH) toward normal primary alcohols with different length of the carbon chain (C2--C16) was studied in the cells of the yeast Torulopsis candida. The yeast was grown in a mineral medium with various carbon substrates: glucose, pyruvate, acetate, hexadecane, cetol and palmite acid. Soluble ADHs in the cytosol fraction and ADHs bound to the fraction of membrane particles (mitochondria and microsomes, etc.) were found in the cells. Dehydration of higher alcohols (C8--C16) by the membrane fraction of cells was shown to have a relatively high rate (considerably higher than in cytosol) when the yeast was grown on hexadecane, cetol, palmitic acid and pyruvate. The membrane fraction of yeast cells prepared upon the growth on all carbon sources tested did not oxidize lower alcohols, ethanol and propanol. In contrast, upon the growth on glucose, ethanol and acetate the activity of ADH was mainly due to soluble ADHs and concentrated mainly in the cytosol fraction. Numerous molecular forms of ADH differing in their affinity for lower and higher alcohols and dependent on the growth substrate were revealed by electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel.


Purposes - The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect between regional financial management, accountability and transparency either partially of simultanously to financial performance in the North Sumatera Provincial Government.
Methods - The research used associative/correlation method. The population was 34 local government agency in the North Sumatera Provincial Government, and the samples were 68 respondents that consisted of budget users/budget user authorities and the Financial Department Officials. The data were primary data were obtained by using questionnaires and conducting a survey. The gathered data were analyzed by using multiple linear regression tests for analytical analysis which had been tested by using classic assumption.
Findings - The result of the study showed that, partially, regional financial management and accountability had positive and significant influence on financial performance, while transparency had negative but significant influence on financial performance. Simultaneously regional financial management, accountability, and transparency had significant influence on financial performance in the North Sumatera Provincial Government.
Keywords - Regional Financial Management, Accountability, Transparency and Financial Performance.


The train fire has been greatly focused by fire researchers all over the world, the key to which is the study of smoke flow. The simulation model is set up to analyze the concentration and the temperature of smoke flow during the train carriage fire. The concentration and temperature is very high near the fire in the closed space. Meanwhile, the spreading speed of smoke flow will be accelerated when the doors are open. The concentration of smoke near the fire will be decreased. The simulation shows that the fire should be extinguished at the initial stage. After being developed because of the pouring of fresh air, the smoke concentration and the temporary ventilation should be controlled.


Pasteurella P. multocida, which causes respiratory disease in cattle, can also be found commensally in the upper respiratory tract. Therefore, it is epidemiologically important to determine the possible difference between pathogenic and commensal strains for the diagnosis of the disease. In this study, phenotypic and genotypic characteristics and virulence associated genes of P. multocida capsular type A strains isolated from the respiratory tract of sick and healthy cattle were investigated. Also, the relationship between the disease status of animals and the characteristics of the isolates were evaluated. Total of 51 P. multocida capsular type A strains were biotyped and genotyped by using commercial bacteria identification kits and PCR-fingerprint, respectively. Four major biotypes generated from xylose and sucrose test results were detected in 39 76.47% isolates. Eleven different biotypes were detected in the remaining 12 isolates 23.53% , which were separated from the 4 major biotypes by mannitol, indole, sorbitol, nitrate, VP, lactose, arabinose, salicin, and rhamnose test. Four genotypes were detected in P. multocida isolates and most of them 90.2% had genotype I profile. Virulence associated genes, such as hgbA, exbB, exbD, tbpA, ptfA, hsf-2, tadD, nanB, nanH, pmHAS, sodA, sodC, and oma87 were detected in all isolates whereas hgbB, toxA, and hsf-1 genes were not found by PCR. PfhA gene were found in 49 isolates 96.07% but, ompH gene could be detected only in 10 18.86% isolates. The findings of the study indicated that P. multocida capsular type A strains generated as xylose positive/sucrose negative biotype II and genotype II may be associated with respiratory diseases of cattle. However, ompH gene was observed to be associated with sucrose negative isolates, but not with disease cases. As a result, it was concluded that xylose positive/sucrose negative biotype and genotype II determined in P. multocida capsular type A strains isolated from respiratory diseases of cattle, might be important epidemiological criteria in the differentiation of commensal and pathogenic isolates.


Tyr-105 is a conserved residue in the Class A beta-lactamases and is in close proximity to the active-site. Tyr-105 in beta-lactamase from Bacillus licheniformis was converted into Phe by site-directed mutagenesis. This mutation caused no significant effect on the structure of the enzyme and had only small effects on the catalytic properties. In particular, in comparison to the wild-type, kcat. for benzylpenicillin was increased slightly, whereas it was decreased slightly for several other substrates. For each substrate examined, Km increased 3-4-fold in the mutant compared with the wild-type enzyme. Examination of the effect of pH on the catalytic reaction revealed only small perturbations in the pK values for the acidic and basic limbs of the kcat./Km pH profiles due to the mutation. Overall effects of the Y105F substitution on the catalytic efficiency for different penicillin and cephalosporin substrates ranged from 14% to 56% compared with the wild-type activity. We conclude that Tyr-105 is not an essential residue for beta-lactamase catalysis, but does contribute to substrate binding.


Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological cancer, which affects one in 70 females in the United States during their lifetime. While cisplatin is the frontline treatment for ovarian cancer, chemoresistance severely limits the treatment success. The goal of this study is to identify novel therapeutic targets to overcome cisplatin resistance. We recently identified Collagen type XI alpha 1 (COL11A1) as a novel biomarker associated with cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer. COL11A1 is a component of the tumor stroma and its expression is restricted to cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) adjacent to tumor cells. We further showed that COL11A1 protects ovarian cancer cells from cisplatin-induced apoptosis, yet the underlying mechanism is largely unknown. To understand the molecular mechanism by which COL11A1 protects cancer cells from cisplatin-induced apoptosis, we overexpressed COL11A1 in ovarian cancer cells and performed RNA-Seq. Our RNA-Seq data revealed that COL11A1 did not change the levels of genes involved in cisplatin transport, inactivation, and DNA repair pathways in cancer cells, which are well-established mechanisms to confer cisplatin resistance. Rather, COL11A1 enhances the expression of the Inhibitors of Apoptosis Proteins (IAPs), including XIAP, BIRC2 (c-IAP1) and BIRC3 (c-IAP2). Using a full-length COL11A1 protein, genetic manipulation, and co-culture method, we confirmed that COL11A1 significantly increases the expression of IAPs upon cisplatin treatment. The inhibition of XIAP, BIRC2 and BIRC3 with an IAP antagonist BV6 attenuated the ability of COL11A1 to inhibit cisplatin-mediated apoptosis. Our data indicates that COL11A1 activates Akt, and Akt is known to phosphorylate XIAP at serine-87, which protects it from ubiquitination and degradation in response to cisplatin. Collectively, our data identify IAP as a mediator of COL11A1's action in blocking cisplatin-induced apoptosis. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Miran Rada, Jennifer Cha, Jessica Sage, Sandra Orsulic, Dong-Joo Cheon. Collagen type XI alpha 1 confers cisplatin chemoresistance in ovarian cancer through inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2975. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2975


Mass media (Radio, TV, print…) plays a crucial and vital role in information distribution and thus in the political market and public policy making. Theory predicts that information provided by mass media reflects the media's incentives to provide news to different types of groups in society, and affects these groups' influence in policy-making. The study emphasize on the role of mass media in political markets and its effect on public policy-making. It attempts to develop a theoretical relationship between mass media and public policy. The empirical studies have tried to assess the effect of media on policy outcomes.
     Analysing various cases in Afghanistan, media influences policy makers and higher authorities to act in accordance of the suggestion and recommendations of media workers and institutions. In recent decades, policy makers have considered on media's soft and proper demands based on their suggestions and recommendations, even many articles in Afghanistan's constitution would be amended.
     According to our findings, 'Access to Information Law', passed by president Ashraf Ghani, was a combine demand of policy makers, lawyers and media workers, who believed that legal information except the information that can harm national security should be accessible by locals and media workers through law. Similarly, Afghan Journalist safety committee developed a comprehensive policy against women Sexual harassment that will be discussed in the paper as a 'Case Study'. Hence, the policy has been accepted by Government of Afghanistan and is implemented since then


Data cleaning, architecture, and loss function design are important factors contributing to high-performance face recognition. Previously, the research community tries to improve the performance of each single aspect but failed to present a unified solution on the joint search of the optimal designs for all three aspects. In this paper, we for the first time identify that these aspects are tightly coupled to each other. Optimizing the design of each aspect actually greatly limits the performance and biases the algorithmic design. Specifically, we find that the optimal model architecture or loss function is closely coupled with the data cleaning. To eliminate the bias of single-aspect research and provide an overall understanding of the face recognition model design, we first carefully design the search space for each aspect, then a comprehensive search method is introduced to jointly search optimal data cleaning, architecture, and loss function design. In our framework, we make the proposed comprehensive search as flexible as possible, by using an innovative reinforcement learning based approach. Extensive experiments on million-level face recognition benchmarks demonstrate the effectiveness of our newly-designed search space for each aspect and the comprehensive search. We outperform expert algorithms developed for each single research track by large margins. More importantly, we analyze the difference between our searched optimal design and the independent design of the single factors. We point out that strong models tend to optimize with more difficult training datasets and loss functions. Our empirical study can provide guidance in future research towards more robust face recognition systems.


I briefly review cosmological bounds on neutrino masses and the underlying gravitational physics at a level appropriate for readers outside the field of cosmology. For the case of three massive neutrinos with standard model freezeout, the current 95% upper limit on the sum of their masses is 0.42 eV. I summarize the basic physical mechanism making matter clustering such a sensitive probe of massive neutrinos. I discuss the prospects of doing still better in coming years using tools such as lensing tomography, approaching a sensitivity around 0.03 eV. Since the lower bound from atmospheric neutrino oscillations is around 0.05 eV, upcoming cosmological measurements should detect neutrino mass if the technical and fiscal challenges can be met.


A retrospective survey was carried out on admissions to hospital for the complications of whooping cough. The number of admissions throughout a decade remained proportional to the total number of cases of whooping cough notified. Children under one year constituted 12.7 per cent of total notifications, but 57.3 per cent of hospital admissions. There were 12 deaths among 2,972 hospital admissions in the years 1965 to 1974; all were in children under 12 months, and ten were in babies under six months.


During the test of ITER conductors at nominal conditions, a degradation of the current sharing temperature has been observed after electromagnetic cyclic loading. Rather than focusing on the microscopic phenomena at the origin of the degradation, the degradation process has been studied from a statistical point of view, analysing the whole dataset of ITER conductors: average degradations have been calculated after various cycle numbers. Possible correlation with the strand critical current has also been analysed. In order to model the evolution of has been correlated with the reliability against cracks formation; the reliability is in turn defined according to a two parameters Weibull distribution. The validity of this approach has been tested with the so-called "Weibull plot". The Weibull exponents were calculated for several ITER conductors and were found to be lower than one, indicating that the failure rate, which may be regarded as the formation rate of fractures in the filaments composing the strands, is decreasing with the number of cycles.


Frequent accesses to the register file make it one of the major sources of energy consumption in ILP architectures. The large number of functional units connected to a large unified register file in VLIW architectures make power dissipation in the register file even worse because of the need for a large number of ports. High power dissipation in a relatively smaller area occupied by a register file leads to a high power density in the register file and makes it one of the prime hot-spots. This makes it highly susceptible to the possibility of a catastrophic heatstroke. This in turn impacts the performance and cost because of the need for periodic cool down and sophisticated packaging and cooling techniques respectively. Clustered VLIW architectures partition the register file among clusters of functional units and reduce the number of ports required thereby reducing the power dissipation. However, we observe that the aggregate accesses to register files in clustered VLIW architectures (and associated energy consumption) become very high compared to the centralized VLIW architectures and this can be attributed to a large number of explicit inter-cluster communications. Snooping based clustered VLIW architectures provide very limited but very fast way of inter-cluster communication by allowing some of the functional units to directly read some of the operands from the register file of some of the other clusters. In this paper, we propose instruction scheduling algorithms that exploit the limited snooping capability to reduce the register file energy consumption on an average by 12% and 18% and improve the overall performance by 5% and 11% for a 2-clustered and a 4-clustered machine respectively, over an earlier state-of-the-art clustered scheduling algorithm when evaluated in the context of snooping based clustered VLIW architectures.


In this work, effect of big paddy hermetic tent (BPHT) modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) of 0.5mm PE and traditional MAP using 0.05mmPE on free fatty acid property were investigated. The results showed that BPHT, which were charged 5% O2 and 5% CO2, was the optimal storage condition to preserve rice grain fresh. Little O2 decreasing and CO2 increasingwere generated in traditional MAP other than fruits and vegetables, because grain respiration rate were low relatively. After five moths storage of rice grain, BPHT storage inhibited the free fatty acid content increasing and lox enzyme activity. BPHT storage with atmosphere charging at storage beginning was the distinctly energy conservation storage method for grains.


The paper presents the spectral stiffness microplane model, which is a general constitutive model for unidirectional composite laminates, able to simulate the orthotropic stiffness, prepeak nonlinearity, failure envelopes, and, in tandem with the material characteristic length, also the post-peak softening and fracture. The framework of the microplane model is adopted. The model exploits the spectral decomposition of the transversely isotropic stiffness matrix of the material to define orthogonal strain modes at the microplane level. This decomposition is a generalization of the volumetric-deviatoric split already used by Bauant and co-workers in microplane models for concrete, steel, rocks, soils, and stiff foams. Linear strain-dependent yield limits (boundaries) are used to provide bounds for the normal and tangential microplane stresses, separately for each mode. A simple version, with an independent boundary for each mode, can capture the salient aspects of the response of a unidirectional laminate, although a version with limited mode coupling can fit the test data slightly better. The calibration of model parameters, verification by test data, and analysis of multidirectional laminates are postponed for the subsequent companion paper. DOI: 10.1115/1.2744036


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The hippocampal fissure is a fetal sulcus that, except for its most medial part (the superficial hippocampal sulcus), is normally obliterated. Hippocampal cavities are residual cysts attributable to lack of hippocampal fissure obliteration. We hypothesized that either hippocampal sulcus enlargement or an increase in number or size of hippocampal cavities could be associated with medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) occurring in Alzheimer disease.

METHODS
Two observers assessed the maximal hippocampal sulcus width by means of the fimbriosubicular distance at the anterior part of the hippocampal body; as well as the occurrence, number, and size of hippocampal cavities; and the visual rating score of MTA on magnified coronal high-resolution T1-weighted MR images of 21 patients with Alzheimer disease and 15 nondemented elderly controls.

RESULTS
Both observers found the maximal hippocampal sulcus width significantly larger in patients with Alzheimer disease than in controls (P < .0001). The interobserver averaged fimbriosubicular distance in patients with Alzheimer disease was 2.84 mm (SD = 0.94), approximately twice that of the corresponding distance in nondemented subjects (1.41 mm; SD, 0.58). Both observers found a significant correlation between the fimbriosubicular distance and MTA score (observer 1, r(s) = 0.71; observer 2, r(s) = 0.74; P < .0001). None of the observers found significant differences between patients with Alzheimer disease and nondemented subjects with respect to occurrence, number, or size of hippocampal cavities, nor did they find a significant correlation between the number or size of hippocampal cavities and MTA. Interobserver agreement ranged from moderate to very good.

CONCLUSION
Enlargement of the hippocampal sulcus, assessed by the fimbriosubicular distance, is associated with MTA in Alzheimer disease, but enlargement of the hippocampal cavities is not.


The main purpose of this paper is to conduct a study and make analysis regarding the techniques, technologies and systems that have been evolved in the recent decades as branches of the broadest domain, which is Artificial Intelligence (AI) having as main objective to emulate the similar processes found in nature at living beings, especially those human cognitive. We will survey techniques such as pattern matching, learning and evolving from stimulus that make computer programs behave like humans. We'll state what the Turing test is and who was the first computer program to pass it, ELIZA, that relied mainly on pattern matching. This is only the beginning of our research in the domain previously stated, and we will focus here on natural language processing, the grammatical constraints that determine how natural language is generated and understood. The desire to explain language comes from ancient world, but not even today, after centuries of thought, a complete understanding of language seems to be a long way off. We'll see that engaging a computer program into a dialog is a very complex process that requires multiple types of knowledge from the following categories: phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, (compositional) semantics, pragmatics and politeness (discourse). The grammatical constraints that determine the understanding and generation of natural language phrases are expressed using a technique called X-bar Schema, which breaks a phrase into groups based on their word types (noun, verb, adjective, preposition, pronoun etc.) and represents them as a tree structure composed of maximal projection nodes and intermediate nodes. We will show what are the rules of this type of representation in order for the phrase to remain correct and give concrete examples of trees representations. We proposed to connect our examples with intelligent agents from famous Hollywood movies, such as HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Joi from Blade Runner 2049, Ava from Ex Machina, and many more, all these with the goal to emphasize what does it mean for an intelligent computer program to imitate human behavior that we do daily without being aware of the complexity of processes it involves.


This dissertation consists of two chapters. The first chapter establishes an algorithm for calculating capital requirements. The calculation of capital requirements for financial institutions usually entails a reevaluation of the company's assets and liabilities at some future point in time for a (large) number of stochastic forecasts of economic and firm-specific variables. The complexity of this nested valuation problem leads many companies to struggle with the implementation. The current chapter proposes and analyzes a novel approach to this computational problem based on least-squares regression and Monte Carlo simulations. Our approach is motivated by a well-known method for pricing non-European derivatives. We study convergence of the algorithm and analyze the resulting estimate for practically important risk measures. Moreover, we address the problem of how to choose the regressors, and show that an optimal choice is given by the left singular functions of the corresponding valuation operator. Our numerical examples demonstrate that the algorithm can produce accurate results at relatively low computational costs, particularly when relying on the optimal basis functions.

The second chapter discusses another application of regression-based methods, in the context of pricing variable annuities. Advanced life insurance products with exercise-dependent financial guarantees present challenging problems in view of pricing and risk management. In particular, due to the complexity of the guarantees and since practical valuation frameworks include a variety of stochastic risk factors, conventional methods that are based on the discretization of the underlying (Markov) state space may not be feasible. As a practical alternative, this chapter explores the applicability of Least-Squares Monte Carlo (LSM) methods familiar from American option pricing in this context. Unlike previous literature we consider optionality beyond surrendering the contract, where we focus on popular withdrawal benefits - so-called GMWBs - within Variable Annuities. We introduce different LSM variants, particularly the regression-now and regression-later approaches, and explore their viability and potential pitfalls. We commence our numerical analysis in a basic Black-Scholes framework, where we compare the LSM results to those from a discretization approach. We then extend the model to include various relevant risk factors and compare the results to those from the basic framework.


This paper studies the relationship between stock liquidity, corporate governance, and leverage in Indonesia. A sample of 165 Indonesian listed firms in the year 2006-2016 is used. The study results confirm that an increase in stock liquidity and corporate governance decreases the use of leverage. This show that corporate governance and stock liquidity able to decrease the agency cost and the usage of debt. The interaction between stock liquidity and corporate governance shows that corporate governance significantly affects leverage only when the firm is liquid. However, there are different results among different proxies of corporate governance quality.


This paper takes a closer look at the Constitution of the United States of America (USA) and its role in shaping the American aspiration which is generally referred to as the 'American Dream.' Essentially, this paper reviews key contributions by noted scholars with reference to the American Dream. For the purposes of this research, two definitions of the American Dream are proposed; both of which are traced back to the pre-colonial American spirit. The working definitions are: 1. The American Dream is 'an indigenous belief in the unbridled freedom and unique heritage of a people' and 2. The American is 'the belief in self-actualization of the good fortunes, guaranteed by American liberties, opportunities and freedom.' Those definitions are examined in line with the scholarly works which were reviewed for this research. Above all, this paper can be seen as a continuation of the discussion on the American Dream.


Cosmic hydrogen is reionized and maintained in its highly ionized state by the ultraviolet emission attributed to an early generation of stars and quasars. The Lyα opacity observed in absorption spectra of high-redshift quasars permits more stringent constraints on the ionization state of cosmic hydrogen. Based on density perturbation and structure formation theory, we develop an analytic model to trace the evolution of the ionization state in the post-overlap epoch of reionization, in which the bias factor is taken into account. For quasars, we represent an improved luminosity function by utilizing a hybrid approach for the halo formation rate that is in reasonable agreement with the published measurements at 2 ≤ z ≤ 6. Comparison with the classic Press-Schechter mass function of dark matter halos, we demonstrate that the biased mass distribution indeed enhances star formation efficiency in the overdense environment by more than 25 per cent following the overlap of ionized bubbles. In addition, an alternative way is introduced to derive robust estimates of the mean free path for ionizing photons. In our model, starforming galaxies are likely to dominate the ionizing background radiation beyond z = 3, and quasars contribute equally above a redshift of z ∼ 2.5. From 5 ≤ z ≤ 6, the lack of evolution in photoionization rate can thus be explained by the relatively flat evolution in star formation efficiency, although the mean free path of ionizing photons increases rapidly. Moreover, in the redshift interval z ∼ 2−6, the expected mean free path and Gunn-Peterson optical depth obviously evolve by a factor of ∼ 500 and ∼ 50 respectively. We find that the relative values of critical overdensities for hydrogen ionization and collapse could be 430% at z ≈ 2 and 2% at z ≈ 6, suggesting a rapid overlap process in the overdense regions around instant quasars following reionization. We further illustrate that the absolute estimates of the fraction of neutral hydrogen computed from theoretical models may not be important because of comparable uncertainties in the computation.


BACKGROUND Laser interstitial thermal therapy has been used in tumor and epilepsy surgery to maximize clinical treatment impact while minimizing morbidity. This intervention places a premium on accuracy. With the advent of robotics, neurosurgery is entering a new age of improved accuracy. Here, the authors described the use of robotic-assisted laser placement for the treatment of epileptiform lesions. OBSERVATIONS The authors presented a case of a 21-year-old woman with medically intractable epilepsy, localized to left mesial temporal sclerosis and left temporal encephalocele by way of stereotactic electroencephalography, who presented for consideration of surgical intervention. When presented with resection versus laser ablation, the patient opted for laser ablation. The patient received robotic-assisted stereotactic laser ablation (RASLA) using a Stealth Autoguide. The patient was seizure free (10 weeks) after surgical ablation. LESSONS RASLA is an effective way to treat epilepsy. Here, the authors reported the first RASLA procedure with a Stealth Autoguide to treat epilepsy. The procedure can be performed effectively and efficiently for multiple epileptic foci without the need for bulkier robotic options or head frames that may interfere with the use of magnetic resonance imaging for heat mapping.


Reintroduction programmes need to be monitored as a way of gauging potential causes of their success or failure. This, in turn, can be used to improve the likelihood of future translocation success. Since the 1990s, stitchbird (or hihi: Notiomystis cincta) translocations have been intensively monitored, with comparisons between two of these projects (Tiritiri Matangi Island - a successful introduction, and Mokoia Island - an unsuccessful introduction) often compared and contrasted as a means of identifying factors important in translocation success for this species. A consistently low adult survival rate on Mokoia Island in conjunction with a study showing a high prevalence of aspergillosis (a fungal disease of the respiratory tract caused by Aspergillus fumigatus) in adult stitchbirds led to this disease being commonly discussed as a major factor responsible for the difference in translocation outcomes. However, A. fumigatus infection rates have never been compared between the two stitchbird populations; thus, population differences in adult survival may have resulted from other factors. One possibility is that survival differences between populations were influenced by differing predation pressures from morepork (or ruru: Ninox novaeseelandiae). Evidence of stitchbird predation by moreporks and the fact that morepork density on Mokoia Island was markedly higher than on Tiritiri Matangi Island provides some support for this hypothesis. It is important that all plausible hypotheses for differences in survival be considered so that we can better evaluate future conservation strategies that target the recovery of this species.


In smart cities, the electricity is an essential component since it preserves a certain level of residents' life quality and provisions the entire spectrum of their economic activities. Thus, a smart way is essential to develop cities without disregarding energy issues. In this scope, the smart grid paradigm offers power supply in an efficient, sustainable and economical manner with minimal impact on the environment and can meet the future energy demands. However, real-time monitoring and control of the smart grid (SG) for continuous and quality-aware power supply in smart cities (SCs) is challenging and requires an advanced quality of service (QoS)-aware communication framework. In this context, this research aims to present a novel data-gathering scheme by using the Internet of software-defined mobile sinks (SDMSs) and wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in the smart grid. The extensive simulation results conducted through the EstiNet9.0 indicate that the designed scheme outperforms existing approaches and achieves its defined goals for events-drive applications in the SG.


A short-cut review was carried out to determine whether intranasal lorazepam was as effective as intravenous lorazepam in the control of seizures in children. Eighteen papers were found using the reported search, of which one was directly relevant and another compared intranasal lorazepam with intramuscular paraldehyde. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses are shown in table 1. It is concluded that intranasal lorazepam appears to be a safe and effective treatment for this condition.