The study was undertaken to determine whether service providers in the Telkom industry align themselves to the fast changing and developing industry in Kenya. The objective of the study was to analyze what strategic planning practices the service providers have and what challenges they encounter. To achieve this, the study was carried out through a cross sectional survey. Primary data was collected using questionnaires addressed to the CEO's and top management of the various service providers to the Telkom industry and administered using the drop and pick method as well as email. Appointments were made to see the respondents in person or telephone calls were made where the respondents needed to seek further clarifications. The target respondents of the study were mainly the top management because they would be more familiar and involved in the strategic planning in the organizations. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data collected. The study found out that the strategic planning practices adopted were formal and documented though the involvement of the strategic planning process is left to the top level management. The need to involve lower level management in strategic planning as well as communication of the strategies and the results achieved from the strategies is not considered to be of great importance to the strategic planners. With the realities of the changing telecommunication environment to keep up with the new technologies, the service providers need to improve the strategic planning process and minimize the challenges they face. A number of measures to reduce these challenges have been highlighted and they include better need to capture data on the environment, refine performance measures, track and evaluate strategic plans on a regular basis to assist on long term planning as well as enable expand into other markets within the region.


This study examines the effect of family of origin and procreation on job exits for a sample of young White women and men (ages 18-24) between 1980 and 1986. Unlike much of the sociological literature that employs path analysis to examine occupational attainment at a small number of fixed points in time, this study employs event history analysis to examine family status factors and occupational attainment as dynamic processes. A competing risk model is used to estimate the effects of marriage and child status as well as socioeconomic status, age, and a set of control variables on two types of job exits: exits to school and exits for reasons other than school. For men the results indicate that marriage and children at job entry have a negative effect on both job exits to attend school and exits for reasons other than school. For women marriage and children at job entry have a negative effect on job exits to attend school but a positive effect on job exits for reasons other than school. For the most part, the effects of marriage on job exits were shown to be weaker than the effects of children. These findings suggest that despite the influx of women into the labor force during the 1980s, young women with children at job entry may have considered parenting rather than financial provision for their family to be their primary responsibility. The opposite holds true for young men.


Mapping origin-destination (OD) network traffic is pivotal for network management and proactive security tasks. However, lack of sufficient flow-level measurements as well as potential anomalies pose major challenges towards this goal. Leveraging the spatiotemporal correlation of nominal traffic, and the sparse nature of anomalies, this paper brings forth a novel framework to map out nominal and anomalous traffic, which treats jointly important network monitoring tasks including traffic estimation, anomaly detection, and traffic interpolation. To this end, a convex program is first formulated with nuclear and l1-norm regularization to effect sparsity and low rank for the nominal and anomalous traffic with only the link counts and a small subset of OD-flow counts. Analysis and simulations confirm that the proposed estimator can exactly recover sufficiently low-dimensional nominal traffic and sporadic anomalies so long as the routing paths are sufficiently "spread-out" across the network, and an adequate amount of flow counts are randomly sampled. The results offer valuable insights about data acquisition strategies and network scenaria giving rise to accurate traffic estimation. For practical networks where the aforementioned conditions are possibly violated, the inherent spatiotemporal traffic patterns are taken into account by adopting a Bayesian approach along with a bilinear characterization of the nuclear and l1 norms. The resultant nonconvex program involves quadratic regularizers with correlation matrices, learned systematically from (cyclo)stationary historical data. Alternating-minimization based algorithms with provable convergence are also developed to procure the estimates. Insightful tests with synthetic and real Internet data corroborate the effectiveness of the novel schemes.


The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of ethylene action, via use of the ethylene antago- nist 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), on the senescence and quality of fresh-cut ripe papaya (Carica papaya L. ʻSunrise Solo') fruit. Ripe papaya fruit were treated with 2.5 μL·L -1 1-MCP and immediately processed into fresh-cut slices or left intact. At 2-day intervals over 10 days at 5 °C, continuously stored slices were monitored for ethylene production, fi rmness, electrolyte leakage, color, sensory changes, and pathogen incidence. Slices freshly prepared from intact fruit stored under identical conditions were measured similarly. Ethylene production did not differ signifi cantly between the treatments, although production rates were slightly but consistently higher in slices from intact control compared with intact 1-MCP-treated fruit. Mesocarp fi rmness of continuously stored slices and slices from fruit stored intact was signifi cantly retained by 1-MCP. Firmness of continuously stored slices from 1-MCP-treated fruit declined 50% compared with 75% for control slices. Firmness of fresh-cut slices prepared from intact control and 1-MCP-treated fruit at each sampling interval declined 26% and 15%, respectively. Electrolyte leakage remained low and changed little in slices freshly prepared from fruit stored intact. Leakage from continuously stored papaya slices increased after 4 days, and after 6 days controls increased signifi cantly compared with stored slices derived from papaya fruit initially treated with the ethylene antagonist. The fl esh color of continuously stored slices or slices prepared from fruit stored intact was infl uenced by 1-MCP only during the later periods of storage. Microbial counts in stored slices or slices prepared at each sampling were generally unaffected by 1-MCP. Informal sensory analysis indicated that the edible shelf life was 6 days in stored slices from 1-MCP-treated fruit compared with 2 to 3 days for stored slices from control fruit.


Background/Aim. Beside arterial hypertension as the most important factor of a myocardial hypertension development, very important risk factors are obesity, hypercholesterolemia, insulin resistance, etc. The aim of the study was to examine the influence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) on left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with arterial hypertension. Methods. We checked medical records for 138 patients with arterial hypertension, and compared them with the control group of 44 normotensive subjects. The patients with arterial hypertension were divided into two groups considering the presence of MetS: with MetS (59 patients), and without MetS (79 patients). We defined MetS as presence of three (or more) within five criteria: central obesity (> 102 cm male, > 88 cm female), raised triglycerides (> 1.7 mmol/L, or drug treatment for elevated triglycerides), reduced high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ( 130 mmHg systolic, > 90 mmHg diastolic), raised fasting glucose (> 6.11 mmol/L, or drug treatment for elevated glucose level). In each group routine laboratory, echocardiography and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring were performed. Results. We found statisticaly significant higher left ventricular mass in both subgroups hypertensive patients in comparison with the control group (p 0.05) in left ventricular mass between these two groups of patients. In the patients with arterial hypertension and MetS we found hypertrophy more frequently than in the subgroup without MetS (43/57 vs 34/69, p < 0.001). Conclusion. Our results suggest that associated cardiometabolic risks increase the prevalence of myocardial hypertrophy, but do not influence left ventricular mass.


The purpose of this study was to replicate the dissertation of Dr. Phillip McCormack of 1988 and to compare the results of that study to the results of this study of 2004, fifteen years later. Dr. McCormack's original research questions were used but modified to include the comparison of data fifteen years apart. A descriptive research design was used. It was based upon the design used by Dr. McCormack. The study used both a quantitative component and a qualitative component. Information was gathered, as it had been in 1988, through (1) questionnaires given to school board members and superintendents and (2) follow-up interviews with board members and superintendents. The same written survey instruments were used. The same interview questions were used with the addition of several questions that inquired about changes affecting the field of education that had come about in the last fifteen years. A list of the significant findings include: The top three issues that affected superintendent-school board relations in 1988 were Personnel, Fiscal/budget, and Superintendent/School Board relations. In 2004, Fiscal/ budget, and Personnel and Superintendent/School Board relations were tied for second place. Personnel/teacher evaluation has become more contentious whereas tension over the structure of the SAU has diminished since 1988. Financial/budget issues remain at the top of the list with these other two and now collective bargaining has also become more of an issue. Superintendents see themselves more often now primarily as instructional leaders. School Board members now see the superintendent more often as a decision-maker and less of a professional advisor or functionary. Superintendents see themselves as more of political strategists and less as decision-makers now than in 1988. The school board today believes that the superintendent is generally more likely to dominate the decisions made regarding educational program, personnel/personnel policy, finance/fiscal, school closings/ construction, and superintendent/school board roles, whereas the superintendents feel that they are less likely to dominate decision-making in those areas.


Abstract Experiments were initiated to determine if the tropical soda apple (TSA) biological control agent, Tobacco mild green mosaic tobamo virus (TMGMV), could be mixed with synthetic herbicides to provide effective broad-spectrum weed control. When TMGMV was mixed with 2,4-D ester or amine, metsulfuron, or hexazinone, TSA control ranged between 80 and 100%. On average, TMGMV increased TSA control by 81% as compared to these herbicides applied alone. Treatment applications were made by rubbing only three leaves, not as a broadcast application. Although this is not the optimum method for herbicide application, it does indicate the level of control the herbicide alone potentially provided relative to the herbicide/TMGMV mixture. Results indicate that the majority of TSA control was due to virus and that the herbicides mixed with TMCMV did not interfere with the virus's ability to infect TSA. Additions of organosilicone adjuvants or low rates of crop oil or nonionic adjuvants to TMGMV solutions resulted in greater infection of TSA. The finding that TMGMV remains infective when mixed with herbicides will allow greater flexibility for landowners attempting to control TSA and other troublesome weeds. Nomenclature: 2,4-D amine; 2,4-D ester; dicamba; hexazinone; metsulfuron; tropical soda apple; Solanum viarum Dunal SOLVI.


This paper illustrates that distinctive patterns of regional development can be understood as resulting from the relative dominance of the three components in the triple helix model at any one time. This approach can be used to understand why high growth sectors, such as biotechnology, are concentrated at particular locations. Using the example of the biotechnology sector in Oxfordshire (UK), we examine how differences in formal (e.g. institutional arrangements) and informal networks are influenced by broader geographical, political, economic and social environments. These differences produce distinctive regional forms of the triple helix model. Oxfordshire is a national centre of the sector, having the key ingredients of a concentration of universities and government laboratories, heavily supported by government, and a growing number of biotech firms. The distinctive features of the Oxfordshire variant are that the role of Oxford University, a world centre for biomedical research, is secondary at the regional level rather than being dominant as might be expected and that the availability of skills, underplayed in traditional presentations of the model, is far more significant.


Purpose: To describe the use of hyaluronic acid gel for upper eyelid filling, contouring, and rejuvenation. Methods: In this consecutive, retrospective, interventional case series, standard serial puncture injections with preperiosteal placement of filler were administered at the superior orbital rim. Outcome measures included classification of upper eyelid volume deficiency as I) medial A-shaped hollow, II) generalized hollow, III) postblepharoplasty volume loss, and IV) upper eyelid hooding with subbrow volume deflation; volume of filler used; masked, independent assessment of pretreatment and posttreatment photographs; patient satisfaction; and complications. Results: Twenty-seven patients were included with a mean follow-up of 13 months. More than 85% were white women with a mean age of 51 years (range, 24–65 years). Five patients were classified as type I, 8 as type II, 11 as type III, and 3 as type IV. The mean volume of filler used was 0.4 ml/eyelid (range, 0.1–1 ml). Photographic assessment showed improved static upper eyelid contour in 23 patients (85%), little change in 3 patients (11%), and deterioration in 1 patient (4%). Twenty-six patients (96%) were satisfied with the treatment, although 5 (19%) requested additional filler and 1 patient underwent dissolution within 3 months. Two of the 3 type IV patients still required blepharoplasty/ptosis surgery. All patients developed mild bruising and swelling but no discoloration or lumpiness. Conclusions: Hyaluronic acid filler is an effective means of rejuvenating the upper eyelid and is particularly successful in patients with medial/generalized upper eyelid hollowing, or significant postblepharoplasty upper eyelid show. A blepharoplasty/brow lift/ptosis procedure is still frequently required for hooding due to subbrow deflation (type IV).


Introduction Despite advances in the staging and treatment, the prognosis of upper gastrointestinal tract (UGIT) cancer in the UK remains poor, often presenting insidiously at a late stage. However, in contrast to our understanding of missed colorectal cancer rates following colonoscopy, relatively few studies have been published addressing the frequency of missed UGIT malignancies. Depending on the population studied this ranges from 6.7 to 25.8%. The aim of this study was to identify how frequently oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD) may have failed to detect cancer at Prince Charles Hospital, a District General Hospital in South Wales, with a stable population of 150000, in the 36 months preceding a confirmed histological diagnosis. Methods All patients between 1st January 2010 and 31st December 2012 who underwent an OGD and were subsequently diagnosed with cancer were identified using endoscopic records and the cancer service database. Patients who had undergone a prior endoscopy within 3 years of diagnosis were then identified and their records reviewed to analyse the previous endoscopic and histological findings. Results 5454 endoscopies were performed during this time period, and a total of 134 patients (2.4%) with UGI cancer were identified. 77 (57%) were oesophageal, 49 (37%) gastric and 8 (6%) duodenal. The mean age was 69 years (range 24–91), with a higher proportion of males to females (3:1). Of these, 9 patients (6.7%) had undergone at least one previous endoscopy in the 36 months leading up to a confirmed UGIT cancer diagnosis, with 44% of these being within the preceding 12 months. The mean interval was 15months. The majority (55%) of patients had only one prior endoscopy (range 1– 5). 8 patients (89%) were found to have pathology at a preceding endoscopy at the site of a subsequently detected cancer. 6 patients were felt to have insufficient biopsy sampling (<4 or none) and 3 had inadequate surveillance or follow up of identified pathology (of which two had both inadequate sampling and surveillance). Conclusion These findings, whilst similar to those previously reported in the literature have highlighted the importance of careful and thorough examination of the UGI tract, in particular with regard to adequate tissue sampling and surveillance. Consideration should be given to dedicated lists for surveillance of Barrett's and the use of additional techniques such as narrow band imaging and chromoendoscopy in order to enhance diagnostic accuracy. Disclosure of Interest None Declared.


The World Bank and the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) of Romania through the National Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training Development (NCTVETD) signed an Advisory Services Agreement for assistance in informed decision-making on investments in education infrastructure on March 31, 2016. The development objective of this Reimbursable Advisory Services (RAS) is to strengthen the strategic and monitoring capacity of the MoNE to make informed decisions on investments in education infrastructure. Specifically, this RAS (i) supports the preparation of a draft Strategy for Infrastructure Investments in Education Institutions (SIIEI), and (ii) builds and enhances capacity within the MoNE for the preparation and monitoring of the National Strategy for Infrastructure Investments in Education Institutions (NSIIEI). The MoNE will prepare the government's NSIIEI based on recommendations presented in the draft SIIEI developed under this RAS. The draft SIIEI comprises two documents: volume one – Strategic Framework for Investments in Education Infrastructure 2017-2023 (this document) and volume two – From Data to Investment Priorities: Using Evidence to Guide Strategic Decisions about Romania's Education Infrastructure (a companion analytical report). The NSIIEI will be fundamental to inform decisions on investments in infrastructure, as well as to (i) increase the absorption of European Union Structural and Investment Funds for the 2014–2020 programming period, and (ii) to guide the utilization of funds from other sources available for the Government of Romania.


Energy storage system has been widely applied in power distribution sectors as well as in renewable energy sources to ensure uninterruptible power supply. This paper presents a model predictive algorithm to control a bidirectional AC-DC converter, which is used in an energy storage system for power transferring between the three-phase AC voltage supply and energy storage devices. This model predictive control (MPC) algorithm utilizes the discrete behavior of the converter and predicts the future variables of the system by defining cost functions for all possible switching states. Subsequently, the switching state that corresponds to the minimum cost function is selected for the next sampling period for firing the switches of the AC-DC converter. The proposed model predictive control scheme of the AC-DC converter allows bidirectional power flow with instantaneous mode change capability and fast dynamic response. The performance of the MPC controlled bidirectional AC-DC converter is simulated with MATLAB/Simulink® and further verified with 3.0kW experimental prototypes. Both the simulation and experimental results show that, the AC-DC converter is operated with unity power factor, acceptable THD (3.3% during rectifier mode and 3.5% during inverter mode) level of AC current and very low DC voltage ripple. Moreover, an efficiency comparison is performed between the proposed MPC and conventional VOC-based PWM controller of the bidirectional AC-DC converter which ensures the effectiveness of MPC controller.


Background & Objective: In recent years, mucoadhesive drug delivery systems has shown interested for prolonging the residence time of the dosage form and for providing a controlled rate of drug release. Mucoadhesive buccal films can enhance drug bioavailability by absorption through buccal mucosa and bypassing the first pass metabolism for improved therapeutic effect. In addition, buccal films have advantages such as providing a convenient accessibility, painless method of drug delivery, and improved patient compliance. Buccal tablets allow drinking, eating, and speaking without any major discomfort. Materials & Methods: Buccal films of diphenhydramine were prepared by solvent casting technique using Hydroxyl Propyl Methyl Cellulose (HPMC) 6000cps, Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose (NaCMC), and Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA). Prepared films were evaluated for weight, thickness, swelling index, drug content uniformity, tensile strength, and in vitro release studies. Results: The thickness of the films were between 0.13 and 0.25 mm. Their weight were in range of 0.98 and 1.26. F1 (containing 875mg HPMC and 125mg PVA), F5 (made of HPMC 50 mg and PVA 950mg), and F6 (containing 800mg PVA) showed success in the primary tests. No bubble or shrinkage was observed in them. F1, F5, and F6 released 97.8%, 96.7%, and 97.6% of the drug, respectively during five hours, two hours, and 40 minutes. Conclusion: F6, which contained 800mg PVA, released 97.6% of the drug in 40 minutes. This film has proper pharmaceutic characteristics to be used.


Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by a new strain of coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) identified in 2019 and previously not identified in humans, was declared a pandemic in March 2020 by the World Health Organization. It is not the first-time coronavirus is being identified in humans. In 2004, a novel coronavirus strain (HCoV-NL63) was isolated from a 7-monthold child suffering from bronchiolitis and conjunctivitist, according to a report in naturemedicine, making it the fourth human coronaviruses ever identified. The other three included, HCoV-229E, HCoV-OC43 and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV1). While HCoV-229E and HCoV-OC43 were identified in mid-1960s and reported to cause common cold, SARS-CoV1 was identified about 20 years ago and was associated with a life-threatening pneumonia. Other enteropathogenic-coronavirus-transmissible gastroenteritis viruses have also been reported recently in animals. Until now with the COVID-19 pandemic associated with SARS-CoV2, SARS-CoV1 has been the most pathogenic human coronavirus ever identified with zoonotic transmission. Coronaviruses, which are enveloped viruses with a large plusstrand RNA genome, belong to the genus of the Coronaviridae family. The genomic RNA is 27–32 kb in size, capped and polyadenylated. They are known to be associated with animals and recently a zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV1 and 2 is observed, causing a variety of severe diseases, including gastroenteritis and respiratory tract diseases. As known antiviral agents appear not to be potent against the zoonotic coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV1 and 2, innate defence mechanisms may play a significant role in combating the virus in healthy body system. Probiotics, which have been defined as live microbes which when ingested in sufficient amount confer health-promoting and boosting attributes on the host, can support the body system in fighting the viral infection. This may be possible through several mechanisms of action associated with probiotics including, production of antimicrobial agents, modulation of immune responses and promotion of host innate defence mechanisms.


W e and others have called attention to a peculiar form of reversible cardiomyopathy, which usually occurs in the setting of emotional or physical stress. 1–10 This syndrome of stress-related cardiomyopathy (SCM) has been given various names, in part depending on the geometric pattern of systolic dysfunction. Although there have been many reports on this subject in the past decade, since the signal case series of Tsuchihashi and coworkers 1 was published, most of these studies have been descriptive in nature, with little attention devoted to the mechanism underlying the systolic dysfunction and virtually no investigation of the systolic or diastolic properties of the left ventricle (LV) of patients with this syndrome. Accordingly, to better understand the systolic and diastolic function of patients with acute SCM, we decided to review diastolic pressure-volume relations in a consecutive series of women undergoing echocardiography and contemporaneous left heart catheterization who fulfilled diagnostic criteria for SCM. 1 We chose as 2 comparison groups women undergoing left heart catheterization for the diagnosis of acute left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) territory myocardial infarc-tion (LAD MI) and women undergoing catheterization for the diagnosis of chest pain who did not have obstructive coronary artery disease in the same time period (referent control subjects). We restricted our analysis to women because they make up at least 90% of patients with SCM 1–8 and would allow us to reduce the impact of confounding variables. It is now accepted that SCM is caused by a primary activation of the sympathetic nervous system and LAD MI is caused by a primary ischemic event, 11 that SCM causes a global injury and LAD-territory MI causes a regional injury, and that SCM is reversible and changes related to LAD MI are not. We hypothesized that in view of these significant pathophysiolog-ical differences, the systolic and diastolic properties of SCM patients would be easy to differentiate from those of patients with acute LAD MI. We retrospectively examined 3 patient groups: SCM patients, patients with acute LAD-territory MI, and patients undergoing left heart Background—Stress cardiomyopathy (SCM) is a peculiar form of reversible left ventricular dysfunction seen predominantly in women and occurs in response to emotional or physical stress. Because dysfunction in SCM is reversible and that of acute myocardial infarction (MI) is not, we hypothesized that these fundamental mechanistic differences between SCM and MI would be associated with different systolic and diastolic properties. Methods and …


One of the methods for dealing with the problem of water shortage and the decline of groundwater levels in the arid areas is the construction of underground dams. It is difficult to make a decision about suitable locations for the construction of underground dams because of the necessity to consider numerous factors. Some of these criteria are hydrological, geological and geomorphologic characteristics of the area. By applying the GIS and AHP methods, this study attempted to introduce the suitable locations for construction of underground dams in Roomeshgan area in Lorestan Province, Iran. For this purpose, factors such as slope, lithology, land use, alluvium thickness, water quality, and distance from the well, fault and stream and rivers network were used. Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for the possibility of considering various qualitative and quantitative criteria, the process can be one way to select the appropriate location for constructing an underground dam. In this study, after the assessment of the used layers in the Expert Choice software, weight mapping of each layer was prepared. Then, the map of suitable areas for construction of the underground dam was prepared by overlapping the weight mappings of each layer in ArcGIS software. According to the results, 15.87 %, 11.96 %, 35.75 %, 33.23 % and 3.18 % of the region are located in very poor, poor, moderate, suitable and very suitable areas, respectively. After several field surveys of the area with three percent, six locations were selected for underground dam construction. The results show that the factors mentioned above have the most important role in locating the underground dam construction and the chosen method has high accuracy.


We report a case of metastatic malignant melanoma that presented with macroscopic hematuria and lower urinary tract symptoms. Effective palliation of urinary tract symptoms was achieved with transurethral resection of metastatic lesions in the bladder. However, the patient was lost due to widespread disease despite systemic therapy. Solitary or multiple dark blue-black nodular or vegetating lesions encountered during cystoscopy should raise the suspicion of metastasis of malignant melanoma and be investigated accordingly.


The present study gives an overview of data on the habitat biodiversity of mosquitoes occurring in certain parts (viz, Pauri, Tehri and Uttarkashi) of Garhwal (Uttaranchal), India. The study was based on the mosquito sampling in 450 sites/spots in all the 3 districts, each spot having an area of 25 km2 and geographically located at varying altitudes between 300 to 3,000 m. While compiling the data, published sources in the recent past were also considered. The species richness was categorized as most species and least species by estimating the top and least 5 percentile of species density in each grid cells/spots, respectively. Our database showed that the area harbors 45 species from 3 genera. As many as 17 species of Anopheles and 15 species of the genus Aedes were recorded during November 2000 to October 2002. Further, there were 13 species of Culex, besides few specimens that could not be identified correctly because of damage body parts. Collected species of Anophelines were grouped as common, uncommon, and rare species depending to their percentage of occupying in grid cells/spots. There were 9 common species, while the number of rare species and uncommon species were 3 and 5, respectively. The sites/ spots nearer to riverine areas or thick-forested areas showed more diversity of mosquitoes than those nearer to non-forested or thin-forested areas. However, the biodiversity rich spots were up to 1,200 m altitudes.


This book explores the development of general systems theory and the individuals who gathered together around that idea to form the Society for General Systems Research. In examining the life and work of the SGSR's five founding members -- Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Kenneth Boulding, Ralph Gerard, James Grier Miller, and Anatol Rapoport -- Hammond traces the emergence of systems ideas across a broad range of disciplines in the mid-twentieth century. A metaphor and a framework, the systems concept as articulated by its earliest proponents highlights relationship and interconnectedness among the biological, ecological, social, psychological, and technological dimensions of our increasingly complex lives. Seeking to transcend the reductionism and mechanism of classical science -- which they saw as limited by its focus on the discrete, component parts of reality -- the general systems community hoped to complement this analytic approach with a more holistic approach. As one of many systems traditions, the general systems group was specifically interested in fostering collaboration and integration between different disciplinary perspectives. The book documents a unique episode in the history of modern thought, one that remains relevant today. This book will be of interest to historians of science, system theorists, and scholars in such fields as cybernetics and system dynamics.


ABSTRACT Reproducibility is widely regarded as crucial for scientific studies, yet there is still a lack of reproducibility in geospatial research. New sources of crowdsourced geoinformation provide new opportunities, but also complicate the reproducibility situation. Consequently, there is untapped potential in the domain of disaster response to reuse scientific methodology. Shared, executable scientific workflows can help in improving reproducibility. In this paper, we created reproducible scientific workflows for disaster response from three published studies using geosocial media sources. They have been adapted to a scientific workflow management system to investigate and evaluate their suitability for the creation of geospatial footprints of wildfire events from Twitter data. We investigated how scientific workflows adapt to various analytical processes and compared their performance using MODIS active fires data as ground truth. A systematic qualitative and quantitative evaluation demonstrated that scientific workflows can help increase the reproducibility of geospatial analytics.


The goal of this paper is to examine innovation activities in the Vienna software industry and to get a better understanding of the nature and geography of knowledge linkages in this sector. In the literature there seems to be a growing consensus that innovation rests on both informal local knowledge linkages and formal global networks, i.e. a combination of "local buzz" and "global pipelines". Recent studies on the software sector, however, show that the importance of different types of knowledge sources, the spatial dimension of knowledge transfer and the relevance of different channels of knowledge exchange in the software industry remain poorly understood. Drawing on a firm survey and qualitative face-to-face interviews with companies we will show that in the Vienna software industry the transfer and exchange of knowledge is highly localised and strongly informal in nature, pointing to a high significance of "local buzz" and a lack of "global pipelines". This specific pattern raises the question whether the Vienna software sector is exposed to a danger of lock in. (author´s abstract)


Within the context of solving Mixed-Integer Linear Programs by a Branch-and-Cut algorithm, we propose a new strategy for branching. Computational experiments show that, on the majority of our test instances, this approach enumerates fewer nodes than traditional branching. On average, on instances that contain both integer and continuous variables the number of nodes in the enumeration tree is reduced by more than a factor of two, and computing time is comparable. On a few instances, the improvements are of several orders of magnitude in both number of nodes and computing time.


Background In the UK, 4 out of 5 nurses lack basic pre-registration education and training in end of life care. Research shows an increased anxiety, lack of clinical skills, poor coping mechanisms among nursing students to deal with death and dying situations. Nevertheless, the reasons are unknown from the perspectives of healthcare lecturers about different end of life care teaching and learning strategies and its impact on clinical learning experiences on students. Aim To critically examine the experiences and attitudes of healthcare lecturers' on learning- teaching strategies on end of life care topics in pre-registration nursing programmes. Methods After ethical approval, 10 'think aloud' semi structured interviews were conducted with health care lecturers who were involved in teaching end of life care topics in one University in England. Phenomenography informed framework method was used to analyse the data. Findings Data analysis revealed 3 themes. The theme on 'hidden death' relates to the lack of explicit curricular objectives around end of life care topics results in limited exposure to death and dying topics in pre-registration programmes. Second theme on 'protecting emotions' relates to how participants deliver end of life care teaching in a shared emotional space'. Final theme on 'Cinderella sessions' relates to lack of explicit support mechanisms for dealing emotional outcomes of end of life care teaching sessions for both teachers and students. Conclusions Health care lecturers remains 'cautious and over conscious' on managing emotive topics that often makes end of life care topics as hidden curriculum. Despite using traditional teaching methods often trusted as beneficial in teaching end of life care topics, technology enhanced end of life care teaching-learning strategies yet unproven. Further research is urgently needed to evaluate diverse end of life care teaching strategies and its impact on clinical care outcomes.


Nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs) in blends with highly crystalline donor polymers have been shown to yield particularly high device voltage outputs, but typically more modest quantum yields for photocurrent generation as well as often lower fill factors (FF). In this study, we employ transient optical and optoelectronic analysis to elucidate the factors determining device photocurrent and FF in blends of the highly crystalline donor polymer PffBT4T‐2OD with the promising NFA FBR or the more widely studied fullerene acceptor PC71BM. Geminate recombination losses, as measured by ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy, are observed to be significantly higher for PffBT4T‐2OD:FBR blends. This is assigned to the smaller LUMO‐LUMO offset of the PffBT4T‐2OD:FBR blends relative to PffBT4T‐2OD:PC71BM, resulting in the lower photocurrent generation efficiency obtained with FBR. Employing time delayed charge extraction measurements, these geminate recombination losses are observed to be field dependent, resulting in the lower FF observed with PffBT4T‐2OD:FBR devices. These data therefore provide a detailed understanding of the impact of acceptor design, and particularly acceptor energetics, on organic solar cell performance. Our study concludes with a discussion of the implications of these results for the design of NFAs in organic solar cells.


A wave of recent scholarship documenting the discriminatory harms of algorithmic systems has spurred widespread interest in algorithmic accountability and regulation. Yet effective accountability and regulation is stymied by a persistent lack of resources supporting public understanding of algorithms and artificial intelligence. Through interactions with a US-based civil rights organization and their coalition of community organizations, we identify a need for (i) heuristics that aid stakeholders in distinguishing between types of analytic and information systems in lay language, and (ii) risk assessment tools for such systems that begin by making algorithms more legible. The present work delivers a toolkit to achieve these aims. This paper both presents the Algorithmic Equity Toolkit (AEKit) Equity as an artifact, and details how our participatory process shaped its design. Our work fits within human-computer interaction scholarship as a demonstration of the value of HCI methods and approaches to problems in the area of algorithmic transparency and accountability.


Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare disease, which may involve various organ systems; therefore, it has multiple clinical manifestations.

CASE REPORT
We present the case of a 56-year-old woman admitted to Amerikan Hospital Ear-Nose and Throat outpatient clinic with a complaint of progressive hearing loss in both ears, which had started 10 years ago. She was treated with corticosteroids for 10 years until last year, 2017. Surgical exploration was performed and histologic evaluation revealed LCH.

CONCLUSIONS
LCH has clinical manifestations depending on the site of infiltration. In adults, isolated bilateral mastoid infiltration, as an initial symptom, is a very rare condition. With corticosteroid uptake, the period of initial symptom was 10 years in our patient, which is, as per our knowledge, the longest reported in literature. This infiltration may mimic acute or chronic infections of the ear. Therefore, LCH should be considered in the differential diagnose of patients who present with bilateral mastoid cavity disease.


The Generic Slum Ontology (GSO) was developed to assist the detection of slums using Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA). When applying the GSO locally, uncertainties exist in slum detection and transferability. Slums often have fuzzy boundaries and different ways to conceptualise. This study focuses on inherent uncertainties when analysing the transferability of the GSO across space, time and conceptualizations in the city of Jakarta, Indonesia. To measure the transferability of the GSO, we developed quantitative and qualitative indicators in multi-temporal Pleiades imagery (2012-2015) of two purposely-selected subsets. This framework allows assessing whether the developed ruleset is transferable across different spatial and temporal images. We applied two classification stages: background removal with a low scale parameter (SP) followed by slum extraction with a coarser SP. Both quantitative and qualitative indicators showed limited spatial and temporal transferability. Three sources of uncertainties can explain this result. First, the static concept of the employed ruleset and dynamic changes of slums. Real-world objects evolve over time, but their description remains static. Second, the gap between the real world (subjective conceptualization of objects) and image domain (quantitative values). For instance, the roof materials of slums (i.e. asbestos) have a similar spectral property with parking lot (from concrete), which resulted in misclassification. Third, the use of references data from local experts and municipal data introduce uncertainties that related to local ground knowledge and politics of slum declarations. Thus, this research contributes to the development of transferability measurements for the GSO and the understanding of underlying uncertainties. * Corresponding author


Underwater networking is a research area of growing importance. It finds applications in the exploitation of subsurface natural resources and monitoring of coastal waters for environmental and marine life protection purposes. Such networks usually rely on acoustic waves for underwater communications. It is a mechanical phenomenon affected by specific impairments, which have been the subjects of numerous theoretical studies. In this paper, a practical aspect of underwater communications is investigated. We report on a three-week long sea trial conducted using four commercial-of-the-shelf underwater acoustic modems operated in a broadcast mode in Bedford Basin (N.S., Canada). First, environmental conditions are presented. Then, underwater acoustic broadcasts results are discussed, modeled, and compared to theoretical predictions. Results are worst than theory, but comparable to other experiments. A higher signal-to-noise ratio seems beneficial for reducing bit-error-rate.


This study presents an investigation of a new redundant system to prevent the potential progressive collapse of reinforced concrete buildings resulted from a column failure. It is proposed to transfer the residual loads upward above the failed column of reinforced concrete buildings by vertical cables connected to the ends of beams and hanged at the top to a hat steel braced frame seated on the top of the building. Then the hat braced frame redistributes the residual loads to the adjacent columns. Nonlinear dynamic analysis in conjunction with the alternate path method (APM) recommended by GSA guidelines is curried out to investigate the validity of the proposed scheme. The investigations are conducted upon a reinforced concrete building designed according to Australian Standard AS3600. The simulation results demonstrated the efficiency of the proposed method in improving the progressive collapse resistance of the adopted reinforced concrete building.


Abstract This article explores the use of memory and material culture in the history of families who travelled between Britain and Australia and settled in the early colonies from 1788 until 1901. It draws on diaries, memoirs, letters, and objects belonging to a variety of cultural institutions including the Museum of Childhood in Perth, Museum Victoria, the Powerhouse Museum, and the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, as well as those within private collections, to explore some of the meanings of objects brought by families from Britain to Australia. Certain objects connected their owners with past lives back in Britain, reminded them of home, family ties and duty and were transferred to new owners to remind the next generation of their journeys round the world. It argues that a focus on material culture enriches our understanding of the economic, social and cultural history of the family in late eighteenth and nineteenth-century Britain and Australia and allows us to appreciate the labour of mothers in creating family histories.


The objective of this study is to take some of the mystery out of mutual fund revenue sharing, but without being able to say investors have transparent disclosure. Topics begin with the transition from directed brokerage to revenue sharing. The discussions that follow include directed brokerage and revenue sharing; replacing 12b-1 fees; defensive 12b-1 fees; distribution with a difference; revenue sharing nuances; types of revenue sharing; revenue sharing summary; disclosure issues; revenue sharing and 401(k) plans; pension plan sub-transfer agency fees; Schwab revenue sharing; SEC versus Edward D. Jones; and Morgan Stanley distribution fees. It appears that most in the world of regulation and practice of revenue sharing lacks clarity, consistency, proper redress and investor transparency, such as the so-called "direct distribution" of revenue sharing payments from fund adviser "profits."


Fracture ratio is one of important parameters for evaluation of rock mass quality. The fracture ratio of rock is analyzed by digital image analysis with matlab. In this paper, the width of different place on fracture of rock is gotten, which is more important than average width of fracture for analysis characteristic of fracture. The area of fracture is directly gotten from the binary image of fracture and it can avoid the error of area of fracture due to average width of fracture. So the fracture ratio of area is more exacter. The practice shows that the method of digital image analysis is a good method for investigation of fracture ratio of rock.


Radiative neutron capture is an important nuclear reaction whose accurate description is needed for many applications ranging from nuclear technology to nuclear astrophysics. The description of such a process relies on the Hauser-Feshbach theory which requires the nuclear optical potential, level density and $\gamma$-strength function as model inputs. It has recently been suggested that the M1 scissors mode may explain discrepancies between theoretical calculations and evaluated data. We explore statistical model calculations with the strength of the M1 scissors mode estimated to be dependent on the nuclear deformation of the compound system. We show that the form of the M1 scissors mode improves the theoretical description of evaluated data and the match to experiment in both the fission product and actinide regions. Since the scissors mode occurs in the range of a few keV $\sim$ a few MeV, it may also impact the neutron capture cross sections of neutron-rich nuclei that participate in the rapid neutron capture process of nucleosynthesis. We comment on the possible impact to nucleosynthesis by evaluating neutron capture rates for neutron-rich nuclei with the M1 scissors mode active.


The aim of this study is to elaborate electro-rheological fluids based on kaolinite. the scientific characterization made it possible the identification of the composite nature and the checking of the intercalation of the polymer among the clay particles The rheological behaviour of the fluid depends on the electric field. A yield stress of the suspensions is observed, which increases with the applied electric field. An interpretation based on the different modes of association between the clay particles is proposed to account qualitatively for the observed behaviour.


Bulk nanocrystalline copper and nickel (average grain size ~ 50 nm) with high purity and density were synthesized by equichannel angular extrusion (ECAE). Both nanohardness and microhardness measurements revealed a significant increase in hardness of the bulk sample. The tensile strength of these materials has been found to be 5-6 times higher than conventional forms and our experiments show that Cu is extremely stable up to temperatures of 100 oC and Ni to temperatures of 250 oC. The fracture toughness, measured by the value of JIC for nc-copper and nickel have been found to be 21.66 KJ/m2 and 12.13 KJ/m2, respectively which are high for these strength levels.


For static beam conformal intracranial radiosurgery, geometry of the beam arrangement dominates overall dose distribution. Maximizing beam separation in three dimensions decreases beam overlap, thus maximizing dose conformality and gradient outside of the target volume. Webb proposed arrangements of isotropically convergent beams that could be used as the starting point for a radiotherapy optimization process. We have developed an extracranial radiosurgery optimization method by extending Webb's isotropic beam arrangements to deliverable beam arrangements. This method uses an arrangement of N maximally separated converging vectors within the space available for beam delivery. Each bouquet of isotropic beam vectors is generated by a random sampling process that iteratively maximizes beam separation. Next, beam arrangement is optimized for critical structure avoidance while maintaining minimal overlap between beam entrance and exit pathways. This geometrically optimized beam set can then be used as a template for either conformal beam or intensity modulated extracranial radiosurgery. Preliminary results suggest that using this technique with conformal beam planning provides high plan conformality, a steep dose gradient outside of the tumour volume and acceptable critical structure avoidance in the majority of clinical cases.


Leprosy is one of the most common treatable dermato-neurologic disease affecting skin and peripheral nerves. Though the prevalence of the disease is decreasing, still it is a major public health problem in India. Pure neuritic leprosy constitutes 4 – 10% of all leprosy cases. The diagnosis of such case is difficult because of lack of skin lesions. Therefore it requires high degree of suspicion and thorough investigations. Association of anaemia with leprosy is commonly due tonutritional and impaired utilization of iron and studies have quoted impaired iron metabolism and defective megaloblastic erythropoiesis. Our case is a pure neuritic form of leprosy with unusual finding of ulnarcystat right elbow joint and also had severe degree of Iron Deficiency Anemia. It was a diagnostic challenge requiring high degree of clinical suspicionand thorough investigations.


This communication explores the unique challenge of contemporary urban problems and the technologies that vendors have to solve them. An acknowledged gap exists between widely referenced technologies that city managers utilize to optimize scheduled operations and those that reflect the capability of spontaneity in search of nuance–laden solutions to problems related to the reflexivity of entire systems. With regulation, the first issue type succumbs to rehearsed preparation whereas the second hinges on extemporaneous practice. One is susceptible to ready-made technology applications while the other requires systemic deconstruction and solution-seeking redesign. Research suggests that smart city vendors are expertly configured to address the former, but less adept at and even ill-configured to react to and address the latter. Departures from status quo responses to systemic problems depend on formalizing metrics that enable city monitoring and data collection to assess "smart investments", regardless of the size of the intervention, and to anticipate the need for designs that preserve the individuality of urban settings as they undergo the transformation to become "smart".


Expanding upon longstanding concerns in cultural history about the relation of text and image, this book explores how ideas move across and between expressive forms. The contributions draw from art and architectural history, film, theater, performance studies, and social and cultural history to identify and dissect the role that the visual and performing arts can play in the experience and understanding of the past. The essays highlight the role of oral history in the documentation of the visual and performing arts. They share a common set of questions as they explore, firmly grounded in their distinctive disciplinary standpoints, the circuit of word, gesture, object in the formation and reproduction of knowledge, identity, and community. Blending theory and case study, they cover subjects such as the response of artists to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission; violence in Columbia and Mexico and the Balkan Wars; the circuit of sexual desire in contemporary art and photography; and sites of collective and personal memory, including the Internet, the urban landscape, family photographs, and hip hop. Stressing the relationship of media to the formation of collective memory, the volume explores how media intertextuality creates overlapping repertoires for understanding the past and the present. Scholars of art history, media and cultural studies, literature, and performance studies will all find this work a valuable resource.


In the current study, we evaluated the neuraminidase-inhibition (Ni) antibodies among volunteers during the phase i and phase ii of the clinical trials of a monovalent live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAiV) А/17/duck/ Potsdam/86/92(H5N2). the reassortant influenza virus RN2/57-human A(H7N2) containing neuraminidase (NA) from the A/Leningrad/134/17/57(H2N2) was used in Ni test. it was shown that two doses of the monovalent LaiV A(H5N2) led to a statistically significant increase in the Ni antibodies to vaccine strain NA. More than twofold increase in antibodies was obtained among 19.5-33.3% of vaccinated. the microneutralization test and Ni assay results coincidence in the same pairs of sera of the vaccinated volunteers was 73.2%, suggesting thus a statistically significant interdependence between the values of increase in antibodies revealed in both tests (p = 0.04).


Grain boundary engineering through the control of grain boundary character distribution (GBCD) has been extensively employed as a powerful tool for achieving enhanced properties and for development of high performance both structural and functional polycrystalline materials. Many efforts were made firstly to increase the frequency of low-energy CSL boundaries of polycrystalline materials in grain boundary engineering. However, the connectivity of grain boundaries can be an important microstructural parameter governing bulk properties of polycrystalline materials as well as the GBCD. In the present work, the connectivity of random grain boundaries was quantitatively evaluated using both the triple junction distribution and random boundary cluster length on the basis of SEM-EBSD/OIM observations, and then these evaluated parameters were linked to intergranular corrosion of SUS304 stainless steel. We have found that the length of the maximum random boundary cluster drastically decrease with increasing CSL boundaries in the fraction ranging 60 – 80% CSL boundaries, which leads to percolation threshold occurring at approximately 70±5% CSL boundary fraction (at 30±5% random boundary fraction). The experimentally observed percolation threshold is much higher than theoretically obtained one based on randomly assembled network (at 35% resistant bonds for a 2D hexagonal lattice). In addition, the fraction of resistant triple junctions is found to increase with increasing the the CSL boundary fraction. An increase in the frequency of resistant triple junctions can enhance intergranular corrosion resistance of polycrystalline austenitic stainless steel even if the GBCD is the same.


This paper examines the negotiation of young unmarried women's sexual identities in the cultural context of an innercity Chicano community. Previous work often views the unmarried mother status as unproblematic, that is, as deviant or as equal to a married mother. Values are assumed to determine directly the evaluation of the status of unwed mother, and motherhood is viewed as an instrumental action. This analysis of premarital sex and motherhood suggests that motherhood plays an expressive role and that the evaluation of a young woman's sexual identity is not directly determined by her becoming premaritally pregnant and an unwed mother, but her identity is negotiated. In this negotiation process traditional values are blurred and changed. Here nonuse of birth control cannot be explained by lack of information or irrationality but must be understood as part of the process of developing a sexual identity within a particular cultural context. The relationship between behavior and identity is viewed as problematic and the construction and symbolization of this relationship in a public dialogue is the concern of this analysis.


Neurological physiotherapy is a scientific field which has evolved considerably over recent decades. This advancement is based to a great extent on the simultaneous increase in knowledge about neuroscience, motor control and motor (re)learning, which has led to the development of further assessment and treatment techniques and new considerations for practice, necessitating sound clinical reasoning and well-structured management for their appropriate incorporation into clinical practice. Although the current literature provides information regarding clinical reasoning and decision-making in physiotherapy, few articles discuss these matters in relation to patients with neurological disorders. This article presents a framework for the management of patients with neurological disorders and develops the rationale for establishing treatment goals. The model described places function as the basis for establishing treatment goals, highlights the importance of the views of the patients and their carers in clinical decision-making and supports individualization of treatment, with flexibility in the incorporation of the assessment/ treatment strategies of many clinical schools of thought. It is hoped that this model will be a useful addition to current knowledge and provide a guide for the clinical reasoning and decision-making of current and future clinicians. ............................................... Z. Dimitriadis, V. Skoutelis, E. Tsipra


Since the move to generalized floating in1973, exchange rates between major currencies have displayed large fluctuations. This turbulence of foreign exchange rates is an important concern of government policy and its explanation is a challenge for theories of foreign exchange market behavior. In Section I of this paper, we document the extent of turbulence in foreign exchange markets by examining (i) the magnitude of short-run variations in exchange rates relative to other measures of economic variability; (ii) the degree of divergence between actual and expected changes in exchange rates; and (iii) the extent to which exchange-rate movements have diverged from movements of relative national price levels. In Section II, we provide a general explanation of this turbulence in terms of the modern "asset market theory" to exchange-rate determination. This theory emphasizes that exchange rates, like the prices of other assets determined in organized markets, are strongly influenced by the market's expectation of future events. In this context, we also discuss the narrower technical question of "foreign exchange market efficiency." Finally, in Section III, we address the question of whether turbulence in the foreign exchange markets has been "excessive" and what policy measures can (or should) be taken to reduce it.


Carbon Nano Tube (CNT) reinforced AZ91 metal matrix composites (MMC) were fabricated by the squeeze infiltrated method. Properties of magnesium alloys have been improved by impurity reduction, surface treatment and alloy design, and thus the usage for the magnesium alloys has been extended recently. However there still remain barriers for the adaption of magnesium alloys for engineering materials. In this study, we report light-weight, high strength heat resistant magnesium matrix composites. Microstructural study and tensile test were performed for the squeeze infiltrated magnesium matrix composites. The wear properties were characterized and the possibility for the application to automotive power train and engine parts was investigated. It was found that the squeeze infiltration technique is a proper method to fabricate magnesium matrix composites reducing casting defects such as pores and matrix/reinforcement interface separation etc. Improved tensile and mechanical properties were obtained with CNT reinforcing magnesium alloys


This paper investigates the spread of the high frequency current emission between devices of different size and the grid. The impact of the EMC filter, either LCL or CLC configuration, has been considered from a simplified model. The high frequency current emission, produced by a large device, can potentially cause a relatively large current flowing through a nearby small device. An important conclusion from the study is that current amplification can occur due to harmonic resonances between different types of filters. (4 pages)


In this paper we discuss the general strategies typically embedded in top-down design methodologies to control design complexity, and show how they can be captured and implemented in a design process planning and management meta-tool. We also desct-ibe such a tool called Minerva. Minerva generates a high-level, problem-based representation of the entire design process and, based on this representation, provides a set of planning and management services that is sufficient to fully support top-down, design. Such services include: plan generation; plan execution; automatic problem reformulation (i.e., decomposition); support of backtracking for redesign and for problem re-definition; dynamic sharing of design information among designers cooperating in the same design process; tracking of requirements throughout the various levels of abstraction traversed during the design process; and effective handling of sub-problem interactions in all of the above situations. All of these services are offered assuming the most complex scenario, i.e., a concurrent, distributed design environment.


This article proposes the phytogram, an image made by using the internal chemistry of plants in conjunction with photographic emulsion. First, a theoretical framework is set out, drawing inspiration from structural/materialist film theory, biosemiotics and perspectivism. The notion of plant sensations/perceptions is questioned, developing the real possibility of human–plant communication. Subsequently, a summary of the materials and methods involved in making phytograms is included in order to show how an inter-dependency of technological and natural elements can lead to evocative results and spontaneous animation. Instead of bringing inert matter to life, the image moves by itself. This practice can bring people together, sharing knowledge about their environment while enjoying the cohesion of a wider community and history of people and plants. Making such an extended community visible is significant with regard to a heightened awareness of the natural environment. Instead of preaching ecological propriety and austere behaviour, phytography offers a positive and fulfilling engagement with our living environment.


AIM OF THE STUDY
The aim of the study was to examine the content of Trust policies concerning the prevention and management of violence in acute in-patient settings in order to establish their usefulness as guidance for staff in this difficult, complex, and controversial aspect of inpatient psychiatric care.

BACKGROUND
Violence is a commonly encountered problem in inpatient psychiatric settings. There are legal requirements for workplaces in general and mental health care facilities in particular to develop safe systems of work based upon the findings of assessments of this risk. Policies have a key role to play in making explicit the responsibilities of both employer and employees, and specifying standards of acceptable practice.

DESIGN
A cross-sectional survey methodology was used, which entailed examination of the content of management of violence policies that had been forwarded to the authors from 40 Trusts providing acute inpatient psychiatric care throughout England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

FINDINGS
Policies were found to vary widely in their content, and serious shortcomings were noted in the extent to which policies included information regarding their status and review, advice on the prevention of violence, the management of violent incidents, and postincident action.

CONCLUSIONS
Further research is needed to tease out the extent to policies which are lacking in content, reflect shortcomings in the organizational approach to the prevention and management of violence by Trusts, and the extent to which such shortcomings result in harm being suffered by staff and/or patients. An alternative format for the presentation of management of violence policies is discussed, and items that should be included in inpatient units' management of violence policies are suggested.


Parkinson's disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases, and affects approximately 1% of the population over 65 years of age. Many different insults appear to be involved in the etiology of the disease, among them environmental toxins and mitochondrial dysfunction. During the past five years, mutations in five different genes have been linked to rare, familial forms of Parkinson's disease. One of the mutated proteins, alpha-synuclein is normally implicated in synaptic plasticity and vesicle function. Dysfunction of this protein might lead to increased cytoplasmic dopamine levels. Since cytoplasmic dopamine is readily prone to autooxidation and enzymatic degradation--processes which generate reactive oxygen species--failure to properly store dopamine into vesicles might lead to oxidative stress. Indeed, nigral tissue from idiopathic Parkinson's disease patients shows signs of oxidative damage. In this article we propose that dopamine-induced oxidative stress might be a common final pathway in the pathogenesis of the disease.


Archived patient samples of biological material coupled to clinical databases are valuable and hold the potential to improve patient care, quality control, research and development. Biobanks form a catalytic infrastructure which ensures the registration, handling and storage of collected biological material. Here, we describe the Haematology Biobank and stress the significance of a registration database. Together, these form the basis for retrospective validation of clinical progress and prognostic evaluation of new diagnostic methods, which can therefore be more quickly implemented in the clinic.


In this tender, comic novel, Larry Boosinger-graduate student, writer, garage attendant, escaped convict (and perhaps a person)-has one foot in late adolescence while he searches frantically for a place to put the other. Beset by illusions, attracted by paradoxes, Larry carries on his allegorical fistfight with life. He operates in a movie-created world where attempts are made at perfection. Enamored of the romantic ideals of old movies, popular songs, and his own personal hero, F. Scott Fitzgerald, he seeks experience that will match his expectations.


Mobile manipulation tasks remain one of the critical challenges for the widespread adoption of autonomous robots in both service and industrial scenarios. While planning approaches are good at generating feasible whole-body robot trajectories, they struggle with dynamic environments as well as the incorporation of constraints given by the task and the environment. On the other hand, dynamic motion models in the action space struggle with generating kinematically feasible trajectories for mobile manipulation actions. We propose a deep reinforcement learning approach to learn feasible dynamic motions for a mobile base while the end-effector follows a trajectory in task space generated by an arbitrary system to fulfill the task at hand. This modular formulation has several benefits: it enables us to readily transform a broad range of end-effector motions into mobile applications, it allows us to use the kinematic feasibility of the end-effector trajectory as a dense reward signal and its modular formulation allows it to generalise to unseen end-effector motions at test time. We demonstrate the capabilities of our approach on multiple mobile robot platforms with different kinematic abilities and different types of wheeled platforms in extensive simulated as well as real-world experiments.


In this article, categorisation based on origins is investigated in the Dutch census reports produced between 1899 and 2018. Through this analysis, I will argue that the conceptual pair of autochthon and allochthon (until 2017 used to describe 'native' and 'non-native' Dutch people) is not a social construct, but rather a sociotechnical construct. Through this analysis, it becomes clear that where the category of the 'foreigner' at the beginning of the twentieth century was mainly related to a passport and place of birth, later national origins became a racially tainted concept. Pre-1980, counting machines at CBS only counted people's information as selfdescribed; since 1980, computers have determined the identity of Dutch citizens. Today, governmental statistics based on the origins of Dutch people are available online for free and can be used by third parties for a variety of applications. Through this historical analysis, it becomes clear that the current practices are not the 'standard' way of categorisation, but rather one of the possibilities that are historically, socially and technologically situated.


The aim of this investigation was to prepare, characterize and optimize the irinotecan loaded proniosomes for overall improvement in the efficacy, reduced toxicity and enhancement of therapeutic index of irinotecan. Proniosomes of Irinotecan hydrochloride trihydrate were prepared by slurry method using different surfactants, cholesterol and dicetyl phosphate. The formulations were then characterized with respect to shape and surface morphology, entrapment efficiency, invitro drug release profile, invivo drug targeting studies and stability under specific conditions. The formulated proniosomes were smoother indicating a thin and uniform coating over maltodextrin powder. The highest entrapment efficiency was found in formulation F4 with 74.23±3.1%. Highest cumulative percent drug release was observed with formulation F1 with 98.19% in 24 h. The in vivo result of formulated proniosomes of Irinotecan hydrochloride trihydrate reveals that the d preferentially targeting to liver followed by lungs and spleen. The results of investigation demonstrated that proniosomes offers an alternative colloidal carrier approach in achieving drug targeting. The results obtained for the present study clearly revealed that proniosomes containing irinotecan are retained at targeted sites and are capable of releasing there drug for the extended period of time.


Privatization is the act of reducing the role of government or increasing the role of the private institutions of society in satisfying people's needs; it means relying more on the private sector and less on government. The Jordanian government adopted a privatisation program in 1996 to enhance the efficiency and productivity of government owned companies. The principal objective of this study is to examine the effects of the privatisation program on enhancing the performance of state-owned enterprises in Jordan. Data from 23 companies covering the period from 1996 to 2013 have been used to test the research hypotheses. The data was then analysed using dependent samples t-tests and multiple regression analysis. The results analysis shows that the privatisation program had a significant positive relationship with shareholder value in the Jordanian state owned enterprises.


The fall of the lengthy dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz in 1910 caused a massive power vacuum which was rapidly filled by armed revolutionary leaders. In 1920, once the most violent phase of the Revolution ended, military caciques became virtual lords of some states and some regions of Mexico. These cacicazgos became the foundations of an emerging political system. By the end of the 1930s, once the nation state consolidated its power, the regional bosses had to modernize or be eliminated. This article examines San Luis Potosi as a case study of that process.


Congenital heart surgery most often incorporates extracorporeal circulation. Due to foreign surface contact and the administration of foreign blood in many children, inflammatory response and hemolysis are important matters of debate. This is particularly an issue in premature and low birth-weight newborns. Taking these considerations into account, the Aachen miniaturized heart-lung machine (MiniHLM) with a total static priming volume of 102 mL (including tubing) was developed and tested in a small animal model. Fourteen female Chinchilla Bastard rabbits were operated on using two different kinds of circuits. In eight animals, a conventional HLM with Dideco Kids oxygenator and Stöckert roller pump (Sorin group, Milan, Italy) was used, and the Aachen MiniHLM was employed in six animals. Outcome parameters were hemolysis and blood gas analysis including lactate. The rabbits were anesthetized, and a standard median sternotomy was performed. The ascending aorta and the right atrium were cannulated. After initiating cardiopulmonary bypass, the aorta was cross-clamped, and cardiac arrest was induced by blood cardioplegia. Blood samples for hemolysis and blood gas analysis were drawn before, during, and after cardiopulmonary bypass. After 1 h aortic clamp time, all animals were weaned from cardiopulmonary bypass. Blood gas analysis revealed adequate oxygenation and perfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass, irrespective of the employed perfusion system. The use of the Aachen MiniHLM resulted in a statistically significant reduced decrease in fibrinogen during cardiopulmonary bypass. A trend revealing a reduced increase in free hemoglobin during bypass in the MiniHLM group could also be observed. This newly developed Aachen MiniHLM with low priming volume, reduced hemolysis, and excellent gas transfer (O(2) and CO(2)) may reduce circuit-induced complications during heart surgery in neonates.


Government's active participation in to the energy markets requires us to understand its vertical and horizontal integrated involvement. Coherently, in order to diversify their portfolios and reduce their business risks, vertical integration of the major private players in the market is another important topic. Under these market conditions market power becomes prominent. Our paper utilizes ARX models to analyze market power and portfolio diversification impact on electricity prices. In the aggregate models since we used high frequency time series data for all bidding hours of day ahead market, autoregressive structure within the system marginal prices vitiated the effect of power production type. Accordingly, we benefited different hours of the day as separate time series where a baseload (hour 24) and a peak hour (hour 11) were selected. The contribution of our paper to the policy debate is to highlight that such issues exist in the first place and that market power remains an important concern in Turkish electricity market.


In this thesis, we consider two interrelated problems, which are the enhancement of videokeratoscopic images for more accurate corneal topography estimation and model-order selection of corneal surfaces when expanded using orthogonal Zernike polynomials. Corneal topography estimation that is based on the Placido disk principle relies on good quality of pre-corneal tear film and sufficiently wide eyelid (palpebral) aperture to avoid reflections from eyelashes. However, in practice, these conditions are not always fulfilled resulting in missing regions, smaller corneal coverage, and subsequently poorer estimates of corneal topography. Our aim is to enhance the standard operating range of a Placido disk videokeratoscope to obtain reliable corneal topography estimates in patients with poor tear film quality, such as encountered in those diagnosed with dry eye, and with narrower palpebral apertures as in the case of Asian subjects. This is achieved by incorporating in the instrument's own topography estimation algorithm an image processing technique that comprises of linear adaptive filter (based on Wiener filtering theory) and non-linear filter (based on morphological operations). The experimental results from measurements of test surfaces and real corneas show that the incorporation of the proposed technique results in better estimates of corneal topography and, in many cases, to a significant increase in the estimated coverage area making such an enhanced videokeratoscope a better tool for clinicians. On the other hand, corneal height-data are typically modeled using a set of orthogonal Zernike polynomials. We address the estimation of the number of Zernike polynomials, which is formalized as a model-order selection problem in linear regression. Classical information theoretic criteria tend to overestimate the corneal surface due to the weakness of their penalty functions, while bootstrap-based techniques tend to underestimate the surface or require extensive processing. We propose to use the Efficient Detection Criterion (EDC), which has the same general form of information theoretic-based criteria, as an alternative to estimating the optimal number of Zernike polynomials. We first show, via simulations, that the EDC outperforms a large number of information theoretic criteria and resampling-based techniques. We then illustrate that using the EDC for real corneas results in models that are in closer agreement with clinical expectations and provides means for distinguishing normal corneal surfaces from astigmatic and keratoconic surfaces. The two problems are interrelated in the sense that appropriate modeling for corneal surfaces, regardless of the used functions, requires accurate corneal topography that can be efficiently estimated provided that the videokeratoscopic image is not degraded.


The purpose of this study was to cross-culturally investigate the effect of body mass index (BMI) and body shapes on the perception of female body attractiveness and body size. A convenience sample of 107 American and 102 Russian female students completed questionnaire coordinated with a stimulus of 27 images of female body scans used by respondents to rate body size and attractiveness. Body sizes were categorised according to BMI. Three body shapes (hourglass, rectangle and pear) were defined within the stimulus. Russian respondents reported lower scores on body attractiveness than American respondents for all 27 images. Body scans with underweight BMIs were perceived as being the most attractive in both cultures. There was a significant difference of perceptions of body sizes between the Americans and the Russians.


We report first systematic measurements of zero-field steps in I-V characteristics of long Nb/Al-AlO/sub x//Nb Josephson junctions made in a window of a stripline structure. We compared the data for junction series of the same dimensions but with different ratio of the junction width W to the width of the idle window part W' surrounding them. Zero-field steps were found to be stable only in structures with W'/W<3. With increasing the ratio W'/W, the effective fluxon propagation velocity is found to increase and fine structure resonances appear on fluxon resonant steps. Experimental data are compared with numerical simulations using the modified two-dimensional sine-Gordon equation and qualitative agreement is found.<<ETX>>


Symptoms of sugarcane orange rust were observed on July 17, 2008 on sugarcane cvs. Mex 57-1285, Mex 61-230, and Co 301 (a clone received in Mexico in 1953) at the Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo de la Caña de Azúcar en Tuxtla Chico, Chiapas, Mexico. In El Salvador, from August 2008 through January 2009, rust symptoms were observed on cv. CP 72-2086 (previously resistant to brown rust caused by Puccinia melanocephala Syd. & P. Syd.) in 117 dispersed sugarcane-production fields in various localities of El Salvador. Likewise, rust symptoms were first observed on sugarcane cv. SP 74-8355 (more than 25% severity and considered resistant to brown rust) at Natá, Coclé Province in Panama from January to February 2008. Dried herbarium leaf samples of sugarcane rust-infected leaves collected in El Salvador and Mexico were sent to the ARS, USDA Systematic Mycology and Microbiology Laboratory in Beltsville MD for identification. Panamanian samples were collected similarly and analyzed at the CALESA Biotechnology Laboratory. Morphological features of uredinial lesions and urediniospores were distinct from those of P. melanocephala and consistent with P. kuehnii E. J. Butler observed previously on specimens from Florida, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua (1-3). Analysis of the ITS1, 5.8S, and ITS2 and 28S large subunit rDNA sequences of the rust on infected cvs. Mex 57-1285, Mex 61-230, and Co 301 (BPI 878930, 879139, and 879140; GenBank Accession Nos. GO283006, GO283004, and GO283005, respectively) from Mexico and cv. CP 72-2086 from three locations in El Salvador (BPI 879135, 879136, and 879137; GenBank Accession Nos. GO283009, GO283007, and GO283008, respectively) all confirmed the identification of P. kuehnii. Similar analysis of the ITS1, 5.8S, and ITS2 rDNA sequence for the rust infecting cv. SP 74-8355 (GenBank Accession No. GO281584) confirmed the identification of P. kuehnii in Panama. To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. kuehnii causing orange rust disease of sugarcane in El Salvador, Mexico, and Panama. These findings also confirm the wider distribution of orange rust in the Western Hemisphere. References: (1) E. Chavarria et al. Plant Dis. 93:425, 2009. (2) J. C. Comstock et al. Plant Dis. 92:175, 2008. (3) W. Ovalle et al. Plant Dis. 92:973, 2008.


There has been much important work on the role that celebrity culture has played in providing working class audiences with a popular image of meritocracy – fuelled as it has been historically by the myth that anyone can 'make it', the sham that fame and fortune are open to all and are desirable (Dyer, 1979). Contemporary television culture has advanced that myth, as more and more ordinary people seem to 'make it' on reality TV, even while they are often denigrated. However, instead of focusing on representation, this paper will examine the role of ordinary celebrity in the political economy of the television industry. Producers of reality television came to rely on formats built around 'ordinary' celebrity in order to undermine the power of unions representing workers in the US and UK television industries at the end of the 1990s. As in other industries, television attempted to address the challenges thrown up by the development of digital technology, increased competition and rising costs by attacking workers conditions. Unscripted, devoid of actors and less dependent on the skills of other creative and technical personnel, reality TV was able to temporarily side-step unionised labour in the US, while in the UK government policy forced public service broadcasters to outsource to independent companies, who were, unlike the workers in the BBC, non-unionised and often on precarious contracts. Thus an examination of the political economy of reality TV completely undermines the claims made by cultural populists that ordinary celebrity represents 'democratainment' (Hartley, 1999 and 2008). But it also opens up questions about the more critical view that reality TV is part of a broader shift in patterns of the social relations of exploitation (Andrejevic 2003, Terranova 2004), whereby 'free' activities like the 'work of watching' TV' or using the internet are considered to be a mode of exploited labour when media organisations 'capture' it and turn it to profit. This is seen to mark a new ubiquitous mode of exploitation that extends out of the factory and workplace and into the 'social factory' which is considered to be commensurate with the prominence of media communication and of digitised information in contemporary capitalism (Castells 1996). From this perspective all our activities can by understood as a form of exploitation, where work and leisure are collapsed together in an inescapable web of capitalist domination. This paper will challenge that view by returning to the explanation of exploitation found in Marx's labour theory of value, to argue that there are important differences between the exploited labour of workers in the media industries and the way that audiences are taken advantage of. Furthermore, the requirement of the television industry to make a profit necessitates attacking the conditions of those who work in the industry and this directly clashes with workers' need to minimize the rate at which surplus is extracted from their labour, (that is, the rate of exploitation) in order to have a decent life, or at least to be able to sustain themselves. Paradoxically, those companies who exploit workers also directly rely on the surplus value they create, which gives workers in the television industry the collective capacity and potential power to resist, and in the process perhaps, to call for new forms of television reality, both in form and in meaning.


PURPOSE
Our objective was to assess the adverse outcomes during pregnancy, as well as for the fetus and neonates, in women with epilepsy, both with and without the use of antiseizure medications (ASMs).

METHODS
A cohort of singleton pregnancies between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2014 was identified using the Taiwan National Health Database. The pregnancies were categorized into ASM exposure, ASM nonexposure, and control (consisting of women without an epilepsy diagnosis) groups. We recorded adverse outcomes in neonates and documented pregnancy complications. The generalized estimating equation with logit link was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios.

RESULTS
There were 629 singleton pregnancies in the group exposed to ASMs, 771 in the epilepsy group without ASM exposure, and 2,004,479 in the control group. Women with epilepsy had a significantly higher risk of puerperal cerebrovascular diseases (adjusted odds ratios in the exposure and nonexposure groups = 54.46 and 20.37, respectively), respiratory distress syndrome (5.1 and 2.99), mortality (3.15 and 3.22), sepsis (2.67 and 2.54), pregnancy-related hypertension (1.71 and 1.8), preeclampsia (1.87 and 1.79), cesarean delivery (1.72 and 2.15), and preterm labor (1.38 and 1.56). The use of ASMs may increase the risk of eclampsia (adjusted odds ratio = 12.27). Compared to controls, fetuses/neonates born to women with epilepsy had a higher risk of unexplained stillbirth (adjusted odds ratios in the exposure and nonexposure groups = 2.51 and 2.37, respectively), congenital anomaly (1.37 and 1.33), central nervous system malformation (3.57 and 2.25), low birth weight (1.90 and 1.97), and a low Apgar score at 5 min (2.63 and 1.3). The use of ASMs may introduce an additional risk of small for gestational age; the adjusted odds ratio was 1.51.

CONCLUSION
Women with epilepsy, irrespective of their exposure to ASMs, had a slightly elevated risk of pregnancy and perinatal complications. Puerperal cerebrovascular diseases may be a hidden risk for women with epilepsy.


Abstract : The activities of the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Histocompatibility Center can be classified under three major categories: 1) the repository service; 2) the molecular typing service; and 3) the research activities aimed at improving the technical support on which the previous two services are working. This year in the Repository, where blood samples from volunteers as bone marrow donors are collected from more than 120 recruiting centers nationwide, roughly 150,000 samples were processed. Close to 450,000 vials were stored in three sets of freezers (one sample per donor each freezer), while nearly 130,000 were sent out to other Typing Laboratories. In our laboratories, approximately 10,000 typings were performed with a very high Q.C. standard, as monitored by National Marrow Donor Program. Our Center's research branch synthesized all the oligonucleotides to be used as PCR primers or labelled probes to perform molecular HLA typing. DNA sequencing was also performed when hybridization results were not optimal. Alternatives for storing blood samples (e.g., blood spots on filter paper) or for enhancing typing capabilities (e.g., microchip technology to expedite PCR procedures) were successfully implemented or improved to the point of justifying their future implementation.


EUDOC™ is a molecular docking program that has successfully helped to identify new drug leads. This virtual screening (VS) tool identifies drug candidates by computationally testing the binding of these drugs to biologically important protein targets. This approach can reduce the research time required of biochemists, accelerating the identification of therapeutically useful drugs and helping to transfer discoveries from the laboratory to the patient. Migration of the EUDOC application code to the IBM Blue Gene/L™ (BG/L) supercomputer has been highly successful. This migration led to a 200-fold improvement in elapsed time for a representative VS application benchmark. Three focus areas provided benefits. First, we enhanced the performance of serial code through application redesign, hand-tuning, and increased usage of SIMD (single-instruction, multiple-data) floating-point unit operations. Second, we studied computational load-balancing schemes to maximize processor utilization and application scalability for the massively parallel architecture of the BG/L system. Third, we greatly enhanced system I/O interaction design. We also identified and resolved severe performance bottlenecks, allowing for efficient performance on more than 4,000 processors. This paper describes specific improvements in each of the areas of focus.


Mineral projects are composed of geological, operational and market uncertainties, and reducing these uncertainties is one of the objectives of engineering. Most surveys assess the impact of geological and operational uncertainties on the mining planning. The objective of this work is to study the impact of market uncertainty on the mineral activity. The influence of iron ore price simulation on mining sequencing will be evaluated. The price of iron ore has random behavior that is best represented by the Geometric Brownian Movement system. This study analyzed the historical series of iron ore in order to determine the percentage volatility and drift. Traditionally, a constant and deterministic price is used for the ore mined in all periods of a mineral project. The direct block scheduling methodology was adopted because it is able to apply the appropriate financial discount factor to the simulated probabilistic price. The proposed methodology was able to quantify the market uncertainty.


Research goal: Based on the information found in the literature on biochar, its ability to improve the quality and yield of productions and to influence soil microflora. In this work, studies were carried out at different concentrations in pots to assess whether the addition of this material to the growing medium can influence the growth and control of biotic and abiotic stresses on Astrophytum myriostigma and Astrophytum capricorne. Materials and Methods: The experiments, started in June 2020, were conducted in the greenhouses of CREA-OF in Pescia (PT), Tuscany, Italy (43°54′N 10°41′E). The experimental groups were: i) group control, irrigated with water and substrate previously fertilized; ii) group with biochar 5%, irrigated with water and substrate previously fertilized; iii) group with biochar 10%, irrigated with water and substrate previously fertilized; iv) group with biochar 15%, irrigated with water and substrate previously fertilized; On June 30, 2021, plant height and circumference, number and length of thorns, vegetative weight, root weight, number of fruits, fruit weight, number of flowers, flower life, plants dead from cold stress, plants dead from Rhizoctonia solani. Results and Discussion: The test showed a significant increase in the agronomic parameters analyzed in biochar-treated plants on Astrophytum myriostigma and Astrophytum capricorne. The test also showed an improvement in plant quality in terms of increased number of thorns, fruits, flowers and increased resistance to cold stress and the pathogen Rhizoctonia solani. The trial also showed that an increase in substrate biochar content of 10%-15% improved plant growth performance compared to lower 5% contents. Conclusions: The experimentation carried out at CREA-OF in Pescia showed how the application of biochar to the cultivation substrate of Astrophytum myriostigma and Astrophytum capricorne can significantly improve the quality and the resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses of the plants. As in other experiments in the literature, the application of this soil conditioner also resulted in positive effects in the control of pathogenic fungi, particularly Rhizoctonia solani. This effect was probably mediated by the presence of microorganisms in the biochar that, in addition to having an effect on plant stimulation, may have a fundamental role in their biocontrol activity of substrate pathogens. Interesting results have also been the increase in the number of thorns, flowers and fruit duration and resistance to cold stress in plants grown with biochar.


African universities have to play a central role in Africa's development through the provision of quality training, knowledge and innovations. This is particularly crucial in ensuring a food secure Africa through a knowledge-based transformation of agriculture and related activities. Information on the state and challenges of higher agricultural education can inform actions aimed at positioning institutions to play the roles expected of them. The overall objective of this study was to assess the current status of the higher education sector in Ghana to identify current challenges and gaps and develop specific recommendations towards enhancing its performance and contribution to science, technology and innovation. Focusing on the five main public universities in Ghana, the study comprised a desk research and interviews with key officials of selected institutions. The findings suggest low quality of service to students due to large gaps in funding, teaching staff, and academic facilities.The demand for higher education in general far exceeds the supply. The total number of applicants to agricultural programmes increased sluggishly between 2004 and 2014, with female applicants hovering around 20%. Funding gaps, low technical or infrastructural capacity and declining number of applicants to science, technology, engineering and mathematics programmes are key issues that require urgent attention. Key words: Challenges, Ghana, Higher Agricultural Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ranking.


We performed the present study to investigate the effects of smoking cessation on changes in blood pressure and incidence of hypertension. We evaluated 8170 healthy male employees at a steel manufacturing company who had received occupational health examinations at the company's health care center in 1994 and were reexamined in 1998. Adjustment covariates were the baseline age, body mass index, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, family history of hypertension, systolic or diastolic blood pressure, and changes in body mass index and alcohol consumption during the follow-up period. The adjusted relative risks of hypertension in those who had quit smoking for <1, 1 to 3, and ≥3 years were 0.6 (95% CI 0.2 to 1.9), 1.5 (95% CI 0.8 to 2.8), and 3.5 (95% CI 1.7 to 7.4), respectively, compared with current smokers. The trends for increased risk of hypertension for longer periods of smoking cessation were observed in subgroups of those who maintained weight as well as those who gained weight after smoking cessation. The adjusted increments in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure were higher in those who had quit for ≥1 year than in current smokers. These trends among weight losers, as well as gainers and maintainers, were similar. We observed progressive increases in blood pressure with the prolongation of cessation in men, although at this time the mechanism remains unknown and must be clarified. This study implies that the cessation of smoking may result in increases in blood pressure, hypertension, or both.