Shakespeare's Venice is the prototype of a global city: open to trade and business, it attracts a great flux of money and people. Its laws have to facilitate trade and provide incentives for business interactions. They also have to punish swiftly those who do not respect business contracts to maintain an impeccable image of a trade-based city state. Shakespeare uses this image of Venice to highlight a series of conflicts arising in the rest of Europe and in particular in England. Europe is moving from a class-based Aristocratic society to a trade-based bourgeois society, this creates a great number of uncertainties. Moreover, law is administered by a chaotic number of jurisdictions (in England, common law courts are working side by side with equity courts and ecclesiastical courts), which also increases legal uncertainty as to whom exercises justice and according to which procedures. Last but not least, Europe is plagued by religious conflicts between Catholics and Protestants as well as between Christians and non-Christians. Shylock embodies the threat at the legal, social, economic, and religious level. The Merchant of Venice has never been as topical for our contemporary societies where law, religion, economics and politics are undergoing deep transformations and uncertainty reigns sovereign.


Attempts to stabilize the shore can greatly influence rates of shoreline change. Beach nourishment in particular will bias rates of observed shoreline change toward accretion or stability, even though the natural beach, in the absence of nourishment, would be eroding. Trembanis and Pilkey (1998) prepared a summary of identifiable beach nourishment projects in the Gulf Coast region that had been conducted before 1996. Those records were used to identify shoreline segments that had been influenced by beach nourishment. Supplemental information regarding beach nourishment was collected from agencies familiar with nourishment projects in the State. All records were compiled to create a GIS layer depicting the spatial extents of nourishment projects within the State.


IoT (Internet of Things) and cloud computing are essential components of constructing smart cities and provide multiple smart services to end consumers. Because IoT devices are data-intensive and resource-constrained, using edge computing technologies might provide considerable benefits to the smart environment. However, heterogeneous clouds where ECSs (Edge Cloud Systems) and centralized clouds interact for satisfying demands of IoT applications, challenges in task offloading exist. When IoT system's environments change, such as the edge server's performances or the bandwidth, solutions based on DLTs (Deep Learning Techniques) must train from scratch. A meta-algorithm known as DDMTO (Distributed Deep Meta learning-driven Task Offloading) is presented to solve the issue of poor portability and ensure that DNNs (Deep Neural Networks) are utilised to make offloading decisions effectively and efficiently. These networks have their output which receives inputs from hidden layers in BP algorithm compute outputs. Inputs are compared to desired outputs and errors are traced from outputs to hidden layers and from hidden to input layers based on disparities. When flows are restored, neuron weights get altered. Epochs are cycles that traverse from inputs to outputs and backwards from outputs to inputs. Previously known inputs are fed into NNs (neural networks) which then generate known outputs called network training. Existing offloading systems ignore heterogeneous cloud co-operations which is overcome for providing better performances while significantly reducing computing complexities.


Breakthrough imaging technologies are a potential solution to the plant phenotyping bottleneck in marker-assisted breeding and genetic mapping. X-Ray CT (computed tomography) technology is able to acquire the digital twin of root system architecture (RSA), however, advances in computational methods to digitally model spatial disposition of root system networks are urgently required. We extracted the root skeleton of the digital twin based on 3D data from X-ray CT, which is optimized for high-throughput and robust results. Significant root architectural traits such as number, length, growth angle, elongation rate and branching map can be easily extracted from the skeleton. The curve-skeleton extraction is computed based on a constrained Laplacian smoothing algorithm. This skeletal structure drives the registration procedure in temporal series. The experiment was carried out at the Ag Alumni Seed Phenotyping Facility (AAPF) at Purdue University in West Lafayette (IN, USA). Three samples of tomato root at 2 different times and three samples of corn root at 3 different times were scanned. The skeleton is able to accurately match the shape of the RSA based on a visual inspection. The results based on a visual inspection confirm the feasibility of the proposed methodology, providing scalability to a comprehensive analysis to high throughput root phenotyping.


As a result of the rapid growth of the volume of electronic data, text compression and indexing techniques are receiving more and more attention. These two issues are usually treated as independent problems, but approaches of combining them have recently attracted the attention of researchers. In this thesis, we review and test some of the more effective and some of the more theoretically interesting techniques. Various compression and indexing techniques are presented, and we also present two compressed text indices. Based on these techniques, we implement an compressed full-text index, so that compressed texts can be indexed to support fast queries without decompressing the whole texts. The experiments show that our index is compact and supports fast search.


The NVIDIA compilers nvcc and ptxas leave the programmer with only very limited control over register allocation, register spills, instruction selection, and instruction scheduling. In theory a programmer can gain control by writing an entire kernel in van der Laan's cudasm assembly language, but this requires tedious, error-prone tracking of register assignments. This paper introduces a higher-level assembly language, qhasm-cudasm, that allows much faster programming while providing the same amount of control over the GPU. This language has been used successfully to build a 90000-machine-instruction kernel for a computation described in detail in the paper, the largest public cryptanalytic project in history. The best GTX 295 speed that has been obtained for this computation with nvcc and ptxas is 25 million iterations per second; the best GTX 295 speed that has been obtained with qhasm-cudasm is 63 million iterations per second.


Since 1998, The Pennsylvania State University successfully managed the Consortium for Premium Carbon Products from Coal (CPCPC), which was a vehicle for industry-driven research on the promotion, development, and transfer of innovative technologies on premium carbon products from coal to the U.S. industry. The CPCPC was an initiative led by Penn State, its cocharter member West Virginia University (WVU), and the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), who also provided the base funding for the program, with Penn State responsible for consortium management. CPCPC began in 1998 under DOE Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC26-98FT40350. This agreement ended November 2004 but the CPCPC activity continued under cooperative agreement No. DE-FC26-03NT41874, which started October 1, 2003 and ended December 31, 2010. The objective of the second agreement was to continue the successful operation of the CPCPC. The CPCPC enjoyed tremendous success with its organizational structure, which included Penn State and WVU as charter members, numerous industrial affiliate members, and strategic university affiliate members together with NETL, forming a vibrant and creative team for innovative research in the area of transforming coal to carbon products. The key aspect of CPCPC was its industry-led council that selected proposals submitted by CPCPC members to ensure CPCPC target areas had strong industrial support. CPCPC had 58 member companies and universities engaged over the 7-year period of this contract. Members were from 17 states and five countries outside of the U.S. During this period, the CPCPC Executive Council selected 46 projects for funding. DOE/CPCPC provided $3.9 million in funding or an average of $564,000 per year. The total project costs were $5.45 million with $1.5 million, or ~28% of the total, provided by the members as cost share. Total average project size was $118,000 with $85,900 provided by DOE/CPCPC. In addition to the research, technology transfer/outreach was a large component of CPCPC's activities. Efficient technology transfer was critical for the deployment of new technologies into the field. CPCPC organized and hosted technology transfer meetings, tours, and tutorials, attended outreach conferences and workshops to represent CPCPC and attract new members, prepared and distributed reports and publications, and developed and maintained a Web site. The second contract ended December 31, 2010, and it is apparent that CPCPC positively impacted the carbon industry and coal research. Statistics and information were compiled to provide a comprehensive account of the impact the consortium had and the beneficial outcomes of many of the individual projects. Project fact sheet, success stories, and other project information were prepared. Two topical reports, a Synthesis report and a Web report, were prepared detailing this information.


The paper describes integrated system of hardware controller and simulator of the resonant superconducting, narrowband niobium cavity, originally considered for the TTF and TESLA in DESY, Hamburg (now predicted for the VUV and X-Ray FEL). The controller bases on a programmable circuit Xilinx VirtexII V3000 embedded on a PCB XtremeDSP Development Kit by Nallatech. The FPGA circuit configuration was done in the VHDL language. The internal hardware multiplication components, present in Virtex II chips, were used, to improve the floating point calculation efficiency. The implementation was achieved of a device working in the real time, according to the demands of the LLRF control system for the TESLA Test Facility. The device under consideration will be referred to as superconducting cavity (SCCav) SIMCON throughout this work. The following components are described here in detail: functional layer, parameter programming, foundations of control of particular blocks and monitoring of the real time processes. This note is accompanied by the one describing the DOOCS interface for the described hardware system. The interface was prepared in DOOCS and in Windows. The hardware and software of SIMCON was tested in CHECIA. The results were presented. While giving all necessary technical details required to understand the work of the integrated hardware controller and simulator and to enable its practical copying, this document is a unity with other TESLA technical notes published by the same team on the subject. Modeling was omitted, as it is addressed in detail in the quoted references.


Reduction of CO2 to CO and H2O is a two electron/two proton process. For this process, multinuclear complexes offer advantages by concentrating reduction equivalents more efficiently than mononuclear systems. We present novel complexes with [Re(η6‐C6H6)2]+ as scaffold conjugated to one or two catalytically active [Ru(dmbpy)(CO)2Cl2] subunits (dmbpy=5,5′‐dimethyl‐2,2′‐bipyridine). The [Re(η6‐C6H6)2]+ scaffold was chosen due to its very high photo‐ and chemical stability, as well as the multiple degrees of freedom it offers for any conjugated functionalities. High efficiency and selectivity for the reduction of CO2 to CO (over H2 or HCOOH) is reported. TONs and TOFs were found to be comparable or higher than for the catalyst subunit without the rhenium framework. Cooperativity in photo‐ and electrocatalysis is observed for the complex comprising two catalytic subunits. The synergistic communication between the two catalytic subunits is responsible for the observed enhancement in both photo‐ and electrocatalytic performance. Confirmation of electronic communication between the two [Ru(dmbpy)(CO)2Cl2] subunits as well as the elucidation of a possible mechanism was supported by electrochemistry, IR‐spectroelectrochemistry and DFT studies.


Abstract Vascular calcification (VC) is a process in which calcium phosphate crystals deposit within the intima and middle membrane of the vascular wall. Rosmarinic acid (RA) is a common phenolic compound. It possesses antioxidation, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial effects. Our experiment aims to investigate the role and molecular mechanism of RA in VC. Rats were fed high-fat feed and injected with vitamin D3 to establish a VC model. β-Glyerophosphate (β GP) was selected to stimulate rat aortic smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in order to establish the cell calcification model. Kits were used to detect the antioxidant index and calcification index. RA significantly reduced the levels of ALP, MDA, Ca, and P but increased SOD levels. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot analysis were used to detect various antioxidant-related genes and calcified genes on an mRNA and protein level. The results showed that nuclear factor red cell-2 related factors (Nrf2), haem oxygenase-1 (HO-1), NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase (NQO1), and osteoprotegerin (OPG) were up regulated by RA at both the mRNA and protein levels, but kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1), nuclear factor kappa B(NF-κB), cadherin associated protein (β-catenin) and osteogenic transcription factor (Runx2) expression at both the mRNA and protein levels was significantly inhibited. Microscopic examination showed that RA significantly decreased the content of calcified nodules and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). When Nrf2 is disturbed, the role of RA is significantly blocked. Our results showed that RA can improve VC by regulating the Nrf2 pathway.


Hepatic fibrosis is commonly diagnosed in dogs, often as a sequela to chronic hepatitis (CH). The development of fibrosis is a crucial event in the progression of hepatic disease that is of prognostic value. The pathophysiology of hepatic fibrosis in human patients and rodent models has been studied extensively. Although less is known about this process in dogs, evidence suggests that fibrogenic mechanisms are similar between species and that activation of hepatic stellate cells is a key step. Diagnosis and staging of hepatic fibrosis in dogs requires histopathological examination of a liver biopsy specimen. However, performing a liver biopsy is invasive and assessment of fibrotic stage is complicated by the absence of a universally accepted staging scheme in veterinary medicine. Serum biomarkers that can discriminate among different fibrosis stages are used in human patients, but such markers must be more completely evaluated in dogs before clinical use. When successful treatment of its underlying cause is feasible, reversal of hepatic fibrosis has been shown to be possible in rodent models and human patients. Reversal of fibrosis has not been well documented in dogs, but successful treatment of CH is possible. In human medicine, better understanding of the pathomechanisms of hepatic fibrosis is leading to the development of novel treatment strategies. In time, these may be applied to dogs. This article comparatively reviews the pathogenesis of hepatic fibrosis, its diagnosis, and its treatment in dogs.


PURPOSE
To evaluate intravenously administered ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) as a marker of macrophage activity in an experimental rabbit model of antigen-induced arthritis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Unilateral arthritis was induced by means of intraarticular injection of methylated bovine serum albumin in 10 knees of 10 rabbits that had been presensitized to the same antigen. The contralateral knees in these rabbits, as well as six knees in three other rabbits, served as controls. After onset of arthritis, all knees were imaged prior to and 24 hours after administration of USPIO. The magnetic resonance (MR) imaging protocol included T1-weighted spin-echo, T2-weighted fast spin-echo, T2*-weighted gradient-echo, and short inversion time inversion-recovery sequences. Images were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively with regard to signal characteristics and pattern. MR findings were correlated with histopathologic findings. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare results of signal-to-noise ratio calculations before and after USPIO administration.

RESULTS
All knees with intraarticular injection of antigen suspension developed unilateral arthritis, whereas no signs of arthritis occurred in the control knees. On USPIO-enhanced images obtained 24 hours after contrast agent administration, significant T1 (P =.03) and more predominantly T2* (P =.02) and T2 effects (P =.01) were evident in the synovium of all 10 arthritic knees, which reflected USPIO uptake by macrophages in the synovial tissue. To a lesser extent, T2* effects were present also within the joint effusion (P =.01). No significant changes in signal characteristics were detected in the 10 nonarthritic knees in the antigen-injected group or the six knees in the control group (P =.06-.91). Histologic examination confirmed uptake of iron in the macrophages of arthritic knees. Changes in MR signal characteristics within the arthritic synovium and synovial effusion were visually detectable after intravenous administration of USPIO.

CONCLUSION
MR imaging at 1.5 T can depict USPIO uptake in phagocytic-active macrophages in an antigen-induced arthritis animal model.


Abstract Using the 2000 and 2009 waves of Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) data, we examined the relationships between family socio-economic status (SES), cultural capital, and reading achievement among students in five post-socialist Eastern European countries while comparing the findings with three Western bench-marking countries. Findings: In all studied countries, higher-SES students possessed higher levels of cultural capital and exhibited higher reading achievement. Cultural capital was uniformly positively associated with reading achievement. We found the least stratification by SES in Russia both in the distribution of cultural capital and reading achievement. The findings provide no evidence of the overall decline of the importance of cultural capital over time; most of the associations between cultural capital measures and reading achievement remained stable across the waves. Between-country variation in the findings does not indicate East–West divide (with the exception of Russia).


This paper describes how the idea of the neighborhood describes more intimate local places in the contemporary city but it remains an illusive and therefore contested term with less use than it might have in creating more sustainable cities. It is depicted as one of the more significant foundations for building greater equity in the distribution of public resources and social capital, even as the "Not in My Backyard" (NIMBY) syndrome often paralyzes public action through community disengagement from larger obligations. Its contradictory nature reflects its place in everyday life as, on the one hand, defined by its familiarity and special distinction to residents, but on the other as a commodity for the real estate industry and individual property owners. The real contested character of the neighborhood however makes it the ideal setting for examining, experimenting with, and implementing a coherent program of sustainability. This paper examines the modern character of the neighborhood, its roots in garden cities, its three distinct formations, and the challenge to its authenticity as either no more than a sentimental abstraction with no social meaning or one whose limited legitimacy is undermined by continuing privatization and the hyper technological connectivity of individual life. The neighborhood is a place that can support more indigenous economies, sustainable technologies and infrastructure, and genuine forms of public participation, as part of the renewal of contemporary cities.


The two target articles address the origins of music in complementary ways. However, both proposals focus on overt musical behaviour, largely ignoring the role of perception and cognition, and they blur the boundaries between the potential origins of language and music. To resolve this, an alternative research strategy is proposed that focusses on the core cognitive components of musicality. target music musicality in complementary ways. Savage et al theory that proposes music to be a relatively recent cultural invention that then further evolved though gene-culture coevolution. In contrast, Mehr et al. issue) present a single hypothesis capturing the biological origins of musical behaviour, suggesting a long evolutionary history.


We study the problem of efficient adversarial attacks on tree based ensembles such as gradient boosting decision trees (GBDTs) and random forests (RFs). Since these models are non-continuous step functions and gradient does not exist, most existing efficient adversarial attacks are not applicable. Although decision-based black-box attacks can be applied, they cannot utilize the special structure of trees. In our work, we transform the attack problem into a discrete search problem specially designed for tree ensembles, where the goal is to find a valid "leaf tuple" that leads to mis-classification while having the shortest distance to the original input. With this formulation, we show that a simple yet effective greedy algorithm can be applied to iteratively optimize the adversarial example by moving the leaf tuple to its neighborhood within hamming distance 1. Experimental results on several large GBDT and RF models with up to hundreds of trees demonstrate that our method can be thousands of times faster than the previous mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) based approach, while also providing smaller (better) adversarial examples than decision-based black-box attacks on general $\ell_p$ ($p=1, 2, \infty$) norm perturbations. Our code is available at this https URL.


Access to a fast and easily copied forward model of a game is essential for model-based reinforcement learning and for algorithms such as Monte Carlo tree search, and is also beneficial as a source of unlimited experience data for model-free algorithms. Learning forward models is an interesting and important challenge in order to address problems where a model is not available. Building upon previous work on the Neural GPU, this paper introduces the Neural Game Engine, as a way to learn models directly from pixels. The learned models are able to generalize to different size game levels to the ones they were trained on without loss of accuracy. Results on 10 deterministic General Video Game AI games demonstrate competitive performance, with many of the games' models being learned perfectly both in terms of pixel predictions and reward predictions. The pre-trained models are available through the OpenAI Gym interface and are available publicly for future research here: https://github.com/Bam4d/Neural-Game-Engine


Ethical conduct involving research participants rests on the Belmont principles of autonomy, beneficence and justice. Novel methods present new challenges in safeguarding these principles. The increasing use of data obtained from the internet in health research raises important questions regarding obligations to people posting personal information online. Ethical issues warrant special consideration since guidelines are only beginning to emerge, placing greater onus on the researcher's discretion. This paper presents a model (a synthesis of the work of Eysenbach and Till (2001) and Kraut et al (2004)) to assist in decision-making regarding obtaining or waiving informed consent when using archived emails from websites. For illustrative purposes, the application of the model to a PhD project is described.


Recent years have witnessed an enormous interest in developing solar cells by utilising different materials to increase their efficiency. This interest was motivated by the rapid world demand on cheap and clean energy sources, where the main source of world's power is the fossil fuels. The current photovoltaics technology can not meet the solar power market due to the very low efficiency provided. The philosophy of this thesis is to find an efficient alternative by designing an efficient nanoantenna for receiving the solar radiation and coupling it to an integrated rectifier for AC to DC conversion. This thesis presents the design and optimisation of different types of nanoantennas with a performance comparison to find the optimum solution for this application. The figure of merit in choosing the best design was the captured electric field in the feed gap of the nanoantenna and the area under curve, which is essential in calculating the harvested energy. In addition, this thesis investigates the use of nanoarray instead of single elements. The aims is to increase the captured electric field at the gap of the array where all the elements will contribute in increasing the field in one common gap. Feeding lines will be employed to drive the captured fields from the centre of each single element towards the common gap. Another reason behind using nanoarrays is to reduce the number of rectifiers by using one rectifier per array instead of one rectifier per single element, and hence increase the total efficiency. Futhermore, a simple analysis on dipole nanoantenna using method of moments (MoM) is presented in this thesis. The results obtained from this method is compared with those found from finite element method (FEM) simulations and an acceptable agreement is achieved. To calculate the total conversion efficiency of solar rectennas, it is important to compute the rectification efficiency of the metal/insulator/metal (MIM) diode along with the coupling efficiency between the antenna and the diode. To this end, quantum mechanics was used to calculate the characteristics of the MIM diode. The results show that bowtie nanoantennas are the best candidate for this application in either the single and array form since they have wider bandwidth and larger area under curve. Additionally, the analysis using MoM gives the designer better understanding on how the system works and exhibits lower complexity and reduced computational requirements.


Many accounts of contemporary mediated communication of various kinds emphasise speed, immediacy and simultaneity as overriding temporal characteristics, and accounts of journalism are no exception. Acceleration in journalistic practice and the associated changes in news content and its communication have a variety of consequences. In the most extreme accounts, this produces ever-shallower news content while the immediacy of its delivery collapses deliberative time for its interpretation. This article attempts to challenge some of the assumptions on which these assertions are based by taking an alternative starting point in analysing news time and temporality: the news audience. We argue that many accounts which emphasise the paralysing effects of fast communication and the acceleration of news in particular fail to acknowledge the complexities of news consumption, instead pessimistically reading off the effects of speed from communications technologies themselves. We go on to consider the value of social scientific audience research characterisation of practices of consuming the news in contemporary culture and suggest that these need to be accompanied by ethnographic approaches to the audience which engage with the ways in which meaning is produced from the resources that journalism provides in everyday lived contexts.


: Liquid-infused surfaces (LISs) exhibit unique properties that make them ideal candidates for a wide range of applications, from antifouling and anti-icing coatings to self-healing surfaces and controlled wetting. However, when exposed to realistic environmental conditions, LISs tend to age and progressively lose their desirable properties, potentially compro-mising their application. The associated ageing mechanisms are still poorly understood, and results re fl ecting real-life applications are scarce. Here, we track the ageing of a model LIS composed of glass surfaces functionalized with hydrophobic nanoparticles and infused with silicone oil. The LISs are fully submerged in aqueous solutions and exposed to acoustic pressure waves for set time intervals. The ageing is monitored by periodic measurements of the LIS ' s wetting properties. We also track the changes to the LIS ' s nanoscale structure. We fi nd that the LISs rapidly lose their slippery properties because of a combination of oil loss, smoothing of the nanoporous functional layer, and substrate degradation when directly exposed to the solution. The oil loss is consistent with water microdroplets entering the oil layer and displacing oil away from the surface. These mechanisms are general and could play a role in the ageing of most LISs.


This article examines modernist genealogy in Alice Notley's 1992 poem The Descent of Alette. Notley's central speaker finds herself riding on a nightmarish subway ruled by a male tyrant who controls all artistic form. This article argues that the subway can be understood as an ongoing public to which poets since Pound have returned to experiment with impersonal poetic form. In Notley's poem, the subway signals vexed poetic lineage as well as the passageway to a new collective formal space. However, this article suggests, we must ask whether the poem's emphasis on private poetic speech qualifies the poem's feminist poetic imagination, or whether Notley's formal experimentation, particularly her use of citational quotation marks, leads to a workable notion of collective voice as the object of quest. Reading Alette against "Doctor Williams' Heiresses," Notley's early experimental historiography, the article situates the question of private speech within the larger question of modernism's "after-affects" in postwar women's poetry.


Kentucky bluegrass ( Poa pratensis L.) is one of the most widely used turfgrasses for home lawns, golf courses, parks, and athletic fields in temperate climates. Oxidative stress caused by drought stress is a major limiting factor for grass cultivation in arid and semi-arid regions. The objective of this study was to investigate whether Prohexadione-Calcium (Pro-Ca) may play a role in promoting drought tolerance in kentucky bluegrass. Pro-Ca was exogenously applied as a foliar spray at the rate of 0, 7.5, 15 or 25 mg a.i./m 2 to well established kentucky bluegrass under wellwatered (100 of field capacity) or drought-stressed (70 and 40% of field capacity) conditions. The effect of Pro-Ca on the growth physiology, drought stress response, antioxidant activity, and lipid peroxidation of kentucky bluegrass exposed to drought stress was measured during 28 days at 7 days interval. Pro-Ca treated kentucky bluegrass exposed to drought stress had higher relative water content (RWC) and turf quality, and lower electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde (MDA) content as membrane integrity indicators, compared with untreated plants. Pro-Ca application significantly increased the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and catalase (CAT) activities under well-watered and drought conditions, but this increase is more evident in drought stressed plants. ProCa application at 15 mg/m 2 was found to be more effective in alleviating drought stress damage in kentucky bluegrass. The results from this study suggest that Pro-Ca enhanced drought stress tolerance in kentucky bluegrass by maintaining higher RWC and membrane stability.


High rates of crime have always been considered a serious threat to city development. Crime and urban development are strongly interconnected, therefore, local development policies cannot be successful without crime prevention strategies. One of the areas where local governments are characterized by quite a high degree of independence is that of urban planning, typically documented in a city master plan. In the light of the topic of safety in the urban space, one of the most notable measures of space evaluation is that of land use. The paper is aimed at identifying land uses, the most vulnerable to crime and the safest ones, and their permutations in the three largest cities of Lithuania: Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipeda, in accordance with both different types of criminal acts and crime as a whole. The findings have been based on the analysis of about 50 thousand incidents of anti-social behavior, committed in open public spaces, along 17 types of criminal acts and 14 types of land uses and their permutations. The underlying approach is that of space syntax, as it best integrates social and spatial elements of a city. The paper is novel in its attempt to access not only separate land uses, but also their clusters (i.e., permutations). In addition, the paper covers a broader range of anti-social behavior than most of the previously carried out research (i.e., the paper looks beyond theft, burglary, and robbery) used to. Therefore, the results might be of interest to a wider audience than the national one. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ss.80.2.4852


Abstract INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to present our current practice of counseling patients and families with the most severe congenital malformations in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and to develop practical guidelines for our team and involved healthcare/ socialcare professionals. MATERIAL & METHODS: It was a retrospective evaluation of a series of fetal cases in 2017 from single tertiary center. Maternal obstetrical medical history, time of prenatal detection of the anomaly (1st, 2nd or 3rd trimester), time between last fetal echocardiography and delivery, type of delivery, neonatal birth weight and time of neonatal demise. The total study group was subdived into early demise (during the 1st day after delivery) or late demise > 1st day after delivery. RESULTS: Mean maternal age was 30,4 +/- 5,6 years, and varied between 26 and 38 years. No chronic maternal diseases were found in medical history and no congenital malformations were present in previous children. All women had 1st trimester ultrasound, in 9 cases, it was reported as normal (with NT measurement < 2 mm), in 2 cases extracardiac abnormalities were detected: diaphragmatic hernia and omphalocele ( in both fetal karyotype 46,XY). In nine cases, the abnormalities were detected in midgestation and with maternal wish to continue the pregnancies. There were 8 neonatal deaths within 60 minutes after delivery, including one intrapartum death and 3 "late" neonatal deaths in the intensive care unit (on 12th, 21st and 22nd day). We stress upon the prenatal team approach and counseling of future parents, in order to prepare them for poor neonatal outcome. CONCLUSIONS: 1. In the most severe cases when fetal or neonatal demise was suspected, the two different opinions of specialists might not be enough and a third opinion should be recommended before final decision. 2. A Fetal Team of specialists is necessary in cases of expected fetal/neonatal demise in order to prepare a written report of recommended perinatal management for all sides involved in this difficult problem.


Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have undergone extensive research efforts as compatible successors of Li-ion batteries (LIBs) for grid-scale energy storage owing to the abundance of sodium resources. However, the poor cycling stability and low rate capability of existing anodes has prevented the practical application of SIBs. To mitigate the situation we have created a 3D heterostructure electrode based on alternative layers of 2D (MoS2–graphene) and 1D (CNTs) materials via a hydrothermal route that is fundamentally different from the usual composites. For comparison, composites were prepared using the same experimental conditions with either rGO or MWCNTs. While discharging at 100 mA g−1 and 500 mA g−1, the MoS2–MWCNT@rGO could deliver a high discharge capacity of 664 mA h g−1 and 551 mA h g−1, and retained 100% and 98.4% capacity after 80 and 250 discharge–charge cycles, respectively. At 2 A g−1, it can yield an initial discharge capacity of 375 mA h g−1, maintaining 81.3% and 67% capacity after 250 and 500 cycles, respectively. The excellent performance of the MoS2–MWCNT@rGO hybrid is mainly attributed to the robust MWCNT@rGO framework with improved 3D electrical conductivity, additional porosity and excellent buffering capability. Furthermore, an in situ TEM technique was employed to explore the sodiation mechanism of the MoS2 nanosheets.


The article covers results of study concerning influence of Captopril (25 mg) therapy on occupational activity of locomotive crew workers in real night travels model on training complex "EP1M locomotive operator cabin". Findings are that single use of Captopril (25 mg) in modelled railway activity enabled to increase reliability of occupational activity, that manifested in lower number of errors in locomotive operators' actions at night, and in psychophysiologic regulation of various psychic acts.


Objective: To analyze the distribution and characteristics of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Constitution in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Methods: Divide the PBC patients who met the inclusion criteria into 3 groups according to the stage of disease development, including group A (group of basic normal), group B (group of symptom stage) and group C (group of de-compensation stage). Each group collected 46 cases, and every patient done investgations, including blood routine examination, live function test, image ultrasound examination, autoantibody examination and immuno-globulin test, and counted their clinical symptoms and judged all patients' constitution of TCM. Results: 1) For 138 patients with PBC, the constitution of TCM is characterized by biased constitution, among which constitution of qi stagnation (19.57%) was the most, followed by constitution of qi asthenia (15.94%), constitution of yin asthenia (15.94%) and constitution of damp-heat (14.49%). There was no significant correlation between the type of constitution and the age of onset (P > 0.05). 2) The constitution types of A and B two groups were mainly constitution of qi stagnation, constitution of qi asthenia and constitution of damp-heat, while group C was mainly composed of constitution of blood stasis, constitution of yin asthenia and constitution of yang asthenia. And there was a correlation between the type of constitution and clinical stage (P


The role of school psychology has expanded into other educational settings, such as Higher Education. Seeking to contribute to this expansion, had as objectives to map the Institutions of Higher Education of the Federal District and school psychologists who have knowledge and examine the work done. Eight institutions participated with the school psychologist and had, on the Internet, information about the School Psychology Services. The qualitative analysis of this information indicated that these services are based on attention to difficulties experienced by students and promoting academic and human development, individual and collective conduct activities, both traditional and emergent nature. Among the latter, carry out actions of personal and professional development, institutional assessment and monitoring of graduates. The role of School Psychology in Higher Education is building on preventive measures, institutional and broader than that historically characterized the educational intervention at this level.


Objective: to determine the key determinants of health status of the male population. Material. Publications containing information about the key factors influencing the men's health. Methods. Analysis, processing and classification of the data. Results and discussion. The article determines and systematizes factors that may affect the health of the male population, assesses the degree of modifiability of these factors and the possibility of further practical application of the received information. Conclusion. Most of the factors detected in the article are modifiable. Their correction with the help of training, changes in laws or other evidence-based methods can improve the health of the male population.


Background: Pectoral nerve blocks have been proposed for analgesia during and after breast cancer surgery, but data are conflicted in aesthetic breast surgery. This trial tested the primary hypothesis that adding a preincisional pectoral nerve block is superior to systemic multimodal analgesic regimen alone for pain control after breast augmentation surgery. A second hypothesis is that rescue opioid consumption would be decreased with a long-lasting effect for both outcomes during the following days. Methods: Seventy-three adult female patients undergoing aesthetic breast augmentation surgery under general anesthesia were randomly allocated to receive a pectoral nerve block versus no block. Both groups received standard care with protocolized multimodal analgesia alone including systematic acetaminophen and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The primary outcome measure was the maximal numerical rating scale in the first 6 h after extubation. Secondary outcomes included intraoperative remifentanil consumption and from extubation to day 5: maximal numerical rating scale, postoperative cumulative opioid consumption and postoperative opioid side effects, and patient satisfaction recorded at day 5. Results: The maximal numerical rating scale score in the first 6 h was lower in the pectoral nerve block group compared with the control group (3.9 ± 2.5 vs. 5.2 ± 2.2; difference: –1.2 [95% CI, –2.3 to –0.1]; P = 0.036). The pectoral nerve block group had a lower maximal numerical rating scale between days 1 and 5 (2.2 ± 1.9 vs. 3.2 ± 1.7; P = 0.032). The cumulative amount of overall opioids consumption (oral morphine equivalent) was lower for the pectoral nerve block group from hour 6 to day 1 (0.0 [0.0 to 21.0] vs. 21.0 [0.0 to 31.5] mg, P = 0.006) and from days 1 to 5 (0.0 [0.0 to 21.0] vs. 21.0 [0.0 to 51] mg, P = 0.002). Conclusions: Pectoral nerve block in conjunction with multimodal analgesia provides effective perioperative pain relief after aesthetic breast surgery and is associated with reduced opioid consumption over the first 5 postoperative days. Patients undergoing breast augmentation who received pectoral nerve blocks in addition to multimodal analgesia experienced less pain in the first 6 h postoperatively and lower maximal pain scores between postoperative days 1 and 5. The use of pectoral nerve blocks also reduced opioid consumption up to 5 days after surgery.


This paper provides an overview of the EUROPCOM demonstrator, a UWB based positioning and communication system for emergency personnel, which allows efficient management and coordination of rescue operations in disaster zones, particularly inside of buildings. The system architecture is reviewed, key aspects of the PHY, MAC, NET, and positioning (POS) sub-systems are highlighted. Ranging and positioning performance results are presented. The main challenge addressed by the system design is a self-calibrating location aware network of nodes in an ad-hoc scenario, which is able to operate under non-line-of-sight conditions. The EUROPCOM demonstrator has been developed under the Sixth Framework Program of the European Commission.


Of all the injuries resulting from falls, hip fractures are often the most stressful
and produce high levels of disability. The costs of hip fracture for Older Adults are
considerable. These include risks of mortality, immediate morbidity associated with
surgery, the loss of independence and long term deterioration in levels of functioning.
In addition to any loss of function related to physical trauma, psychological trauma
i.e. fear of falling, may also produce a decline in levels of physical and social activity
which is self imposed.
This study investigated the efficacy of a brief cognitive intervention in improving
outcome amongst older adults after hip fracture. Two groups of participants were
investigated with one group receiving the cognitive intervention and the other group
treatment as usual.
No significant effect was found in reducing fear of falling. However significant
differences were found post-study in cognitive function, instrumental activities and
duration of hospital stay suggesting that the intervention was effective in enhancing
the outcome of rehabilitation.
These results are discussed in relation to self-efficacy theory.


Once the most lucrative European colony in the Caribbean, Haiti has become one of the most divided and impoverished countries in the world. In the late 1980s, a remarkable popular mobilization known as Lavalas, or "the flood," sought to liberate the island from decades of US-backed dictatorial rule. After winning a landslide election victory, in 1991 the Lavalas government, led by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was overthrown by a bloody military coup. "Damming the Flood" analyzes how and why Aristide's enemies in Haiti, the US and France instigated a second coup in 2004 to remove Aristide and Lavalas for good.The elaborate international campaign to contain, discredit and then overthrow Lavalas at the start of the twenty-first century was perhaps the most successful act of imperial sabotage since the end of the Cold War. Its execution and its impact provide important lessons for those interested in today's political struggles in Latin America and the rest of the post-colonial world.


During World War II, malaria research was conducted in prisons. A notable example was the experiments at Stateville Penitentiary in Illinois, in which prisoner-subjects were infected with malaria for the purpose of testing the safety and efficacy of novel anti-malaria drugs. Over time, commentators have shifted from viewing the malaria research at Stateville as a model of ethical clinical research to seeing the experiments as paradigmatic of abusive human experimentation. This essay undertakes a retrospective ethical assessment of the Stateville malaria research during the 1940s in light of basic ethical principles and the Nuremberg Code, as well as contemporary malaria research. In addition to its historical interest, this case study provides a rich context for addressing basic issues of research ethics, including the voluntariness of consent, the justification of risks, and the exploitation of vulnerable subjects.


Aims There are Nuffield Guidelines in place to aid clinicians in their decision-making in the resuscitation of extreme preterm infants. This remains an area where there is varied practice nationally and internationally, and decisions are often case dependant. We sought to survey a cohort of Consultant Paediatricians involved in neonatal resuscitation on their approach to the resuscitation of extreme preterm infants, to assess current attitudes to practice. Methods A questionnaire was designed using an online survey programme, modelled on the Nuffield guidance for resuscitation of extreme preterm infants. This was distributed to a group of Consultants via email and results were collated using the online programme. Results 45 of 68 (66%) Consultants completed the survey. 26% of responders were from level 3 neonatal intensive care units (NICU), 62% from level 2 units and 12% from level 1 units. 91% of responders would always offer intensive care with the intention of admitting to NICU at 25 weeks gestation and above, compared to 58% at 24 weeks and 6.8% at 23 weeks gestation. At 24 weeks, 38% of responders would make the decision of whether to resuscitate based on the infant's initial clinical condition compared to 61% at 23 weeks. For 23 weeks gestation infants, giving precedence to parents' wishes (57%) and weighing the baby before commencing resuscitation (32%) were highest. At 22 weeks, 58% of responders would not resuscitate and 29% would not attend the delivery. Conclusion There were varied responses at every gestation. Whilst the majority of 25 week and above gestation infants are offered full intensive care in accordance with Nuffield guidance, this was not the case for 24 week gestation infants. Initial clinical condition and response to initial resuscitation at birth play a larger role in decision making at 23 and 24 weeks. Parents' wishes and birthweight are more significant factors in decision making at 23 weeks. The varying attitudes to practice at each gestation highlight the challenges in following guidelines in the resuscitation of extreme preterm infants. This calls into question whether there is a need for more consensus.


Mesoporous silica films with vertically aligned hexagonal pores have been produced via the electrochemically assisted surfactant assembly (EASA) method using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant. Mesoporous silica powder has also been synthesised using the same surfactant. The pore walls of the silica powder and films have been grafted with organosilane reagents. The size of the pore, degree of grafting and effect on the properties of the pore have been investigated using porosimetry, contact angle, NMR and CHN analysis. The degree of grafting was found to be dependent upon the size of the grafting agent, with the smallest steric bulk grafting most effectively. It was found that the grafting of the pores with Me3SiCl greatly increased the hydrophobicity of the pore and reduced water penetration. Grafting with larger groups caused the film surface to be hydrophobic but had little effect on the penetration of water into the pores.


Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of cyanidin-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (C3G) concentrated materials from mulberry fruit on improvement and protection of erectile function. Materials and Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats (12 weeks old) were divided into three groups (n = 12 in each): normal control, diabetes mellitus (DM), and DM with C3G concentrated material treatment (DM + C3G). DM and DM + C3G group rats received a single injection of streptozotocin (50 mg/kg), and 4 weeks after induction of diabetes, the DM + C3G group rats were treated with daily concentrated material treatment (10 mg/kg) dissolved in water for 8 weeks. After 12 weeks of streptozotocin injections, the rats in each group underwent intracavernosal pressure measurement and then the corporal tissues were sampled. Results: The DM group rats showed markedly lower erectile parameters than those in the control group, whereas rats in the DM + C3G group showed improved erectile function by minimizing corporal apoptosis and increasing the expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and neuronal NOS protein. A significant increase in 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) was shown in the DM group compared with the normal group. However, in the DM + C3G group, 8-OHdG was statistically significantly reduced compared with the DM group. Conclusions: The current study is the first to suggest that C3G concentrated materials may have a potency to improve and protect erectile function under conditions of diabetes-induced oxidative stress.


INTRODUCTION Waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) continues to be very common in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), partially because of cultural acceptance but also because of misconceptions of its harm. This paper aimed to describe the beliefs towards waterpipe harm of university students who smoked waterpipe in five EMR countries. METHODS This study was conducted in 2016 across five EMR countries: Egypt, Jordan, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Oman and United Arab Emirates (UAE). Participants were recruited from among university students in each country. Students' characteristics, smoking behavior, flavor preference and knowledge of WTS harm were collected using an internet-based survey. Participants were included if they were ever waterpipe tobacco smokers and between 18 and 29 years of age. Bivariate analyses assessed variations in student-perceived WTS harm across the countries. Linear regression analysis was used to assess WTS perceived harm differences between students in the different countries. RESULTS A total of 2 544 university students participated from the five countries. Among ever smoking students, 66% reported WTS in the past 30 days, with the highest proportions (40%) from Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and (41%) Jordan. Dual smoking of waterpipe and cigarettes was highest among students from Egypt. Most participants from the five countries had high level of perceived harm related to WTS during pregnancy. Less than 50% of the students believed that WTS could lead to the death of the smoker, can be harmful for non-smokers and have an addictive effect. Female students, those older than 22 years, and those who didn't smoke waterpipe in the last 30 days significantly had a higher level of WTS perceived harm. Participating students believed that cigarettes are more addictive and contain more nicotine compared to waterpipe. CONCLUSIONS Misperceptions of waterpipe harm are common among university students in the five EMR countries. Immediate public health action is needed, including enforcement of waterpipe tobacco control regulations along with awareness campaigns.


After a brief biography of K.B. Birkeland, the author describes Birkeland's electromagnetic gun project and provides details of the so-called Gala lecture at the University of Oslo on Feb. 6, 1903, when Birkeland officially demonstrated his gun. The future potential of Birkeland's gun for mass transport and rocket launches is also examined. >


Water samples from 240 private wells in rural Illinois were collected over one year and analyzed for 39 agricultural chemicals. Sampling was conducted to provide preliminary information to refine a plan for a statewide survey of the agricultural chemical contamination of rural private wells. Wells were sampled according to a stratified random sampling plan that included four classes of depth lo the uppermost aquifer material and two classes of well type. Depth lo uppermost aquifer material was defined as the depth from ground surface to a geologic material that, if saturated, could he used as an aquifer.

Occurrence, defined as the presence of one or more target analytes in a well water sample above some specified concentration, was shown to be higher in large-diameter bored or dug wells than in small-diameter drilled wells. For small-diameter wells, occurrence generally decreased as the depth to the uppermost aquifer material increased, In addition, depth to the uppermost aquifer material could be used to predict the occurrence of some individual agricultural chemicals, such as nitrate and atrazine, but could not be used to predict the occurrence of pielorarn or pesticides in small-diameter wells.

Of the 39 target analytes, 10 were detected at concentrations exceeding their respective minimum reporting levels. Nitrate and atrazine were the only compounds found at concentrations exceeding their respective maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) or U.S. EPA lifetime health advisory limits (HAI.s).

A nonparametric statistical technique, contingency table analysis, identified factors associated with the occurrence of agricultural chemicals in three of the file study areas. Elevated specific conductance (>500 μmhos/cm) of the sampled water was strongly associated with the occurrence of agricultural chemicals. This association was common to all three study areas analyzed. Identification of the source of the specific conductance could help identify the dominant pathway for transport of agricultural chemicals to ground water.


An elaborate analysis for various hardware implementations of digital filters is presented in this paper. A bit-true model of a sample digital filter is extracted from simulation based on the effects of finite word-length arithmetic. According to the extracted implementation parameters, four different hardware implementation methods are explored and compared. The bit-true model is described in Verilog HDL for the four different methods: fully combinational, word-serial, bit-serial and combinational-sequential. The implemented modules are tested with a self-checking test-bench that reads the extracted test cases from MATLAB bit-true model, applies them to the hardware model, and checks the output for equivalence. Also, the developed models are synthesized for 0.35 μm CMOS ASIC library and VirtexII Pro FPGA devices. According to the synthesis results, wordserial and fully-combinational methods bear less implementation area and delay complexities, respectively. The other methods compromise between hardware implementation constraints such as area and delay.


This article explores the popularity of the fantasy genre in the recent decades.  In so doing, it seeks to provide a definition of the genre, claiming that fantasy literature is fiction that offers the reader a world estranged from their own, separated by nova that are supernatural or otherwise consistent with the marvelous, and which has as its dominant tone a sense of wonder. It does this through a discussion of previous definitions of fantasy, the fantastic, science fiction and supernatural horror.  Furthermore, through a consideration of texts by Tolkien, and an exploration of contemporary novels (Kazuo Ishiguro's The Buried Giant ; Terry Brooks The Sword of Shannara trilogy) and other franchises ( Star Wars ), it demonstrates how the generic boundaries should be read outside of the traditional limitations, and how these texts, coupled with contemporary technology, offer a freer range to imagination and make fantasy a potent critical force.


The η2-dihydrogen complex [TpRu(L2)(H2)]+ (L2 = dppm, dppp, or (PPh3)2) prepared in situ by protonation of the hydride precursor reacts with O2 to yield the paramagnetic RuIII-superoxo complex [TpRuIII(L2)(O2)]+, in which antiferromagnetic coupling between the RuIII ion (d5, S = 1/2) and the coordinated superoxide radical (S = 1/2) does not seem to be present. In THF, the superoxo moiety of the complex readily abstracts a hydrogen atom from the solvent to generate the hydroperoxo (−OOH-) group, which then changes into the hydroxo ligand by transferring an oxygen atom to a phosphine ligand. Density functional theory calculation at the B3LYP level on the model complex [TpRu(PH3)2(O2)]+ shows that the RuIII-superoxo(O2-) structure with a triplet state is more stable than the RuIV-peroxo(O22-) structure with a singlet state by 5.2 kcal/mol. On the other hand, the analogous Cp model complex [CpRu(PH3)2(O2)]+ prefers the RuIV-peroxo(O22-) structure over the RuIII-superoxo(O2-) structure by 2.9 kcal/mol.


The problem of computing similar and dissimilar solutions to a given one has received much attention in constraint satisfaction and answer set programming (ASP). In many practical applications involving product configuration or planning, it is often the case that there are many valid solutions. To help the user see a small but representative sample, one needs algorithms that compute sets of dissimilar solutions. Once the user "zooms" in on one or two that she likes the most, it still makes sense to present several alternatives that are similar to the selected ones so that the user can find one that truly corresponds to her needs.


Various countries across the globe have implemented smart city initiatives to enhance the quality of living (QoL) for their citizens and other frequent users by offering smart services and innovative solutions. However, in many cases, end-users are often neglected during the planning, designing, and implementation phases of smart cities, which can impact the success of locally-based initiatives because their needs are not always fully taken into consideration. This research aims at exploring the approach of citizen-centricity in smart cities, define their key components, investigate the gap and challenges as perceived by citizens, users, and developers, and propose strategic recommendations for ways to enhance the QoL in Msheireb Smart City (MSC). The primary research was conducted to investigate citizens' satisfaction, experience, usage of services, and to collect their feedback on areas of improvements in MSC. The results show that MSC's users had low level of awareness about the smart services offered in the city, which resulted in less frequent use of the services. Based on this research, the strategic recommendations advise that smart city decision-makers should recognize citizens' needs and preferences by implementing a customer relationship management strategy, promote citizens' inclusion and engagement by establishing a citizen-centric inclusion strategy, and improve their awareness and usage of services by implementing a marketing campaign strategy.


Finally, euthanasia is legal in The Netherlands. The bill that was passed by the Lower House of Parliament on 28 November 2000, and confirmed by the Upper House on 10 April 2001, becomes a matter of law in February 2002. (1) Advocates and opponents of legalized euthanasia will debate the merits and dangers of the new law. I am an opponent, and am increasingly anxious about the developments in my native country. Nevertheless, I am somewhat relieved that there is finally clarity. What had been denied for years by Dutch advocates of euthanasia as well as by the government and the courts, all the way to the Dutch Supreme Court, now is beyond denial: Euthanasia by a physician is lawful. During the past two decades, the legal situation had been rather murky indeed. Even though euthanasia and assisted suicide were illegal, cases against euthanizing physicians were dismissed by prosecutors and judges alike because of article 40 of the Dutch penal code. Article 40 waives the liability to punishment for anyone who commits a crime while compelled to do so by force majeure, that is, by a psychological or moral force so strong that the perpetrator could not resist it. Physicians typically argued that they were compelled to commit euthanasia on moral grounds. They were caught in a conflict of duties: a duty not to violate the criminal law versus a professional-medical duty to do "everything possible" to relieve the patient's unbearable suffering (District Court of 's Hertogenbosch, 31 July 1997). (2) The big question has always been whether a physician can argue that the latter duty exists. Is the physician morally obligated to relieve patients' suffering, even if it means ending their lives? Why is it that only physicians, and no one else, no other health care providers, not even spouses or siblings, can claim such a duty? Does the duty really apply to the physician qua physician? (3) Can physicians claim that when a patient's suffering has become unbearable, they are morally obligated to end the patient's life by virtue of being a physician, and that they therefore should be immune from prosecution? Under Dutch law, physicians can invoke the so-called "medical exception" for many of the things they do as physicians. Only physicians can prescribe narcotic drugs. Only physicians can cut someone with a knife and not be prosecuted. These interventions are part and parcel of the domain of medical practice, and in fact, the physician not only is allowed to do them; the physician is obligated to do them. An anesthesiologist cannot refuse to administer narcotics; a surgeon cannot refuse to remove an inflamed appendix. But can a physician likewise claim that committing euthanasia or even murder was motivated by a professional-medical duty? (4) One can easily see why the courts have always been troubled by the appeal to the medical exception in euthanasia cases. As early as 1986, the Dutch Supreme court rejected medical exception as grounds for waiving punishment for euthanasia. (5) Medical exception can only be invoked when the interventions are medically indicated. Such interventions are not only permissible; they are obligatory. But few advocates of euthanasia are willing to argue that euthanasia is normal medical practice, such that physicians can be obligated to perform it. Indeed, the "Explanatory Note" to the new law emphasizes that euthanasia is not normal medical practice. (6) While there may be a medically sound method of ending a patient's life it's not much different from execution by lethal injection, and it, too, can be done in a medically proper manner or be botched up--neither execution nor euthanasia are ever medically indicated, such that the physician qua physician is obligated to perform them. But if medical exception cannot justify an appeal to article 40, what can? How else can physicians argue that they are compelled to commit euthanasia in their role as physician? A careful assessment of the major Dutch court decisions reveals that there is, indeed, no clear answer to this question. …


The properties of two-component Fermi gases with zero-range interactions are universal. We use an explicitly correlated Gaussian basis set expansion approach to investigate small equal-mass two-component Fermi gases under spherically symmetric external harmonic confinement. At unitarity, we determine the ground state energy for systems with up to ten particles interacting through finite-range two-body potentials for both even and odd number of particles. We extrapolate the energies to the zero-range limit using a novel scheme that removes the linear and, in some cases, also the quadratic dependence of the ground state energies on the two-body range. Our extrapolated zero-range energies are compared with results from the literature. We also calculate the two-body Tan contact and structural properties.


Community-based forest management (CBFM) projects in the Philippines are characterized by a network-based set of assets, which has evolved and been sustained since the implementation of the CBFM strategy. Success depends on the influence of external actors on local power relations within the community. It is important to maintain close and consistent ties with external actors who are in the network of power and influence governing the CBFM engagements.


In spite of the significance of MSMEs as an important sub-sector of Industries, towards the contribution of GDP, income and employment generation, poverty alleviation, development of traditional art and culture, their efficient management has not received sufficient attention, in developing economies, particularly in India. There is a dearth of research at a district level; the researchers have not paid adequate attention towards the studies that have aimed at an analysis of efficient management of working capital in MSMEs, at district level. Keeping this research gap in view, the present study was conducted keeping the different components of working capital in view, which provides an answer to the problem of trade-off between liquidity and profitability of these enterprises. In India too, the 633.88 lakh MSMEs are found operating in rural and urban areas, providing employment to 1109.8 lakh persons and contributing 28.9 per cent to the GDP. However, the recent studies revealed that the working capital gap for MSMEs has been widening particularly in short term borrowings, inventory and receivables to the extent of 13 to 16 per cent. RBI has also observed that credit to MSMEs registered a negative growth rate during the last fiscal year. Hence, it is inevitable to assess and analyze to what extent MSMEs in India are managing different components of working capital efficiently. Being influenced by the necessity, the present paper makes an attempt to analyze the trends and to what extent the working capital and its components are managed efficiently at district level, upon which much attention was not paid. A field survey was conducted in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, to collect primary data from 100 micro and small enterpr ises representing agrofood and allied based, textile based and mineral based categories of enterprises. Necessary data was collected for a period of 6 years. I.e. from 2011-12 to 2016-17. Besides the analysis of current assets and liabilities, the study attempts to analyze the results with statistical techniques like Two-way ANOVA and Karl Pearson's Correlation Coefficient. Relevant hypotheses were formulated and tested with the help of these techniques. It is found in the analysis that the agro-food and allied based enterprises have focused on total current assets rather than on current liabilities, keeping them at less than 50.0 per cent of the total liabilities. The textile based enterprises have high proportion of trade receivables and maintained an ideal proportion of inventories. They could manage trade payables top the minimum extent. The mineral based enterprises attached greater importance to maintain total current assets at high level compared to total current liabilities, with a cautious preference.. The ANOVA results made it clear that there exist significant variances in current assets, current liabilities as well as net working capital of the enterprises among three categories of sample enterprises and during the reference period also. The correlation coefficients explained that there was a perfect positive correlation between current assets and liabilities, quick assets and current liabilities. However, an insignificant positive correlation was found between net working capital and value of sales of the enterprises. To conclude, the sample enterprises were found managing the working capital efficiently and it is suggested that they have to pay a cautious attention to cash conversion cycle, receivables, trade payables as well as short term borrowings to improve the efficiency further..


China is a center of diversity for Corylus. Eight species are native to China: Corylus heterophylla Fisch., Corylus mandshurica Maxim., Corylus kweichowensis Hu, Corylus chinensis Franch., Corylus fargesii C.K. Schneid., Corylus yunnanensis (Franch.) A. Camus, Corylus ferox Wall. and Corylus wangii Hu. The distribution of Corylus species ranges from 24°31' to 51°42'N, covering 24 provinces in China, and the total area is about 1.67 billion ha. Among the wild Corylus species, about 90% of the coverage is C. heterophylla ("Pingzhen" in Chinese), which is the most valuable and utilized wild Corylus species in China. In the past, local people harvested the nuts from the wild Pingzhen shrubs. In recent years, the local people have begun to utilize cultural practices to manage wild Pingzhen hazelnut plants to improve nut yield and quality. Cultivars of C. avellana ("Ouzhen" in Chinese) were introduced to China at the beginning of 19th century, but there is limited information where they can grow and produce well in China. Beginning in the 1980s, interspecific hybridization was conducted with C. heterophylla as the female parent and C. avellana as the male parent and the resulting hybrids are called "Ping'ou" (Pingzhen × Ouzhen) in China. The selected hybrids are cold hardy with large nut size and high yield. To date, 14 cultivars of Ping'ou hybrids have been released. Ping'ou hybrid cultivar trials in different regions were established starting in the year 2000. Commercial orchards were established beginning in 2010, mostly in northern China. By 2016, the acreage of Ping'ou hybrids was 50,000 ha and it will continue to increase rapidly in China.


OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the long-term drug retention, efficacy, and safety of the infliximab biosimilar CT-P13 in Korean patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in clinical practice. The primary outcome was drug retention (i.e. time to treatment discontinuation or changing to another biologic) in Korean patients with AS. Additional outcomes included efficacy and safety.

METHODS
Data were collected through the Korean College of Rheumatology Biologics (KOBIO) registry (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01965132). CT-P13 efficacy was assessed using standard disease activity parameters, and safety was evaluated by adverse events (AEs).

RESULTS
Between December 2012 and December 2017, 244 patients with AS treated with CT-P13 were enrolled. Of those, 203 (83.2%) received CT-P13 as first-line therapy. The median duration of treatment was 2.05 years. After 4 years' follow-up, the retention rate of CT-P13 in the overall patient population was 66%. Treatment changes or discontinuations occurred in 38 (15.6%) and 32 (13.1%) patients, respectively. Lack of efficacy was the most common reason for treatment changes, whereas AEs were the most common single cause of discontinuation. Disease activity decreased markedly from baseline following initiation of CT-P13 treatment, and thereafter remained stable. A total of 313 AEs occurred in 118 patients (48.4%); the majority (94.6%) were mild or moderate in severity. The most common treatment-related AEs were infusion or injection-site reactions (4.1% of patients), uveitis (3.7%), and skin rash (3.7%).

CONCLUSIONS
In this real-world study, CT-P13 demonstrated encouraging drug retention rates and times, together with reasonable long-term efficacy and safety, in Korean patients with AS.


Abstract The main objective of the IETF Differentiated Services (DiffServ) model is to allow for the support of different levels of service to different flows of information aggregated in Classes of Service (CoS), on a TCP/IP infrastructure. This differentiated treatment will motivate some users to get better Quality de Service (QoS) for their flows however without assuming the associated costs. This leads to the theft of resources that, in extreme situations, will have as consequence the denial of quality of service (DQoS) contracted by users for its flows. In the DiffServ model the authentication of flows is carried out on a per packet basis, at the entrance of each domain. The flow classification is supported by some of the IP packet header fields. This approach shows some security limitations that are inherent to the DiffServ model. To overcome these limitations, this work proposes a system for QoS negotiation and authentication, aimed to authenticate clients and to authorize flows, in a dynamic way, at the entrance of the DiffServ domains. In this paper two scenarios for authentication of clients and authorization of flows with QoS are presented and discussed. The security aspects taken into account include the authentication of clients and the authorization of flows accessing the communication resources. The issues related to the confidentiality and the integrity of the information is relegated for other modules of the communication systems. To support the authentication and authorization of flows two protocols are proposed to operate in the intra and inter-domain environments.


Roll motion of a planing hull can be easily triggered at high speeds, causing a significant change in hydrodynamic pressure pattern, which can threaten the stability of the vessel. Modeling and investigating roll motion of a planing vessel may require a strong coupling between motions in vertical and transverse planes. In the present paper, we have used a mathematical model to analyze the roll of a planing hull by coupling surge, heave, pitch, and roll motions using 2D + T theory to study the effects of roll-induced vertical motions on roll coefficients and response. Mathematically computed forces and moments as well as roll dynamic response of the vessel are seen to be in fair quantitative agreement with experimentally measured values of previously published data. Using the 2D + T method, it has been shown that to model the roll of a planing hull at high speeds, we need to consider the effects of heave, pitch, and surge motions. Through our mathematical modeling, it is found that freedom in vertical motions increases time-dependent roll damping and added mass coefficients, especially at early planing speeds. The results of dynamic response simulations suggest that freedom in the vertical plane can decrease the roll response.


HIV is notorious for its capacity to evade immunity and anti-viral drugs through rapid sequence evolution. Knowledge of the functional effects of mutations to HIV is critical for understanding this evolution. HIV's most rapidly evolving protein is its envelope (Env). Here we use deep mutational scanning to experimentally estimate the effects of all amino-acid mutations to Env on viral replication in cell culture. Most mutations are under purifying selection in our experiments, although a few sites experience strong selection for mutations that enhance HIV's growth in cell culture. We compare our experimental measurements of each site's preference for each amino acid to the actual frequencies of these amino acids in naturally occurring HIV sequences. Our measured amino-acid preferences correlate with amino-acid frequencies in natural sequences for most sites. However, our measured preferences are less concordant with natural amino-acid frequencies at surface-exposed sites that are subject to pressures absent from our experiments such as antibody selection. We show that some regions of Env have a high inherent tolerance to mutation, whereas other regions (such as epitopes of broadly neutralizing antibodies) have a significantly reduced capacity to tolerate mutations. Overall, our results help disentangle the role of inherent functional constraints and external selection pressures in shaping Env's evolution.


The inclusion of spatial information into spectral classifiers for fine-resolution hyperspectral imagery has led to significant improvements in terms of classification performance. The task of spectral-spatial hyperspectral image (HSI) classification has remained challenging because of high intraclass spectrum variability and low interclass spectral variability. This fact has made the extraction of spatial information highly active. In this work, a novel HSI classification framework using the fusion of dual spatial information is proposed, in which the dual spatial information is built by both exploiting pre-processing feature extraction and post-processing spatial optimization. In the feature extraction stage, an adaptive texture smoothing method is proposed to construct the structural profile (SP), which makes it possible to precisely extract discriminative features from HSIs. The SP extraction method is used here for the first time in the remote sensing community. Then, the extracted SP is fed into a spectral classifier. In the spatial optimization stage, a pixel-level classifier is used to obtain the class probability followed by an extended random walker-based spatial optimization technique. Finally, a decision fusion rule is utilized to fuse the class probabilities obtained by the two different stages. Experiments performed on three data sets from different scenes illustrate that the proposed method can outperform other state-of-the-art classification techniques. In addition, the proposed feature extraction method, i.e., SP, can effectively improve the discrimination between different land covers.


This paper examines the problem of demographic transition of natural
 replacement of the Serbian population since the mid-nineteenth century to
 2010. The special attention is given to analizing trends in birth rate,
 mortality and population growth through the historical periods in which
 started and in which the transformation of demographic trends was being done,
 from the model of extended natural replacement and population expansion to
 the depopulation model. The specific progress of transitional trends is shown
 in the natural replacement of population at the macro-regional levels in
 Serbia (Central Serbia, Vojvodina and Kosovo and Metohija), especially at the
 meso-regional and local level in the geospace of Serbia (municipalities,
 districts, regions).[Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 176017]


Question answering (QA) has achieved promising progress recently. However, answering a question in real-world scenarios like the medical domain is still challenging, due to the requirement of external knowledge and the insufficient quantity of high-quality training data. In the light of these challenges, we study the task of generating medical QA pairs in this paper. With the insight that each medical question can be considered as a sample from the latent distribution of questions given answers, we propose an automated medical QA pair generation framework, consisting of an unsupervised key phrase detector that explores unstructured material for validity, and a generator that involves a multi-pass decoder to integrate structural knowledge for diversity. A series of experiments have been conducted on a real-world dataset collected from the National Medical Licensing Examination of China. Both automatic evaluation and human annotation demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Further investigation shows that, by incorporating the generated QA pairs for training, significant improvement in terms of accuracy can be achieved for the examination QA system. 1


The Paleoproterozoic Otish Basin, Quebec, hosts several uranium prospects that until recently remained underexplored and poorly understood. In this study, the Camie River U prospect, which shows similar charac teristics to high-grade unconformity-related U deposits, is the focus of an integrated basin analysis in the western Otish Basin. Conglomerate and sandstone of the Indicator Formation, which were deposited in at least six depositional sequences, were affected by insignificant early diagenetic compaction and cementation. This allowed the for mation of regional peak diagenetic aquifers, which became muscovite altered due to interaction with fluids having δ18 O and δ2H values similar to those of seawater-influenced basinal brines at 250°C. U mineralization at Camie River occurred at 1721 ±20 Ma based on a 207 Pb/ 206 Pb date obtained by laser ablation of uraninite, which coincides with a phase of the Otish Gabbro intrusion that has been dated at ca. 1730 Ma. The intrusive event promoted circulation of U-bearing basinal brines, triggering U mineralization at several locations in the western Otish Basin. Interaction of basinal brines with the Otish Gabbro produced coarse-grained chlorite, tourmaline, and phengitic muscovite, which decreased the fluid-conducting capabilities of diagenetic aquifers and resulted in fault zone- and fracture-dominated fluid flow. Subsequent fluid alteration events produced limited U remobilization, sulfides, sudoite, and siderite between ca. 1670 and 1410 Ma based on mineral paragenesis and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dates of muscovite. Metamorphic fluids having high δ18 O values and temperatures around 300°C accompanied 1.2 to 1.0 Ga Grenville orogene sis and subgreenschist-grade metamorphism in the Otish Basin but were present at low water/rock ratios at Camie River and therefore produced little alteration. Post-Grenville uplift of the Otish Basin likely produced late, low-temperature alteration minerals that have been influenced by recent meteoric water, suggesting that the fault zones and fractures the minerals occupy remain as preferential fluid-flow pathways to the present day. Radiogenic Pb and the characteristic trace elements Mo + W + Nb have also preferentially dispersed from the mineralization along fault zones, fractures, and depositional sequence boundaries, and can be used to explore for Camie River-style U mineralization.


Taiwan and Japan have faced similar environmental problems at comparable stages in their economic development, and have passed through similar stages in the development of their systems of environmental law. Three phases in the development of environmental law making are distinguished: preparatory, formative and developed. This article compares the relative progress of Taiwan and Japan through these stages, and suggests that Taiwan may benefit by studying Japan's analogous prior experiences with pollution prevention and environmental law.


The University of Houston (UH) Libraries, in partnership and consultation with numerous institutions, was awarded an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership/Project Grant to support the creation of the Bridge2Hyku (B2H) Toolkit. Research shows that institutions are inclined to switch from proprietary digital systems to open source digital solutions. However, content migration from proprietary systems to open source repositories remains a barrier for many institutions because of a lack of tools, tutorials, and documentation. The B2H Toolkit includes general migration strategies and use cases as well as tools specifically designed for transitioning from CONTENTdm, a digital collections management software, to the Hyku digital repository. The toolkit acts as a comprehensive resource to guide migration practitioners in migration planning, metadata analysis and harmonization, and to facilitate the repository migration process. This paper focuses on how the toolkit's metadata guidelines and migration tools aid in migration planning, metadata analysis, metadata application profile development, metadata harmonization, and bulk ingest of digital objects into Hyku.


In 1993. we began to evaluate animal grazing preferences among eight tall fescue cultivars,
including HiMag which had been selected to reduce risk of grass tetany. Two years of
preference studies indicated that some cultivars were better liked by heifers than other cultivars
(Shewmaker et al., 1997). One of us (jcb) and others asked WHY. This led to quantifying
various chemical and physical characteristics of these cultivars and determining their relationship
to grazing preference. It also led to an evaluation of animal preference among these same tall
fescues when harvested in late afternoon and conserved as hay (Burns et al., 'a', submitted J.
Anim. Sci.). In the grazing study. we had found a close relationship between total nonstructural
carbohydrate (TNC) levels and animal grazing preferences among the cultivars (Mayland et al..
`c', revised for Agron. J.). However, TNC values change during the day. What effect might
variation in harvest time have on TNC concentration and ultimately animal preference?
This diurnal cycling of forage sugars had been known for many years, but had been
dismissed as not affecting feed value or animal behavior. We checked the literature (August
1996) but found no documentation of animal responses to diurnal changes in forage composition.
The challenge seemed obvious and the potential impack seemed great; so we decided to test
ruminant animals' ability to differentiate between hays harvested in afternoon and subsequent
morning. We completed several studies and will share some exciting results with you. Animals
demonstrated strong preference for afternoon-harvested compared to morning-harvested forage.
This led to questions concerning 1) animal preferences among other forage types and cultivars,
2) more detailed characterization of diurnal changes occurring in forages, 3) affects on energy
and crude protein digestibility, and 4) affects on animal production?
Could ruminants distinguish between evening- and morning-cut hay and did this occur over
a range of conditions? If they could, then we needed to know what was going on in the plant.
We would then need to determine management strategies to take advantage of possible benefits.
We first discuss the animal studies and then close with plant studies.


Multichannel applications deliver the same content and a "similar interactive experience" using different devices and different technologies(e.g., web sites, palm held devices, car navigators, or interactive TVs). Various channels imply a number of differences, including screen (size), keyboard(size), pointing devices, output devices, performances, and the context of use (standing, sitting, walking, etc.). In most cases, today, applications for different channels are designed and implemented almost "independently", with ineffectiveness for the developers (high costs) and ineffectiveness for the users (loss of consistency across the different channels and the perception that they are "different applications"). This paper presents an interactive dialogue model (IDM), a novel design model specifically tailored for multichannel applications. The background research, moving from linguistic theories and practices, has led us to the development of a "channel-independent" design model (based on dialogue primitives). Design can start in a "conceptual", channel-independent fashion, and then proceed into a further "logical" design oriented toward specific channels of communication. Designing an interactive application in two steps (channel-independent first, and channel-dependent later) allows a number of advantages without making more cumbersome the overall design process. Beside the emphasis on multichannel, IDM has additional distinctive features: it is lightweight, providing a few set of primitives (and a simple graphic notation) which are easy to learn and teach. Moreover, it is suitable for brainstorming and generating ideas at early stage during design (or during the shift from requirements to design); finally, it is cost-effective (it requires little effort from designers) and modular (designers can take the part they wish, not being forced to "all or nothing"). IDM has been validated both in the academic and industry environments,providing excellent results so far.


The purpose of this study was to explore the correlation between self-perceived information seeking skills and self-esteem in adolescents and, further, to determine whether this correlation varied according to race and gender. Tenth-grade students from three public high schools in a Midwestern city were given two instruments. Self-perceived information seeking skills were measured using a modified version of the Information Skills Checklist from High Plains Regional Technology in Education Consortium's Profiler website. Self-esteem was measured by the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, which is designed for students 12 years of age and over. The scale has six separate measures of self-esteem: physical, moral-ethical self, personal self, family self, social self and academic self. These six measures are used to determine overall level of self-esteem. The results showed a statistically significant correlation between self-perceived information seeking skills and at least one facet of self-esteem for all groups measured, with one exception. African American males were the only adolescents to show no correlation between scores from these two instruments. It is hoped that this research will ultimately be used to develop policies regarding the development of information seeking skills in disenfranchised groups.


The effect of the moving speed between a permanent magnet and a superconductor on the levitation force of single-domain YBCO bulk has been studied at liquid nitrogen temperature. It is found that the levitation force is much different with different moving speed, the maximum levitation force and the stiffness of the force-distance curve are increasing first and then decreasing with the increasing of the moving speed and, there is a reasonable speed to get the maximum levitation force. It is also found that the maximum attractive force is decreasing with the increasing of the moving speed.


Theoretical investigation of the phase equilibira of three kinds of Fe-based alloys, Fe-Ni, Fe-Pd and Fe-Pt systems is attempted by combining FLAPW total energy calculations and Cluster Variation Method. It is revealed that the magnetism plays a crucial role in the phase stability and spin polarized calculation is indispensable. The experimental L10-disorder transition temperatures are reproduced with fairly high accuracy. Thermal vibration effects incorporated based on the Debye-Gruneisen model further improve the calculated transition temperatures. Furthermore, the influence of the various effective cluster interactions on phase stability is calculated systematically.


Introduction: obesity is frequent in argentinian children and arterial hypertension affects 2.4% of scholars. Objective: the objectives of the present study are to evaluate the prevalence of obesity and hypertension and their association, and to analyze the ability of electrocardiograms to detect conditions in healthy children and adolescents who attended to request a medical certificate of fitness. Methods: 1030 children (47.9% females and 52.1% males) ranging from 1 to 18 years old who concurred for a check up between Janury and March 2012, were consecutively included. Their body mass index, blood pressure, weight, height, and electrocardiogram findings were calculated and evaluated by a pediatrician and a cardiologist. Results: obesity was detected in 12.1% of males and 9.9% of females, and malnutrition was found in 1.9% and 1.4, respectively. Overweight was more frequent in males, consistent across all age groups. Systolic hypertension (adjusted to the 95th height percentile) was observed in 8.8% males and 8.6% females, more prevalent in children ranging from 4 to 11 years old. A significant association between hypertension and high body mass index was observed. The ECG assessments resulted in six patients with pauses, one patient with asymptomatic Wenchebach AV block, three patients with asymptomatic sinus arrest, and one patient with ventricular bigeminy. Five cases of Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome were diagnosed, and 2.7% children had long QTc segments. Conclusions: a high prevalence of hypertension was found, which was more frequent in obese children. The electrocardiogram analysis resulted in patients with potentially high risk conditions. MÉD.UIS. 2016;29(3):49-53.


Low cost composite materials are widely used in civil and structural engineering applications. This project uses EPON to plasticize a commonly used resin, epoxy resin to lower the cost of the composite and to find out the mechanical and thermal properties of the plasticized epoxy resin to see if it is suitable for the said applications. Three point bending tests were carried out to evaluate the flexural properties of the plasticized resins. Differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis are used to evaluate the thermal properties of the plasticized epoxy resin. The study with epoxy and EPON showed that the mechanical properties of the epoxy composite were lowered but its ability to dissipate energy increased because of its improved thermal properties. As EPON is much cheaper that epoxy resin, the composite produced is therefore cheaper and provided the service requirements were not so demanding, it can be used in the said applications.


The basal model-independent pharmacokinetic parameters body clearance (CL), renal clearance (CLR), mean residence time (MRT), and volume of distribution in steady state (Vss) were calculated from concentrations of terbutaline in plasma and amounts in urine after intravenous administration of the drug in 19 healthy men. The data used were from three separate studies. Measurements up to 12 h gave estimated values for CL from 136 mL/min to 340 mL/min, for CLR from 82 mL/min to 192 mL/min, for MRT from 1.5 h to 5.6 h, and for Vss from 24 L to 73 L. In 6 subjects, there were measurements for longer than 24 h that could be used to calculate the parameters. Body clearance was now found to vary between 165 and 270 mL/min. MRT between 7.3 and 11.7 h, and Vss between 83 and 140 L. The evaluations indicate that CL will be overestimated and MRT and Vss underestimated from data only up to 12 h.


Molecular biology is making a tremendous impact on the diagnosis and treatment of liver diseases. Methods such as the polymerase chain reaction are changing the way physicians diagnose and monitor patients with viral hepatitis. Assays based on recombinant protein antigens allow for detection of specific autoantibodies in diseases such as primary biliary cirrhosis. The diagnosis of inherited metabolic diseases, such as hemochromatosis and Wilson disease, is being revolutionized by discovery of the defective genes involved and the development of methods to rapidly sequence DNA and identify mutations. Treatments and preventive measures are now possible with use of drugs and vaccines produced by recombinant DNA technology. Gene therapy and nucleic acid-based therapeutics are also realistic future treatment options for individuals with liver diseases.


Abstract Purpose: To demonstrate the clinical efficacy and safety of a highly conformal, supine, hybrid forward and inverse planned intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) technique for photon craniospinal irradiation (CSI). Methods: Patients who received supine, hybrid IMRT CSI from 2009 to 2014 were included in this retrospective review. Clinical target volume (CTV) was defined as intracranial contents and thecal sac, including nerve roots. Dose was prescribed such that >99% of CTV received >99% of prescription and >95% of the planning target volume received >95% of prescription, with no attempt to include vertebral bodies. Lateral fields were utilized at the cranium and upper cervical spine. Spine fields were either single posterior or 2–3 obliques. Plans were generated with a hybrid of forward and inverse planned IMRT. Inferior borders of the cranium fields and superior border of the lower spine field were designed with 6–15 cm long, gradual dose gradients by sequential closing of multileaf collimator leaves using forward planned multiple static segment IMRT delivery. The sliding window upper spine IMRT field was created by the inverse planning system to match gradients of the brain and lower spine fields. The lower spine field gradient was similarly completed. Results: The cohort consisted of 34 patients. Median CSI dose was 36 Gy (range: 18–39.6 Gy). With a median follow up of 59.4 months, there were no isolated recurrences or spinal myelopathies at CTV margins or field gradients. Eleven patients had recurrence, all of which were intracranial. Conclusions: Our hybrid forward and inverse planned IMRT supine CSI technique did not result in any isolated recurrences or myelopathies at CTV margins or field gradients. This suggests our target volumes and blended gradients are appropriate for highly conformal three-dimensional planning.