Flaws in computer software are a fact of life, both in small and
large-scale applications.
Compilers for modern programming languages accommodate many program
analyses for finding mistakes at compile-time (statically).
These analyses detect a significant portion of errors automatically:
this makes program analyses a valuable and indispensable tool for
developing reliable, high quality software.
Type checking is perhaps the most popular and best studied form of
static analysis. This analysis guarantees that functions (or methods)
are never applied to incompatible arguments, and is traditionally an
important part of functional programming languages (e.g., ML and
Haskell).

One common feature of ML and Haskell is that they are implicitly typed:
no type annotations in the program are required.
Instead, these languages rely on an effective type inference algorithm,
which automatically deduces all types.
This inference algorithm has the pleasing property that it finds
principal (or most general) types.
In fact, the inference algorithm not only recovers type information, it
also detects type inconsistencies in programs, which are generally
caused by mistakes made by the programmer.
In most compilers, however, the algorithm for type inference is not
designed to provide good feedback, but rather focuses on performance.
As a result, the type error messages that are reported by these
algorithms can be difficult to understand, especially for beginning
programmers.

This thesis is entirely devoted to improve the type error messages for
a functional programming language.
Ideally, we should follow a human-like inference strategy, and depart
from the mechanical order in which standard inference algorithms
proceed. This entails, for example, a global analysis of a program,
which depends on heuristics that capture expert knowledge. We may even
anticipate common errors and provide additional information for special
classes of mistakes.
We have reached the above results by pursuing a constraint-based
approach to type inference. The typing problem is first mapped to a set
of type constraints, which is then passed to a specialized constraint
solver.
Because there is no best type inference algorithm that suits everyone,
we present a parameterized framework, which can be instantiated and
customized according to one's personal preferences.

We propose a set of type inference directives to personalize the type
inference process even further.
Type inference directives change the error message facility, but
without losing soundness of the underlying type system.
For instance, these directives make it possible to phrase error
messages in terms of a specific domain,
which makes them very suitable for creating a close integration of the
DSL and the host language.
In addition, directives allow to tune the error messages to the level
of expertise of a specific group of programmers.

All type inference techniques that we propose have been implemented in
the Helium compiler, which covers almost the entire Haskell 98
standard.
This compiler has been used for the introductory functional programming
courses at Utrecht University, by students without any prior
knowledge of functional programming. The implementation affirms that
our approach scales to a full-blown programming language.


The author stresses early detection of the premonitory signs of a manic breakdown with a view towards an efficient therapeutic intervention. Some of the most typical signs are described with their corresponding dynamic implication. The manic-depressive's lack of impulse control often forces a member of the patient's circle to take control. After a review of the main personality traits belonging to the manic-depressive patient, the author gives a description of the patient's spouse in whom appear similar and complementary elements of the patient's personality. Finally, some steps are suggested to rationalize treatment. Emphasis is on educational methods combined with lithium therapy within the framework of a therapeutic relationship where the interative dynamic forces are acknowledged.


Abstract. Nitrous oxide fluxes and denitrification rates were measured in situ over a year at a riparian site in the UK. An exponential relationship was found between denitrification rates and soil moisture, with a sharp increase in denitrification rate at a water-filled pore space of 60–80%. Similar relationships were found in other studies compiled for comparison. The present study is unique in measuring denitrification in an "intact" ecosystem in the field, rather than in cores in the field or the lab. The exponential relationship between denitrification rate and soil moisture, with a "threshold" at 60–80% water-filled pore space (20–40% gravimetric moisture), has proven to be comparable across a wide range of ecosystems, treatments and study conditions. Whereas moisture content determines the potential for denitrification, the absolute rate of denitrification is determined by available nitrate (NO3-), dissolved organic carbon and temperature. As a first approximation, denitrification rates can be simply modelled by using a general exponential relationship between denitrification potential and water-filled pore space (or volumetric/gravimetric water content) multiplied by a constant value determined by the nitrogen status of the site. As such, it is recommended that the current relationship used in INCA to relate denitrification to soil moisture be amended to an exponential form, with a threshold of approximately 70% for the onset of denitrification. Keywords: nitrous oxide, denitrification, soil moisture, nitrogen, eutrophication, riparian


This thesis looks at Wellington's Waitangi Park, through the specifics of the Chaffers Park Design Competition, in order to explore the repercussions mistrust can have on social vision and political response. In examining aspects of this competition over a piece of public land, and comparing various accounts of events leading up to it, an interpretative impasse is reached that factual explanations alone cannot minimise. Because the search for truth proves elusive, other forms of evidence must be relied upon as sources of knowledge. In this instance, an analysis of experiences demonstrates the effect differing expectations has on human interaction, ones that are shown to have a significant impact on placemaking processes and organizational structures. When debates over public land degenerate into power struggles, the issue of control is brought to the forefront of attention. It raises questions concerning who owns public land, whether it properly belongs to local authorities or the public itself. Who gets to designate how these spaces are used, and select what ought and ought not to go on these sites? Here, the issue of representation is troublesome because so many different groups claim to speak for the public's interest, leaving the reader wondering whose interpretation to believe and place trust in. Where the perception is that democratic rights are being undermined, then doubt in the principles underpinning consultation processes soon emerges. And once mistrust becomes entrenched, organizational tinkering is not sufficient in itself to reverse a negative state of affairs; only joint satisfaction will do. But if satisfaction proves unforthcoming, then a withdrawal from engagement can be anticipated as committed individuals quit the field in disillusionment. This in turn causes a narrowing of vision and leads to uncreative political responses traits associated with acts of obliviousness.


One of the problems to be solved in the course of exsolution of crystal sediments is to re-ceive products with desired technological properties. Two fundamentally different approaches can be applied for its resolution depending on method of supersaturation and requirements to the crystal sediments quality. In case of high supersaturation growth centers arise spontaneously and their number determines the properties of the final product to a large degree. The crystallization in the metastable region of solutions prevents spontaneous crystal nucleation and an introduc-tion of the seed phase becomes inevitable in this case. The nature of this phase determines the properties of the final product to some extent. During the real process there are mechanisms that disrupt the normal growth of crystals, causing distortion, leading to heterogeneous nucleation and recrystallization with degradation of seed material even. The line between these trends is the limiting supersaturation value, attrib-uted to the unit of phase interface. In this case the development of appropriate growth mecha-nisms is proportional to the deviation of the specific supersaturation of the solution from its value limit. The traditional source of heterogeneous nucleation is the mechanical interaction of the particles. The interaction probability is proportional to their concentration. Particles' mass and their size becomes the most significant heterogeneous nucleation factor for seed particles of the same nature and morphology at the conditions of reproducible stream turbulence. Mathe-matical description of these trends has allowed to establish the dependence of the final particles' size on the seed concentration in the feed pulp and to show the existence of a minimum number of particles of the final product. Experimental study of the of chemical sediments' properties that depend on the seed amount, was carried out in relation to the breaking-up of aluminate solutions of alumina production. The process of selection of aluminum hydroxide has allowed to establish the amount of the seed aluminum hydrox-ide, resulting in a product of maximum size, and thus to confirm the theoretical conclusions.


The purpose of this study was to determine the optimum membrane filter structure and characteristics for recovery of coliform organisms. Additionally, other factors such as sterilization method and membrane composition were examined. Fecal coliform growth tests with varied samples indicated that the most critical factor in recovery was surface pore morphology and not other factors previously suspected. Fecal coliform counts showed a dramatic increase, with increasing surface opening sizes. Membrane structures with surface openings large enough to surround the entrapped bacteria are required for optimum growth of fecal coliform organisms. Maximum fecal coliform recoveries are obtained using membranes composed of mixed esters of cellulose exhibiting a surface opening diameter of 2.4 mum and a retention pore size of 0.7 mum.


Abstract : The iterative perturbation analysis using nonlinear phase progression, previously developed for dealing with axially dependent perturbations on an otherwise axially uniform wave propagating structure, is here modified and extended. One modification of the basic technique readily permits some significant higher order effects of the perturbation to be determined directly from first order calculations. Further modifications drastically reduce the limitations on the size of the perturbation, permitting the corrections to the wave functions to be of even the same order of magnitude as the unperturbed waves. Since the method specifically seeks phase progression factors, it is particularly well suited to electromagnetic propagation problems, especially those which may involve effects strongly dependent upon the phase progression of the perturbed wave. The analysis for gross perturbations given here is therefore applied to situations involving gross dielectric inhomogeneities perturbing an otherwise uniform waveguide and to parasitic traveling wave antennas. The question of the application of the method to problems involving scatterers from conducting obstacles in waveguides is also discussed. (Author)


The conversion of DCA to progestin invivo, which has been shown in the case of the monkey(4) and now the rat, indicates one possible mechanismby which progestin may occur in the male. In addition,these studies also show that, at least in the rodent, theadrenals and the kidneys are the sites of this conversion. Investigations on the conversion of DCA to progestin in other species, as well as studies on the release See PDF for Table of progestin by tissue slices incubated with or withoutDCA, are currently in progress.


Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related developmental disabilities (DD), who do not speak or have very limited spoken language, are often candidates for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Three common modes of AAC are manual signing (MS), picture exchange (PE), and speech-generating devices (SGDs). Studies suggest that children with ASD and other DD might demonstrate comparable proficiency in learning to use each of these communication systems. Because there may not be one single mode of AAC that appears to be most readily taught to, and learnt by, these children, decisions regarding which AAC mode to implement might need to be based upon an assessment of the individual's preferences for using different AAC systems.  Giving students the opportunity to self-select their most preferred AAC mode could also be viewed as one way of promoting self-determination in AAC intervention and this in turn might significantly influence progress in learning to communicate and maintenance of newly acquired AAC skills. The three empirical intervention studies that are presented in the present thesis each made use of systematic instructional procedures, based upon the principles of applied behaviour analysis (ABA), to teach children with ASD and other DD to request (mand) preferred items using MS, PE, and SGD. A key aspect of the studies was the assessment of each child's preference for using one of the three AAC modes via a structured choice-making protocol. This choice-making protocol was designed to determine whether children made greater progress, showed increased communication ability, and continued to use AAC during follow-up sessions when their preferences for different AAC options were assessed and incorporated into the intervention process.  Utilising single-case research methodology (combined multiple-baseline and alternating-treatments designs), a total of 12 participants (9 boys, 3 girls, aged 4 to 13 years) received interventions that were designed to compare acquisition, maintenance, and preference for MS, PE, and SGD. Overall, the results of the three studies demonstrated that seven of the 12 (58%) participants learnt to use, and reached criterion, for use of each AAC option. Five participants did not reach criterion for MS. Two participants did not reach criterion for PE and one of these participants did not reach criterion for SGD. Eight of the 12 (67%) participants appeared to show a preference for using the SGD. Preference for using PE was demonstrated by three out of eight (38%) participants (PE was only assessed in Studies 2 and 3). Finally, one out of the 12 (8%) participants appeared to show a preference for using MS.  These data suggest greater proficiency and better maintenance when children used their preferred communication option. These findings highlight some potentially positive effects of enabling some degree of self-determination with respect to aspects of the use of AAC systems in communication intervention. Given the encouraging intervention outcomes for the present series of three studies, future research and practice should continue to seek ways of increasing opportunities for self-determination in AAC and related interventions for individuals with ASD/DD.


Multi-proxy analysis of gravity core PS56/029-1 have been performed in order to describe sedimentary processes and dynamics under pelagic, turbiditic and contouritic influences. The purpose is to reconstruct climate-controlled environmental change in the Riiser Larsen Sea, Antarctica, through past glacial/interglacial cycles. The gravity core was retrieved during expedition ANTARKTIS XVII/2 of R/V Polarstern in 2000. Data analysis was carried out in a collaboration between the Alfred Wegner Institute, Helmholtz centre for polar and marine research in Germany and the Department of Geosciences at UiT The Artic University of Tromsø. The core was retrieved from a levee in the central part of a large channel system in the Riiser Larsen Sea, at c. 4000 m water depth and c. 200 km offshore Princess Ragnhild Coast, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. A multi-proxy analysis was conducted in order to determine depositional environments through past glacial/interglacial cycles. The analysis included physical properties, e.g. magnetic susceptibility, p-wave velocity and wet-bulk density, interpretation of line-scan images and X-radiographs, qualitative element geochemical analysis using an Avaatech XRF Core Scanner and high resolution grain-size distribution analysis using a CILAS 1180 laser granulometer. Core PS56/029-1 reveals alternating repetitive intervals of poorly sorted and fine-grained sediment accumulated in lighter brownish and greyish coloured intervals. The deposits have a polymodal signature which is interpreted to reflect a mixed pelagic, turbiditic, and contouritic influence, and the more occasional influence of icebergs. Four lithofacies are defined: Laminated Grey Layer (LGL), Grey Layer Thin (GLT), Massive Lighter Layer (MML) and Red Brown Layer (RBL). The greyish coloured intervals LGL and GLT are interpreted to be deposited during glacial periods, including fine sediments attributed to the advancing ice-sheet, along with a more extensive sea-ice, and smaller coastal polynyas. More frequent turbidity currents are suggested to be the explaining factor. The lighter brownish coloured layers MLL and RBL are interpreted to be deposited during interglacial periods, including slightly coarser sediments attributed to a stable or retreating ice sheet, along with less extensive sea-ice cover, and stronger coastal polynyas. Increased bottom-water velocities and denser water masses created in coastal polynyas are suggested to be the explaining factors.


Abstract Background Surgical resection is the only curative treatment for pancreatic cancer but is very invasive. It usually causes severe stress in patients and may cause pain and deterioration of quality of life (QOL). Patient-reported QOL data are essential for describing patient symptomatology and evaluating care to adequately manage symptoms. Here we evaluated changes in health-related QOL (HRQOL) and symptoms in pancreatic cancer patients after surgical intervention. Methods The institutional review board of our university approved this study (2012-1-403); patients provided written informed consent. A QOL questionnaire survey was administered preoperatively and at postoperative months 3, 6, and 12. We statistically evaluated the correlations between the Short Form 36 Health Survey version 2 (SF-36v2 Standard, Japanese), which measures HRQOL, and specific symptoms of hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancer, using data collected from 100 postoperative pancreatic cancer patients (subtotal stomach-preserving pancreatoduodenectomy (PD), 54 patients; distal pancreatectomy, 36 patients; total pancreatectomy (TP), 10 patients). Responses were analyzed by two-way ANOVA and Spearman's correlation coefficient analysis; p  Results QOL was lowest at 3 months postoperatively on many domains of the SF-36v2 and had gradually improved by 12 months postoperatively. At 3 months, physical functioning (PF) (p  Conclusions QOL after pancreatectomy can be improved by nutrition management, treatment combinations for symptoms related to digestion and absorption, and treatment for subjective symptoms including fatigue. Editorial acknowledgement Think Science KK. Legal entity responsible for the study The authors. Funding JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP16K07140. Disclosure F. Motoi: Speaker Bureau / Expert testimony: Taiho Pharma, Mylan Japan, Daichi-Sankyo. M. Unno: Research grant / Funding (self): Taiho Pharma, Chugai; Research grant / Funding (institution): Taiho Pharma, Pfizer, Takeda, Chugai, Yakult, Asahi-Kasei. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


Software unbundling consists of dividing an existing software artifact into smaller ones. Unbundling can be useful for removing clutter from the original application or separating different features that may not share the same purpose, or simply for isolating an emergent functionality that merits to be an application on its own. This phenomenon is frequent with mobile apps and it is also propagating to APIs. This paper proposes a first empirical study on unbundling to understand its effects on popular APIs. We explore the possibilities of splitting libraries into 2 or more bundles based on the use that their client projects make of them. We mine over than 71,000 client projects of 10 open source APIs and automatically generate 2,090 sub-APIs to then study their properties. We find that it is possible to have sets of different ways of using a given API and to unbundle it accordingly; the bundles can vary their representativeness and uniqueness, which is analyzed thoroughly in this study.


The unintended economic effect on society as result of individual behaviour —Adam Smith's 'Invisible Hand' of economic progress in the eighteenth century — had its equivalent in technological progress. In the nineteenth century, again individual behaviour with its Acts of Innovation and Acts of Business had an unintended effect. It changed not only the economy, but also the world we are living in. The Communication Revolution, initiated by the 'Engines of Growth' of the GPT-E that are described, was the result of human curiosity, ingenuity and entrepreneurship. It were the General Purpose Engines of the Telegraph, the Telephone and the Wireless —developed by Morse and Cooke/Wheatstone, Bell and Marconi— that created its milestones. With all those other contributors, large and small, their basic innovations constituted the 'Invisible Hand' of technical progress.


Presents the basic forces that have shaped the Western tradition, from the Neolithic age to the Renaissance and Reformation periods. The course emphisizes the economicand political aspects of ancient, medieval and early modern history.


As part of an effort to examine the structure and content of our residency program in internal medicine, we assessed interns' activities on call to identify problems with workload scheduling, supervision, or learning. Eleven interns were observed continuously during a 34-hour on-call period. Interns averaged 5.6 hours at the bedside, with 57 minutes of that time under direct supervision of a resident or attending physician. Nearly half of new patient examinations continued after midnight despite a special night admission team that evaluated all patients admitted after 11 pm. The interns averaged 21 beeps per 30 hours. They slept an average of 2.5 hours with two interruptions. They read about their patients an average of 4 minutes during the 34-hour period. Most supervision was away from the bedside (82/139 minutes). Bedside supervision occurred predominantly during rounds (45/57 minutes). Attending physicians averaged only 12 minutes of bedside interaction with the intern. Many of these findings were unanticipated. Structural defects in the training program were defined and are being addressed. Other training programs should consider similar analyses before making fundamental changes.


Cholera-specific surveillance in Indonesia was initiated to identify the introduction of the newly recognized Vibrio cholerae non-O1, O139 serotype. Findings from seven years (1993-1999) of surveillance efforts also yielded regional profiles of the importance of cholera in both epidemic and sporadic diarrheal disease occurrence throughout the archipelago. A two-fold surveillance strategy was pursued involving 1) outbreak investigations, and 2) hospital-based case recognition. Rectal swabs were transported to Jakarta for culture and isolates were characterized by serotypic identification. Outbreak findings showed that V. cholerae O1, Ogawa serotype, was the predominant etiology in all 17 instances of investigated epidemic transmission. Monitoring of eight hospitals representing seven provinces provided 6,882 specimens, of which 9% were culture positive for V. cholerae: 589 (9%) for O1 and 20 (< 1%) for non-O1 strains. Proportional representation of V. cholerae O1 among cases of sporadic diarrheal illness was variable, ranging from 13% in Jakarta to < 1% in Batam. Overall, 98% of V. cholerae O1 cases were the Ogawa serotype. There was no instance of non-O1, O139 serotype introduction in either epidemic or sporadic disease form. Anti-microbial drug susceptibility was consistently demonstrated, both temporally and spatially, except against colistin. Evidence is provided that epidemic and sporadic cholera occurrence in western Indonesia is associated with periods of low rainfall. Conversely, in the more eastern portion of the country, heavy rainfall may have contributed to epidemic cholera transmission.


This study aims to compare and calibrate seven different types of Valiantzas (Valiz) ET0 equations against FAO Penman–Monteith (P-M) equation at three sites under the humid climatic condition of northeast India. In the first stage, the different Valiantzas equations were ranked based on their original coefficient (OC) at each site. In the second stage, Valiz equations were assessed based on local calibrated coefficient (LCC). In the third stage, the selected Valiz equations were assessed based on global calibrated coefficient (GCC) considering pooled data for all the selected stations. The ranking of equations was done using a summative form of global positioning index (GPI). Different Valiantzas equations showed different performances relative to the sites having similar climate class (warm and temperate). With the OC, the Valiz 7 is ranked one at Dibrugarh and Shillong, and Valiz 2 for Aizawl. After local calibration, again, Valiz 7 is best at Dibrugarh and Shillong while Valiz 6 is best at Aizawl. With global calibration coefficient, Valiz 7 ranked best at all three selected stations. The suitable equations identified for the region are Valiz 7, Valiz 6 if full data are available, and Valiz 2 under limiting data conditions.


Background Metamodeling may substantially reduce the computational expense of individual-level state transition simulation models (IL-STM) for calibration, uncertainty quantification, and health policy evaluation. However, because of the lack of guidance and readily available computer code, metamodels are still not widely used in health economics and public health. In this study, we provide guidance on how to choose a metamodel for uncertainty quantification. Methods We built a simulation study to evaluate the prediction accuracy and computational expense of metamodels for uncertainty quantification using life-years gained (LYG) by treatment as the IL-STM outcome. We analyzed how metamodel accuracy changes with the characteristics of the simulation model using a linear model (LM), Gaussian process regression (GP), generalized additive models (GAMs), and artificial neural networks (ANNs). Finally, we tested these metamodels in a case study consisting of a probabilistic analysis of a lung cancer IL-STM. Results In a scenario with low uncertainty in model parameters (i.e., small confidence interval), sufficient numbers of simulated life histories, and simulation model runs, commonly used metamodels (LM, ANNs, GAMs, and GP) have similar, good accuracy, with errors smaller than 1% for predicting LYG. With a higher level of uncertainty in model parameters, the prediction accuracy of GP and ANN is superior to LM. In the case study, we found that in the worst case, the best metamodel had an error of about 2.1%. Conclusion To obtain good prediction accuracy, in an efficient way, we recommend starting with LM, and if the resulting accuracy is insufficient, we recommend trying ANNs and eventually also GP regression.


An interview with the Korean American documentary filmmaker Dai Sil Kim-Gibson, in which she reflects on her own life as a migrant and on her desire to make films that give visibility to marginalized histories.


Introduction: Hematopoietic Stem Cell transplantation (HSCT) is the only curative therapy for some malignant and non-malignant diseases including Sickle cell disease(SCD).The world celebrated the one millionth HSCT in December 2012 with only 2% of these HSCTperformed in East Mediterranean /Africa. Nigeria performed her first successful HSCT in 2011 and since then only a total of 3 HSCT have been performed. Activities: The stem cell transplant centre at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital Edo State commenced in 2011 and has performed 3 HSCT.Indications for HSCT were Sickle cell disease complicated with Cerebrovascular accident, for the first patient and refractory vaso-occlusive crises for the other two patients.Patients were all males with ages of 7,12 and 15years.Donors were matched siblings with no major blood group mismatch and with ages of 14,19 and 21years respectively. Conditioning regimen for all patients was reduced intensity FLU/BU(Fludarabin 160mg/m2 days -6 to -2,Busulphan 16mg/kg days -5 to -2) and Anti-thymocytes globulin(ATG (ATGAM 22.73mg/kg).However Prophylaxis for GVHD was with Cyclosporin A and MycophylnolateMefotil (MMF).All patients had un-manipulated bone marrow stem cells. A second HSCT was performed for the second patient who had primary rejection with a conditioning regimen of BU/CY Busulphan 16mg/kg/Cyclophosphamide 100mg/kg pre-transplant and 100mg/kg atday +3 and +4 post- transplant Results: Overall survival is 100% and 67.7% disease free survival. Neutrophil engraftments for the two successful HSCT were both at day +18 while platelets were at days +21 and +22respectively.Chimerism at one year post transplant was 95 and 96% for the first and third patient respectively.No recorded acute or chronic graft versus host disease but there was a single report of femoral catheter infection with Pseudomonas that responded to antibiotics. The second HSCT had a primary rejection for both the first and second HSCT but developed a high persistent fetal hemoglobin of 29.5% .He has remained clinically stable 2 years post- transplant with few insignificant crises. Conclusion: A single Centre report of HSCT activities for Sickle cell disease with no mortality. There is need to perform more transplantations to improve the activities and experience in the Centre. Also with the huge population of Nigeria, there is the need to have more transplant Centres to meet the needs of Nigerians who will require HSCT. Keywords:  Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, sickle cell disease, single centre


We present the results of a photometric and spectroscopic survey of 321 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z∼ 3 to investigate systematically the relationship between Lyα emission and stellar populations. Lyα equivalent widths (WLyα) were calculated from rest-frame UV spectroscopy and optical/near-infrared/Spitzer photometry was used in population synthesis modeling to derive the key properties of age, dust extinction, star formation rate (SFR), and stellar mass. We directly compare the stellar populations of LBGs with and without strong Lyα emission, where we designate the former group (WLyα⩾ 20 Å) as Lyα emitters (LAEs) and the latter group (WLyα< 20 Å) as non-LAEs. This controlled method of comparing objects from the same UV luminosity distribution represents an improvement over previous studies in which the stellar populations of LBGs and narrowband-selected LAEs were contrasted, where the latter were often intrinsically fainter in broadband filters by an order of magnitude simply due to different selection criteria. Using a variety of statistical tests, we find that Lyα equivalent width and age, SFR, and dust extinction, respectively, are significantly correlated in the sense that objects with strong Lyα emission also tend to be older, lower in SFR, and less dusty than objects with weak Lyα emission, or the line in absorption. We accordingly conclude that, within the LBG sample, objects with strong Lyα emission represent a later stage of galaxy evolution in which supernovae-induced outflows have reduced the dust covering fraction. We also examined the hypothesis that the attenuation of Lyα photons is lower than that of the continuum, as proposed by some, but found no evidence to support this picture.


A solid superacid catalyst SO42-/ZrO2–Sm2O3-SiO2 was prepared by a coprecipitation method and characterized by means of XRD, TEM and SEM. The kinetics of the esterification of palmitic acid and ethanol catalyzed by nano SO42-/ZrO2–Sm2O3-SiO2 catalyst was studied in a stirred batch reactor for the synthesis of ethyl palmitate. The effects of reaction temperature, feed molar ratio, catalyst loading and reusability of the catalyst were evaluated. The optimum conditions were as follows: n(palmitic acid):n(ethanol)=1:5, w(SO42-/ZrO2–Sm2O3-SiO2)=2.4%, reaction temperature 403K, and reaction time 2 h. The esterification efficiency of palmitic acid was about 82.6%. The experimental reaction rates were correlated using different rate models include the Eley–Rideal and Langmuir Hinshelwood Hougen Watson models.


This article summarises the key results from the latest survey carried out for the Bank by NMG Research about the state of household finances. There was little change in the proportion of households who reported problems with their unsecured debt, although there was a small increase in the proportion of mortgagors having difficulty paying for their mortgage. The share of overall income accounted for by households reporting either type of problem was relatively small, suggesting that any impact on aggregate consumer spending is likely to have been muted. The most common explanations given for debt problems were temporary cash-flow shortfalls and overspending; the most popular way of resolving these issues was to cut back spending. Very few households said they considered bankruptcy a solution to their debt problems.


We study Euler-type discrete-time schemes for the rough Heston model, which can be described by a stochastic Volterra equation (with non-Lipschtiz coefficient functions), or by an equivalent integrated variance formulation. Using weak convergence techniques, we prove that the limits of the discrete-time schemes are solution to some modified Volterra equations. Such modified equations are then proved to share the same unique solution as the initial equations, which implies the convergence of the discrete-time schemes. Numerical examples are also provided in order to evaluate different derivative options prices under the rough Heston model.


Abstract In the peace-loving, moderate and progressive country of Muslim-dominated Malaysia, violence generally is alien to the culture. Terrorism initially took shape during the post-independence, communist era by jungle recalcitrant actions. In recent years, this has been superceded by a more internationally related trend of violence. Only very few incidents were based locally, while the majority were linked to international groups or organizations abroad, including the Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM), Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). Kidnapping with ransom seemed to have been the most commone modus operandi, while killing and robbery accounted for very few of these incidents. The number of victims in each event so far has been small, and smaller for those physically harmed or killed. This pattern of terrorist attacks suggests that the current level of provision of emergency medical services is sufficient to handle such incidents. Recent advances in local emergency medicine also have witnessed the establishment of various teaching and training modules, a pivotal role played by university hospitals and supported by the Ministry of Health. However, the spate of ongoing events of mass destruction such as the conflict in Israel/Palestine, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the World Trade Center and Pentagon tragedies of 11 September 2001, and the Bali bombing in Indonesia, remain as great concerns to Malaysians. Both the government and the people of Malaysia abhor such unjustified uses of terror, and take every measure to curtail them. The National Security Council policies of Arahan No. 18 and Arahan No. 20 detail specific roles and responsibilities of various agencies in managing terrorism and disasters respectively, while the use of the stern Internal Security Act that allows indefinite detention without trial, evidently has been an efficient intelligence and security apparatus. With more recent developments of terrorist events regionally and globally, Malaysia continues to face an ongoing threat from such activities. Various measures have been and will be actively undertaken both by government and non-governmental agencies in facing these challenges.


In recent years the newer environmental issues regarding hazardous waste,global climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, groundwater contamination,disaster mitigation and removal of pollutant have become the focus of environmental attention. Though all the segments of environment are being polluted in various ways, the study of water pollution is selected as it is not an ordinary liquid but is the elixir of life. Moreover, water is the most common liquid but it is also one of the most unusual because of its few unique property. Rourkela is one of the most important industrial complex in the state of Orissa which has Integrated Rourkela Steel Plant, a number of sponge iron industries, cement manufacturing unit, chemicals,explosives, ceramics and distillery units and large number of small and medium industries. Keeping the above in view, the study area has rightly been selected. The study area experiences a seasonal climate and broadly divided into three seasons as Winter (Nove...


Few studies have properly compared predictive performance of different models using the same medical data set. We developed and compared 3 models (logistic regression, neural networks, and rough sets) in the in prediction of ambulation at hospital discharge following spinal cord injury. We used the multi-center Spinal Cord Injury Model System database. All models performed well and had areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve in the 0.88-0.91 range. All models had sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy greater than 80% at ideal thresholds. The performance of neural network and logistic regression methods was not statistically different (p = 0.48). The rough sets classifier performed statistically worse than either the neural network or logistic regression models (p-values 0.002 and 0.015 respectively).


It is commonly believed that decoherence arises as a result of the entangling interaction between a quantum system and its environment, as a consequence of which the environment effectively measures the system, thus washing away its quantum properties. Moreover, this interaction results in the emergence of a classical objective reality, as described by Quantum Darwinism. In this Letter, we show that the widely believed idea that entanglement is needed for decoherence is imprecise. We propose a new mechanism, dynamical mixing, capable of inducing decoherence dynamics on a system without creating any entanglement with its quantum environment. We illustrate this mechanism with a simple and exactly solvable collision model. Interestingly, we find that Quantum Darwinism does not occur if the system undergoes entanglement-free decoherence and, only when the effect of a super-environment introducing system-environment entanglement is taken into account, the emergence of an objective reality takes place. Our results lead to the unexpected conclusion that system-environment entanglement is not necessary for decoherence or information back-flow, but plays a crucial role in the emergence of an objective reality.


We present a parametric method for the variable control of tempo with specification of shape and phase alignment constraints, and its implementation as a graphical interface written in C for the Max/MSP environment. This tool aids in the construction and management of polyphonic streams of independent, fixed or smoothly-varying tempos suitable for live performance or computer-generated scores. We also present a brief history of how polyphonic tempo manipulation has been used in context and compare our work with two recent projects to implement similar tools.


The data on 33 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis who had developed acute pancreatitis due to being treated with antituberculous drugs are analyzed. Emphasis is laid on the fact that all these patients had been treated for pancreatitis or suffered from diseases of the organs adjacent to the pancreas. This category of patients are recommended drugs consequently given from small to routine doses for 3-5 days to prevent the adverse pancreatic effect of antituberculous drugs. If there are signs of pancreatic failure, it is necessary to withdraw chemotherapy temporarily and to initiate pancreatic treatment.


Safety at the construction industries always being an issue. Every year, there's accident recorded. These include minor injury, major injury and the worst is death. Although many programs have been taken and also the monitoring from DOSH, but it seems not really effective as the accidents still occur. The latest, DOSH enforced all the construction companies with construction project that worth than RM 20 million to appoint site safety supervisor (SSS). This is to ensure the safety and health of the workers at the construction site. This dissertation is to discover the importance of SSS at the construction site in order to prevent accidents. This dissertation also done to differentiate the role and responsibilities of SSS and safety and health officer (SHO). This is because not all construction personnel know about SSS and always mistake to assume SSS as SHO. This dissertation also focused on the perception of construction personnel towards the effectiveness of SSS in construction. As already know, construction personnel are the person that works at the construction site. Construction personnel include labors, engineers, surveyors, management staff, suppliers and others. Their perception is important in order to relate the role and responsibilities of SSS with the rate of accidents at the construction site.


While there is a growing number of papers in academic and professional nursing journals that focus on clinical supervision, there remain unanswered questions and unresolved issues. One such issue where there is a distinct paucity of theoretical or empirical work is that of 'ending' within clinical supervision. Accordingly, this article examines key issues and dynamics of ending within clinical supervision. These key issues are summarized as: ending when the supervisor is reluctant to let go; parallel processes in ending in clinical supervision and ending in clinical relationships; the different ending dynamics of different approaches to clinical supervision; endings in group supervision; ending as a form of bereavement; healthy endings in clinical supervision; and endings as a opportunity for growth and celebration. The authors posit that an understanding of these processes can help facilitate a 'healthy' ending in clinical supervision. Furthermore, there may be particular merit in considering dynamics that, when present, create the best chance of all parties experiencing a health ending, namely: the ending is negotiated; the ending is gradual rather than sudden and all parties work towards the ending; the supervisee retains (wherever possible) a degree of control over the timing of the ending; and both supervisor and supervisee achieve a sense of closure.


BACKGROUND: In women undergoing cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia with intrathecal morphine, transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block with bupivacaine hydrochloride (HCl) may not improve postsurgical analgesia. This lack of benefit could be related to the short duration of action of bupivacaine HCl. A retrospective study reported that TAP block with long-acting liposomal bupivacaine (LB) reduced opioid consumption and improved analgesia following cesarean delivery. Therefore, we performed a prospective multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial examining efficacy and safety of TAP block with LB plus bupivacaine HCl versus bupivacaine HCl alone. METHODS: Women (n = 186) with term pregnancies undergoing elective cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia were randomized (1:1) to TAP block with LB 266 mg plus bupivacaine HCl 50 mg or bupivacaine HCl 50 mg alone. Efficacy was evaluated in a protocol-compliant analysis (PCA) set that was defined a priori. The primary end point was total postsurgical opioid consumption (oral morphine equivalent dosing [MED]) through 72 hours. Pain intensity was measured using a visual analog scale. Adverse events (AEs) after treatment were recorded through day 14. RESULTS: Total opioid consumption through 72 hours was reduced with LB plus bupivacaine HCl versus bupivacaine HCl alone (least squares mean [LSM] [standard error (SE)] MED, 15.5 mg [6.67 mg] vs 32.0 mg [6.25 mg]). This corresponded to an LSM treatment difference of −16.5 mg (95% confidence interval [CI], −30.8 to −2.2 mg; P = .012). The area under the curve of imputed pain intensity scores through 72 hours supported noninferiority of LB plus bupivacaine HCl versus bupivacaine HCl alone (LSM [SE], 147.9 [21.13] vs 178.5 [19.78]; LSM treatment difference, −30.6; 95% CI, −75.9 to 14.7), with a prespecified noninferiority margin of 36 (P = .002). In an analysis of all treated patients, including those not meeting criteria for inclusion in the PCA, there was no difference in postsurgical opioid consumption between groups. In the LB plus bupivacaine HCl group, 63.6% of patients experienced an AE after treatment versus 56.2% in the bupivacaine HCl–alone group. Serious AEs after treatment were rare (≈3% in both groups). CONCLUSIONS: TAP block using LB plus bupivacaine HCl as part of a multimodal analgesia protocol incorporating intrathecal morphine resulted in reduced opioid consumption after cesarean delivery in the PCA set. Results suggest that with correct TAP block placement and adherence to a multimodal postsurgical analgesic regimen, there is an opioid-reducing benefit of adding LB to bupivacaine TAP blocks after cesarean delivery (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03176459).


Three new techniques are proposed for constructing a class of codes that extends the protection provided by previous single error correcting (SEC)-double error detecting (DED)-single byte error detecting (SBD) codes. The proposed codes are systematic odd-weight-column SEC-DED-SBD codes providing also the correction of any odd number of erroneous bits per byte, where a byte represents a cluster of b bits of the codeword that are fed by the same memory chip or card. These codes are useful for practical applications to enhance the reliability and the data integrity of byte-organized computer memory systems against transient, intermittent, and permanent failures. In particular they represent a good tradeoff between the overhead in terms of additional check bits and the reliability improvement, due to the capability to correct at least 50% of the multiple errors per byte. >


Expanding mechanisms of border control increasingly depend on the criminalisation of non-citizens. While some criminology scholarship might suggest such measures announce an increasing governance of migration 'through crime', we argue that it is not simply a case of punitive crime control strategies leaching into migration policies. Not only are foreigners in a far more vulnerable position to the British citizen, but the restrictions they face play important constitutive roles in newly invigorated discourses of citizenship and nationalism. In this article we suggest that criminologists must move on from studies that emphasise control and criminalisation to consider more broadly the implications of basing a politics of national identity that aspires to 'solidarity' and shared values on the forcible exclusion of growing numbers of people.


In this paper we address the synthesis of digital signal processing cores, aiming at FPGAs with heterogeneous resources. A novel synthesis procedure able to distribute the usage of logic-based and embedded resources is presented. A multiple word-length approach is taken since it has proven to provide significant area saving when compared to the traditional uniform word-length approach. We analyze two key factors regarding previous multiple word-length DSP synthesis approaches: (i) the impact of extending the size of the logic-based resource set; and (ii) the impact of combining both logic-based and embedded resources. The proposed synthesis method efficiently combines logic-based and embedded resources achieving area improvements of up to 66% when compared to previous approaches


Emerging applications for the Internet of Things (IoT) are complex programs which are composed of multiple modules (or services). For scalability, reliability and performance, modular applications are distributed on infrastructures that support utility computing (e.g., Cloud, Fog). In order to simply operate such infrastructures, an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) manager is required. OpenStack is the de-facto open-source solution to address the IaaS level of the Cloud paradigm. However, OpenStack is itself a large modular application composed of more than 150 modules that make it hard to deploy manually. To fully understand how IaaSes are deployed today, we propose in this paper an overall model of the application deployment process which describes each step with their interactions. This model then serves as the basis to analyse five different deployment tools used to deploy OpenStack in production: Kolla, Enos, Juju, Kubernetes, and TripleO. Finally, a comparison is provided and the results are discussed to extend this analysis.


Studies about textbooks proposed by authors such as Savignon (1997, 2001); Tomlinson (2003); Núñez, Téllez, Catellanos and Ramos (2009); Ramos and Aguirre (2014), demonstrate that these do not always match the context where English as a Foreign Language (EFL) is being learned. As a consequence, learning English can become arduous and meaningless, i.e., non-natural settings are created to learn the language (Ordóñez, 2011), and textbooks do not prepare learners for real language use (Tomlinson, 2003). In Colombia, English textbooks are included as a means to support language learning under bilingualism policies. However, their authenticity and cultural content are not accurate within the national context. This article presents an overview of the concepts of bilingualism and bilingual education, followed by a discussion concerning the textbooks, as facilitators in


Electric Power System Applications of Optimization J.A. Momoh Marcel Dekker, Inc. 270 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10016 ISBN 0-8247-8195-3 Phone: +1 800 228 1160 Fax: +1 212 685 4540 http://www.dekker.com 478 pp. $175.00 (Hardback), 2001 Numerical optimization of power system planning and operation ensures the best electrical and financial performance is obtained from a bulk power system. Power system optimization not only results in a more efficient and more profitable delivery of electrical power, but also a more reliable and secure system. This text is a current consolidated theoretical reference on the latest methods for power system optimization. The subject matter provides the background, theory, and development of optimization methods and applications, based on simulations, to power systems. The book contains various programming methods for solving power flow problems with various constraints. The methods covered are constrained optimization, linear programming, interior points methods, nonlinear programming, dynamic programming, Lagrangian, decomposition method, and optimal power flow. In addition, power flow, Var planning, and hands-on applications give the reader the necessary tools for power system operations planning. There are models for minimization of fuel costs and active power loss for optimal power flow and other application problems. The well-known GaussSeidel and Newton-Raphson methods are the numerical techniques used to solve the optimization problems presented. This book could meet the needs of researchers, university faculty, students, power engineers, and power system developers who need to optimize or learn about optimization of power system planning and operation.


SIR, -The comments of Drs Colombel, Janin, and Torpier are of interest. We agree that the immune processes which may contribute to the mucosal lesion of coeliac disease may be multifactorial. The eosinophil is a major component of the inflammatory infiltrate in coeliac disease, although this is frequently not emphasised in descriptions of the lesion. We have recently produced additional evidence that eosinophils and polymorphs are present in increased numbers in the coeliac mucosa: using monoclonal antibodies to Fc receptors (for the gamma chain ofIgG) types II and III, which are found on eosinophils and polymorphs, a marked increase in reactive cells was found. The evidence of Dr Colombel and colleagues that many of these eosinophils have degranulated and the associated finding of increased release of granule components points to mechanisms whereby eosinophils might mediate damage. The possibility that IgA, produced in large quantities in the damaged intestine, may be involved in eosinophil degranulation through interaction with IgA Fc receptors should also be considered. The finding that many coeliac patients react rapidly to gluten challenge (both symptomatically and histologically) is in keeping with more immediate mechanisms of damage also participating in the development of the lesion. Eosinophils are good candidates for such a mechanism. CONLETH FEIGHERY DONALD WEIR ALEX WHELAN StJaWles's Hospital, PO Box 580, Dublin 8, Ireland


Similarity and difference between Phyteuma nigrum and P. spicatum in the Netherlands have been investigated from morphological, geographical and ecological viewpoints. Data have been collected in lowland areas only (less than 50 m above sea-level). As to the morphology, 96 basal leaves from 10 populations of P. nigrum and 85 basal leaves from 9 populations of P. spicatum were sampled. (The term 'leaves' in the next sentences refers to these basal leaves only.) On the average, leaves of P. nigrum have a lower breadth/length quotient than those of P. nigrum, but there is a considerable overlap. Also, the leaf base of P. nigrum tends to be slightly less deeply cordate than that of P. spicatum, and truncate leaves were more frequent in the first-named taxon. But the average 'cordateness' ratios only show a small difference and a paramount overlap. Even if both features together are plotted for the investigated populations, 4 P. nigrum and 3 P. spicatum populations appear to be within the overlap range (fig. 2-5). Leaves of P. nigrum are normally crenate, those of P. spicatum are more often serrate than crenate. Incision is most often unequal – neither wholly simple nor distinctly double – in P. nigrum, while in P. spicatum doubly-serrate leaves are most common. However, none of these characteristics allows a sharp delimitation either (table 1). The corolla colour turns out to be the only feature completely distinctive between P. nigrum and P. spicatum. From their geographical distribution it may be concluded that P. nigrum has arrived in the Netherlands later than P. spicatum (but certainly long enough ago to call it a native species). Although reaching here its NW distribution limit, the former is less rare than the latter, which extends further to the N and W. Often P. nigrum is considered a calcifuge mountain plant, but in the NW of its area neither qualification is correct. The few scattered localities of P. spicatum are situated in gaps in the distribution pattern of P. nigrum, with the exception of one station in Drenthe (fig. 6). In the investigated area, both P. nigrum and P. spicatum are most often found in woodland, especially along brooks. Their ecological (dis)similarity has been investigated by means of vegetation analysis. The majority of accompanying species occur together with both P. nigrum and P. spicatum, and none of the differences in presence degree appeared to be significant (table 2). An ordination diagram (fig. 10) revealed one point of difference, however. While P. nigrum is repeatedly met within predominantly grassy vegetation types, only two such stations of P. spicatum exist. It is concluded that of the two taxa, P. nigrum is better adapted to human interference. Where both species occur together, they hybridize readily. In the Netherlands, P. spicatum may have 'eclipsed' after the arrival of P. nigrum, surviving only in some areas where the latter taxon did not penetrate. As to the exceptional locality in Drenthe, where both taxa occur together, it is argued that at the beginning of the 20th century it was a piece of woodland containing only P. spicatum, and that after its conversion into grassland P. nigrum immigrated. In course of time P. spicatum might vanish by introgressive hybridization. Because the corolla colour is the only consistently distinctive feature, it is suggested that the rank of subspecies is more appropriate to P. nigrum and P. spicatum than that of separate species. Therefore, for P. nigrum a new combination is introduced: Phyteuma spicatum L. subsp. nigrum (F.W. Schmidt) Weeda, comb. nov.


This paper proposes the novel control method named Passive Dynamic Autonomous Control (PDAC) PDAC is based on the following concept which Grizzle et al. employed previously : 1) point-contact 2) Virtual constraint. Point-contact means that the contact state between a robot and the ground is point. This makes it possible to generate the robot motion based on the robot inherent dynamics although it becomes difficult to control. Virtual constraint means that all robot joints are connected and interlocked. We present the new approach by means of these concepts to express the whole robot dynamics an an 1-dimensional autonomous system. Due to autonomy, this approach has two following notable points : 1) period from foot-contact to next foot-contact can be obtained 2) there is a conservative quantity to make it possible to stabilize the motion. As the first step of realization of 3 D dynamic walking, this paper applies PDAC to the lateral motion and builds the controller. In addition, the stabilization and motion period control are reported. The validity of these control is confirmed by experiment and desired lateral motion is realized.


By considering actors in a network as parallel distributed processors, a cybernetic and dynamic model for "structure"/"action" contingency relations can be developed. This model will be discussed in relation to four relevant sociological theories: the formal network analysis of action, Giddens' structuration theory, the micro-situational and phenomenological approaches, and Parsonian structural-functionalism. Parallel distributed processing has in common with Luhmann's sociology that the phenomena are analyzed as the result not only of a differentiated system, but also of different systems with specific operations. Although cybernetic control remains, the new model allows, among other things, for degrees of self-organization ("freedom") in each system. Additionally, the model enables us to use existing algorithms of artificial intelligence and the mathematical theory of communication for the analysis of empirical problems.


by Dona Harran. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. 332 pp. $78.00.This volume is a welcome addition to current studies of music and musicians in northern Italy during one of its most impressive periods of accomplishment, experimentation, and influence. Its subject is nothing less than "the first [Jewish musician] to leave an indelible imprint on European music history as a composer," and it is presented by an author of great erudition.Rossi remains, in fact, a ghostly presence. A decided virtue of Harran's study is that it collects and puts in certain perspective what can be discovered about his family and activities in Italian archives. Of his family and early training, little can be recovered, apart from some financial records involving his brother and records concerning his sister, by all accounts a supremely talented singer known as Madama Europa. On the whole, Harran speculates reasonably about various relationships and possibilities. He argues that Rossi entered the service of the Gonzaga court at Mantua sometime in the late 1580s and remained in that family's service until his death (which is uncertain but probably took place around 1630), and demonstrates that many of Rossi's activities can be explained through connections provided by the Gonzaga family. That research reveals that Rossi was a talented singer and virtuoso string player, who directed both vocal and instrumental groups, often being called upon to perform at various court functions.The bulk of the book is devoted to studies of Rossi's vocal and instrumental compositions, ranging from his secular vocal and instrumental compositions for the Mantuan court and for the local Jewish theatre to his remarkable compositions on sacred Hebrew texts for use in local synagogues, published near the end of his life in 1622. All told, Rossi published thirteen collections of music, many of them reprinted so that he could claim twenty-five publications during his lifetime. Harran treats the publications in large blocks by genre and supplies extended analyses of Rossi's musical forms and of the organizational principles of the collections as a whole. Also included is a speculative chapter on Rossi's music for the theater and a very useful chapter devoted to issues of performance.From beginning to end there is much to admire. Harran demonstrates how Rossi eagerly gravitated to "modernist" poets for his texts, frequently being the first to set texts which became the rage. More enduring were Rossi's contributions to instrumental composition, where his works hold a prominent place in the transition of forms and styles from Renaissance to early Baroque style. Rossi was, in fact, a pioneer in the development of the early Baroque trio sonata, and Harran provides a fine portrait of his place in the evolution of that form. For readers of this journal, Rossi's towering achievement will remain his Hebrew settings of the Songs of Solomon, "the first known collection of polyphonic works set to Hebrew texts," a controversial collection attempting to introduce art music into the Hebrew musical tradition. (In addition to other exceptional features, the collection contains a very early example of a "Hebrew wedding cantata.") Harran's analysis of the larger theoretical implications of this work in his final chapter is among the finest contributions of the volume.Yet despite these virtues, I confess to leaving the work with dissatisfaction. Much of that dissatisfaction comes from Harran's handling of the socio-political matrix of musical Mantua. Throughout the study, for instance, Harran draws only fleeting connections between Rossi and his prominent contemporaries, among them Monteverdi, De Wert, Pallavicino, and Gastoldi, all of whom served in the musical establishment at the Gonzaga court. Such an environment is ripe with rich interconnections, yet the vitality of that environment fails to emerge here. Rossi clearly knew Monteverdi's early madrigal collections, several of whose texts he took up on his own in his own initial collection. …


: Thirty mature rabbits were completely deprived of food but water ad libitum for 10 days, then half of the animals were decapitated. The remaining animals were sacrificed 10 days after a sound diet. Histological, histochemical (estimation of glycogen, lipids, acid glycosamineglicans) and electron microscopic investigation of the myocardium was carried out. Degenerative and necrobiotic alterations were not revealed in muscular cells of the heart. At fasting accumulation of lipids and glycogen in the cardiac myocytes was evident. In fasting animals ultrastructure of the muscular cells of the heart demonstrated a certain decrease in synthetic processes. After a 10-day sound diet, the cardiac myocytes were actively involved into the process of intracellular regeneration. Increased lipid content in the rabbit myocardium, occurring at fasting, is connected with the necessity to provide the heart with an effective energy substrate required to preserve its contractile function and in this way adaptive-compensatory processes are demonstrated.


Abstract While lupin has undergone extensive research to ascertain its suitability for growth as forage or grain legume crop, the present trend is for research to be centered on its applicability in the seed protein and oil industry. Study of the literature showed that no intensive study of the lupin insect fauna had been carried out in Bulgaria. The purpose of this study was to identify the insect assemblages associated with Lupinus albus and L. luteus, as well as the insect preference for them. Thrips sampling was made by the tapping-method, aphids were directly counted on the plants and the composition and population density of other species were recorded by sweepings. Insect fauna was studied for the first time in Bulgaria. The fauna was represented on L. albus by 64 species, belonging to eight orders, 28 families and 57 genera, including 23 beetles, 25 hemipteras, five thrips, three butterflies, three bees, one leaf aphid, two grasshoppers, one leafminer and one green lacewing. L. luteus had similar species composition but was less preferred by insects. The use of lupin cultivars with shorter and intense reproductive periods, with a lower content of crude protein and phosphorus, would give an environmentally friendly protection against insect pests, which would be suitable for an organic production system.


With the fast development of mesoporous materials for biomedical applications, many requirements on the morphology and structure of materials have been proposed [1−3]. Scientists need to design and fabricate mesoporous nanomaterials with unique functionalities based on the principles of chemical synthesis. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the performance of mesoporous silicabased material systems is strongly related to the composition, morphology, and structure of fabricated materials [4−7]. Therefore, mesoporous silica with diverse morphologies have been designed and synthesized, such as spherical, rod, fiber, tube, sheet, polyhedral shape, etc. [8]. The regulation of the morphologies of mesoporous silica is important in nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology because mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) with different morphologies show significantly different biological behaviors [9–11]. In addition, the particle sizes of MSNs strongly influence their in vivo bio-distributions and excretions [12, 13]. Among MSNs with abundant morphologies and nanostructures, hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (designated as HMSNs) have attracted tremendous attentions due to their unique hollow and mesoporous nanostructure [14−17]. The large hollow interiors of HMSNs leave more room for the loading of guest molecules compared to traditional MSNs. Thus, HMSNs show the high drug-loading capacity. The well-defined mesopores within the shell provide the diffusion path for guest molecules. In addition, the abundant surface chemistry of HMSNs make the surface engineering/modification possible such as PEGylation or targeting modification. On this ground, it is of high significance to design and fabricate HMSNs based on the principle of organic–inorganic nanosynthetic chemistry. Prof. Shi's group is one of the earliest research teams to prepare MSNs with large hollow interior and ordered mesopores [18, 19]. Their preliminary applications in biomedicine were also conducted. It was found that the large Chapter 2 Synthesis of Hollow Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles by Silica-Etching Chemistry for Biomedical Applications


As neuromodulators, adenosine and its receptors are mediators of sleep-wake regulation. A putative correlation between CREB1 and depression has been predicted in our bioinformatics analyses, and its expression was also predicted to be upregulated in response to sleep deprivation. Therefore, this study aims to elaborate the A1 and A2A adenosine receptors and CREB1-associated mechanism underlying the antidepressant effect of rapid eye movement sleep deprivation (REMSD) in rats with chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)-induced depressive-like behaviors. The modeled rats were injected with adenosine A1 receptor antagonist DPCPX or adenosine A2A receptor antagonist ZM241385 to assess the role of adenosine receptors in depression. In addition, ectopic expression and depletion experiments of CREB1 and YAP1 were also conducted in vivo and in vitro. It was found that REMSD alleviated depressive-like behaviors in CUMS rats, as shown by increased spontaneous activity, sucrose consumption and percentage, and shortened escape latency and immobility duration. Meanwhile, A1 or A2A adenosine receptor antagonists negated the antidepressant effect of REMSD. REMSD enhanced adenosine receptor activation and promoted the phosphorylation of CREB1, thus increasing the expression of CREB1. In addition, the overexpression of CREB1 activated the YAP1/c-Myc axis and consequently alleviated depressive-like behaviors. Collectively, our results provide new mechanistic insights for an understanding of the antidepressant effect of REMSD, which is associated with the activation of adenosine receptors and the CREB1/YAP1/c-Myc axis.


Pressure ulcers are localised areas of soft tissue breakdown that develop over bony prominences as a result of sustained mechanical loading. They are particularly common in bedridden and wheelchair-bound individuals, and represent one of the most common secondary complications in spinal cord injured subjects. A specific form of pressure ulcers is termed deep tissue injury (DTI), which is defined as pressure-related injury to subcutaneous tissues such as skeletal muscle, initially under intact skin. DTI represents a severe problem, because tissue damage at the skin surface only becomes apparent at an advanced stage, and is associated with a variable prognosis. Therefore, early identification and subsequent treatment of DTI are critical to reduce comorbidities and the financial and manpower burdens associated with treatment. This requires a better understanding of its underlying aetiology, in order to develop appropriate risk assessment tools and early detection methods. Therefore, the main goal of the present thesis was to study the aetiology of DTI. In addition, some explorative studies were performed to examine potential methods for the early detection of DTI. The aetiological factors were investigated using a combination of experiments and numerical models. This involved an established rat model for DTI that has previously been used to study the effects of deformation due to 2 h continuous loading. In the present thesis, different loading regimens were applied to further investigate the role of deformation. In addition, a previously developed finite element model to estimate muscle deformations during loading, was substantially improved to enable a local comparison of deformation with damage. Furthermore, the duration of the experiments was extended to 6 h to investigate the effects of ischaemia and reperfusion. It was found that deformation is the primary trigger for muscle damage for loading periods up to 2 h when a specific deformation threshold is exceeded. Ischaemia started to cause changes in muscle tissue between 2-4 h loading. Therefore, the damage development in skeletal muscle during prolonged loading is determined by deformation, ischaemia, and reperfusion, each mechanism exhibiting a unique time profile. The developed methods were also applied to a porcine model for DTI to investigate the deformations of the different soft tissues of the buttocks during loading. In this study, it was shown that the relative mechanical properties of the different tissue layers have a large influence on the distribution of the internal deformations. The release of biochemical damage markers from injured muscle tissue into the circulation was studied to investigate the possibility of using these proteins for the early detection of DTI. Baseline variations of creatine kinase, myoglobin, heart-type fatty acid binding protein, and C-reactive protein were assessed in able-bodied and spinal cord injured human volunteers. These variations were small compared to the predicted increase in biomarker concentrations during DTI development, indicating that this combination of markers may prove appropriate for the early detection of DTI. Moreover, a considerable increase in myoglobin concentrations in blood and urine was observed in a rat model for DTI after 6 h mechanical loading. The present findings have implications for clinical practice. In particular, it is important to minimise the internal tissue deformations in subjects at risk of DTI, such as present in subjects with spinal cord injury and those positioned on hard surfaces, such as stretchers or operating tables, for prolonged periods. Furthermore, the period of loading should be limited to prevent the accumulation of ischaemic damage. The observation of increased myoglobin levels in blood and urine after mechanical loading demonstrates the potential of using biochemical markers of muscle damage for the early detection of DTI. Moreover, the increase of myoglobin levels in urine suggests that a noninvasive approach for this screening method may be satisfactory.


It has become all too common in discussing Rorty's work, to distinguish the reasonable and constructive Rorty from the outrageous, destructive and irresponsible enfant terrible of twentieth century American philosophy. According to this familiar reading, one can unproblematically distinguish those rhetoric flourishes that have enraged so many of his philosophical colleagues from the substantive, and one might even say constructive, insights that are hidden in his work. However, as I will argue in this paper, this distillation process is not only hermeneutically suspicious, but actually hinders our ability to make sense of what Rorty was trying to say. Rorty's call was to "break the crust of convention"; not for destruction's sake but to (1) warn us against the dangers of all forms of fundamentalism and dogmatism and more importantly, (2) open up the possibilities (social, political, cultural, etc.) of a post-foundationalist, post-representationalist culture where solidarity and imagination at the service of human dignity replace the old obsession with objectivity and the quest for certainty.


The objective of this study is to investigate the preliminary feasibility on the utilization of shaped-stabled phase change materials (SSPCM) in asphalt concrete to control pavement high-temperature. A comparative study has been conducted on the properties of asphalt with and without SSPCM. The properties investigated include basic and rheological performance along with temperature-controlling effect of asphalt mortars. The results show that there exist stiffening and "temperature lag" effect for asphalt mortar containing SSPCM, which indicates that it may be promising to use SSPCM to reduce high-temperature of asphalt pavement.


Preservation of the middle nasal vault has increasingly become a topic of interest and concern in rhinoplasty. Modification of the nasal dorsum with traditional techniques may create unfavorable cosmetic results and adverse functional sequelae due to collapse of the middle nasal vault. Nasal dorsal reduction invariably involves separating the upper lateral cartilage (ULC) attachments from the dorsal septum. A number of procedures are used to reestablish the width of the middle nasal vault and competence of the internal nasal valve. Spreader grafts are the most frequently used technique. Although these grafts reliably preserve the middle vault, dorsal irregularities may result. Alternative techniques, such as suture suspension of the ULCs to dorsal onlay grafts or direct suturing of the ULCs to the septum, may pose similar problems. We have found that a modification of the Skoog technique for dorsal hump reduction preserves both a favorable aesthetic contour of the middle nasal vault and proper function of the internal valve. This procedure involves removal of the osseocartilaginous dorsum en bloc. The nasal dorsum is further reduced; the removed portion of nasal dorsum is sculpted and then replaced anatomically. Once a favorable position is found for the native dorsal graft, the upper lateral cartilages are resuspended to the graft with suture fixation. The dorsal segment thus acts as a dorsal onlay spreader graft, reestablishing a natural dorsal contour and preserving the middle nasal vault. We can avoid osteotomies in patients with an appropriate preoperative width of their bony base while correcting the open roof with the replaced dorsal segment.


Due to the increase in urban and agricultural activities in arid regions, the exploration of new locations of possible groundwater discharge and accumulation is required to augment the limited water resources. In order to locate such discharge areas, it is necessary first to identify zones of high recharge potentials. In such an arid region, like the northern United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the ways to predict areas of potential groundwater recharge is by understanding the hydrological response of its drainage basins to rainfall events. Due to the scarcity of basic hydrological data, a hydrological model driven mainly by information on the physiographic characteristics, drainage network properties (generated from DEM), and surface cover distribution (generated from satellite images) was used to comprehend the dynamics of surface runoff through hydrographs, and hence water loss in the study area. Results show that the northern UAE is drained by 48 drainage basins emerging from the Oman Mountains. Two‐thirds of these basins drain easterly toward the Gulf of Oman, and one‐third drain westerly toward the Arabian Gulf. These basins are found to be structurally controlled by three major fault trends, which are the NE trend (Dibba zone), NW trend (Ham Zone), and WNW trend (Hatta zone). The hydrological response of a basin is correlated with its morphological characteristics. Based on these characteristics, and through the application of a cluster analysis, it was feasible to classify the largest basins in the region into four groundwater potentiality groups in accordance with the magnitude of their peak discharges. From this study, it became evident that the downstream area of the two major basins of Ar‐Rafiah and Limhah, and their vicinities are the most probable sites for groundwater accumulation. The drainage systems of these two basins, especially those controlled by major fault lines, play a vital role in transmitting surface–subsurface rainwater from the Oman Mountains, the recharge zone, into the western desert plain, the discharge zone, where freshwater accumulates underground. The study also revealed that a large volume of groundwater is dissipated into the sea along the eastern coast. A detailed examination of MODIS thermal data supports this by revealing cool surface anomalies issuing from the mountain range toward both the western desert plain and the Gulf of Oman following major rainfall events. Thus, the technique used facilitates the prediction of new locations of optimum groundwater resources in the northern UAE. Such a technique could be adopted, with appropriate modifications, elsewhere in arid regions, where groundwater is restricted and subject to greater complexity.


Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of death worldwide (1). The liver is the most common site for distant metastases, and approximately 50% of patients diagnosed with CRC develop hepatic metastases during the course of their disease (2). Improvements in surgical techniques, anesthesia and multimodal treatment regimens (e.g., neoadjuvant chemotherapy and portal vein embolization) have expanded the indications for liver resection (3). Hepatic resection is nowadays offered to patients previously deemed unresectable, such as those with multiple or bilobar metastases, extrahepatic disease and recurrent tumors.


The early identification of the subtle signs of increased bioburden in a wound enables timely and appropriate treatment and therefore improved patient outcomes. The rising costs of antimicrobial dressings and the growth in antibiotic-resistant organisms increase the need for correct diagnosis. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics is a significant contributory factor in bacterial resistance. This article describes a new tool devised by a professional working group of tissue viability nurse specialists which is designed to help healthcare professionals to identify and manage bacterial burden in wounds. It is hoped that this will assist prompt diagnosis and help to reduce patient morbidity with appropriate and timely interventions.


Digital fault recorders installed for monitoring current and/or voltage waveforms acquire and store vast amount of waveform data for post processing. Because of this, effective offline automated event detection from acquired data is necessary. In this work, we propose a new automatic event detection method which takes the acquired data and produces event flags at instances of events. The method is based on the statistical analysis of adaptive decomposition signals. The combination of an adaptive prediction filter-based subband decomposition structure with a rule-based histogram analysis block produced successful detection and localization results on our real-life power system transient data.


The increasing available parallelism of computers demands new programming languages that make parallel programming dramatically easier and less error prone. It is proposed that datalog with negation and timestamps is a suitable basis for a general purpose programming language for sequential, parallel and distributed computers. This paper develops a fully incremental bottom-up interpreter for datalog that supports a wide range of execution strategies, with trade-offs affecting efficiency, parallelism and control of resource usage. Examples show how the language can accept real-time external inputs and outputs, and mimic assignment, all without departing from its pure logical semantics.


Terbium doped tantalum oxide (Tb-Ta2O5) particles were synthesized with a low hydrothermal method. The phase structure of Tb-Ta2O5 obtained was performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The result revealed that the terbium doped Ta2O5 belongs to orthorhombic crystal. The electrochemical property of methylene blue (MB) at Tb-Ta2O5 film electrode in 0.5 mol dm-3 KCl aqueous solution was investigated with cyclic voltgrammetry (CV). The CV result indicated that the electrochemical kinetics of MB was diffusion controlling at Tb-Ta2O5 film electrode. Tb dopping imporved the electrochemical property of Ta2O5 film electrode. Tb-Ta2O5 is used as a kind of electrode material which has some new potential applications.


The thesis describes research related to the combined blast and fragment loading on steel plates. Preliminary experimental work with cased high-explosive charges against steel plates revealed several research topics that must be investigated in order to understand this very complex problem. Two of them are singled out and investigated in idealized form both experimentally and numerically in the present work.The thesis is organized in a synopsis, giving an introduction to the problem and a quick summary of the preliminary experimental work. Following this, the synopsis then presents the objectives and scope, a summary of the work, and ending with some conclusions and suggestions for further work. Finally, the four parts of the thesis are given.The first research topic is presented in Part I, and concerns the influence of fragments on the blast load transferred to a slender plate. To simplify the approach, it was assumed that the fragments strike and perforate the flexible target before the pressure load arrives. These perforations are idealized as pre-formed holes of generalized shapes in thin, ductile Docol 600DL steel plates, which are then subjected to controlled pressure pulses in the laboratory. After the tests, the deflections caused by the pressure pulses were measured. Then several sets of non-linear finite element simulations of the pressure loading process were conducted. Lagrangian simulations failed to give an accurate description of the deflection around the pre-formed holes. Fully coupled FSI simulations demonstrated significant spatial variation of the pressure load.The second research topic is presented in Parts II, III and IV. Here fragmentation was investigated with impacting projectiles. A gas gun was used to fire the projectiles into a rigid wall at impact velocities ranging from 100 to 350 m/s, and the deformation and fracture processes were captured by a high-speed video camera. The projectiles were made of tool steel with three different hardness values. Several different deformation and fracture modes were registered for each hardness value. The accompanying material investigation showed that the materials used in the impact tests were heterogeneous on scales ranging from microstructure as investigated with Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) to variation in fracture strains from tensile tests. Based on simulations with discrete variations in material behaviour, a heterogeneous material model is proposed for simulations of fracture modes in steel projectiles during impact, calibrated with the tensile tests, and then used to independently simulate the Taylor bar impact tests. The proposed model is then shown to be capable of correctly reproducing all fracture modes but one, and also predict critical impact velocities for projectile fracture with reasonable accuracy.


Most Western governments consider it their responsibility to counteract ethnic prejudice and discrimination, and they sometimes instigate persuasive communication programmes to achieve this aim. Generally, these campaigns do not have the desired effects possibly because designers of such persuasive communication programs have ignored relevant social-psychological theoretical insights concerning prejudice. In this experiment, a present campaign (launched by the British Commission for Racial Equality) and a new campaign (developed by us) were evaluated. We hypothesized that our campaign would lead to lower levels of prejudice than the present campaign, because when designing our campaign relevant theoretical insights were more sufficiently taken into account. White participants (n=190) were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions or to the control condition. Those in the experimental conditions were exposed to either the present campaign or the new campaign before completing a questionnaire about ethnic minorities. Participants in the control condition were not exposed to a campaign. Results supported the hypothesis and some implications for designing campaigns are discussed.


The modeling approach is not used to its full potential in maintenance of legacy systems. Often, models do not even exist. The main reasons being that the economic implications and practical hurdles in manually maintaining models of in-use legacy systems are considered too high by the industry. In this paper, we present a method for automated validation of models automatically generated from recordings of executing real-time embedded systems. This forms an essential constituent of a unified process for the automatic modeling of legacy software. We also present a study in which we automatically model a state-of-practice industrial robot control system, the results of which are clearly positive indicators of the viability of our approach


In recent years, rapid technological developments in the field of neuroimaging have provided several new methods for revealing thoughts, actions and intentions based solely on the pattern of activity that is observed in the brain. In specialized centres, these methods are now being employed routinely to assess residual cognition, detect consciousness and even communicate with some behaviorally non-responsive patients who clinically appear to be comatose or in a vegetative state. In this article, we consider some of the ethical issues raised by these developments and the profound implications they have for clinical care, diagnosis, prognosis and medical-legal decision-making after severe brain injury.


Recent brain imaging studies have revealed that increased neural activity along the ventral visual stream and parietal and frontal areas is associated with visual awareness. In order to study the time-course and temporal aspects of awareness, we examined electrophysiological correlates of conscious vision in two masking experiments. The differences in event-related potentials (ERPs) between unmasked (consciously recognized) and masked (unrecognized) stimuli were considered to be electrophysiological correlates of awareness. Two attentional conditions (global, local) were included to examine the relationship between the scope of attention and awareness. Two ERP-deflections were found to correlate with awareness. First, awareness was associated with a posterior negative amplitude shift 130-320 ms after the stimulus. This effect was present in both attention conditions, suggesting that it emerges independent of the scope of attention. Second, ERPs to unmasked stimuli became more positive as compared with masked stimuli around 400 ms, peaking at parietal sites. This effect was attenuated in the local attention condition, although the participants were aware of the stimuli, suggesting that the late positivity does not directly correlate with visual awareness. The results imply that the earlier negativity is the earliest and most direct correlate of visual awareness.


The first aim of this study was to test the self-consistency model (SCM) of subjective confidence as it applies to personal preferences. According to SCM, participants presented with a two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) item draw a small sample of representations of the item. Their confidence reflects the extent to which the choice is representative of the population of representations associated with the item, and the likelihood of making that choice on subsequent occasions. The second aim was to use confidence judgment as a clue to the dynamics of online preference construction. Participants were presented with 2AFC items measuring everyday personal preferences. The task was presented five times. In line with SCM, (i) when participants changed their preferences across presentations, they were systematically more confident when they made their more frequent choice; (ii) confidence in a choice in the item's first presentation predicted the likelihood of repeating that choice in subsequent presentations; (iii) despite the idiosyncratic nature of personal preferences, confidence was higher for consensual than for nonconsensual preferences; (iv) when participants predicted the preferences of others, they were also more confident when their predictions agreed with those of others; and (v) the confidence/accuracy correlation for predictions was positive for consensually correct but negative for consensually wrong predictions. These results suggest that confidence in preferences can help separate between the stable and variable contributions to preference construction in terms of the population of representations available in memory and the representations that are accessible at the time of preference solicitation, respectively. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


We studied the pH dependence of the proton-induced current fluctuations that appear in single open L-type Ca channels when monovalent ions are the charge carriers. We used different methods of analysis to obtain kinetic measurements even under conditions where the individual transitions were too fast to be resolved directly as discrete current steps between two conductance levels. The reciprocal of the dwell times at the high conductance level increased linearly with the pipette proton activity, with a slope that was similar for Cs, K, and Na as permeant ions. Contrary to the expectation for a simple model in which the high and low conductances represent the unprotonated and protonated states of the channel, respectively, the dwell times at the low conductance level were also pH dependent and lengthened with increasing proton activity. At all pH values the dwell times at the low conductance level were longest with Cs as permeant ion and shortened in the order Cs greater than K greater than Na. We introduce a more general model of the protonation cycle in which the channel is represented by four states and can be protonated and deprotonated both at the high and low conductance levels. The conductance change is represented by a conformational change of the channel protein. We discuss the validity of this model and its implications for the mechanism by which protons interact with ion permeation through L-type Ca channels.


Abstract Coherent perfect absorption (CPA) describes the absence of all outgoing modes from a lossy resonator, driven by lossless incoming modes. Here, we show that for nanoresonators that also exhibit radiative losses, e.g., plasmonic nanoantennas, a generalized version of CPA (gCPA) can be applied. In gCPA outgoing modes are suppressed only for a subset of (guided plasmonic) modes while other (radiative) modes are treated as additional loss channels - a situation typically referred to as perfect impedance matching. Here we make use of gCPA to show how to achieve perfect impedance matching between a single nanowire plasmonic waveguide and a plasmonic nanoantenna. Antennas with both radiant and subradiant characteristics are considered. We further demonstrate potential applications in background-free sensing.


Protected areas (PAs) with natural, ecological, and cultural value play important roles related to biological processes, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Over the past four decades, the spatial range and intensity of light pollution in China has experienced an unprecedented increase. Few studies have been documented on the light pollution across PAs in China, especially in regions that provide a greater amount of important biodiversity conservation. Here, nighttime light satellite images from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Linescan System (DMSP-OLS) were selected to characterize light pollution trends across PAs using nighttime light indexes and hot spot analysis, and then the light pollution changes in PAs were classified. Furthermore, the causes of light pollution changes in PAs were determined using high-resolution satellite images and statistical data. The results showed the following: (1) Approximately 57.30% of PAs had an increasing trend from 1992 to 2012, and these PAs were mainly located in the eastern region, the central region, and a small part of the western region of China. Hot spot analysis showed that the patterns of change for the total night light and night light mean had spatial agglomeration characteristics; (2) The PAs affected by light pollution changes were divided into eight classes, of which PAs with stable trends accounted for 41%, and PAs with high increasing trends accounted for 10%. PAs that had high increasing trends with low density accounted for the smallest amount, i.e., only 1%; (3) The factors influencing light pollution changes in PAs included the distance to urban areas, mineral exploitation, and tourism development and the migration of residents. Finally, based on the status of light pollution encroachment into PAs, strategies to control light pollution and enhance the sustainable development of PAs are recommended.


Background: Countless studies have found a substantial seasonal variation in cardiovascular disease events, but information about the seasonal variation in implantations of cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) is rare.
Objective: We assessed whether there were seasonal variations in CIED implantations.
Methods: In this serial cross-sectional study using Japan's National Health Insurance Data, we identified new implants of cardiac pacemakers (PMs, n=402,676) between 2006 and 2016, including implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs, n=29,330) and cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillators (CRT-Ds, n=17,907) between 2009 and 2016. We examined the seasonality in the number of implantations, and whether they depended on the geographical regions (north, central, and south) or number of procedures by prefecture (above and below the mean). A seasonaltrend decomposition procedure based on a locally weighted regression was used to assess the seasonal, monthly or quarterly variations. In addition, the seasonal sinusoidal oscillation in the detrended variations was evaluated using a least-squares cosine-curve fitting algorithm.Results: There were significant seasonal variations in PM implantations with a peak in July and trough in January (p<0.001). CRT-D implantations also had seasonal variations with a peak in June and troughs in January and September (p<0.001). There was no statistically significant seasonal variation only for ICD implantations. The monthly variations in the three types of CIEDs were not influenced by the geographic region or prefectural procedure volume.
Conclusion: There were significant seasonal variations in PM and CRT-D implantations with a peak occurring in the summer and trough in the winter, but not for ICDs.