OBJECTIVE
We sought to determine whether autoimmunity is the predominant cause of Addison's disease in South Africa and whether human leucocyte antigen (HLA) DQ association exists.

DESIGN
We compiled a national registry of patients from primary care, referral centres and private practices.

PATIENTS
A total of 144 patients, 94 of European descent, 34 Mixed Ancestry, 5 Asian and 11 Black Africans (mean age 45.9 years, range 2.7-88 years; mean duration of disease 13.1 years, range 0-50 years) and controls were matched for gender and ethnicity. All potential causes were investigated.

RESULTS
Fifty one per cent of cases (74 patients) were autoimmune in aetiology. Either 21-hydroxylase autoantibodies (72 patients, 50% of entire patient group) or adrenocortical autoantibodies (35 patients, 24%) were present, while 23% of patients had both. None of the Asian (n = 5) or Black (n = 11) patients had evidence of autoimmune disease. Overall 8% of patients had tuberculosis, 4% adrenoleucodystrophy, 1% adrenocorticotrophic hormone resistance syndrome and 6% X-linked adrenal hypoplasia. In those with autoimmune disease primary hypothyroidism (47%), premature ovarian failure (8%) and type 1 diabetes (7%) were the most prevalent accompanying autoimmune conditions. HLA DQB1*0201 alleles predominated in the autoimmune group (DQB1*0201: 65%vs 43% of controls P = 0.017) with the *0201/*0302 heterozygous genotype being the most prevalent (28%vs 8%P = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS
While autoimmunity accounts for at least half of patients with Addison's disease in South Africa and is associated with HLA DQB1*0201, none of the Black Africans or Asians in this cohort had adrenal autoantibodies. Moreover, 21-hydroxylase autoantibodies were detectable in a higher proportion than adrenocortical autoantibodies, especially in those patients with a long history after disease onset.


Background: The development of didactic means to create opportunities to permit complete and repetitive viewing of surgical procedures is of great importance nowadays due to the increasing difficulty of doing in vivo training. Thus, audiovisual resources favor the maximization of living resources used in education, and minimize problems arising only with verbalism. Aim: To evaluate the use of digital video as a pedagogical strategy in surgical technique teaching in medical education. Methods: Cross-sectional study with 48 students of the third year of medicine, when studying in the surgical technique discipline. They were divided into two groups with 12 in pairs, both subject to the conventional method of teaching, and one of them also exposed to alternative method (video) showing the technical details. All students did phlebotomy in the experimental laboratory, with evaluation and assistance of the teacher/monitor while running. Finally, they answered a self-administered questionnaire related to teaching method when performing the operation. Results: Most of those who did not watch the video took longer time to execute the procedure, did more questions and needed more faculty assistance. The total exposed to video followed the chronology of implementation and approved the new method; 95.83% felt able to repeat the procedure by themselves, and 62.5% of those students that only had the conventional method reported having regular capacity of technique assimilation. In both groups mentioned having regular difficulty, but those who have not seen the video had more difficulty in performing the technique. Conclusion: The traditional method of teaching associated with the video favored the ability to understand and transmitted safety, particularly because it is activity that requires technical skill. The technique with video visualization motivated and arouse interest, facilitated the understanding and memorization of the steps for procedure implementation, benefiting the students performance.


In this paper, we present a case study of formal verification of analog and mixed signal designs using SPICE circuit simulation traces. We consider verifying safety properties of Full Wave Rectifier (FWR) using SPICE circuit simulation traces. We follow the formal verification approach of [1] where authors have used the SPICE circuit simulation traces for doing the formal analysis of the Analog and Mixed Signal circuits. We have used the Checkmate tool from CMU [2], which is a public domain formal verification tool for hybrid systems. Checkmate is built on the top of the Simulink/Stateflow Framework (SSF) from MATLAB from Math Works. Due to restriction imposed by Checkmate it necessitates to make the changes in the Checkmate implementation to implement the complex and non-linear systems. FWR has been implemented by using Checkmate custom blocks and Simulink blocks from MATLAB. The FWR model has been implemented in LTSPICE. The formal verification has been done for both the implementation i.e. Simulink implementation as well as LTSPICE implementation. We are able to efficiently verify the safety properties of the full wave rectifier using simulation traces from Simulink model and LTSPICE simulation.


The paper presents a review of the Wigner distribution function (WDF) and of some of its applications to optical problems. The WDF describes a signal in space and spatial frequency simultaneously, and can be considered as the local spatialfrequency spectrum of the signal. Although derived in terms of Fourier optics, the description of a signal by means of its WDF closely resembles the ray concept in geometrical optics. The concept of the WDF is not restricted to deterministic signals; it can be applied to stochastic signals as well, thus presenting a link between partial coherence and radiometry. Properties of the WDF and its propagation through linear systems are considered; again, the description of systems by WDFs can be interpreted directly in geometric -optical terms. Three main categories of optical problems are considered, in which the concept of the WDF can be applied usefully. First, the application to geometricoptical systems, i.e., systems where a single ray remains a single ray. Second, the application to problems in which the signal appears quadratically, like in the case of partial coherence. Third, the application to problems where properties of the signal are discussed in space and spatial frequency simultaneously; the uncertainty principle in Fourier optics might be an example. The WDF approach is extremely useful when two or more categories are combined: for instance, the propagation of partially coherent light through geometricoptical systems, or the formulation of uncertainty relations for partially coherent light.


ABSTRACT This paper examines the role that gift giving plays in supplier–buyer relations, specifically, the role of gift giving and the creation of inter-organisational trust. Repeated inter-organisational exchanges in a mature industrial district are analysed using Mauss' theoretical framework of gift giving, receiving and counter giving. Actors in embedded network relationships frequently exchange gifts and favours as part of commercial exchanges. This gift giving is a fundamental part of the exchange relationship. Gift giving is found to be instrumental in creating and maintaining relationships, defining group and individual identity and resolving conflicts, thus contributing to the creation of trust between partners. Mauss' theory of gift giving elaborates how this practise creates the conditions for reciprocity and induces trust. The originality of our findings lies in the fact that despite the dominant ideology of the purely altruistic gift, field research demonstrates that gifts do play a role in modern economic exchanges and that this ancient deeply rooted social custom should not be simply relegated to families, close friends and Christmas, but contributes to explaining the first step of trust and trust creation in repeated exchanges.


By Noelle Brown, Communication Sciences and Disorders; Monica Winkler, Communication Sciences and Disorders
 Advisor: Rochel Lieberman
 Presentation ID: PM_C04
 Abstract: Children's understanding of emotions begins to develop during preschool (Pavarini, 2012). Preschool children can describe a relationship between a felt emotion and an event (Pavarini, 2012). and learn to identify causal relationships involving characters' goals, emotions, and desires (Filiatrault-Veilleux, 2016). The purpose of this study was to investigate differences between gender in the solutions provided to problem solving after retelling a story containing positive emotions and after retelling a story containing negative emotions. Participants were 22 preschool children between the ages of 4:1 to 5:3. There were 13 girls and 9 boys from preschools in Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York.. The children were told a total of four different stories that were enacted on a video with child actors. Two were narrated by the researcher and two were narrated by a novel voice delivered via headphones. Each story had a positive or negative outcome. The problem-solving questions were "What should he or she do?" and "What else?". The children's responses were measured by a rubric that quantified the relevance and linguistic expansion of the o child's solution by examining if it included character action and verbal responses. Data analysis focused on the total number of rubric points for males and female. Results of this study provide insight to possible differences across gender in the development of problem solving in stories with positive and negative emotions. These differences could support clinicians in talking to preschool boys and girls about problem solving stories containing these emotions.


This paper examines the evidence used to support the claims made in the Child Support chapter of the 2003 Inquiry into Child Custody report. Of the 220 references cited in the chapter, 110 refer to individual witnesses or representatives from gendered advocacy groups. We examine these 110 references to community hearing testimony and written submissions, paying particular attention to the gender of the informant and whose interests they served. Confirming the work of feminist legal and policy scholars, we found that most references were made to men or served the interest of payers (who are mostly men). Further, of the 31 references to statements made by women, the majority of these served the interests of payers. Thus, what was presented as legitimate evidence was gendered. We conclude that the voices and interests of women were marginalized in this part of the reform process.


Relative to the magnitude of the epidemic, government funds available for HIV prevention are scarce. To optimize use of funds, we applied a mathematical model of the cost of HIV prevention interventions using national data on HIV risk-group size and HIV prevalence. This procedure suggested an allocation of funds across nine interventions to potentially prevent an estimated 20,000 infections annually, compared with the estimated 7,300 infections potentially prevented through four interventions now recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The optimal allocation will involve a combination of intensive interventions for high-prevalence populations and inexpensive large-scale interventions for lower-prevalence populations.


The urban area is characterized by different urban ecosystems that interact with different institutional levels, including different stakeholders and decision-makers, such as public administrations and governments. This can create many institutional conflicts in planning and designing the urban space. It would arguably be ideal for an urban area to be planned like a socio-ecological system where the urban ecosystem and institutional levels interact with each other in a multi-scale analysis. This work embraces a planning process that aims at being applied to a multi-institutional level approach that is able to match different visions and stakeholders' needs, combining bottom-up and top-down participation approaches. At the urban scale, the use of this approach is sometimes criticized because it appears to increase conflicts between the different stakeholders. Starting from a case study in the Municipality of Lecce, South Italy, we apply a top-down and bottom-up participation approach to overcome conflicts at the institutional levels in the use of the urban space in the Plan of the Urban University Center. The bottom-up participation action analyzes the vision of people that frequent the urban context. After that, we share this vision in direct comparison with decision-makers to develop the planning and design solutions. The final result is a draft of the hypothetical Plan of the Urban University Center. In this way, the bottom-up and top-down approaches are useful to match the need of the community that uses the area with the vision of urban space development of decision-makers, reducing the conflicts that can arise between different institutional levels. In this study, it also emerges that the urban question is not green areas vs. new buildings, but it is important to focus on the social use of the space to develop human well-being. With the right transition of information and knowledge between different institutional levels, the bottom-up and top-down approaches help develop an operative effective transdisciplinary urban plan and design. Therefore, public participation with bottom-up and top-down approaches is not a tool to obtain maximum consensus, but mainly a moment of confrontation to better address social issues in urban planning and design.


A novel enzyme-free photoelectrochemical (PEC) immunoassay was developed for the ultrasensitive detection of prostate specific antigen (PSA) based on the DNA-mediated nanoscale zirconium-porphyrin MOFs (NMOFs). By virtue of the intrinsic coordination between unsaturated zirconium sites of the NMOFs frameworks and phosphonate groups, the 5'-phosphorylared ss-DNA-tagged antibody (Ab-DNA) conjugate with a consecutive stretch of guanines as a spacer could be loaded on the NMOFs easily, obtaining a novel type of Ab-DNA-functionalized NMOFs complex. Additionally, as a photocathode PEC active nanomaterial, NMOFs exhibited a significant enhanced photocurrent response with the presence of dopamine under oxygen-containing aqueous media at -0.3 V (vs Ag/AgCl). Furthermore, with the aid of the electrochemical grafting of polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers functionalized interface, the novel type of Ab-DNA-NMOFs further served as a PEC signal nanoprobe for the ultrasensitive PSA immunoassay. Under optimal conditions, the corresponding immunosensor possessed a wide calibration range of 1 pg mL-1 to 10 ng mL-1 and a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.2 pg mL-1. This present work demonstrated the promising application of DNA-mediated NMOFs in developing highly sensitive, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective PEC biosensors.


Working on quantum systems entail different interests, for example, working on fundamental understanding of quantum systems also lay foundation for better quantum computation techniques. A test for whether a system is behaving quantum mechanically or classically is devised by Leggett and Garg in form of inequalities, called Leggett-Garg Inequalities (LGI). Such Inequalities are violated by a system whose evolution is governed by quantum mechanics. A precise experiment to violate LGIs require a guarantee that the measurement does not affect the system or its future dynamics. These Inequalities were proposed for dichotomic systems,systems which can have two outcomes. Here we present an LG experiment on a three-level quantum system, which theoretically have larger quantum upper bound than that of a two-level quantum system. This larger violation also provides a bigger buffer to taking in account of the various experimental imperfections. Performing a quantum computing task requires precise level of control to initialize, perform and measure the quantum system. With increasing size of the quantum processor the challenge is to maintain optimal control. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) has always been a very faithful test-bed for quantum processing ideas. In NMR, we perform Radio Frequency (RF) pulses to control and steer the system to the desired state. Most used method to derive the exact frequency and amplitude of these pulses for a given task is based on gradient. Although systematic, one have to simulate these pulses on a classical computer first, which makes the task very inefficient. We report a a way of performing optimization with a hybrid quantum-classical scheme. This scheme helps us perform classically harder computational tasks on the quantum processor. We optimize pulses which drive our system from 7-coherence state to 12-coherence state on a 12-qubit NMR processor. Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) employs the same techniques as of NMR but having advantage in larger polarization compared to later. Although this does not imply better control, cause the frequency at which pulses are required to control an ESR system fall into microwave region. Microwave frequency are harder to control electronically, thus making it harder for performing ESR quantum computing. The hybrid scheme used in NMR experiment relies on some ideal pulses which are needed to be optimized classically. We alleviate this requirement by using finite difference method of calculating gradient. We compare these methods with the earlier methods to show the superiority of such a scheme. State-to-state transfer pulses are sufficient for most of the quantum computing task, but, an universal quantum information implementation requires state independent pulses. The techniques used in optimizing state-to-state pulses can be modified to optimize for a


Abstract. Most northern peatlands developed during the Holocene, sequestering large amounts of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems. However, recent syntheses have highlighted the gaps in our understanding of peatland carbon accumulation. Assessments of the long-term carbon accumulation rate and possible warming-driven changes in these accumulation rates can therefore benefit from process-based modelling studies. We employed an individual-based dynamic global ecosystem model with dynamic peatland and permafrost functionalities and patch-based vegetation dynamics to quantify long-term carbon accumulation rates and to assess the effects of historical and projected climate change on peatland carbon balances across the pan-Arctic region. Our results are broadly consistent with published regional and global carbon accumulation estimates. A majority of modelled peatland sites in Scandinavia, Europe, Russia and central and eastern Canada change from carbon sinks through the Holocene to potential carbon sources in the coming century. In contrast, the carbon sink capacity of modelled sites in Siberia, far eastern Russia, Alaska and western and northern Canada was predicted to increase in the coming century. The greatest changes were evident in eastern Siberia, north-western Canada and in Alaska, where peat production hampered by permafrost and low productivity due the cold climate in these regions in the past was simulated to increase greatly due to warming, a wetter climate and higher CO2 levels by the year 2100. In contrast, our model predicts that sites that are expected to experience reduced precipitation rates and are currently permafrost free will lose more carbon in the future.


It is well known that humidity influences cooling load, thermal comfort and durability of buildings and various items in them. Many works on prediction of humidity variation in a room have regarded the humidity as unique in a space. However, it does depend on air movement. This paper describes calculations of minute moisture distributions in a room affected by moisture buffering of porous walls. The air velocity distribution is calculated by CFD using two different turbulence models. Then the heat and vapor transient transport in walls and space is calculated. This shows that moisture distribution is not negligible. The difference between the two turbulence models is also determined.


Gottinger Schriften zur Englischen Philologie Band 5 Since its beginnings, science fiction has served as an intellectual playground where pressing issues such as scientific and technological progress, population growth, nuclear power, environmental protection, or genetic engineering have been projected onto different times and spaces in order to warn about inherent dangers, offer solutions, or to simply speculate about and experiment with the future. In the summer term of 2009, students from the University of Gottingen and the University of Siegen participated in two parallel courses entitled "Of Body Snatchers and Cyberpunks: American Science Fiction Film from the 1950s to the Present" and met for an undergraduate conference in Gottingen where they presented and discussed their research on American science fiction film together with Eric S. Rabkin, professor at the University of Michigan (USA) and an international expert in the field. The result of this project is the present volume of twelve student essays that were first presented at the conference, and then selected and revised for publication. Considering science fiction film as an essential element of American popular culture, the essays analyze and discuss the films Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Siegel, 1956), 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968), Soylent Green (Fleischer, 1973), The Matrix (Wachowski, 1999), and Minority Report (Spielberg, 2002) against the background of social, political, cultural, and/or ecological developments in their contemporary U.S. societies. The introductory essay outlines the theoretical, methodological, and didactic considerations that informed the planning and teaching processes of the course format and the conference. The collection also features an autobiographical essay by Eric S. Rabkin in which he reflects on his personal experiences and lifelong fascination with science fiction films.


Major depressive disorder is frequently associated with disrupted relationships with spouses, partners, family and peers. These problems can precipitate the onset of clinical illness, influence severity and the prospects for treatment and recovery. Here, we investigated whether individuals who have recovered from depression use interpersonal signals to form favourable appraisals of others as social partners. Twenty recovered-depressed adults (with at least two adult episodes of major depressive disorder but euthymic and medication-free for six months) and twenty three healthy, never-depressed adults completed a reaction time task in which the gaze direction of some faces reliably cued the location a target (valid faces), whereas the gaze direction of other faces cued the opposite spatial location (invalid faces). None of the participants were aware of this contingency. Following this task, participants judged the trustworthiness of the faces. Both the recovered-depressed and healthy neverdepressed participants were significantly faster to categorise targets following valid compared with invalid gaze cueing faces. Whereas the healthy never-depressed participants judged the valid faces to be significantly more trustworthy than the invalid faces; this implicit social appraisal was absent in the recovered-depressed participants. Individuals who have recovered from major depressive disorder are able to respond appropriately to joint attention with other people but appear to not use joint attention to form implicit trust appraisals of others as potential social partners.


This study was concerned with the effects of several combinations of positive and negative treatment and maintenance procedures on the smoking level of subjects. Forty-seven subjects were assigned randomly to either a positive treatment, aversive treatment or no treatment control group. Subjects in the positive treatment group met four times during a two-week period. Each session lasted approximately 50 minutes. Subjects were requested to keep a diary of their smoking behavior and record the situations most conducive to smoking. Self-control procedures designed to reduce smoking in high probability situations were discussed. Subjects were paired for the purpose of peer reinforcement. Both members of the pair were encouraged to provide assistance for each other during the treatment phase of the study. Lists of positive outcomes associated with nonsmoking were to be read prior to engaging in some high probability behavior. A total of twelve statements was provided. Subjects were advised to divide their waking hours into quarters and reduce smoking level during the quarter most conducive to smoking. Smoking during subsequent quarters was to be reduced during the study.


In the CNS, myelination and remyelination depend on the successful progression and maturation of oligodendroglial lineage cells, including proliferation and differentiation of oligodendroglial progenitor cells (OPCs). Previous studies have reported that Sox2 transiently regulates oligodendrocyte (OL) differentiation in the embryonic and perinatal spinal cord and appears dispensable for myelination in the postnatal spinal cord. However, the role of Sox2 in OL development in the brain has yet to be defined. We now report that Sox2 is an essential positive regulator of developmental myelination in the postnatal murine brain of both sexes. Stage-specific paradigms of genetic disruption demonstrated that Sox2 regulated brain myelination by coordinating upstream OPC population supply and downstream OL differentiation. Transcriptomic analyses further supported a crucial role of Sox2 in brain developmental myelination. Consistently, oligodendroglial Sox2-deficient mice developed severe tremors and ataxia, typical phenotypes indicative of hypomyelination, and displayed severe impairment of motor function and prominent deficits of brain OL differentiation and myelination persisting into the later CNS developmental stages. We also found that Sox2 was required for efficient OPC proliferation and expansion and OL regeneration during remyelination in the adult brain and spinal cord. Together, our genetic evidence reveals an essential role of Sox2 in brain myelination and CNS remyelination, and suggests that manipulation of Sox2 and/or Sox2-mediated downstream pathways may be therapeutic in promoting CNS myelin repair. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Promoting myelin formation and repair has translational significance in treating myelin-related neurological disorders, such as periventricular leukomalacia and multiple sclerosis in which brain developmental myelin formation and myelin repair are severely affected, respectively. In this report, analyses of a series of genetic conditional knock-out systems targeting different oligodendrocyte stages reveal a previously unappreciated role of Sox2 in coordinating upstream proliferation and downstream differentiation of oligodendroglial lineage cells in the mouse brain during developmental myelination and CNS remyelination. Our study points to the potential of manipulating Sox2 and its downstream pathways to promote oligodendrocyte regeneration and CNS myelin repair.


In space travel and in other work environments where transporting equipment is expensive, it's important that every item be as lightweight and versatile as possible. Strong platforms can be built by using six beams to connect two triangles. Given the six beams' lengths, the problem is to determine how many unique platforms can be constructed from them and the two given triangles. This Web extra contains the Matlab file that generates a rotatable image.


Farm Bill markup likely will begin soon in both the Senate and House Agricultural committees. Much of the focus for traditional program crops will be around three programs: a revenue program, a target price program, and a supplemental crop insurance program (see here for more detail). While the exact nature of the programs will depend on negotiations, what is almost certain is that the programs' rationale will be risk management. Given a risk management focus, Farm Bill negotiations will need to debate and somehow resolve the following seven questions.


Objective: To evaluate aripiprazole in the treatment of schizophrenia, including a comparison of available agents, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, assessment of clinical trials, and adverse effects. Data Sources: A MEDLINE search (1962–March 2003) was conducted for primary and secondary sources. Search terms included OPC-14597, aripiprazole, typical antipsychotics, atypical antipsychotics, and schizophrenia. The Review and Evaluation of Clinical Data from NDA 21-436 was accessed from the FDA Web site. Study Selection: All articles retrieved were evaluated, and the most appropriate studies were selected. Relevant poster presentations were included. Data Synthesis: Aripiprazole is a potent partial agonist/antagonist at the dopamine D2 receptor, as well as a partial agonist at the serotonin 5-HT1A receptor and an antagonist at the 5-HT2A receptor. Clinical trials were assessed for information on dosing, side effects, and adverse drug reactions. Conclusions: Aripiprazole appears to be superior to placebo for the treatment of schizophrenia, with a favorable adverse effect profile.


Dollarization implies a reduction in the menu of assets available to the government and to the private sector in managing risk. Whatever the gains from dollarization, the costs of reducing the asset menu need to be weighed against them. This paper presents models, one a simple generalization of a well-known model of tax smoothing by Barro, in which these costs are explicit. Along the way, it suggests that there is likely to be no reduction in interest costs to the government from dollarization.


The dissolution rate of calcium-fluoride-like material from the enamel surface in vivo appears to be much slower than previously thought. This could be due to adsorption of phosphate ions and/or protein molecules to the surface of the calcium-fluoride-like particles. During cariogenic challenges, the phosphate/protein coating is released, resulting in increased solubility rate of the calcium-fluoride-like material. Due to this mechanism, calcium-fluoride-like material may be a major aspect of the cariostatic mechanism of topically applied fluoride. Topically applied neutral fluoride agents are able to inhibit caries development in enamel but not completely stop lesion development. A fluoride solution at low pH has been found to be more effective in caries model studies than neutral fluoride agents, which might be due to the formation of a larger depot of calcium fluoride. Data from fluoridated areas indicate that the fluoride ion as such has a limited effect on lesion development, and a major mechanism of the cariostatic effect may be reformation of apatite (remineralization). The product of lesion consolidation (a fluoridated apatite) may have a limited effect, since Intraoral caries model studies show that even pure fluorapatite, in the form of shark enamel, demineralizes. In fissures and around orthodontic appliances, conventional fluoride agents appear to have only a small effect.


In the German LuFo research project AVACON, the project partners jointly developed a mid-range aircraft concept for the year 2028 with an over-wing engine configuration. With every new iteration of the initial concept, an adapted cabin concept was derived. This paper introduces the different cabin concept derivatives and assesses them regarding their boarding performance. The assessment is performed using the PAXelerate open-source boarding simulation framework. The results for a random boarding simulation show a boarding time reduction potential of 3.4 percent for the adapted cabin layouts of the iterated cabin design. The COVID-19 crisis has forced severe limitations on the international transportation market and has put a focus on the infection risk within the aircraft cabin. Thus, this paper introduces as a second aspect a new methodology that enables PAXelerate to assess the individual COVID-19 exposure risk of passengers during the boarding process. The basic model enhancement consists of the tracking of all passenger movements throughout the cabin, the determination of the proximity to other passengers as well as the monitoring of the duration of the individual contacts. This approach is similar to the frameworks introduced by Apple and Google for contact tracing on smart phones. The results highlight the overall risk for rear-to-front and front-to-rear boarding scenarios, considering the overall number of contacts as well as the proximity and duration of individual passenger contacts. Boarding scenarios such as window-to-aisle, random or the so-called Steffen procedure seem beneficial. The removal of cabin luggage has the largest effect on exposure risk mitigation. This highlights potential pathways for a future safe travel scenario with a minimized exposure risk for all passengers.


Although the proinflammatory and profibrotic actions of aldosterone (Aldo) on the vasculature have been reported, the effects and molecular mechanisms of Aldo on endothelial function are yet to be determined. We investigated how Aldo regulates endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) function in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). HUVECs were incubated for 16 hours with Aldo 10−7 mol/L. The concentration of reactive oxygen species was estimated by measuring 2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate chemiluminescence. Signal transduction was estimated by Western immunoblots. Real-time RT-PCR was performed to measure expression of transcripts of endogenous GTP cyclohydrolase-1 and components of reduced nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase. To eliminate the possible effect of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and to emphasize the role of mineralocorticoid receptor, we used GR small interfering RNA and knocked down GR expression in several experiments. NO output was estimated by intracellular cGMP concentration. Reactive oxygen species production increased significantly in Aldo-treated HUVECs but was abolished by pretreatment with eplerenone. Transcripts of p47phox were increased by Aldo treatment. Vascular endothelial growth factor–induced eNOS Ser 1177 but not Akt Ser 473 phosphorylation levels were reduced significantly by pretreatment with Aldo. Pretreatment with either eplerenone or okadaic acid restored phosphorylation levels of eNOS Ser 1177 in Aldo-treated cells, suggesting that protein phosphatase 2A was upregulated by Aldo via mineralocorticoid receptor. The decrease in NO output caused by Aldo pretreatment was reversed significantly by 5,6,7,8-tetrahydrobiopterin, GTP cyclohydrolase-1 overexpression, or p47phox knockdown. These results suggest that Aldo inhibits eNOS function through bimodal mechanisms of 5,6,7,8-tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency and protein phosphatase 2A activation.


This paper describes how Germany has balanced high levels of car ownership with safe, convenient, and integrated public transport, cycling, and walking alternatives. Germans walk, bike, and take public transport for 41% of their daily trips, four times more than the 11% share of the green modes in the USA. That helps make urban transport far more sustainable in Germany than in the USA. Since the 1970s, German cities have improved environmentally friendly alternatives to the car while restricting car use. To illustrate how such policies are implemented at the local level, this paper presents a detailed case study of Freiburg, which is widely considered Germany's most sustainable city. The innovative transport and land use policies introduced in Freiburg offer useful lessons on how to increase transport sustainability: First, policies and planning are fully integrated across modes of transport and coordinated with land use policies. Second, public transport systems provide modern, convenient services with deeply discounted fares for frequent riders. Third, planners have implemented controversial policies in stages over an extended period. Fourth, government officials effectively communicate the benefits of sustainable transport to the public. Finally, policies restrict car use and make it less convenient, slower, and more expensive, especially in center cities and residential neighborhoods.


Transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) is the initial investigation of choice for postmenopausal bleeding (PMB), followed by diagnostic hysteroscopy and endometrial sampling if abnormalities are detected. Saline contrast sonohysterography (SCSH) - injection of saline through the cervix into the uterine cavity prior to TVUS - allowed increased diagnostic accuracy in women with PMB in several small, heterogeneous studies. The objectives of the current study were to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of SCSH in women with PMB, comparing findings with surgical and pathological reports, highlight the necessity of SCSH in guiding clinical decision-making, and establish if there is an increase/decrease in the number of hysteroscopies performed for PMB and, hence, the adherence of clinicians to imaging referral guidelines. The search strategy included formulating search terms identifying all synonyms of SCSH and postmenopause. The databases searched were MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. Only studies comparing SCSH to an alternative method were selected. The studies were screened and data analysis performed using content analysis. Data reduction was performed through systematic coding and the generation of themes We identified 18 studies, comprising 974 women, using SCSH to evaluate the endometrial cavity in women with PMB; most support SCSH improving diagnostic accuracy through delineating intracavitary structures. In effect, SCSH could be a first-line investigative modality to assess the uterine cavity once a larger, well-designed study has been conducted to clarify its specificity, sensitivity, and positive predictive value (PPV). Owing to its relatively non-invasive nature and potentially high diagnostic accuracy, SCSH could allow for more accurate decisions regarding the need for further investigation and subsequent management. Tweetable abstract "Saline contrast sonohysterography improves the diagnostic accuracy of the endometrium in postmenopausal bleeding."


The field of modern financial economics assumes that people behave with extreme rationality, but they do not. Furthermore, people's deviations from rationality are often systematic. Behavioral finance relaxes the traditional assumptions of financial economics by incorporating these observable, systematic, and very human departures from rationality into standard models of financial markets. We highlight two common mistakes investors make: excessive trading and the tendency to disproportionately hold on to losing investments while selling winners. We argue that these systematic biases have their origins in human psychology. The tendency for human beings to be overconfident causes the first bias in investors, and the human desire to avoid regret prompts the second.


Models for predicting the time of a future event are crucial for risk assessment, across a diverse range of applications. Existing time-to-event (survival) models have focused primarily on preserving pairwise ordering of estimated event times, or relative risk. Model calibration is relatively under explored, despite its critical importance in time-to-event applications. We present a survival function estimator for probabilistic predictions in time-to-event models, based on a neural network model for draws from the distribution of event times, without explicit assumptions on the form of the distribution. This is done like in adversarial learning, but we achieve learning without a discriminator or adversarial objective. The proposed estimator can be used in practice as a means of estimating and comparing conditional survival distributions, while accounting for the predictive uncertainty of probabilistic models. Extensive experiments show that the proposed model outperforms existing approaches, trained both with and without adversarial learning, in terms of both calibration and concentration of time-to-event distributions.


BACKGROUND
 Cancer diagnoses and treatments usually engender significant anxiety and depressive symptoms in patients, close relatives, and caregivers. Providing psychological support during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic presents additional challenges due to self-isolation and social or physical distancing measures in place to limit viral spread. This protocol describes the use of text messaging (Text4Hope-Cancer Care) as a convenient, cost-effective, and accessible population-level mental health intervention. As demonstrated in previous research, this evidence-based program supports good outcomes and high user satisfaction.

 OBJECTIVE
 We will implement daily supportive text messaging as a way of reducing and managing anxiety and depression related to cancer diagnosis and treatment in Alberta, Canada. Prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms, their demographic correlates, and Text4Hope-Cancer Care–induced changes in anxiety and depression will be evaluated.

 METHODS
 Alberta residents with a cancer diagnosis and the close relatives of those dealing with a cancer diagnosis can self-subscribe to the Text4Hope-Cancer Care program by texting "CancerCare" to a dedicated text number. Self-administered, anonymous, online questionnaires will be used to assess anxiety and depressive symptoms using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Data will be collected at onset from individuals receiving text messages, and at the mid- and endpoints of the program (ie, at 6 and 12 weeks, respectively). Data will be analyzed with parametric and nonparametric statistics for primary outcomes (ie, anxiety and depressive symptoms) and usage metrics, including the number of subscribers and user satisfaction. In addition, data mining and machine learning analysis will focus on determining subscriber characteristics that predict high levels of symptoms of mental disorders, and may subsequently predict changes in those measures in response to the Text4Hope-Cancer Care program.

 RESULTS
 The first research stage, which was completed in April 2020, involved the creation and review of the supportive text messages and uploading of messages into a web-based text messaging service. The second stage, involving the launch of the Text4Hope-Cancer Care program, occurred in May 2020.

 CONCLUSIONS
 Text4Hope-Cancer Care has the potential to provide key information regarding the prevalence rates of anxiety and depressive symptoms in patients diagnosed or receiving care for cancer and their caregivers. The study will generate demographic correlates of anxiety and depression, and outcome data related to this scalable, population-level intervention. Information from this study will be valuable for health care practitioners working in cancer care and may help inform policy and decision making regarding psychological interventions for cancer care.

 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT
 PRR1-10.2196/20240


Since its beginnings, Gothic fiction has been interested in exploring and critiquing the representation of femininity, Critics such as Donna Heiland (2004) and Claire Williams (2007) have utilised the Gothic to consider how women are treated in society through an interrogation of themes such as considering how women are treated in society through an interrogation of such themes as the loss of human identity, fracturing of the self, and the construction of women as monstrous or other. Videogames, whilst not specifically a Gothic medium, are well suited to representing Gothic themes and tropes and are particularly suitable conduits through which to consider posthumanism: as technology begins to create intelligent computers and software, the very technology that creates this Posthuman condition is an appropriate medium for critiquing its possibilities and dangers. The two converge in Posthuman Gothic, a subgenre that allows the exploration of these issues and our relationship to technology in the 21st Century, and as Michael Bolton writes, 'the source of dread in the Posthuman Gothic lies not in the fear of our demise, but in the uncertainty of what we will become and what will be left of us after the change' (Bolton 2014). This is a theme, I argue, that videogames are well suited to interrogate. Posthumanism, Gothicism, and representations of femininity converge in the videogame franchise Portal. Ostensibly puzzle solving games, Gothic themes and tropes permeate the setting and characters of Portal (Valve 2007) and its sequel Portal 2 (Valve 2011), with which the player engages interactively, haunted by and inhabiting the Gothic and the Posthuman through gaming technology. The derelict enrichment centre, initially appearing antithetical to the Gothic tradition, is quickly shown to be operating in the same way, possessing the same features as the Gothic space in archetypical Gothic novels, such as The Mysteries of Udolpho (Radcliffe 2001), for example, yet uniquely allowing the player to actively explore these spaces. Featuring only three characters, GLaDOS (an acronym for Genetic Lifeform and Digital Operating System, instantly signalling her Posthuman construction), Chell, and Wheatley, the game offers a recognisable Gothic storyline built around a puzzle-solving core. As the player gains proficiency in the spatial problems and completes more of the games, she comes to realise that the antagonistic supercomputer GLaDOS, in fact, is a Posthuman sentience. Furthermore, the player discovers that before becoming an artificially intelligent computer system, GLaDOS was Caroline, a successful businesswoman, who when uploaded into the GLaDOS programme, went insane and thus became the Gothic monster who begins the game. Through its embedded narrative, Portal is able to interrogate the GLaDOS as a variety of incarnations of femininity: the Gothic heroine, the Gothic monster, and the Postfeminist Gothic female. As well as this, the game offers a narrative of death, imprisonment and escape, and reconciliation that is recognisable throughout the history of Gothic fiction, from The Castle of Otranto onwards, but places the player within the narrative itself, and asks her interpret the narrative to discover its Gothic heart.


Insect pests are serious constraints to production of maize. There is little information on the control measures against those insects in Cameroon. This study was carried out to identify the different species of fall armyworm and stem borers of maize and test the efficacy of different control methods. The maize variety ATP (Acid Tolerant Population) was used in a randomized complete block design. Synthetic insecticides, lambda cyalothrine and cypermethrin, were applied at one and two weeks intervals at the recommended doses of 2 L/ha and 1.5 l/ha respectively. Bio insecticides: Neem oil (Azadirachta indica), and aqueous extracts of Chenopodium ambrosioides leaves were applied weekly at the doses of 1.40 L/ha and 6.80 L/ha respectively. The different larvae recorded were the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) and stem borers (Busseola fusca and Sesamia calamistis). All the treatments used in this study had significant effects on the number of pupae, the tunnels and the number of perforations on stems of the maize. The Neem oil at one-week interval was more effective in reducing the incidence (81, 21%) and severity (61, 54%) at 76 Days After Planting of the attack by the caterpillars as well as on the number of larvae (14, 82%) throughout the trial.


We study sequential monitoring procedures that detect instabilities of the regression operator in an underlying (fully) functional regression model allowing for dependence. These open-end and closed-end procedures are built on a functional principal components analysis of both the predictor and response functions, thus giving rise to multivariate detector functions, whose fluctuations are compared against a curved threshold function. The main theoretical result of the paper quantifies the large-sample behavior of the procedures under the null hypothesis of a stable regression operator. To establish these limit results, classical results on functional principal components analysis are generalized to a dependent setting, which may be of interest in its own sake. In an accompanying empirical study we illustrate the finite sample properties, while an application to environmental data highlights practical usefulness. To the best of our knowledge this is the first paper that combines sequential with functional data methodology.


Cloud computing is emerging as a promising field offering a variety of computing services to end users. These services are offered at different prices using various pricing schemes and techniques. End users will favor the service provider offering the best quality with the lowest price. Therefore, applying a fair pricing model will attract more customers and achieve higher revenues for service providers. This work focuses on a novel dynamic pricing model which is able to satisfy advance users requirements based on normal fixed price model. This paper considers many factors that affect pricing and user satisfaction, such as fairness, QoS, SLA, and more, by highlighting their importance in recent markets and propose a flexible model which tries to utilize all resources to the highest capacity and offers low prices for underutilized resources. The simulated results shows the appropriateness of dynamic pricing for sharing of computing resources, where providers want to have more customers as a managerial decision and even more income in total.


A differential diagnostic complex of 11 physiological, anthropometric, and biochemical parameters of most informative value that reliably (over 98% reliability) characterize the status of adaptive and compensatory mechanisms upon exposure to in-plant noise in combination with local and total vibration, and dust in terms of individual noise sensitivity. Testing the proposed procedure showed its high accuracy to define the terms "exhaustion" and "normal" specific adaptation, high (81.2%) significance of individual (5-year) prediction of occupational hypoacusis, an 50%-increase in detection rates of risk groups among workers. The procedure developed is recommended to use in regular professional surveys for specific adaptation, individual prediction and detection of early disorders, to enhance the accuracy of diagnosis of occupational hypoacusis, to employ in professional selection, to define the allowable time of labour activity, and to make priority. The proposed procedure defended by copyright has been introduced into practice.


Apolipoliprotein E (apoE), a critical targeting protein in lipid homeostasis, has been found to have immunoinflammatory effects on murine models of infection and malnutrition. The effects of apoE in undernourished and Cryptosporidium parvum-infected mice have not been investigated. In order to study the role of apoE in a model of C. parvum infection, we used the following C57BL6J mouse genetic strains: APOE-deficient, wild-type controls, and APOE targeted replacement (TR) mice expressing human APOE genes (E3/3; E4/4). Experimental mice were orally infected with 107-unexcysted-C. parvum oocysts between post-natal days 34–35 followed by malnutrition induced with a low-protein diet. Mice were euthanized seven days after C. parvum-challenge to investigate ileal morphology, cytokines, and cationic arginine transporter (CAT-1), arginase 1, Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression. In addition, we analyzed stool oocyst shedding by qRT-PCR and serum lipids. APOE4/4-TR mice had better weight gains after infection plus malnutrition compared with APOE3/3-TR and wild-type mice. APOE4/4-TR and APOE knockout mice had lower oocyst shedding, however the latter exhibited with villus blunting and higher ileal pro-inflammatory cytokines and iNOS transcripts. APOE4/4-TR mice had increased ileal CAT-1, arginase-1, and TLR9 transcripts relative to APOE knockout. Although with anti-parasitic effects, APOE deficiency exacerbates intestinal inflammatory responses and mucosal damage in undernourished and C. parvum-infected mice. In addition, the human APOE4 gene was found to be protective against the compounded insult of Cryptosporidium infection plus malnutrition, thus extending our previous findings of the protection against diarrhea in APOE4 children. Altogether our findings suggest that apoE plays a key role in the intestinal restitution and immunoinflammatory responses with Cryptosporidium infection and malnutrition.


Abstract. Radiation effects from solar energetic proton (SEP) events are a concern when the International Space Station reaches high latitudes accessible to SEPs. We use data from the 20–29 and 29–64 MeV proton channels of the Proton/Electron Telescope on the SAMPEX satellite during nine large SEP events to determine the experimental geographic cutoff latitudes for the two energy ranges. These are compared with calculated cutoff latitudes based on a computer model, SEPTR (solar energetic particle tracer). The observed cutoff latitudes are systematically equatorward of the latitudes calculated by the SEPTR program using a Tsyganenko field model, but that model produces mean values of ~ 2° for latitudinal differences with observations, D Lat, which are ~ 3 times smaller than those using the 1995 International Geomagnetic Reference Field model alone. The number distributions of D Lat are peaked near 0° and decline toward higher values. With the Tsyganenko model, we find no significant trend in either the D Lat or their variances with increasing Kp . Key words. Interplanetary physics (energetic particles) – Magnetospheric physics (polar cap phenomena) – Space plasma physics (charged particle motion and acceleration)


This paper draws attention to the 1996 constructal theory of the generation of geometric form in flow systems. Flow architecture can be reasoned on the basis of principle: the maximization of global performance subject to finite-size constraints. One example is the generation of tree-shaped flow patterns, as optimized paths between one point (source, sink) and an infinity of points (area, volume), The optimized tree-flow architecture accounts for allometric laws, for example, the proportionality between metabolic rate and body size raised to the power 3/4, and the proportionality between breathing and heart beating times and body size raised to the power 1/4. Another example is the proportionality between the cruising speed of flying bodies (insects, birds, airplanes) and body mass raised to the power 1/6, The "thermodynamics law" status of the constructal principle is discussed. 1 Constructal theory versus biomimetics Geometric similarities and patterns abound in flow systems in engineering and in nature. For example, tree-shaped flows are everywhere, in computers, lungs, dendritic crystals, urban street patterns, and communication links, In a new book [1], I started from the design and optimization of engineered systems and developed a deterministic principle for the generation of geometric form in natural systems. In flow systems for fluid, heat, mass, electricity, goods, and traffic, better performance means improved access: minimal flow resistance, minimal travel time, minimal cost. This observation led to constructal theo~,


Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears with concomitant cartilage injuries resulting in ACL reconstruction (ACLR) with cartilaginous procedures are common in the young, high-demand population. The purpose of this study was to report and characterize cartilage treatments performed at the time of index ACLR reconstruction and to determine if those treatments are associated with revision surgery (of any kind) in the 4-year follow-up. We performed a consecutive series of active duty service members in the Military Health System Data Repository with ACLR with and without concomitant cartilage procedures done at military facilities between October 2008 and September 2011. Patients were continuously enrolled with no history of knee surgeries for 2 years prior to primary ACLR. ACLR failure was defined as revision ACLR within 4 years following the primary ACLR. Of the 2,735 primary ACLRs included in the study, 5.3% (143/2,735) underwent isolated ACLR with a cartilage procedure. Of these patients, 23.07% (33/143) experienced ACLR failure within 4 years after ACLR with cartilage procedures, including 33.33% (11/33) undergoing revision ACLR. We found concomitant cartilage procedures at time of index ACLR to have the following rates of revision 35.59% (21/59) for microfracture, 14.63% (6/41) for chondroplasty, and 13.95% (6/43) for osteochondral grafts. The overall clinical failure rate of service members with ACLR plus concomitant cartilage procedure is 23.07% with minimum 4-year follow-up. Further research should be done to identify modifiable demographic and surgical factors associated with failure. This is a retrospective case-control study that reflects level of evidence III.


mmMAGIC (Millimetre-Wave Based Mobile Radio Access Network for Fifth Generation Integrated Communications) is an EU funded 5G-PPP project, whose overall objective is to design and pre-develop a mobile radio access technology (RAT) operating in the 6-100 GHz range, capable of impacting standards and other relevant fora. The focus of the project is on extreme Mobile Broadband, which is expected to drive the 5G requirements for massive increase in capacity and data-rates. This paper elaborates on some 5G key research areas such as: identification of the most compelling use-cases and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for future 5G systems, advantages and challenges of millimeter-wave (mmWave) technologies, channel measurements and channel modeling, network architecture; and the design of a new mobile radio interface including multi-node and multi-antenna transceiver architecture.


The prevalence of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is increasing worldwide. Controlling blood sugar levels is fundamental to the management of GDM. Current practice in Norway includes patients registering blood sugar levels in a booklet and receiving verbal and/or written health information. A smartphone application may provide patients individually targeted and easily available advice to control blood sugar levels. The aim of this paper is to document the process of designing and developing a smartphone application (the Pregnant+ app) that automatically transfers blood sugar levels from the glucometer and has information about healthy eating and physical activity. This formative research included expert-group discussions among health professionals, researchers and experts in data privacy and security. User-involvement studies were conducted to discuss prototypes of the app. Results indicated that the content of the application should be easy to understand given the varying degree of patients' literacy and in line with the information they receive at clinics. The final version of the app incorporated behavior change techniques such as self-monitoring and cues to action. Results from the first round of interactions show the importance of involving expert groups and patients when developing a mobile health-care device.


Background and objectives: This prospective study aimed to assess the benefits of glucose and lactose hydrogen breath tests (GHBT and Lactose HBT) on the diagnosis of respectively small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and lactose malabsorption in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and also efficacy evolution of te Rifaximin in the treatment of SIBO. Materials and Methods: It was cross-sectional study with treatment and follow-up of diagnosed cases. From January 2017 to December 2018, 74 patients with IBS who visited the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Center and were diagnosed based on Rome IV criteria were studied. Patients underwent both GHBT and Lactose HBT by portable LactoFAN2. IBS symptoms severity score (IBS-SSS) was used to assess their symptoms before and after the treatment. Positive GHBT patients were given rifaximin 200 mg 3 times a day for 2 weeks followed by repeating GHBT and symptoms scoring. Results: Thirty-six patients (54%) had IBS-D, while the remaining 31 (46%) had IBS-A. glucose HBT was positive in 12(18%) patients, whereas lactose HBT was positive in 7(10%). All GHBT positive patients became negative one month after rifaximin, and their symptoms improved dramatically. Conclusion: Rifaximin is an effective therapy even at low doses for SIBO. Lactose malabsorption is prevalent mostly among diarrheal-IBS patients and those with higher calprotectin level.


This work reports on a facile and reproducible approach to synthesize novel organic flowers of cystine (CysFls) with high uniformity. These 3D flower-like structures have a purely hierarchical arrangement, wherein each petal is composed of several cystine molecules with an average size of 50 mM, as determined by transmission electron microscopy. The CysFls were self-assembled onto a gold electrode and were utilized as matrices for the covalent immobilization of an Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli) specific probe oligonucleotide that was identified from the 16s rRNA coding region of the E. coli genome. This fabricated CysFl platform sought to provide improved fundamental characteristics to electrode interface in terms of electro-active surface area and diffusion coefficient. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy revealed that this genosensor exhibits a linear response to complementary DNA in the concentration range of 10 6 to 10 15 M with a detection limit of 1 10 15 M. Under optimal conditions, this genosensor was found to retain about 88% of its initial activity after being used for 6 times.


Background Lack of adequate number of service providers in rural and hard to reach areas is a concern for policymakers and implementers in India. Development of robust promotion and tenure (P&T) policies is meant to provide an equitable and enabling working environment, and to reduce these deficits. Methods We conducted our study on P&T policies in five Indian states, using a qualitative policy-mapping approach to allow for better understanding at macro level. We did a document review (policies and government orders, guidelines and other relevant literature) and conducted in-depth interviews with stakeholders comprising of 31 government officials, 21 service providers, and six representatives of staff associations. Matrices were drawn up to illustrate the content of documents and role of different actors in the implementation process. Data were manually organised by emerging themes and analysed. Findings Common P&T measures that were seen across the five states were: (1) development of compulsory rural tenure, ranging from two to six years depending on the cadre and state context; (2) ceiling on the proportion of transfers (between 3% and 30% of the total cadre of workers); and (3) special privileges for social upliftment. In India, states have developed P&T policies that are either in accordance with the needs of health department only or generic ones, catering to all government departments. Development of department-specific P&T policies aims to understand the service providers' needs and accordingly implement policies. Decisions related to postings and transfers of staff are taken at the state level. The need for authorities performing rational P&T is seen as essential. Currently the process is governed by authorities ranging from principal secretary (Health), who is responsible for transfer of medical officers, to Additional Directors (Health and paramedical services), responsible for transfers of other cadres. Obviously, P&T procedures have to be transparent. Two of the five states have addressed this aspect through a web-enabled counselling process. Anticipated vacancies have also helped to bring transparency in P&T procedures. Providing special provisions for widows, women, and specially challenged – and listing them by priority – has helped in the retention of service providers in all five states. Initiatives like empowering committees to provide recommendations on transfer norms for medical and paramedical staff is undertaken in one state. The breach of minimum compulsory tenures for serving in rural areas is a common practice for doctors across all states. All the five states have introduced minimum tenure policy for general areas and rural areas, but the non-compliance has resulted in unfair postings and transfers. Discussion P&T policies are meant to support health professionals. However, only a few of them truly reflect the professionals' needs and perspectives. Observations from the study indicate the need to augment policy changes including political commitment and increase transparency in P&T processes. These interventions will go a long way in building commitment for the policy implementers and enable service providers to work in such areas where they are needed most. Well-defined transfers and postings policies may be helpful to ensure rational rotation of staff across different areas. While implementing such policies, special relaxations for women should be made and the P&T procedures with the guiding rules may prove beneficial in this regard. To undo the urban-rural divide of the service providers, states should introduce and implement minimum tenure policy for normal areas and rural areas. Few states have already demonstrated this utility. The development of a Human Resource database, which is updated periodically, is essential for a transparent transfer process. Geographically defining areas based on the difficulty of the terrain and service weightage based on service in difficult areas will provide rational distribution of staff in rural areas. No competing interest.


Agonistic behavior in Crocodylus porosus is well known in the wild, but the available data regarding this behavior among the captive individuals especially in a farm setting is rather limited. Studying the aggressive behavior of C. porosus in captivity is important because the data obtained may contribute for conservation and the safety for handlers and visitors. Thus, this study focuses on C. porosus in captivity to describe systematically the agonistic behaviour of C. porosus in relation to feeding time, daytime or night and density per pool. This study was carried out for 35 days in two different ponds. The data was analysed using Pearson's chi-square analysis to see the relationship between categorical factors. The study shows that C. porosus was more aggressive during daylight, feeding time and non-feeding time in breeding enclosure (Pond C, stock density =0.0369 crocodiles/m2) as compared to non-breeding pond (Pond B, stock density =0.3317 crocodiles/m2) where it is only aggressive during the nighttime. Pond C shows the higher domination in the value of aggression in feeding and non-feeding time where it is related to its function as breeding ground. Chi-square analysis shows that there is no significant difference between ponds (p=0.47, χ2= 2.541, df= 3), thus, there is no relationship between categorical factors. The aggressive behaviour of C. porosus is important for the farm management to evaluate the risk in future for the translocation process and conservation of C. porosus generally.


Combinatorial interaction testing (CIT) is a useful testing technique to address the interaction of input parameters in software systems. CIT has been used as a systematic technique to sample the enormous test possibilities. Most of the research activities focused on the generation of CIT test suites as a computationally complex problem. Less effort has been paid for the application of CIT. To apply CIT, practitioners must identify the input parameters for the Software-under-test (SUT), feed these parameters to the CIT test generation tool, and then run those tests on the application with some pass and fail criteria for verification. Using this approach, CIT is used as a black-box testing technique without knowing the effect of the internal code. Although useful, practically, not all the parameters having the same impact on the SUT. This paper introduces a different approach to use the CIT as a gray-box testing technique by considering the internal code structure of the SUT to know the impact of each input parameter and thus use this impact in the test generation stage. The case studies results showed that this approach would help to detect new faults as compared to the equal impact parameter approach.


Lung cancer is the top ranked cause of cancer death worldwide and lung cancer alone. Platinum-based chemotherapy increase survival rates and improves the life quality in patients, and many suggested pathways of the efficacy of cisplatin in treatment of NSCLC. This study aimed to identify the signaling pathway of Notch 1/ Jagged 1 in mechanistic action of cisplatin treatment of NCSLC. Fifty patients having NSCLC were enrolled in this study include 37 patient's male while females were 13 patients, with a median age of 42.5 years (range, from 33 to 76 years). Clinical factors such as sex, age, tumor site, size and grade, metastasis, and T.N.M. stage, were collected. Immunohistochemistry including the use of the method of avidinbiotin peroxidase on all tissues, while patient blood sample use for total RNA and reverse transcribed and Kaplan-Meier method used for plotted the survival curves.
The degree of Notch 1/Jagged1 protein-expression were mainly more in patient include male more than the female (P<0.05). It's clear; the expression levels of Notch1 proteins were in relation with grades of tumor and its pathological state. The expression levels of Notch 1/Jagged1 were strongly related (high or low) in patients not respond to chemotherapy and tumor progress or metastasis disease to lung or brain. The survival rate of patients with low expression Notch 1/Jagged 1 whom treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy was 100% during 8-months of follow up. High Notch-1/Jagged-1 levels expression invert a poor prognosis of NSCLC patients and may represent a new strategy to decrease resistance of cisplatin based treated NSCLC patients.


The increase in invasive methods currently applied to diagnosis airway upper tract infection leads to a possible increase in vestibular folds (VF) lesions. Besides, VF importance in the prevention of the organism against infection pathogens had been stressed and few studies had addressed the microscopic lesions of the VF in autopsied patients because there is no routine VF examination in the postmortem exam. AIM: The aim of this study is morphological microscopic analyses of the VF from autopsied patients and its correlation with basic disease and cause of death. STUDY DESIGN: transversal cohort. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We studied 82 larynges collected during the autopsy exam and performed the Hematoxylin -eosin method for morphological analyses. RESULTS: From the 82 vestibular folds analyzed we observe that 42 (51%) showed an inflammatory reaction. In fifteen (18.3%) vestibular folds we found lymphoid follicular hyperplasia, in eleven (13.4%) diffuse inflammatory infiltrate and in sixteen (19.5%) acute inflammatory reactions. Circulatory diseases were the most frequently underlying diseases found, 31 (37.8%) and from these 20 (67.8%) presented associated vestibular folds inflammatory reaction. The infection diseases were the most frequently cause of death among the patients with inflammatory reaction of the VF. CONCLUSION: Besides the anatomic function, VF seem to have a immunological function preventing lower airway infections. Our study demonstrated inflammatory PV reactions in patients with infections diseases as cause of death; this finding could be a consequence of the sepses that leads the patient to death or a different way used by the organism to prevent infection.


Platinum-deposited titanium nitride (Pt/TiN) nanoparticle aggregates with high porosities were successfully prepared via a self-assembly-assisted spray pyrolysis method. The addition of formic acid (HCOOH) had a significant influence on the process, promoting the simultaneous formation of metallic Pt and reduction on the surface of the TiN support material. Complete reduction of the Pt/TiN nanoparticle aggregates improved the catalytic activity. The electrochemical surface area (ECSA) of Pt/TiN with HCOOH (Pt/TiNw/HCOOH) was 87.15 m2/g-Pt, which was higher than that of Pt/TiN without HCOOH (Pt/TiNw/o-HCOOH). The catalytic durability of Pt/TiNw/HCOOH was twice that of Pt/TiNw/o-HCOOH. An effective strategy for obtaining carbon-free catalysts with high activities and durabilities was identified. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 2753–2760, 2013


The chemokine stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and its receptor, CXCR4, play a major role in migration, retention, and development of hematopoietic progenitors in the bone marrow. We report the direct involvement of atypical PKC-zeta in SDF-1 signaling in immature human CD34(+)-enriched cells and in leukemic pre-B acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) G2 cells. Chemotaxis, cell polarization, and adhesion of CD34(+) cells to bone marrow stromal cells were found to be PKC-zeta dependent. Overexpression of PKC-zeta in G2 and U937 cells led to increased directional motility to SDF-1. Interestingly, impaired SDF-1-induced migration of the pre-B ALL cell line B1 correlated with reduced PKC-zeta expression. SDF-1 triggered PKC-zeta phosphorylation, translocation to the plasma membrane, and kinase activity. Furthermore we identified PI3K as an activator of PKC-zeta, and Pyk-2 and ERK1/2 as downstream targets of PKC-zeta. SDF-1-induced proliferation and MMP-9 secretion also required PKC-zeta activation. Finally, we showed that in vivo engraftment, but not homing, of human CD34(+)-enriched cells to the bone marrow of NOD/SCID mice was PKC-zeta dependent and that injection of mice with inhibitory PKC-zeta pseudosubstrate peptides resulted in mobilization of murine progenitors. Our results demonstrate a central role for PKC-zeta in SDF-1-dependent regulation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell motility and development.


This article analyzes the position of the machinery and equipment sector in response to the change in foreign policy during the Michel Temer government. We seek to answer if the reorientation in the State's position on the international scene is consensual among the different sectors of the great Brazilian internal bourgeoisie, focusing on the industrial bourgeoisie. For that purpose, we have chosen to study the sector's position at Mercosur-European Union (EU) agreement's negotiation. We analyzed documents and interviews of ABIMAQ's workers related to the agreement, as well as trade data of products related to the sector between Brazil and Mercosur and Brazil and EU. The hypothesis is that there is a divergence between the ABIMAQ's position and the main entities of the brazilian industry, FIESP and CNI. Therefore, there is no consensus within the Brazilian internal bourgeoisie, despite the critics in the political scene in front of Workers Party's foreign policy.


The purpose of this study was to compare group-based psychoeducational music therapy to psychoeducation in measures of satisfaction with life, knowledge of illness, treatment perceptions, and response frequency and type in acute psychiatric inpatients during a randomized and controlled clinical trial. Participants (N=105) took part in a scripted single session controlled by a treatment manual and facilitated by a Board-Certified Music Therapist. No significant differences were found between groups in measures of helpfulness, enjoyment, satisfaction with life, or psychoeducational knowledge. However, although not significant, the music therapy group tended to have slightly higher mean scores in all aforementioned variables, suggesting music therapy can be as effective as psychoeducation in these measures. There were no significant differences between groups for the number of therapist questions and validations as measured by a trained behavioral observer, although during the music therapy condition the therapist was able to ask a mean of almost 11 additional questions than during the psychoeducational control condition. Although not significant, there were almost 20 more participant mean verbalizations per session during the music therapy conditions. Additionally, many of these verbalizations were categorized as self and cognitive insight statements, indicating participants in the music therapy condition were talking more about themselves and their unique situations. Congruent with this finding, during the music therapy condition, the ratios of participant self statements to therapist questions and participant cognitive insights to therapist questions were higher than in the control condition. There was a significant correlation between participant total verbal participation and perception of helpfulness, enjoyment, and comfort for the control condition. This correlation was not significant for the experimental condition, indicating that the music therapy group did not have to verbally participate to perceive the session as helpful, enjoyable, and comfortable. Implications for psychoeducational music therapy and suggestions for future research are provided.


Size control is fundamental in tissue development and homeostasis1,2. While the role of cell proliferation in this process has been widely studied3, the mechanisms of organ size control and how it impacts cell fates remain elusive. Here, we use mouse blastocyst development as a model to unravel a key role of fluid-filled lumen in embryonic size control and cell fate specification. We find that during blastocyst expansion, there is a two-fold increase in the pressure of the lumen that translates into a concomitant increase in the cortical tension of trophectoderm (TE) cells lining the lumen. Increased cortical tension leads to vinculin mechanosensing and maturation of the functional tight junctions, thereby establishing a positive feedback loop to accommodate lumenal growth. However, when the cortical tension reaches a critical threshold, cell-cell adhesion cannot be sustained, and mitotic entry leads to a rupture of TE epithelium, fluid leakage and collapse of the blastocyst cavity. A simple theory of hydraulically-gated oscillations that integrates these feedback interactions recapitulates the evolution of cavity size and predicts the scaling of embryonic size with the tissue volume. Our theory further predicts that reduced cortical tension or disrupted tight junctions, and increased tissue stiffness lead to smaller embryonic size. These predictions are verified experimentally by embryological, pharmacological and genetic manipulations of the embryos. Remarkably, these changes to lumenal size, without a change in the tissue volume, lead to alteration of tissue architecture and cell fate. Overall, our study reveals how lumenal pressure and tissue mechanics control embryonic size at the tissue scale, that in turn couples to cell position and fate at the cellular scale.


Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are gradually moving toward the adoption of clustered heterogeneous designs, incorporating a mixture of variety kinds of sensor nodes with different radio coverage and battery capacity. Compared with homogeneous networks, heterogeneous networks are able to reduce the initial cost of the network or prolong the network lifetime. The architecture and routing protocol for this type of heterogeneous WSN should be energy aware in order to prolong the lifetime of the network. However, most of the existing clustering methods consider only initial energy of the sensor nodes and ignore the non-uniform energy drainage caused by many-to-one traffic near sink and/or cluster heads in heterogeneous network environment. In this paper, we propose a new clustering method for WSN with heterogeneous node types which selects cluster heads considering not only the transmission power and residual energy of each node but also those of its adjacent nodes. Simulation experiments show that the proposed method increases network lifetime by 80% and 60% more than that of the CC and HEED, respectively.


Sleep difficulties and short sleep duration have been associated with hypertension. Though body mass index (BMI) may be a mediator variable, the mediation effect has not been defined. We aimed to assess the association between sleep duration and sleep difficulties with hypertension, to determine if BMI is a mediator variable, and to quantify the mediation effect. We conducted a mediation analysis and calculated prevalence ratios with 95% confidence intervals. The exposure variables were sleep duration and sleep difficulties, and the outcome was hypertension. Sleep difficulties were statistically significantly associated with a 43% higher prevalence of hypertension in multivariable analyses; results were not statistically significant for sleep duration. In these analyses, and in sex-specific subgroup analyses, we found no strong evidence that BMI mediated the association between sleep indices and risk of hypertension. Our findings suggest that BMI does not appear to mediate the association between sleep patterns and hypertension. These results highlight the need to further study the mechanisms underlying the relationship between sleep patterns and cardiovascular risk factors.


This study examined cigarette smoking patterns in a low-income sample of pregnant women. The total sample included 142 white women and 56 Latinas . The participants were recruited as current smokers and recent quitters who received prenatal care at six urban health clinics in a northeastern locale . Recent quitters were women who had quit smoking less than one year prior to contact. Predictor variables were examined for both Latinas and white women in order to identify possible differences between the two groups. These variables focused on measures of addiction, social and familial predictors, and demographic information. Sever:al quantitative procedures were used to analyze the data . Results revealed that Latinas were as likely to be current smokers as their white counterparts . No difference was found between the smoking rates of the parents of Latina and white participants, but there was a significant difference in the smoking rates of their partners. White women were more likely to have partners who smoked than Latina women . A significant difference was also found in the level of addiction to cigarettes between white and Latina participants . White women smoked significantly more cigarettes per day than Latinas (14 per day versus 9.7 cigarettes) . Findings showed that although Latinas smoked fewer cigarettes per day than their white counterparts , there were comparable ratios of current smokers and recent quitters in both groups. Although white and Latina participants were equally educated (10.5 years of school) , white participants had significantly higher incomes than their Latina counterparts . Specifically, white women were more likely to have incomes of $25,000 or more compared to Latinas who almost exclusively had incomes of less than $25,000.


Critical Care Units (CCUs) are one of the most complex and expensive of all medical resources and hospital managers are challenged to meet the demand for critical care services with adequate capacity. The pressure on critical care beds is continuously increasing as new medical equipment provides the opportunity to save more patients lives. It is therefore crucial that beds are managed well and used efficiently. This thesis describes two major projects, the first undertaken in conjunction with the CCU at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff (UHW); and the second with two CCUs from the Aneurin Bevan Health Board.

In the first project data has been analysed to determine the flow of patients through the Unit. Admissions
to CCUs were categorised under two headings: emergency, and elective. The length of stay in the CCU is heavily dependent on the admission category. In this thesis, both computer simulation and theoretical queueing models have been considered, which show how improvements in bed
management may be achieved by considering these two categories of patients separately. The vast majority of previous literature in this field is concerned only with steady-state conditions, whereas in reality the processes are time-dependent. This thesis goes some way to addressing this deficiency.

The second project relates to work undertaken with managers from the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport and at the Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny. Data from both hospitals have been analysed to define arrival and service processes. A state-dependent theoretical queueing model has been considered which has been used to investigate the significance of combining the two units. The model has been also utilised to advise on the number of beds the new combined unit should have in order to satisfy targets quoted by the hospital managers.

In the final part of the thesis, consideration has been given to the impact of collaboration, or lack thereof, between hospitals using a game theoretical approach. The effect of patient diversion has been studied. To formally investigate the impact of patients transfers, a Markov chain model of the two CCUs has been set-up, each admitting two arrival streams: namely, their own patients and
transfers from other hospital. Four different models were considered and for each model the effect of targets, demand and capacity were studied. The efficiency of a system which degrades due to selfish behaviour of its agents has been measured in terms of Price of Anarchy.


BACKGROUND
Visceral obesity is independently related to numerous cardiometabolic alterations, with adipose tissue dysfunction as a central feature.

OBJECTIVE
To examine whether omental (OM) and subcutaneous (SC) adipocyte size populations in women relate to visceral obesity, cardiometabolic risk factors and adipocyte lipolysis independent of total adiposity.

DESIGN AND METHODS
OM and SC fat samples were obtained during gynecological surgery in 60 women (mean age, 46.1±5.9 years; mean BMI, 27.1±4.5 kg/m² (range, 20.3-41.  kg/m²)). Fresh samples were treated with osmium tetroxide and were analyzed with a Multisizer Coulter. Cell size distributions were computed for each sample with exponential and Gaussian function fits.

RESULTS
Computed tomography-measured visceral fat accumulation was the best predictor of larger cell populations as well as the percentage of small cells in both OM and SC fat (P<0.0001 for all). Accordingly, women with visceral obesity had larger cells in the main population and higher proportion of small adipocytes independent of total adiposity (P≤0.05). Using linear regression analysis, we found that women characterized by larger-than-predicted adipocytes in either OM or SC adipose tissue presented higher visceral adipose tissue area, increased percentage of small cells and homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance index as well as higher OM adipocyte isoproterenol-, forskolin- and dbcAMP-stimulated lipolysis compared to women with smaller-than-predicted adipocytes, independent of total adiposity (P≤0.05).

CONCLUSION
Excess visceral adipose tissue accumulation is a strong marker of both adipocyte hypertrophy and increased number of small cells in either fat compartment, which relates to higher insulin resistance index and lipolytic response, independent of total adiposity.


Existing methods for layer-based backward compatible high dynamic range (HDR) image and video coding mostly focus on the rate-distortion optimization of base layer while neglecting the encoding of the residue signal in the enhancement layer. Although some recent studies handle residue coding by designing function based fixed global mapping curves for 8-bit conversion and exploiting standard codecs on the resulting 8-bit images, they do not take the local characteristics of residue blocks into account. Inspired by the local anisotropic characteristics of the residue signal and directional methods for motion compensated low dynamic range (LDR) video coding, in this paper we first investigate whether HDR image coding residue exhibits also local anisotropic characteristics. Specifically, we verify directional structures in residue blocks by means of auto-covariance analysis for different bitrates, spatial activities and dynamic ranges as the main variables in HDR image coding. Then, we compare the rate distortion performances of directional coding methods with the baseline residue coding methods in the literature along with different combinations of 8-bit conversion methods. The experiments indicate that content dependent 8-bit conversions and directional coding significantly outperforms the existing function based 8-bit conversions and typical coding for residue coding.


This study aims to analyze the principles of the broad nursing care. It was based on the specific literature and on data collected from a research held by nursing graduates. The study had a qualitative approach and its methodology included semi-structured interviews, observation of simulated situations and the elaboration of a care plan involving graduates, supervisors and health system users. Results show that there are differences in the broadness of the nursing care actions. The nursing graduates provided whole, humanized, collective and individual care with the skills and competences indicated in the nursing course curriculum policies. Both supervisors and health system users appreciated the graduates' humanized care. We conclude that it is important to overcome an individual approach and to emphasize a collective, institutional and structural care intervention to promote, protect and recover health.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this article is to determine the rate and the cause of displacement of CT power-injectable peripherally inserted central catheters (CT-PICCs) during contrast material and saline flush injection and to modify CT-scanning protocols to decrease the frequency of displacement.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
In the laboratory setting, in vitro modeling of CTPICC displacement during power injection was examined while varying the initial rate of injection of the saline flush. In the clinical setting, the CT images of all patients at a large academic hospital for one calendar year who underwent power injection of CT contrast media were reviewed for CT-PICC displacement. A retrospective comparison of the rate of displacement during the 8 months before implementing a protocol with a lower initial rate of saline flush and the rate of displacement for the 4 months after the protocol change was performed.

RESULTS
Laboratory modeling showed dramatic movement of the CT-PICC at higher rates of saline flush. This movement was attributed to differences in viscosity between contrast media and saline. The clinical arm of the study found that 8.2% of the 243 examinations performed before implementing the new protocol resulted in displacement, in comparison with 2.2% of the 138 examinations performed afterward. This difference was considered statistically significant (p = 0.023).

CONCLUSION
Initiation of saline flush at high injection rates correlates with a higher rate of CT-PICC displacement. The use of a slower initial rate of saline flush injection significantly reduces the rate of displacement.


3‐D cloud‐resolving model simulations including explicit aerosol physics and chemistry are compared with observations of upper tropospheric (12 km) aerosol size distributions over the Amazon Basin. The model underestimates the aerosol number concentration for all modes, especially the nucleation mode (d < 18 nm). We show that a boundary layer SO2 mixing ratio of approximately 5 ppb would be needed in order to reproduce the high nucleation mode number concentrations observed. This high SO2 mixing ratio is very unlikely for the pristine Amazon Basin at this time of the year. Hence, it is suggested that vapours other than H2SO4 participate in the formation and growth of small aerosols. Using activation nucleation theory together with a small (0.4–10%) secondary organic aerosol mass yield, we show that isoprene has the potential of substantially increasing the number of small particles formed as well as reducing the underestimate for the larger aerosol modes.


The base compositions of nucleolar and extranucleolar nuclear IlNA's of the tumor and the liver were determined in controls and rats treated with actinomycin D in a dose of 150 Mg/kg of body weight. A decrease in content of cytosine and an increase in A + U/G + C ratio in the nucleolar RNA of the liver were found, but in the tumor the effects were not marked. Using ATP-U-32P2 or GTP-a-32P, the nearest neighbor frequencies of nucleotides to AMP or GMP moieties of nucleolar RNA from liver and Walker tumor of the control and actinomycin D-treated rats were determined and found to be different in the liver and the Walker tumor. The changes in nearest neighbor frequency are consistent with the suppression of synthesis of high molecular weight, GC-rich RNA. As shown by autoradiographic studies, the greater suppressive effects of actinomycin D on nucleolar RNA synthesis than on extranucleolar nuclear RNA synthesis are apparently related to the localization of actinomycin D in the extranucleolar chromatin in the form of a ring containing the nucleoli.


The shells of the pelagic larvae of bivalve mollusks may be useful as paleoclimatic indicators. An inverse relationship between temperature and maximum size of larval shells within a particular population is reported for a number of Recent species. Changes in the dimensions of the prodissoconch-dissoconch boundary on juvenile specimens may reflect changes in the ambient temperature of marine environments.


Abstract Path planning plays a vital role in a mobile robot navigation system. It essentially generates the shortest traversable path between two given points. There are many path planning algorithms that have been proposed by researchers all over the world; however, there is very little work focussing on path planning for a service environment. The general assumption is that either the environment is fully known or unknown. Both cases would not be suitable for a service environment. A fully known environment will restrict further expansion in terms of the number of navigation points and an unknown environment would give an inefficient path. Unlike other environments, service environments have certain factors to be considered, like user-friendliness, repeatability, scalability, and portability, which are very essential for a service robot. In this paper, a simple, efficient, robust, and environment-independent path planning algorithm for an indoor mobile service robot is presented. Initially, the robot is trained to navigate to all the possible destinations sequentially with a minimal user interface, which will ensure that the robot knows partial paths in the environment. With the trained data, the path planning algorithm maps all the logical paths between all the destinations, which helps in autonomous navigation. The algorithm is implemented and tested using a 2D simulator Player/Stage. The proposed system is tested with two different service environment layouts and proved to have features like scalability, trainability, accuracy, and repeatability. The algorithm is compared with various classical path planning algorithms and the results show that the proposed path planning algorithm is on par with the other algorithms in terms of accuracy and efficient path generation.


We perform a systematic comparison of three different jet energy-loss approaches. These include the Armesto-Salgado-Wiedemann scheme based on the approach of Baier-Dokshitzer-Mueller-Peigne-Schiff and Zakharov (BDMPS-Z/ASW), the higher twist (HT) approach and a scheme based on the Arnold-Moore-Yaffe (AMY) approach. In this comparison, an identical medium evolution will be utilized for all three approaches: this entails not only the use of the same realistic three-dimensional relativistic fluid dynamics (RFD) simulation, but also the use of identical initial parton-distribution functions and final fragmentation functions. We are, thus, in a unique position to not only isolate fundamental differences between the various approaches but also make rigorous calculations for different experimental measurements using state of the art components. All three approaches are reduced to versions containing only one free tunable parameter, this is then related to the well-known transport parameter $\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{q}$. We find that the parameters of all three calculations can be adjusted to provide a good description of inclusive data on ${R}_{\mathit{AA}}$ vs transverse momentum. However, we do observe slight differences in their predictions for the centrality and azimuthal angular dependence of ${R}_{\mathit{AA}}$ vs ${p}_{T}$. We also note that the values of the transport coefficient $\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{q}$ in the three approaches to describe the data differ significantly.


In this case report an approach to dealing with a herd with a high bulk milk somatic cell count is described. By the time the farmer requested help, the situation had already become so serious that the delivery of milk had been prohibited for two weeks. Bacteriological examination of the milk revealed that some cows were infected with major pathogens and that many cows were infected with Corynebacterium bovis and/or coagulase-negative staphylococci. On the basis of these results and the results of the dynamic measurement of the milking machine, a plan of action was outlined. This strategy consisted of an adjustment of the milking machine, an improvement of the milking technique and the treatment with antibiotics of a number of cows.
After the initial treatment, the bulk milk somatic cell count remained too high. Subsequently, cows with an elevated individual somatic cell count were again sampled for bacteriological culture. Positive cows were treated and some eventually culled. Finally, the general udder health improved and the bulk milk somatic cell count decreased to an acceptable level.


A Monte Carlo approach to simulate the transport and energy deposition of low energy electrons (E0⩽10 keV) in liquid water is presented. The elastic scattering of electrons is described by Mott cross section, which is derived from the relativistic wave equation of Dirac. The inelastic scattering model of electrons is based on the dielectric response theory with exchange effect included. A new method of sampling various inelastic scattering events is proposed in the simulation. Using the approach stated, the spatial distribution of inelastic scattering events and energy deposition of electrons in liquid water are computed and the results are compared with other theoretical studies.