The study by Corner et al raises several complex challenges for nurses and healthcare professionals. Improving cancer outcomes relies primarily on prevention as well as earlier and more accurate detection. However, as the study by Corner et al suggests, lung cancer commonly presents with a range of vague symptoms that may not immediately be suggestive of a serious disease with poor prognosis.
Unlike breast cancer, where an external lump may prompt women and their healthcare providers to access diagnostic services, lung cancer arises internally and is often associated with comorbidities, especially in elderly people. Unfortunately, there is little evidence that earlier detection improves survival in lung cancer.1 Given the reality of finite healthcare resources and the increasing incidence of lung cancer worldwide,2 it is
beneficial to focus on its causes to help prevent this devastating disease. Cigarette smoking and poverty are 2 of the most important factors to be confronted. The effectiveness of interventions supporting earlier detection
or increased awareness of initial symptoms in people at high risk should be tested. To decrease incidence of lung cancer, nurses should consider supporting efforts to challenge the tobacco industry. At the level of service
provision, health education needs to be improved, and appropriate end of life care should be made available to patients with lung cancer, who often face a rapid decline.3 Given the magnitude of the problem and the lack of attention it receives, the study by Corner et al suggests that there is value in questioning practice in order to assist the increasing numbers of patients likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer in the future.


The research described in this paper focuses on the presentation of two novel preprocessing techniques for the task of off-line handwritten word recognition. A technique for the identification of straight and skewed underline noise is described along with a novel algorithm for detecting skew in handwritten words. The latter identifies skew by detecting the center of mass in each half of a word image. By hypothesizing a line between the two centres and by measuring the angle it makes with the x-axis, an angle for skew may be estimated. The algorithms are tested on the CEDAR benchmark database of handwritten cursive words. Results above 96% are reported for skew detection and underline removal.


FEW ECONOMISTS HAVE enjoyed as long or as distinguished a career as John Kenneth Galbraith, professor of economics at Harvard since 1948. An early Keynesian, Dr. Galbraith entered the public arena as the chief price controller for Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. During the 1950s Dr. Galbraith campaigned for Adlai Stevenson and John F. Kennedy, serving as Kennedy's ambassador to India from 1961 to 1963. Later that decade, he reentered the political spotlight as a prominent critic of the Vietnam War. Dr. Galbraith became best known for his controversial liberal economic views, first receiving attention in his 1956 work, The Affluent Society. Dr. Galbraith continued to challenge neoclassical economic theory with his books The New Industrial State and American Capitalism. From the beginning, Dr. Galbraith criticized what he saw as the weaknesses of free market capitalism. He saw American capitalism as enriching most of society while leaving the public sector underfunded and the lowest class marginalized. He also rejected the mainstream idea that the market always "cleared," arguing instead that industrial economies often reached equilibrium below full employment. Dr. Galbraith continues to attack the "conventional wisdom," a term he himself coined, in the articles and books he writes today. Special Features Editor Shirin Sinnar and Staff Writer Valerie Jaffee spoke with Dr. Galbraith in January at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard International Review: In your 1994 work, Journey through Economic Time, you discussed the globalizing influence of international capitalism and the sense of global association it creates. What do events of the last few years say about the momentum of this trend of economic and political globalization? I see the trend toward closer trade, cultural, artistic, and travel relationships as inevitable and as something we very much want. I even support the multilateral corporation because when you have a company functioning in several countries, there is an incentive for those countries to avoid stirring up animosity. So I see what is called "globalization" as a civilizing force. On the other hand, that process must be reconciled with the important role of the national state in protecting the welfare of people. When internationalization occurs, there is always a tendency for industry to migrate to those countries where the wages are lowest and where the welfare services are cheapest. Thus, we have a problem. We have a conflict between two objectives, both of them good. On the one hand, we have to accept the internationalization of economic life, and, on the other hand, we must continue to protect employment, unemployment compensation, social security, health care, and the other services provided by the national state. That is why we must, as in the Maastricht treaty, move toward the unification of economic policy as part of the larger global trend. As you are well aware, the present international scene is characterized by large gaps between the quality of life in developed countries and developing countries. How persistent do you think these gaps are? Is economic convergence at all occurring, or are these gaps widening? I spent a good deal of my life on this problem. I started the first courses on economic development that were taught at Harvard, and I have spent a good part of my life in the less-developed lands. I consider this inequality to be one of the great problems of our time, particularly as it affects Africa. The African countries were given independence without the educational preparation, without the economic discipline, and without the political discipline that is absolutely essential for economic improvement. This has been one of the tragedies of our time. I have seen the problem at closest range in India where the picture has, especially recently, been much better. But, even in India, there were enormous barriers to the fulfillment of the economic and social hopes of the newly independent country, and even after almost fifty years of independence many of those problems are still unsolved. …


As the world's energy demand increases, more and more focus is directed towards different solar energy solutions. In many African countries, a great share of the population cook their food with firewood as the energy source. Since the use of firewood leads to deforestation and bad indoor climate, it is of interest to implement solar cookers in countries where the sun radiation is sufficiently strong. Most commercialized solar cookers are direct systems, meaning the cooking has to take place when the sun is present. To make the cooking more flexible in relation to time, solar cookers connected to a heat storage is of interest to develop. During this work a high-temperature thermal heat storage has been designed, constructed and tested. The heat storage is a part of an oil circulation system where the oil transports heat from an absorber connected to a solar capturing reflective trough. Eight aluminum cylinders, which are immersed in the circulating oil, are connected to the aluminum top plate of the heat storage. Each cylinder contains a solar salt phase change material. The solar salt is the material that stores most of the heat which can be used for cooking purposes. Since the cylinders are connected to the top plate, cooking pots placed on top of the heat storage will be heated by conduction from the solar salt. After the dimensioning of the heat storage was done, a computer-aided design (CAD) program called Autodesk Inventor was used to design drawings which the workshop would use during the construction of the heat storage. The heat storage has been analyzed through simulations done in the finite element method program COMSOL Multiphysics and through experiments in the laboratory. In addition to cooking tests, these analyses have had the main goal of examining the charging and discharging time of the heat storage. The results showed that the charging time decreases if the heat storage is being used on a daily basis. That is because the phase change material does not reach the temperature of the surroundings overnight, causing the next charging to start at a higher temperature than the first. The aim of the cooking tests was to boil one liter of water, which turned out to take at least 40 minutes. If modifications are to be done on the heat storage, one should have the charging time in mind. As the sun shines during a limited time period each day, the charging time, which was found to be between six and nine hours, cannot be allowed to become longer than these experiments indicated.


INTRODUCTION
Xingu Indigenous Park (XIP) currently protects 16 ethnic Indigenous groups and is located in the central area of Brazil. XIP is the first and the largest Indigenous land to be recognized in the country. Community access is limited and restricted for the non-Indigenous population, and the Indigenous women are constantly dealing with shortages of medical care. High-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) is the most common cause of cervical cancer and is detected in 99% of cervical precancers. HPV infections may be associated with bacterial agents such as Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which are also important causative agents of sexually transmitted infections and are responsible for the most frequent bacterial infections in the world. The present study evaluated the frequency and potential impact of Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and HR-HPV in the Indigenous women of XIP.

METHODS
In this cross-sectional study, 992 cervical-vaginal samples were collected from Indigenous women, using a Cervex-Brush, and were immediately placed in a SurePath medium. All samples were submitted to the cobas® 4800 detection system for the identification of 14 different types of HR-HPV, and the multiplex Abbott RealTime CT/NG assay for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

RESULTS
HR-HPV was detected in 18.2% of women; 6% were positive for HPV16, 5% for HPV18, and 81% for other types of HR-HPV. Co-infections of HPV16 and other types was observed in 5% of women, and 3% had co-infections of HPV18 and other types. Moreover, 1.8% of women were positive for Chlamydia trachomatis, while Neisseria gonorrhoeae was not detected. In women with HR-HPV, 33% had Chlamydia trachomatis infections, 28% were positive for HR-HPV other than HPV16 or HPV18, and 5% had co-infections of HPV16 and the other types of HPV. Younger women were found to be more susceptible to HPV infections.

CONCLUSION
The findings indicate a high frequency of HR-HPV and a considerable frequency of Chlamydia trachomatis in the Indigenous women of XIP. The detection of Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and/or HR-HPV does not present evidence of a potential interrelationship for a combined pathogenic action in these women.


Objectives To establish normative reference ranges of fetal cardiac hemodynamic between 20 and 34 per weeks including: velocity of mitral valve and tricuspid valve, artery valve, important physiological channel of fetal blood flow; and to summary the fetal hemodynamics characteristics; Simple regression analysis was applied to assess possible correlation between Doppler variables and gestational age. Methods A cross-sectional study was undertaken on singleton pregnancies with normal fetuses and accurate gestational ages. Totally 2573 normal fetus was divided into 15 groups according to the gestation. According to United States Association of echocardiography guidelines and standards for fetal echocardiography, all Doppler variables were stored to statistic the normal reference value range of Doppler variables and analyse the correlation of these Doppler variables and gestation age. Results 1. Concluded the normal reference value of the fetal cardiac Doppler variables. 2. Fetal cardiac hemodynamics characteristics: E and A peak velocities and E/A ratio for both mitral and tricuspid valves, peak velocity of aortic valve and pulmonary valve, velocity of aortic in systolic and diastolic, velocity of ducts artery systolic and diastolic, S wave, D wave and A wave of pulmonary vein increased as gestational age advanced, but without clear statistic significance (P>0.05), S wave, D wave and A wave of vein ducts decreased in gestation 33, 34 weeks, Vs, Vd and Vs/Vd ratio of middle cerebral artery decreased in gestation 33, 34 weeks (P>0.05). S wave, D wave and A wave of Inferior vena cava shows little change throughout pregnancy (P>0.05) . 3. Simple regression analysis of correlation between Doppler variables and gestational age, we found that all Doppler variables have no correlation with gestational age. Conclusions Fetal echocardiography technology can accurately assess fetal cardiac blood flow dynamics; the establishment normal reference value of cardiac hemodynamic could provide guidance to fetal echocardiography examination, all Doppler variables have no correlation with gestational age.


In this study, Algerian date stones were evaluated for the preparation of a biosorbent, in order to use them for methylene blue (MB) removal from aqueous solutions. To describe the adsorption equilibrium, the experimental data were analyzed by some isotherm models. The Freundlich model showed better representation of data (R 2 >0.99). Kinetics study shows that pseudo-second order fitted the adsorption kinetics. Thermodynamic parameters showed that the adsorption process was feasible, spontaneous and exothermic. According to the results, the biosorbent derived from date stones is expected to be an economical product and beneficially low-cost biosorbent for MB removal from aqueous solutions.


Traditionally, landscape metrics are computed in 2D – using projection of the spatial units on the reference plain. In recent years, the 3D approach, which uses true surface geometries, is developed. The aim of the paper is to compare values of 2D and 3D landscape metrics in high mountains, on the example of Morskie Oko catchment in the Polish Tatra Mountains. The calculations show that the metrics may differ significantly and that there is a strong correlation between size of the discrepancy and the surface slope.


This essay argues that Hobbes's work as a translator was fundamental to his mature political philosophy. A proper appreciation for the significance of Hobbes's lifelong engagement with the politics of translation clarifies both the relationship between Hobbes's humanist and scientific work, and the meaning of his simultaneous critique and use of rhetoric in his political writings. Against the interpretation held by many scholars that Hobbes simply traded his early humanist interests for his mature political and scientific views, I demonstrate that Hobbes was consistently concerned with the political instability generated by the vernacular translation of classical Greek and Roman texts. In responding to this instability, Hobbes developed his geometrical approach to speech while also, through his analysis of the relationship between translation and metaphor, finding ways to employ humanist rhetorical techniques consistent with this approach. Yet I show that Hobbes continued to rely on translation in areas of speech where he thought science alone could not provide persuasive answers.


In 1997 the new law about Public Health Service (OGDG) in Northrhine-Westfalia was put into operation. It included two new sets of compulsory tasks: local health reporting (GBE) and local health conferences (KGK). These new tasks are installed as planning and steering instruments aiming for a better health-care on the local level. The central object is the knowledge-based formation of local health policies. Thereby, local representatives concerned with health and social services should participate as well as administrators and politicians. Since the middle of the 1990 s both new tasks have been established by the public health department of the county of Heinsberg in Northrhine-Westfalia. The experience of this department over almost ten years is the background for the empirical research project that is described in this paper. The study investigates the vocational practices, the decision-making and the health-related attitudes of the relevant local administrative and political representatives. The impulse for the start of the study was given by the constant reluctance of political and administrative top managers to make use of these new planning instruments in agenda setting and decision making. 44 high-ranking staff members and politicians (mayors, party chairmen, heads of departments far beyond the health office) were personally interviewed. Although they are not part of the health administration they claim to be occupied with quite a few health-related tasks. The overlapping of their set of tasks with the local health policies is evident for the interviewed managers. How-ever, this does not cause them to use the two new planning instruments. In particular, they do not participate in the local health conferences. They rather prefer the traditional path of policy making (parties, committees, fractions) even if these paths are less efficient than the new ones. The health conference is much more used by health-service providers as a platform for setting priorities and organising their implementation effectively. So far, the inclusion of the other local representatives (administrative managers, etc.) although they are concerned with health issues has not been achieved. This is also true for local politicians who are responsible for health-care policies. The authors of the paper see it to be the task of the local public health department to convince all these players that the health conference is a productive tool and a useful platform for the discussion of the health problems in the county and the coordination of necessary actions to be taken. The most important focus point is seen in the intersection of health policies with other local policies.


Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) comprises 80% and 20% of pediatric and adult leukemias, respectively. Treatment is successful in 80% children with ALL but the survival of relapsed cases is poor. In adults, the relapse rate is over 50% and the overall survival is 20-40%. Relapse, mainly due to multidrug resistance, is the major concern in acute leukemias. Chemotherapy intensification has largely improved the survival of children with ALL, but despite this modification, most of the relapsed cases will die. In addition, intensive regimes have high toxicity and several side effects and it might not feasible for the adult. Therefore, the development of novel therapeutic approaches is critical. One of these strategies is immunotherapy. In this paper, written in Iran, by reviewing 50 newest references (2005-2017) using Elsevier, OVID and Pubmed databases, different kind of immunotherapeutic approaches for ALL including antibody and cellular based therapies (such as naked antibodies, bi-specific T-cell engaging antibodies, antibody– drug conjugates, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells, natural killer and DC-based and radioimmunotherapy) are briefly introduced. The promising trials are highlighted and the Abs based-immunotherapy-related challenges such as monoclonal Abs toxicities, immunogenicity, and the mechanisms of immunotherapy resistance are discussed. Finally, cellular based-immunotherapy-related problems such as cytokine release syndrome and other challenges are reviewed.


There are interesting developments of political psychology, particularly in the effort of women in politic arena. Until the mid-year 2007, at least 82 women were recorded following the elections in 232 provincial-level regions and districts level. Out of the above, 26 women (30.76%) registered as a candidate for the leader of region and 57 women (69.24%), registered as a deputy leader of the region, although only eight women who are successfully elected as the leader of region and 11 elected as deputy leaders of regional (Arifin, 2008). With direct elections as happened today, making the candidates should follow the "interest" of voters. Efforts to understand the voter?s behavior, feelings and thinking do not always easy. The old ways by making a donation of material deemed not affect voters more powerful. One possible solution is the assessment needs of the voter. Fullfillness of voter?s needs is not always easy because there are differences of character between communities, genders and individuals that influence their voting behavior. Voting behavior was defined as a voter in the decision to vote for certain candidates in both the legislative and executive elections. In political science, there are two kinds of approaches in analyzing the voting behavior. 1). sociological approach. Person?s background, gender, social class, race, religion, and ideology determine the decision to voting according the approach. 2). psychological approach. In this approach, value, personal qualities of the candidates, issues which developed by candidate and loyalty to the party are influence voter?s choice. Some research shows that there exist different patterns of voting behavior between men and women. Women are more conservative in determining her choosen than men (Inglehart & Norris, 2000). The study involved 90 students (45 women and 45 men). To take data used scenarios about election for leader of region (bupati). Than subyek choose Male or female as a leader, or not vote at all. Each alternative answer to the subjects was asked to give a reason. Analysis of data using qualitative thematic and cross tabulation. The results shown that subjects who choose a man as a leader as much as 68 people or 75.56%, and who chose women as leaders "only" 12 people or 13.33%. Subjects who abstained are 11 people or 11.11%. From these results also show that women's voting behavior, are more likely to choose a man as the leader. This could occur because women are believe that the more entitled and deserve to be leaders are men, as seen from a variety of reasons expressed by respondents, such as the existence theorem ?Arrijalu Qawwamuna 'Alannisa? that for those respondents meaning of the phrase is an indication for Muslims that the man was "better" than women, so men more creditable of a leader, and they also hold on to reason like all the other prophets were men and the prophets had a good lead with each group, the alternative answer to this emerged from the respondents from the Islamic university. In otherside college law student backgrounds, they are more likely to choose women, because women have the ability as good as men, and women are also more sensitive to the people.


Chronic arthritis often affects women of childbearing age. The old concept that having chronic arthritis constitutes a major obstacle to women when planning a pregnancy is now obsolete. Thanks to our current capacity to control the activity of rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic inflammatory conditions, and due to the availability of highly effective drugs such as tumour necrosis factor inhibitor agents and other biological agents, many women with these diseases are now able to consider the challenge of childbearing and raising children. Careful pre-conceptional evaluation and risk assessment constitutes the first step of proper care, which can be individualised according to the disease. More than ever, rheumatologists must know how to deal with this situation, and must be able to provide adequate counselling regarding the control of arthritis during conception and pregnancy.


Gears are widely used in gearbox to transmit power from one shaft to another. Gear crack is one of the most frequent gear fault modes found in industry. Identification of different gear crack levels is beneficial in preventing any unexpected machine breakdown and reducing economic loss because gear crack leads to gear tooth breakage. In this paper, an intelligent fault diagnosis method for identification of different gear crack levels under different working conditions is proposed. First, superhigh-dimensional statistical features are extracted from continuous wavelet transform at different scales. The number of the statistical features extracted by using the proposed method is 920 so that the extracted statistical features are superhigh dimensional. To reduce the dimensionality of the extracted statistical features and generate new significant low-dimensional statistical features, a simple and effective method called principal component analysis is used. To further improve identification accuracies of different gear crack levels under different working conditions, support vector machine is employed. Three experiments are investigated to show the superiority of the proposed method. Comparisons with other existing gear crack level identification methods are conducted. The results show that the proposed method has the highest identification accuracies among all existing methods.


Middle to Late Devonian paleomagnetic data from cratonic North America and Europe indicate that a 2,000-km sinistral displacement occurred between these two continents during Carboniferous time. Because the Lewisian basement of northwest Scotland and the Archean-Proterozoic basement in Greenland have strong geologic affinities, the fault(s) responsible for the displacement are likely to be found to the south of the northwestern Scottish Lewisian basement. In addition, published paleomagnetic directions for Middle to Upper Devonian rocks from the Orcadian Basin in Scotland give a mean pole near lat 50°N, long 150°E (A 95 = 8.8°; K = 76.9; N = 5), which is in excellent agreement with the cratonic North American pole for this time, after closing of the Atlantic Ocean. A comparison between the Orcadian Basin results and those from areas to the south of the Great Glen fault in Scotland and England (mean pole near lat 31°N, long 152°E for Great Britain), reveals a paleolatitude difference of more than 15° for contemporaneous rocks and suggests that most of the commensurate sinistral motion between the North American craton and Europe took place along the Great Glen fault. Previous explanations for the Orcadian Basin results were cast in terms of implausible remagnetizations; some of the previous analyses can be shown to be incorrect.


Efficient and highly organized transcription initiation and termination is fundamental to an organism's ability to survive, proliferate, and quickly respond to its environment. Over the last decade, our simplistic outlook of bacterial transcriptional regulation and architecture has evolved to include stimulus-responsive regulation by untranslated RNA and the formation of alternate transcriptional units. In this study, we map the transcriptional landscape of the bacterial pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae by applying a combination of high-throughput RNA-sequencing techniques. Our study reveals a complex transcriptome wherein environment-respondent alternate transcriptional units are observed within operons stemming from internal transcription start sites (TSS) and transcription terminators (TTS) suggesting that more fine-tuning of regulation occurs than previously thought. Additionally, we identify many putative cis-regulatory RNA elements and riboswitches within 5'-untranslated regions (5'-UTR) of genes. By integrating TSSs and TTSs with independently collected RNA-Seq datasets from a variety of conditions, we establish the response of these regulators to changes in growth conditions and validate several of them. Furthermore, to determine the importance of ribo-regulation by 5'-UTR elements for in vivo virulence, we show that the pyrR regulatory element is essential for survival, successful colonization and infection in mice suggesting that such RNA elements are potential drug targets. Importantly, we show that our approach of combining high-throughput sequencing with in vivo experiments can reconstruct a global understanding of regulation, but also pave the way for discovery of compounds that target (ribo-) regulators to mitigate virulence and antibiotic resistance.


Primordial magnetic fields in the dark sector can be transferred to magnetic fields in the visible sector due to a gauge kinetic mixing term. We show that the transfer occurs when the evolution of magnetic fields is dominated by dissipation due to finite electric conductivity, and does not occur at later times if the magnetic fields evolve according to magnetohydrodynamics scaling laws. The efficiency of the transfer is suppressed by not only the gauge kinetic mixing coupling but also the ratio between the large electric conductivity and the typical momentum of the magnetic fields. We find that the transfer gives nonzero visible magnetic fields today. However, without possible dynamo amplifications, the field transfer is not efficient enough to obtain the intergalactic magnetic fields suggested by the gamma-ray observations, although there are plenty of possibilities for efficient dark magnetogenesis, which are experimentally unconstrained.


Summary of Writer's Views previously expressed It was suggested by the writer, in a paper read before the Geological Society in 1893,[*][1] that duality of nomenclature was desirable in order to discriminate between the divisions of the time scale and those of the formation scale, and later (1902–'3), when the revised rules of nomenclature and classification were being prepared by the United States Geological Survey,[†][2] it was still thought that the two scales might be discussed separately if only the criteria of discrimination and the nomenclature were kept strictly distinct. In 1903,[‡][3] in a paper published in the Bulletin of this Society, the shifting of faunas during the continuance of their biological integrity was shown to be a fact, and it was pointed out that consequent precaution was necessary in using fossils with precision in classifying formations. In papers recently completed and now being published as Bulletin 244 . . .

 [1]: #fn-1
 [2]: #fn-2
 [3]: #fn-3


Caloric restriction is associated with increased longevity and cancer resistance in many species. Recent work on mice with selective loss of insulin signaling—only in adipose tissue—suggested that reduced adiposity, not food restriction, extended longevity (Science 2003;299:572). To determine if this finding also applied to cancer prevention, three groups of SENCAR mice were treated with TPA following 10 weeks pretreatment: (a) ad libitum fed, sedentary; (b) exercise with pair feeding at the same amount as group a; and (c) 20% calorie restriction. Body weight and percent fat were significantly decreased in groups b and c after 10 weeks. Dorsal skin was shaved and topically treated with 3.2 nmol TPA, and tissue was harvested at necropsy 2 hours later. Subcutaneous fat in skin sections was evaluated by immunohistochemistry for two pathways of insulin/insulin growth factor (IGF-1)-dependent cellular signaling, PI3K and H-ras. Tissue was graded for staining density using computer standards under guidance of a pathologist without knowledge of tissue treatment. H-ras staining in TPA-treated subcutaneous fat was significantly different between groups: sedentary (a) vs exercise (b) was significant (p = .02) and sedentary (a) vs dietary restriction (c) was highly significant (p < .001). There were no significant differences in staining of PI3K in subcutaneous fat in any group. We conclude that the subcutaneous fat in SENCAR mice treated with TPA shows important decreases in the upstream IGF- MAPK pathway with either exercise or calorie restriction, not seen with downstream PI3K. Supported by NIH R01CA106397, W.W.


Long noncoding (lnc)RNAs modulate gene expression alongside presenting unexpected source of neoantigens. Despite their immense interest, their ability to be transferred and control adjacent cells is unknown. Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) offer a protective environment for nucleic acids, with pro and anti-tumorigenic functions by controlling the immune response. In contrast to extracellular non-vesicular RNA, few studies have addressed the full RNA content within human fluids' EVs and none have compared them with their tissue of origin. Here, we performed Total RNA-Sequencing on 6 Formaldehyde-Fixed-Parafilm-Embedded (FFPE) prostate cancer (PCa) tumor tissues and their paired urinary (u)EVs to provide the first whole transcriptome comparison from the same patients. UEVs contain simplified transcriptome with intron-free cytoplasmic transcripts and specific lnc/circular (circ)RNAs, strikingly common to all patients. Our full cellular and EVs transcriptome comparison within 3 common PCa cell lines identified a set of overlapping 14 uEV-circRNAs characterized as essential for prostate cell proliferation in vitro and 15 uEV-lncRNAs that we predicted to encode 768 high-affinity neoantigens. Our dual analysis of EVs-lnc/circRNAs both in urines' and in vitro's EVs provides a fundamental resource for future uEV-lnc/circRNAs phenotypic characterization involved in PCa.


The web's hyperlinks are notoriously brittle, and break whenever a resource migrates. One solution to this problem is a transparent resource migration mechanism, which separates a resource's location from its identity, and helps provide referential integrity. However, although several such mechanisms have been designed, they have not been widely adopted, due largely to a lack of compliance with current web standards. In addition, these mechanisms must be updated manually whenever a resource migrates, limiting their effectiveness for large web sites. Recently, however, new web protocols such as WebDAV (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning) have emerged, which extend the HTTP protocol and provide a new level of control over web resources. In this paper, we show how we have used these protocols in the design of a new Resource Migration Protocol (RMP), which enables transparent resource migration across standard web servers. The RMP works with a new resource migration mechanism we have developed called the Resource Locator Service (RLS), and is fully backwards compatible with the web's architecture, enabling all web servers and all web content to be involved in the migration process. We describe the protocol and the new RLS in full, together with a prototype implementation and demonstration applications that we have developed. The paper concludes by presenting performance data taken from the prototype that show how the RLS will scale well beyond the size of today's web.


This study aims to describe which Islamic wasathiyah (moderate) and Pancasila (Indonesia's foundational philosophical theory) values can be implemented, how those values are implemented, and why wasathiyah and Pancasila values are implemented at three madrassas to strengthen their students' characters. This study is qualitative research that applies the descriptive method. Data were collected through interviews, documentation, and observation. The data were then analyzed through reduction, presentation, and conclusion. The research reveals that the three madrassas have applied Wasathiyah and Pancasila values in order to strengthen their students' characters: First, Madrassa Amtsilati Bangsri promotes a character that is religious, patriotic, socially caring, and tolerant. Next, Madrassa Darul Falah builds a character that is religious, patriotic, and helpful. Finally, Madrassa Tahfidz Yanbu'ul Qur'an encourages a character that is religious, deliberate, cooperative, and tolerant. The implementation of values takes place through various academic and non-academic activities, such as diligently praying five times daily, holding regular activities such as flag-raising and memorial day ceremonies, helping through the infaq and shadaqah movements, teaching cleanliness and health, promoting moral attitudes and behaviors for living with a good conscience, and conducting religious and ritual activities. Implementing wasathiyah and Pancasila values has three outcomes: (i) Students in the three madrasas gain a balanced understanding of the practice of religion that covers all aspects of life, both worldly and unworldly. (ii) Students in the three madrasas learn to recognize and respect differences, both in terms of religious aspects and various other aspects of life. (iii) Students become accustomed to dealing with problems through deliberation and reaching a consensus under the principle of placing the common good above all else.


The purpose of the two studies reported in this paper was to examine the relationship between identity and self-esteem development during the late adolescent years. Subjects in Study 1 completed the Inventory of Psychosocial Development and a semantic differential measure of four components of self-esteem. Using a backwards stepwise multiple regression procedure the IPD scales that were significant predictors of the self-esteem measures were identified for males and for females. The subjects in the second study completed the same instruments. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine if the scales found to be significant predictors of self-esteem in the first study also predicted self-esteem in the second study. This was generally found to be the case except for the Masculinity/Femininity component of self-esteem for males. The findings were interpreted as demonstrating that resolution of identity issues has important implications for self-esteem, and that identity is differentially related to self-esteem for males and females.


The fatty acid composition of cholesterol esters was studied in the liver, lungs and adrenal tissue from 110-day foetus, 1-day, 3-month old piglets and adult pigs. In the tissues from foetus and newborn piglets a relative amount of linoleic acid of cholesterol esters is lower and that of arachidonic acid is higher, than in cholesterol esters of piglets and adult pig tissues. The quantity of linoleic acid of cholesterol esters in pig tissues in early postnatal ontogenesis increases. A decrease is observed for a relative amount of stearic, oleic and palmitoeleic acids in the cholesterol esters of the liver tissues and for that of arachidonic acid--in the lung tissues. In the adrenal tissue the quantity of arachidonic acid decreases and that of oleic and eicosotrienic acids rises.


Mexican typhus virus can be passed through ticks by the method of rectal injection. The virus will remain alive in the ticks for at least 12 days. These studies, together with one of our preceding publications and the work of Dyer, demonstrate that there are at least three insects—bedbugs, fleas and ticks—which must be considered as possibilities in conveying typhus fever from an animal reservoir to man. Our work will be continued by a study of rats and mice caught in typhus regions such as Mexico City and its immediate vicinity, with a search for the virus in these rodents as well as an analysis of the insects found upon them or in the localities in which they are concentrated.


The relationship between somatic cell counts (sccs) up to 400,000 cells/ml in individual cows and clinical mastitis was studied by collecting monthly records for a year from 101 Holstein herds in the west of France. Monthly records obtained after any case of clinical mastitis occurring within the lactation were excluded. The resulting dataset consisted of 29,700 records from 4677 cows. The data were analysed by the logistic regression method. Herd, lactation number, calendar month, milk production, stage of lactation on the day of test, and scc on previous test days were assumed to affect the likelihood of clinical mastitis. There was no significant relationship between scc and the subsequent occurrence of clinical mastitis for an scc up to 100,000 cells/ml, but the risk of clinical mastitis increased as the scc increased up to 400,000 cells/ml. These results suggest that in individual cows, a low scc recorded after five days in milk does not lead to an increased risk of clinical mastitis.


Objective: To compare and observe the differences of 18F-FDG produced using FDG citrate and FDG duo citrate cassette on the GE Healthcare FASTlab2 Synthesizer system following standard operating parameters.
Study Design: Quasi-experimental study.
Place and Duration of Study: Armed Forces Institute of Radiology and Imaging, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Sep 2020 to Aug 2021.
Methodology: Comparison of 18F-FDG produced using FDG citrate and FDG duo citrate cassette on FASTlab2 consists of evaluating the estimated yield uncorrected (EYUC), estimated yield decay corrected (EYDC), radiochemical purity (RCP), synthesis duration and tracer volume in both cassettes. Sixty Batches of each FDG citrate and duo citrate cassettes were utilized to obtain the required results.
Results: Results acquired by comparing the mean yield of FDG citrate and FDG duo citrate cassette were 74.98±8.92% for EYUC and 86.35±10.26% for EYDC for the FDG citrate cassette. At the same time, the mean RCP turned out to be 99.58±1.06% for the citrate cassette and 99.9±0.35 for the duo citrate cassette. The mean synthesis duration of FDG was 24.21±0.76min and 24.75±0.43min for the citrate cassette and duo citrate cassette correspondingly, and the volume of the tracer was 3.5ml for both cassettes.
Conclusion: The results obtained by comparing these two cassettes were within the range of acceptable limits as claimed by the manufacturer, with a single cassette offering more yield as compared to a duo cassette, while the radiochemical purity, pH and volume of the tracer were found to be identical in both cassettes.


Abstract In the present study, a molecular phylogeny of the Rondeletia L. complex (Rubiaceae, Rondeletieae) was constructed with the following main objectives: (1) to evaluate the sections of Rondeletia proposed by Fernández Zequeira; (2) to test if Stevensia Poit. belongs to the Rondeletieae s. str.; (3) to check if ITS data from Rondeletieae support previous phylogenetic results from trnL-F data regarding circumscription of Rondeletieae; and (4) to verify if Hodgkinsonia F. Muell. belongs to Guettardeae or elsewhere. Two analyses were performed, one with ITS sequences from 46 taxa in the Rondeletieae–Guettardeae complex, and the other with combined ITS, rps16, and trnL-F sequences of 21 taxa. Representatives of nine of the 10 sections of Rondeletia recognized by Fernández Zequeira were included in the ITS analysis. Five of her sections could be tested for monophyly. Support was only found for Rondeletia sect. Leoninae M. Fernández Zeq., while representatives from section Chamaebuxifoliae M. Fernández Zeq., section Hypoleucae Standl., and section Nipenses M. Fernández Zeq. together form a well-supported clade that could be distinguished also based on morphology. The latter clade is sister to Stevensia, which is thus placed within Rondeletia s. str. In addition, ITS sequence data confirm the separation of Rovaeanthus Borhidi from Rogiera Planch. Support is low for inclusion of Blepharidium Standl., Mazaea Krug & Urb., Phyllomelia Griseb., Rachicallis DC., part of Rogiera, and Suberanthus Borhidi & M. Fernández Zeq. in Rondeletieae. Rachicallis, Mazaea, and Phyllomelia form a clade with strong support. The tribe Rondeletieae s. str. was found to be monophyletic in all trees, although with low support; however, a re-delimitation of the tribe is proposed here based on this study and previous phylogenetic analyses. The monophyly for the tribe Guettardeae is weakly supported, with the inclusion of Arachnothryx Planch. (including Cuatrecasasiodendron Steyerm.), Gonzalagunia Ruiz & Pav., Hodgkinsonia, and Timonius DC. Although it was recently the subject of a molecular phylogenetic study, the tribe Guettardeae is still in need of a wide-ranging survey in order to confirm its monophyly and delimit its taxonomic boundaries. Because Cuatrecasasiodendron was found within the Arachnothryx clade, the two genera are here synonymized as Arachnothryx, and in turn positioned within the tribe Guettardeae. In addition, based on herbarium and field studies, the two species described under Cuatrecasasiodendron (C. spectabile Steyerm. and C. colombianum Standl. & Steyerm.) are treated as synonyms to the new combination Arachnothryx spectabilis (Steyerm.) Rova, Delprete & B. Bremer, which is proposed here.


Multiple Instance Learning (MIL) is a popular learning technique in various vision tasks including image classification. However, most existing MIL methods do not consider the problem of insufficient examples in the given target category. In this case, it is difficult for traditional MIL methods to build an accurate classifier due to the lack of training examples. Motivated by the empirical success of transfer learning, this paper proposes a novel approach of Adaptive Knowledge Transfer for Multiple Instance Learning (AKT-MIL) in image classification. The new method transfers cross-category knowledge from source categories under multiple instance setting for boosting the learning process. A unified learning framework with a data-dependent mixture model is designed to adaptively combine the transferred knowledge from sources with a weak classifier built in the target domain. Based on this framework, an iterative coordinate descent method with Constraint Concave-Convex Programming (CCCP) is proposed as the optimization procedure. An extensive set of experimental results demonstrate that the proposed AKT-MIL approach substantially outperforms several state-of-the-art algorithms on two benchmark datasets, especially in the scenario when very few training examples are available in the target domain.


The ability to provide adequate comforting is valued in close relationships. As a valued commodity, the quality of comforting a person provides may be used to maintain or balance rewards and costs in close relationships. We examined whether perceptions of equity in dating relationships and the effort expended on comforting predict the quality of comforting communication. One hundred and fifteen college students reported their perceptions of equity in their relationships. In addition, they estimated the effort they would expend on comforting their partner in different situations and reported the verbal messages they would use to comfort their partners in a particular scenario. Although molecular measures of equity were significant predictors of comforting behavior, global measures were not. Support was found for the use of comforting communication as a maintenance and a balancing mechanism. In addition, the effort participants would exert in a major crisis was a significant predictor of comforting quality.


Vegetative shoot apices composed of a meristematic dome with two pairs of leaf primordia were excised from in vitro-cultured shoots of seven clones of dessert banana (AA, AAA and AAAA), plantain (AAB) and bluggoe cooking banana (ABB). The mutation induction experiments were carried out with 60Co gamma irradiation of 15, 30, 45 and 60 Gy at a dose rate of 8 Gy min-1. Radiosensitivity was assessed by determining the relative increase of fresh weight of cultures and by the rates of shoot differentiation. Musa clones exhibited differences in radiosensitivity and post-radiation recovery. These differences were dependent on ploidy level and hybrid constitutions by genomes A (acuminata) and B (balbisiana). Considerable phenotypic variation was observed among plants regenerated from in vitro shoot-tips after mutagenic treatment. An early-flowering putative mutant plant of Grand Nain (GN-60 Gy/A) was selected in the glasshouse in the M1V4 generation. The mutant plant was micropropagated and its vegetative progeny was planted for field testing in a tropical environment. Leaf protein electrophoresis provided evidence of an altered genetic nature of the mutant plant in comparison with the original clone. The mutant GN-60 Gy/A showed a less densely staining protein of about 33 kDa Mwt and lacked three other proteins. In addition, two bands of esterase isozymes, characteristic for the original Grand Nain, were not detected in extracts of GN-60 Gy/A. The potential of induced mutagenesis for genetic improvement of banana and plantain is discussed and a scheme of in vitro mutation breeding is outlined.


This paper presents a high voltage pulse source which is able to generate ultra wideband (UWB) pulses during about 1 ns through a 16 antennas array. This UWB source is composed of a 50 kV DC voltage supply, a Tesla transformer to amplify this voltage up to 400 kV, a gaseous pressurized peaking switch and an impedance transformer (50 Ω → 3.125 Ω). This output impedance value corresponds to the input impedance value of a sixteen 50 Ω antennas array. That is why a distributor is needed in order to feed the antenna array. In this paper, the peaking switch and the capacitive line divider used to characterise the generated pulses are particularly described. The peaking switch is based on the principle of a line discharge by means of a high pressure gas switch. It is loaded with a Tesla transformer to obtain a good pulse reproducibility. The main characteristics of the output pulse waveform (amplitude and rise time) are linked to the properties of the gas switch and particularly to the gap distance, the pressure and the nature of the gas used in the switch filling. The aim is to find a good compromise between various parameters as the output pulse amplitude, the rise time and the repetition rate in order to ensure a better efficiency of the UWB source. Classical voltage measurement techniques do not allow us an estimation of the main characteristics of such an output signal. Therefore a voltage probe was designed and realised to measure both the amplitude and the rise time of the pulses delivered by the generator. This device is based on the principle of a capacitive line divider. Calibration tests (transient and frequency tests) were performed and show that the high cut-off frequency, around 2.5 GHz, is consistent with the transient response of the output high voltage waveform. The design, realisation and calibration tests are also presented.


Abstract Objectives: Quantify the independent and combined effects of abdominal muscle quantity and lumbar bone mineral density (BMD) on injury risk and in-hospital outcomes in severely injured motor vehicle crash (MVC) occupants ages 50 and older. Methods: Skeletal muscle area measurements of MVC occupants were obtained through semi-automated segmentation of an axial computed tomography (CT) slice at the L3 vertebra. An occupant height-normalized Skeletal Muscle Index (SMI) was calculated - a defining metric of sarcopenia and low muscle mass (sarcopenia thresholds: <38.5 cm2/m2 females; <52.4 cm2/m2 males). Lumbar BMD was obtained using a validated, phantomless CT calibration method (osteopenia threshold: <145 mg/cm3). SMI and BMD values were used to categorize occupants, and logistic regression was used to associate sarcopenia, osteopenia, and osteosarcopenia predictors to injury outcomes (e.g., Injury Severity Score (ISS), maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale (MAIS) score, fractures) and hospital outcomes (e.g., length of stay, ICU days). Results: Of the 336 occupants, 210 (63%) were female (mean ± SD: age 66.3 ± 10.6). SMI was 41.7 ± 8.0 cm2/m2 in females and 51.2 ± 10.8 cm2/m2 in males. Based on SMI, 40% of females and 55% of males were classified as sarcopenic. BMD was 163.2 ± 38.3 mg/cm3 in females and 164.1 ± 35.4 mg/cm3 in males, with 41% of females and 33% of males classified as osteopenic. Prevalence of both conditions (osteosarcopenia) was similar between females (21%) and males (22%). Incidence of low SMI and BMD increased with age. Sarcopenic individuals were less likely to sustain a MAIS 2+ thorax injury and had longer ICU stays. Osteopenic individuals were more likely to sustain upper extremity injuries and fractures, and were less likely to be discharged to a rehabilitation facility. Osteosarcopenic individuals were less likely to be ventilated or admitted to the ICU but tended to spend more time on the ventilator if placed on one. Conclusions: Osteosarcopenia was not associated with any injury outcomes, but sarcopenia was associated with thoracic injury and osteopenia was associated with upper extremity injury incidence. Sarcopenia was only associated with ICU length of stay, while osteopenia was only associated with discharge destination. Osteosarcopenia was associated with likelihood of being ventilated, being admitted to the ICU, and with increased length of ventilation.


The adsorption of gold chloride onto a gold surface in aqueous solution, in the presence of excess citrate ions, and its subsequent reduction to Au has been monitored using an atomic force microscope. The force of interaction between a gold sphere and gold substrate in the presence of citrate (3.3 × 10−4M) at pH 6.3 is repulsive. However, this situation changes rapidly (<15 min) with the introduction of 1 × 10−4M AuCl4- and the force of interaction becomes attractive. Over a period of 7 h the measured long-range force of interaction again becomes repulsive as the gold chloride is reduced. Force–separation data indicate that multilayer adsorption of citrate occurs on the gold surface and that considerable counter-ion binding is associated with these adsorbed layers.


High detection sensitivity in the presence of process variation is a key challenge for hardware Trojan detection through side channel analysis. In this work, we present an efficient Trojan detection approach in the presence of elevated process variations. The detection sensitivity is sharpened by 1) comparing power levels from neighboring regions within the same chip so that the two measured values exhibit a common trend in terms of process variation, and 2) generating test patterns that toggle each cell multiple times to increase Trojan activation probability. Detection sensitivity is analyzed and its effectiveness demonstrated by means of RPD (relative power difference). We evaluate our approach on ISCAS'89 and ITC'99 benchmarks and the AES-128 circuit for both combinational and sequential type Trojans. High detection sensitivity is demonstrated by analysis on RPD under a variety of process variation levels and experiments for Trojan inserted circuits.


In the past, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) were mostly used in the military operations to prevent pilot losses. Nowadays, the fast technological evolution enables the production of a class of cost-effective UAVs which can service a plethora of public and civilian applications, specially when configured to work cooperatively to accomplish a task. However, designing a communication network among the UAVs is challenging task. In this article, we propose a centralized UAV placement strategy, where UAVs are used as flying access points forming a mesh network, providing connectivity to ground nodes deployed in a target area. The geographical placement of UAVs is optimized based on a Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA). The goal of the proposed scheme is to cover all ground nodes using a minimum number of UAVs, while maximizing the fulfillment of their data rate requirements. The UAVs can employ different data rates depending on the channel conditions, which are expressed by the Signal-to-Noise-Ratio (SNR). In this work, elitist Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) is used to find a set of optimal positions to place UAVs, given the positions of the ground nodes. We evaluate the trade-off between the number of UAVs used to cover the target area and the data rate requirement of the ground nodes. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can optimize the UAV placement given the requirement and the positions of the ground nodes in the geographical area.


This examination study was done to recognize the effect of democratic coaching style on the game strategy of badminton players. It was basic to discover the effect of prevalent democratic coaching style inside the educational structured organizations for developing successful inter-collegiate, inter-department, and inter-varsity level Badminton players. The examination was ensured on two hundred players (boys) related to Badminton-game. The players studying in various degree programs of twenty concerned Colleges of division Sukkur, (N=100) and twenty various departments of teaching (N=100) of Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur (SALU) took an active part in the examination. The Badminton players evaluated the efficacy of democratic coaches on their game strategy, utilizing the Coaching Efficacy Scale (C.E.S), a review poll. The frequency and percentage were diversely processed with the general means as; 2.37, 2.41, 2.49, 2.37, 2.34, 2.51, which were distinctive essentially from one another. The outcomes demonstrated that the popularity-based democratic coaching style positively affects the game strategy of players to contend in the competitions. Finally, the impact of democratic coaching style on players' game strategy was found to be higher. This data would add to set up between university and between department level badminton programs all the more successfully to chase ability eventually.


Mucus hypersecretion in airways is a common pathological
change observed in chronic inflammatory diseases and asthma. We investigated
the new role of cell attachment to the extracellular matrix (ECM) on the
production of the airway mucus protein, MUC5AC mucin, in human airway
epithelial cells, NCI-H292. MUC5AC levels of cells cultured on low adhesion
plates were 10-fold higher than those of cells cultured on adhesion plates.
Cells cultured on bovine serum albumin (BSA) coated plates, which produce low adhesion conditions, also induced the up-regulation of MUC5AC. Mucin staining by
PAS and MUC5AC immunodetection confirmed that mucin proteins were overproduced
under low adhesion conditions. The major adhesion molecule between cells and
the ECM was integrins. A time-course experiment showed that the expression
patterns of integrin β1 and MUC5AC
protein were inversely proportional. The inhibition of integrin β1 induced an increase in MUC5AC production in cells cultured under adhesion conditions, but not under low adhesion
conditions. These results suggested that cell attachment regulates MUC5AC production, which is up-regulated by low adhesion to the ECM, and MUC5AC
production is inversely proportional to the function of integrin β1.


Nowadays, one important goal of automation is to optimize the complete work and material flow under the constraints of energy consumption, quality and throughput. As a matter of fact, the whole control process should be flexible and reconfigurable which targets the three levels of the control pyramid (ERP, MES, Field). In the context of our ongoing research project LK3S an agent platform is under construction which enables optimization and flexibility. This paper discusses the design and development of a hardware abstraction layer for the lowest level of the control pyramid which offers all services needed by the agent platform and which allows links between work orders and tasks of the field level, e.g. a robot has to mount a tire. Field level tasks are elementary commands composed of a sequence of atomic operations. These tasks play a similar role as microcode for CPUs. Since every task operates individually it can be scheduled so that multiple concurrent actions can be serialized in a way that real-time requirements are still met. Even at runtime, new tasks can be dynamically defined, transferred, activated and deleted within the field level.


Mutations in the LRRK2 gene have been widely linked to Parkinson's disease. The G2019S variant has been shown to contribute uniquely to both familial and sporadic forms of the disease. LRRK2-related mutations have been extensively studied, yet the wide variety of cellular and network events directly or indirectly related to these mutations remain poorly understood. In this study, we structured multi-nodal human neural networks carrying the G2019S mutation using custom-designed microfluidic chips coupled to microelectrode-arrays. By applying live imaging approaches, immunocytochemistry and computational modelling, we have revealed alterations in both the structure and function of the resulting neural networks when compared to controls. We provide first evidence of increased neuritic density associated with the G2019S LRRK2 mutation, while previous studies have found either a strong decrease, or no change, compared to controls. Additionally, we corroborate previous findings regarding increased baseline network activity compared to control neural networks. Furthermore, we can reveal additional network alterations attributable to the specific mutation by selectively inducing transient overexcitation to confined parts of the structured multi-nodal networks. These alterations, which we were able to capture both at the micro- and mesoscale manifested as differences in relative network activity and correlation, as well as in mitochondria activation, neuritic remodelling, and synaptic alterations. Our study thus provides important new insights into early signs of neural network pathology significantly expanding upon the current knowledge relating to the G2019S Parkinson's disease mutation.


Continuously increasing demand for travel is contributing to increasing congestion oil roads, especially within the urban settings. The cost of congestion is projected to rise if left unchallenged. Transport planners havee limited options to tackle this situation. While exploring the various impacts of teleworking, this thesis has investigated its potential for travel demand management during the peak periods. By doing so, it seeks to increase the range of policy options to support transport policy objective(s).

Teleworking has been studied from various perspectives in the past; however, its impact on commute travel has not been modelled. This thesis has applied a policy analysis based methodology to the study of teleworking impacts. The methodology required bespoke data to estimate an SP model of teleworking adoptin and frequeny, for which a survey was carried out on car commuters to the city centre of Leeds. The survey also explored the employees' attitudes towards teleworking and its other impacts. The result from these aspects of the survey have been presented and analysed.

A bespoke demand model of teleworking adoption and frequency has also been estimated from the collected data to predict the teleworking impacts. This model uses telework as a policy measure and evaluates its performance relative to three indicators: reduction in work-based travel, levels of overall car use and car use during the peak. Within an extended framework, the demand model has also been linked to a congestion response function to analyse the system-wide impacts of teleworking.

The use of the methodology has shown that it is possible to model telework as a TDNI measure and use it to support transport policy objective(s). The results of the analysis
indicate teleworking impact on work-based travel, car use and system performance. The extent of the impacts would depend on the nature of the telework policy, which needs
to be clear and well- communicated. Further, the employers also need to address the issue of teleworkability through job redesigns. The study findings show the inadequacy of
current teleworking policy and legislation, highlight the need for making telework formally available by the firms to the eligible employees and emphasise the regulator's role in this regard.


Lactobacillus plantarum UNQLp 11 strain was isolated from a Patagonian Pinot noir wine at the oldest commercial winery (110 years old) in General Roca, North Patagonia, Argentina, and has demonstrated its ability to survive during winemaking processes and successfully carry out malolactic fermentation. This work aimed to obtain the whole assembled genome of the UNQLp 11 strain, analysing its architecture and the possible functions of the predicted genes from the oenological properties of this strain. The genome size is 3 534 932 bp, with a mean GC content of 44.2%, 3 412 CDS, 80 transposons and 148 tandem repeats. A comparison between the genome size and gene content of 14 Lb. plantarum strains from different origins was performed, and UNQLp 11 exhibited the largest size. The in silico genome-wide analysis allowed us to confirm the existence of genes encoding enzymes involved in the synthesis of several metabolites of oenological interest, in addition to bacteriocins and exopolysaccharides. Furthermore, it is possible to speculate on this strain's adaptation to different environments, as it is able to use diverse substrates for its growth. All these features suggest the potential of UNQLp 11 to be a good starter culture for malolactic fermentation.


In the business environment today job security is an important and primary requirement of the employees as the employees' turnover rate is haphazardly increasing in different industrial sectors. This study determines the impact of leadership and organizational identification on the job security of teachers in the private institutions Punjab, Pakistan and the mediation of organizational identification is also tested. Data is analyzed by using Smart partial least squares structural equation modeling (Smart-PLS-SEM). Many teachers suffer from low job security that not only affect them internally but also affect their work performance. Therefore the main objective of our research is to determine the responsible factors which affect the job security of teachers working in the private educational institutions operationalized under BISE Punjab. In this paper, the parameters used for determining the job security of teachers are; Leadership, and organizational identification and mediating role of organizational identification between leadership and job security is also tested. During this study, 150 teachers from different private institutions operational in Punjab were asked to fill up the questionnaires containing a total of 32 items including different numbers of questions related to each determinant. The results showed that the determinants can explain the job security of the teachers up to a significant level. However, regression analysis and validity analysis proves that they are good predictors of job security of the employees (teachers). Beside these conclusions, this paper introduced other scientific queries and issues regarding the different types of relations or connections among the determinants and hence gives probable pathways to explain or interpret the relations.


The differential-cognitological point of view, giftedness is "a systemic quality of a personality that develops throughout life and determines their abilities to achieve exceptionally high results in one or more activities compared to those of other people". Herewith, it is the fundamental concept of general aptitude, under which "the level of general abilities development that determines the range of activities in which a person can achieve great success" is understood. Within the structure of general aptitude intellectual giftedness is singled out as the level of development, as well as the type of organization of individual mental experience, which ensure an opportunity of creative intellectual activity, i. e. an activity, related to the creation of subjectively and objectively new ideas, to the use of innovative approaches to solving problems and openness to controversial aspects of the situation and so on. In order to identify talented children and adults the value of intellectual quotient (IQ) is still most commonly used. Psychometric approach (the measurement of psychic phenomena with the help of standardized IQ tests) to the diagnosis of intellectual giftedness, which is dominant in psychological diagnostics today, by definition, cannot "measure" the phenomena of an individual psyche, since the modern level of psychological science does not allow to proceed to psychological diagnosis, let alone prediction of a certain person`s behavior, on the basis of individual results in performing a psychological test (psychometric test of intelligence, personality questionnaire, projective methods etc). In our opinion, many problems in psychological and pedagogical support of gifted children could be avoided by making use of cognitive-style approach to diagnosis of intellectual giftedness, creative abilities, propensities and peculiar mental traits of a separate individuality. Objectivity of such an approach is corroborated by the results of individual cognitive styles (hereinafter CS) diagnostics, carried out by means of experimental techniques. In contrast to standardized tests, such techniques allow to perform diagnostic tests individually and reveal the peculiarities of the arrangement and functioning of an individual mind. Obviously, nowadays we are faced with the need for providing theoretical, methodological and empirical grounds for the development of a conceptual model that would consider giftedness as an integral psychological system, all aspects of which could be understood in the context of age dynamics and mental experience of an individual. CS approach to interpreting and diagnosis of giftedness provides a reliable theoretical basis for working out a systematic methodology of psychological diagnostics of the general aptitude, as it meets the basic principles of humanization of the educational environment in Ukraine. CS approach is child-centered, therefore, it brings in focus individual uniqueness and originality of each child.


Information regarding the correlation between characters are of great importance to simultaneous traits selection in breeding programs. However, quantification and interpretation of the correlations magnitude do not imply in direct and indirect effects. In this context, the path analysis is presented as an alternative and viable tool for the selection process. The objective of this study was to evaluate the phenotypic, genotypic and environmental correlations between eight major agronomic characters in pepper lines (C. chinense L.) and its consequences in direct and indirect effects by path analysis. Eight agronomic traits were assessed under field conditions in 22 C. chinense L lines. According to the results, there is a genetic variability among the evaluated lines, whose yield per plant (PY) and total number of fruits (NF) variables are highly correlated with high direct effect on pepper lines yield. The selection of pepper lines with high yield can be accomplished through direct selection or using a suitable selection index, being advantageous to select lines with other characteristics, such as appropriate scion height and diameter for conducting manual and mechanized harvesting. The use of the constant k is efficient to reduce the variance of path coefficients, providing better estimation of the effects that affects yield.


Although, the olive trees produce hermaphrodite flowers, abnormal flowers (flowers with absence or reduced stamens and flowers with absence of pistil) are frequently observed and may reduce fruit set. This study investigates the phenology evolution and the male and female abortion of the oleaster tree (or the wild olive tree) flowers (Olea europaea L. subsp. europaea var. sylvestris ) from natural ecosystems represented in two Tunisian Parks. The female abortion was evaluated by the percentage of flowers lacking pistil, and male abortion by differential staining for the cytoplasm of pollen grain. Flower abortion was examined and compared for eight oleaster trees in two different natural sites. At the beginning of flowering (the last two weeks of April), the flower numbers ranged from 15 to 26 flowers per inflorescence. However, one month after blossoming, the fruit set ranged from 1 to 3 drupes per inflorescence. Thus, a significant decrease of flowers per inflorescence was observed on all trees. The percentage of flowers without stamens and flowers without pistil per inflorescence ranged from 5.7 to 38.8% and from 4.9 to 88.1%, respectively depending on the oleaster tree. Moreover, abnormal flowers had effect on fruits number per inflorescence. Indeed, the r 2 linear regression values were 0.89 and 0.83, respectively. Therefore, due to the similar flower abnormalities occurring for the olive trees, the transfer of a low rate of abnormal flowers to cultivated olive may improve the crop.


Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is imperative to detect cases of TB as early as possible because if left untreated, there is a 70% chance of a patient dying within 10 years. The necessity for supplementary tools has increased in mid to low-income countries due to the rise of automation in healthcare sectors. The already limited resources are being heavily allocated towards controlling other dangerous diseases. Modern digital radiography (DR) machines, used for screening chest X-rays of potential TB victims are very practical. Coupled with computer-aided detection (CAD) with the aid of artificial intelligence, radiologists working in this field can really help potential patients. In this study, progressive resizing is introduced for training models to perform automatic inference of TB using chest X-ray images. ImageNet fine-tuned Normalization-Free Networks (NFNets) are trained for classification and the Score-Cam algorithm is utilized to highlight the regions in the chest X-Rays for detailed inference on the diagnosis. The proposed method is engineered to provide accurate diagnostics for both binary and multiclass classification. The models trained with this method have achieved 96.91% accuracy, 99.38% AUC, 91.81% sensitivity, and 98.42% specificity on a multiclass classification dataset. Moreover, models have also achieved top-1 inference metrics of 96% accuracy and 98% AUC for binary classification. The results obtained demonstrate that the proposed method can be used as a secondary decision tool in a clinical setting for assisting radiologists.


A megadose steroid therapy with 1000 mg methylprednisolone i.v. per day given for several days was tried in two patients with papillitis, in whom a progressive visual loss had been observed for two weeks. In both cases a prompt and extensive recovery occurred. In two additional patients with progressive visual loss caused by papillitis megadose steroid therapy could not be given because of oto-rhinological and dental contraindications. Based on the assumption that the rapid recovery observed after the megadose steroid therapy of neuritis may have resulted essentially from an antiedematous effect, a purely antiedematous treatment with infusions of mannitol was given. In both patients visual acuity returned as promptly as in the patients treated with megadose steroids. These four observations together with reports of the literature indicate that the megadose steroid therapy, and perhaps a purely antiedematous therapy, are of potential benefit in selected cases of papillitis with progressive and severe loss of vision.


Monetary policy operates in an environment of great uncertainty about the current economic situation. A wide range of economic indicators available in real time are used, therefore, to shed light on various sectors of the economy. This paper presents a method for weighting the indicators to obtain a macroeconomic picture in a resources-uses framework, by using a nowcasting model for the rate of growth of uses, imports and GDP in Israel. The use of the model enables an estimate of economic activity to be obtained one or two months prior to the official publication of the Central Bureau of Statistics. The method incorporates: a switch from a monthly data set that includes full or partial information on the quarter under review, to a quarterly system; a forecast of each of the components of the National Accounts (private consumption, investment, exports and imports); and an estimate of GDP using the sources-uses identity and complementary indicators. The main findings of this study are: (1) The indicators that contribute most to forecasting ability are the foreign trade data: goods imports and exports, imports of durables and imports of capital goods; data from surveys--the Consumers Confidence Index, the Purchasing Managers Index, the Capital Utilization Index; and share price indices and data on tax revenues. The advantage of most of these indicators is their relatively low rate of revision, especially at turning points. (2) It was found that the model functioned well in out-of-sample forecasting of GDP, private consumption and imports, and to a lesser extent, of exports. The quality of the forecast of fixed investment, however, was low, and public consumption could not be forecast at all. (3) The estimate of the GDP growth rate had an average error (absolute value) of 2.6 percentage points, in annual terms. The model's good forecasting ability of GDP derives from, among other things, the sources-uses identity, which means that errors in uses are offset by imports. (4) It was found that imports of durable goods are a central indicator in forecasting private consumption, even though they constitute less than 10 percent of consumption. (5) The estimate of exports yielded the result that the US Purchasing Managers Index can serve as an index of global demand, and is preferable to other well-used international indicators such as world trade and GDP, which become available only after a considerable delay. (6) The low forecasting ability of fixed investment derives from the difference between the development in residential and nonresidential investment. (7) The data on investment in inventory are very volatile and subject to frequent revisions, but nonetheless evidence was found that stocks serve as a buffer at times of temporary gaps between supply and demand. (8) Experience gained so far from using the model shows that its nowcasting errors on real time are not bigger than the out-of-sample errors. Despite the many revisions that the monthly indicators undergo. This is apparently due to the high correlation between the revisions to the indicators for forecasting uses and the indicators for forecasting imports.


Dengue and obesity are currently highly prevalent conditions worldwide and the association between these two conditions may result in greater risk for DENV infection and disease severity. In this study the association between obesity and recent, inapparent dengue was investigated. Serum DENV IgM and NS1 were evaluated in 49 adult volunteers (15 lean and 34 individuals with obesity, according to body mass index), between September 2017 and June 2018. Adiposity, endocrine, metabolic, and immune data of the participants were also obtained. None of the study participants tested positive for the DENV NS1 antigen. DENV IgM was detected in 33.3% of the lean individuals, and in 44.1% of those with obesity; the presence of DENV IgM was not associated with body mass index (OR = 1.32, 95% CI = 0.59–2.98, p = 0.48). However, body fat index was higher in obese individuals who had recent inapparent dengue (14.7 ± 3.1 versus 12.7 ± 2.1 kg/m2, p = 0.04), as was the expression of CD11b by classical (CD14++CD16−) monocytes (1103.0 ± 311.3 versus 720.3 ± 281.1 mean fluoresce intensity). Our findings suggest an association between adiposity and recent inapparent dengue and the involvement of classical monocytes in this association.


Objective Being conversant in core drug knowledge is essential for pharmacy graduates. Pharmacists provide up to date drug information and advice in various healthcare settings; hence practical drug knowledge is an essential part of pharmacy education. Medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, and therapeutics are often discrete building blocks in pharmacy curricula, leaving the possibility that students may pass individual subjects but not retain knowledge, or be able to apply it in a practical situation to individual patients or in particular contexts. Anecdotal reports from the pharmacy profession suggest that pharmacy graduates entering the workplace may possess inadequate core drug knowledge. The aim of this project was to implement and assess a number of student-focused educational initiatives, including speed dating as an innovative tool, to facilitate the revision of practical drug knowledge, improve self-reflection and confidence in counselling, and to prepare graduates for internship and pharmacy practice. Method During the final semester of the Master of Pharmacy program in 2012, students were exposed to a variety of practical drug review strategies. A list of 100 significant drugs was compiled and distributed to students, which included the 50 most commonly dispensed drugs in Australia and 50 drugs that teacher-practitioners considered important. Intermittent formative quizzes on the core drugs were delivered at the start of selected lectures, with immediate feedback provided. Speed dating workshops were developed, in which students rotated between timed stations of student peers and pharmacy academics to demonstrate drug knowledge, including drug class, indication, dosing, counselling and monitoring, on randomly selected core drugs. Finally, a module of review lectures, on cardiovascular drugs, anti-infective therapies, drugs significant in the hospital practice setting and drug counselling, were created and delivered. The initiatives were later evaluated by anonymous questionnaire distributed during a timetabled class. Students were asked to rate the degree to which they perceived each activity improved their core drug knowledge, self-reflection, confidence in medication counselling, and overall preparedness for pharmacy practice using a 5-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). Students were also invited to comment on the review activities, including the speed dating workshop. University Ethics Approval was granted (PHM/04/12/HREC). Results Of 98 students enrolled 78% (n=76) received and completed the questionnaire. All students were exposed to the core drug list, the majority of students were exposed to the quizzes and review lectures, and 88% (n=67) of respondents attended the speed dating workshop. Overall, students agreed that the activities had positive impacts on improving drug knowledge, confidence in counselling, preparedness for practice and self-reflection. The most notable of these was the ability to self-reflect on areas requiring improvement: core drug list (mean 4.53), quizzes (mean 4.51), speed dating (mean 4.43) and review lectures (mean 4.15). End of semester exam results for drug knowledge questions was high (mean 91%) compared to total exam results (mean 72%). Conclusion The drug review activities engaged students and improved their drug knowledge. Students agreed they improved their counselling and preparedness, and they valued the ability to self-reflect on their knowledge gaps. Keywords: drug knowledge, pharmacy curriculum, reflection


Recent advances in sediment fingerprinting research have seen Bayesian mixing models being increasingly employed as an effective method to coherently translate component uncertainties into source apportionment results. Here, we advance earlier work by presenting an extended Bayesian mixing model capable of providing a full Bayes treatment of geochemical uncertainties. The performance of the extended full Bayes model was assessed against the equivalent empirical Bayes model and traditional frequentist optimisation. The performance of models coded in different Bayesian software (JAGS and Stan) was also evaluated, alongside an assessment of model sensitivity to reduced source representativeness and nonconservative fingerprint behaviour. Results revealed comparable accuracy and precision for the full and empirical Bayes models across both synthetic and real sediment geochemistry datasets, demonstrating that the empirical treatment of source data here represents a close approximation of the full Bayes treatment. Contrasts in the performance of models coded in JAGS and Stan revealed that the choice of software employed can impact significantly upon source apportionment results. Bayesian models coded in Stan were the least sensitive to both reduced source representativeness and nonconservative fingerprint behaviour, indicating Stan as the preferred software for future Bayesian sediment fingerprinting studies. Whilst the frequentist optimisation generally yielded comparable accuracy to the Bayesian models, uncertainties around apportionment estimates were substantially greater and the frequentist model was less effective at dealing with nonconservative behaviour. Overall, the effective performance of the extended full Bayes mixing model coded in Stan represents a notable advancement in source apportionment modelling relative to previous approaches. Both the mixing model and the software comparisons presented here should provide useful guidelines for future sediment fingerprinting studies.


In recent years the determination of serum enzyme activities has played an increasing role in clinical chemical diagnosis. Because the enzyme composition of single organs is qualitatively and, to a certain extent, quantitatively similar, the diagnostic value of enzyme activity determinations is often diminished. Each serum enzyme can be separated into isoenzymes which stem from different organs and make specific organ diagnoses possible. This separation is possible through chemico-physical and immunological methods. Electrophoretic, chromatographic and immunological methods for the determination of creatine phosphokinase isoenzymes the immunological method is superior to the electrophoretic method in precision and accuracy. Artefacts through storage do not occur in the immunological method. New aspects of the clinical value of the determination of isoenzymes of alkaline phosphatase (AP, E.C. 188.8.131.52), creatine phosphokinase (CK, E.C. 188.8.131.52) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH, E.C. 220.127.116.11) were studied in the following 8 patient groups: 1. The value of AP isoenzymes for determining liver damage due to chronic alcoholism. 2. The distribution of AP isoenzymes in dialysis patients with special regard to the intestinal isoenzyme. 3. The immunological demonstration of carcino-placental antigen of AP in tumours of the lung. 4. The demonstration of intestinal isoenzymes of AP in chylous effusions. 5. The profile of LDH isoenzymes in pulmonary alveolar proteinosis in serum and in lung lavage-fluid. 6. The usefulness of CK-MB isoenzyme as proff of cardiotoxicity of pharmaceuticals. 7. The profile of CK isoenzymes in central and peripheral nervous system diseases, especially the appearance of CK-BB in serum and the behaviour of CK at the blood spinal fluid barrier. 8. The appearance of unusual isoenzyme patterns in newborn infants and in pregnant women in comparison with normal adults. The determination of isoenzymes is of great clinical importance, even if the total serum activity of the particular enzyme is not elevated.


Frank Lloyd Wright has been canonized as America's greatest architect - the man who gave us the Guggenheim Museum, and dozens of other 19th and 20th century American architectural landmarks. The scandals of his early life - including his multiple marriages and the bizarre axe murder of his third wife and family by an outraged servant in 1914 - have long since become the stuff of legend. Yet by far the most bizarre, prolonged, and fascinating period of Wright's prodigious career - from 1932 through the end of his life in 1959 - involved his founding and stewardship of the Taliesin Fellowship in Spring Green, Wisconsin a kind of academy-cum-architectural-firm-cum-communal living foundation he created together with his third wife, Olgivanna. A devotee and former lover of the legendary mystic Georgi Gurdjieff, Olgivanna Wright saw Taliesin as a potential American outpost for Gurdjieff in the United States; Wright saw it as a kind of miniature society in which he could play feudal lord - dressing his young and willing apprentices in matching uniforms, demanding that they perform endless physical labour, even intruding into their personal lives in unexpected and sometimes alarming ways. Wracked by dissent, almost constantly bankrupt, the facility nevertheless became the seedbed of some of Wright's most impressive projects - from the innovative Johnson Wax building to the unforgettable Fallingwater. After his death, Wright's widow and remaining apprentices quietly conspired to preserve secrecy about the dark side of Taliesin. Now, in "The Fellowship", sociologist Roger Friedland and architect Harold Zellman have persuaded dozens of former apprentices - and Wright's remaining daughter, long out of the public spotlight - to reveal the truth. The result is a twisted and haunting tale of genius and ego, mysticism and chariatanism, violence, deep sexual dysfunction, and more - a magisterial work of biography, one that will forever change how we think about Frank Lloyd Wright.


Parent-child conversations are important for children's cognitive development, children's ability to cope with stressful events, and can shape children's beliefs about the causes of illness. In the context of a global pandemic, families have faced a multitude of challenges, including changes to their routines, that they need to convey to their children. Thus, parent-child conversations about the coronavirus pandemic might convey information about the causes of illness, but also about how and why it is necessary for children to modify their behaviors to comply with new social norms and medical guidance. The main goal of this study was to examine the questions children ask about the COVID-19 pandemic and how parents answer them. This survey included responses from a national sample of 349 predominantly white parents of children between the ages of 3 and 12 recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk in United States. Parents reported that although children asked about COVID-19 and its causes (17.3%), children asked primarily about lifestyle changes that occurred as a result of the pandemic (24.0%) and safety (18.4%). Parents reported answering these questions by emphasizing that the purpose of different preventative measures was to protect the child (11.8%) or the family (42.7%) and providing reassurance (13.3%). Many parents discussed how it was their social responsibility to slow the spread of the virus (38.4%). Parents of younger children tended to shield them from information about COVID-19 (p = .038), while parents with more knowledge were more likely to provide explanations (p < .001). Our analysis shows that families not only discuss information about the virus but also information about changes to their lifestyle, preventative measures, and social norms.


An acute pyelonephritis is still a serious complication of pregnancy. Urinary stasis plays an important role in the pathogenicity of this infection. 232 patients without symptoms were studied to find out how much urinary stasis occurred by measuring dilatations of the pyelo-calices by ultrasound. The authors suggest that a correlation between the bacteriological examination of the urine and the ultrasound appearance of the kidney can be established. Asymptomatic urinary infection occurs more frequently when there is dilatation of the pelvis of the kidney greater than 12 mm in the right kidney and 7 mm in the left. This is why they suggest that an ultrasound examination of the hilum of the kidney should be carried out routinely to screen for patients who are at risk of having pyelonephritis in pregnancy.


Thirty-eight golf courses from different climatic areas located in Ontario and Quebec, Canada, were surveyed for plant-parasitic nematodes on greens, fairways, and roughs in 2002 and 2003. Sixteen, 15 and 12 genera of plant-parasitic nematodes were found on golf greens, fairways and roughs, respectively. Roughs showed higher Simpson's D diversity indexes as compared to greens and fairways. Linear regression model comparing plant-parasitic nematode (all genera) abundance as a function of spatial coordinates showed difference (P = 0.05) along a north-south axis and no difference (P > 0.05) along an east-west axis. Pratylenchus was the most frequent genus recovered on greens and fairways, whereas Tylenchus was the most common on roughs. Among the genus Pratylenchus, P. crenatus was frequent and widespread, whereas P penetrans and P thornei were uncommon. The principal component analysis showed that nematode are related mostly to soil chemical (pH, P, K, O.M.) rather than physical (sand, silt) parameters. Overall, the correlations between soil parameters and nematode counts were low, particularly for Heterodera, Mesocriconema, Paratylenchus and Psilenchus.


The e-Government program in many developing countries is an emerging concept and at the formative stage. This paper focuses on Liberia, a developing country in sub-Saharan Africa faced with many challenges impeding government efforts to harness ICT to deliver quality services. Key among the challenges is the fragmentation of government information systems causing inoperability among government ministries and agencies. This paper describes a project in which we develop a shared services model to transform e-government implementation in Liberia by determining key services that will allow the government to share and leverage finite ICT resources. Few academic studies have been carried out to investigate approaches and ways of combining e-government services in order to implement shared services in a developing country. Through a case study approach, we propose electronic government services that have the potential to promote Shared Services Model implementation in sub-Saharan African countries.


Background and aim of the work: Spiritual wellbeing has important implications for an individual's health and wellbeing. Whilst the provision of spiritual care and assessment of spiritual needs is a vital part of the nurse's role, literature suggests that nurses do not always engage in spiritual care with their patients or assess their spiritual needs. This review aims to ascertain wider reasons for this inconsistent spiritual care delivery by nurses to their patients. Methods: A review of the literature was conducted to identify instruments available relating to nursing professionals spiritual care and assessment. Results: 14 measures relating to spiritual care and assessment were identified covering the key domains of: 'Beliefs and values and attitudes around spiritual care,' 'Frequency of provision or extent to which they provide spiritual care or willingness,' 'Respondents' level of knowledge around spirituality and spiritual care,' 'Ability to respond to spiritual pain,' and 'Multiple Domains: beliefs and attitudes around spirituality and spiritual care, amount of preparation, training and knowledge, spiritual care practices, perceived ability and comfort with provision and perceived barriers to provision.' Conclusions: A lack of standardisation in the conceptualisation and assessment of spiritual care causes challenges in reviewing, however several themes do emerge. In general student and qualified nurses are aware of the importance of providing spiritual care and are hindered by a lack of education about how best to implement such care. The religiosity of individual nurses or their training institutions seems to be of less importance than training in spiritual care interventions. (www.actabiomedica.it)


An efficient and flexible coding technique is proposed in this paper inspired by the SP frame in the H.26L standard, which can achieve a drift-free bitstream switching at the predicted frame. The proposed scheme improves the coding efficiency of the SP frames in the H.26L standard by limiting the mismatch between the references for the prediction and reconstruction with two DCT coefficient coding modes and the rate-distortion optimization. Furthermore, the proposed scheme allows independent quantization parameters for up-switching and down-switching bitstreams. It further reduces the switching bitstream size while keeping the coding efficiency of the normal bitstreams. More rapid and frequent down-switching than up-switching and much smaller size of down-switching bitstream can be achieved with the proposed SP technique. These are very desirable features for any TCP-friendly protocols. Compared with the original SP method for H.26L, the proposed SP method improves the coding efficiency up to 1.0 dB. This SP technique has been officially accepted by the JVT standard.


The application of advanced ceramics in high-tech industries is increasing considerably due to their superior properties. However the difficulties involved and manufacturing costs have been impediments to the widespread replacement of metals by the advanced ceramics. One of the main targets in grinding of these materials is increasing the machining efficiency while preserving the surface integrity. Hence in order to reduce the grinding forces and temperatures and increase the material removal rate, a specially designed segmented wheel (T-Tool) has been developed. Reducing the static cutting edges via segmenting the wheel which automatically leads to reduction of momentarily engaging cutting edges results in a reduction of rubbing and plowing regimes and therefore a decrease in the specific grinding energy. The obtained results show that the application of the T-Tool wheel can increase the G-ratio and decrease the grinding forces considerably. A decrease of up to 35% of grinding forces has been achieved.


One aspect of courtship in1 male Drosophila melanogaster has been reported to be experience dependent. Males that have courted fertilized females are virtually unresponsive to virgin females for 2-3 hr. Here, this response was utilized as an assay for the effects of conditioning mutations on experiencedependent courtship. Seven strains expressing conditioning mutations (previ-ously isolated and characterized for learning or memory defects in an electrical shock-odor association paradigm, independent of courtship) were all found to be mutant in expression of this experience-dependent change in courtship behavior. By comparison, three control strains that were unselected for conditioning defects all expressed normal experience-dependent courtship. Other results indicate that males of the conditioning-defective strains are able to elicit necessary cues from fertilized females, yet do not then modify their courtship with virgin females. Thus, it is suggested that experience-dependent modification of courtship and the previously reported associative olfactory conditioning with electric shock share common elements of processing. The possibility that experience-dependent courtship represents adaptive behavior is discussed.