In this project robustness in train scheduling is examined. The project is conducted for DSB S-tog because the current situation is in uenced by a large amount of disturbances which cause delays and low regularity. The aim of this project is to help DSB S-tog in the development of more robust timetables. The robustness analysis is performed by comparing different already existing and new timetables using simulation. The approach of simulation of timetables is new in connection with DSB S-tog.
 A generic model of the S-train network is modelled and implemented using the simulation tool Arena. The model can simulate all arrivals and departures of the trains in the entire network during a day. The model includes an implementation of three different recovery methods where trains are turned at a station prior to the end station, replaced at the central station or entire lines are cancelled in order to eliminate delays.
 Distributions of the delays occurring at the stations in the S-train network are generated from historical data for the experiments. A number of experiments are conducted and investigated. Experiments include examination of the effect of the different recovery methods, investigation of the consequences of delays and comparison of how different features in the timetables affect the robustness.
 The results from the simulation show that generally the robustness decreases as the number of lines in the timetable increases. Furthermore it is proven that the number of lines is not the only important aspect when developing robust timetables. Buffer times at the terminal stations have a significant impact on the robustness and it is also shown that the amount of necessary buffer needed to create a robust timetable is limited. The allocation of buffer times is important since all lines should be able to recover using buffer times. Furthermore line structure also turns out to have an impact on the robustness.
 Finally two totally new timetables with new line structures are developed in this project. They both generally achieve an improved robustness.


The paper draws on previous research on the role of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), Regional Development Banks (RDBs) and National Development Banks (NDBs). It examines the role of the Cyprus Development Bank (CDB), prior its privatisation in 2008, in the economic development of the country and, specifically, its intermediation of international finance from multilateral and regional development banks. Currently, this function is undertaken by the commercial banks, which are however limited by a balance sheet fatigue, resulting from the excessive levels of private debt, as shown in this paper. Moreover, the commercial banks lack necessary elements in successfully executing this key role. They do not have the professional competence as well as the discipline and culture for executing such a highly demanding role in the economy. Last but not least, and judging from the experience of the CDB it is imperative to have a totally independent and competent financing institution, which will lead by example. Further to the analysis of the current macroeconomic and institutional context in Cyprus, there is a void of institutional capacity to fund projects and offer valuable advice to state and private decision-making bodies on decisive development projects. This paper recommends the establishment of an NDB or a National Development Finance Agency (NDFA), and proposes an appropriate model.


Documents from the court of King's Bench, recently discovered in the National Archives at Kew, illuminate the activities of the Theatre's owners, James Burbage and John Brayne, in the years immediately following its construction in 1576/7. The impresarios first breached an agreement with Thomas Blagrave, acting Master of the Revels,and were sued for the vast sum of £201. They then allegedly broke their contract with John Hind, haberdasher of London, whose two sons had been engaged as adolescent actors. Two copies of the contract, the earliest document of its kind to survive relating to the employment and working conditions of players, are preserved on the KB plea rolls. Its 10 clauses cover rates of remuneration (both while working in London and on tour), managerial rights and responsibilities, the actors' duties, and the time and frequency of playing. It is suggested that the company whose activities were thereby regulated was the Earl of Leicester's Men, in view of Burbage's known association with that troupe. Charles, Lord Howard, who subsequently became the most important patron of Elizabethan drama, plays a significant role in events leading up to the litigation. The documents, which are transcribed and translated, complement and contextualize the pioneering research of C. W. Wallace into the Theater's early history, published almost a century ago.


For most of the 20th century literature and criticism of literature functioned as central engines of cultural change across the western world. This was especially the case in ex-colonial societies like New Zealand where writers and intellectuals frequently expressed a desire to create sophisticated local cultures which could compete with the foundation societies in Europe. Between 1940 and 1984 New Zealand writers and intellectuals developed a mode of literary criticism which this essay refers to as `Literary Critique' for this very reason. In the absence of well established cultural traditions and a sense that they had a duty to import and indigenise western intellectual thought in order to further the evolution of New Zealand culture, a series of writers wrote often scathing critiques of their culture, using literature as their point of entry. Post-War New Zealand Literary Critique stands as evidence of a provincial, masculine, and angry intellectual culture.


As U.S. corporations progressively move into international markets, many are confronting foreign regulations, which seem to conflict with those governing operations in the U.S, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ("Sarbanes-Oxley�?) is arguably the legislation presenting the most challenges to publicly traded organizations. Sarbanes-Oxley was hurriedly enacted by Congress to restore investor confidence and curb various corporate excesses after the blight of accounting irregularities and financial turmoil which shook the U.S. corporate landscape and eventually engulfed industry heavyweights such as Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing or Adelphia. Sarbanes-Oxley was described by President Bush as the "most far-reaching reform of American business practices since the time of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.�? However, others have been less than thrilled with the heavy burdens imposed by the Act and its extraterritorial impact – that is, when one country imposes its laws on persons operating outside its territory – since this measure is perceived as imposing substantial, and hidden, costs on international commerce and industry, while creating new conflicts between jurisdictions. Although Sarbanes-Oxley was only intended to address domestic concerns, the importance of U.S. capital markets in the global economy unfortunately resulted in the Act possessing international "spill-over�? effects. This note examines how Sarbanes-Oxley fits within the extraterritorial framework of U.S. securities regulation. Part I provides a brief summary of the bases of extraterritorial application of Sarbanes-Oxley and U.S. securities law. Part II explores the territorial reach of previous U.S. securities law to determine whether Sarbanes-Oxley's extraterritorial scope is really a departure from previous regulations or not. Finally, Part III analyzes the extraterritorial nature of Sarbanes-Oxley and how its scope diverge from traditional securities regulations. This paper concludes that Sarbanes-Oxley does not actually expand the territorial scope of securities law, but that its regulation of corporate governance is a significant departure from traditional methods of securities regulation.


We consider the reconstruction of a phylogeny from multiple genes under the multispecies coalescent. We establish a connection with the sparse signal detection problem, where one seeks to distinguish between a distribution and a mixture of the distribution and a sparse signal. Using this connection, we derive an information-theoretic trade-off between the number of genes, m , needed for an accurate reconstruction and the sequence length, k , of the genes. Specifically, we show that to detect a branch of length f , one needs m = (cid:2)( 1 / [ f 2 √ k ] ) genes.


BACKGROUND
Impulsivity is a hallmark of addiction and predicts treatment response and relapse. Impulsivity is, however, a complex construct. Translational cross-species research is needed to give us greater insight into the neurobiology and the role of impulsivity in addiction and to help with the development of new treatment strategies for improving patients' impulse control.

AIM
To review recent evidence concerning the concept of impulsivity and the role of impulsivity in addiction.

METHOD
The concept and neurobiology of impulsivity are reviewed from a translational perspective. The role of impulsivity in addiction and implications for treatment are discussed.

RESULTS
Our recent translational cross-species study indicates that impulsivity is made up of several, separate independent features with partly distinct underlying neurobiological substrates. There are also indications that these features make a unique and independent contribution to separate stages of the addiction cycle.

CONCLUSION
In addition, the improvement of impulse control is a promising new target area for treatments that could lead to better results. However, those involved in developing new treatment strategies will have to take into account the complexity and multidimensional character of impulsivity.


Continuous change and radical transformations are intrinsic and often contradictory in the 'Information Society.' If the 'Information Society' marks a radical social shift, i.e. discontinuous change, then theorizing what the phenomenon is becomes crucial in capturing useful information about it. Yet, if continuities with other changes, both economic and social, characterize the 'Information Society,' then well-tested information systems might be adapted to collect needed information.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris is working to develop statistics which are both internationally comparable and illuminating of public policy debates on the 'Information Society.' This effort focuses infrastructure and content. For both, goods and services are produced, traded, and consumed by firms and individuals. There are social impacts and inputs. The process, whether of continuous change or radical transformation, of developing 'Information Society' is a social process.

Thus far, OECD has identified information and computing technologies (ICTs) as providing an infrastructure necessary to displaying, moving, processing and storing data, information and codified knowledge. The OECD's ongoing work on indicators for the information society opens possibilities for a discursive sociological examination of the processes involved in, and operative with, 'Information Society' to ask whether and to what extent continuous change exists, and if radical transformation is occurring, how best to capture it. We can, relying on the work of the OECD as a case study, ask crucial sociological questions. Is information society defined and driven by electronic products, or is it a social creation which then requires electronic products? Is the central issue the electronic products, their production and distribution, or is it the electronic networks that deliver them? Is society transforming? What role does knowledge play?


Abstract This paper evaluates the use of lightweight aggregates (LWA), namely perlite (PER) and vermiculite (VER) in cement mortars. The workability of mortars was defined in rheometer and flow table tests. Three distinct LWA levels were added (0 - 3, 4.5 - 7, and 9- 10.5 wt%) requiring the use of distinct water/solids (W/S) ratios (0.18, 0.265 and 0.35, respectively). In order to evaluate the performance of such formulations in the hardened state, the flexural and compressive strength after 28 days curing was also measured. In general, LWA caused a high variation on the yield stress and spread on table, being the yield stress the best rheological parameter to be related with the flow table. PER exerts a strong impact on initial yield stress, while the effect of VER is stronger for longer rheology testing periods. The compressive strength ranged from 12.3 MPa (0 % LWA) to 2.77 MPa (PER) and 2.39 MPa (VER).


Drylands cover over 40% of the global land area and are home to more than 2 billion humans. Here, we use the terrestrial water storage (TWS) anomaly data derived from GRACE satellites to assess water storage changes globally and find that drylands lost ~15.9 ± 9.1 mm of water between April 2002 and January 2017. The TWS trends are more significant and apparent in dry regions than in humid regions. The decrease in TWS occurred mainly in hyperarid and arid regions. Exact causes to the observed declines in TWS remain elusive due to anthropogenic water withdrawals, atmospheric demand (potential evapotranspiration, PET) in contrast to supply (precipitation, P) caused by the warming, and terrestrial ecohydrological responses. Therefore, we use a process‐based model forced by climate data to interpret the causes over three selected dryland regions showing the strongest drying trends. We find that the modeled TWS without considering anthropogenic water withdrawals explains most of the declining GRACE TWS over the southwestern North America (NA) and Middle East but underestimates the drying trend over North China. This suggests that TWS declines in the southwestern NA and the Middle East were primarily driven by the contrast between atmospheric demand and supply, whereas anthropogenic water withdrawals may have played a relatively more dominant role in TWS declines over North China. Additional model experiments indicate that terrestrial ecohydrological processes that help extract deep substrate water are critical for providing water supply additional to precipitation to sustain ET in the drying drylands at decadal scales.


This paper presents results from a coupled thermal, hydrological and mechanical analysis of thermally-induced permeability changes during heating and cooling of fractured volcanic rock at the Drift Scale Test at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The analysis extends the previous analysis of the four-year heating phase to include newly available data from the subsequent four year cooling phase. The new analysis of the cooling phase shows that the measured changes in fracture permeability follows that of a thermo-hydro-elastic model on average, but at several locations the measured permeability indicates (inelastic) irreversible behavior. At the end of the cooling phase, the air-permeability had decreased at some locations (to as low as 0.2 of initial), whereas it had increased at other locations (to as high as 1.8 of initial). Our analysis shows that such irreversible changes in fracture permeability are consistent with either inelastic fracture shear dilation (where permeability increased) or inelastic fracture surface asperity shortening (where permeability decreased). These data are important for bounding model predictions of potential thermally-induced changes in rock-mass permeability at a future repository at Yucca Mountain.


There are many advantages to using locally produced health information, such as its cultural appropriateness, geographic specificity, and flexibility. The Indian Supercourse is an online repository of lectures in Epidemiology, written by authors in India, on topics of particular interest to teachers and students in India.The purpose of this dissertation is to describe the planning, development and evaluation of the Indian Supercourse Network. The Indian Supercourse Network has 6,000 faculty members in India, and more than 200 epidemiology lectures written by authors in India. Evaluation of the Indian Supercourse Network included an assessment of utilization of these educational materials in India using page views measured by web statistics analysis software. The main hypothesis compared page views from India, between the Indian Supercourse and the Main Supercourse. The results of the Wilcoxon Rank-Sum test showed that there were significantly more page views from India to the Indian Supercourse as compared to the Main Supercourse (p < 0.0001). This means that users in India prefer to use the Indian Supercourse more than the Main Supercourse. This may be because information in the Indian Supercourse is more pertinent to the epidemiology education needs of users in India. In contrast, there were significantly more page views from non-Indian countries to the Main Supercourse as compared to the Indian Supercourse (p < 0.0001). Interestingly, there was no significant difference (p = 0.0642) in total page views from all countries considered together, between the Indian Supercourse and the Main Supercourse.Public Health Significance - In India, there is a lack of an adequate system for formal epidemiology education. The Indian Supercourse has made epidemiology education available to everyone interested in learning epidemiology in India. The results of this study have shown that the Indian Supercourse is being utilized by people in India. Information contained on the Indian Supercourse website can eventually be disseminated across the digital divide via low-bandwidth methods and the postal system in India.


A shellfish positioning and opening apparatus having at least one processing lane whereby the apparatus includes the following stations of an in-feed and singulation station followed by a reorientation assembly station utilizing a vision system and a holding and opening assembly station. The said processing stations are operatively connected in that order together to receive shellfish having meat therein to position said shellfish according to their shape and orientation to enable shellfish to be halved so that one shellfish half has the shellfish meat thereon. A method is also included having the steps of-singulating the shellfish; applying vision system to determine and compare orientation of shellfish, reorienting each shellfish so that the shellfish is pointing in the right direction, abutting said shellfish to the vertical alignment device to cause said shellfish to be substantially vertical and loading shellfish onto lifting assembly to lift said shellfish to allow the holding and opening assembly to hold it against the hinge breaker, apply a vacuum to create a gape whereby the knife assembly slidably operates to cut the meat from one shellfish half.


After more than 50 years, controversy persists over the effects of radioactive fallout from the 1954 Bravo hydrogen bomb test. Although most scholars agree that the exposure was a tragic accident, popular accounts continue to portray the Marshallese as human guinea pigs, victims of scientific imperialism and Cold War atomic politics. Analyzing the historical records of pertinent activist groups as well as government documents of the long-term medical program that was created in response to the exposure - the Bravo Medical Program - this study describes why the question defies closure. Like many Cold War studies, the Medical Program blurred the lines between medical care and research, and between civilian and military needs. The Program's multi-decade continuation meant that it became subject to a wide variety of social, political, cultural, and ethical changes. While relatively uncontroversial in the 1950s, when the threat of nuclear war appeared imminent, the Program became suspect in the 1960s and 1970s, when the Marshall Islands struggled toward political independence and human rights campaigns took place world-wide. In the Marshall Islands, antinuclear and anti-colonial activists argued that radiation science was uncertain and open to many interpretations, and that government scientists could not be trusted to be objective. At the same time, the Marshall Islands Government tried to use the exposures to their advantage. The needs of the exposed often became lost in the tumult. My work demonstrates that political and social concerns, more than ethical ones, were the primary basis for charges of human experimentation. Today, uncertainty lingers. Yet the science produced by the Bravo Medical Program continues to be used by all parties in public policy and compensation claims debates because diverse groups still believe that, whatever its shortcomings, science offers a greater promise of objectivity than politics. By offering a nuanced view of a controversial topic, this dissertation contributes to studies about health and environmental debates with public policy implications, as well as the growing literature on the civilian consequences of Cold War atomic science


This paper presents a novel analysis of the stress system of Ichishkiin Sɨnwit (Sahaptian). Ichishkiin Sɨnwit has been previously analyzed as a unique example of a stress system requiring a ranking of the Affix Faithfulness constraints over the Root Faithfulness constraints. I argue, however, that such idiosyncratic stress mechanisms are not necessary. Instead, I propose that accent assignment is cyclic: Underlying accent in the outermost derivational layer within the relevant domain wins. A central role in this analysis belongs to (i) the underlying specification of morphemes for accent, and to (ii) morpho-prosodic domains. The current proposal additionally offers an insight into the role of morpho-prosodic domains in the hiatus resolution strategies.


Information and communication technology (ICT) is a useful expression to describe the multitude and variety of ways in which technology has infiltrated into many aspects of everyday life, in education, at work or at home in the spare time.
The last 20 years have brought remarkable innovations in the delivery of educational content. Traditionally distinct, text, sound, graphics and video content are now combined into a single "multimedia" document. The world around us is becoming increasingly interconnected through computer networks. Moreover, the evolution of the field of ICT is closely intertwined with the advancement of science in general and technology in particular and with the development of legislative initiatives that support research, implementation and dissemination of its applications within the educational system.
The use of assistive technologies allows students with special needs to participate actively in the process of interaction and communication; in other words, technology can recover or replace deficiency to a very great extent, depending on several factors: the moment when its use was introduced, the manner of implementation, ongoing support from the persons around etc.
The use of interactive information technologies has great potential for the education of children with special educational needs.
Technology can be an equalization factor - for many people with disabilities, technology can serve as a support to overcome or compensate for cognitive difficulties in learning.
This paper attempts to summarize some of the current directions for the deployment of information and communication technologies in education. Various possibilities of using these technologies in the educational process are presented, with reference to the use in teaching, to the use as a communication tool, as a compensatory tool or means for training, exploration or evaluation.


To solve some problems concerning practical and experimental medicine, an automatic system was elaborated for processing the medical examination data. The core of the system is the NAIRY-2 computer. All the problems to be solved were divided into four groups, according to the software management: those, concerned with archival storage and acquisition of data about the patients' state; on formation of visual (graphic) presentation of the data contained in perforated documents; on diagnosis and prognoses, according to clinical and physiological data through the use of an applied program package; and those to be programmed by the user, in accordance with standard and additional software of the NAIRI-2.


The last decades have shown an increasing interest in servitization strategies. Important advances have been reported in the understanding of this phenomenon. Whilst research has extensively highlighted the design and benefits of integrated goods-service strategies, much less attention has been dedicated to the difficulties that companies experience when transforming their "goods only" strategies to integrate services. Experience shows that servitization constitutes a major managerial challenge because it alters the core business model of an organization. Adaptation problems can seriously delay the implementation of changes. Recognizing this research gap, this paper addresses the lack of understanding of the servitization related change processes. We empirically identify factors that are obstacles in the transformation process towards servitization. We theoretically validate these obstacles by mapping them onto the antecedents and tenets proposed by the organizational ecology theories. We conclude by discussing the significance of our findings and highlight the opportunities for further research.


The paper shows that there has been considerable geographical and institutional overlap in the coverage is of the rural areas involving inefficiency in resource allocation and stop-uniform coverage of the clientele. Operation of the lead bank system has also proved to be difficult. Multiple lending to defaulters of other and multiple pledging of the same security remain serious problems. A number of suggestions made to improve the situation.


Silibinin, the flavonoid found in the milk thistle, has been shown to suppress cell growth and exhibit anti-cancer effects. Some flavonoids were reported to inhibit angiogenesis which is essential for tumor growth and metastasis. In this study, to clarify the underlying mechanisms for the anti-cancer effect of silibinin, we examined the effects of silibinin on human endothelial ECV304 cells. Silibinin was found to suppress the growth and induce the apoptosis of ECV304 cells. The induction of apoptosis by silibinin was confirmed by ladder-patterned DNA fragmentation, cleaved and condensed nuclear chromatin and DNA hypoploidy. Silibinin could effectively inhibit constitutive NF-kappaB activation as revealed by electrophoretic mobility shift assay and NF-kappaB-dependent luciferase reporter study. Consistent with this, silibinin treatment resulted in a significant decrease in the nuclear level of p65 subunit of NF-kappaB. In addition, silibinin treatment caused a change in the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 in a manner that favors apoptosis. Silibinin also induced the cytochrome c release, activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9 and cleavage of PARP. These results suggest that silibinin may exert, at least partly, its anti-cancer effect by inhibiting angiogenesis through induction of endothelial apoptosis via modulation of NF-kappaB, Bcl-2 family and caspases.


With ever-increasing frequency, consumers are seeking information on the foods they eat. Food labels are an important source of this type of information, and the Codex Alimentarius, created by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, provides a global reference for coordinated food quality and identification standards. The Codex Alimentarius agenda includes nutritional information and "health claims," which are defined as any representation that states, suggests, or implies that a relationship exists between a food or a constituent of that food and health. Although food labeling seems to effectively assist consumers in choosing among processed foods, consumers are not always capable of reading or interpreting nutritional information correctly, so health claims may allow for more precise decision-making for these products. The present paper examines the use of health claims in countries and regions that have already implemented this type of regulation (Brazil, Chile, Canada, United States of America, the European Union, and Japan).


It is proposed to generate self-sustainable electrical energy taking advantage of the environment's natural conditions in the Unidad Central del Valle del Cauca (UCEVA). This, by the use of the so-called Peltier Cells, which have the capacity to generate electricity from a thermal gradient, thanks to the properties of the Seebeck, Peltier, Joule and Thompson effects, for semiconductor materials, being these the main theoretical references in this research project. To carry out this idea, it is proposed to design, build and characterize a floating device initially made up by Peltier Cells. Likewise, it is aimed to place on the lake in the university campus in order to take advantage of both the low temperatures of this water reservoir and the high temperatures generated by direct exposure to sunlight turning those opposite temperatures into a source of energy. That energy will provide a certain area adjacent to the lake not before expanding the studies related to the effects mentioned above and other principles of thermoelectricity. This research project will open the doors to a relatively new branch of renewable energies, thermoelectricity, both for the UCEVA and for the scientific community in Tulua and Valle del Cauca.


Field and petrographic study of the Precambrian Rough Ridge Formation of the Packsaddle Group documents a more complex tectonic history for the Llano Uplift than has previously been reported. The Rough Ridge Formation was affected by at least two metamorphic events and five phases of deformation that may be part of a single progressive event. The predominant mineral assemblages in pelitic and mafic rocks are characteristic of the amphibolite facies at relatively low pressure. Ubiquitous granoblastic polygonal textures overprinting multiple foliations indicate that post-tectonic recrystallization followed dynamothermal metamorphism, a probable consequence of regional reheating during later granite intrusion. The most intense deformation produced isoclinal folds and pervasive axial planar foliation (S2), resulting in complete transposition of original bedding. This foliation cuts an earlier, local foliation (S1) and is folded by small F3 folds and a crenulation cleavage, S3. Both S2 and S3 are cut by a differentiated crenulation cleavage, S4. The most prominent folds in the area and the associated pervasive axial planar cleavage, S5, overprint all earlier structures. In one pelitic unit, oriented inclusions show that garnet formed after S3 and cordierite after S5. Growth and recrystallization of micas, quartz, and feldspars span all phases of deformation. The timing of tectonic and metamorphic events is bracketed by the pretectonic intrusion of the 1,167 ± 15-m.y.- old Red Mountain Gneiss and the post-tectonic intrusion of a 1,080 ± 30-m.y. old melarhyolite dike. Structural and petrologic characteristics of the Rough Ridge Formation indicate that the Llano Uplift underwent a complex tectonic and metamorphic development similar to that described for the Grenville orogeny elsewhere in North America.


Current deep learning approaches to linear prediction coefficient (LPC) estimation for the augmented Kalman filter (AKF) produce bias estimates, due to the use of a whitening filter. This severely degrades the perceived quality and intelligibility of enhanced speech produced by the AKF. In this paper, we propose a deep learning framework that produces clean speech and noise LPC estimates with significantly less bias than previous methods, by avoiding the use of a whitening filter. The proposed framework, called DeepLPC, jointly estimates the clean speech and noise LPC power spectra. The estimated clean speech and noise LPC power spectra are passed through the inverse Fourier transform to form autocorrelation matrices, which are then solved by the Levinson-Durbin recursion to form the LPCs and prediction error variances of the speech and noise for the AKF. The performance of DeepLPC is evaluated on the NOIZEUS and DEMAND Voice Bank datasets using subjective AB listening tests, as well as seven different objective measures (CSIG, CBAK, COVL, PESQ, STOI, SegSNR, and SI-SDR). DeepLPC is compared to six existing deep learning-based methods. Compared to other deep learning approaches to clean speech LPC estimation, DeepLPC produces a lower spectral distortion (SD) level than existing methods, confirming that it exhibits less bias. DeepLPC also produced higher objective scores than any of the competing methods (with an improvement of 0.11 for CSIG, 0.15 for CBAK, 0.14 for COVL, 0.13 for PESQ, 2.66% for STOI, 1.11 dB for SegSNR, and 1.05 dB for SI-SDR over the next best method). The enhanced speech produced by DeepLPC was also the most preferred by 10 listeners. By producing less biased clean speech and noise LPC estimates, DeepLPC enables the AKF to produce enhanced speech at a higher quality and intelligibility.


Pneumothorax, the accumulation of air between the visceral and parietal pleurae, represents a potentially serious cause of chest pain in patients presenting to the emergency department. While there are known risk factors for spontaneous pneumothorax, in rare cases dry needling and acupuncture, forms of complementary and alternative medicine, have been known to result in pneumothorax. We present a case of a 38-year-old healthy female who presented with acute onset of pleuritic chest pain to the Emergency Department. On further history, it was discovered that she had received dry needling acupuncture for unrelated back pain the day prior to presentation. She was initially investigated with an electrocardiogram (ECG), which was unremarkable, and point of care ultrasound (POCUS), which showed absent lung sliding and the presence of a lung point on the right side, indicative of pneumothorax. This case describes the key features of pneumothorax on POCUS and how POCUS can be a valuable tool in the diagnosis of lung pathologies and highlights the importance of considering the rare but potentially serious complications of complementary and alternative medicine practices which are typically regarded as safe.


Transient disorders of cerebral blood circulation (TDCBC) are an actual medical problem due to their high frequency. An aim of the study was to work out prediction methods for these disorders in patients with cerebral insufficiency (CI). One hundred and one CI patients with TDCBC, mean age 55.2 +/- 7.4 years, 54 (53.5%) women, were included in the study. The comparison group comprised 41 patients, mean age 57.9 +/- 5.1 years, 28 (68%) women. Discrimination analysis and committee method were applied for prediction of TDCBC in patients with CI and 42 most significant predictors (neurological status, data of hematological and biochemical blood analyses, coagulograms, rheoencephalography) allowed to build a key rule for evaluating the likelihood of TDCBC development. Thus, the results obtained may be used in clinical practice for prediction of TDCBC in patients with CI.


Mobile edge computing (also known as fog computing) has recently emerged to enable in-situ processing of delay-sensitive applications at the edge of mobile networks. Providing grid power supply in support of mobile edge computing, however, is costly and even infeasible (in certain rugged or under-developed areas), thus mandating on-site renewable energy as a major or even sole power supply in increasingly many scenarios. Nonetheless, the high intermittency and unpredictability of renewable energy make it very challenging to deliver a high quality of service to users in energy harvesting mobile edge computing systems. In this paper, we address the challenge of incorporating renewables into mobile edge computing and propose an efficient reinforcement learning-based resource management algorithm, which learns on-the-fly the optimal policy of dynamic workload offloading (to the centralized cloud) and edge server provisioning to minimize the long-term system cost (including both service delay and operational cost). Our online learning algorithm uses a decomposition of the (offline) value iteration and (online) reinforcement learning, thus achieving a significant improvement of learning rate and run-time performance when compared to standard reinforcement learning algorithms such as  ${Q}$ -learning. We prove the convergence of the proposed algorithm and analytically show that the learned policy has a simple monotone structure amenable to practical implementation. Our simulation results validate the efficacy of our algorithm, which significantly improves the edge computing performance compared to fixed or myopic optimization schemes and conventional reinforcement learning algorithms.


Nanotechnologies are practically applicable in all important areas of industry and everyday life. Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary field covering natural and engineering sciences (e.g. mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, military sciences, etc.), as well as health sciences due to its versatility. This article provides a brief overview of some of the current and potential applications of nanotechnology in sport and sports security. Some examples of what is and what can be created with the help of nanotechnology in these areas are given, for example: unique characteristic sports equipment, sportswear and architecture; ultra-small computers, durable and multifunctional materials for use in clothing, shoes, etc. A critical discussion is presented. Possible future extensions of work in this area are considered.


Natural-language interfaces are gaining popularity due to their potential to democratize access to data and insights by making the interaction with data more natural and accessible for a wide range of business users. To fully embrace the goal of democratization, it is also necessary to provide effective and continuous guidance support for data exploration. Conversational interfaces enable exploration of the data and insights search space in small incremental steps as the conversation with the data progresses. In this demo, we describe Boomerang, a system that recommends data-driven insights to guide exploration of datasets through a conversational interface. Boomerang aggregates recommendations from a variety of statistical, collaborative, and content-based recommenders, and selects insights that match closely to the user's current state of data exploration, represented as the \em conversational context. Boomerang combines various metrics, such as \em relevance, \em interestingness and \em timeliness, to rank the insights and recommends the insights based on current conversational context. In the demo, we will show how Boomerang enables guided data exploration on a sales dataset, containing information about products, retailers, sales, orders, inventory levels and regions.


It is often said that radioisotopes applied to medicine have provided more spectacular results in diagnosis than in treatment. While this is probably true, this book records real achievements in therapy, and the results already given recall Osler's remark in a different context: " The lock has been turned. The door stands partly open, and we are permitted a glimpse of the future possibilities to be attained."


Among the fruit species cultivated in subtropical climates, quince has productive cultivars with high horticultural potential. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the genetic divergence among quince cultivars through multivariate procedures and to identify cultivars for cultivation in the tropics through selection indices. Twenty-seven productive quince cultivars were grown in a location with a high-altitude tropical climate. The number of fruit, estimated yield, flowering period, number of buds, number of shoots, number of brindles per shoot, shoot length, average fruit weight, fruit length, and fruit diameter were measured. A multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) associated with the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic means (UPGMA) based on Gower distance and Pearson correlation coefficients was used to evaluate genetic divergence. Superior cultivars were defined by the selection index based on the rank summation index and the Z-index. UPGMA grouping indicated there was genetic variability among cultivars and showed that groups that were more dissimilar [e.g., the cultivars Bereckzy and Champion (distance = 0.69)] had the potential to be used in future stages of quince selection. The estimated yield, shoot length, fruit weight and diameter, and flowering period contributed to the maximum variability among quince cultivars. The selection indices identified cvs. Bereckzy, Alaranjado, and Alongado (30, 68, and 73 rank summation index, respectively) as superior, simultaneously considering the evaluated traits with greater potential for cultivation in the tropics.


This paper addresses the estimation of fuzzy Gaussian distribution mixture with applications to unsupervised statistical fuzzy image segmentation. In a general way, the fuzzy approach enriches the current statistical models by adding a fuzzy class, which has several interpretations in signal processing. One such interpretation in image segmentation is the simultaneous appearance of several thematic classes on the same site. We introduce a new procedure for estimating of fuzzy mixtures, which is an adaptation of the iterative conditional estimation (ICE) algorithm to the fuzzy framework, We first describe the blind estimation, i.e., without taking into account any spatial information, valid in any context of independent noisy observations. Then we introduce, in a manner analogous to classical hard segmentation, the spatial information by two different approaches: contextual segmentation and adaptive blind segmentation. In the first case, the spatial information is taken into account at the segmentation step level, and in the second case it is taken into account at the parameter estimation step level. The results obtained with the iterative conditional estimation algorithm are compared to those obtained with expectation-maximization (EM) and the stochastic EM algorithms, on both parameter estimation and unsupervised segmentation levels, via simulations. The methods proposed appear as complementary to the fuzzy C-means algorithms.


Alprazolam is an anti-anxiety drug shown to be effective in the treatment of depression. In this study, the effect of sympathetic receptor antagonists on alprazolam—induced antidepressant action was studied using a mouse model of forced swimming behavioral despair. The interaction of three sympathetic receptor antagonists with benzodiazepines, which may impact the clinical use of alprazolam, was also studied. Behavioral despair was examined in six groups of albino mice. Drugs were administered intraperitoneally. The control group received only a single dose of 1% Tween 80. The second group received a single dose of alprazolam, and the third group received an antagonist followed by alprazolam. The fourth group was treated with imipramine, and the fifth group received an antagonist followed by imipramine. The sixth group was treated with a single dose of an antagonist alone (atenolol, a β1-selective adrenoceptor antagonist; propranolol, a non selective β-adrenoceptor antagonist; and prazocin, an β1-adrenoceptor antagonist). Results confirmed the antidepressant action of alprazolam and imipramine. Prazocin treatment alone produced depression, but it significantly potentiated the antidepressant actions of imipramine and alprazolam. Atenolol alone produced an antidepressant effect and potentiated the antidepressant action of alprazolam. Propranolol treatment alone produced depression, and antagonized the effects of alprazolam and imipramine, even producing depression in combined treatments.In conclusion, our results reveal that alprazolam may produce antidepressant effects through the release of noradrenaline, which stimulates β2 receptors to produce an antidepressant action. Imipramine may act by activating β2 receptors by blocking or down-regulating β1 receptors.


While certain contested goods do manage to make their way to market, others have moved less far in this direction and others seem permanently unable to do so. Moral contestation promotes, holds back or blocks the emergence of contested markets. This chapter examines the conditions that make the operation of these markets possible, and those that block their appearance. From a comparison between two cases (organs for transplantation and gambling), the authors focus attention on the one hand on those devices that make transactions possible, and on the other, on the "vulnerable populations" that these devices are intended to protect, either from or by the market.


The establishment in the 1980s of a European Health for All strategy and set of targets has implications for transport planning policy across Europe. Potentially, Health for All provides a means by which transport planning can better promote public health. Key to this is the ability of local Health for All projects to develop effective intersectoral collaboration with transport planning professionals. The progress of Health for All in influencing priorities in transport planning is explored through a comparative study of Health for All collaborating cities in Denmark, the Netherlands and England between 1986 and 1996. Three cities are used as case studies: Copenhagen, Groningen, and Sheffield.

The study examines the extent to which transport policies have been influenced by Health for All strategies and targets. Archival and interview data are used to explore the nature and degree of intersectoral collaboration between Health for All projects and transport planning departments. The research contributes to knowledge about how Health for All can influence transport planning in promoting health, an issue largely neglected in the literature.

There are similarities and differences between Health for All projects studied in the way that they have sought to develop intersectoral collaboration on transport issues. The research highlights common barriers to effective collaboration, but also how Health for All projects could develop collaborative initiatives. It indicates that health needs to be translated into values such as quality of life, equity, and environmental protection, found to be policy drivers within transport planning. Quality of life and equity are identified in Health for All targets but were not drawn on sufficiently by health promoters. The study findings also underscore the importance of national policy frameworks on both health and transport which can provide common ground between the two sectors. The most successful city Health for All project was characterised by concerns for environmental protection and quality of life, with supportive national government frameworks for health promotion and transport planning.


We address the stability of superfluid currents in a system of interacting lattice bosons. We consider various Gutzwiller trial states for the quantum phase model which provides a good approximation for the Bose-Hubbard model in the limit of large interactions and boson populations. We thoroughly analyze the current-carrying stationary states of the dynamics ensuing from a Gaussian ansatz, and derive analytical results for the critical lines signaling their modulational and energetic instability, as well as the maximum of the carried current. We show that these analytical results are in good qualitative agreement with those obtained numerically in previous works on the Bose-Hubbard model, and in the present work for the quantum phase model.


Gene copy number change is an essential characteristic of many types of cancer. However, it is important to distinguish copy number variation (CNV) in the human genome of normal individuals from bona fide abnormal copy number changes of genes specific to cancers. Based on Affymetrix 50K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array data, we identified genome-wide copy number variations among 104 normal subjects from three ethnic groups that were used in the HapMap project. Our analysis revealed 155 CNV regions, of which 37% were gains and 63% were losses. About 21% (30) of the CNV regions are concordant with earlier reports. These 155 CNV regions are located on more than 100 cyto- bands across all 23 chromosomes. The CNVs range from 68bp to 18 Mb in length, with a median length of 86 Kb. Eight CNV regions were selected for validation by quantitative PCR. Analysis of genomic sequences within and adjacent to CNVs suggests that repetitive sequences such as long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs) and long terminal repeats (LTRs) may play a role in the origin of CNVs by facilitating non-allelic homologous recombination. Thirty-two percent of the CNVs identified in this study are associated with segmental duplications. CNVs were not preferentially enriched in gene-encoding regions. Among the 364 genes that are completely encompassed by these 155 CNVs, genes related to olfactory sensory, chemical stimulus, and other physiological responses are significantly enriched. A statistical analysis of CNVs by ethnic group revealed distinct patterns regarding the CNV location and gain-to-loss ratio. The CNVs reported here will help build a more comprehensive map of genomic variations in the human genome and facilitate the differentia- tion between copy number variation and somatic changes in cancers. The potential roles of certain repeat elements in CNV formation, as corroborated by other studies, shed light on the origin of CNVs and will improve our understanding of the mechanisms of genomic rearrangements in the human genome.


SOCIAL MEDICINE may be regarded as a practice of medicine concerned with health and disease as a function of group living. It is interested in the health of people in relation to their behaviour in social groups and as such is concerned with care of the individual patient as a member of a family and of other significant groups in his daily life. It is also concerned with the health of these groups as such and with that of the whole community as a community.

Concern with the health needs of larger communities and territorial groups such as cities, regions and nations is also an important area of social medicine in which the public health physician is involved. Special interest groups have been the focus of attention of yet other practitioners of social medicine. Children at school, university students and occupational groups are among the more important of these groups for whom special health services, oriented to their specific needs, have been developed. Less formal groupings are now receiving increasing attention by those concerned with community health services, such as the family, in which the relationships between the members have intimate and enduring qualities. Other significant informal groups, in which face-to-face relationships are characteristic, are friendship groups, play groups of children and the neighbourhood community, in rural village or urban neighbourhood.


To improve the control precision of robotic manipulator, fuzzy support vector machines control method for robotic manipulator was presented based on genetic algorithm and least square algorithm. Fuzzy algorithm was used to decouple joints. Using support vector machines, fuzzy logical control of complete process and treatment of non-linear signal were realized. The parameters of controller were optimized by hybrid learning algorithm. First, least square algorithm was used for off-line optimization to form support vector machines control system. Then, genetic algorithm was used for on-line optimization to get the optimal performance parameters of support vector machines and the optimal fuzzy proportional parameters. Simulation results of a two-link manipulator demonstrated that the control method designed gets tracking effect with high precision.


Objective: This study aims to investigate the curative effects and mechanism of radiofrequency ablation nucleoplasty in the treatment of cervical vertigo. Methods: A total of 27 patients diagnosed with cervical vertigo from January 2012 to October 2014 received treatment of radiofrequency ablation nucleoplasty. The narrow-side vertebral artery diameters were examined by using Philips 1.5-T body dual-gradient MRI system. The haemodynamic parameters were detected by using transcranial Doppler sonography. Both of the vertebral artery diameters and haemodynamic parameters were recorded and compared before and after treatment. The curative effects in early post-operative application were evaluated according to the Nagashima standards. Results: Radiofrequency ablation nucleoplasty was performed in a total of 59 cervical discs in 27 patients. The average operation time was 42.7 min, and the symptoms of 92.6% patients were alleviated after radiofrequency ablation nucleoplasty post-operation application. There was no significant difference in the narrow-side vertebral artery diameters before and after treatment in both Group A ( p 5 0.12) and Group B ( p 5 0.48); however, the blood flow velocity was signifi-cantly higher than that before treatment in both Group A ( p 5 0.01) and Group B ( p 5 0.03), respectively. improves the blood flow in the narrow-side vertebral artery and illustrates the therapeutic effect on cervical vertigo in patients who have no direct compression of the vertebral artery.


This descriptive and cross-sectional study was designed to address nurses' computer literacy and attitudes towards the use of computers in health care and to determine the correlation between these two variables. This study was conducted with the participation of 688 nurses who worked at two university-affiliated hospitals. These nurses were chosen using a stratified random sampling method. The data were collected using the Multicomponent Assessment of Computer Literacy and the Pretest for Attitudes Towards Computers in Healthcare Assessment Scale v. 2. The nurses, in general, had positive attitudes towards computers, and their computer literacy was good. Computer literacy in general had significant positive correlations with individual elements of computer competency and with attitudes towards computers. If the computer is to be an effective and beneficial part of the health-care system, it is necessary to help nurses improve their computer competency.


This paper deals with the analysis of reinforced concrete ~RC! structures with special emphasis on modeling of the interaction between concrete and reinforcement. A new mode for consideration of the response of the composite material at the member (structural) scale is proposed. It is obtained from extension of the fracture energy concept, originally developed for the simulation of cracking of plain concrete, to reinforced concrete. Hereby, the fracture energy related to the opening of primary cracks is increased in order to account for bond slip between steel and concrete. This increase is determined from the distribution of bond slip by means of a one-dimensional composite model introduced at the bar scale. The model consists of steel bars and the surrounding concrete. Between these two components, a nonlinear bond stress -bond slip relation is considered. The obtained results at the bar scale, such as the average crack spacing between adjacent cracks and the load-displacement response of the composite material, form the basis for determination of the increase of the fracture energy at the member scale. The performance of the proposed transition of the steel-concrete interaction from the bar scale to the member scale is assessed by means of reanalysis of experiments performed on RC bars. The application of the respective material model for reinforced concrete to real-life engineering structures is reported in Part II of this series.


Amount of dietary protein is known to influence blood pressure in humans and animal models. However, contradictory reports are available on the influence of source of dietary protein and soy isoflavones on blood pressure. Information on potential effect of anthocyanins, potent flavonoid antioxidants widely distributed in fruits and vegetables, on hypertension is also limited. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine whether source of dietary protein (casein vs. soybean protein, washed by alcohol to remove most isoflavones), dietary extracted isoflavones and anthocyanins modulate the lifespan of Stroke-prone Spontaneously Hypertensive (SHRSP) rats, one of the most suitable models for hemorrhagic stroke. Body weight and systolic blood-pressure matched groups of 47 day-old SHRSP rats (n = 16) received semi-purified diets containing 200 g/kg protein (casein or soybean) supplemented with 0 or 500 mg/kg isoflavones (NOVASOY, a commercial soy isoflavones supplement extracted from soybean), and 0 or 500 mg/kg anthocyanins (extracted from elderberry). The drinking water contained 10 g/l sodium chloride to induce early hypertension. Survival times and survival rates of rats were determined. The survival rates were determined for each group and expressed as a percentage of the original number of rats still alive on a given day. The survival times and survival rates of animals fed casein and soybean protein diets were not different (P > 0.05). However, there was a significant effect of supplementation with isoflavones or anthocyanins on survival times and survival rates. Death occurred significantly earlier (P < 0.05) in the isoflavones- or anthocyanins-supplemented groups.


mu-Calpain and calpain-3 are Ca2+-dependent proteases found in skeletal muscle. Autolysis of calpains is observed using Western blot analysis as the cleaving of the full-length proteins to shorter products. Biochemical assays suggest that mu-calpain becomes proteolytically active in the presence of 2-200 microM Ca2+. Although calpain-3 is poorly understood, autolysis is thought to result in its activation, which is widely thought to occur at lower intracellular Ca2+ concentration levels ([Ca2+]i; approximately 1 microM) than the levels at which mu-calpain activation occurs. We have demonstrated the Ca2+-dependent autolysis of the calpains in human muscle samples and rat extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles homogenized in solutions mimicking the intracellular environment at various [Ca2+] levels (0, 2.5, 10, and 25 microM). Autolysis of calpain-3 was found to occur across a [Ca2+] range similar to that for mu-calpain, and both calpains displayed a seemingly higher Ca2+ sensitivity in human than in rat muscle homogenates, with approximately 15% autolysis observed after 1-min exposure to 2.5 microM Ca2+ in human muscle and almost none after 1- to 2-min exposure to the same [Ca2+]i level in rat muscle. During muscle activity, [Ca2+]i may transiently peak in the range found to autolyze mu-calpain and calpain-3, so we examined the effect of two types of exhaustive cycling exercise (30-s "all-out" cycling, n = 8; and 70% VO2 peak until fatigue, n = 3) on the amount of autolyzed mu-calpain or calpain-3 in human muscle. No significant autolysis of mu-calpain or calpain-3 occurred as a result of the exercise. These findings have shown that the time- and concentration-dependent changes in [Ca2+]i that occurred during concentric exercise fall near but below the level necessary to cause autolysis of calpains in vivo.


Dating is the period between the approaches of the two opposite sex individuals, characterized by mutual personal recognition both strengths and weaknesses of each individual. The purpose of the research is to describe the style of adolescence dating in Senior High School Blitar. The method in this research uses descriptive design. The population in this research is the students of Catholic Senior High School Blitar, academic year 2013/2014 aged 17-19 years, a great samples taken is as much as 74 students using systematic random sampling technique. Data collecting is done proving questionnaires. Times data retrieval is performed on 11 to 31 March 2014. Data categorized using the formula according Sutomo by the cut of point, and explained with statistic techniques mode. The result of this research showed the most demanding style adolescence is intimate as 88%. The amount of any teen dating stle is at most two kinds of style as much as 42%. So that adolescence have a relationship that is based on the style of sincerity, warmth, intimacy between opposite sex to maintain a longstanding love affair. Need to do further research on the factors that influence the style of adolescence in dating.


Using the spin and flux evolution of the accreting pulsar 4U 1626$-$67 across the 2008 torque reversal, we determine the fastness parameter dependence of the dimensionless torque acting on the pulsar. We find that the dimensionless torque is qualitatively different from the existing models: it is concave-up across the torque equilibrium whereas the existing torque models predict a concave-down (convex) relation with the fastness parameter. We show that the dimensionless torque has a cubic dependence on the fastness parameter near the torque equilibrium. We also find that the torque can not attain large values away from the equilibrium, either in the positive or the negative side, but saturates at limited values. The spin-down torque can attain a 2.5 times larger magnitude at the saturation limit than the spin-up torque. From the evolution of the frequency of quasi-periodic oscillations of 4U 1626$-$67 across the torque reversal of 1990, we determine the critical fastness parameter corresponding to torque equilibrium to be $\omega_{\rm c} \simeq 0.75$ within the framework of the beat frequency model and boundary region model for reasonable values of the model parameters. We find that the disc magnetosphere interaction becomes unstable when the inner radius approaches the corotation radius as predicted by some models, though with a longer timescale. We also find that there is an unstable regime that is triggered when the fastness parameter is 0.8 times the critical fastness parameter ($\omega=0.6$ for $\omega_{\rm c} \simeq 0.75$) possibly associated with an instability observed in numerical simulations.


Bladder tamponade due to hemorrhagic cystitis caused by BK virus in immunocompetent patients is familiar to urologists. BK virus is an important cause of nephropathy and graft loss in kidney transplant recipients. Although urothelial carcinoma of the bladder in kidney transplant recipients with persistent BK viruria is known, BK virus-associated urothelial carcinoma (BKVUC) in peripheral blood stem cell transplantation recipients is not as well known. A 54-year-old man with acute lymphoblastic leukemia was treated in the Department of Hematology of our hospital. After recurrence 25 months later, he received chemotherapy for half a year and underwent peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. He achieved temporarily complete remission, but he developed hematuria with BK virus-positive result 1 month after peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. One month later, he developed bladder tamponade-diagnosed hemorrhagic cystitis due to BK virus in our Urological Department. We performed transurethral coagulation to manage hemorrhage and removed a bleeding lesion in the bladder wall. Pathological examination of the removed bladder wall revealed pT1 stage BKVUC. We found that bladder tamponade could have led to reactivation of BK virus in this immunocompetent patient. This could be the first report of BKVUC of the bladder found in a peripheral blood stem cell transplantation recipient with close urological follow-up for 24 months. Adequate removal of bleeding lesions from the bladder mucosa with appropriate timing during hemorrhagic cystitis due to BKVUC could be essential to achieve good outcomes.


Previous studies have suggested that the Ca2+-saturated E140Q mutant of the C-terminal domain of calmodulin exhibits equilibrium exchange between "open" and "closed" conformations similar to those of the Ca2+-free and Ca2+-saturated states of wild-type calmodulin. The backbone dynamics of this mutant were studied using15N spin relaxation experiments at three different temperatures. Measurements at each temperature of the15N rate constants for longitudinal and transverse auto-relaxation, longitudinal and transverse cross-correlation relaxation, and the1H-15N cross-relaxation afforded unequivocal identification of conformational exchange processes on microsecond to millisecond time-scales, and characterization of fast fluctuations on picosecond to nanosecond time-scales using model-free approaches. The results show that essentially all residues of the protein are involved in conformational exchange. Generalized order parameters of the fast internal motions indicate that the conformational substates are well folded, and exclude the possibility that the exchange involves a significant population of unfolded or disordered species. The temperature dependence of the order parameters offers qualitative estimates of the contribution to the heat capacity from fast fluctuations of the protein backbone, revealing significant variation between the well-ordered secondary structure elements and the more flexible regions. The temperature dependence of the conformational exchange contributions to the transverse auto-relaxation rate constants directly demonstrates that the microscopic exchange rate constants are greater than 2.7x10(3)s-1at 291 K. The conformational exchange contributions correlate with the chemical shift differences between the Ca2+-free and Ca2+-saturated states of the wild-type protein, thereby substantiating that the conformational substates are similar to the open and closed states of wild-type calmodulin. Taking the wild-type chemical shifts to represent the conformational substates of the mutant and populations estimated previously, the microscopic exchange rate constants could be estimated as 2x10(4)to 3x10(4)s-1at 291 K for a subset of residues. The temperature depen dence of the exchange allows the characterization of apparent energy barriers of the conformational transition, with results suggesting a complex process that does not correspond to a single global transition between substates.


We define and compute the energy of higher curvature gravity theories in arbitrary dimensions. Generically, these theories admit constant curvature vacua (even in the absence of an explicit cosmological constant), and asymptotically constant curvature solutions with nontrivial energy properties. For concreteness, we study quadratic curvature models in detail. Among them, the one whose action is the square of the traceless Ricci tensor always has zero energy, unlike conformal (Weyl) gravity. We also study the string-inspired Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet model and show that both its flat and anti–de Sitter vacua are stable.


Mobile edge computing and network function virtualization (NFV) paradigms enable new flexibility and possibilities of the deployment of extreme low-latency services for Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications within the proximity of their users. However, this poses great challenges to find optimal placements of virtualized network functions (VNFs) for data processing requests of IoT applications in a multi-tier cloud network, which consists of many small- or medium-scale servers, clusters, or cloudlets deployed within the proximity of IoT nodes and a few large-scale remote data centers with abundant computing and storage resources. In particular, it is challenging to jointly consider VNF instance placement and routing traffic path planning for user requests, as they are not only delay sensitive but also resource hungry. In this article, we consider admissions of NFV-enabled requests of IoT applications in a multi-tier cloud network, where users request network services by issuing service requests with service chain requirements, and the service chain enforces the data traffic of the request to pass through the VNFs in the chain one by one until it reaches its destination. To this end, we first formulate the throughput maximization problem with the aim to maximize the system throughput. We then propose an integer linear program solution if the problem size is small; otherwise, we devise an efficient heuristic that jointly takes into account VNF placements to both cloudlets and data centers and routing path finding for each request. For a special case of the problem with a set of service chains, we propose an approximation algorithm with a provable approximation ratio. Next, we also devise efficient learning-based heuristics for VNF provisioning for IoT applications by incorporating the mobility and energy conservation features of IoT devices. We finally evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms by simulations. The simulation results show that the performance of the proposed algorithms is promising.


The structuring and financing of mergers and acquisitions has substantial tax consequences. The decision to acquire the assets or the shares of the target company should take into consideration, on one hand, the capital gains taxation at the transaction time and, on the other hand, the tax planning opportunities for the future. The tax burden can also be minimized by an optimum selection of the acquisition vehicle. The choice of a financing alternative should take into account the interest deductibility and the specific tax regulations of each jurisdiction concerned.


Contents: Foreword, Susan Youens Part I Lieder: Mayrhofer, Schubert, and the myth of 'vocal memnon', Marjorie Hirsch Beyond the Leiermann: disorder, reality, and the power of imagination in the final songs of Schuberta (TM)s Winterreise, Richard Giarusso Musical representation of concepts in Schubert's settings of the Jena Romantics, Lisa Feurzeig. Part II Sacred Music: Small is beautiful: Schubert's smaller sacred works, Crawford Howie. Part III Opera: Franz Schubert and Viennese popular comedy, Mary Wischusen 'Ever more fearful grows the confusion': genre and the problem of musical narrative in Schubert's Fierrabras, Brian Locke Goethe and Schubert: Claudine von Villa Bella a " conflict and reconciliation, Lorraine Byrne Bodley. Part IV Chamber Music: The Beethoven allusions in Auf dem Strom (D.943), Larry Hamberlin Et in Arcadia ego: the elegiac structure of Schubert's Quartettsatz in C minor (D.703), Su Yin Mak. Part V: Piano Music: Hypermeter, phrase length and temporal disjuncture in Schubert's KlavierstA ck No 3 (D.946), Ryan McClelland Distancing the heroic: the Piano Sonata in D major (D.850), Cameron Gardner Composing with the 'nursery apparatus': thoughts prompted by 2 lesser-known Schubert piano works, Brian Newbould Revisiting Schubert's Czech connections, Kenneth DeLong. Part VI Unfinished Works: Late style and the paradoxical poetics of the Schubert-Berio Renderings, Lorraine Byrne Bodley Afterword, David Gramit Appendix Index.


Goodpasture syndrome is an often fatal autoimmune disease associated with glomerulonephritis and/or pulmonary hemorrhage. The clinical manifestations of this disease correlate well with the presence of circulating antiglomerular basement membrane (GBM) autoantibodies. The primary target antigen in glomerular and alveolar basement membranes is thought to be the alpha 3 chain of type IV collagen. Nearly all that is known about anti-GBM antibodies in humans comes from work on unbound circulating antibody. We recently had the unique and rare opportunity to obtain early postmortem antibody and tissues from a patient who died with catastrophic Goodpasture syndrome. The specificity of circulating, kidney-bound and lung-bound autoantibodies from this patient was evaluated against a variety of purified basement membrane constituents. The results indicate that the primary target for the circulating and tissue-bound autoantibodies is the NC1 domain of the alpha 3(IV) chain of type IV collagen. Additionally, all the antibodies recognize a cryptic epitope/s on the alpha 3(IV)NC1 hexamer. Furthermore, tissue-bound and circulating antibodies compete with one another for overlapping epitopes on the antigen. These findings demonstrate that circulating autoantibodies in Goodpasture syndrome are highly representative of those bound to organ tissues, strengthening the notion that pathogenic autoantibodies are targeted to the alpha 3(IV)NC1 collagen, and that previous reports of findings in the circulation may be applicable to tissue injury.


This paper deals with the integrated supply chain management problem in the context of a single vendor-single buyer system for which the production unit is assumed to randomly shift from an in-control to an out-of-control state. Two different strategies, integrating production, shipment and maintenance policies, are proposed and compared to satisfy the buyers order at a minimum integrated total cost rate. The first strategy is based on a classical production policy for which the buyer's order of size nQ is manufactured continuously and shipped by lots of size Q. The second strategy suggests that the same buyer's order should be produced and shipped separately by equal sized lots Q. For both strate- gies, a corrective or preventive maintenance action is performed at the end of each production cycle, depending on the state of the production unit, and a new setup is carried out. The total integrated average cost per time unit is consid- ered as the performance criterion allowing choosing the best policy for any given situation.


In rats vas deferens and canine saphenous vein, epiberberine (EB) parallelly shifted the dose-response curves of Clo and BHT-920 to the right without changing the maximal effect. The pA2 values of EB were found to be 6.5 and 6.8 respectively. EB was shown to competitively antagonize the contractile response of isolated rabbit aortic strips and canine saphenous vein strips to Meth with pA2 values of 5.8 and 6.4 respectively. EB given intravenously to anesthetized rats was shown to decrease blood pressure temporarily and accelerate heart rate gradually. The heart rate was increased persistently and constantly in spite of blood pressure restoration. The results suggest that EB possesses poor alpha-blocking action.


Alginate hydrogels are widely used for cell encapsulation and transplantation, and they are frequently surface reinforced with secondary polymers to enhance their mechanical rigidity and stability. We hypothesized that the molecular weight (MW) of the polymer utilized to reinforce alginate would be an important factor in their stability, particularly when the gel network was homogeneously reinforced with the polymer. This hypothesis was investigated with alginate hydrogels cross-linked with Ca2+, and reinforced throughout the bulk of the gel with poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) having different MWs. Interactions between the two polymers became significant following gelation, leading to higher elastic moduli (E) than gels with no PEI. The decrease in E of gels incubated in isotonic salt solutions over time, utilized as an indication of gel break down, was ameliorated with an increase in the MW of the PEI. In addition, the dependencies of the moduli and visco-elasticity on the temperature also became smaller with the use of high MW PEI. This is likely due to the limited mobility of high MW PEI, leading to a higher energy for dissociation. The stable interactions between the alginate and PEI prevented alterations of the pore structure in the gels, and slowed the deterioration of gel properties even under continuous agitation in a bioreactor. The results of this study will likely be useful in designing alginate encapsulation strategies for various applications.


One of the reasons the world moves is that individuals arise from time to time who provide impetus to significant events. "Good" leaders—like good guys—can push it to constructive ends. "Bad" leaders—like bad guys—can push the events in the world of perdition. And at times good leaders through stupidity have been known to push the world toward hell, and bad leaders through cupidity have unintentionally given it a push upward. Perhaps the history of events is parallel to the history of their leaders. These events may occur at various levels or stages. We must not construe the term "leader" in a literal sense. The same "impetus giver" principle can apply to the classroom where the student-leader soon emerges, to the dogpack, to the societal complex of caged rats, to the political leader, to the therapist and his group. It may occur in any societal setting, even at a dinner party,


Abstract: This report presents the results of the Cave Valley, Nevada, orientation study in the Lund 10 X 2* quadrangle of the National Topographic Map Series (NTMS). Wet, dry, and playa sediment samples were collected throughout the 360 km 2 semi-arid, closed basin. Water samples were collected at the few available streams and springs. In addition to neutron activation analysis for uranium and 15 to 20 trace elements on all samples, field and laboratory measurements were made on water samples. Analytical data and field measurements are presented in tabular hardcopy and fiche format. Four full-size overlays for use with the Lund NTMS 1:250,000 quadrangle are included. Water site locations, water sample uranium concentration, sediment site locations, and sediment sample total uranium concentration are shown on the separate overlays. A general description of the area and the rock type distribution is presented. Some of the data in this report have been issued previously in "Preliminary Report on the Cave Valley Pilot Study," GJBX-43(76), August 1976.


This study is about the role of internal communication in organizational performance with reference to the commercial banking sector ill Kenya. According to (http://www.eng.sinergiejournal.it/pdfl87109.pdf) "The debate in corporate communication, Organizational communication, and Public Relations literature states that internal communication is vital for organizational management and success" scholars have advocated for the strategic role of internal communication, yet failed to "provide a unifying frame of the strategic contribution of internal communication to the organization". The aim of the study is to discuss the strategic role of internal organizational communication in the management and development of organizations. The study sought to investigate the influence of internal organizational communication on organizational performance with a focus on the banking sector in Nairobi. The study focused on four objectives which included; determining the influence of the choice of communication channels on organizational performance; establishing how leadership roles in communication influence organizational performance; determining how employee participation in communication influences organizational performance and assessing the influence of organizational culture on organizational performance. In terms of methodology a largely quantitative research design was adopted for the study. in the process of determining the findings in relation to the effects of internal organizational communication on organizational performance with a focus on Commercial Banks in Nairobi. The sample for study was drawn from 150 top, middle and low level managers and general staff working with Kenya Commercial Bank and Barclays Banks of Kenya headquarters in Nairobi. The sampling technique applied was stratified random sampling for inclusiveness. A sample of 40% of the population of 150 was sampled to come up with 60 respondents. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used as the main data collection tools. The major findings of the study were that; internal organizational communication is a key component in effective organizational management and that it influences its performance to a great extent. It was, however, notable from the findings that commercial banks are yet to fully embrace the fact that internal organizational communication is an indispensable tool in their management functions and hence for effective organizational performance which should be taken seriously and given priO?ty


Quantum technologies are seen to be within reach for ripe applications with recent developments in quantum optics and photonics resulting into better control of quantum systems [1]. Many platforms, such as photonic crystals and cavities involving complex fabrications as well as many materials such as diamond or III-V semiconductors have been proposed for quantum photonics. We will report on a different material approach and in particular with the use of ZnO as a promising quantum photonics materials. Several aspects will be covered where we will show some results on using ZnO as a photonics material for guiding light and have a strong light-matter interaction with other quantum emitters. We will also show how ZnO nanowires (NWs) can be used as photodetectors and as such being integrated on optical circuits. Finally, we will develop why ZnO is interesting intrinsically for quantum technologies and in particular by manipulating and using defects within its band gap.


The study evaluated the nurses' interventions to reduce unwanted noise. This hospital-based, descriptive study was conducted at a Training Hospital in the Eastern part of Turkey, Trabzon, between 15-30 January 2016. It was participated by 248 volunteer nurses. Nurses express the noise of visitors (96.3%) on the first rank among the kinds of noise. The results of the study showed that most of the nurses were determined to use "a picture hanging technique on the wall" (53.2%) for preventing noise. No significant correlation was found between the descriptive characteristics of the nurses and nursing interventions to prevent noise (p> 0.05). A significant difference was found between the nurses working in internal medicine and surgical service in terms of the effect of noise on their work (p <0.05).


Based on the principle of the higher surface-to-volume ratios, the higher formaldehyde gas sensitivity, different morphologies's ZnO nanostructures have been synthesized by hydrother- mal method using different surfactants including polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), cetyltrimethyl ammon- ium bromide (CTAB), sodium tripolyp hosphate (STPP) and citric acid(CA). The crystal structur- es and morphologies were characterized by XRD and FESEM. The results show that different morphologies's ZnO nanostructures were induced on the surface of alumina substrate, and the surfactants had an important effect on the morphologies of ZnO nanostructures and then affected the formaldehyde gas sensitivity. The ZnO nanorods with diameters of 100-500 nm and lengths of 200-900nm were obtained using PVA surfactant. The ZnO nanosheets with thickness of about 10nm were obtained using CTAB surfactant. The ZnO nanodisks with two layers and thickness of 5-10nm were obtained using STPP surfactant. The ZnO microspheres composed of thin flakes with thickness of about 10 nm were obtained using CA surfactant. The growth mechanisms of different morphologies's ZnO nanostructures using different surfactants were given in detail. In addition, the formaldehyde gas sensitivities of different morphologies's ZnO nanostructures were measured and showed the higher formaldehyde gas sensitivity compared with nano-ZnO without surfactant.


Background: The decreasing pancreatic beta cell mass in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus is a critical problem and increasing the beta cell mass would be one of the strategies for its treatment. However, little is known about the mechanism of beta cell proliferation in adult. In addition, since pancreatic beta cells are heterogeneous and proliferating beta cells are in a small population, the analysis using bulk pancreatic islets has limitations. To clarify the further molecular mechanism of beta cell proliferation, we addressed the gene regulation of proliferating beta cells at single cell level. Methods: Young (8 weeks) and old (1 year) C57BL/6 mice were performed partial pancreatectomy (PPTx), and conducted 3 analyses; 1) immunohistochemistry for proliferating beta cells with BrdU staining, 2) conventional bulk RNA-sequencing (bulk RNA-seq) of isolated pancreatic islets from young or old mice with PPTx or without PPTx (control) to examine the impact of aging and stimulation by resection, 3) single cell RNA-seq to highlight gene expression profiles of proliferating beta cells. Results: In young mice, the proliferation of beta cells was highly induced by PPTx. On the contrary, the proliferation in old PPTx mice was much less than young PPTx. The bulk RNA-seq followed by gene ontology analysis demonstrated that genes related to DNA replication and cell cycle regulation were specifically up-regulated in young PPTx. The scRNA-seq could sort beta cells with Ins1 and Ins2 expression from the other endocrine cells like alpha, delta and PP cells, and identified the cells with high expressions of Pcna and Ccnb1 in the beta cells. By the motif analysis, we further identified candidate transcription factors that activate genes specific for the proliferating cells. Conclusion: We found genes specific for proliferating beta cells and identified candidate regulators to activate the proliferation of beta cells. Disclosure H. Tatsuoka: None. D. Yabe: Advisory Panel; Self; Abbott. Research Support; Self; Astellas Pharma Inc. Speaker9s Bureau; Self; AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited, Eli Lilly and Company, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Novo Nordisk Inc., Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Sanofi K.K., Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. S. Sakamoto: None. A. Watanabe: None. R. Usui: None. S. Tokumoto: None. A. Botagarova: None. D. Ootani: None. H. Goto: None. M. Fauzi: None. M. Ogura: Research Support; Self; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. Speaker9s Bureau; Self; AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited, Eli Lilly and Company, Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd., Merck & Co., Inc., Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, Novo Nordisk Inc., Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Sanofi, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. N. Inagaki: Research Support; Self; Astellas Pharma Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited, Japan Tobacco Inc., Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd., Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Sanofi, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited.


In this work, Personal Health Service Framework (PHSF) is proposed which is an open architecture for developing patient-centric health applications and monitoring systems that use personal health monitoring devices for data gathering. PHSF uses service-oriented architecture to provide a baseline for developing health-related applications. PHSF services support personal health self-monitoring and remote monitoring, and to link health care providers and patients. PHSF is implemented as a combination of web services in four layers: the front-end services layer to support end user interactions, the intermediate services layer to do various tasks for the frontend services, the data access services layer to access the databases, and the database layer. These services are grouped into 7 service components: device client services, patient application services, provider client services, provider application services, information storage and retrieval services, privacy and security services, and transformation services. A prototype implementation of the PHSF and a heart monitoring application implemented with PHSF are presented in the thesis.


Modern Methods of Construction can assist the construction industry to achieve higher levels of production and a higher quality of product. They are being promoted by the UK government and are seen by some as a panacea to the ills of the construction industry. Prefabrication does however need to be integrated with more traditional methods of construction and this interface is often problematic. The aim of this work is to identify these interfaces and to facilitate an understanding of how problems arise. The research included interviews with team members from a key prefabrication provider and selective questionnaires from contractors managing (and not managing) projects using elements of prefabrication. A lack of understanding between prefabrication specialists and those providing more traditionally built infrastructure was found to create problematic working relationships and good communication was found to be a key factor in successful projects. The various types of interface are mapped and then set against the parties involved and their timing within the project.


PurposeTo describe the type and extent of child behavior problems reported by mothers who report intimate partner physical and sexual assault compared to mothers who reported physical assault only. Study Design and MethodsA descriptive analysis of child behaviors, as measured on the Child Behavior Checklist, for 109 children, aged 18 months to 18 years, who were exposed to intimate partner physical and sexual assault. Multivariate analysis of variance and analysis of variance were used to determine whether children from physically and sexually assaulted mothers differed significantly in scores from children of physically assaulted only mothers. ResultsScores for youth (n = 21) 12 through 18 years of age of physically and sexually assaulted mothers were significantly higher (M = 61.5, SD = 2.4; p = .025) than scores of youth (n = 10) of physically assaulted only mothers (M = 50.8, SD = 3.5) and higher than scores of clinically referred youth in a treatment sample. Child behavior was associated with the type of violence experienced by the mother; older children were at the highest risk for behavior disorders, especially behaviors of depression and anxiety. Clinical ImplicationsIntimate partner violence assessment of mothers during child health visits is recommended with safety planning and guided referral to community counseling, legal, shelter, and health agencies, along with information on the child behavior problems associated with domestic violence.


When men are treated for a longer-duration antibiotic therapy for urinary tract infection (UTI), there is no decrease in early recurrence compared with those treated for a shorter duration, according to a study online in Archives of Internal Medicine.


Polylepis incarum (Rosaceae) is an endemic species of the Titicaca Lake basin that forms monospecific forest stands distributed in mountain slopes. In Bolivia, the species is classified as Endangered and it is estimated that the species covers approximately 367 km2; however, there is no quantitative information regarding the conservation status of the remaining populations. In this study, we conducted an intensive and systematic field evaluation to assess the conservation status of P. incarum in Bolivia. The objectives of the study were: a) to identify remaining P. incarum forest stands and to quantify the area of occupancy (AOO), b) to evaluate the population structure of forest stands and the effects of human activities, and c) to quantify the regeneration of these forest stands based on the density of seedlings and reproductive individuals and seed bank. We registered 20 localities where P. incarum is found, from which only five represent forest stands. The species covers an estimated area of 45.12 ha, which corresponds to only 0.123% of the previously estimated area. Most of the forest stands exhibit a high density of seedlings (mean: 17.68, range: 0.43-38.35), suggesting potentially high rates of regeneration. The seed bank assessment showed high seed density in areas located under the canopy (0.56 ± 0.12 seeds/g of soil) as opposed to open areas (0.015 ± 0.013 seeds/g of soil). Due to the small distributional range of P. incarum, we suggest reclassifying the species as Critically Endangered in Bolivia as well as the immediate implementation of conservation programs in order to promote the recuperation of the remaining populations and thus ensure the recovery of the species.


Probabilistic journey planners accounting for uncertainty inherent to travel time are becoming more widely available. One common difficulty associated with such sophisticated planners is communicating the risk in the proposed plan to the end users. In this research, we have empirically investigated how different representations of journey time distributions affect people's understanding. Specifically, we have compared three graphical representations of continuous probability distributions representing journey times: a continuous function graph, a histogram, and a new representation we propose, based on the cumulative distribution function. We evaluated both reading and comparison understanding and explored whether a short tutorial was useful to increase performance. Based on our findings, we provide recommendations to developers of applications involving the visualization of probabilistic journey times.


Background: There are several approaches to solve the problems of many pathological processes' correction, such as clinical pathology and experiment in modern science. At the same time, genetically-conditioned diseases usually demand researchers' attention and generalization of earlier information for making the correction foundation of their manifestations in the future. Down's syndrome is considered to be one. Our objective was to review existing literature regarding physiological and morphological peculiarities of children with Down's syndrome. Methods: A total of 30 relevant literature were reviewed regarding physiological and morphological peculiarities of children with Down's syndrome. The data collection for eligible articles were conducted from 1989-2017. Different database and manual search methods were used to find the topic-related articles. Results: Abnormalities of heart, gastrointestinal tract and the system of urinary excretion are considered as the underlying congenital abnormalities for children with Down's syndrome influencing their lifespan. People with Down's syndrome have difficulties in their cognitive activity, such as lag in development, speaking, and reading. Limitation existence of ideas and scarcity of conclusions make studying different school subjects impossible for children with Down's syndrome. They need more time to master new skills and remembering new material. On the other hand, children with Down's syndrome possess positive personal qualities: they are tender, friendly and even-


We present a comparative study of two isostructural platinum and palladium poly‐ynes, poly[trans(bis(tributylphosphine))M(1,4) phenylenediethynylene], where M represents either platinum or palladium. Optical excitations are associated with the π‐molecular orbitals, and with strong spin–orbit coupling provided by the transition metal, both singlet and triplet excitations can be measured. The platinum and palladium polymers show similar low‐temperature photoluminescence and photoinduced absorption spectra, with a blue‐shift for the palladium polymer of around 5% for electronic transitions with respect to the platinum polymer. For Pt (Pd) we see strong singlet absorption peaks at 3.26 eV (3.49 eV), and weaker triplet absorption peaks at 2.43 eV (≊2.5 eV) at room temperature. Strong photoluminescence from triplet to ground state peaks at 2.38 eV (2.5 eV), and weak photoluminescence from the excited singlet peaks at 3.06 eV (3.2 eV) at low temperatures. Photoinduced absorption that peaks at 1.49 eV (1.72 eV) i...


Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent antigen presenting cells, which can stimulate a cellular immune response against malignant tumor cells. Many authors have described the phenomenon of tumor infiltration by dendritic cells and emphasized an immunosuppressive tumor influence on DC function. In the present study, we examined the presence of myeloid CD1c + (BDCA-1 +) dendritic cells and lymphoid/plasmacytoid CD303 + (BDCA-2 +) dendritic cells in peripheral blood, lymph nodes and cancer tissue of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Fifty male patients treated surgically for NSCLC stages I-IIIa without neoadjuvant chemotherapy were included. Employing a multiparameter flow cytometry for CD1c, CD19, CD123 and CD303, we observed an accumulation of immature DCs in the tissues involved in the neoplasmatic process with the predominance of lymphoid/plasmacytoid over myeloid DCs. Moreover, in peripheral blood NSCLC patients had a significantly lower percentage of CD1c + DCs than healthy donors. Our results suggest that NSCLC cells might hamper the maturation of DCs, thus escaping an efficient immune response.


Background Surveillance of health care-associated infections is an essential component of infection prevention programs, but conventional systems are labor intensive and performance dependent. Objective To develop an automatic surveillance and classification system for health care-associated bloodstream infection (HABSI), and to evaluate its performance by comparing it with a conventional infection control personnel (ICP)-based surveillance system. Methods We developed a Web-based system that was integrated into the medical information system of a 2200-bed teaching hospital in Taiwan. The system automatically detects and classifies HABSIs. Results In this study, the number of computer-detected HABSIs correlated closely with the number of HABSIs detected by ICP by department (n=20; r=.999 P<.001) and by time (n=14; r=.941; P<.001). Compared with reference standards, this system performed excellently with regard to sensitivity (98.16%), specificity (99.96%), positive predictive value (95.81%), and negative predictive value (99.98%). The system enabled decreasing the delay in confirmation of HABSI cases, on average, by 29 days. Conclusions This system provides reliable and objective HABSI data for quality indicators, improving the delay caused by a conventional surveillance system.


The Clothing/Textiles cluster has experienced continuous decline nationally and regionally for at least 30 years, and has often been viewed as a twilight industry with no future. However, restructuring has been, and is, taking place and new business models are emerging. NW England provides a window into national trends, and there are many signs of growth in activity and in jobs created. A recent re-mapping study of the Apparel sub-cluster reveals far more activity related to apparel than is apparent from the use of SIC code data. This research provides sector-specific answers to questions about what industrial knowledges have survived through the restructuring process, and whether these knowledges are explicable in the context of "new knowledge economy" theories.