Abstract We make some considerations about Relativistic Positioning Systems (RPS). Four satellites are needed to position a user. First of all we define the main concepts. Errors should be taken into account. Errors depend on the Jacobian transformation matrix. Its Jacobian is proportional to the tetrahedron volume whose vertexes are the four tips of the receiver-satellite unit vectors. If the four satellites are seen by the user on a circumference in the sky, then, the Jacobian and the tetrahedron volume vanish. The users we consider are spacecraft. Spacecraft to be positioned cannot be close to a null Jacobian satellites-user configuration. These regions have to be avoided choosing an appropriate set of four satellites which are not seen too close to the same circumference in the sky. Errors also increase as the user spacecraft separates from the emission satellite region, since the tetrahedron volume decreases.We propose a method to autonomously potion a user-spacecraft which can test our method. This positioning should be compared with those obtained by current methods. Finally, a proposal to position a user-spacecraft moving far from Earth, with suitable devices (autonomous), is presented.


Professor Baum (October 1996 JRSM, pp 543-8) disapproves of quack cancer cures and their claim to be 'holistic'. They might better be described as 'hole-istic', providing bridges across the large holes of ignorance about cancer which the scientific approach, to its credit, continues to reveal. And they give patients a feeling that they are 'doing something' about their illness, or that somebody else is. The former is better, being cheaper and self-directed. It is encouraging that a new paradigm, creating new hypotheses, is emerging about breast cancer-a 'regulation-based' model'. One hypothesis might be that self-regulation contributes to this process. Meanwhile, could Professor Baum provide me with a bridge over a hole which his article has created in my mind. If he is confident that the extent of local therapy does not influence survival, why is it necessary for breast cancer surgery to he confined to specialists performing many operations a year? No quackery here, I hope.


RATIONALE
Positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and prone positioning may induce lung recruitment and affect alveolar dynamics in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Whether there is interdependence between the effects of PEEP and prone positioning on these variables is unknown.

OBJECTIVES
To determine the effects of high PEEP and prone positioning on lung recruitment, cyclic recruitment/derecruitment, and tidal hyperinflation and how these effects are influenced by lung recruitability.

METHODS
Mechanically ventilated patients (Vt 6 ml/kg ideal body weight) underwent whole-lung computed tomography (CT) during breath-holding sessions at airway pressures of 5, 15, and 45 cm H2O and Cine-CTs on a fixed thoracic transverse slice at PEEP 5 and 15 cm H2O. CT images were repeated in supine and prone positioning. A recruitment maneuver at 45 cm H2O was performed before each PEEP change. Lung recruitability was defined as the difference in percentage of nonaerated tissue between 5 and 45 cm H2O. Cyclic recruitment/de-recruitment and tidal hyperinflation were determined as tidal changes in percentage of nonaerated and hyperinflated tissue, respectively.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Twenty-four patients with ARDS were included. Increasing PEEP from 5 to 15 cm H2O decreased nonaerated tissue (501 ± 201 to 322 ± 132 grams; P < 0.001) and increased tidal-hyperinflation (0.41 ± 0.26 to 0.57 ± 0.30%; P = 0.004) in supine. Prone positioning further decreased nonaerated tissue (322 ± 132 to 290 ± 141 grams; P = 0.028) and reduced tidal hyperinflation observed at PEEP 15 in supine patients (0.57 ± 0.30 to 0.41 ± 0.22%). Cyclic recruitment/de-recruitment only decreased when high PEEP and prone positioning were applied together (4.1 ± 1.9 to 2.9 ± 0.9%; P = 0.003), particularly in patients with high lung recruitability.

CONCLUSIONS
Prone positioning enhances lung recruitment and decreases alveolar instability and hyperinflation observed at high PEEP in patients with ARDS.


corroborated by multivariable regression analyses, although individual patient-level data are not available.4,5 Four of 16 studies enrolled patients with CAA at baseline (a subgroup with more severe disease).4 Among these studies, the mean time of initiation of corticosteroids ranged from 6 to 9 days after illness onset, and notably, all demonstrated a nonsignificant role of add-on corticosteroids in preventing CAA.4 If the major merit of corticosteroid therapy for KD is derived from an early suppression of vessel inflammation prior to vascular remodeling, it is possible that any delay in the initiation of therapy would likely raise the risk of CAA. In reviewing published data, there are several scoring systems used for the prediction of intravenous immunoglobulin resistance.4 Despite the good performance in early identification of high-risk patients among Asian populations, their predictive ability in non-Asian populations seemed suboptimal. Future studies to develop risk scores in non-Asian patient groups are warranted. In consideration of the literature's relevance and quality in the process of study inclusion, we focused on 3 medical databases (Medline, The Cochrane Library, and Clinicaltrials.gov) to perform literature searching. Regarding individual study quality and bias, we evaluated the methodological quality of the included studies, and all included studies were considered medium to high quality (published in the online Supplement4). Estimation for publication bias further indicated a low risk of bias (Begg test P = .56 and Egger test P = .25).4 García-Perdomo and Calle reanalyzed our data by using Stata software, and their result showed an even stronger magnitude of the effect favoring the addition of corticosteroids in treating KD. However, after a second statistical analysis, our statistical values are consistent using both Revman, version 5.3 (Cochrane Community) and Comprehensive Meta-Analysis, version 2.2 (BioStat) software (overall meta-analysis for incidence of CAA between corticosteroids group and intravenous immunoglobulin group: odds ratio, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.27-0.67; P <.001, randomeffects model). Our subgroup analyses further showed that the significant effect of corticosteroids in CAA prevention was maintained in the nonrandomized subgroup analysis (odds ratio, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.319-0.914; P = .02, random-effects model), and an even more pronounced effect was observed in the randomized subgroup analysis (odds ratio, 0.321; 95% CI, 0.1460.706; P = .005, random-effects model). This subgroup analysis is in line with the results of a previously published study.2 Although our pooled analyses revealed significant results, there was heterogeneity among included studies in patients' demographic characteristics, socioeconomic environment, standard of care in each individual institution, physicians' awareness and experience, and availability of medical resources. All of these factors can play an important part in clinical decision making but could not be accounted for during the process of data pooling.4,5 The results produced by pooled analyses, therefore, may not be applicable in all clinical settings without regard to the specific circumstance of individual patients.


Author(s): Marion, Wayne R. | Abstract: A survey of Extension Wildlife Specialists in the U.S. provided a basis for estimating the magnitude of urban wildlife damage and control in this country. Response to the 9-question mail questionnaire was good (76 percent) following the single mailing to all Extension Wildlife Specialists or people in similar positions listed in the national directory. The majority of questions were answered based upon the experiences and best estimates of these specialists for the interval October 1986-September 1987. Specialists had difficulty providing estimates of damage and costs of prevention and control; 57 percent were not able to provide any data on these topics. Several of the questions dealt with attitudes of people requesting urban wildlife information and/or assistance and wide ranges of responses were received to most of these questions. Most people (78 percent) appeared willing to implement prevention/control measures recommended by these specialists, more than half (61 percent) wanted the animal handled/removed by someone else, and only about 40 percent wanted the damage stopped regardless of cost. Also, slightly over half (55 percent) of clientele represented did not want the offending animal harmed in any way. These results were highly variable from state to state. Several differences were noted in overall responses regarding urban wildlife species. Requests for information were received most frequently for bats and snakes, but both of these groups of animals ranked very low in terms of actual damage reported. The most frequently mentioned groups of animals causing damage in urban areas were roosting birds (including pigeons, starlings, and sparrows), woodpeckers (especially flickers), tree squirrels, bats, and moles. In terms of actual dollar values of damage done, white-tailed deer and pocket gophers apparently caused the most estimated damage. Due to these differences, it is necessary to know which criteria are being used to make an assessment of the relative importance of animal damage control problems. Techniques for controlling urban wildlife damage, such as exclusion, live-trapping, repellents, and poisons, are compared and discussed in some detail in this paper. As urbanization occurs across the nation, concerns about urban wildlife damage will continue; in most cases, we can and will live among these creatures.


Caulerpa taxifolia is a high profile introduced alga in the Mediterranean Sea and California. It is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Australia. However, during 2000/01, 7 locations with abundant C. taxifolia were discov- ered in temperate waters around Sydney. To overcome limita- tions of resolution in previous studies using ITS (internal tran- scribed spacer) rDNA sequencing, we developed amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers for C. taxi- folia, using 4 primer combinations. With this technique we found a close relationship between isolates from Moreton Bay (native) and Lake Conjola (introduced). The Mediterranean samples, which previously could not be separated from the other isolates, formed a discrete cluster supported by high bootstrap values. AFLP had greatly improved resolution over other molecular markers, making it a promising technique for further studies on the population structure of C. taxifolia and the assignment of source populations.


The decision of where, when, and how to apply the most effective post-fire erosion mitigation treatments requires land managers to assess the risk of damaging runoff and erosion events occurring after a fire. To aid in this assessment, the Erosion Risk Management Tool (ERMiT) was developed. This user manual describes the input parameters, input interface, model processing, and output files for version 2006.01.18. ERMiT is a web-based application that uses Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) technology to estimate erosion, in probabilistic terms, on burned and recovering forest, range, and chaparral lands with and without the application of erosion mitigation treatments. User inputs are processed by ERMiT to combine rain event variability with spatial and temporal variabilities of soil burn severity and soil properties, which are then used as WEPP input parameters. Based on 20 to 40 individual WEPP runs, ERMiT produces a distribution of rain event sediment delivery rates with a probability of occurrence for each of five post-fire years. In addition, event sediment delivery rate distributions are generated for post-fire hillslopes that have been treated with seeding, straw mulch, and erosion barriers such as contour-felled logs or straw wattles.


We report on a numerical investigation for compensating power depletion caused by stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) in high-power delivery fibers with the spectral-inversion approach. The spectral inversion is realized by four-wave mixing, considering the character of an optical fiber Raman gain profile. The power depletion of the signal by SRS can be effectively compensated using this method. The system parameters for the best compensation are optimized for the delivery of the laser beam with a power of 100 W in a 200-m-long standard single-mode fiber. The present method can be applied to higher-power delivery systems and longer fibers. The spectral-inversion method is compared with the alternative method to directly filtering Stokes waves for SRS cancellation. The influence of the initial phases of the Stokes waves on the compensating process is also discussed.


The socio‐economic dimensions of cohesion have long been considered an integral part of Europeanization. However, recently a third dimension has been added to the Europe 2020 cohesion policy debate: territorial cohesion. Consequently this term is as yet undeveloped, resulting in a lack of consensus on how to define and interpret it. Such ambiguity represents a theoretical and empirical challenge to regional actors needing to respond to European Union (EU) directives while operationalizing the concept within their national and/or regional agendas. This article uses Portugal as a case study to examine how the concept of territorial cohesion is being interpreted and transposed from EU‐based to territorial‐based instruments and policy documents. First, we conducted a qualitative content analysis (QCA) of a selection of European and regional publications to compare their intrinsic discourses. This was followed by around 60 structured qualitative interviews, conducted with leading actors who had been instrumental in writing or implementing regional policy documents. On the basis of this dual analysis we conclude that, as a whole, the writers of the Portuguese strategic documents successfully transposed this concept, although perceptible differences exist between regions, as local actors have selectively redefined it to better suit their strategic priorities. These differences are debated with the aim of contributing to the design of effective public policies that facilitate inclusion, cohesion and Europeanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]


This case presents the possibility that commercial mobile tracking and monitoring solutions will become widely adopted for the practice of non-traditional covert surveillance within a community setting, resulting in community members engaging in the covert observation of family, friends, or acquaintances. This case investigates five stakeholder relationships using scenarios to demonstrate the potential socio-ethical implications that tracking and monitoring will have on society. The five stakeholder types explored in this case include: i husband-wife partner-partner, ii parent-child, iii employer-employee, iv friend-friend, and v stranger-stranger. Mobile technologies like mobile camera phones, global positioning system data loggers, spatial street databases, radio-frequency identification, and other pervasive computing can be used to gather real-time, detailed evidence for or against a given position in a given context. Limited laws and ethical guidelines exist for members of the community to follow when it comes to what is permitted when using unobtrusive technologies to capture multimedia and other data e.g., longitude and latitude waypoints that can be electronically chronicled. In this case, the evident risks associated with such practices are presented and explored.


Environmental conditions experienced during early growth and development markedly shape phenotypic traits. Consequently, individuals of the same cohort may show similar life-history tactics throughout life. Conditions experienced later in life, however, could fine-tune these initial differences, either increasing (cumulative effect) or decreasing (compensatory effect) the magnitude of cohort variation with increasing age. Our novel comparative analysis that quantifies cohort variation in individual body size trajectories shows that initial cohort variation dissipates throughout life, and that lifetime patterns change both across species with different paces of life and between sexes. We used longitudinal data on body size (mostly assessed using mass) from 11 populations of large herbivores spread along the "slow-fast" continuum of life histories. We first quantified cohort variation using mixture models to identify clusters of cohorts with similar initial size. We identified clear cohort clusters in all species except the one with the slowest pace of life, revealing that variation in early size is structured among cohorts and highlighting typological differences among cohorts. Growth trajectories differed among cohort clusters, highlighting how early size is a fundamental determinant of lifetime growth patterns. In all species, among-cohort variation in size peaked at the start of life, then quickly decreased with age and stabilized around mid-life. Cohort variation was lower in species with a slower than a faster pace of life, and vanished at prime age in species with the slowest pace of life. After accounting for viability selection, compensatory/catch-up growth in early life explained much of the decrease in cohort variation. Females showed less phenotypic variability and stronger compensatory/catch-up growth than males early in life, whereas males showed more progressive changes throughout life. These results confirm that stronger selective pressures for rapid growth make males more vulnerable to poor environmental conditions early in life and less able to recover after a poor start. Our comparative analysis illustrates how variability in growth changes over time in closely related species that span a wide range on the "slow-fast" continuum, the main axis of variation in life-history strategies of vertebrates.

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Depot Rasa Suka is a culinary business that provides a variety of Indonesian dishes. However people still do not know and yet loyal to Depot Rasa Suka due to the unavailability of parking space, quite a long serving time, hot room, less attractive promotion and room design. Therefore Depot Rasa Suka need to devise strategies to develop brands through brand equity analysis and improvement of brand elements as well as designing a marketing strategies. The goal of this research is to make Depot Rasa Suka has a strong brand image and could meet the desires of consumers based on consumer behavior to ensure that customers remain loyal and increase sales in Depot Rasa Suka. The research was conducted by distributing questionnaire to the group of respondents that consists of actual consumers and potential consumers. Based on the measurement of brand equity, brand equity scores for Depot Rasa Suka is 2 (medium). In order to enhance the brand equity it is necessary to develop brand elements such as brand names or logos, packaging, website, and marketing communications activities. Segmentation for Depot Rasa Suka is determined based on consumer behavior analysis including demographics (age, marital status, education level, occupation, and income) and psychographics (knowledge, attitude, uses, occasions, benefits sought, usage rate, and loyalty status). The target market is aged 20-30 years old, self-employed occupations, average earnings per month Rp 3,000,000.00 - 6,000,000.00 and spending per visit to the restaurant Rp 50,000.00 - 100,000.00. The positioning of Depot Rasa Suka is positioning according to quality and price. The differentiation of Depot Rasa Suka is product differentiation. Total cost in the proposed strategy is Rp 10,511,000.00.


Background and Purpose:
 Recently we have shown that docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6, n-3) and human albumin (Alb) is neuroprotective after experimental stroke. However, administration of high-dose Alb by expanding intravascular volume may lead to pulmonary edema and congestive heart failure. We suspected that if Alb were complexed with DHA, it might be possible to achieve neuroprotection at lower Alb doses.

 Methods:
 Male Sprague-Dawley rats were anesthetized with isoflurane/nitrous oxide and mechanically ventilated; rectal and cranial temperatures were regulated at 36-37.5
 °
 C. Rats received 2 h MCAo by retrograde insertion of an intraluminal suture. Animals received either DHA (5mg/kg), Alb (0.63g/kg), DHA-Alb (0.32, 0.63, 1.25g/kg) or an equivalent volume of vehicle (saline), which was administered at 3 h after onset of stroke into the femoral vein over 3 min using an infusion pump (n=8-10 per group). The neurological status was evaluated during occlusion (60 min), and on days 1, 2, 3 and 7 after MCAo; a grading scale of 0-12 was employed. Seven days after MCAo, brains were perfusion-fixed, and infarct areas and volumes were determined. Number of GFAP (reactive astrocytes), ED-1 (activated microglia/microphages) and NeuN (neurons)-positive cells were counted in the cortex and striatum at the level of the central lesion.

 Results:
 The physiological variables were entirely comparable among all groups. Animals treated with moderate doses of DHA-Alb (0.63 and 1.25g/kg) significantly improved the neurological score compared to Alb-treated rats by 21 and 26% on day 1; by 28 and 29% on day 2; by 36 and 40% on day 3; and by 42 and 35% on day 7 (respectively). The lowest dose of DHA-Alb (0.32g/kg) was not significantly different from the Alb-treated group. In addition, DHA treatment improved behavioral score compared to the Alb-treated rats, but only on day 2 (by 19%) and day 3 (by 26%). All doses of DHA-Alb (0.32, 0.63 and 1.25g/kg) significantly reduced total (cortical and subcortical) corrected infarct volume in all treated groups compared to Alb-treated rats (by 64, 60 and 61%, respectively). Cortical and striatal infarct volumes were also significantly reduced by all doses of DHA-Alb. DHA treatment alone significantly reduced only striatal infarct volume compared to the Alb-treated group (22±4 vs. 52±9, respectively).

 Conclusions:
 The DHA-Alb complex affords high-grade neurobehavioral neuroprotection in focal cerebral ischemia, equaling or exceeding that afforded by native Alb, at considerably moderate doses. It might provide the basis for future therapeutics in patients suffering ischemic stroke.


Direct electrolysis of Ti and its alloys has been attempted by the process using a DC-ESR unit. The concept of the process is explained in detail, and the expected key issues are commented. Liquid Ti metal was obtained in a CaF2-CaO-TiO2 bath, and electrolysis by using a new type of the electrolytic cell was also tried. Ti-Al alloy was successfully deposited in a CaF2-CaO-TiO2-Al2O3 bath, whereas Ti-Si alloy was not obtained in a CaF2-CaO-TiO2-SiO2 bath yet. Ti-Fe alloy was extracted in CaF2-CaO-TiO2-FeO bath of a particular composition. A common correlation between the cathodic current efficiency and the average consumed electric power seen in the Ti, Ti-Al and Ti-Fe electrolysis suggested the importance of sufficient temperature in the process. The bath composition also affected the temperature through the change in the electric conductivity of the bath.


In this paper a series of hypotheses linking urban residence and education with changes taking place in norms regarding family size are operationalized and their validity is demonstrated using data from 393 single, male Ghanaian students. The independent variables used are urban/rural residence and generation educated. The intervening variables which are conceptualized and measured in terms of ordinal scales are: approval of closure, functional individuation of the conjugal family, and approval ofjointness of the marital role relationship. The dependent variable is attitude toward family size. No direct correlation is observed between the independent and dependent variables. The types of attitudes toward conjugal family closure and jointness of the marital relationship are seen to be crucial intervening variables-the links in a chain of domestic change already observed but, as of yet, inadequately explained and documented in the elite Ghanaian setting.


Recent developments in whole-genome mapping approaches for the chromatin interactome (such as Hi-C) have offered new insights into 3D genome organization. However, our knowledge of the evolutionary patterns of 3D genome structures in mammalian species remains surprisingly limited. In particular, there are no existing phylogenetic-model based methods to analyze chromatin interactions as continuous features across different species. Here we develop a new probabilistic model, named phylogenetic hidden Markov random field (Phylo-HMRF), to identify evolutionary patterns of 3D genome structures based on multi-species Hi-C data by jointly utilizing spatial constraints among genomic loci and continuous-trait evolutionary models. The effectiveness of Phylo-HMRF is demonstrated in both simulation evaluation and application to real Hi-C data. We used Phylo-HMRF to uncover cross-species 3D genome patterns based on Hi-C data from the same cell type in four primate species (human, chimpanzee, bonobo, and gorilla). The identified evolutionary patterns of 3D genome organization correlate with features of genome structure and function, including long-range interactions, topologically-associating domains (TADs), and replication timing patterns. This work provides a new framework that utilizes general types of spatial constraints to identify evolutionary patterns of continuous genomic features and has the potential to reveal the evolutionary principles of 3D genome organization.


In collaboration with Airbus-UK, the dimensional growth of small panels while being riveted with stiffeners is investigated. The stiffeners have been fastened to the panels with rivets and it has been observed that during this operation the panels expand in the longitudinal and transverse directions. It has been observed that the growth is variable and the challenge is to control the riveting process to minimize this variability. In this investigation, the assembly of the small panels and longitudinal stiffeners has been simulated using low and high fidelity nonlinear finite element models. The models have been validated against a limited set of experimental measurements; it was found that more accurate predictions of the riveting process are achieved using high fidelity explicit finite element models. Furthermore, through a series of numerical simulations and probabilistic analyses, the manufacturing process control parameters that influence panel growth have been identified. Alternative fastening approaches were examined and it was found that dimensional growth can be controlled by changing the design of the dies used for forming the rivets.


OF THESIS Two studies of growth and development in sheep were undertaken, one at Edinburgh, the other in Iceland, between 1977 and 1979. The main objectives were twofold: (1) to examine the 'normal' pattern of growth and development, in relation to presently acknowledged growth principles; and (2) to evaluate genetic and sexual influences, with special emphasis on the effects of conformation on growth and carcass characteristics. Two breeds of sheep were involved; at Edinburgh, the Scottish Blackface, and in Iceland, the Iceland sheep. Common to both experi ments was the comparison of different genotypes of the same breed, distinct in external body form. These had been created by continuous selection, over 20 25 years, the sole criterion in Edinburgh being live weight corrected cannon bone length, while in Iceland, other criteria of conformation were included in addition to cannon bone length. Both experiments involved the serial slaughter and full anatomical dissection of lambs from the time of birth to weights approaching maturity. At Edinburgh, controlled individual feeding was involved after weaning, whereas in Iceland, most lambs were slaugh tered off pasture. The data have been analysed in several different ways, including, for relative growth, the use of Huxley's allometric equation, the computation of relative weight increases, based on the weight at birth, and the comparison of percentage proportions at different weights or ages. Significant differential growth patterns were demonstrated at all levels of the anatomy. Frequent changes in these made the application of Huxley's formula unsafe over extended periods of growth. The devel opmental orders of the various body organs, parts or tissues were, in the main, consistent with present ideas. However, some questions were raised, particularly regarding certain aspects of skeletal and muscular development, and these are discussed in light of the present findings. Sexual differences were clearly apparent, both in absolute and relative terms. The males grew faster than the females and were later maturing, as indicated particularly by delayed fat deposition. With respect to carcass proportions, masculinity was expressed in superior development of the neck and thorax arising from all constituent tissues. By contrast, the females were better developed in the hind quarter, which gave them an advantage in muscle weight distribution over the normal range iti slaughter age. While genotype differences in live weight gain and feed conversion efficiency were inconclusive, significant effects were demonstrated on the relative development of the different body parts and tissues at any given age or weight. In Iceland, the selection for a short cannon bone and compact body form had grossly reduced skeletal weight, increased muscular thickness, the muscle: bone ratio and the proportion of back muscles, at the cost of neck and thorax muscles, and brought forward fat deposition, resulting in earlier attainment of marketable condition. The Edinburgh selection was less effective in altering carcass shape or composition, due to the break-down of intraskeletal proportions, the greatest selection effects being exerted on the lower limb bones and gradually diminishing in approaching the body trunk. The practical implications of these findings are discussed, and it is concluded, that breeding can effectively alter the animal's constitution, both as regards the tissue composition and the area to area distribution of the carcass.


We introduce a multi-task setup of identifying entities, relations, and coreference clusters in scientific articles. We create SciERC, a dataset that includes annotations for all three tasks and develop a unified framework called SciIE with shared span representations. The multi-task setup reduces cascading errors between tasks and leverages cross-sentence relations through coreference links. Experiments show that our multi-task model outperforms previous models in scientific information extraction without using any domain-specific features. We further show that the framework supports construction of a scientific knowledge graph, which we use to analyze information in scientific literature.


In some 80% of patients with atopic dermatitis, the presence of specific IgE is found when facing food or environmental allergens. It has also been demonstrated in a sub-group of patients with atopic dermatitis that the dermatitis lesions are exacerbated following the ingestion or inhalation of allergens, and that they improve with reduction of exposure to allergens. Although the prick method and the determination of specific IgE in serum are highly sensitive techniques, epicutaneous tests, applying the allergen directly to the skin, might be the ideal diagnostic method since they reproduce the characteristic inflammatory response of the disease on the affected organ itself, the skin. However, there is great variability in the results obtained through epicutaneous tests with aeroallergens, basically due to methodological differences, which are reviewed in this paper. Finally, we present the results of carrying out epicutaneous tests with inhalant allergens on our patients with atopic dermatitis and controls, where some 27% of positive patches were obtained, basically with acari, and in those patients with more severe dermatitis, without there being complete concordance with the prick technique. For this reason, the epicutaneous test appears to be a method of allergological diagnosis that might be useful and complementary to the routine techniques of the prick method and the determination of specific IgE in serum, but it is in need of suitable standardization.


The past decade has witnessed a financial technology (Fintech) revolution. With the advent of Fintech in trading markets, many technology startups are using social media to gauge investors' sentiment, as well as to detect events quickly, which in turn could impact stock prices and affect the efficiency of financial markets. Another example of Fintech that is enabled by the aggregation of opinions is social trading platforms. These platforms are financial counterparts of social networks where people can create an online profile and share information about investments and trading in financial instruments such as stocks and cryptocurrencies with other members of the platform. Online platforms like Sharewise and Estimize specialize in aggregating the opinions and predictions of all its users to come up with a target price for a stock, thus enabling the users to gain market insights from public opinion. This shift in trading has led to the emergence of a new class of investors who trade not only based on their own knowledge (or beliefs) about the market but also on that of the crowd's opinion. Investors who follow public information about the fundamental price and their own private information are classified as firstorder-beliefs traders while investors who use private information along with information gained from using such Fintech product are classified as higher-order-beliefs traders. The Fintech product captures the sentiment of other investors and experts by aggregating their opinions and predictions expressed on various social media platforms. Following the insight of Keynes (1936) on financial markets being akin to a beauty contest, where some people grade contestants based on who they think will be attractive to others, we model the market where a certain fraction of traders is employing the beauty-contest paradigm, using the services offered by Fintech firms, to form higher-order beliefs. We then establish the equilibrium in the market and examine its different properties. We also analyze how higher-order beliefs affect market efficiency and social welfare of investors. In the process, we answer the following research questions: is this shift beneficial for the market (in terms of efficiency) and the individual investors? And, if so, under what conditions and circumstances? Further, is there any limit to the number of Fintech investors (as a fraction of all investors) in the market so that social welfare is maximized? We find that higher-order beliefs tend to reduce market efficiency because public information is overweighted. Increased precision of private information always enhances market efficiency; however, when public information is relatively noisy, increased precision of public information is detrimental to market efficiency. We also examine the effect of relative precision of public information to private information and fraction of Fintech investors in the market on ex-ante wealth of investors. Since accounting disclosure is a main source of public information, our results highlight that the use of Fintech in financial trading can dramatically affect the optimal level of accounting disclosure (i.e., transparency).


Connivance is to chasing felons for goodness of society. Based on retributive policy, especially in reaction to crimes which are contrary to virtues of society, delinquency connivance has received remarkable attention especially in Islam. Like the holy verses in Quran in which you can explicitly find that probing into people's privacy and their crime is prohibited. Connivance based on this policy is practical. The reason in which you can find permitting to apply delinquency connivance is nothing but hiding some crimes which are contradictory to the virtue of sociey.to put it in a nutshell, probing into crimes in which you can find vice and contradictions to the virtues of society is highly prohibited, only if probing into heinous crime is permitted by people in charge you can find the aforementioned in 43 act of our criminal procedure.


Friction stir welding is a relatively new joining process, which involves the joining of metals without fusion or filler materials. In this study, the effect of tool pin profile on the mechanical properties of aluminum alloys AA2024-T351 joints produced by FSW was investigated. Four different tool pin profiles were developed, (straight cylindrical, taper cylindrical, triangular, and square) to weld the joints. All the welds were produced perpendicularly to the rolling direction for aluminum alloys. Tensile and bending tests were performed to evaluate the mechanical properties by using computerized universal testing machine. Among the four tools, square pin profile gives better tensile strength (265 MPa), elongation (4.9), maximum bending force (1450 N), and maximum welding efficiency (61%) in terms of tensile strength.


Abstract Vector-borne diseases account for 17% of infectious diseases, leading to more than one million deaths each year. Mosquitoes are responsible for 90% of the casualties and alternative control methods to insecticides are urgently needed, especially against Aedes vectors. Aedes albopictus is a particularly important species, causing major public health problems because it is a vector of several arboviruses and has a strong invasive behavior. Various genetic control methods have been proposed to be integrated into the management strategies of Aedes species, among which the sterile insect technique (SIT), which proved efficient against various insect pests and vectors. However, the ability of released irradiated sterile male mosquitoes to compete with their wild counterparts and induce sterility in wild females, which is critical to the success of this strategy, remained poorly defined. Here, we assessed the field competitiveness of Ae. albopictus irradiated male using data from eight release trials implemented in Northern Italy for 3 yr. Sterile males were capable of inducing a good level of sterility in the wild female population, however, with high variability in time and space. The field competitiveness of the released males was strongly negatively correlated with the ratio of sterile to wild males. This should be taken into consideration when designing future programs to suppress field populations of Aedes mosquitoes.


Now days, some mobile services are changed with cloud-based mobile services with richer communication and greater flexibility. So, we now present new mobile cloud infrastructure with including features of mobile devices and cloud services. With cloud computing this infrastructure provides the virtual mobile instance. For commercialize new services, service providers should be aware from security obstacles. Hence we introduce new mobile cloud services with mobile cloud infrastructure and defines possible security problems with use of some service scenario. Hence, we introduce methodology and architecture for detecting abnormal behavior through the monitoring of host and network data. To validate our methodology, we used machine learning algorithm to detect the abnormal behavior that arose from these programs.


Objective. EEG has great potential as a cost-effective screening tool for Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the specificity of EEG is not yet sufficient to be used in clinical practice. In an earlier study, we presented preliminary results suggesting improved specificity of EEG to early stages of Alzheimer's disease. The key to this improvement is a new method for extracting sparse oscillatory events from EEG signals in the time-frequency domain. Here we provide a more detailed analysis, demonstrating improved EEG specificity for clinical screening of MCI (mild cognitive impairment) patients. Methods. EEG data was recorded of MCI patients and age-matched control subjects, in rest condition with eyes closed. EEG frequency bands of interest were θ (3.5–7.5 Hz), α1 (7.5–9.5 Hz), α2 (9.5–12.5 Hz), and β (12.5–25 Hz). The EEG signals were transformed in the time-frequency domain using complex Morlet wavelets; the resulting time-frequency maps are represented by sparse bump models. Results. Enhanced EEG power in the θ range is more easily detected through sparse bump modeling; this phenomenon explains the improved EEG specificity obtained in our previous studies. Conclusions. Sparse bump modeling yields informative features in EEG signal. These features increase the specificity of EEG for diagnosing AD.


Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide some insights and discuss opportunities and challenges of applying the Lean principles in the healthcare sector.Design/methodology/approach – The papers presents the experiences gathered during the Swedish national development programme "Lean healthcare". 60 persons from the management of the 20 county councils participate in the development programme initiated by the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKL). The purpose of the programme is to critically review and discuss how the Lean principles can be applied in healthcare. The results presented in this paper are the compilation of the discussions and work done within the programme.Findings – "Lean production" represents a fresh way to look at work systems within healthcare. Several key tools and principles have proved to be effective in improving healthcare processes. Lean focuses on removing waste in any form and relentlessly strives to eliminate problems. The current healthcare systems are designed with a focus on the doctors, nurses and other clinical staff and are not optimized for the patients. Healthcare services are often 'batch and queue' with patients spending most of their time waiting. This approach is contradictory to Lean: it is like designing processes with a focus on the employees rather than the product they make. However some Lean principles are not easily transferred. With high variations in demand, which many healthcare organisations face, the application of the principles "pull" and "one piece flow" provide a real challenge. To achieve sustainable results with Lean, a paradigm shift has to take place in the minds of people. Lean involves a different way of thinking, communicating, making decisions and managing. Swedish healthcare managers need to make a major shift and development in people management.


Deep learning has demonstrated success in health risk prediction especially for patients with chronic and progressing conditions. Most existing works focus on learning disease patterns from longitudinal patient data, but pay little attention to the disease progression stage itself. To fill the gap, we propose a Stage-aware neural Network (StageNet) model to extract disease stage information from patient data and integrate it into risk prediction. StageNet is enabled by (1) a stage-aware long short-term memory (LSTM) module that extracts health stage variations unsupervisedly; (2) a stage-adaptive convolutional module that incorporates stage-related progression patterns into risk prediction. We evaluate StageNet on two real-world datasets and show that StageNet outperforms state-of-the-art models in risk prediction task and patient subtyping task. Compared to the best baseline model, StageNet achieves up to 12% higher AUPRC for risk prediction task on two real-world patient datasets. StageNet also achieves over 58% higher Calinski-Harabasz score (a cluster quality metric) for a patient subtyping task.


Scale is a concept that transcends disciplinary boundaries. In ecology and geography, scale is usually defined in terms of spatial and temporal dimensions. Sociological scale also incorporates space and time, but adds ideas about representation and organization. Although spatial and temporal location determine the context for social and ecological dynamics, social-ecological interactions can create dynamic feedback loops in which humans both influence and are influenced by ecosystem processes. We hypothesize that many of the problems encountered by societies in managing natural resources arise because of a mismatch between the scale of management and the scale(s) of the ecological processes being managed. We use examples from southern Africa and the southern United States to address four main questions: (1) What is a "scale mismatch?" (2) How are scale mismatches generated? (3) What are the consequences of scale mismatches? (4) How can scale mismatches be resolved? Scale mismatches occur when the scale of environmental variation and the scale of social organization in which the responsibility for management resides are aligned in such a way that one or more functions of the social-ecological system are disrupted, inefficiencies occur, and/or important components of the system are lost. They are generated by a wide range of social, ecological, and linked social-ecological processes. Mismatches between the scales of ecological processes and the institutions that are responsible for managing them can contribute to a decrease in social-ecological resilience, including the mismanagement of natural resources and a decrease in human well-being. Solutions to scale mismatches usually require institutional changes at more than one hierarchical level. Long-term solutions to scale mismatch problems will depend on social learning and the development of flexible institutions that can adjust and reorganize in response to changes in ecosystems. Further research is needed to improve our ability to diagnose, understand, and resolve scale mismatches in linked social- ecological systems.


Existing strategies for econometric analysis related to macroeconomics are subject to a number of serious objections, some recently formulated, some old. These objections are summarized in this paper, and it is argued that taken together they make it unlikely that macroeconomic models are in fact over identified, as the existing statistical theory usually assumes. The implications of this conclusion are explored, and an example of econometric work in a non-standard style, taking account of the objections to the standard style, is presented.


Perception on breast cancer influences the help seeking pattern of breast cancer patients. Negative perception causes delay in help seeking. Outcome or survival rate of breast cancer has a relation on perception. A cross sectional study was done during July 2015-June 2016, to assess the perception on breast cancer and to find out the help seeking pattern and extent of help seeking time among breast cancer patients. A total of 200 patients were selected following the convenient method of sampling from National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital. Dhaka. Face to face interviews were taken from the diagnosed breast cancer patients admitted in the hospital. Forty five percent patients were illiterate and 83% were house wife. The mean age was 42 and mean monthly family income was around 9000 taka. Two thirds of the respondents were present with locally advance stage (stage III) and three fourth of the patients identified the lump as 1st symptom. Four of 10 patients first sought help to homeopathy for their cancer diagnosis and treatment. Mean help seeking time was 11 months. Nine out of 10 patients were agreed with the statement, 'I was healthy'. Maximum respondents (81.0%) agreed with the statement, 'wait and see what would be happened'. Results showed that there was a relationship between delay help seeking and the statement of perception. There were significant associations between the perception on expensive treatment, perception on 'I am healthy', perception on 'lump related with menstruation', perception on 'wait and see what would be happened', perception on 'feared to do operation, it may cause death' and perception on family income and the delay in help seeking. Along with perception on breast cancer use of alternative medicine, lack of social support, health care delivery system, economic factor etc. influence the pattern and delay in help seeking. Further to the existing efforts to correct the perception for early diagnosis and treatment to overcome this problem is suggested.Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull 2018; 44(1):39-44


Herein we describe the dearomatization of aryl sulfoxides with difluoroenol silyl ether (DFESE) using a rearrangement/addition protocol. The selection of the sulfoxide activator determines whether one or two difluoroalkyl groups are incorporated into dearomatized products. Using TFAA can deliberately halt the reaction at the mono-difluoroalkylated dearomatized intermediate formed via a [3,3]-rearrangement, which can be further trapped by external nucleophiles to give mono-difluoroalkylated alicycles. In contrast, switching to Tf2O enhances the electrophilicity of dearomatized intermediates, thus allowing for the adoption of a second DFESE to produce dual-difluoroalkylated alicycles.


In this study, we estimated catfish feed and farm price reduced form equations. Of particular importance was the impact of the recent increase in grain prices induced by ethanol production on feed cost and farm prices. This relationship was examined using an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. Results show that a 1% increase in corn prices caused a 0.134% and 0.263% increase in feed prices in the short- and long-run, respectively. Catfish farm prices increased by 0.106% (short-run) and 0.211% (long-run) given a 1% increase in feed prices. Between 2004 and 2008, corn prices increased from $2 to $6 per bushels. Taheripour and Tyner (2008) state that of the total increase, 25% was due to US ethanol subsidies and 75% was due to the increase in the price of crude oil. Given the $1 increase in corn prices (50%), this should result in a feed price increase of 13% and a farm price increase of 2.7% in the long-run. Park and Fortenbery (2007) found that for every percentage increase in ethanol production, corn prices increased by 0.16 % in the short run. From this we conclude that a 100% increase in ethanol production will cause catfish feed prices to increase by 4.21% in the long run, and catfish farm prices to increase by 0.89%.


Ointment formulations of the ethyl acetate fraction of the crude methanol leaf extract of Ocimum gratissimum was in this study evaluated for wound healing activities in rat using the excision wound model. The air-dried and pulversied leaves were extracted with methanol in a Soxhlet extraction apparatus to obtain the crude methanol extract. This was  subsequently shaken with ethyl acetate and to obtain the ethyl acetate fraction, which was later dried and used in two different concentrations ( 1% w/w and 2 % w/w to formulate simple ointments. The ointments were evaluated for wound healing properties using male albino rats (65 – 180 g) aged 3 – 4 months. Prior to this, the crude methanol extract and ethyl acetate fraction were subjected to phytochemical studies to ascertain their phyto-constituents .The phytochemical studies showed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids and resins and absence of glycosides and saponins. The ointment formulations had wound healing activities which were time-dependent, but concentration independent. The ointment formulations containing the extracts showed more effective wound healing than the positive control, Cicatrin® a standard wound healing agent, with the ointment containing 1 % w/w extract having superior effects than the batch containing 2 % w/w, implying that the extract, at 1 % w/w concentration, can be exploited in ointment form, as a potential wound healing remedy. Keywords : wound healing, ointment, ethyl acetate fraction, methanol extract, Ocimum gratissimum, Cicatrin®


Studies have found serious games to be good tools for programming education. As an outcome from such research, several game solutions for learning computer programming have appeared. Most of these games are only used in the research field where only a few are published and made available for the public. There are however numerous examples of programming games in commercial stores that have reached a large audience.This article presents a systematic review of publicly available and popular programming games. It analyses which fundamental software development concepts, as defined by the ACM/IEEE Computer Science Curricula, are represented in these games and identifies game design patterns used to represent these concepts.This study shows that fundamental programming concepts and programming methods have a good representation in mainstream games. There is however a lack of games addressing data structures, algorithms and design. There is a strong domination of puzzle games. Only two of the 20 studied games belong to a different genre. The eleven game design patterns identified in this study have potential to contribute to future efforts in creating engaging serious games for programming education.


Poly(lactic acid)-cellulose nanocrystals (PLA/CNC) nanocomposite fibers with 1% weight fraction of nanocrystals were prepared via melt-spinning. In order to improve the compatibility between PLA and the CNC, PLLA chains were grafted onto the CNC surface using a "grafting from" reaction. For comparison, melt-spun PLA fibers and nanocomposites with unmodified CNC were also prepared. The morphology and thermal and mechanical properties of the fibers with different draw ratios were determined. The results of this research show that the surface modification together with drawing resulted in improved fiber properties, which are expected to depend on the alignment of the CNC and PLA molecular chains. The modification is also expected to lead to a flexible interface, which leads to more stretchable fibers. The main conclusion is that PLLA grafting is a very promising approach to improve the dispersion of CNC in PLA, thus creating interfacial adhesion between the phases and making it possible to spin fibers that can be drawn with improved mechanical performance.


This study aims to validate the feasibility of chemistry lab kit made from simple materials on the concept of chemical compounds polarity for high school students in remote areas. Educational research and development model includes needs assessment, product design, expert validity test and limited scale test used in this research. The research instrument used in the form of a questionnaire aimed to test the validity of experts analyzed using Likert scale. A limited scale test conducted on 20 students of 10th grade SMA Negeri 1 Pamarayan Serang to find out the feasibility and practical aspects of the tool. Respondents' opinion on the products obtained through questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive analysis by making the percentage scale of each statement on the questionnaire. The results showed the profile of the chemistry lab kit of chemical compounds polarity made of wood, plastic bottles and magnets with a total mass of ± 0.8 Kg. Based on the results of assessment analysis and validation of experts in the field of education obtained an average assessment of feasibility aspects of 77.50% included in good category. Analysis of the students' assessment of the practicality of the lab kit obtained an average value of 86.6% which is included in the category of very good. While the results of student responses in some aspects of the lab kit in the learning proccess obtained average value of 76.1% in the category good. The lab kit also facilitate students to understand the test of compounds polarity based on the ability to answer questions which obtained average score of 85.55 in the category of excellent.


Summary

1
Weeds play an important role in arable and horticultural habitats, and models are being developed to improve our understanding of their population dynamics. The position of a weed seed in the soil profile influences the probability of a seed germinating, emerging successfully and its relative time of emergence. Identifying a relationship between the shape or weight of a seed and its ability to emerge from depth may allow the development of generic models. The aim of this study was to quantify seed response to burial depth, to improve the wider application of existing seedling emergence models.

2
A field experiment used weed seeds sown at different depths and densities in a standard substrate. In addition, two laboratory studies used pre-germinated seeds of the same range of species, buried at a range of depths in optimum conditions using the same substrate. These studies explored the effects of seed size, shape and sowing density on seedling emergence and also enabled reserve-dependent pre-emergence mortality to be quantified.

3
The largest and heaviest of the seeds tested overall, Veronica hederifolia, emerged from the greatest depth (8 cm). In contrast, Tripleurospermum inodorum and Veronica arvensis, the two smallest species, showed a sharp decline when burial exceeded 1 cm. However, the link between seed shape or weight and the ability to emerge from depth suggests a complex relationship. Given optimum conditions, some species (Stellaria media and Chenopodium album) have the physical reserves to emerge from a wider range of burial depths than normally observed in the field, suggesting an ability to exploit opportunities when they occur.

4
For some species, emergence was reduced at high seed densities (e.g. Veronica arvensis). These responses may be associated with traits that have evolved to counteract sibling competition.

5
Synthesis and applications. Generic models identifying the maximum depths for seed germination and emergence have a number of practical applications. For example, they can be used to target cultivation to deplete the weed seed bank or to prescribe the optimum depth of mulches to favour certain species. Our model showed that, in general, larger-seeded species emerged from deeper in the soil, but the relationship between seed size and shape and emergence was complex, possibly species specific. Our germination data may also assist our understanding of the relative importance of different causes of seed losses, particularly from different zones of the soil profile, such as the soil surface. Understanding the component processes of seed behaviour and germination is essential to developing sustainable weed management practices in agriculture and horticulture, and the work reported here contributes to a larger programme modelling weed seed bank population dynamics.


The last couple of years emphasize a clear decreasing tendency of the motor potential level of children from Romania. By correlating this aspect with the increasingly number of overweight children, we consider that some new methodologies have to be applied, in formal and non-formal activities, to be able to enhance the children's interest in practicing physical exercises. The aim of this paper is to present some possible ways to apply mobile phone technology within physical education lessons and also within other extraschool sport activities. Mobile applications available on Android and iPhone platforms help users to better understand personal results concerning fitness level and give information about the benefits of physical exercises on the human body. Giving more value to the children's pleasure and easiness to use mobile phones, within physical education lesson, the teacher may encourage the pupils to monitor the run rhythm, to measure the distances and the run velocity, to record the calories, to monitor the heart beat, and to calculate the body mass index.
From another perspective, during the extraschool activities, the mobile phone technology could be used to configure the track by using GPS, in order to prevent injuries, to indicate altitude, to count the number of steps, and the quantity of water needed by the body.
To realize its objective, the paper presents some models of good practice in applying this technology, by emphasizing a series of results (methodology of implementation, children and teachers attitudes) obtained within physical education lessons organized with secondary school children, in Bucharest, in Odobleja School.
We are aware that this technology could represent a distinctive content of professional training of teaching staff and could improve the efficiency of its activity.


This paper proposes a new design method of linearphase (LP) recombination nonuniform filter-banks (RNFBs), where certain channels of a uniform filter-bank (FB) are merged by sets of transmultiplexers (TMUXs). The case where the numbers of channels of the uniform FB and the TMUXs are not coprime to each other is studied in detail. By analyzing the spectrum supports of the analysis filters, it is found that the uniform FB and recombination TMUXs in the LP RNFBs can be designed separately as long as certain conditions are satisfied. This significantly simplifies the design procedure. Using this result, the design of a class of nearly PR LP RNFBs with cosine roll-off transition band based on the REMEZ algorithm is studied. Design examples show that LP RNFBs with good frequency responses and reasonably low reconstruction error can be obtained readily by the proposed method.


This thesis is a study into the application of separation techniques to the analysis of both industrial and environmental sample matrices. Chapter 1 is a literature survey into the background of adhesives (both anaerobic and cyanoacrylic adhesives). The literature survey also details the composition of adhesives and their analysis.

Chapter 2 details an analytical study into the decomposition of the key reducing agents found in anaerobic adhesives, including acetyl phenylhydrazine, tetrahydroquinoline, dimethyl-/?-toluidine and (p-toluene suphonyl) hydrazine. A suitable HPLC separation system was developed, which was then used to monitor any decomposition of the reducing agents. Investigation of the above was carried out in the presence of saccharin, maleic acid and cumene hydroperoxide (both in the presence and absence of the transition metals, copper and iron). Comparison of the rates of decomposition of the reducing agents revealed some information into the role of the acids and peroxide in the overall reaction mechanism. The products produced as a result of these reactions were also identified using preparative TLC and techniques such as IR, NMR and mass spectrometry.

Chapter 3 details the development of a suitable method of anion separation using capillary electrophoresis. A suitable extraction technique was also developed which could extract the anions from the adhesive mixture (both crude and distilled preparations), into an aqueous medium. The method developed was amenable to the analysis of the full range of cyanoacrylate adhesive mixtures (methyl-, ethyl-, butyland methoxy ethyl-cyanoacrylates).

Chapter 4 involved the development of an electrochemical system that was capable of detecting microcystins. The work also involved HPLC mobile phase optimisation, microcystin purification and microcystin extraction (both from 'pure bacterial cultures' and field samples). An electrochemical detector was developed which was capable of detecting microcystins, it was also capable of detecting other polypeptides (found in partially purified microcystins) which were not detected using UV detection. The main problem encountered was the detection of the microcystins in field samples as other proteins found in field samples were also electrochemically active.

Conclusions drawn from the work carried out in the thesis, and suggestions for future research are outlined in Chapter 5.


Background and Objective: Vitamin D supplementation in preterm infants has been recommended by American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP); however, its efficacy and safety has not been well studied. To study 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25OHD) levels as a marker of vitamin D status of very low birth weight infants while on vitamin D supplementation during neonatal intensive care unit hospitalization. Methods: Retrospective study of preterm infants with birth weight <1500 g admitted to our unit from January 2013 to December 2015 who were on oral vitamin D3 400 IU supplementation. Serum 25OHD level were checked at 4, 8, and 12 weeks of age or before discharge and the levels were stratified as deficient <20 ng/mL, insufficient 20 to 29 ng/mL, normal 30 to 60 ng/mL, high 61 to 100 ng/mL and very high >100 ng/mL. Results: A total of 301 infants were enrolled, 186 very low birth weight (VLBW; 1000–1499 g) infants and 115 extremely low birth weight (ELBW; <1000 g) infants. Approximately 80% of both VLBWs and ELBWs had deficient or insufficient 25OHD levels at 4 weeks of age. On oral vitamin D supplementation, VLBW infants increased their 25OHD levels significantly by 8 and 12 weeks of age, whereas ELBW infants lagged behind at 8 weeks and increased their 25OHD levels by 12 weeks of age. Conclusions: Eighty percent of ELBW and VLBW infants have either deficient or insufficient vitamin D status at 4 weeks of age. Vitamin D supplementation helps in improving the vitamin D levels, VLBW infants significantly more than ELBW infants. AAP recommendation appears to be safe; however, if using higher supplement dosing, 25OHD level should be monitored to avoid high and very high vitamin D levels.


Summary The genetic diversity of the north and western European subspecies of honey bee, Apis mellifera mellifera (the "dark bee") is severely endangered due to hybridization with introduced bees of evolutionary branch C. Genetic variability of native honey bees in the north-eastern part of Poland, including a special isolated breeding zone in the Augustów Forest, has been investigated using mitochondrial DNA and nuclear microsatellites. These involve analysis for alien haplotypes of the tRNAleu-COII region and presence of diagnostic alien alleles respectively, in conjunction with a Bayesian model based approach. We found that approximately 10 to 30% of the nuclear gene pool and 3 to 50% of mitochondria in the studied populations were derived from non-native bees. Our data revealed the presence of hybrids in populations formerly considered to be the most pure populations of dark bees in Poland. We suggest that the Bayesian analysis of admixture based on nuclear microsatellites provides a reliable tool for measuring introgression in dark bees, which should be routinely used for evaluation during conservation programmes.


Abstract Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) has a spectrum of biologic effects and has been shown to exert antiviral effects in fibroblasts in vitro. The in vivo administration of TNF-α (40–160 μg/m2 intravenously over 2 hr) and its effects on vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) replication in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with malignancy was investigated. Blood was obtained before, during, and after infusion. The PBMC were separated and infected with VSV at a multiplicity of infection of 0.005 plaque-forming units/cell and virus yields were determined 72 h later. The TNF-α inhibited VSV yields by as much as 99% in a dose-dependent manner with the inhibition initially observed during the first hour of infusion. Despite a rapid reduction in TNF-α serum levels, the higher doses still produced antiviral effects 4 hr after the infusion. Sera obtained at identical times had no interferon activity. Human γ-interferon (25 μg/ml) added in vitro augmented the TNF-α-induced inhibitory activity in both magnitude and duration. Percentages of lymphocytes and monocytes in peripheral blood were reduced at 4 hr after TNF-α administration and the monocyte to lymphocyte ratio was diminished and temporally coincided with the loss of TNF-induced antiviral state. These data suggest that the in vivo administration of TNF has a direct inhibitory activity on VSV replication in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells that was enhanceable by γ-interferon and possibly monocyte mediated.


The apoptosis-inducing effect of fucoxanthin on human leukemic HL-60 cells was investigated. Fucoxanthin, which was obtained from the brown alga Undaria pinnatifida, inhibited the proliferation of HL-60 cells and induced DNA fragmentation on agarose gel electrophoresis, a typical characteristic feature of apoptotic cells. The results of sandwich ELISA using anti-biotin-antibody and anti-DNA-antibody also demonstrated DNA fragmentation in accordance with the increase in fucoxanthin concentration and incubation time. Since the level of DNA fragmentation did not increase after 24 h incubation, fucoxanthin appeared to have some effect on cell cycle. In contrast, β-carotene did not show an apoptosis-inducing effect on HL-60 cells. These results suggested that a carotenoid structure might be crucial for inducing apoptosis.


This research is obviously intended to analyze the impact of global financial crisis which happened in America and surrogated by the Dow Jones Industrial Index (DJI) towards the Indonesian Stock Exchange, represented by the composite index (IHSG). The study is conducted by using time series data ranging from January 2007 to July 2014. Data used consists of 60 months observation. In order to examine the time series data, Vector Autoregressive Model (VAR) is employed. We run the statistical tool to estimate the respon caused by the shock of research variable. Before estimating the model of Vector Autoregression (VAR), the data used must following the unit root test, cointegration test, granger causality test, and then runned by using VAR model. Our result reveals that the data is not stationer at level, but stationer at first difference. The interpreted estimation output resulting from impulse response function and variance decomposition show that DJI's respons is much bigger caused by the shock from DJI itself with average number stand on 99.36%. Further, the proportion of IHSG on average is 0.64%. Meanwhile the respon of IHSG sparked by the DJI is 53.10% on average. The remained value as 46.90% is caused by the shock from IHSG. Key Words: DJI, IHSG, VAR, Unit Root Test, Cointegration Test, Granger Test, Impulse Response,Variance Decomposition


A model of avian goal-oriented navigation is described that is based on two empirical findings building a bridge from ornithology to atmospheric chemistry. (1) To orient their courses homeward from distant unfamiliar areas, homing pigeons require long-term exposure to undisturbed winds at the home site and olfactory access to the environmental air at home and abroad. (2) Above Germany, ratios among some atmospheric trace gases vary along differently oriented spatial gradients as well as depending on wind direction. The model emulates finding (1) by utilising the analysed air samples on which finding (2) is based. Starting with an available set of 46 omnipresent compounds, virtual pigeons determine the profile of relative weights among them at each of 96 sites regularly distributed around a central home site within a radius of 200 km and compare this profile with corresponding profiles determined at home under varying wind conditions. Referring to particular similarities and dissimilarities depending on home-wind direction, they try to estimate, at each site, the compass direction they should fly in order to approach home. To make the model work, an iterative algorithm imitates evolution by modifying sensitivity to the individual compounds stepwise at random. In the course of thousands of trial-and-error steps it gradually improves homeward orientation by selecting smaller sets of most useful and optimally weighted substances from whose proportional configurations at home and abroad it finally derives navigational performances similar to those accomplished by real pigeons. It is concluded that the dynamic chemical atmosphere most likely contains sufficient spatial information for home-finding over hundreds of kilometres of unfamiliar terrain. The underlying chemo-atmospheric processes remain to be clarified.


The automatic localization of audio sources distributed symmetrically with respect to coronal or transverse planes using binaural signals still poses a challenging task, due to the front–back and up–down confusion effects. This paper demonstrates that the convolutional neural network (CNN) can be used to automatically localize music ensembles panned to the front, back, up, or down positions. The network was developed using the repository of the binaural excerpts obtained by the convolution of multi-track music recordings with the selected sets of head-related transfer functions (HRTFs). They were generated in such a way that a music ensemble (of circular shape in terms of its boundaries) was positioned in one of the following four locations with respect to the listener: front, back, up, and down. According to the obtained results, CNN identified the location of the ensembles with the average accuracy levels of 90.7% and 71.4% when tested under the HRTF-dependent and HRTF-independent conditions, respectively. For HRTF-dependent tests, the accuracy decreased monotonically with the increase in the ensemble size. A modified image occlusion sensitivity technique revealed selected frequency bands as being particularly important in terms of the localization process. These frequency bands are largely in accordance with the psychoacoustical literature.


Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is defined as hearing loss of ≥30 dB in one or both ears, developing within 3 days, affecting ≥3 contiguous frequencies. It is rare in children, but if untreated can cause significant morbidity. During the critical developmental period, it may cause lifelong social, behavioral, and mental sequelae. Currently, little guidance exists on prognosis and management within a pediatric population. A systematic literature review of pediatric SSNHL on PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane CENTRAL database was performed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses recommendations. A total of 620 papers met the Medical Subject Headings criteria, of which 14 met analysis criteria-13 were level 4 and 1 was level 2b evidence. A population of 732 individuals was analyzed. Most reported cases of pediatric SSNHL were idiopathic. Other etiologies included viral infection, trauma, ototoxic drugs, and structural abnormalities. Recovery was defined as any improvement in hearing after the initial loss, from "slight" to "complete." Recovery ranged from 20% to 100%, with a pooled rate of 56%. Systemic steroids were the mainstay of treatment, although salvage intratympanic steroid therapy had a role after the failure of systemic steroids. Children with bilateral SSNHL had poorer outcomes than those with unilateral loss, with 29% showing improvement. Two studies reported outcomes with no treatment, for which recovery rate was 7%. This analysis of SSNHL shows that 61% of children with unilateral and 29% of children with bilateral SSNHL demonstrate some recovery, a worse prognosis than adults. Multiple treatment regimens exist, although comparison is challenging owing to inconsistently reported improvement parameters.


Brain perfusion for adequate cerebral protection has changed over the years. The limitations of the time during total circulatory arrest with deep hypotermia, the inefficient cerebral metabolism during retrograde perfusion and special care to prevent cerebral embolism during antegrade perfusion have resulted in the development of different methods of cerebral protection during the evolution of aortic arch operations. Antegrade cerebral perfusion associated with moderate hypothermia is today, considered the best option for cerebral protection.


ABSTRACT Nonduplicate clinical isolates of Prevotella spp. recovered from patients hospitalized between 2003 and 2006 in two French tertiary-care teaching hospitals were investigated for their susceptibility to metronidazole and the presence of nim genes. Of the 188 strains tested, 3 isolates displayed reduced susceptibility to metronidazole after 48 h of incubation, while 27 additional isolates exhibited heterogeneous resistance after prolonged incubation; all 30 of the isolates were nim negative. Among the remaining 158 isolates, 7 nim-positive isolates were detected. All of these strains were identified as Prevotella baroniae by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and contained a new nim gene, named nimI, as determined by DNA sequence analysis. Chromosomal localization of this single-copy gene was demonstrated in all clinical isolates as well as in type strain P. baroniae DSM 16972 by using Southern hybridization. No known associated insertion sequence elements were detected upstream of the nimI gene in any of the nim-positive strains by PCR mapping. After prolonged exposure to metronidazole, stable resistant subpopulations could be selected in nimI-positive Prevotella isolates (n = 6) as well as in nim-negative Prevotella isolates (n = 6), irrespective of their initial susceptibility to this antibiotic. This study is the first description of a new nitroimidazole resistance gene in P. baroniae which seems to be silent and which might be intrinsic in this species. Moreover, our findings highlight the fact that high-level resistance to metronidazole may be easily induced in both nim-positive and nim-negative Prevotella sp. strains.


The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns were accompanied by an abrupt transition from face-to-face education to online education. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic functioning and mood in Dutch pharmacy students and PhD candidates. A total of n = 341 participants completed an online survey including questions on mood and academic functioning, assessed retrospectively for before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, during COVID-19 lockdown, significantly more time was spent on academic activities, and study grades/output significantly improved. However, the overall effects were of small magnitude, and there was great variability among students, reporting either improved, unchanged or poorer academic functioning. Compared to before COVID-19, the lockdown periods were associated with significantly increased levels of stress, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and loneliness, and a significant reduction in optimism and happiness. Significant negative correlations were found between 'performance quality' and stress, 'performance quality' and fatigue, 'study grades/output' and stress, and between 'study grades/output' and fatigue. Correlations of mood and items related to academic interactions were not statistically significant. Differential effects were seen when the data was analyzed according to sex, living situation, and ethnicity, revealing that women, students living alone, and those with a migration background reported that COVID-19 lockdowns had greater negative mood effects and a more negative impact on academic functioning. Poorer sleep quality and reduced quality of life were significantly associated with reduced mood, as well as reduced academic performance quality and role satisfaction. Regression analysis revealed that being young and not having a non-Western migration background were predictors of improved performance quality. However, only being young was a significant predictor of improved study grades/output during the COVID-19 pandemic. Increased levels of stress and fatigue were significant predictors of both reduced performance quality and poorer study grades/output during the COVID-19 pandemic. In conclusion, for the sample as a whole, the transition to online education during the COVID-19 lockdown was judged as having significant positive effects on academic performance. The lockdown periods were associated with significantly reduced mood and reduced social interactions. It should be taken into account that about one third of students reported academic functioning to be poorer during the COVID-19 pandemic. This represents a substantial group of students who require more attention and guidance to make a successful transition to online education and cope with lockdown-associated stress and fatigue.


In quantum logic there is well-known arbitrariness in choosing a binary operation for conditional. Currently, we have at least three candidates, called the Sasaki conditional, the contrapositive Sasaki conditional, and the relevance conditional. A fundamental problem is to show how the form of the conditional follows from an analysis of operational concepts in quantum theory. Here, we attempt such an analysis through quantum set theory (QST). In this paper, we develop quantum set theory based on quantum logics with those three conditionals, each of which defines different quantum logical truth value assignment. We show that those three models satisfy the transfer principle of the same form to determine the quantum logical truth values of theorems of the ZFC set theory. We also show that the reals in the model and the truth values of their equality are the same for those models. Interestingly, however, the order relation between quantum reals significantly depends on the underlying conditionals. We characterize the operational meanings of those order relations in terms of joint probability obtained by the successive projective measurements of arbitrary two observables. Those characterizations clearly show their individual features and will play a fundamental role in future applications to quantum physics.


Objective: To describe the role of proteomic profiling in the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer. Methods: We report a thorough review of the literature, ongoing trials, and our group's experience with proteomic profiling for early detection, recurrence, and treatment of ovarian cancer. Results/Conclusions: Ovarian cancer remains the deadliest gynecologic malignancy in the western world and is most often diagnosed at a rarely curable late stage. Novel applications of proteomic techniques, such as mass spectrometry, show promise in the quest for reliable multimodality screening programs for the early detection of ovarian cancer. Proteomic analysis of tissue samples has underscored the heterogeneity of this disease process. Development of validated assays that survey the genetic and/or proteomic makeup of an individual tumor will add greatly to the histological classification of the tumor and may lead to different treatment approaches tailored to the unique expression pattern of each individual patient. As novel agents that disrupt signal propagation develop, proteomic profiling by reverse-phase protein arrays can characterize the in-tumor efficacy of the agent by quantification of the changes in expression levels of activated proteins. Together, better understanding of the potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets followed with proof-of-target effect will lead to rational combinations of novel therapy and improve individual ovarian cancer patient outcome.


Organizations in Australia are controlled by civil laws to guide administration. For small religious ethnic Buddhist majority temples, more details protocols with need to be established based on Australian culture of Buddhism. Current lack of proper legal procedures against faulty Buddhist administration will require new guideline. It is understood that specific regulations are specially drafted to guide the ethic of religious organization in addition to civil laws, ensuring no contradictory statements happened. Due to the nature of loving kindness and spirituality of religious entity, many scripture-based regulations are not properly followed due to lack of proper references and guidelines inherited previously but may not be suitable for Australian context. This is particularly true for Australian Buddhism where the dharma-based Law of Karma etc have not been fully explored and applied. This project will serve to investigate standard regulations suitable for Buddhist organization in order to formally prosecute and condemn corrupted leaders with reference to Islamic Syariah and Catholic Law.


This case report presents a 22-year-old girl with class III malocclusion due to maxillary deficiency. The patient was referred for presurgical orthodontics; however, she rejected the surgery. This case was treated by means of Tongue appliance and slow palatal expansion, followed by lower fixed appliance, reverse chin cup, and upper fixed appliance. Tongue appliance and slow palatal expansion were used at the beginning of the treatment. After 6 months, reverse chin cup and lower fixed appliance were added. Six months later reverse chin cup was removed and upper fixed appliance was mounted. Positive overbite and over jet were achieved after 24 months of active treatment. Nasolabial angle also showed improvement. Nonsurgical treatment of adult class III patients is a difficult procedure; however, this patient was treated nonsurgically.


Composite materials and structures are finding wide acceptance because of their stiffness-to-weight ratio that is particularly favorable. The main drawback of laminated composites, which is the weakness of interfaces between adjacent layers known as delimitation phenomena, that may lead to structural failure has been partially overcome by developing a new class of materials named Functionally Graded Materials.Recently proposed (FGMs) have their various material properties vary through the thickness in a continuous manner and thus free from interface weakness, typical of laminated composites.
This project deals with the modeling of functionally graded doubly curved shells, with the material properties graded in the thickness direction. Finite element modeling based on first order shear deformation theory is used. The effect of grading on the deformation of the FGM shells in a given temperature boundary conditions has been studied. Focus has also been put on Elemental model for static analysis of smart functionally graded shells attached with distributed piezoelectric sensor and actuator. Eight noded element with five degrees of freedom per node, three translational and two rotations have been used. The electric field is applied in the thickness direction and assumed to be constant through the thickness. The electrical potential is assumed to be constant over the element. Also, effective coefficients of recently proposed Piezoelectric Fiber Reinforced Composite (PFRC) have been derived through micro-mechanical analysis. The strength of materials approach has been employed to predict the coefficients the static analysis of FGM shells has been done using this PFRC actuator.


The major purpose of this dissertation is to examine how secondary schools cope with problems that arise during the planning and implementation of change. In order to fulfil the purpose of this dissertation, it is necessary also to consider what we already know about the successful management of change, and particularly, about how schools cope with problems that arise when change is being planned and implemented.
No matter how well a change project is planned and implemented, problems will arise during both these phases, therefore problem-coping is emerging as crucial in the successful management of change. The more knowledge those persons acting as change agents have about the types of problems that are likely to arise, and about the problem coping strategies that can be used to successfully overcome problems, the more likely a change is to become permanent and institutionalised.
To link this theoretical background with practice, it is important to investigate a practical situation. Some research in this area has been carried out in the United States of America by Matthew Miles and the staff of the Project on Improving Urban High Schools. However, there has been no parallel research in the Australian setting. It seems appropriate at this time, when education in Tasmania is going through a period of major change, to carry out a case study in a Tasmanian setting to determine what problems have arisen in the planning and implementation of change, and what strategies have been used to deal with these problems.
The school chosen for the case study was Ulverstone High School in the North West of Tasmania. This school was chosen as retention/ participation studies conducted by the Secondary Education Study Unit led by Joan Abbott-Chapman, Phillip Hughes and Colin Wyld had revealed that, among secondary schools on the North West Coast of Tasmania, Ulverstone High School achieved one of the highest rates of increase in the proportion of its year 10 students completing year 12 in the period 1981 to 1986.
The writer spent two weeks at Ulverstone High school completing the case study. Interviews with members of the teaching staff and Senior staff of the school, document collection and an observation checklist were the methods used for information collection. The focus of the information collection was how the school managed change and coped with problems that arose during the change process.
The findings indicated that change is a complex process and one that is never without problems. A wide range of problems was encountered during change in the case study school. The major and most common problems were associated with: (1) program processes; (2) the attitudes of those people effected by the change; (3) lack of resources and (4) lack of skills to implement the change. It seems clear from the research and review of the literature that a variety of problem-coping strategies need to be employed if successful change is to be achieved.


Electronic transport through a vibrating double quantum dot (DQD) in contact with noncollinear ferromagnetic (FM) leads is investigated. The state transition between the two dots of the DQD is excited by an AC microwave driving field. The corresponding currents and differential conductance are calculated in the Coulomb blockade regime by means of the Born—Markov master equation. It is shown that the interplay between electrons and phonons gives rise to phonon-assisted tunneling resonances and Franck—Condon blockade under certain conditions. In noncollinear magnetic configurations, spin-blockade effects are also observed, and the angle of polarization has some influence on the transport characteristics.


The entorhinal area is the most highly differentiated cortical field of the hippocampal formation from an anatomical point of view, and is best known as the origin of the perforant pathway, a massive association projection to the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus and Ammon's horn. This pathway is important as the first link in the so-called "trisynaptic circuit," which is thought to form the basic unit of information processing in the hippocampal formation and has been implicated in the elaboration of short-term memory and the more permanent storage of selected events in other parts of the cortical mantle. We have reexamined the efferent projections of the lateral entorhinal area with a sensitive new method that utilizes the anterograde axonal transport of a lectin, Phaseolus vulgaris leukoagglutinin (PHA-L), that is not internalized by fibers of passage, and displays labeled axons with the clarity of Golgi impregnations. The results of 5 experiments with injections confined entirely to the lateral entorhinal area suggest that this area sends fibers to innervate the entire cortical mantle, as well as to a longitudinal zone extending the length of the striatum (nucleus accumbens and medial caudoputamen) and the basolateral complex of the amygdala. In an additional series of experiments, injections of the fluorescent retrograde tracer fast blue that were centered in medial prefrontal, somatosensory, auditory, and motor areas of the cortex invariably labeled many neurons in layer IV of the lateral entorhinal area, as well as in other layers, depending on the site of injection. Finally, the results of double retrograde tracer experiments indicated that the 2 densest projections from the lateral entorhinal area--to the medial prefrontal region and to the dentate gyrus and Ammon's horn--arise from essentially separate populations of neurons. These findings serve to clarify the neural mechanisms underlying the role of the hippocampal formation in learning and memory, as well as in locomotor activity associated with goal-oriented behavior.


The escape of fish from sea-based aquaculture facilities is regarded as a potential environmental threat and is one of the biggest challenges the industry has faced in recent years. In addition to preventing escapes by improving farming operations and procedures, effective and operational routines are needed for recapturing fish should an escape occur. This study investi- gated the post-escape dispersal of juvenile Atlantic cod Gadus morhua L. from commercial sea cages in coastal Norway using acoustic telemetry. It also assessed the efficacy of different tech- niques (e.g. cod pots, fyke nets, and gill nets) for recapturing escaped fish. Results suggest that escaped juvenile cod can experience a high size-related predation pressure immediately after escape due to high numbers of large fish aggregating around the cages. Consequently, the escapees rapidly disperse from the farms and seek shelter in littoral areas. Once in shallower waters, they stay relatively close (<10 km) to the farm during the first 2 mo following an escape. This suggests a high potential for recapture if the effort is focused on the littoral area and not in the immediate vicinity of the farm. No escapees were caught using live recapture methods, and a low number of recaptures (<5%) were achieved with gill nets deployed in littoral areas. Moreover, high by-catch rates and a subsequent high workload suggest this method may be inappropriate for the recapture of escapees.


Aircraft is one of the most dynamic and fast transportation systems. Aircraft is flying at the speed of hundreds km/h and moving in three dimensional space without stopping. Therefore, in air traffic, the situation is dynamically changing from moment to moment, from position to position. Under this dynamic changing situation, air traffic control radar systems are required to monitor aircraft with high safety. Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) has been accomplishing this difficult work for a long time. As the number of aircraft with new capability increases, SSR is suffering from data traffic congestions between aircraft and SSR Ground Station (GS). In this paper, we propose the Autonomous Continuous Target Tracking Technology. This technology reduces data traffic in air-ground communication with keeping continuous target tracking .


Non-covalent complexes (SPIF/SSPS) of soy protein isolate fibrils (SPIF) and soy soluble polysaccharides (SSPS) were fabricated and used to stabilize oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions. FT-IR spectroscopy and zeta potential results demonstrated that the interactions between SPIF and SSPS mainly include hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions. The presence of SSPS decreased the particle size and surface hydrophobicity of SPIF, resulting in a decrease and redshift of the fluorescence intensity. During the interfacial adsorption process, SPIF/SSPS complexes had lower diffusion and penetration rates compared with pure SPIF because of their hydrophilic region, but the molecular reorganization rate increased. Emulsions stabilized with the SPIF/SSPS complex at 5 : 5 (i.e., 1 : 1) ratio had both an excellent emulsifying activity index (EAI) of 26.17 m2 g-1 and an excellent emulsifying stability index (ESI) of 93.01%, as well as the smallest emulsion droplet particle size of 1.74 μm. Meanwhile, no flocculation was observed in this emulsion which is attributed to the sufficient steric stabilization provided by the hydrophilic SSPS. After three weeks of storage, there was no phase separation observed in the emulsions stabilized by SPIF/SSPS complexes in 5 : 4 and 5 : 5 ratios and the Turbiscan stability indices were 17.86 and 15.14, respectively, much lower than the other emulsion formulations tested.