BACKGROUND
Three-tier pharmaceutical benefit systems use graded co-payments to steer patients toward "preferred" formulary medications.

OBJECTIVES
To evaluate physicians' knowledge of formularies and out-of-pocket costs in such systems, as well as their perceived responsibility for helping patients manage out-of-pocket costs.

STUDY DESIGN
Self-administered written survey.

METHODS
Physician leaders participating in the California Medical Association Leadership Conference were surveyed.

RESULTS
A total of 133 responses were received from 205 participants (65% response rate). Physicians reported that they were often unaware of patients' out-of-pocket costs at the time of prescribing. Fifty-nine percent of physicians reported that they never or seldom were aware of patients' "preferred" (lower cost) formulary options when prescribing, and 70% never or seldom were aware of patients' out-of-pocket costs when prescribing. Although 88% of physicians agreed that it is important that patients' out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs are managed, only 25% strongly or somewhat agreed that it is their "responsibility" to help. Instead, 69% of physicians believed that it is the responsibility of the pharmacist to be familiar with patients' out-of-pocket costs. Physicians reported that they receive phone calls from pharmacists concerning formulary issues after 18.6% of the prescriptions they write.

CONCLUSIONS
Physician leaders reported that they often do not possess the knowledge to assist patients in managing out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs and they depend on pharmacists to communicate patient preferences in making prescribing decisions. As a result, price preferences are communicated indirectly, likely less efficiently, rather than intentionally when prescribing decisions are made.


Gene expression and its regulation are fundamental processes in every living cell and organism. RNA molecules hereby play a central role by translating the genetic information into proteins, by regulating gene activity and by forming structural components. The kinetics of RNA metabolism differ widely between genes and conditions and play an important role for cellular processes, but how this is achieved remains poorly understood. Here, we used a novel experimental protocol that allows profiling of newly transcribed RNAs in conjunction with an advanced computational modeling pipeline to explore the kinetics of RNA metabolism and the underlying genetic determinants.In the first study, we investigated cell cycle regulated gene expression and the contributions of synthesis and degradation to mRNA levels in S.cerevisiae. During the cell cycle, the levels of hundreds of mRNAs change in a periodic manner, but how this is carried out by alterations in the rates of mRNA synthesis and degradation has not been studied systematically. We were able to derive mRNA synthesis and degradation rates every 5 minutes during the cell cycle, and thus provide for the first time a high-resolution time series of RNA metabolism during the cell cycle. A novel statistical model identified 479 genes that show periodic changes in mRNA synthesis and generally also periodic changes in their mRNA degradation rates. Peaks of mRNA degradation follow peaks of mRNA synthesis, resulting in sharp and high peaks of mRNA levels at defined times during the cell cycle. Whereas the timing of mRNA synthesis is set by upstream DNA motifs and their associated transcription factors (TFs), the synthesis rate of a periodically expressed gene is apparently set by its core promoter. In the second study, we developed metabolic labeling with RNA-Seq (4tU-Seq) and novel computational methods to gain further insights into the kinetics of RNA metabolism and its regulation. To decrypt the regulatory code of the genome, sequence elements must be defined that determine RNA turnover and thus gene expression. Here we attempt such decryption in an eukaryotic model organism, the fission yeast S. pombe. We first derived an improved genome annotation that redefines borders of 36% of expressed mRNAs and adds 487 non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). We then combined RNA labeling in-vivo with mathematical modeling to obtain rates of RNA synthesis and degradation for 5,484 expressed RNAs and splicing rates for 4,958 introns. We identified functional sequence elements in DNA and RNA that control RNA metabolic rates, and quantified the contributions of individual nucleotides to RNA synthesis, splicing, and degradation. Our approach reveals distinct kinetics of mRNA and ncRNA metabolism, separates antisense regulation by transcription interference from RNA interference, and provides a general tool for studying the regulatory code of genomes.


The present paper reviews the development courses of acupuncture and moxibustion and gives an introduction to the present situation,education and legislation of acupuncture and moxibustion in United Kingdom. Acupuncture and moxibustion have been developed in United Kingdom since 1960s,the London College of TCM was established by Beijing University of Chinese Medicine join forced with Acu-medic Foundation in 1993,and so far,acupuncture has been taught as an undergraduate program in four United Kingdom universities. Since 2002,the British government and Ministry of Health have begun on the legislation of Chinese Medicine and acupuncture and moxibustion,the lawmaking group of Ministry of Health in British submitted a bill about the legislation of acupuncture and herbal medicine as well as Chinese Medicine to the British government in 2008. Clinical levels of acupuncture workers are quite different and the therapy of acupuncture and moxibustion for nearly 20 diseases displays certain effect. The government or one's own can pay the expenses for acupuncture and moxibustion treatment.


A critical assumption of many multi-view control systems is the initial visibility of the regions of interest from all the views. An initialization step is proposed for a hybrid eye-in-hand/eye-to-hand grasping system to fulfil this requirement. In this paper, the object of interest is assumed to be within the eye-to-hand field of view, whereas it may not be within the eye-in-hand one. The object model is unknown and no database is used. The object lies in a complex scene with a cluttered background. A method to automatically focus on the object of interest is presented, tested and validated on a multi view robotic system.


This work is aimed at the possibilities of targeted drug delivery into the tumour tissue. This approach can greatly reduce the otherwise serious side effects of conventional treatment – systemic toxicity. For this purpose, ubiquitous protein cage apoferritin was employed as a carrier of cytotoxic drugs. Its molecule size of 10–12 nm allows it to employ the effect of increased permeability and retention as well as to avoid renal clearance. The cellular uptake of this carrier is known to be mediated via the transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1), which is overexpressed on metabolically highly active cells, such as cancer cells. Therefore, apoferritin's ability to deliver drug molecules to site-of-action was tested using cell lines with high, medium and low expression of TfR1. The optimal conditions for studying the expression of TfR1 using western blotting were as follows: lysate of 50 000 cells applied in non-reducing non-denaturing buffer and the concentration of the primary antibody of 1.0 μg/ml. The properties of encapsulated doxorubicin were not affected by apoferritin, thus preserving its toxicity for cells with high level of TfR1expression (30% growth inhibition of these cells after 24 h of treatment). The suitable usage of apoferritin as a nanocarrier for chemotherapeutic delivery was confirmed in this work.


Abstract. We examined geomagnetic field observations at low and middle latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere during a 50-min interval (12 May 1999), characterized by a complex behaviour of the solar wind dynamic pressure. For the entire interval, the aspects of the geomagnetic response can be organized into four groups of events which show common characteristics for the H and D components, respectively. The correspondence between the magnetospheric field and the ground components reveals different aspects of the geomagnetic response in different magnetic local time (MLT) sectors. For the H component, the correspondence is highly significant in the dusk and night sectors; in the dawn and prenoon sectors it shows a dramatic change across a separation line that extends approximately between (6 MLT, 35°) and (13 MLT, 60°). For the D component, the correspondence has significant values in the dawn and prenoon regions. We propose a new approach to the experimental data analysis which reveals that, at each station, the magnetospheric field has a close correspondence with the geomagnetic field projection along an axis (M1) that progressively rotates from north/south (night events) to east/west orientation (dawn events). When projected along M1, the geomagnetic signals can be interpreted in terms of a one-dimensional pattern that mostly reflects the field behaviour observed at geostationary orbit. Several features appear more evident in this perspective, and the global geomagnetic response to the SW pressure variations appears much clearer than in other representations. In particular, the MLT dependence of the geomagnetic response is much smaller than that one estimated by previous investigations. A clear latitudinal dependence emerges in the dusk sector. The occurrence of low frequency waves at ~2.8mHz can be interpreted in terms of global magnetospheric modes driven by the SW pulse. This event occurred in the recovery phase after the day the SW almost disappeared (11 May 1999): in this sense our results suggest a rapid recovery of almost typical magnetospheric conditions soon after a huge expansion. Overshoot amplitudes, greater than in other cases, are consistent with a significant reduction of the ring current.


Obesity, an epidemic problem in the world is associated with several health problems. An understanding of mechanisms/factors that predispose, delay or protect individuals from obesity and its associated metabolic disturbances and cognitive impairment would be invaluable. The human gut harbors a diverse population of microbial organisms which are symbiotic and important for well being. However, studies on conventional and germ-free animals have shown that alteration in normal commensal gut microbiota and an increase in pathogenic microbiome (termed "dysbiosis") contribute to gut inflammation, generation of LPS and pro-inflammatory cytokines, gut leakage, and systemic- and neuro-inflammation. The immune mechanisms that are necessary for gut homeostasis may become dysfunctional and lead to bowel inflammation and gut-brain axis dysfunction. These factors are potentially involved in inducing obesity as well. It may be wise to consider the wider hypothesis that gut's dysbiosis, commencing as a response to fatty food, modulates neuro-inflammation and cognitive dysfunction. This may be enhanced by concomitant noxious factors such as consumption of NSAIDS and alcohol in the elderly. The neurotoxic mechanisms when chronic may enhance vulnerability to dementia of Alzheimer's type (AD), and perhaps contribute to other dementias as well. Therapeutic strategies for amelioration of cognitive decline and AD are desperately needed. It is pragmatic then that immunologically mediated gut dyshomeostasis is abrogated by available options including Prebiotics, Probiotics, and Synbiotics. Decreasing gut's dysbiosis may thus attenuate neuroinflammation and provide a potential treatment for obesity-related cognitive impairment. Further, the 'gut-brain axis' or 'brain-gut axis' (depending on whether one considers bottom-up or top-down pathway) is a bi-directional communication system, comprised of neural pathways encompassing enteric nervous system and the vagus. Vagus nerve stimulation in conjunction with α7 nAChR agonists may be an important therapeutic modality in gut pathology to upregulate parasympathetic/vagal efferent function, ameliorate gut-brain axis dysfunction and neuroinflammation, and decrease vulnerability to AD.


BACKGROUND
 Radiation therapy (RT) remains one of the main pillars of cancer treatment, alongside systemic therapy and surgery. More than half of people with cancer will receive RT at some point during their treatment trajectory. Although RT contributes to cure in a substantial number of patients, more than half of patients treated with RT are treated with palliative intent. RT plays an integral role in alleviating symptoms, preserving function, and improving quality of life for patients with cancer.

OBJECTIVES
 The aim of this article is to provide information on the role of RT in palliative and end-of-life care.

METHODS
 A review of the literature and professional guidelines on palliative RT was performed.

FINDINGS
 This article provides foundational information for nurses on indications for palliative RT, possible side effects and toxicities associated with palliative RT, and challenges and barriers that may be encountered when considering palliative RT. Nursing implications, including the importance of a palliative approach to care, are discussed.


Raritan Bay is the body of water bounded by New York and New Jersey and lying immediately south of New York City (Fig. 1). It has close proximity to the most concentrated urban and industrial area in the United States. Its history has been one of extensive multiple use by the surrounding human population. Dating from the precolonial and colonial periods, people have employed many types of gear to catch and gather its once abundant fishes and shellfishes. Its beaches were once popular for sun bathing and swimming, but after the 1940's they were essentially abandoned because the water became too polluted. Another large use has been for pleasure boating and the transit and dockage of merchant, passenger, and military vessels. Channels and basins were dug in the bay, bulkheads and jetties were constructed along its shores, and it was a donor source of sand and gravel for construction projects. It has also been a receptor for large quantities of domestic and industrial wastes and, mainly for this reason, it is one ofthe most deteriorated estuaries in the United States.


Objectives This study aimed to explore determinants of second pregnancy and underlying reasons among pregnant Chinese women. Design The study was a population-based cross-sectional survey. Setting 16 hospitals in 5 provinces of Mainland China were included. Participants A total of 2345 pregnant women aged 18 years or above were surveyed face to face by investigators between June and August 2015. Main outcome measures The pregnancy statuses (first or second pregnancy) and reasons for entering second pregnancy. Results A total of 1755 (74.8%) and 590 (25.2%) women in their respective first and second pregnancies were enrolled in this study. The most common self-reported reasons for entering second pregnancy among participants included the benefits to the first child (26.1%), love of children (25.8%), adoption of the 2-child policy (11.5%), concerns about losing the first child (7.5%) and suggestions from parents (7.5%). Pregnant women with low (prevalence ratio (PR) 1.96; 95% CI 1.62 to 2.36) and moderate education level (PR 1.97; 95% CI 1.65 to 2.36) were more likely to have a second pregnancy than their higher educated counterparts. Income was inversely associated with second pregnancy. However, unemployed participants (PR 0.79; 95% CI 0.66 to 0.95) were less likely to enter a second pregnancy than those employed. Women with moderate education were 3 times more likely to have a second child following the '2-child policy' than the low education level subgroup. Conclusions 1 in every 4 pregnant women is undergoing a second pregnancy. The benefits of the firstborn or the love of children were the key drivers of a second pregnancy. Low socioeconomic status was positively associated with a second pregnancy as well. The new 2-child policy will have an influence on China's demographics.


Production of carbon fibre reinforced polymers is an elaborate process unfree from faults and problems. Problems during the manufacturing, such as plies' overlapping, can cause flaws in the resulting material, so compromising its integrity. Compared with metallic materials, carbon epoxy composites show a number of advantages. Within this framework, ultrasonic tests are effective to identify the presence of defects. In this paper a Finite Element Method approach is proposed for evaluating the most effective incidence angle of an ultrasonic probe with regard to defects' identification. According to our goal, the analysis has been carried out considering a single-line plane emitting source varying the probe angle of inclination. The proposed model looks promising to specially emphasize the presence of delaminations as well as massive breaking in a specimen of multilayer carbon fibre epoxy. Subsequently, simulation parameters and results have been exploited and compared, respectively, for a preliminary experimental in-lab campaign of measurements with encouraging results.


PURPOSE
Massive fecal impaction leading to surgical catastrophes has rarely been reported. We present 2 such patients to remind physicians that neglected accumulation of fecal matter in the rectum may lead to ischemia and perforation of the colon and rectum.

METHODS
Report of 2 patients and a MEDLINE search of the literature.

RESULTS
In the 1st case massive fecal impaction produced an abdominal compartment syndrome and rectal necrosis. In the 2nd patient fecal impaction resulted in colonic obstruction and ischemia. In both, an operation was life-saving.

CONCLUSION
Neglected fecal impaction may lead to a megarectum causing an abdominal compartment syndrome and colorectal obstruction, perforation or necrosis. Measures to prevent fecal impaction are of paramount importance and prompt manual disimpaction before the above complications develop is mandatory. Appropriate operative treatment may be life-saving.


In 1968, the Missouri Geological Survey (MGS) established the Operation Basement program to address three objectives: a) to obtain drill hole and underground mining data relative to the structure and composition of the buried Precambrian basement; b) to expand mapping in the Precambrian outcrop area and conduct research related to Precambrian geology and mineral resources; and c) to publish the results of the first two objectives in the Contribution to Precambrian Geology series (Kisvarsanyi, 1976). The database presented here represents the first of those objectives. It was originally compiled in close cooperation with exploration and mining companies operating in Missouri, who provided drillhole data, core and rock samples to MGS. These data enabled geologists to study otherwise unexposed basement rocks from a large area of the state for the first time, allowing better classification and understanding of the Precambrian basement across the state. MGS is continuing data collection and database compilation today as information becomes available, furthering our knowledge of the Missouri Precambrian basement. This effort was supported through a cooperative agreement with the Mineral Resource Program of the U.S. Geological Survey.

As of September 13, 2017, the Microsoft Access database OperationBasement.accdb has information from 915 drill holes that penetrated the Precambrian basement tabulated by county. When available, core logs and petrographic descriptions are included. Location information provided is as specific as possible with a field denoting location impediments.

References:

 Kisvarsanyi, Eva B., 1974, Operation Basement: buried Precambrian rocks of Missouri their petrography and structure: American association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 58, p. 674-684

 Kisvarsanyi, Eva B., 1975, Data on Precambrian in drillholes of Missouri including rock type and surface configuration (Contribution to Precambrian Geology No. 5): Mo. Dept. of Natural Resources, Geol. Survey, Rept. 56, 24 p.

 Kisvarsanyi, Eva B., 1976, Missouri Precambrian Revisited: Progress in Studies of Precambrian Geology, 1961-1976: Mo. Dept. of Natural Resources, Geol. Survey, Rept. 61, p. 1-11


To teachers of African-American history, August Meier is well respected as a first-rank scholar and editor. But few people are aware of his formative experiences in the two decades following World War II, as a white professor teaching at black colleges and as an activist in the civil rights movement. This volume brings together sixteen of his essays written between 1945 and 1965. Meier has added a substantial introduction, reflecting on those years and setting the context in which the essays were written. John H. Bracey, Jr., contributes an afterword which speaks to the uniqueness of Meier's experience among historians of African-American studies. The essays range from an analysis of the work of black sociologists in the twentieth century to an examination of race relations at predominantly black colleges in the 1950s, to case studies of nonviolent direct action in which Meier participated during the early 1960s. Of particular interest is an account of his debate with Malcolm X at Morgan State College in 1962, in which Malcolm X made the case for black nationalism and Meier defended the integrationist position. Collected for the first time, these essays provide a novel perspective on the early years of the civil rights movement and on the experience of historically black colleges such as Tougaloo, Fisk, and Morgan State.


Power electronics for consumer applications represents a typical example of engineering tradeoff between costs, performances, system complexity, efficiency and robustness. In this context, control of Switched Mode Power Supplies (SMPS) has been traditionally achieved through analog means with dedicated integrated circuits (ICs). However, as power systems are becoming increasingly complex and often composed of smaller interacting units, the classical concept of control has gradually evolved into the more general problem of power management. Beside the basic control function, a number of additional features are often required such as communication capabilities between diffrerent power converters, smart power management for efficiency maximization in critical applications like portable equipments, a certain degree of programmability of the compensation characteristics, or even intelligent solutions for automatic tuning of the compensator to the specific power processor. Though at the time of writing analog control ICs for power converters are still dominating the market, in these last years digital control solutions have been receiving increasing attention from both the scientific and industrial communities. Digital control in power electronics is potentially able to meet the aforementioned requirements of modern power supply systems and electronic equipments due to the versatility and programmability inherent in the digital approach. On the other hand, a digital controller finds its major weakness in the achievable closed-loop dynamic performances. Analog-to-digital conversion times, computational delays and sampling-related delays strongly limit the small-signal closed-loop bandwidth of a digitally controlled SMPS; quantization effects bring other severe constraints not known to analog solutions. Maily focusing on low-voltage, high-current applications, two topics related to digital control of DC-DC converters are discussed in this work. The multiple sampling technique is a non-conventional control approach which allows for analog-like performances to be achieved in terms of small-signal control bandwidth. The multiple sampling approach is analysed theoretically and experimentally validated, confirming its effectiveness in pushing the dynamic performances of a digitally controlled power supply. Secondly, a robust, low-complexity autotuning technique for proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) digital compensators is proposed, investigated in detail and experimentally validated.


Cejnar R., Mestek O., Dostalek P . (2013): Determination of silicon in Czech beer and its balance during the brewing process. Czech J. Food Sci., 31: 166–171. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used for the determination of silicon in beer samples from the Czech market and in brewing raw materials and semiproducts. The content of silicon in barley malt depended on the barley variety and growing region. The goal was to establish silicon concentration in Czech beer and to find out which processes are the most significant in terms of silicon concentration in beer. The silicon concentration in Czech beer ranged from 16 mg/l to 113 mg/l depending especially on two factors. Firstly, the silicon content in beer increased as the original wort concentration and increased secondly, during decoction mashing, silicon from malt was leached to a much greater extent than in the case of infusion mashing.


This paper will look at the role of transliteracy in the creation of a series of texts relating to a long-term ethnographic study of displacement in the Sudan/Ethiopian borderlands. It will draw on a rich audiovisual archive recorded by the anthropologist, Wendy James, over a forty-year period, which is now being added to by the people themselves. The paper will illustrate ways in which this archive is being used in an ongoing collaboration between the author and Wendy James to explore the role of written texts, film-making and new media in the communication of different aspects of this ongoing 'story' to a range of different audiences. It will be argued that transliteracy is a highly appropriate concept through which to look at issues arising from his collaboration, as it recognises the complexities involved in working with sound, text and image across a range of media platforms and within an interdisciplinary context. The intention behind the collaboration is to recognise the centrality of the anthropologist as creator of the archive, whilst at the same time allowing the multiplicity of voices contained within it to come to the fore wherever possible. Drawing on the work of the visual anthropologist, David MacDougall, the paper will focus on the transliteracy competencies that are required for the development and reception of this work.


We compare three different models of clumpy gas disk and show that the Circumnuclear Disk (CND) in the Galactic Center and a putative, geometrically thick, obscuring torus are best explained by a collisional model consisting of quasi-stable, self-gravitating clouds. Kinetic energy of clouds is gained by mass inflow and dissipated in cloud collisions. The collisions give rise to a viscosity in a spatially averaged gas dynamical picture, which connects them to angular momentum transport and mass inflow. It is found that CND and torus share the same gas physics in our description, where the mass of clouds is 20-50 $M_\odot$ and their density is close to the limit of disruption by tidal shear. We show that the difference between a transparent CND and an obscuring torus is the gas mass and the velocity dispersion of the clouds. A change in gas supply and the dissipation of kinetic energy can turn a torus into a CND-like structure and vice versa. Any massive torus will naturally lead to sufficiently high mass accretion rates to feed a luminous AGN. For a geometrically thick torus to obscure the view to the center even super-Eddington accretions rates with respect to the central black hole are required.


We discuss pre-orders for reasoning about stability properties of hybrid systems, including Lyapunov stability, asymptotic stability, input-to-state stability and incremental input-to-state stability. We strengthen the classical notion of equivalence between processes, namely, bisimulation with continuity and uniformity conditions and show that the new notions preserve the stability properties for hybrid systems. We demonstrate the usefulness of our results by casting various classical methods for proving stability as constructing simpler systems which are related to the original systems by uniformly continuous notions of pre-orders and proving the simpler systems to be stable.


OBJECTIVE We tested the hypotheses that in nondiabetic individuals, partial inhibition of insulin secretion with the ATP-sensitive K+ channel agonist (opener) diazoxide, compared with placebo, results in higher plasma glucose and higher plasma glucagon concentrations after a mixed meal and after administration of the sulfonylurea glimepiride. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Plasma glucose, insulin, C-peptide, and glucagon concentrations were measured every 30 min from −60 through 180 min with random-sequence, double-blind administration of diazoxide (6.0 mg/kg) or placebo at −30 and 1 min, ingestion of a formula mixed meal (Ensure Plus) at 0 min after diazoxide and after placebo and, on a separate occasion, ingestion of glimepiride (4.0 mg) at 0 min (with glucose infused to prevent hypoglycemia) after diazoxide and after placebo in 11 healthy young adults. RESULTS With diazoxide administration, insulin (P = 0.0016) and C-peptide (P = 0.0287) concentrations were decreased and glucose concentrations were increased (e.g., 180-min values of 106 ± 4 mg/dL [5.9 ± 0.2 mmol/L] compared with 87 ± 2 mg/dL [4.8 ± 0.1 mmol/L] with placebo; P < 0.0001), but glucagon concentrations were no different after the mixed meal. Similarly, with diazoxide, C-peptide concentrations were decreased (P = 0.0015) and glucose concentrations were increased (P < 0.0001), but glucagon concentrations declined similarly after glimepiride administration. CONCLUSIONS Partial inhibition of insulin secretion results in impairment of glucose tolerance after a mixed meal and after glimepiride administration in the absence of a difference in glucagon secretion. They underscore the primary glucoregulatory role of insulin and support the evidence that β-cell secretion is not the only regulator of α-cell glucagon secretion.


An investigation was carried out on the limnological status and the nutrient loadings of Rufaro Dam, in Marondera. The limnological parameters of the water in the dam and the inflows that were measured were conductivity, Ph, temperature, turbidity, DO, TDS, ORP, chloride, nitrate, calcium, reactive phosphorus, total nitrogen and total phosphorus. The dam sediments were analysed for total phosphorus and nitrogen and the Planning and Management of Lakes and Reservoirs focusing on Eutrophication (PAMOLARE) software package was used to model the dam variables for purposes of managing eutrophication.

The dam water was found to be eutrophic based on EPA and South African standards, with an average total nitrogen concentration of 2.12mg/L and total phosphorus concentration of 2.25mg/L.At the intake tower where domestic water was abstracted from the Ph, DO, temperature, chloride and nitrate levels were within EPA standards for reservoirs, but the turbidity, total nitrogen and phosphorus were above EPA recommendations for reservoirs. At the dam wall the DO was below EPA recommendations for reservoirs, whilst turbidity, Cl, total nitrogen and phosphorus were above EPA recommendations for reservoirs. The average conductivity was 246.78A¬S/cm and the Ph at the intake tower site was 8.15, which could indicate the occurrence of periodic algal blooms. Both the conductivity and the Ph were less than the Lake Chivero values. The limiting nutrient at the time of sampling was found to be nitrogen with the ratio of total nitrogen to total phosphorus in water being 1N: 2P. The concentrations of nutrients in the outflow showed that a considerable amount of nutrients were being lost through abstracting irrigation water from the bottom.

The sewage and the storm drains exported the highest loads of nutrients with the sewage stream exporting 22.67g/m2 P, 25.5g/m2 NO3-N, 37.8 g/m2 PO4-P and 50.7g/m2 total N.

Modeling with PAMOLARE predicted total nitrogen levels would increase to 19.9mg/L in six years time and total phosphorus levels would decrease to 0.72mg/L, with phosphorus becoming a limiting nutrient in 2years time. These adjustments would result in reduced productivity within the dam.

Further modeling at 6.2% reduced precipitation predicted higher maximum levels of total nitrogen (20.98mg/L) and higher levels of total phosphorus (0.75mg/L) coupled with higher productivity and reduced light penetration.

The use of the Biological Nutrient Reduction (BNR) plant was expected to reduce total nitrogen by 20% and total phosphorus by 28%, whilst the diversion of storm drains to the BNR would further reduce the total nitrogen by 40 % and total phosphorus by 42%. The reduction in nutrients would not meet EPA (Appendix E) reference criteria and so additional methods of reducing effluent from the Biological Nutrient Reduction (BNR) plant would have to be sought


Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010. The immediate response to the disaster was a real turning point concerning the availability, dissemination and licensing of a huge quantity of geospatial data. Timely triggering of the Earth Observation satellites, and absence of cloud cover, allowed to acquire very high-resolution optical satellite imagery (spatial resolution up to 0.5m) over the main affected areas within a few hours of the disaster, while the whole country coverage was completed in a very short time span. Furthermore in the following days aerial imagery, high resolution SAR radar imagery as well as thermal and LiDAR data were widely acquired. The paper will show how well established remote sensing techniques allowed to carry out earthquake damage assessment in a very short time, exploiting the synergic capabilities of geospatial tools and instruments such as EO satellites, Web mapping, GIS software and volunteer mapping. In a few days several map products based on the aforementioned analysis were delivered to end users: a review of the different types and purposes of this products will be provided and discussed. An assessment of the thematic accuracy of remotely sensed based products will be carried out on the basis of a review of the several available studies focused on this issue, including the main outcomes of a validation based on a comparison with in-situ data performed by the authors.


In this paper a four-degrees-of-freedom vehicle model is used in order to design and check the performance of fuzzy-logic-controlled (FLC) active suspensions without causing any degeneration in the suspensions' working limits. Aiming at a zero displacement for a sprung mass might finish the suspensions' working distance. Therefore, in this paper a new approach is proposed. The force actuators are mounted parallel to the suspensions. The main idea behind proposing a fuzzy-logic controller is its success, the ability to use these types of controllers on vehicle systems and the ability to overcome the suspension-gap degeneration problem within the fuzzy-control algorithm. The improvement in the ride comfort is achieved by decreasing the amplitudes of the motions of the vehicle body. The body bounce and the pitch motions of the vehicle are simulated in both the time domain, in the case of travelling over a ramp-step road profile, and in the frequency domain. The simulation results are compared with the results from passive suspensions. At the end of the paper, the performance of the controller, the advantage of the proposed approach and the improvement in the system performance are discussed in terms of the ride comfort.


The increase in incidents such as accidents and rape in Gurgaon are bringing in many changes in the city. These changes are effecting the environment socially as well as economically. According to the latest media report many laws are been broken by young individuals for underage drinking. This is one of the root causes for all the incidents.
More than 100 young men and young ladies from rumoured schools over the city were found drinking and smoking hookah and cigarettes at a pub in DLF City Center Mall on Sunday. Police and extract office authorities assaulted a 'sex-and-smoke' themed birthday party - facilitated by one of the understudies - at the Buzz-in pub and parlor that was serving liquor to kids matured 14 to 18 years, all path underneath the lawful drinking age of 25. The police shut the pub down and captured its administrator. This was the second time the police have attacked a pub in Gurgaon and discovered minors drinking. On December 25, 2010, it had detected 80 understudies in a pub in Sahara Mall, which was along these lines fixed yet only for a couple of days. The pub holder escaped with a fine of Rs 80,000. With numerous pubs spotting Gurgaon's shopping center mile, rivalry is savage and checking for underage consumers a sorry need.
Section 29 of Punjab Excise Act 1914 prohibits sale of liquor to persons under the age of 25 years and Section 62 of the Act provides penal provisions for violations.
Pragya Kothari, a Development Economist said signage's have dependably been placed up in all pubs and bars, clearly expressing that "liquor won't be served to those less than 25 years old yet these standards have been mocked frequently.
This research would help to understand clearly and prove whether underage drinking is still happening in Gurgaon or not, are the individual breaking the law, are the shopkeepers selling alcohol or not to the underage, are they aware of the age restriction for consuming alcohol in Gurgaon or not.


This paper presents the application of dynamic voltage restorers (DVR) on power distribution Systems for mitigation of voltage sags/swells at critical loads. DVR is one of the compensating types of custom power devices. The power quality is affected mainly due to the sensitive loads which results in voltage sag and voltage swells. It is necessary to investigate the suitable methods for mitigation of voltage sags. Sensitivity is the main cause of the above power quality problems and it cannot be eliminated completely as it has many other operating properties. So the next possible solution is to correct the problems caused by the sensitive equipments connected to the faulty loads. The occurrence of sag and swell varies with equipment, environment, process operations, desired control schemes etc. From the wide range of mitigation methods, the selected one has to be observed for the effect on the characteristics. These problems can be mitigated with voltage injection method using custom power device, Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR). In this paper we design a Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR) which is utilized for power quality improvement. The main power quality problems like voltage sag and swell are studied in this paper. The device used to phase out voltage sags and a swell in the distribution lines is the Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR). The Dynamic Voltage Restorer is a special type of power device used for providing consistent and reliable supply power to the load devices. Dynamic Voltage Restorer uses a vector control strategy for mitigating power quality problems by automatically detecting and injecting the voltage components through an injection transformer. Here comes the importance of soft computing techniques like PI controller. The system will be able to correct repeated occurrences of the power quality problems.


Xylanase A (XYLA) and arabinofuranosidase C (XYLC) from Pseudomonas fluorescens subsp. cellulosa are modular enzymes consisting of discrete cellulose-binding domains (CBDs) and catalytic domains joined by serine-rich linker sequences. To evaluate the role of the CBDs and interdomain regions, the capacity of full-length and truncated derivatives of the two enzymes, lacking either the linker sequences or CBDs, to hydrolyse a range of substrates, and bind to cellulose, was determined. Removal of the CBDs did not affect either the activity of XYLA or XYLC against soluble arabinoxylan. Similarly, deletion of the linker sequences did not alter the affinity of the enzymes for cellulose or their activity against soluble substrates, even when bound to cellulose via the CBDs. Truncated derivatives of XYLA lacking either the linker sequences or the CBD were less active against xylan contained in cellulose-hemicellulose complexes, compared with the full-length xylanase. Similarly, removal of the CBD from XYLC diminished the activity of the enzyme (XYLC''') against plant-cell-wall material containing highly substituted arabinoxylan. The role of CBDs and linker sequences in the catalytic activity of hemicellulases against the plant cell wall is discussed.


Background Epidemiological evidence for specific long-term conditions is required to inform best practices regarding the substantial health inequalities experienced by sexual minority individuals compared with heterosexual peers. Aim To describe inequalities in long-term conditions among sexual minority (lesbian, gay, and bisexual [LGB]) adults. Design & setting Cross-sectional analysis of 1 341 339 nationally representative survey responses from the English GP Patient Survey (GPPS). Method Stratifying by sex, the weighted prevalence and covariate-adjusted association of 15 long-term conditions were calculated, comparing sexual minority and heterosexual adults, considering variation by sexual orientation and variation in sexual orientation inequalities by deprivation, ethnic group, region, and age. Results After adjusting for deprivation, ethnic group, region, and age, 13 long-term conditions (all except cancer and hypertension) were more prevalent among sexual minority women than their heterosexual peers, with the largest inequalities for mental health problems (odds ratio [OR] 2.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.7 to 3.0), neurological conditions (OR 1.7, 95% CI = 1.5 to 1.8), dementia (OR 1.6, 95% CI = 1.3 to 1.9), and back problems (OR 1.4, 95% CI = 1.3 to 1.5). It was found that nine long-term conditions were also more prevalent among sexual minority men including mental health problems (OR 2.3, 95% CI = 2.2 to 2.4), 'all other conditions' (OR 1.8, 95% CI = 1.7 to 1.8), neurological conditions (OR 1.5, 95% CI = 1.4 to 1.6), and kidney or liver disease (OR 1.4, 95% CI = 1.3 to 1.5); inequalities were often largest for bisexual adults. Inequalities did not vary significantly by deprivation, ethnic group, or region except for mental health problems. Inequalities in multimorbidity were highest at younger ages; for example, LGB women aged 18–24 years had multimorbidity at the same level (approximately 20%) as heterosexual women aged 45–54 years. Conclusion Sexual minority adults, especially bisexual adults, are at elevated risk for many long-term conditions and multimorbidity; this risk spans socioeconomic status and ethnic group, representing a significant healthcare challenge.


The current study aims at obtaining the influence of adding several nano-minerals on the mechanical properties of fresh and hardened concrete. Four types of Nano minerals were investigated in this work; namely: Brown Iron Oxide, Barium Sulfate, Titanium Dioxide and Poly Acrylic Acid. Five contents of each nano-minerals were studied. A range of contents starting from 0.5 % to 2.5 % with an increment of 0.5 % by cement content of Brown Iron Oxide and Barium Sulfate was investigated. The Titanium Dioxide and Poly Acrylic Acid were added to concrete in percentages of 1 % to 5 % with an increment of 1 % by cement content. Adding 5 % Poly Acrylic Acid to the other three nano-minerals at selected contents separately was also studied. The measured mechanical properties of concrete comprised slump value, 7 and 28 days compressive strength. Some of the results revealed that there was 24 % increase in the slump value corresponding to every 1 % increase in PAA content. An improvement of 6.9 % in the 28 days compressive strength was measured at every 0.5 % increase of Brown Iron Oxide. It was also found that by adding 5 % Poly Acrylic Acid and 2.5 % Brown Iron Oxide to the concrete at the same time, the slump increased from 90 mm to 170 mm (88.9 % increase) and the 28 days compressive strength improved from 37.37 kg/cm to 49.35 kg/cm (32.1 % increase). Keywords-Nano-Minerals, Brown Iron Oxide, Barium Sulfate, Titanium Dioxide and Poly Acrylic Acid, Concrete Strength, Slump.


Cow-calf contact (CCC) systems, although beneficial in many respects, introduce additional challenges to collect reliable data on milk production, which is important to assess individual cow efficiency and dairy farm profitability. Apart from weighing calves before and after each feeding, the amount of saleable milk lost due to calf suckling is practically impossible to measure. Here, we assess 2 indirect methods for estimating loss of saleable milk when housing cows and calves together in a robotic milking unit. In our study, treatment (CCC) cows and calves were kept together full-time until the calves were 127 ± 6.6 d old (mean ± SD). Control cows were separated from their calves within 12 h of birth and then kept in the same unit as the treatment cows but with no access to either their own or treatment calves. Milk yield recording of both groups was performed from calving until pasture release at 233 ± 20 d in milk. The first estimation method relied on observed post-separation milk yield data, which were fed into a modified Wilmink regression model to determine the best-fitting lactation curve for the pre-separation period. The second method was based on the cows' daily energy intake post-separation, calculated by measuring the daily feed intake and analyzing the energy content of the ration. The calculated energy intake was used to determine the average ratio between energy intake and the observed milk yield the following day for each individual cow, assuming constant rates of mobilization and deposition of body fat. The obtained ratio was then used to calculate the expected daily milk yield based on daily energy intake data during the pre-separation period. In this paper, we analyzed data from 17 CCC cows kept together with their calves and 16 control cows; both groups calved from September to October 2020 and were followed up until release to pasture in May 2021. Saleable milk yield was lower in CCC cows than in control cows, both before and after separation. The 2 methods were used on data for control cows and showed milk yield loss using the lactation curve method (average of -3.4 ± 2.8 kg/d) and almost no loss using energy intake data (average of -1.4 ± 2.7 kg/d). Milk yield loss for CCC cows was estimated at average 11.3 ± 4.8 and 7.3 ± 6.6 kg milk/d, respectively. The proposed lactation curve estimation method tends to overestimate milk yield loss, whereas the method based on energy intake is more accurate. However, collecting detailed energy intake data per individual cow requires additional effort and equipment, which is not always feasible on commercial farms. Further research is needed to improve milk loss estimation and to better understand trade-offs in CCC systems.


The PRKAG3 gene encodes a muscle-specific isoform of the regulatory γ subunit of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). A major part of the coding PRKAG3 sequence was isolated from horse muscle cDNA using reverse-transcriptase (RT)-PCR analysis. Horse-specific primers were used to amplify genomic fragments containing 12 exons. Comparative sequence analysis of horse, pig, mouse, human, Fugu, and zebrafish was performed to establish the exon/intron organization of horse PRKAG3 and to study the homology among different isoforms of AMPK γ genes in vertebrates. The results showed conclusively that the three different isoforms (γ1, γ2, and γ3) were established already in bony fishes. Seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), five causing amino acid substitutions, were identified in a screening across horse breeds with widely different phenotypes as regards muscle development and intended performance. The screening of a major part of the PRKAG3 coding sequence in a small case/control material of horses affected with polysaccharide storage myopathy did not reveal any mutation that was exclusively associated with this muscle storage disease. The breed comparison revealed several potentially interesting SNPs. One of these (Pro258Leu) occurs at a residue that is highly conserved among AMPK γ genes. In an SNP screening, the variant allele was only found in horse breeds that can be classified as heavy (Belgian) or moderately heavy (North Swedish Trotter, Fjord, and Swedish Warmblood) but not in light horse breeds selected for speed or racing performance (Standardbred, Thoroughbred, and Quarter horse) or in ponies (Icelandic horses and Shetland pony). The results will facilitate future studies of the possible functional significance of PRKAG3 polymorphisms in horses.


Increased proliferation and elevated levels of protein synthesis are characteristics of transformed and tumor cells. Though components of the translation machinery are often misregulated in cancers, what role tRNA plays in cancer cells has not been explored. We compare genome-wide tRNA expression in cancer-derived versus non-cancer-derived breast cell lines, as well as tRNA expression in breast tumors versus normal breast tissues. In cancer-derived versus non-cancer-derived cell lines, nuclear-encoded tRNAs increase by up to 3-fold and mitochondrial-encoded tRNAs increase by up to 5-fold. In tumors versus normal breast tissues, both nuclear- and mitochondrial-encoded tRNAs increase up to 10-fold. This tRNA over-expression is selective and coordinates with the properties of cognate amino acids. Nuclear- and mitochondrial-encoded tRNAs exhibit distinct expression patterns, indicating that tRNAs can be used as biomarkers for breast cancer. We also performed association analysis for codon usage-tRNA expression for the cell lines. tRNA isoacceptor expression levels are not geared towards optimal translation of house-keeping or cell line specific genes. Instead, tRNA isoacceptor expression levels may favor the translation of cancer-related genes having regulatory roles. Our results suggest a functional consequence of tRNA over-expression in tumor cells. tRNA isoacceptor over-expression may increase the translational efficiency of genes relevant to cancer development and progression.


We investigate the stability of bright solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates by including a feeding term and a loss one in the Oross-Pitaevskii equation. Based on the direct approach of perturbation theory for the nonlinear Schroedinger equation, we give the explicit dependence of the height and other related quantities of bright solitons on the feeding and loss term. It is found that the three-body recombination loss plays a crucial role in stabilizing bright solitons.


The WHO has identified 17 neglected diseases, affecting over a billion people worldwide, many of which can be effectively controlled by relatively simple measures. However, these are but a fraction of the full spectrum of neglected diseases and conditions affecting the most impoverished and marginalised populations of the world. These neglected diseases and conditions include, among many others, reproductive health issues, sexually transmitted diseases, micronutrient deficits and poisonings. Largely ignored, children comprise an important part of the voiceless victims of these diseases.

Currently available treatments for neglected diseases and conditions have a number of shortcomings for children, including lack of paediatric formulations and absence of paediatric specific data. These problems force dosing decisions to be based on adult data, leading to a greater risk of toxicity, or therapeutic failure due to underdosing.

Considering that toxicology is an area where sizeable clinical studies are extremely rare, it is easy to understand that clinical research in paediatric toxicology is a highly deserted area, particularly for acute poisonings and understandably (but not justifiably) worse for neglected diseases and conditions. When toxicology studies do enrol children it is usually as part of the general population, but rarely in sufficient numbers to achieve the power required for paediatric subgroup analysis. Scorpion envenomation is one of these neglected conditions for which clinical trials are uncommon, and most rare in children. However, mortality is currently concentrated in the paediatric population.

To date, studies have provided strong evidence of the effectiveness of prazosin, …


Pair production in a constant electric field is closely analogous to bubble nucleation in a false vacuum. The classical trajectories of the pairs are Lorentz invariant, but it appears that this invariance should be broken by the nucleation process. Here, we use a model detector, consisting of other particles interacting with the pairs, to investigate how pair production is seen by different Lorentzian observers. We focus on the idealized situation where a constant external electric field is present for an infinitely long time, and we consider the in-vacuum state for a charged scalar field that describes the nucleating pairs. The in-vacuum is defined in terms of modes which are positive frequency in the remote past. Even though the construction uses a particular reference frame and a gauge where the vector potential is time dependent, we show explicitly that the resulting quantum state is Lorentz invariant. We then introduce a ``detector'' particle which interacts with the nucleated pairs, and show that all Lorentzian observers will see the particles and antiparticles nucleating preferentially at rest in the detector's rest frame. Similar conclusions are expected to apply to bubble nucleation in a sufficiently long lived vacuum. We also comment on certain unphysical aspects of the Lorentz invariant in-vacuum, associated with the fact that it contains an infinite density of particles. This can be easily remedied by considering Lorentz breaking initial conditions.


In this paper Se NPs have been synthesised through precipitation technique by using different sorts of solvents such as sodium hydroxide, tin chloride, sodium borohydride, hydrochloric acid and citrus acid so as to consider its antibacterial activities. These Se NPs are characterised by experimental techniques such as UV-Vis spectrophotometer, SEM, TEM, FT-IR, XRD, EDX and antibacterial activities. Powder XRD analysis reveals the hexagonal phase (HCP) of Se NPs with average particle size of 27 nm. SEM and TEM reveal agglomerated spherical images with spherical shape and EDX spectra of the pure Se NPs show the peaks of pure selenium. Maximum absorption occurs in the range of 200–400 nm with an energy band gap of 3.58 eV. Presence of different functional groups liable for the production and stability of the Se NPs was confirmed by FT-IR spectrum. The antibacterial activity was achieved against two Gram-negative microorganisms (Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi) and two Gram-positive microorganisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus epidermidis).


This study evaluated the performance of the
commonly used strong buffer electrolytes, i.e. phosphate buffers, during CO2 electroreduction in neutral pH conditions by using in-situ surface enhanced
infrared absorption spectroscopy (SEIRAS). Unfortunately, the buffers break
down a lot faster than anticipated which has serious implications on many
studies in the literature such as selectivity and kinetic analysis of the
electrocatalysts. Increasing electrolyte concentration, surprisingly, did not
extend the potential window of the phosphate buffers due to dramatic increase
in hydrogen evolution reaction. Even high concentration phosphate buffers (1
M) break down within the potentials (-1 V vs RHE) where hydrocarbons are formed
on copper electrodes. We have extended the discussion to high surface area
electrodes by evaluating electrodes composed of copper nanowires. We would like
highlight that it is not possible to cope with high local current densities on
these high surface area electrodes by using high buffer capacity solutions and
the CO2 electrocatalysts are needed to be evaluated by casting thin
nanoparticle films onto inert substrates as commonly employed in fuel cell
reactions and up to now scarcely employed in CO2 electroreduction.
In addition, we underscore that normalization of the electrocatalytic
activity to the electrochemical active
surface area is not the ultimate solution due to concentration gradient along
the catalyst layer.This will "underestimate" the activity of
high surface electrocatalyst and the degree of underestimation will depend on
the thickness, porosity and morphology of the catalyst layer.


In 2004, Wayne McGregor's Random Dance Company gave the premiere in London of his
AtaXia, danced to the complete score of Michael Gordon's Trance (1994), a major work wellknown in modern music circles and twice commercially recorded. Yet dance reviewers of AtaXia 28
described the score in terms of 'background sounds' and 'a tape', even though the music was
played live by a chamber orchestra. This paper examines causes for this level of mediation,
where here the score precedes the choreography, or where elsewhere the compositional impulse
is misjudged by those interpreting events for public representation.


The outcome of treatment in 120 cases of vitiligo receiving psoralen was analyzed. Forty patients were treated with topical psoralen, another 40 patients were given oral psoralen and the remaining 40 patients used, both oral and topical psoralens. Treatment was given once daily followed by sun exposure for 6 months. Fourteen cases using topical psoralen, 22 patients receiving oral psoralen lvmg and 24 patients receiving combined treatment showed partial repigmentation. Only 15% cases using oral psoralen alone showed complete repigmentation. Combined treatment was the most effective, leading to complete repigmrntation in 30% patients.


Clinical decision thresholds may aid the evaluation of diagnostic tests but have rarely been determined for tuberculosis (TB). We presented clinicians with six web-based clinical scenarios, describing patients with HIV and possible TB at various sites and with a range of clinical stability. The probability of disease was varied randomly and clinicians asked to make treatment decisions; threshold curves and therapeutic thresholds were calculated. Test and treatment thresholds were calculated using Bayes theorem and the diagnostic accuracy of Xpert MTB/RIF. We received 165 replies to our survey. Therapeutic thresholds vary depending on the clinical stability and site of suspected disease. For inpatients, it ranges from 3.4% in unstable to 79.6% in stable patients. For TB meningitis, it ranges from 0% in unstable to 51.4% in stable patients and for pulmonary TB in outpatients it ranges from 29.1% in unstable to 74.5% in the stable patients. Test and treatment thresholds vary in a similar way with test thresholds ranging from 0 in unstable patients with suspected meningitis to 8.2% for stable inpatients. Treatment thresholds vary from 0 for unstable patients with suspected meningitis to 97% for stable inpatients. Therapeutic thresholds for TB can be determined by presenting clinicians with patient scenarios with random probabilities of disease and can be used to calculate test and treatment thresholds using Bayes theorem. Thresholds are lower when patients are more clinically unstable and when the implications of inappropriately withholding therapy are more serious. These results can be used to improve use and evaluation of diagnostic tests.


Objective: To learn the coping strategies used by chronic kidney patients undergoing hemodialysis, facing the difficulties inherent to the disease. Methods: A descriptive, qualitative study, conducted with 30 people living with chronic kidney issues in a hemodialysis unit in northeastern Brazil. Data were collected from January to March of 2013 through a semi-structured interview tool and analyzed according to content analysis, thematic modality. It was used as a reference the theory of coping. Results: The categories that emerged from the interviews were: family support; attachment to religion/belief; denial and avoidance; and resilience. Conclusion: The way to handle the difficulties inherent to the disease was revealed by coping strategies that were based on emotion as on the issue. Thus, efforts have been made to administer or change the initial problems, as well as attempts to replace or regulate the emotional impact of the disease.


Autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AIHA) is a rare immune-related adverse event and appears to be more common with anti-PD1/PDL1 than anti-CTLA4. Little is known about the safety of re-treating with anti-PD1/PDL1 or changing to anti-CTLA4. We present a case of grade 4 AIHA due to nivolumab (PD1-inhibitor) treatment in a patient with melanoma for adjuvant setting after surgery and the safeness of subsequent treatment with ipilimumab (anti-CTLA4). After the remission of AIHA with steroids, ipilimumab was started with the rationale of its different mechanism of action. Fortunately, AIHA did not recur. The mechanism by which checkpoint inhibitors cause AIHA is likely by augmenting or redirecting immune surveillance, especially by activating pre-existing red blood cell autoantibodies, but further studies must be done. To our knowledge, this is the first case published in the literature with the change of immunotherapy treatment to anti-CTLA4.


ABSTRACT The Llandeilo-Caradoc black shales of southwest Wales, U.K. record a paragenetic sequence that requires redistribution of rare earth elements (REE) on a mineralogic scale during diagenesis. The main evidence for this redistribution is formation and replacement of REE-rich apatite and monazite and variations in whole-rock REE patterns. The processes that produce these mineralogic changes create a diagenetic overprint on the Llandeilo-Caradoc black shales that obscures geochemical information related to both provenance and paleoenvironmental conditions of deposition. Periods of open-system conditions existed during the diagenetic alteration of the Llandeilo-Caradoc black shales, which allow an evaluation of the extent and timing of the REE redistribution inferred from petrography. The observed variations in La/Sm ratios in the whole-rock REE patterns are strong evidence that REE were redistributed on a scale greater than an individual hand sample. This change in the whole-rock REE pattern altered the Cerium anomaly by as much as 20% and produced a range in the Sm/Nd ratio from 0.14 to 0.20. This change in the whole-rock Sm/Nd ratio indicates a disturbance in the Sm-Nd isotopic system at about 460 Ma that can be directly linked to the formation and dissolution of diagenetic apatite and monazite during diagenesis. One effect of this disturbance is to alter the range in Nd model age for the Llandeilo-Caradoc black shales from 1.6 to 1.8 Ga to about 1.4 to 2.25 Ga, thus complicating any interpretation of provenance. The ability to link petrographic observations from a black shale to measurable whole-rock geochemical changes provides us with one tool to evaluate the presence of a diagenetic overprint on trace elements commonly used in paleoenvironmental reconstruction.


Summary The present paper focuses on the trade-off between official liquidity provision and debtor moral hazard in sovereign debt problems. The financial crisis is caused by the interaction of bad fundamentals, self-fulfilling runs of private investors and optimal policies of the national government and the official lender. Building on the global games approach of Morris and Shin (2006), we extend their analysis by calculating numerical solutions for different values of fundamental and strategic uncertainty. Our results indicate that limited financial support may even strengthen government efforts and improve welfare when fundamentals are weak but not too weak. On the other hand, we are also able to identify debtor moral hazard and welfare reducing catalytic effects with stronger fundamentals.


The formation of an electron miniband has been investigated in two differently realized graded-gap superlattices (SL's). The first SL is compositionally graded, while the second system consists of layers with different well and barrier thicknesses. The formation of the miniband in the conduction band is studied experimentally by photocurrent (PC), electroreflectance (ER), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The experimental results are compared with the field dependence of calculated differential absorption spectra for both systems. In the compositionally graded SL, the formation of a miniband in the conduction band at finite electric fields can be clearly observed in the ER spectra. However, in the well width graded system, both the PC and the ER spectra are dominated by excitonic effects, which prevent the direct observation of the miniband formation.


Clinicians face multiple challenges in treating patients who present with failed implants: they must identify the cause of failure, find a way to salvage the restoration, and satisfy an unhappy patient. This book, a collaborative effort by a group of seasoned clinicians, offers a guiding philosophy as well as practical strategies for treating common types of failure. Emphasizing the need for diligent planning, precise techniques, and complete cooperation among all members of the implant team, the authors advocate a sequential treatment approach and the use of long-term, screw-retained, fixed provisional prostheses to enhance patient comfort and function and to improve treatment predictability. They also share strategies they have learned through experience for reducing prosthetic, surgical, and technical complications. Detailed clinical cases demonstrate the most common types of failure and the steps taken to restore function. All members of the implant team-restorative dentists, surgeons, and laboratory technicians-will benefit from the interdisciplinary approach presented in this text.


The author demonstrates that despite variables that are integrated, the fundamental issues on structural equation modeling raised by the Cowles Commission remain valid and standard estimation and testing procedures can still be applied. A basic framework linking the multiple time series model and the dynamic simultaneous equation model is provided and implications under the long-run cointegrating relations are discussed. Conditions for identifying both the short-run dynamics and long-run equilibrium conditions are given. Limiting properties of the least squares and simultaneous equation estimators under cointegration are derived. Implications for hypothesis testing are also discussed.


The objective of this text was to make theoretical rescue of the course of the undergraduate discipline Administration Applied to Nursing throughout the history of teaching of Nursing in Brazil, connecting it to the teaching of Costs. We noticed, inserted in the teaching of this discipline, many direct quotes related to the themes of Costs or Economics in Health, from the earliest curriculum in Nursing, dating back to 1890, to the National Curricular Policies of the Nursing Undergraduate Course, of 2001, in addition to indirect quotes related to management, decision taking, and advising in health projects, among others, but with no continuity.


Identity-based encryption (IBE) is a public key cryptosystem and eliminates the demands of public key infras structure (PKI) and certificate admiration in conventional public key settings .Due to the absence of PKI, the revocation problem is a critical issue in IBEs settings .Several revocable IBE schemes have been proposed regarding this issue. Quite recently, by embedding an outsourcing computation technique into IBE, Li et al. proposed a revocable IBE scheme with a key -update cloud service provider (KU-CSP). However, their scheme has two shortcomings. One is that the computation and communication costs are higher than previous revocable IBE schemes. The other shortcoming is lac k of scalability in the sense that the KU -CSP must keep a secret value for each user. In the article, we propose e a new revocable IBE scheme with a cloud revocation authority (CRA) to solve the two shortcomings, namely, the performance is significantly imp roved and the CRA holds only a system s secret for all the users. For security analysis is , we demonstrate that the proposed scheme is semantically secure under the decisional bilinear DiffieHellman (DBDH) assumption. Finally, we extend the proposed revocable IBE scheme to present a CRA -aided authentication scheme with period-limited privileges for managing a large number of various cloud services. We proposed a new revocable IBE scheme with a cloud revocation authority (CRA), in which the revocation procedure is performed by the CRA to alleviate the load of the PKG. This outsourcing computation technique with other authorities has been employed in Li et al.'s revocable IBE scheme with KU -CSP. Their scheme requires higher computational and communicational costs than previously proposed IBE schemes. For the time key update procedure, the KU-CSP in Li et al.'s scheme must keep a secret value for each user so that it is lack of scalability. In our revocable IBE scheme with CRA, the CRA holds only a master time key to perform the time key update procedures for all the users without affecting security


Author(s): Wolf, Steven Frank | Advisor(s): Kummel, Andrew C | Abstract: As semiconductor devices continue to scale down below the 10 nm node, deposition of conformal, ultra-thin layers on high aspect ratio features becomes very challenging. As such, there is a need to deposit these materials with precise thickness and stoichiometry control via atomic layer deposition (ALD). Two main applications for ALD occur during BEOL microelectronic device processing after the MOSFET has been fabricated: barrier layer deposition and interconnect fill. These two applications will be the focus of this dissertation. ALD barrier layers are typically conductive nitrides, as such, this work will discuss growing several nitrides with ALD using N2H4 which has the main advantage of being able to grow at lower deposition temperatures. Commonly used barrier layers, titanium nitride (TiN) and tantalum nitride (TaN) have been extensively studied in devices because of their ideal thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties and ability to act as metal diffusion barriers, but typically require high deposition temperatures due to using less reactive NH3 as the N-containing precursor. Additionally, amorphous boron nitride was explored due to it having shorter bonds than TiN and TaN potentially making it a more-effective diffusion barrier that could be scaled down to films that must be less than 5 nm thick. These three materials in particular will be the focus in Chapters 2 and 3.Deposition of conductive interconnect metal in shrinking vias is another common problem facing the microelectronics industry. Traditionally, Al and then Cu have been used due to their high conductivities; however, in small critical dimensions, the resistivity of Cu increases due to electron scattering. Therefore, new materials and processing conditions are being explored that can offer lower resistivity for interconnect fill in these small critical dimension features. Chapter 4 of this dissertation will discuss two selective ALD processes (Co and Ru) that can allow for bottom-up fill of the interconnect metal. This would induce the formation and growth of larger grains, which are expected to decrease via and interconnect resistance. Reducing grain boundaries and decreasing surface roughness achieve this. For the analysis and characterization of ALD films, in situ XPS and STM along with ex situ AFM were mainly employed to characterize the chemical, electrical and topographical features of the deposited films and surfaces. To further study the conductivity of films, ex situ four-point probe measurements were performed.


The Labour government has acknowledged the 'enormous bonds of commonality' (T. Blair, speech to Commonwealth Heads of Government, 24 October 1997. http://www.thecommonwealth.org), but the former empire or the modern Commonwealth has remained largely absent in the re-articulation of Britishness. Although there has been little attempt to reform the institutions and symbols of Empire, transnational ties with its former empire remain predominantly defined by ambiguity and selective myopia. This article will explore the relationship between former empire, British state and its composite nations by examining continued transnational constitutional and governmental ties and its implications on post-imperial frameworks of citizenship. The article will also consider the absence of empire or Commonwealth on the current debates concerning the 'Politics of Britishness' and how devolution has redefined post-imperialism across the UK. Finally, the article will assess in what ways the enduring legacy of empire may continue to influence the seemingly perpetual search for a homogenous sense of 'Britishness'.


OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of azithromycin as a chemoprophylactic agent in meningococcal disease in pre-school aged children, and the safety of ciprofloxacin in children aged 6-16 years old. METHODS: After classic chemoprophylaxis with rifampicin failed to control a school outbreak of meningococcal disease in Cantabria (Spain), a second cycle of chemoprophylaxis was administered in the school. Azithromycin was administered in the nursery level (99 children, aged 3-5 years old) and ciprofloxacin was administered in the primary and secondary levels (795 children, aged 6-16 years old) and in the school's adult personnel (58 persons). The efficacy of chemoprophylaxis was studied through records of cases of meningococcal disease, the mandatory disease reporting system, and the school's absences. The safety of ciprofloxacin was studied using a questionnaire designed to determine the incidence of adverse osteoarticular effects, which was distributed to parents, school personnel and pediatricians within the school's area. RESULTS: The chemoprophylaxis administered controlled the outbreak. We collected 764 questionnaIres (response rate: 89.5 %). The incidence of arthralgia after ciprofloxacin was 0.9% in children and 3.3% in adults. All were mild and self-limiting without specific treatment, except in one patient (in the adult group) in whom arthralgia was present 1 month after prophylactic treatment. However, the arthralgia was so mild that the patient had not consulted her physician. Only three children had sought medical advice for arthralgia. Consequently, the incidence that would have been detected by the Spanish pharmacovigilance system would have been 0.4% in children and 0% in adults. CONCLUSIONS: Azithromycin was effective in controlling the outbreak in children aged between 3 and 5 years. Ciprofloxacin was safe and effective, with no serious or persistent osteoarticular effects in children. The incidence of arthralgia was lower in children than in adults.


〈Summary〉 This paper describes a real-time vision system that recognizes the location and position of automobile cylinder sleeves on a moving conveyor belt based on surface texture pattern. The proposed vision system will maximize production efficiency and improve the strenuous and labor-intensive conditions of assembly lines. The normalized correlation function uses multi-resolution pyramid images to quickly find candidates. To discriminate these candidates, the output scores of the normalized correlation function are classified and the higher order autocorrelation functions are employed. The results from field tests prove that the performance is fully capable in providing a basis for a practical vision system. In the future, by integrating other surface texture patterns, the proposed system can expand the combined real-time vision system for the factory automation field.


Persistent viruses occur intracellularly in brown algae, specifically the Ectocarpales, and as reported here in the genus Feldmannia. Feldmannia species are small (1 mm-several cm), filamentous forms with single-celled meiotic sporangia that normally produce haploid zoospores. In the isolate reported here, spores were not observed in the sporangia but rather numerous (approximately 10(6) per cell) polyhedral viruses are formed in their place. Two dsDNA genome classes of 158 and 178 kbp, with two restriction site variants of each, are described. The individual abundance of each genome in viral preparations is affected by culture temperature. A cosmid library was used to generate circular restriction enzyme (BamHi, Noti, and Psti) site maps.


The structure and growth of self-assembled nanoparticle networks and epitaxial rare-earth thin-films have been studied using X-ray scattering. A diffusive growth model was developed to model the specular reflected X-ray signal monitored at the anti-phase position, during the growth of two rare-earth (RE) metals, gadolinium and samarium onto molybdenum(HO) single crystals. The model identifies atomic layer spacings and the degree of interlayer mass transport. Both RE elements are shown to grow in a layerwise manner but with significant roughness after the initial layer is occupied. The RE growth mode was modified by raised substrate temperatures. The presence of pre-deposition oxygen at the surface was found to encourage layer-by-layer growth for both Gd and Sm. The structure of noble-metal nanoparticles passivated with thiolate organic ligands was studied using small and wide angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS). Ag nanoparticles were found to consist of a spherical metal core with fee atomic packing. The passivating shell was modified to induce direct cross-linking between nanoparticles. The structure and development of the nanoparticle aggregates formed due to the interactions between functionalised thiol derivatives of porphyrin, benzene, C5 dithiol and MUA was monitored with SAXS. In all cases the structures were found to be open and fractal, with the size of the cross-link determined by the size of the functionalised ligand. The structural quality of self-assembled noble-metal nanoparticle superlattices was investigated using GISAXS. Au nanoparticle networks were formed at the air/water interface. Fits to the GISAXS data, revealed that strain build-up in the layer can directly control the interparticle spacing. Larger Au nanoparticles were allowed to self-assembly onto a S i( lll) substrate. The influence of the substrate temperature prior to assembly was investigated and revealed a striking phase transition below 16.7°C from disordered nanoparticle networks to highly ordered layered nanoparticle structures. It is thought that solvent volatility plays a crucial role in the ordering process.


&NA; A three‐part study is described that examines postoperative weakness after open carpal tunnel release and investigates the role of the transverse carpal ligament in the digital flexor pulley system. The effect of this ligament on flexor tendon excursion is evaluated in a cadaver study. Magnetic resonance imaging analysis is used to determine whether division of the transverse carpal ligament promotes volar migration of the median nerve and flexor tendons. Finally, the effects of ligament division and various methods of transverse carpal ligament reconstruction on the return of grip and pinch strengths after open carpal tunnel release are evaluated. The authors were able to determine that transverse carpal ligament reconstruction, particularly the transposition flap repair technique, after open carpal tunnel release confers a mechanical advantage and that the transverse carpal ligament is an important pulley for flexor tendon excursion. Based on the magnetic resonance imaging studies, volar displacement of carpal contents is reduced in patients undergoing transverse carpal ligament reconstruction by means of a transposition flap compared with those undergoing no ligament reconstruction and those undergoing reconstruction using the palmar aponeurosis. Postoperative grip and pinch strength values for the transposition flap repair group surpassed those of the other two groups at 12 weeks. (Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 100: 636, 1997.)


This study investigated inter-correlations between the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP) and popular measures of the Dark Triad of Personality as the CAPP has not yet been applied in this context. The Dark Triad was measured using the Mach-IV (Machiavellianism), NPI (Narcissism), LSRP (Psychopathy) and the CAPP. Participants were 100 adults (aged 18-65) currently in leadership roles. The LSRP measures primary (P1; interpersonal/affective variant) and secondary (P2; behavioural variant) psychopathy, while the CAPP measures six domains of psychopathic personality: Self, Attachment, Behavioural, Dominance, Emotional and Cognitive. Correlational analysis revealed significant correlations between all four measures, but divergences were also found. Total CAPP scores were significantly correlated with both P1 and P2 of the LSRP. When controlling for the LSRP the CAPP was significantly correlated with the Mach-IV, but not with the NPI. Findings suggest that the CAPP may tap the same underlying construct as the LSRP and Mach-IV. As the CAPP is a relatively new measure of psychopathic personality, validating its use in different populations is of high importance.


The mechanism that cells use to recognize micro-patterned topographies was clarified. First, 3D double-layer poly (e-caprolactone) scaffolds equipped with honeycomb-patterned micro-pores ("honeycomb films") were prepared. Then, porcine aortic endothelial cells (PAECs) were cultured on these scaffolds for 1-6 h in serum-free medium. Finally, their initial spreading process was investigated by using AFM and confocal laser scanning microscopy. The attachment and spreading of PAECs on honeycomb films having either 6-or 16-μm pore diameters resulted in voids within the cell cytoplasm, which correspond with the size and location of the honeycomb micropores. The number of cells with this unique morphology decreased with increasing culture time. This dependence of morphology on film pore size and culture time suggests a spreading process of PAECs in which the cells spread trying to sense suitable sites to adhere. Using thick filopodia, the cells spread along the rim of the film and produced pores by close contact between two spreading filopodia. Evidently, these pores became filled in during culture, presumably as the cells began to reorganize their cytoplasma.


Between 2001 and 2013, marijuana use among US adults more than doubled, many states legalized marijuana use, and attitudes toward marijuana became more permissive.1 In aggregated 2007–2012 data, 3.9% of pregnant women and 7.6% of non-pregnant reproductive-aged women reported past-month marijuana use.2 Although the evidence is mixed, human and animal studies suggest that prenatal marijuana exposure may be associated with poor offspring outcomes (e.g., low birthweight; impaired neurodevelopment).3 The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that pregnant women and women contemplating pregnancy be screened for and discouraged from using marijuana and other substances.4 Whether marijuana use has changed over time among pregnant and non-pregnant reproductive-aged women is unknown.


The aggressiveness of prostate cancer (PCa) varies widely: some tumors progress to invasive, potentially life-threatening disease, whereas others stay latent for the remainder of an individual's lifetime. The mechanisms resulting in this variability are not yet understood, but they are likely to involve both genetic and environmental influences. To investigate genetic factors, we conducted a genomewide linkage analysis of 513 brothers with PCa, using the Gleason score, which reflects tumor histology, as a quantitative measure of PCa aggressiveness. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a measure of PCa aggressiveness has been directly investigated as a quantitative trait in a genomewide scan. We employed a generalized multipoint Haseman-Elston linkage-analysis approach that regresses the mean-corrected cross product between the brothers' Gleason scores on the estimated proportion of alleles shared by brothers identical by descent at each marker location. Our results suggest that candidate regions on chromosomes 5q, 7q, and 19q give evidence for linkage to PCa-aggressiveness genes. In particular, the strongest signals detected in these regions were at the following markers (with corresponding P values): for chromosome 5q31-33, between markers D5S1480 and D5S820 (P=.0002); for chromosome 7q32, between markers D7S3061 and D7S1804 (P=.0007); and, for chromosome 19q12, at D19S433 (P=.0004). This indicates that one or more of these candidate regions may contain genes that influence the progression of PCa from latent to invasive disease. Identification of such genes would be extremely valuable for elucidation of the mechanism underlying PCa progression and for determination of treatment in men in whom this disease has been diagnosed.


The world around us is a global system, therefore, it can be said that all its elements are interconnected. The strength of the connections between the system's elements and their groups is not uniform. In some cases, we can observe the links very clearly, in other cases, we assume that they exist, while, sometimes, we are not even aware of their existence. The existence of the connections of various strength shows that the particular elements are of different nature and possess some specific features and capacity allowing them to interact with others and form the particular structures when the same goal is pursued. These structures differ from others and make the systems of a particular level. Therefore, the elements relevant for the considered problem should be identified (or formed if an artificial system is considered). In other words, we should identify or form a system for solving an arising problem. Another important aspect of investigating an existing or specially formed system is associated with its reflection. To change or to manage a social economic system, for example, the state of an enterprise should be measured. This may be achieved only if all major aspects of its performance are described by the particular criteria. The values of the criteria allow us to plan the measures to be taken for improving enterprise performance. The analysis of the literature shows that we can hardly find a generally accepted concept and definition of the word 'system'. However, a lot of various definitions are suggested. This may be explained by the fact that either various features of the system are emphasized, or not all relevant features are considered. In some cases, a definition includes too many features, often duplicating each other. Some researchers base themselves on a very wide 'system's' definition, while others prefer a short one, embracing its essential features. Various approaches depend on the research objective, 'system's' perception, and, finally, the researcher's ability to see the essential features and understand the nature of the considered phenomenon. In terms of the research objective, investigators usually search for a versatile 'system's' definition, while others prefer a short one, embracing its essential features. Various approaches depend on the research objective, 'system's' perception, and, finally, on the researcher's ability to see the essential features and understand the nature of the considered phenomenon. In terms of the research objective, investigators usually search for a versatile system's definition suitable for studying any phenomenon at any investigation level. However, they also may try to find a multifunctional approach, giving the priority to general features of the system, rather than to its basic, principal characteristics, thereby restricting themselves to a 'narrow' definition suitable for solving a particular problem and achieving a particular goal. The latter approach makes sense only if it does not contradict a universal system's concept and definition. This means that a universal concept and definition of the word 'system', which could be used as a basis for possible interpretations should be developed. The analysis of the available 'system's' definitions allows us to suggest the following basic definition – a system is the structured whole of interacting elements. A basic category of the theory of systems is structure, which marks the beginning of system's stabilization. However, we can see that a generally accepted definition of the concept 'structure' is also lacking. On the other hand, all definitions emphasize the same, probably, most essential, structure's feature – the connections between the elements. In addition, the existence of the system and structure representing it is closely connected to the aim (purpose) of the system. It is the structure that orients the system to pursuing a particular aim. In mathematical terms, the establishing of invariable relations between the elements is necessary but insufficient for system formation. These relations should be properly directed, i.e. oriented to achieving the system's aim. This may be obtained only by establishing hierarchical relations between the interacting elements, i.e. by structuring the elements according to the type of their subordination. It is the process of structuring of a set of interacting elements that gives them a particular orientation and turns them into a system. The analysis of various 'structure's' definitions allows us to define it as a whole of constant relations between the elements oriented to achieving the system's aim. Now, when the concepts of system and structure are clear, it is possible to investigate them. Classification, i.e. their subdivision into separate groups, is an efficient tool in this process. The analysis of the literature on the problem shows that, in various system's classifications, various attributes are considered. For the case investigated in the present paper, system's classification into actual (material) and theoretical (abstract) systems is relevant. The first class embraces the systems of organic and inorganic nature, while the second includes hypotheses, theories, formalized models, etc. In fact, the latter may be deduced from the former. Therefore, they are aimed at reflecting actual (material) systems. Thus, it may be stated that theoretical (abstract) systems are the models of actual (material) systems. - 8 - The following steps may be identified in the process of reflecting actual (material) systems by theoretical (abstract) models. First, the problem situation associated with the actual (material) system is described, then, the problem and the aim of its solution are stated. The existence of the reflected system's problem situation, the problem and the aim of its solution determine the problem situation, the problem and the aim of the reflecting model.


This study aimed to explore how preschool teachers teach children to write Chinese characters. The method used in this study was inspired by phenomenography. Specifically, the author videotaped and analyzed the ways that three preschool teachers taught their children to write the same set of eleven Chinese characters. The analysis focused on how the teachers enacted the same object of learning (i.e., the writing of the 11 characters) differently in the classrooms. Pre- and post-tests were administered to determine how well the children learned to write the characters after the teaching of their teachers. Seven teaching strategies that the three teachers used to teach their children to write the characters were identified. Interestingly, an inconsistency was found among the three teachers' understandings of the correct ways to write the characters. This study expands the understanding about possible ways for teaching preschool children to write Chinese characters, which are practically useful for the professional development of preschool teachers.


To intervene on urban development, with the aim of finding an alternative model that has emerged in the last century, a sustainable approach is necessary so as to establish the territory as a pattern in which it is not possible to detect the boundaries between the natural and artificial environments and in which each process is controlled so that its impact and, consequently, the irreversible degradation induced is the minimum possible in relation to the constraints of the process itself. The urban context should be seen as an organism with a dynamic balance achieved through the technological control of complex functions. With the aim of achieving these objectives, the role of open urban spaces is particularly important, since they constitute nodal elements capable of performing the delicate function of linking the urban systems with the surrounding natural ones, while assuming a strategic role in the transformation of anthropized areas. In this context urban farming can make a valuable contribution as an effective instrument for the renewal of urban open space because offers significant possibilities from an environmental, economic and social perspective. The drawing of a territory offers a contribution into the phases of a local context analysis and architectural design communication. In the specific field of urban farming and about the project introduced in this abstract, the study of the area has been the preparatory analysis phase for the knowledge of the local resources, founding premise of a proper planning process. The analysis of the agricultural vocation of the area emerged also through the map comparative study, both diachronic and synchronic. This study, simultaneous to the study of urban farming models, has allowed the development of the project idea. The representation and communication of the project took place through different methods and tools. The articulation of the interior and open spaces occurred through plan and front views, the communication of the project is rather occurred through render views that illustrated both changes through day and night views, but also the landscape modifies through the evolution and the alternations of crops over the seasons. In order to obtain an applicative definition of these concepts, is presented a structured case study related to the requalification of a degraded urban area in the South of Italy. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sace.15.2.15200


The application of the dual photon absorptiometry (DPA) technique, using gadolinium-153 as the photon source, to evaluate the bone mineral density (BMD) of the third metacarpal bone of horses is presented. The radiation detector was implemented with a NaI(TI) scintillator coupled to a 14 stage photomultiplier. A modular mechanical system allows the position of the prototype to be adjusted in relation to the animal. A moveable carrier makes it possible to scan the third metacarpal with a velocity adjustable between 1 and 12 mm s(-1), in steps of 1 mm s(-1), for a total distance of 250 mm. The prototype was evaluated with a phantom of the third metacarpal bone made of perspex and aluminium, and in vitro with a transverse slice of the third metacarpal bone of a horse. The tests showed that the prototype has an accuracy and precision of, approximately, 10% and 6%, respectively, for a 6 s acquisition time. Preliminary studies carried out in three foals from birth to one year of age indicated that the prototype is well suited to in vivo and in situ analysis of the BMD of the third metacarpal bones of horses, making it possible to evaluate the changes of BMD levels on a monthly basis. Also, results indicated an exponential behaviour of the BMD curve during the first year of life of the studied horses.


The authors study the problem of mapping the N nodes of a complete t-ary tree on M memory modules so that they can be accessed in parallel by templates, i.e. distinct sets of nodes. Typical templates for accessing trees are subtrees, root-to-leaf paths, or levels which are referred to as elementary templates. They first propose a new mapping algorithm for accessing both paths and subtrees of size M with an optimal number of conflicts (i.e., only one conflict) when the number of memory modules is limited to M. They also propose another mapping algorithm for a composite template, say /spl Vscr/ (as versatile), such that its size is not fixed and an instance of /spl Vscr/ is composed of any combination of c instances of elementary templates. The number of conflicts for accessing an S-node instance of template /spl Vscr/ is O(S//spl radic/M log M+c) and the memory load is 1+o(1) where load is defined as the ratio between the maximum and minimum number of data items mapped onto each memory module.


This article focuses on the discreet yet vital 'organ' of our urban ecological systems that is the 'cemetery' and, more broadly, to the atmospheres of our relationship with death and the dead. Changes in burial practices not only invites us to question the form of the cemetery, the drawing of its boundaries, but also the shape of its link with the city through the connections it creates with his human, urban and natural environment. As a privileged place for relations between the living and the dead and a symbolic place of our historicity, it is a miniature that reflects the evolution of environmental, social and political projects, multiple and contradictory, through which tomorrow's city builds itself. Ecologically (cool wells, deep soil, biodiversity), economically (land management, lucrative public space), and on a human level (place of calm, peace, reflexivity, access to the intimate, acts and experiences space), these areas represent a potential for the city and urban life.