Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of imaging biomarkers in published clinical trials (CTs) in ophthalmology and its eventual changes during the past 10 years.

Methods
We sampled from published CTs in the fields of cornea, retina, and glaucoma between 2005-2006 and 2015-2016. Data collected included year of publication, phase, subspecialty, location, compliance with Consolidated Standards for Reporting Trials, impact factor, presence and use of imaging biomarkers (diagnostic, prognostic and predictive; primary and secondary surrogate endpoints), and use of centralized reading centers.

Results
We included 652 articles for analysis, equally distributed in three timeframes (2005-2006, 2010-2011, and 2015-2016), mainly reporting phase IV CTs and trials on procedures (42.2% and 35.4%, respectively). Imaging biomarkers were included in 46.3% of the analyzed CTs and their use significantly increased over time (P < 0.05). Optical coherence tomography was the most frequently used device (27.7%), whereas diagnostic biomarkers and secondary surrogate endpoints were the most frequent biomarker types (19.5% and 22.5%, respectively). Early-phase CTs showed an increase in the use of biomarkers for patient selection and stratification over time (P < 0.05), but not in the use of imaging surrogate endpoints (P = 0.90). Only 3 of 59 (5.1%) of phase III CTs included primary surrogate imaging endpoints, whereas secondary surrogate imaging endpoints were present in 50.8% of these trials (P < 0.001). Retinal CTs had the highest prevalence for each type of imaging biomarker (P < 0.001). Reading centers were used in 52 of 302 CTs (17.2%), with no significant time-related increase.

Conclusions
Imaging biomarkers are increasingly used in published CTs in ophthalmology. Additional efforts, including centralized reading centers, are needed to improve their validation and use, allowing a wider use of these tools as primary surrogate endpoints in phase III CTs.


Forty-eight patients seeking treatment for low back pain were assessed in the acute stage to see if they exhibited characteristics that would predict response to medical treatment. It was hoped that, if there were personality and demographic differences between patients who did and those who did not respond to standard medical treatment, potential chronic pain patients could be identified and targeted for special treatment. Stepwise discriminant analysis yielded a prediction equation that correctly identified 41 of the 48 cases (85.4%). Acute patients who became chronic complained of pain over a wider area of the body; had deeper, more central pain; were highly anxious; and had a lower activity level. Although cross-validation studies are needed, identification of potentially chronic pain patients may be feasible, making appropriate early intervention possible.


During initial iterations of training in most Reinforcement Learning (RL) algorithms, agents perform a significant number of random exploratory steps. In the real world, this can limit the practicality of these algorithms as it can lead to potentially dangerous behavior. Hence safe exploration is a critical issue in applying RL algorithms in the real world. This problem has been recently well studied under the Constrained Markov Decision Process (CMDP) Framework, where in addition to single-stage rewards, an agent receives single-stage costs or penalties as well depending on the state transitions. The prescribed cost functions are responsible for mapping undesirable behavior at any given time-step to a scalar value. The goal then is to find a feasible policy that maximizes reward returns while constraining the cost returns to be below a prescribed threshold during training as well as deployment. We propose an On-policy Model-based Safe Deep RL algorithm in which we learn the transition dynamics of the environment in an online manner as well as find a feasible optimal policy using the Lagrangian Relaxation-based Proximal Policy Optimization. We use an ensemble of neural networks with different initializations to tackle epistemic and aleatoric uncertainty issues faced during environment model learning. We compare our approach with relevant model-free and model-based approaches in Constrained RL using the challenging Safe Reinforcement Learning benchmark - the Open AI Safety Gym. We demonstrate that our algorithm is more sample efficient and results in lower cumulative hazard violations as compared to constrained model-free approaches. Further, our approach shows better reward performance than other constrained model-based approaches in the literature.


Anti-corrosion coating in desulphurization flue of one wet flue gas desulfurization equipment (FGD) (model 1 and model 2) was designed and studied according to environmental and technical parameters of a coal-fired power plant. And relevant design requirements were confirmed. Application results showed that polyureas has wear and high temperature physical properties, so that it can be used in flue desulfurization equipment for anticorrosion. When the construction of a thickness of 2.0 mm, the high-temperature polyureas protective coating appearance smooth, EDM(electric discharge machining) 100% pass rate, adhesion 10.8 MPa, at 160 °C environment still had outstanding performance, that make sure it could reach its design life of the flue based on estimating the corrosion margin.


Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher Lonely Planet Queensland & the Great Barrier Reef is your passport to all the most relevant and up-to-date advice on what to see, what to skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Delve into the vivid undersea kingdom at the Great Barrier Reef, experience the ancient Daintree Rainforest, or wander through the open-air markets in Brisbane; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef and begin your journey now! Inside Lonely Planet Queensland & the Great Barrier Reef Travel Guide: *Colour maps and images throughout *Highlights and itineraries show you the simplest way to tailor your trip to your own personal needs and interests *Insider tips save you time and money and help you get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots *Essential info at your fingertips - including hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, and prices *Honest reviews for all budgets - including eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, and hidden gems that most guidebooks miss *Cultural insights give you a richer and more rewarding travel experience - including history, art, film, music, politics, environment wildlife, cuisine, and wine *Over 67 neighbourhood maps *Useful features - including Month-by-Month (annual festival calendar), Queensland Outdoors, and Travel with Children *Coverage of Brisbane, Cairns, Noosa, Fraser Island, Kuranda, Port Douglas, the Daintree, Townsville, Innisfail, Whitsunday Coast, Cape York Peninsula, the Savannah Way, Redcliffe, Birdsville, Gold Coast, and more The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Queensland & the Great Barrier Reef, our most comprehensive guide to Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef, is perfect for those planning to both explore the top sights and take the road less travelled. * Looking for more extensive coverage? Check out Lonely Planet's Australia guide for a comprehensive look at all the country has to offer, or Lonely Planet's Discover Australia, a photo-rich guide to the country's most popular attractions. Authors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet, Regis St Louis, Sarah Gilbert, Catherine La Nevez, and Olivia Pozzan. About Lonely Planet: Started in 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel guide publisher with guidebooks to every destination on the planet, as well as an award-winning website, a suite of mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet's mission is to enable curious travellers to experience the world and to truly get to the heart of the places they find themselves in. TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Awards 2012 and 2013 winner in Favorite Travel Guide category 'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York Times 'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' - Fairfax Media (Australia)


Interferon stimulates the ADP-ribosylation–dependent degradation of nonstructural Zika virus proteins necessary for viral replication. Ribosylation restricts infection Type I interferon signaling drives the expression of hundreds of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) that are critical for host and cellular defense against viral infection. To identify ISGs that limit Zika virus infection, Li et al. screened CRISPR knockout cell lines and found that loss of PARP12 increased viral replication. Truncation and pharmacological inhibition of PARP12 indicated that antiviral activity required the PARP domain–dependent ADP-ribosylation of required viral proteins, which led to their ubiquitylation and degradation. This work identifies a distinct antiviral mechanism and suggests that PARP agonists may have clinical utility if repurposed as treatments for Zika virus. Zika virus infection stimulates a type I interferon (IFN) response in host cells, which suppresses viral replication. Type I IFNs exert antiviral effects by inducing the expression of hundreds of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs). To screen for antiviral ISGs that restricted Zika virus replication, we individually knocked out 21 ISGs in A549 lung cancer cells and identified PARP12 as a strong inhibitor of Zika virus replication. Our findings suggest that PARP12 mediated the ADP-ribosylation of NS1 and NS3, nonstructural viral proteins that are involved in viral replication and modulating host defense responses. This modification of NS1 and NS3 triggered their proteasome-mediated degradation. These data increase our understanding of the antiviral activity of PARP12 and suggest a molecular basis for the potential development of therapeutics against Zika virus.


We investigate the unusually rapid directed self-assembly of block copolymer (BCP) thin films by imposing an in-plane electric field. Blending short chain BCPs dramatically enhances the generically retarded chain diffusivity for BCP self-assembly in thin films. In addition, photopatterned, few-layer solution-cast chemically modified graphene is introduced as a disposable and versatile electrode for electric field applications. A variety of laterally ordered self-assembled lamellar BCP nanopatterns are attained within a 10 min time scale, including an arbitrary large-area unidirectionally oriented lamellar array.


We study the ultrametric structure of phase space of one-dimensional Ising spin glasses with random power-law interaction in an external random field. Although in zero field the model in both the mean-field and non-mean-field universality classes shows an ultrametric signature [Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 037207 (2009)], when a field is applied ultrametricity seems only present in the mean-field regime. The results for the non-mean field case in an external field agree with data for spin glasses studied within the Migdal-Kadanoff approximation. Our results therefore suggest that the spin-glass state might be fragile to external fields below the upper critical dimension.


Multi-equation econometric frameworks are used to investigate the impact of household debt on GDP in the US. In the vector autoregression analysis capturing the transitory feedback effects, we observe a bidirectional positive feedback process between aggregate income and debt. According to the estimation of vector error correction models, there are negative long-run relationships between household debt and output. These empirical results provide a support for the view of the debt-driven business cycles.


Checkrein deformity is characterized by flexible plantar flexion contracture of the interphalangeal joint and flexible extension contracture of the metatarsophalangeal joint of the hallux. It occurs due to entrapment of the flexor hallucis longus in the callus formation at the fracture site or within scar tissue on lower limb. Currently, there is still no consensus about the best surgical treatment for this deformity. The aim of this study is to report a case of a patient that was treated with a novel approach for the treatment of checkrein deformity of the hallux located in the forefoot, with satisfactory functional outcomes. Level of Evidence V; Therapeutics Studies; Expert Opinion.


Dynamic optimal fragmentation with rate adaptation (DORA) is an algorithm to achieve maximum goodput in wireless mobile networks. With the analytical model that incorporates number of users, contentions, packet lengths, and bit error rates in the network, DORA computes a fragmentation threshold and transmits optimal sized packets with maximum rates. To estimate the SNR in the model, an adaptive on-demand UDP estimator is designed to reduce overheads. Test-beds to execute experiments for channel estimation, WLANs, Ad Hoc networks, and Vehicle-to-Vehicle networks are developed to evaluate the performance of DORA.
DORA is an energy-efficient generic CSMA/CA MAC protocol for wireless mobile computing applications, and enhances system goodput in WLANs, Ad Hoc networks, and Vehicle-to-Vehicle networks without modification of the protocols.


We study a class of temporal metamaterials characterized by time-varying dielectric permittivity waveforms of duration much smaller than the characteristic wave-dynamical timescale. In the analogy between spatial and temporal metamaterials, such a short-pulsed regime can be viewed as the temporal counterpart of metasurfaces. We introduce a general and compact analytical formalism for modeling the interaction of a short-pulsed metamaterial with an electromagnetic wave packet. Specifically, we elucidate the role of local and nonlocal effects, as well as the time-reversal symmetry breaking, and we show how they can be harnessed to perform elementary analog computing, such as first and second derivatives. Our theory validated against full-wave numerical simulations suggests a novel route for manipulating electromagnetic waves without relying on long, periodic temporal modulations. Just as metasurfaces have played a pivotal role in the technological viability and practical applicability of conventional (spatial) metamaterials, short-pulsed metamaterials may catalyze the development of temporal and space-time metamaterials.


A new method of continuous irrigation beneath a flap with special irrigation was designed to attempt to improve flap survival in 42 animals. In each animal experimental and control flaps were symmetrically designed using two flanks or limbs (total number of flaps, 154). The flap length survival in the 77 experimental flaps ranged from 18 to 88% greater than that in the control flaps. Bacterial cultures of the secretions from all flaps suggested that this method has a practical value in preventing and controlling the infections that would result in flap necrosis.


The potential of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) to influence learning may be greatly enhanced by the system's ability to accurately assess a student's cognitive state in real-time. For this to happen, interactions with, and reactions to, training content must be collected and assessed; data is then used to inform instructional adaptation within the system. Validated sensors are available for this purpose and have been shown to correlate with cognitive and affective states linked to learning. However, sensors used to inform student models are often expensive and impractical for wide-range use. In this paper the authors present a study evaluating the efficacy of using Emotiv's Electroencephalogram (EEG) Affectiv Suite outputs to inform an ITS student model. In this experiment, seventy-three participants interacted with the Cultural Meeting Trainer (CMT), a web-based cultural negotiation trainer, while Emotiv's engagement, short-term excitement, and long-term excitement metrics were indexed and logged. Our analysis assesses the quality of Emotiv metrics across one well-defined and two ill-defined scenarios. Results show consistent outputs across tasks and support further examination into the Emotiv's ability to accurately track cognitive state in a learning environment.


© The Author(s) 2017. Effective preparedness messages increase human capacity to prepare, respond and minimise harm during an emergency. The purpose of this study was to highlight the development of a pictorial infographic resource for earthquake and other emergencies for older people, people with mobility issues and people with literacy concerns in Aotearoa/New Zealand. A case study methodology was used to enable an in-depth description of the processes involved in designing, developing and disseminating the infographic. Case studies provide a medium to represent communitysituated knowledge and expertise. They value context, specificity and lived experience. The second two authors drove the initiative, and project managed the production of the infographic. The first author conducted a semi-structured interview with the other two authors to garner details of the process. This interview was transcribed and the case study outline was crafted. The authors went on to produce this paper collectively. The outcomes of this case study include recommending that a multidisciplinary approach be used to engage a range of stakeholders, to produce suitable preparedness messages for a range of audiences. Designing preparedness resources necessitates an iterative method and collective decision-making by relevant stakeholders. International best-practice guidelines provide evidence to ensure suitable resources are produced and gaps in knowledge identified, so that emergency preparedness is accessible for all.


Largely because of the Supreme Court's 1975 decision in Withrow v. Larkin, the accepted view for decades has been that a federal administrative agency does not violate the Due Process Clause by combining the functions of investigating, charging, and then resolving allegations that a person violated the law. Many federal agencies have this structure, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Trade Commission.

In 2016, the Supreme Court decided Williams v. Pennsylvania, a judicial disqualification case that, without addressing administrative agencies, nonetheless raises a substantial question about one aspect of the combination of functions at agencies. The Court held that due process prevented a judge from sitting in a case in which he had participated as district attorney years earlier. The operative principle for the decision was that "the Court has determined that an unconstitutional potential for bias exists when the same person serves as both accuser and adjudicator in a case."

This Article concludes that the reasoning of Williams should supersede Withrow on the need to disqualify a specific commissioner or agency head from participating in a particular adjudication if the agency official played a meaningful role, such as voting to approve enforcement charges, in the process leading to the agency's initiation of proceedings against the defendant. Voting to approve enforcement charges would be a meaningful role. The due process cases do not permit a compromise on the high standards of impartiality demanded of a final agency decision maker in an adjudication to determine whether a private party committed a violation of law.

That reading of Williams threatens to unsettle standard practices at various agencies, but a closer look at the procedures of the SEC shows that it would be able to accommodate the rule in Williams yet retain the combination of charging and adjudicating at the Commission level. Because of turnover of Commissioners and quorum rules, the SEC could continue to have the agency leaders bring enforcement cases and review nearly all administrative law judge decisions while disqualifying individual Commissioners under Williams when necessary.


The overarching objective of this thesis was to develop tools for parallelising, optimising, and implementing algorithms on parallel architectures, in particular General Purpose Graphics Processors (GPGPUs). Two projects were chosen from different application areas in which GPGPUs are used: a defence application involving image compression, and a modelling application in bioinformatics (computational immunology). Each project had its own specific objectives, as well as supporting the overall research goal. The defence / image compression project was carried out in collaboration with the Jet Propulsion Laboratories. The specific questions were: to what extent an algorithm designed for bit-serial for the lossless compression of hyperspectral images on-board unmanned vehicles (UAVs) in hardware could be parallelised, whether GPGPUs could be used to implement that algorithm, and whether a software implementation with or without GPGPU acceleration could match the throughput of a dedicated hardware (FPGA) implementation. The dependencies within the algorithm were analysed, and the algorithm parallelised. The algorithm was implemented in software for GPGPU, and optimised. During the optimisation process, profiling revealed less than optimal device utilisation, but no further optimisations resulted in an improvement in speed. The design had hit a local-maximum of performance. Analysis of the arithmetic intensity and data-flow exposed flaws in the standard optimisation metric of kernel occupancy used for GPU optimisation. Redesigning the implementation with revised criteria (fused kernels, lower occupancy, and greater data locality) led to a new implementation with 10x higher throughput. GPGPUs were shown to be viable for on-board implementation of the CCSDS lossless hyperspectral image compression algorithm, exceeding the performance of the hardware reference implementation, and providing sufficient throughput for the next generation of image sensor as well. The second project was carried out in collaboration with biologists at the University of Arizona and involved modelling a complex biological system – VDJ recombination involved in the formation of T-cell receptors (TCRs). Generation of immune receptors (T cell receptor and antibodies) by VDJ recombination is an enormously complex process, which can theoretically synthesize greater than 10 variants. Originally thought to be a random process, the underlying mechanisms clearly have a non-random nature that preferentially creates a small subset of immune receptors in many individuals. Understanding this bias is a longstanding problem in the field of immunology. Modelling the process of VDJ recombination to determine the number of ways each immune receptor can be synthesized, previously thought to be untenable, is a key first step in determining how this special population is made. The computational tools developed in this thesis have allowed immunologists for the first time to comprehensively test and invalidate a longstanding theory (convergent recombination) for how this special population is created, while generating the data needed to develop novel hypothesis.


This paper deals with a detailed study on the occurrence and fate of heavy metals (plus As, Fe and Al) in five Italian large wastewater treatment plants treating municipal and industrial wastewaters. The study showed that some of the compounds (As, Hg and Cd) were present at trace levels, while others were dispersed in a broad range of concentrations and were sometimes under the detection limit. The occurrence followed the order Hg = As < Hg < Pb < Ni < Cu < Cr < Fe < Zn < Al. Metals were mainly present bound to particulate organic matter in municipal wastewaters while they were often present in soluble phase in industrial wastewaters. Some heavy metals, like Hg and Pb, showed clear correlations with Al and Fe, therefore the last could be used as control parameters. Metals were removed with good efficiency in the treatment works, with the order As < Cd = Cr = Zn < Pb < Hg < Ni = Al < Cu < Fe. Metals then concentrated in waste activated sludge and accumulated after sludge stabilisation because of volatile solids degradation, therefore some problems may arise with limit for agricultural application, in particular for Hg, Cd and Ni.


A method is described for the production of dihydrogenated ergot alkaloids, principally dihydroergosine, in yields exceeding 0.5 mg/ml in surface liquid cultures of Sphacelia sorghi. Alkaloid production occurred at the end of the growth phase and most of the product was released into the medium. An increase in the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids in the mycelial triglyceride oils during the growth phase was associated with the development of sclerotium-like tissues within the mycelial mat. Conversion of asparagine in the medium to aspartic acid by a non-alkaloid-producing strain indicated asparaginase activity. Inorganic phosphate was rapidly absorbed from the medium, and sucrose was utilized through hydrolysis followed by the preferential uptake of glucose. A glucan accumulated during growth of the alkaloid-producing strain, thus precluding a shake-culture process, whereas the small amount which was produced by a nonalkaloid-producing strain disappeared towards the end of the fermentation.


We have studied spin transport and magnetoresistance in yttrium iron garnet (YIG)/NiO/Pt trilayers with varied NiO thickness. To characterize the spin transport through NiO we excite ferromagnetic resonance in YIG with a microwave frequency magnetic field and detect the voltage associated with the inverse spin-Hall effect (ISHE) in the Pt layer. The ISHE signal is found to decay exponentially with the NiO thickness with a characteristic decay length of 3.9 nm. This is contrasted with the magnetoresistance in these same structures. The symmetry of the magnetoresistive response is consistent with spin-Hall magnetoresistance (SMR). However, in contrast to the ISHE response, as the NiO thickness increases the SMR signal goes towards zero abruptly at a NiO thickness of ≃ 4 nm, highlighting the different length scales associated with the spin-transport in NiO and SMR in such trilayers.


Membrane receptors for IgG and C3b were examined on blast cells from 57 cases of acute myeloid leukaemia. These acute leukaemias were classified as myeloblastic, myelomonocytic or monocytic following morphological, cytochemical, and immunological investigations. The membrane receptors of leukaemic blast cells appear to be directly related to the degree of monocytic differentiation with the lowest receptor activities found in acute myeloblastic leukaemia. A comparison was also made between receptor and cytoplasmic acid naphthyl acetate esterase (ANAE) activities in 29 morphologically and immunologically-defined myelomonocytic and monocytic leukaemias. This study revealed that the receptor-positive "monocytic component" in a significant proportion of cases showed unexpectedly weak or negative ANAE reactions suggesting a more cautious approach to the interpretation of ANAE cytochemistry in acute leukaemias. The normal development of cytoplasmic ANAE and membrane receptors is also discussed and compared with their abnormal patterns of expression associated with leukaemic transformation.


This paper examines the relationship between family control and dividend policy in Indonesia. There are three possible explanations for the relationship. The expropriation hypothesis predicts that family control has a negative impact on dividend payouts. Meanwhile the reputation hypothesis and the family income hypothesis predict that family control has a positive impact on dividend payouts. Using a panel data of Indonesian publicly listed firms in the period of 2003-2009, the results shows that family control has a significant negative impact on dividend payouts, dividend yields and likelyhood to pay dividends. The results control for other variables that may potentially affect dividend payments such as growth opportunity, debt, profitability, firm size and firm age. From agency theory perspective, the finding is consistent with the argument that family controlling shareholders prefer lower dividends, in order to preserve cash flows that they can potentially expropriate (the expropriation hypothesis). Keywords: Family Control, Dividends, Agency Theory


Abstract
 Taxonomic relationships between North American red oak species (Quercus section Lobatae) are not well resolved using genetic and morphological markers. Phenotypic plasticity, recent species divergence, and hybridization may all contribute to the unclear species boundaries in red oaks. We applied twenty-eight genomic and gene-basedmicrosatellites, including outlier loci with potential roles in reproductive isolation and adaptive divergence between species, to natural populations of four monophyletic interfertile oak species: Quercus ellipsoidalis, Q. coccinea, Q. rubra, and Q. velutina. To better resolve the taxonomic relationships in this difficult clade, we assigned individual samples to species, identified hybrids and introgressive forms, and reconstructed phylogenetic relationships among the four species after exclusion of genetically intermediate individuals. Genetic assignment analyses identified four distinct species clusters, with Q. rubra most differentiated from the three other species. However, especially between Q. ellipsoidalis and Q. velutina, a comparatively large number of misclassified individuals (7.14%), hybrids (7.14%), and introgressive forms (18.83%) were detected. After the exclusion of genetically intermediate individuals, Q. ellipsoidalis grouped as sister species to the largely parapatric Q. coccinea with high bootstrap support (91%). Genetically intermediate forms in a mixed species stand were located proximate to both potential parental species, which supports recent hybridization of Q. velutina with both Q. ellipsoidalis and Q. rubra. Analyses of genome-wide patterns of interspecific differentiation can provide a better understanding of speciation processes and taxonomic relationships in this taxonomically difficult group of red oak species.


Seam quality is affected by various fabric mechanical properties with a combination of their sewing parameters. Previously, a lot of research has been done on identifying the parameters that influencing seam quality by looking into correlation between fabric properties and sewing parameters. The purpose of this current study was to investigate the performance of seam quality in terms of seam appearance and strength constructed with different sewing parameters. Another aim was to identify parameters that influence the seam quality using the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) by AMOS and leads to the development of multivariable predictive equations using SPSS. Finally, the validation between experimental and predicted results using newly developed equations was examined using a new set of fabrics. The investigation was done for five different fabric categories, namely light, light to medium, medium, medium to heavy and heavy weight. A total of 45 fabrics with different weave densities, fibre types and structures were used. Seams were produced using various sewing parameters such as threads with different fibre types and structures, needle sizes and stitch densities. All fabrics were tested for their mechanical properties using two established items of equipment known as Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabrics (KES-F) and Fabric Assurance by Simple Testing (FAST). Seam evaluations together with thread and fabric mechanical properties obtained from KES-F and FAST were used as input for modelling. From the experimental work, it was concluded that the usage of thicker threads did not always give better strength and the seam appearance was also poor. A combination of finer thread with moderate strength and a medium level of stitch density according to fabric weight category provided an effective result for both seam appearance and strength. From the modelling work, it was found that the extensibility, bending and shearing properties, together with thread properties including extensibility, tensile strength and size, were among the properties selected by SEM to be included in the predictive equations. The validation results showed that the standard deviation between fabric properties used to develop the equations and new fabric properties used for validation plays an important role. The principal conclusion was that the prediction equations developed using SEM and SPSS possible to be used and gave a strong validation between experimental and predicted results when the new fabric properties were within one standard deviation.


The process of telecommunication liberalization and increased competition evolves fast and as a result the market competition and the structure of mobile industry changes heterogeneously across the Middle East and North African (MENA) countries. This study attempts to analyze the effects of foreign ownership and the market share on the traffic and financial performance of mobile operators in MENA region. To achieve these objectives, we analyze the mobile industryi¯s performances using an unbalanced panel data of 13 mobile operators observed over the period from 2002 to 2007. The empirical results showed that both foreign ownership and a higher market share have a significant positive impact on traffic, revenues, returns on sales and returns on investment of mobile operators in the MENA region.


Morphological characteristics in rearrangement of the structural components of the duodenum, renal parenchyma and their hemomicrocirculatory beds are presented at a chronic experimental external bile discharge in the tortoise. Common reactions of microvessels in response to this experimental action, manifesting as their constriction and dilatation, depend, possibly, on general changes in the organism specific for the acholia state. Specific rearrangements, such as reduction of blood capillaries of the duodenal mucous membrane and appearance of polypous outgrowths in this place with successive ulceration should be considered as a reaction to a decreased level of the functional loading to these parts of the duodenum.


Spatial relationships among image objects play a vital role in countless domains of computer vision (e.g., pattern recognition, image understanding, scene description). Some have received considerable attention the last few years (e.g., "to the right of," "above," "to the left of" and "below"), but others have not been the subject of as much investigation. In this paper, we design consistent fuzzy models of three important spatial relationships: "surrounded by," "between" and "among." These models are based on the histogram of forces, which represents the relative position between two objects. Here, force histograms are assimilated to fuzzy sets and processed through their /spl alpha/-cuts. Our goal is to extend the capabilities of a fuzzy system for linguistic scene description introduced in an earlier paper.


General changes in land use have established patterns of modification of native vegetation into agricultural and grazing land. These production systems, as well as social and economic influences, have created diverse landscapes - mosaics composed of varied elements of vegetation cover (forests, crops, pastures, barren fields) that are distributed across spaces in different ways. In this investigation, we determine the distribution patterns of the richness, abundance and diversity of the bird community within the configuration and composition of agroforestry and silvopastoral landscapes. We observed 262 bird species, 6 720 individuals, 23 orders and 54 families within 39 production system mosaics. None of the species accumulation curves in the production systems reached their asymptote, and the calculated estimators predicted a greater number of species than those observed during the survey. In general terms, richness, diversity and equitability indices were highest in the mosaics of agroforestry systems, while abundance and dominance indices were highest in the mosaics associated with silvopastoral and traditional livestock systems. Variables that describe vegetation cover in mosaics have different and independent effects on the diversity of bird assemblages and on the association of land use groups within the mosaics. The positive extreme of the first component contributes to the variance in the model of richness and diversity indices - both the structural components of landscapes and biological components of the assemblages. The area and disposition of different types of elements in the mosaics of the production system landscapes reflect the systematic management of covers, which affects the implications of landscape conservation and restoration practices. Different landscape elements serve as points of contact in the dispersion and distribution of species within these landscapes. The priority of conservation efforts and the first step for the restoration and connectivity of landscapes in the Andean Amazon of Colombia should be the management and protection of covers like old stubble or BFG and BRP. Another approach is the design of landscapes for entire communities of species with respect to certain quantities of habitats in the landscape and the isolation of patches.


Abstract Thomas DeLio is a composer and theorist of international renown in both fields and especially noted for his work in computer music. In this conversation he discusses his musical thinking with over 40 years in the field. His compositions have been performed worldwide and are recorded on numerous labels. Neuma recordings has recently released five volumes of his recorded compositions in an ongoing series of his collected works. The interview itself, conducted over a series of phone conversations in the summer of 2020, begins with a look at his early student years at the New England Conservatory of Music in the late 1960s and early 1970s and navigates through to his current work and thinking today. Numerous aspects of his compositional approach and aesthetics are discussed, including his early influences, his illuminating thoughts on time and silence in his music, his applications of various technologies, and spatial projection, particularly at it relates to his work with sound installations.


The effect of NaCl on growth and compatible solute utilization was investigated in a Halomonas species. Growth of Halomonas was observed in medium of low osmolarity (high water activity) when only 01 mM Na+ was present. However, lowering the water activity, by addition of KCl or sucrose, inhibited growth in this low-Na+ medium, but growth could be restored by the addition of NaCl. The bacterium could grow on glucose as the sole carbon source in up to 355 M NaCl and was shown also to metabolize glycine betaine. However NaCl concentrations greater than 2 M inhibited growth when glycine betaine was the sole carbon source. Glycine betaine was transported into the cells by a process stimulated by NaCl irrespective of whether the carbon source was glucose or glycine betaine. Cytoplasmic levels of glycine betaine were monitored throughout the growth cycle in 2 M NaCl medium with glycine betaine as sole carbon source. As the culture aged, glycine betaine was increasingly replaced by the tetrahydropyrimidine ectoine as the major cytoplasmic solute. The increased sensitivity to high NaCl concentrations when grown on glycine betaine may be due to the glycine betaine catabolic pathway enzymes being inhibited by the increasing external solute concentration.


There is no more seemingly incorrigible criminal type than the child sex offender. Said to suffer from a deeply rooted paraphilia, he is often considered to be outside the moral limits of the human, profoundly resistant to change. Despite these assessments, in much of the West an increasing focus on rehabilitation through therapy provides hope that psychological transformation is possible. Examining the experiences of child sex offenders undergoing therapy in Germany - where such treatments are both a legal right and duty - John Borneman, in Cruel Attachments, offers a fine-grained account of rehabilitation for this reviled criminal type. Carefully exploring different cases of the attempt to rehabilitate child sex offenders, Borneman details a secular ritual process aimed not only at preventing future acts of molestation but also at fundamentally transforming the offender, who is ultimately charged with creating an almost entirely new self. Acknowledging the powerful repulsion felt by a public that is often extremely skeptical about the success of rehabilitation, he challenges readers to confront the contemporary contexts and conundrums that lie at the heart of regulating intimacy between children and adults.


Aim: To gain an overview of the knowledge regarding the success of vital pulp therapy among dental college students in Chennai. Objective: The purpose of the study is to understand whether the students are aware of vital pulp therapy and its success. Background: Dental pulp is an unmineralized oral tissue containing soft vascular, lymphatic and nervous elements which occupies the central pulp chamber. It is the most vital part of the tooth. Vital pulp therapy is done to maintain the vitality and preserve the pulp tissue that is compromised and is indicated depe exposure of the pulp and presence of infection. The different types of vital pulp therapy are indirect pulp capping, direct pulp capping and pulpotomy. Vital pulp therapy is also indicated for open apex to ensure proper root growth. Materials and Method: Questionnaire was handed out to 200 dental college students in Chennai Reason: To create awareness about vital pulp therapy among people to conserve the vitality of the tooth rather than invasive treatment such a root canal treatment.


Constitutively active WNT signaling in colorectal cancers is hallmark and driver of malignant progression in these tumors. However, therapeutic targeting of WNT signaling is difficult due to anticipated side effects on WNT dependent normal tissue homeostasis. Using transcriptome, proteome and cell biology approaches, weidentified the transcription factor ADNP as a repressor of WNT signaling in colon cancer that can be induced
pharmacologically by treatment with sub-narcotic doses of ketamine. Treatment results in significantly slowed tumor growth in pre-clinical xenograft models of colon cancer.
Moreover, high ADNP expression in human colorectal cancers predicts improved disease outcome. Our findings indicate ADNP as a tumor suppressor and promising prognostic marker, and ketamine treatment with ADNP induction as a potential therapeutic approach that may add to current treatment protocols with benefits for colorectal cancer patients.
Beside mutational WNT activation, about 40 % of colorectal cancers have mutations in KRAS with downstream activation of MAPK signaling that promotes tumor invasion and progression. We demonstrate that MAPK signaling shows strong intratumoral heterogeneity, and surprisingly remains regulated in colorectal cancer, irrespective of the tumors' KRAS mutation status. Using primary colorectal cancer tissues,xenografts and MAPK reporter constructs, we show that tumor cells with high MAPK activity specifically reside at the leading tumor edge, cease to proliferate, undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT),
and express markers related to colon cancer stem cells. In KRAS mutant colon cancer cells, regulation of MAPK signaling is preserved through remaining wild-type RAS isoforms.
Moreover, using a lineage tracing strategy, we provide evidence that high MAPK activity marks a progenitor cell compartment of growth fueling colon cancer cells in vivo. Our results imply that differential MAPK signaling balances EMT, cancer stem cell potential, and tumor growth in colorectal cancer.
The positive crosstalk between WNT and MAPK signaling in colorectal cancer has strong implications for the development of combination therapies and a better understanding of the
underlying mechanisms may lead to improved therapeutic strategies.


Abstract. The data base of technological accidents and disasters that have occurred in Russia has been created. More than 13 000 information units have been collected and analyzed. The proportion of accidents triggered by natural events (natural-technological accidents or NTA) in the total number of technological accidents as well as a part of every NTA type in the total number of NTA was estimated. About 10 percent of all accidents registered in the data base were caused by natural events; among some types of accidents this proportion is even higher. Transmission facilities with more than 90 percent of overhead lines are the most vulnerable to the impact of natural hazards. The contribution of different natural hazards was evaluated. Regions with the greatest NTA risk were revealed. The influence of natural events on the technosphere is stronger in the South of the European Russia and in the Russian Far East, which are more exposed to hurricanes, snowstorms, rainfalls, icing and other natural hazards producing NTA. The critical infrastructure needs special protection and modernization in these regions. The problem of the relationship between natural hazards and the technosphere is very complicated and needs further investigation, especially taking the expected climate changes into consideration.


We describe a novel method of estimating reduced bone mineral density (BMD) from dental panoramic tomograms (DPTs), which show the entire mandible. Careful expert width measurement of the inferior mandibular cortex has been shown to be predictive of BMD in hip and spine osteopenia and osteoporosis. We have implemented a method of automatic measurement of the width by active shape model search, using as training data 132 DPTs of female subjects whose BMD has been established by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. We demonstrate that widths measured after fully automatic search are significantly correlated with BMD, and exhibit less variability than manual measurements made by different experts. The correlation is highest towards the lateral region of the mandible, in a position different from that previously employed for manual width measurement. An receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) analysis for identifying osteopenia (T < - 1: BMD more than one standard deviation below that of young healthy females) gives an area under curve (AUC) value of 0.64. Using a minimal interaction to initiate active shape model (ASM) search, the measurement can be made at the optimum region of the mandible, resulting in an AUC value of 0.71. Using an independent test set, AUC for detection of osteoporosis (T < -2.5) is 0.81.


We consider a peer-to-peer approach to wireless sensor networks using the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, with sensors not synchronized, and without any routing protocol. Only communications between neighbors are allowed. In this scenario we do a comparison between four distributed algorithms that solve a special class of optimization problems, which are of great interest in networking applications. We want to retrieve, without a central node, the average of a scalar measurement from all sensors in the network. In the nal state, each sensor should have the global average of the considered measurement. To evaluate performances of the algorithms, we build an application for the network simulator ns2, and we do several simulations to evaluate convergence delay, and nal error, respect to time and to number of packets sent. In this thesis we present the algorithms from theoretical and practical point of views, we describe our application for ns2, and we show the results obtained, which show that this types of algorithms, if tuned properly, work well and are ready to be practically implemented in a real sensor network.


Becoming a Gamer: Cognitive Effects of Real-Time Strategy Gaming Brian D. Glass Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin Marc T. Tomlinson Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin W. Todd Maddox Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin Bradley C. Love Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin Abstract: Video games are rich, dynamic, and fast-paced virtual environments that tap a number of cognitive processes. Prior work reveals that experienced video game players (and novices who become experienced) demonstrate enhanced cognitive and perceptual performance in a range of tasks. It is not clear why video gaming leads to these enhancements. To address this, we use real-time strategy games which require dynamic attention and multitasking skills. We employ a variety of novel methods to capture which game features are associated with various cognitive enhancements. Specifically, we use model-based analysis of empirical feature selection priorities, tests of generation via multiple game maps, and a map manipulation of centered versus bimodal attentional load. Novice participants engaged in 40 hours of game-training, with cognitive testing occurring before, during, and after training. We consider the plasticity of cognitive abilities over training in light of these well controlled factors.


ABSTRACT Introduction: Cardiovascular and renal disease accounts for a substantial proportion of the morbidity and mortality associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Bariatric surgery is associated with improved long-term cardiovascular and renal outcomes. Areas covered: All major case-control, cohort, and randomized controlled trial studies of bariatric surgery in adults with T2DM were screened and data on prespecified cardiovascular and renal outcomes collated. Bariatric surgery reduces all-cause mortality and risk of cardiovascular disease, albuminuria and progressive chronic kidney disease. Patients with poorer glycemic control and established microvascular disease preoperatively may stand to benefit the most from the surgical approach. Reduced sympathetic drive, remission of glomerular hypertension, enhanced natriuresis, gut microbiota shifts, reduced systemic and renal inflammation, improved lipoprotein profiles, and reductions in chronic cardiac remodeling may all be implicated. Expert commentary: Ongoing RCTs of bariatric surgery selectively recruiting patients with class 1 obesity and established microvascular complications of diabetes will help to better characterize which subgroups of patients benefit most from this effective therapy.


The main purpose of this study is to investigate the dynamic relationship between government revenues and government expenditures in Iran as a developing oil export based economy. Moreover, I want to know how government expenditures and revenues respond to oil price (revenue) shocks. I use two different groups of the variables with two different time periods (quarterly and annually) to investigate the robustness and reliability of the results and to provide a more comprehensive base for comparison against different methodologies. For the first group of the variables (including oil price, oil revenues to GDP ratio, government total expenditures to GDP ratio and a dummy variable for capturing the effects of war with Iraq) I apply an SVAR model using annual data for the period 1970-2008. The results of the impulse response functions and variance decomposition analysis indicate that the causality is running from oil revenues to GDP ratio to government total expenditures to GDP ratio. Moreover the contribution of oil revenue shocks in explaining the government expenditures to GDP ratio is stronger than the contribution of oil price shocks. For the second group of the variables (oil revenues, government total revenues, government current expenditures, government capital expenditures, money supply and CPI) unrestricted VAR and VEC models have been applied using quarterly data for the period 1990:2-2009:1. The results of the impulse response functions and variance decompositions analysis for both VAR and VEC models indicate that the strong causality is running from government revenues to government expenditures (both current and capital) in Iranian economy while the evidence for the reverse causality is very weak. The results show that in the VEC model which the long-run behavior of endogenous variables is restricted to converge to their co-integration relationships, oil revenue shocks can affect the other macroeconomic variables more directly while in the VAR model this changes and works through the total revenues channel. Moreover the findings indicate that government revenues, government expenditures and money supply are important determinants of domestic price level in Iranian economy. Overall my results support the revenue-spending hypothesis for Iran. In this context Iran should enhance the effectiveness of fiscal policy by making budget expenditure less driven by revenue availability. This policy can help to avoid the costs and instability that variations in public spending generate mostly due to the fluctuations in oil revenues.


PURPOSE
Ectopic expression of Bcl-2 in photoreceptors of mice with retinal degenerative disease slows progression of the disease. BAG-1 has previously been shown to augment the inhibitory effect of Bcl-2 on programmed cell death in cultured cell systems. This study was designed to determine whether the coexpression of BAG-1 and Bcl-2 in the photoreceptors of mice with an autosomal dominant form of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) would enhance the protective effect provided by Bcl-2 alone.

METHODS
An expression vector using the 5' regulatory region of the murine opsin gene was used to target the expression of BAG-1 specifically to photoreceptor cells of mice. The BAG-1 transgenic mice were crossed to Bcl-2 transgenics to obtain animals that coexpress the two transgenes in photoreceptor cells. BAG-1/Bcl-2 animals were then crossed to an RP mouse model (a transgenic line overexpressing the S334ter rhodopsin mutant) to assess the effect of coexpression of BAG-1 and Bcl-2 on retinal degeneration. Morphologic analysis was performed on retinas isolated at various times after birth to monitor disease progression.

RESULTS
High levels of BAG-1 expression resulted in retinal degeneration that was not prevented by Bcl-2 expression. However, coexpression of appropriate levels of BAG-1 and Bcl-2 was found to have a profound inhibitory effect on retinal degeneration caused by overexpression of a mutant rhodopsin transgene. Whereas expression of Bcl-2 alone was previously found to delay degeneration of the retina from 2 weeks to approximately 4 weeks of age, coexpression of BAG-1 and Bcl-2 inhibited photoreceptor cell death for as long as 7 to 9 weeks.

CONCLUSIONS
The synergistic effect against photoreceptor cell death produced by the coexpression of Bcl-2 and BAG-1 indicates that these proteins can function in concert to prevent cell death. At the correct dosage, coexpression of Bcl-2 and BAG-1 may serve as a potential means to treat retinal degenerative diseases.


An increasing awareness of biased patterns in natural language processing resources, like BERT, has motivated many metrics to quantify `bias' and `fairness'. But comparing the results of different metrics and the works that evaluate with such metrics remains difficult, if not outright impossible. We survey the existing literature on fairness metrics for pretrained language models and experimentally evaluate compatibility, including both biases in language models as in their downstream tasks. We do this by a mixture of traditional literature survey and correlation analysis, as well as by running empirical evaluations. We find that many metrics are not compatible and highly depend on (i) templates, (ii) attribute and target seeds and (iii) the choice of embeddings. These results indicate that fairness or bias evaluation remains challenging for contextualized language models, if not at least highly subjective. To improve future comparisons and fairness evaluations, we recommend avoiding embedding-based metrics and focusing on fairness evaluations in downstream tasks.


Seeds of four lettuce ( Lactuca sativa L.) genotypes viz., Great Lakes (GL), Paris Island cos, Kagraner Sommer (KS) and Isadora were assessed for their response to salt at the germination and seedling stages. The germination rate of the four varieties was comparatively studied under 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mM sodium chloride (NaCl) treatments. Differential response of genotypes to salt concentration was observed. Final germination percentage (FG%) decreased with increasing salinity in GL, Paris Island cos and Isadora varieties, and was annulated at the highest salt concentration in GL, the most sensitive variety. However, in the less sensitive, KS, FG% was decreased by 60% compared to the control at 200 mM. KS and GL varieties were selected as stress-tolerant and stress-sensitive varieties, respectively, and were used for further characterization. Dry weights (DWs) of radicles and hypocotyls were reduced by NaCl 100 and 150 mM in GL and only at 150 mM NaCl in KS. The activities of several antioxidant enzymes during germination were determined. Both varieties had the same malondialdehyde (MDA) content under 100 and 150 mM NaCl. The highest gaiacol peroxidise (GPX) activity was detected in GL seedlings at NaCl 50, 100 and 150 mM, respectively. Catalase (CAT) decreased at 50 and 100 mM NaCl, respecively. Total ascorbate (AsA + DHA) decreased in GL and increased significantly in KS. Our results suggest that tolerance of KS to salt may be due to a better protection mechanism against salinity induced oxidative damage relative to GL variety.


Food made with gene-editing has received considerable attention in recent years because it is claimed to be a little different from traditional genetically modified breeding methods concerning safety. However, consumer acceptance of these novel foods and their potential market uptake remains to be answered. This study aims to assess differences in the acceptance of gene-edited and genetically modified foods in Korea. The choice-based conjoint analysis is adopted to estimate part-worth functions for the soybean oil attributes with 200 surveyed samples. The estimated part-worth values reveal how much each attribute affects consumers' decision-making. Estimated results suggest that consumers tend to accept gene-editing more than genetically modified foods. The acceptance of novel technology is shown to correspond closely to the degree of consumers' scientific knowledge, highlighting the importance of revealing relevant information regarding the technology. Results also show that country of origin is a significant food-specific attitudinal factor in shaping consumer preferences.


C57BL/6J (B6) and DBA/2J (D2) are two of the most commonly used inbred mouse strains in neuroscience research. However, the only currently available mouse genome is based entirely on the B6 strain sequence. Subsequently, oligonucleotide microarray probes are based solely on this B6 reference sequence, making their application for gene expression profiling comparisons across mouse strains dubious due to their allelic sequence differences, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The emergence of next-generation sequencing (NGS) and the RNA-Seq application provides a clear alternative to oligonucleotide arrays for detecting differential gene expression without the problems inherent to hybridization-based technologies. Using RNA-Seq, an average of 22 million short sequencing reads were generated per sample for 21 samples (10 B6 and 11 D2), and these reads were aligned to the mouse reference genome, allowing 16,183 Ensembl genes to be queried in striatum for both strains. To determine differential expression, 'digital mRNA counting' is applied based on reads that map to exons. The current study compares RNA-Seq (Illumina GA IIx) with two microarray platforms (Illumina MouseRef-8 v2.0 and Affymetrix MOE 430 2.0) to detect differential striatal gene expression between the B6 and D2 inbred mouse strains. We show that by using stringent data processing requirements differential expression as determined by RNA-Seq is concordant with both the Affymetrix and Illumina platforms in more instances than it is concordant with only a single platform, and that instances of discordance with respect to direction of fold change were rare. Finally, we show that additional information is gained from RNA-Seq compared to hybridization-based techniques as RNA-Seq detects more genes than either microarray platform. The majority of genes differentially expressed in RNA-Seq were only detected as present in RNA-Seq, which is important for studies with smaller effect sizes where the sensitivity of hybridization-based techniques could bias interpretation.


Toward a better understanding of urinary fistula repair prognosis: Results from a multi-country prospective cohort study Veronica M. Frajzyngier This dissertation addresses several critical gaps in the evidence-base with regard to urinary fistula care and treatment in developing countries. First, I systematically reviewed and synthesized the small but growing body of literature examining the patient, fistula and facilitylevel factors that influence repair outcomes in developing countries. There was insufficient evidence to support a role of patient characteristics in influencing repair outcomes. In contrast, the weight of evidence suggested that some fistula characteristics, particularly scarring and urethral involvement, may influence the risk of failure to close the fistula, residual incontinence following closure and any incontinence. Results from randomized controlled trials examining prophylactic antibiotic use and repair outcomes were inconclusive, and observational studies examining the influence of peri-operative procedures were limited by small sample sizes and lack of statistical adjustment for potential confounding factors. Secondly, using data from a multi-country facility-based prospective cohort study, I examined the prognostic value of five existing classification systems – those developed by Lawson, Tafesse, Goh, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Waaldijk – for predicting fistula closure, and evaluated the prognostic value of a score derived empirically from the data from this study. The scoring systems representing the Tafesse, Goh and WHO and empirically-derived classification systems were similar, and had the highest predictive values. However, none of the scores evaluated achieved good discriminatory ability (AUC > 0.70), suggesting that other factors unrelated to fistula characteristics may be equally or more important in predicting repair outcomes. Finally, I examined several issues surrounding two peri-operative procedures related to fistula surgery: abdominal versus vaginal route of repair, and catheterization duration greater than 14 days (compared to 14 days or less). Specifically, I explored the factors influencing the choice of these procedures, the influence of each of these procedures on repair outcomes independent of indication for repair or repair prognosis, and whether indication for the procedure or fistula prognosis moderates the influence of each of these procedures on repair outcomes. Abdominal route of repair was independently associated with site, parity > 3, and having a fistula that met indications for an abdominal route of repair (limited vaginal access due to extensive scarring or tissue loss, genital infibulation, ureteric involvement, or trigonal, supra-trigonal, vesico-uterine or intracervical location, or other abdominal pathology). Surgeon experience conducting complex repairs and mid-vaginal location were inversely associated with abdominal route of repair. Increased prognostic score was independently associated with catheterization > 14 days, as were site and surgeon experience doing complex repairs. Vaginal route of repair was independently associated with increased risk of failure to close the fistula, relative to abdominal route of repair; however, stratified analyses suggested that the risk of failed repair among those repaired vaginally may be particularly elevated among women who met common indications for abdominal route of repair. Duration of catheterization > 14 days was associated with failure to close the fistula, after adjusting for repair prognosis and surgeon experience; however, residual confounding by indication and reverse causation cannot be excluded as explanations for this finding. Additional research is needed to confirm our findings regarding the discriminatory value of the classification systems evaluated. Further, since the value of a classification system lies not only in its discriminatory ability but also its reliability and ease of use, tests of interand intra-rater reliability of these systems are priority area for future research. Given the cost and health implications associated with abdominal route of repair and longer duration catheterization, additional studies examining the influence of these procedures on repair outcomes are warranted. Such studies must ensure adequate control of confounding by indication and prognosis of repair.


BackgroundFibrinogen-dependent cross-linking of glycoprotein (GP) lIb/IIIa on activated platelets is the final mechanism leading to platelet aggregation. Inhibition of this mechanism may result in a novel antithrombotic agent. We studied the activity of MK-383 (L-700,462), a new, nonpeptide GPIIb/IIIa antagonist, in vitro and in vivo, in man. Methods and ResultsMK-383, a nonpeptide trosine derivative, dose-dependently inhibited fibrinogendependent platelet aggregation, in vitro. Binding of 125I-labeled fibrinogen to activated platelets was prevented in a competitive manner with an IC50 of 10±4.2 nmol/L. The activity and tolerability of MK-383 were evaluated in a two-part double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation study in healthy male subjects using 1- and 4-hour intravenous infusions. Effects on ADP- and collagen-induced ex vivo platelet aggregation (APA or CPA) and template bleeding time (TBT) were evaluated. Twenty-four subjects participated in the 1-hour part. Six received placebo and 18 MK-383 in doses ranging from 0.05 to 0.40 μg · kg-1 · min-1. MK-383 inhibited platelet aggregation and prolonged bleeding time in a dose-dependent manner. APA and CPA were totally inhibited at the end of infusion of 0.4 μg · kg-1 · min-1 and returned to 55% and 89% of baseline, respectively, at 3 hours after infusion. TBT was prolonged at this dose from 5.0±1.3 minutes predose to 22.7±6 minutes at the end of the infusion (P<.01) and was normalized by 3 hours after infusion. In the 4-hour infusion part, 15 subjects received MK-383 (0.1 to 0.2 μg · kg-1 · min-1), and five received placebo. Complete inhibition of ex vivo platelet aggregation was seen at 0.15 and 0.2 μg · kg-1 · min-1. At 0.2 μg · kg-1 · min-1, TBT was prolonged from 4.4±1.2 to 23.9±4.3 minutes at the end of infusion (P<.01) and remained slightly prolonged 3 hours after infusion (7.2±1.8 minutes). No adverse effects were observed in any of the 33 subjects receiving MK-383. ConclusionsThe results from this study indicate that MK-383 appears to be well tolerated and active in man. It is the first nonpeptide GPIIb/IIMa antagonist that can be used to investigate the antithrombotic potential of this new class of antiplatelet agents.


Background: Chronic inflammation leads to autonomic dysfunction, which may contribute to the increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Exercise is known to restore autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity and particularly its parasympathetic component. A practical clinical tool to assess autonomic function, and in particular parasympathetic tone, is heart rate recovery (HRR). The aim of this substudy from the prospective PARA 2010 study was to determine changes in HRR post-maximal exercise electrocardiogram (ECG) after a 2-year physical activity program and to determine the main predictive factors associated with effects on HRR in RA. Methods: Twenty-five participants performed physiotherapist-guided aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercises for 1 year and were instructed to continue the unsupervised physical activity program autonomously in the next year. All participants were examined at baseline and at years 1 and 2 with a maximal exercise ECG on a cycle ergometer. HRR was measured at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 min following peak heart rate during exercise. Machine-learning algorithms with the elastic net linear regression models were performed to predict changes in HRR1 and HRR2 at 1 year and 2 years of the PARA program. Results: Mean age was 60 years, range of 41–73 years (88% women). Both HRR1 and HRR2 increased significantly from baseline to year 1 with guided physical activity and decreased significantly from year 1 to year 2 with unsupervised physical activity. Blood pressure response to exercise, low BMI, and muscular strength were the best predictors of HRR1/HRR2 increase during the first year and HRR1/HRR2 decrease during the second year of the PARA program. Conclusion: ANS activity in RA assessed by HRR was improved by guided physical activity, and machine learning allowed to identify predictors of the HRR response at the different time points. HRR could be a relevant marker of the effectiveness of physical activity recommended in patients with RA at high risk of CVD. Very inactive and/or high CVD risk RA patients may get substantial benefits from a physical activity program.


This paper surveys the literature on how democracy affects economic growth. The paper first presents descriptive statistics and brief case-descriptions to illustrate how democracy and dictatorship may affect growth. Thereafter, it evaluates five central arguments on democracy and growth, before surveying empirical studies on the relationship. Furthermore, the paper highlights critical methodological challenges, and draws implications for constructing valid models for empirical research on the topic. The review shows that there is still disagreement over whether democracy enhances growth or not. Nevertheless, in the light of more recent studies, using better methodological approaches and more data than previous studies, two trends are recognizable: first, the hypothesis that democracy reduces economic growth is refuted by recent studies; second, the hypothesis that democracy has no effect on growth, although still widespread in the academic community, seems less plausible today than it did 10 or 20 years ago. Several recent studies show that democracy has positive effects on growth, although these effects are 'indirect' in the sense that democracy affects growth through, for example, enhancing human capital or strengthening the protection of property rights.


The question of when people first arrived in Australia has been the subject of lively debate among archaeologists, and one with important consequences for the global story of human evolution. Australia is the end point of early modern human migration out of Africa, and sets the minimum age for the global dispersal of humans. This event was remarkable on many fronts, as it represented the largest maritime migration yet undertaken, the settlement of the driest continent on Earth, and required adaptation to vastly different flora and fauna. Although it is well known that anatomically modern humans were in Africa before 200,000 years ago and China around 80,000 years ago, many archaeologists believe that Australia was not occupied until 47,000 years ago. But our research, published today in Nature, pushes back the timing of this event to at least 65,000 years ago. Disciplines Medicine and Health Sciences | Social and Behavioral Sciences Publication Details Clarkson, C., Marwick, B., Wallis, L., Fullagar, R. & Jacobs, Z. (2017). Buried tools and pigments tell a new history of humans in Australia for 65,000 years. The Conversation, 20 July 1-8. This journal article is available at Research Online: http://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers/4801


In recent years, increasing concerns regarding the energy costs and environmental effects of urban motorcycle use have spurred the development of hydrogen-electric motorcycles in Taiwan. Although gasoline-powered motorcycles produce substantial amounts of exhaust and noise pollution, hydrogen-electric motorcycles are highly energy-efficient, relatively quiet, and produce zero emissions, features that suggest their great potential to reduce the problems currently associated with the use of motorcycles in city environments. This study identified the significant external variables that affect consumers' purchase intentions toward using hydrogen-electric motorcycles. A questionnaire method was employed with a total of 300 questionnaires distributed and 233 usable questionnaires returned, yielding a 78% overall response rate. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to test the research hypothesis. The research concluded that (1) product knowledge positively influenced purchase intentions but negatively affected the perceived risk; (2) perceived quality via hydrogen-electric motorcycles positively influenced the perceived value but negatively affected the perceived risk; (3) perceived risk negatively affected the perceived value; and (4) the perceived value positively affected purchase intentions. This study can be used as a reference for motorcycle manufacturers when planning their marketing strategies.


Autoregressive spectrum analysis, alternately known as maximum entropy spectrum analysis, has received much attention as a higher resolution alternative to conventional spectra computed using the modulus of the FFT. This paper examines the relationship of the autoregressive spectrum analysis technique to the Prony and Pisarenko spectral decomposition techniques. The Prony method yields a new signal power estimation procedure for AR spectrum analysis and the Pisarenko method yields a noise power estimation technique for use with AR noise power cancellation spectrum analysis.


Static force procedures of most building codes require that the lateral earthquake force at each floor level of an asymmetric-plan building be applied eccentrically from the centers of rigidity. To implement such procedures, it seemed necessary in the past to determine the locations of the centers of rigidity, as often confusing and cumbersome process. This paper presents a new approach for code lateral force analysis of asymmetric-plan buildings without locating the centers of rigidity. This procedure combines the results from three static analyses, which can be implemented directly on most commercially available computer programs for analysis of multistory buildings. The work presented in this paper should dispel the long-held view that locations of the centers of rigidity must be determined to implement the code procedure, thereby removing one of the major difficulties in building analysis.


This study examined whether scheduling of object control (e.g., throwing, catching) and locomotor skills (e.g., running, jumping), within an integrated neuromuscular training (INT) program, results in different responses in motor competence, muscular fitness and perceived motor competence in 6-7 year old children. Seventy seven boys and 63 girls (n = 140) from 3 primary schools were randomised into three, 10-week interventions, Loco First (n = 50) where locomotor skills were performed first followed by object control skills; Object First (n =48) where object control skills were performed first followed by locomotor skills or a control group (n =42, CON) who undertook school Physical Education. Results indicated greater total motor competence in Loco First and Object First vs CON (P = 0.001) with the increases in motor competence being greater for Object First vs Loco First (P = 0.001). Sprint speed (10m) was lower for Object First vs CON (P = .024). Standing long jump distance was greater in Loco First vs CON (P .0001) and Object First (P = .0001). Seated medicine ball throw distance was greater for Loco First and Object First vs CON (Both P = .001). Perceived motor competence was also higher for Object First vs Loco First (P = .005) and CON (P = .001). This study suggests that scheduling object control skills before locomotor skills within school-based strength and conditioning has a greater effect on motor competence, muscular fitness and perceived motor competence in 6-7 year old children.


The Internet of Things applications require small wireless sensors with quasi isotropic radiation, so that their placement is orientation insensitive. This paper shows the design steps for a microstrip patch based quasi-isotropic Antenna-in-Package (AiP). The structure proposed is a hollow cube with six microstrip patch radiators, one on each of its faces. The cubes internal walls are metallized to not only act as ground planes for the microstrip patch antennas, but also provide the necessary shielding between the radiators and the future embedded electronics. Thus, the problem in hand is to find the optimal phases to be applied to each patch so that when all six are activated simultaneously, the obtained radiation pattern is quasi-isotropic. Given the complexity of the structure, a simplified model of Hertzian magnetic dipoles was used to determine the phase each patch was to be excited to achieve the closest to an isotropic radiator as possible. A measured gain variation of 6.5 dB has been achieved for the entire 3D sphere after fabrication of a prototype.


Fields of precariously balanced rocks indicate that strong earthquake motions have not occurred at that site since the precarious rocks developed. These fields can be characterized with an estimate of the peak acceleration that would be sufficient to topple the rocks and an estimate of how long the rocks have been precarious. This article uses this information to test the input to probabilistic seismic hazard analysis. The fundamental assumption is that the probability of exceeding a ground motion capable of toppling a precarious rock during a time period equal to the age of the rock is equal to the confidence level at which the inputs to the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis can be rejected.
 We performed a probabilistic seismic hazard analysis for 26 sites of observed precarious rocks in Nevada, using preliminary estimates of the toppling acceleration and the age of the features. Two standard models are rejected with over 95% confidence by most of the precarious rock observations. We consider several possible explanations for the inconsistency. A probabilistic seismic hazard analysis that eliminates the area sources and only includes faults is consistent with the precarious rock observations at most of the sites. Spatial clustering of small-magnitude events could maintain this effect without contradicting the precarious rock observations. However, it may not be necessary to completely reject the area sources from our probabilistic seismic hazard analysis. The physics of rock stability may allow increasing the minimum magnitude to 6.0 in the area sources, because the short duration of high-frequency accelerations in smaller events may not topple all precarious rocks. The precarious rocks could generally have small site effects. Attenuation models may overestimate ground motions on the foot wall of normal faults, and a different attenuation model in general might decrease the ground-motion predictions. The ergodic assumption that is made in estimating the uncertainty in attenuation models may be contributing to overestimate the hazard. Individually, each of these effects might allow more of the precarious rock sites to be consistent with the area source zones.


Abstract. This paper introduces a new scheme available in the
library of algorithms for representing cloud microphysics in numerical models
named libcloudph++.
The scheme extends the particle-based microphysics scheme with a Monte Carlo coalescence
available in libcloudph++ to the aqueous-phase chemical processes occurring within cloud droplets.
The representation of chemical processes focuses on the aqueous-phase oxidation
of the dissolved SO2 by O3 and H2O2.
The particle-based microphysics and chemistry scheme
allows for tracking of the changes in the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) distribution
caused by both collisions between cloud droplets and aqueous-phase oxidation. The scheme is implemented in C++ and equipped with
bindings to Python.
The scheme can be used on either a CPU or a GPU, and is distributed under the GPLv3 license.
Here, the particle-based microphysics and chemistry scheme is tested in a simple
0-dimensional adiabatic parcel model and then
used in a 2-dimensional prescribed flow framework.
The results are discussed with a focus on changes to the CCN sizes
and comparison with other model simulations discussed in the literature.


Caspase 3 is best known for its role in programmed cell death or apoptosis. Woo et al. report that in Casp3–/–mice, there is hyperproliferation of mature B cells and that these cells are hyperresponsive to proliferative stimuli in vitro compared with B cells from Casp3 heterozygotes. Unlike activated T cells from these Casp3–/– mice, which hyperproliferate because of decreased apoptosis, the activated B cells show the same or slightly increased apoptosis compared with B cells from Casp3 heterozygotes. Casp3–/– B cells were impaired in ligand-mediated apoptosis (triggered by FasL), but not in apoptosis that derives from the intrinsic pathways (triggered by DNA damage). Compared with activated wild-type B cells, mitogen-stimulated Casp3–/– B cells exhibited increased levels of the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor and PCNA (proliferating cell nuclear antigen)-associating protein p21. (The interaction of p21 with PCNA promotes cell cycle progression, whereas the interaction with CDKs inhibits cell cycle progression.) PCNA, p21, CDK2, and CDK4 were detected in a complex in the activated Casp3–/– B cells, but not in wild-type B cells. In double-knockout mice lacking both caspase 3 and p21, the hyperproliferative B cell response was abolished, whereas there was no effect on the T cell hyperproliferative response. Thus, p21 appears to be a selective substrate for caspase 3 that contributes to cell-type-specific control of the cell cycle. M. Woo, R. Haken, C. Furlonger, A. Hakem, G. S. Duncan, T. Sasaki, D. Bouchard, L. Lu, G. E. Wu, G. J. Paige, T. W. Mak, Capsase-3 regulates cell cycle in B cells: A consequence of substrate specificity. Nat. Immunol. 4, 1016 -1022 (2003). [Full Text]


In distributed resource allocation a set of agents must assign their resources to a set of tasks. This problem arises in many real-world domains such as distributed sensor networks, disaster rescue, hospital scheduling and others. Despite the variety of approaches proposed for distributed resource allocation, a systematic formalization of the problem, explaining the different sources of difficulties, and a formal explanation of the strengths and limitations of key approaches is missing. We take a step towards this goal by using a formalization of distributed resource allocation that represents both dynamic and distributed aspects of the problem. In this paper we present a new idea for target tracking in sensor networks and compare it with previous approaches. The central contribution of the paper is a generalized mapping from distributed resource allocation to DDCSP. This mapping is proven to correctly perform resource allocation problems of specific difficulty. This theoretical result is verified in practice by a simulation on a realworld distributed sensor network. Keywords—Distributed CSP, Target Tracking, Sensor Network


Systems of personal pronouns (e.g., 'you' and 'I') vary widely across languages, but at the same time not all possible systems are attested. Linguistic theories have generally accounted for this in terms of strong grammatical constraints, but recent experimental work challenges this view. Here, we take a novel approach to understanding personal pronoun systems by invoking a recent information-theoretic framework for semantic systems that predicts that languages efficiently compress meanings into forms. We find that a test set of cross-linguistically attested personal pronoun systems achieves near-optimal compression, supporting the hypothesis that efficient compression shapes semantic systems. Further, our best-fitting model includes an egocentric bias that favors a salient speaker representation, accounting for a well-known typological generalization of person systems ('Zwicky's Generalization') without the need for a hard grammatical constraint.


Since the turn of the twenty-first century, eco-developments as experimental solutions to create sustainable pathways for a harmonious relationship between humans and nature have begun to unfold in China. This research argues that there is a gap in the analysis of current eco-development in China in which insufficient attention is given to the shaping and reshaping dynamics of an eco-development project throughout time, and different stakeholders' roles and perceptions in the planning and practices of an eco-development. Integrating both empirical and methodological insights from ecological modernization and political ecology, this research aims to critically evaluate Chinese eco-development as a whole from design, through delivery, and to local effects. An integrative approach allows a more fruitful understanding of the local dynamics and complexities of Chinese eco-development from both a top-down perspective that dissects the formation and implementation of strategic policies and planning initiatives, and a bottom-up view that explores local individual and community's perceptions of and responses to eco-development. The research is founded on an intensive case study of Chongming Eco-Island in Shanghai, China. The analysis is built upon data collected through archival research, in-depth semi-structured interviews with both state and non-state actors, focus group meetings with local communities, and on-the-ground observation and documentation.
The findings of this research show that despite a welcome transformation from the previous pro-growth ideology and practices to a more ecology-centric construction, eco-developments on Chongming have been driven by strategic entrepreneurial planning of the Shanghai municipal state and by quantitative targets that are designed to address primarily the city's overall development needs. Privileging an ecological modernization thinking and largely excluding local knowledge and concern, eco-developments on Chongming instead of promoting local sustainable development, generates unintended and adverse results for the local environment and the community. This research contributes to debates on Chinese eco-development by formulating an integrative framework to allow a holistic examination of local eco-development planning, practices and effects, and to investigate the views and values of both state and non-state actors. This research also provides an attractive alternative strategy for those seeking to analyse a more nature-focused, locally-relevant means to promote urban sustainability planning and development.


Today's workforce is dependent on teams. Organizations are interested in positively influencing antecedents to team effectiveness such as team composition. While many factors have been studied thoroughly concerning team composition and effectiveness, team roles have not received comparable attention. Team roles refer to groups of generalizable, goal-directed behaviors that support team performance. Current team role assessments are reliant on surveys and peer ratings. To explore avenues that would enable comparisons between survey-based measures of team roles with benchmarks of observable behavior, we developed a behavior observation tool based on a team role taxonomy known as Team Role Experience and Orientation (TREO). We present the first iteration of this tool based on our review of team role literature, results of an inter-rater reliability assessment, and discuss its potential impact concerning future research and organizational utility. More work is needed to develop a construct-valid behavioral team role assessment.


The catalytic filter, a ceramic filter supported SCR catalyst, is a promising material for treating particulates and NOX simultaneously. Recently, it is found that a SiC filter supported V2O5- WO3-TiO2 [commercial catalyst system] shows a reasonable SCR activity around 320 °C [1]. In order to improve its catalytic activity at low temperatures, the effects of Pt and MnOX addition on the catalytic filter are investigated. The macro-porous TiO2 film was firstly coated on the pore surface of SiC filter element using the solution composed of the preformed TiO2 particles (P25). Catalytic filters were prepared by the impregnation of TiO2 coated-SiC filter in the solution containing the catalyst components. The MnOX-added catalytic filter showed very wide temperature window from 150-340 °C, providing NX slip concentration less than 20 ppm for the treatment of 700 ppm NO at a face velocity of 2 cm/s. Pt added-catalytic filter shifted the optimum working temperature towards the lower temperatures (180-240 °C) compared to the one without Pt (280-330 °C). It is understood that MnOX in the catalyst system roles as the main catalyst component while Pt rose as a electron modification additive.


UPDATED-7 September 2016. This poster presents an electronic music instrument that is played using math concepts. It invites 3-6 year old children to play with the math they have to understand according to the Swedish curriculum. This math foundation for the youngest kids is about measurement, shape, patterns, time, change, quantity, set and order. Evidence is provided that electronic music can be a way to embody and enjoy the use of math concepts in a creative way.


Bedding-plane anastomoses are braided channels of oval cross-section, connected in networks. They form along limestone bedding planes, in the lower surfaces of upper beds. Reasons for their upward growth are still not clearly defined. Preliminary experiments, based on the assumption that bedding planes in which anastomoses occur are cycle boundaries, were carried out on several samples, as a suggestion for the further research of this problem. The sampling was carried out at anastomoses profiles in cave walls, while performed experiments and analyses were: calcimetry, experimental dissolution, and analysis of thin sections. The results showed that the method of experimental dissolution of powdered samples had certain shortfalls because of the significant change of natural conditions, and that the further research should be directed primarily to calcimetry and analyses of thin sections.


In rich, developed countries, many stakeholders are focusing on households as settings where progress can be made on environmental and sustainability issues. Related research, policies and interventions, however, tend to ignore gender dynamics, thus treating them as irrelevant, or exploit them to achieve sustainability goals. We challenge this regressive treatment and show how household sustainability can be progressive in relation to gender and sustainability simultaneously – doubly progressive. Specifically, we ask: How do gender and sustainability intersect in households? What are the normative implications of these intersections? To answer these questions, we disentangle the perspectives of 'work' and 'care', drawing on feminist and gender scholarship, and explore both in the domestic setting by focusing on sustainable technologies and sustainable consumption. In this way, the twin normative agendas of equality of work and expansion of care emerge as ways of linking gender and sustainability in households. Our conclusion considers tensions and overlaps between work and care to identify how they can be re-entangled. We argue that re-entangling work and care requires holding them in dynamic tension with care being the context for work and in this way a doubly progressive approach to household sustainability emerges.


This paper deals with analysis of the OC4 DeepCWind semi-submersible wind turbine, which is provided by NREL through the OC4 project. This concept is a three-column semi-submersible supporting a 5 MW wind turbine on an additional central column.The fact that the semi-submersible floater needs a large water line restoring moment to achieve sufficient stability and the control of the cost based on the steel weight make the design of braces and pontoons very challenging. Effective methods are needed to check the strength of the brace system based on the response forces and moments in the braces under different design environmental conditions, while the floating wind turbine is needed to be considered as an aero-hydro-servo-elastic system.A novel modeling methodology based on the code Simo/Riflex is introduced in this paper. Simo/Riflex is a state-of-the-art code that can account for the coupling effect between rigid body motions and slender structures (e.g. mooring lines, braces and blades) in the time-domain. Simo/Riflex can be combined with Aerodyn, which is a state-of-the-art aerodynamic code, to model the floating wind turbine as an aero-hydro-servo-elastic system, as well as be combined with simplified aerodynamic codes (e.g.TDHMILL) to improve the efficiency of the numerical simulation.The novel modeling method can give the forces and moments in the brace system of the floater under hydrodynamic and aerodynamic loads in the time-domain. In order to get the structural response of the braces, the side columns and the central supporting column are modeled as independent rigid bodies in Simo while the braces are modeled by beam elements in Riflex. Master and slave relationship is applied at the joints in between of the columns and braces.As an application example, the novel modeling method based on the code Simo/Riflex+TDHMILL, which is capable of modeling the floating wind turbine as an aero-hydro-elastic system, has been used to carry out Ultimate Limit State (ULS) design check for the brace system of the OC4 DeepCWind semi-submersible wind turbine based on relevant standards, i.e. NORSOK N00-3, NORSOK N-004, IEC61400-1, IEC61400-3.The modeling method can also be used by other codes which have similar features as Simo/Riflex.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


While gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonists have been the standard of pituitary suppression during ovarian stimulation for ART, progestin primed ovarian stimulation (PPOS) has emerged as an alternative. Progestins can be started simultaneously with gonadotrophins (fixed PPOS) or later in the cycle depending on follicle growth (flexible PPOS). However, the flexible and fixed PPOS regimens have not been directly compared as of yet. This was a retrospective cohort study including women with diminished ovarian reserve who underwent oocyte cryopreservation. All women underwent ovarian stimulation with a fixed 300 IU daily dose of FSH. The primary outcome was the number of MII oocyte retrieved per cycle. Secondary outcome measures included the incidence of premature LH surge (>10ng/mL) and number of follicles larger than 14mm on the day of maturation trigger. During the screening period 2 out of 97 cycles were cancelled before oocyte retrieval, one in each group yielding an overall cancelation rate of 2%. Among women who had oocyte retrieval, 65 underwent flexible and 30 fixed PPOS. At baseline women on fixed and flexible PPOS had similar age (mean difference: -2.17 years, 95% CI: -4.46 to 0.11) and serum AMH levels (mean difference: 0.10 ng/mL, 95% CI: -0.24 to 0.47). Slight imbalances between the groups were rectified with propensity score matching using age and AMH levels. The incidence of premature LH surge (RR: 1.47, 95% CI: 0.51 – 5.27, p = 0.50), follicle count larger than 14mm on hCG day (RR: 1.14, 95% CI: 0.93 – 1.42, p = 0.22), number of MII oocytes retrieved (RR: 0.95, 95% CI: 0.79 – 1.15, p = 0.61) were similar between flexible and fixed PPOS. The rate of no oocyte retrieval was same between the groups (0.0% both) but no formal estimation was possible. Flexible and fixed PPOS regimens had no appreciable differences regarding MII oocyte yield and the incidence of premature LH surges. Cycles without oocyte retrieval were rare in both groups and ultrasonographic parameters of gonadotropin response were similar. Our study suggests the performances of either progestin regimen are comparable in this group of women.


We consider the problem of modeling objects composed of materials that change over the course of time. First principles simulation of the processes that cause material change are either extraordinarily time consuming or impossible because the processes are not thoroughly understood. We take the approach of capturing the time variation of materials undergoing particular changes in appearance. We control and/or measure the relevant parameters that produce the changes. Some parameters may be independent of the object shape, such as thickness of a coating applied, while others depend on the shape. We use the data collected to generate synthetic objects composed of the same materials. The objects can be rendered at different steps in their history, with the material changes being unique to the shape and conditions of that object.


In many application problems, F-transform algorithms are very efficient. In F-transform techniques, we replace the original signal or image with a finite number of weighted averages. The use of weighted average can be naturally explained, e.g., by the fact that this is what we get anyway when we measure the signal. However, most successful applications of F-transform have an additional not-so-easy-to-explain feature: the partition requirement, that the sum of all the related weighting functions is a constant. In this paper, we show that this seemingly difficult-to-explain requirement can also be naturally explained in signal-measuring terms: namely, this requirement can be derived from the natural desire to have all the signal values at different moments of time estimated with the same accuracy.