Tobacco use is exceedingly high among those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness but not commonly addressed by clinicians. Taking Texas Tobacco Free (TTTF) is a tobacco control program that addresses known clinician barriers to intervention (e.g., low training receipt, limited resources). Here, we examine the process and outcomes of TTTF's adaptation within four agencies that provide housing or other services to individuals who are homeless or vulnerably housed. Pre- and post-implementation data were collected from clinicians (N = 68) to assess changes in training receipt, knowledge, and intervention behaviors, relative to program goals. Results indicated significant gains in clinicians' receipt of training in 9 (of 9) target areas (p's ≤ 0.0042) and a 53% knowledge gain (p < 0.0001). From pre- to post-implementation, there were mean increases in the use of the 5As (ask, advise, assess, assist, and arrange) and other evidence-based interventions for tobacco cessation, with significant gains seen in assisting residents/clients to quit, arranging follow-ups, and providing or referring for non-nicotine medications (p's ≤ 0.0491). All program goals, except gains related to advising smokers to quit and the use of specific interventions (behavioral counseling), were met. Overall, TTTF improved clinicians' capacity to address tobacco use among homeless and vulnerably housed individuals and can serve as a model for tobacco control efforts in similar agencies.


We explore a dynamic commons problem and assess the welfare consequences of access to capital markets. The commons has a high intrinsic rate of return but its fruits cannot be secured by individual agents. Capital market access allows resources to be held securely and intertemporally transferred, but at a lower rate of return. In a two period model, we completely characterise symmetric consumption and extraction behaviour in four environments: under a strategic and a competitive equilibrium concept, and with and without market access. Strategic equilibria dominate competitive ones: while agents disagree over how to divide the resource, all would prefer it to be larger; the strategic concept allows them to anticipate returns to their conservation. As the number of agents becomes infinite, the strategic outcome converges to the competitive; as the number of agents falls to one, it converges to the planner's. Market access has a positive effect on welfare owing to its consumption and extraction smoothing properties and a negative effect owing to its creation of an outside option to the commons, encouraging its depletion. A sufficient condition for autarky to dominate market access for some levels of communal endowment is that the world market discount factor exceed the subjective discount factor. Multiple equilibria may arise: these result from market access, not the equilibrium concept.


SUMMARY: A Vibrio alginolyticus SDS-resistant, Ca2+-dependent serine exoprotease gene, cloned on a 7-1 kb DNA fragment in the recombinant plasmid pVP100, was expressed from its own promoter in Escherichia coli. Although active exoprotease was produced by late stationary phase E. coli(pVP100) cultures after 15 h incubation in proteinaceous medium containing Ca2+, transcription and translation of the exoprotease occurred before 6 h, during exponential growth. The cloned exoprotease was synthesized as a pool of inactive precursor molecules during exponential growth, and released as active exoprotease 8 h later by a process which did not require protein synthesis or involve cell lysis. Release of the exoprotease by E. coli(pVP100) was not inhibited by o-phenanthroline, quinacrine or cerulenin. Supernatant samples from E. coli(pVP100) cultures contained two SDS-resistant exoproteases with apparent M
r values of approximately 54000 and 39000. The cloned exoprotease activity was inhibited by EDTA and a serine protease inhibitor, but was not affected by an inhibitor of trypsin-like enzymes.


Low productivity and the competitiveness of Russian firms have been among Russia's primary economic challenges over the past decade. The Government of Russia (GoR) has made boosting productivity a policy priority and since 2012 has rolled out several visible policy initiatives to strengthen employment practices in firms to raise their productivity and positive spillovers, including the 2012 Plan for Raising the Productivity of Companies, the 2018-2024 National Project on Labor Productivity, and 2018-2019 National Plan for Competition Development. The objective of this report is to contribute to this productivity agenda by analyzing the employment practices of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), their implications for labor supply and internal firm capabilities, and the influence of state policy. SOEs contribute a significant share of output and employment in Russia's economy and academic recent research shows that they have lower productivity than private sector firms. The implications of SOE employment practices—compensation and management—on overall productivity however, has not been investigated, a gap that this report aims to fill by analyzing the following questions: What are SOE employment practices and how do they compare to international and private sector benchmarks? How do SOE employment practices, particularly compensation, affect allocation of labor across firms? How do SOE compensation and management practices shape their internal capabilities? How does government financial and non-financial support to SOEs influence these employment practices? Taking the level and form of government participation in the economy as a given, the report focuses primarily on the sector's current practices, and how government policies towards the sector can be improved to boost SOE performance and positive spillovers. We explore these questions using five Russian microlevel datasets, including worker and firm surveys and a large firm register. The report utilizes a taxonomy of SOEs that includes state SOEs which have 100 percent government ownership, and mixed SOEs which have some share of state ownership that is less than 100 percent. The report finds that Russian SOEs pay an overall compensation premium and that this premium contributes to labor shortages in the private sector. While overall the SOE sector has a small wage penalty, wage differentials with the private sector vary by type and size of the SOEs. Mixed SOEs pay a small wage premium over the private sector while state SOEs have a small wage penalty. Both types of SOEs pay a wage premium in competitive settings. SOEs have an overall compensation premium as they provide more generous benefits like paid vacations, maternity leave, and training than private sector firms.


Liquid disintegration includes the processes of formation of droplets and droplet fission. It is important in inkjet printing and in the miniaturization of biochemical analytical devices. This paper reports on an investigation of the mechanism of liquid disintegration via numerical simulation. The paper points out that the process is inherently multi-directional; droplet formation occurs only when the effect of the centripetal flow overcomes that of the axial flow. A reduced-order model for droplet pinch-off, based on this insight, is derived and validated by simulations. Reduced-order models for droplet production have been derived previously from a phenomenological approach. This study shows the inherent limitation of this approach compared to that presented here, based on tracing the evolution of the multi-directional momentums.


This article first presents an overview of the recent advances in the analysis and prediction of tropical cyclones through assimilating reconnaissance aircraft observations. Many of these advances have now been implemented in operational and experimental real-time hurricane prediction models. These advances are made possible through improved methodologies including more efficient quality control and data thinning, advanced data assimilation techniques that use ensembles to estimate flow-dependent error covariances, and improved numerical models running at convection-permitting resolutions, along with the availability of massively parallel computing. Impacts of aircraft reconnaissance observations on hurricane prediction are then exemplified using a continuously cycling regional-scale convection-permitting analysis and forecast system based on the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF). In comparison to the non-reconnaissance experiment that assimilates only conventional observations, as well as to the WRF forecasts directly initialized with the global operational analysis, the cycling WRF-EnKF system with assimilation of aircraft flight-level and dropsonde observations can considerably reduce both the mean position and intensity forecast errors for lead times from day 1 to day 5 averaged over a large number of forecast samples including the real-time implementation during the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season. These findings reaffirm the added value and need for maintaining and maybe expanding routine airborne reconnaissance missions for better tropical cyclone monitoring and prediction.


Lattice degeneration of the retina is not infrequently encountered on a dilated retinal examination and many of them do not need any intervention. We report a case of atypical lattice degeneration variant with peripheral retinal detachment. An asymptomatic 35-year-old lady with minimal refractive error was found to have extensive lattice degeneration, peripheral retinal detachment and fibrotic changes peripherally with elevation of retinal vessels on dilated retinal examination. There were also areas of white without pressure, chorioretinal scarring and retinal breaks. All the changes were limited to beyond the equator but were found to span 360 degrees. She was treated with barrage laser all around to prevent extension of the retinal detachment posteriorly. She remained stable till her latest follow-up two years after the barrage laser. This case is reported for its rarity with a discussion of the probable differential diagnoses. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of such findings in lattice degeneration.


Among the challenges in the simulation of haemodynamics in the human brain is the problem of connecting the raw data from medical imagery to a quantitative, patient-specific prediction of the flow in order to provide information assisting practitioners when deciding on a treatment. In this study a sequence of steps is presented to facilitate such connection, focusing on an endovascular treatment known as flow-diverter stenting. Starting from DICOM data, the format changes and preparations based on Horos and Blender are described, as pre-cursors to an immersed boundary (IB) representation of the geometry. On the IB representation, a fluid mechanics analysis within the CFD toolbox OpenFOAM is done, providing both qualitative and quantitative descriptions of the flow. This sequence of steps is discussed and illustrated for flow in a model geometry with the typology of a side-wall aneurysm, under steady-state and pulsating flow conditions. The flow diverting effect of two different stents is presented, showing a significant blocking of flow from entering the aneurysm sac after stent placement. Under suitable spatial resolution conditions accurate results are obtained and we observe that both a fine-mesh flow diverter and an eCLIPS device perform virtually identically in terms of almost completely halting the flow in the aneurysm sac. A slight preference for an eCLIPS can be motivated, showing a more uniform flow blocking also in the immediate vicinity of the device, combined with more flexibility of merging it with the diseased vessel.


A collaborative project designed by your professor and the library as a guide to library resources appropriate for your THEO 251 research assignment.


This paper discusses the criteria to be used in the preliminary design phases of the EU-DEMO reactor to ensure the performance of the divertor without compromising the stability of core plasma or the fusion power generation. This work refers to a lower single null conventional divertor using actively cooled solid metal plasma-facing components and with extrinsic seeding for heat flux dissipation, which is the solution currently being adopted for EU-DEMO. The analysis does not consider the role of edge localised modes, and also neglects major off-normal events like disruptions. It is shown that it is necessary to fulfil two high-level requirements, namely: (i) the concentration of seeded impurities has to be lower than some critical value in order to not compromise the fusion plasma performance or stability and (ii) damage to the divertor plate in the case of accidental plasma reattachment must be avoided for a sufficiently long time in order to ensure safe, controlled termination of the plasma discharge. These requirements are needed because in a device like EU-DEMO, other strategies relying on mass injection are considered more likely to cause a loss of plasma stability at full current, with dramatic consequences for the integrity of plasma facing components. Two figures of merit, corresponding to these criteria, have been identified in the existing literature and discussed. The dependence of such figures of merit on the relevant machine parameters (major radius and toroidal magnetic field) is analysed. Initially, the analysis is carried out using a simple 0D physics approach and subsequently by means of the systems code PROCESS, which allows for consideration of further parameters, such as aspect ratio and elongation. The main conclusion of the present work is that the simultaneous fulfilment of both requirements limits the viable EU-DEMO size both in terms of major radius and in terms of toroidal magnetic field . Finally, an attempt to extend the EU-DEMO related conclusions to a more general level is made.


Abstract Quaternary alluvial and colluvial sediments infill major river valleys and form alluvial fans and colluvium-filled bedrock depressions on the range fronts and within the Mount Lofty Ranges of southern Australia. A complex association of alluvial successions occurs in the Sellicks Creek drainage basin, as revealed from lithostratigraphy, physical landscape setting and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages. Correlation of OSL ages with the Marine Oxygen Isotope record reveals that the alluvial successions represent multiple episodes of alluvial sedimentation since the penultimate glaciation (Marine Isotope Stage 6; MIS 6). The successions include a penultimate glacial maximum alluvium (Taringa Formation; 160 ± 15 ka; MIS 6), an unnamed alluvial succession (42 ± 3.2 ka; MIS 3), a late last glacial colluvial succession within bedrock depressions (ca 15 ka; MIS 2) and a late last glacial alluvium (ca 15 ka; MIS 2) in the lowest, distal portion of Sellicks Creek. In addition, the Waldeila Formation, a Holocene alluvium (3.5 ± 0.3 ka; MIS 1), and sediments deposited during a phase of Post-European Settlement Aggradation (PESA) are also identified. The age and spatial distribution of the red/brown successions, mapped as the Upper Pleistocene Pooraka Formation, directly relate to different topographic and tectonic settings. Neotectonic uplift locally enhanced erosion and sedimentation, while differences in drainage basin sizes along the margin of the ranges have influenced the timing and delivery of sediment in downstream locations. Close to the Willunga Fault Scarp at Sellicks Creek, sediments resembling the Pooraka Formation have yielded a pooled mean OSL age of 83.9 ± 7 ka (MIS 5a) corroborating the previously identified extended time range for deposition of the formation. Elsewhere, within major river valleys, the Pooraka Formation was deposited during the last interglacial maximum (128–118 ka; MIS 5e). In general, alluviation occurred during interglacial and interstadial pluvial events, while erosion predominated during drier glacial episodes. In both cases, contemporaneous erosion and sedimentation continued to affect the landscape. For example, in the Sellicks Creek drainage basin, which lies across an actively uplifting fault zone, late glacial age sediments (MIS 2) occur within the ranges and near the distal margin of the alluvial fan complex. OSL dating of the alluvial successions reported in this paper highlights linkages between the terrestrial and marine environments in association with sea-level (base-level) and climatic perturbations. While the alluvial successions relate largely to climatically driven changes, especially in major river valleys, tectonics, eustasy, geomorphic setting and topography have influenced erosion and sedimentation, especially on steep-sloped alluvial fan environments. KEY POINTS Luminescence dating of the Sellicks Creek alluvial fan complex reveals that sedimentation occurred predominantly during the later stages of glacial cycles accompanying lower sea-levels than present. Luminescence dating confirms that the stratigraphically lower portions of the Pooraka Formation are beyond the range of radiocarbon dating. Upper Pleistocene alluvial fan sedimentation at Sellicks Creek correlates with pluvial events in southeastern Australia.


1. Introduction
The delivery of healthcare for many diseases has been shifting towards a patient-centric approach where care provision is tailored to meet individual patient's needs. This leads to diseases being treated by multidisciplinary teams of healthcare professionals who work in a collaborative environment and are formed and evolved based on the patient's changing medical condition. This environment demands the availability of the right information to the right person at the right point in the treatment, which means patient medical information needs to be shared across the organization-secured boundaries. In other words, at the point of treatment, healthcare professionals need to be able to remotely access different relevant patient medical information generated by other professionals and kept in their independent Healthcare Information Systems (HIS). Legacy HIS are ill equipped to meet the new emerging requirements of the patient-centric treatment approach. Although they keep in-house patient medical information protected and controlled, they do not support the ability to sustain the locally applied protection whilst sharing it outside the secured boundary, and thus lose control over the information as soon as it leaves the HIS. This research, in general, aims to facilitate information sharing among healthcare team members and, at the same time, sustain the security of the information as defined by the information owner.
2. Methods
This poster demonstrates the initial stages of the research, which looks at patient treatment in the healthcare domain, in order to understand: how healthcare professional team members communicate; how HIS are used by the care team in patient treatment; how patient medical information is generated and stored; and how it can be used to support the treatment. This was achieved using conceptual modelling of a selected medical scenario (Breast Cancer in Wales, UK). This investigation of a real-life scenario has identified the anticipated treatment steps and, at each step, the flow of patient medical information, healthcare team members involved, and the HIS which stores the information.
3. Results
The results have shown that there is a large number of professionals (about 13) involved in the treatment of patients with Breast Cancer in Wales. Each professional plays a defined role and collectively the team offers co-ordinated care. Additionally, these professionals use at least seven different HIS in order to access the patient information and each stores sensitive patient information in medical records. Although each HIS follows national guidelines, they adapt the guidelines and policies to meet local needs and circumstances. However, there are inter-professional communication issues among the team members that inhibit decision-making using the information, as well as communication problems between the team and the patient, which prevents the required effective treatment. In addition, the HIS are ill-equipped to support the team.
4.Conclusions
We will use this information to identify how to improve HIS support for members of a multidisciplinary team in the future. In addition, the emerging security requirements of the new systems will be outlined in order to facilitate and support collaboration among team members and guarantee persistent control over shared patient medical information.


The higher education sector in Australia is moving rapidly towards greater accountability in regard to graduate employability outcomes. Currently, data on new graduates' self-reported generic skills and employment status provide the evidence base for universities to make judgements about the effectiveness of curricula in preparing students for employment. This paper discusses alternative sources of evidence, namely the Graduate Employability Indicators (GEI) - a suite of three online surveys designed to supplement current indicators. They are designed to gather and report graduate, employer and course (teaching) team perceptions of the achievement and importance of graduate capabilities within specific degree programs. In 2009 and 2010, the surveys were administered to stakeholder groups associated with Accounting degrees in four Australian universities. In total, 316 graduates, 99 employers and 51 members of the course teaching teams responded to the surveys. This report presents the aggregated results from the trial. These suggest that the fourteen capabilities at the heart of the GEI are considered important, and that both quantitative and qualitative items facilitate the reporting of essential information. Both Accounting employers and teaching staff consider that important capabilities need to be better demonstrated by new graduates. The graduates themselves identified ways in which their courses can be improved to enhance their early professional success. An importance-performance analysis suggests prioritising particular capabilities for immediate attention in particular, work related knowledge and skills, writing clearly and effectively, thinking critically and analytically, solving complex, real-world problems and developing general industry awareness. This paper suggests that an enhanced industry focus might be effected through authentic assessment tasks, and clear identification of the capabilities developed through the curriculum.


Background and objective: Patients with spinal cord injury suffer from neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD). NLUTD is associated with a considerable morbidity and mortality, but also affects the quality of life (QoL). We aimed to evaluate the longitudinal course of QoL in persons with NLUTD in relation to their bladder management. Subjects and methods: In a prospective self-controlled case series study. Patients with chronic NLUTD managing their bladder either by intermittent catheterization (n = 21), reflex voiding (n = 8), anterior root stimulation (n = 7), straining (n = 7) or suprapubic catheter (n = 4) were asked to fill in the Qualiveen® questionnaire at two time points with a time span of at least 1 year. Eleven patients were tetraplegic, and 36 persons suffered from paraplegia. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Ethikkommission Nordwestund Zentralschweiz (approval No. PB_2016-02657) on September 24, 2007. Results: In total 47 patients returned both questionnaires and their data were therefore evaluated. The mean age at the first evaluation was 52 ± 12.8 years. The mean duration of NLUTD was 20.4 ± 12.3 years. A mean 2.4 ± 0.5 years had elapsed from the first to the second evaluation. None of the Qualiveen questionnaire domains showed a significant change between the two evaluation time points. The lesion level had a significant (P ≤ 0.023) effect on the domains constraints and QoL index. Conclusion: QoL in patients with chronic NLUTD seems to remain stable in long-term follow-up. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02179073) on July 1, 2014.


This paper tackles the problem of table structure parsing (TSP) from images in the wild. In contrast to existing studies that mainly focus on parsing well-aligned tabular images with simple layouts from scanned PDF documents, we aim to establish a practical table structure parsing system for real-world scenarios where tabular input images are taken or scanned with severe deformation, bending or occlusions. For designing such a system, we propose an approach named Cycle-CenterNet on the top of CenterNet with a novel cycle-pairing module to simultaneously detect and group tabular cells into structured tables. In the cycle-pairing module, a new pairing loss function is proposed for the network training. Alongside with our Cycle-CenterNet, we also present a large-scale dataset, named Wired Table in the Wild (WTW), which includes well-annotated structure parsing of multiple style tables in several scenes like photo, scanning files, web pages, etc.. In experiments, we demonstrate that our Cycle-CenterNet consistently achieves the best accuracy of table structure parsing on the new WTW dataset by 24.6% absolute improvement evaluated by the TEDS metric. A more comprehensive experimental analysis also validates the advantages of our proposed methods for the TSP task.


The signal-to-noise rations for some EIT measurements are very low, and for in vivo EIT measurements these are dependent on the electrode positioning and the distance from the current drive. The effect of removing noisy measurements to produce higher-fidelity images was investigated for the case of gastric emptying data. A consequence of this filtering was the reduction in the size of the sensitivity matrix and its subsequent singular-value decomposition. Several different filters were tested and for each of these spectral expansion regularization filter was optimized using a chi 2 test. Filtering out the measurement made by the spinal electrode, where the spinal bone barrier lies directly in the current path to the stomach, produced improved images by reducing the artefact content in the spinal sector of the conductivity map. For stomach imaging little useful information is produced by the spinal electrode, and the benefits of filtering dominate. However artefact images may be generated. In contrast consistent small improvements were produced by filtering out some of the weakest signals.


Semiconductor cleaning is a very important process in integrated circuit manufacturing, and the removal of high dose ion implanted photoresist is a big challenge in semiconductor cleaning owing to their carbonized crust layer generated on and near the surface of the photoresist layer. Microbubbles are a promising candidate in single wafer spin cleaning process for the removal of the crust generated photoresist without any substrate loss. And the bubbles are gas bodies less than 50 micrometer in diameter and shrink underwater due to the rapid dissolution of the interior gas. It has been demonstrated that the bubbles can generate free radicals during the collapsing process under water through the dispersion of the elevated energy accumulated as the surface electricity during the collapsing process of microbubble. In this article the author introduces the fundamental properties of microbubble and their several examples relating to semiconductor cleaning.


As part of a large multi-disciplinary project funded by the Australian Research Council and in collaboration with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, we established in mid-2008 three PM 2.5 samplers in eastern Australia to determine possible transport of continental dust from the major dust source region of the Lake Eyre Basin (LEB). These samplers were located at Fowlers Gap, New South Wales [NSW] (31.09S, 141.70E), Mount Stromlo, NSW (35.30S, 149.00E) and Heron Island, Queensland (23.44S, 151.83E). The latter location is of particular significance because of its proximity to the World Heritage Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and to the tropical rainforest of coastal North Queensland. In previous studies, dust and associated organic material of African origin has been associated with rainforest fertilisation in Amazonia and coral bleaching in the Carribean. In this presentation three case studies of continental dust transport to Heron Island that occurred in the first four months of sampling are examined. In each case transport of soil material from the LEB region and/or western NSW is confirmed by the nature of material sampled, by remote sensing of the dust, by forward and backward air parcel trajectory analysis and by synoptic analysis. In each case the dust arrived over Heron Island 3-7 days after passing over the southern samplers, generally having followed an anti-clockwise curved path to approach Heron Island from the southeast. The potential significance of this finding for the GBR is briefly discussed.


. The most common congenital heart defect such as the bicuspid aortic valve is the most frequent morphological basis of aortopathy. Morphology of bicuspid aortic valve may have influence in the associated pathologies including aortic stenosis, aortic insufficiency and aortic dilation. The purpose of this study was to define the frequency and patterns of valvular dysfunction and aortopathy associated with different types of bicuspid aortic valve. Most cases of severe aortic failure are associated di-rectly or indirectly with congenital bicuspid aortic valve. significant. Frequency of various bicuspid aortic valve phenotypes and their association with valvular dysfunction and aortopathy was evaluated. Results and discussion. The analysis of the frequency of phenotypes detection showed the following addic-tion. A single suture bicuspid aortic valve, which is usually located between the left and right coronary cusps with hemodynamically prevailing stenosis, is more common, and all other types are defined as a mixed com-pound which is one of the risk factors for aortic stenosis and associated aortopathy and may lead to significant hemodynamic changes. Patients in the bicuspid aortic valve group were more likely to have periannular complications in compare with the tricuspid group. The prominent clinical manifestations brought on the progression of heart failure and the development of complications. The aortic pathology analysis is performed depending on the bicuspid aortic valve phenotype. The placement of the ventricles may be anterior-posterior or right-to-left. According to the functional state of the bicuspid aortic valve divided into complicated and uncomplicated. Patients of different phenotypes are characterized with indirect eccentric flow and uneven tension on the walls of the aorta that lead to vascular remodeling of the ascending aorta and formation of aneurysms or dissection. There was a significant difference in the frequency of aortic stenosis and failure of the aortic valve. The phenotype 3 showed a significantly higher incidence of aortic stenosis compared to phenotype 1, while the frequency of aortic failure in phenotype 1 was higher than among other phenotypes. The frequency of mass or vegetation in phenotype 1 was significantly lower compared to other phenotypes. calcinosis of bicuspid aortic valve, insufficiency and stenosis of aortic valve or insufficiency of the aorta allows early delivery to surgical treatment to prevent hemodynamic dysfunction, to improve the quality and the increase patient's lifetime.


In empirical risk optimization, it has been observed that gradient descent implementations that rely on random reshuffling of the data achieve better performance than implementations that rely on sampling the data randomly and independently of each other. Recent works have pursued justifications for this behavior by examining the convergence rate of the learning process under diminishing step-sizes. Some of these justifications rely on loose bounds, or their conclusions are dependent on the sample size which is problematic for large datasets. This work focuses on constant step-size adaptation, where the agent is continuously learning. In this case, convergence is only guaranteed to a small neighborhood of the optimizer albeit at a linear rate. The analysis establishes analytically that random reshuffling outperforms independent sampling by showing that the iterate at the end of each run approaches a smaller neighborhood of size O(μ2) around the minimizer rather than O(μ). Simulation results illustrate the theoretical findings.


Abstract This article uses online advertisements to gain retroactive insights into the use and disuse of wearable self-tracking technologies in everyday life. This is achieved by examining over 2700 listings for devices from manufacturers like Apple, Fitbit, and Garmin. These listings are sourced from an online secondhand marketplace—Gumtree Australia. In this exchange space, sellers often draw on existing retail product descriptions and aim to encourage prospective buyers with positive descriptions. Despite the "sale imperative" of these advertisements, item descriptions often feature disclosures about health goals, bodily capacities, and social expectations. This article identifies a system of for "values"—activity, social, financial, exchange—that inform advertisements for wearable self-tracking devices. Wearable devices are highly transient in the secondhand space. Yet, the apparent importance of undertaking personal self-tracking projects is constantly espoused, even as devices are passed on to new users.


Federated learning (FL) is a collaborative learning paradigm where participants jointly train a powerful model without sharing their private data. One desirable property for FL is the implementation of the right to be forgotten (RTBF), i.e., a leaving participant has the right to request to delete its private data from the global model. However, unlearning itself may not be enough to implement RTBF unless the unlearning effect can be independently verified, an important aspect that has been overlooked in the current literature. In this paper, we prompt the concept of verifiable federated unlearning, and propose VeriFi, a unified framework integrating federated unlearning and verification that allows systematic analysis of the unlearning and quantification of its effect, with different combinations of multiple unlearning and verification methods. In VeriFi, the leaving participant is granted the right to verify (RTV), that is, the participant notifies the server before leaving, then actively verifies the unlearning effect in the next few communication rounds. The unlearning is done at the server side immediately after receiving the leaving notification, while the verification is done locally by the leaving participant via two steps: marking (injecting carefully-designed markers to fingerprint the leaver) and checking (examining the change of the global model's performance on the markers). Based on VeriFi, we conduct the first systematic and large-scale study for verifiable federated unlearning, considering 7 unlearning methods and 5 verification methods. Particularly, we propose a more efficient and FL-friendly unlearning method, and two more effective and robust non-invasive-verification methods. We extensively evaluate VeriFi on 7 datasets and 4 types of deep learning models. Our analysis establishes important empirical understandings for more trustworthy federated unlearning.


This thesis shows how the liberal-capitalist state seeks to produce loyal subjects through the work of cultural policy. Cultural policy operates by inscribing ethical incompleteness onto citizens via technologies of power which subjectify people. They are defined as lacking in a variety of areas of life. The technologies construct citizens as subjects in need of reformation in the following terms: their own self-knowledge as persons; their feeling of loyalty as part of a nation; their appreciation of the value of parliamentary democracy; and their situation as rational consumers in a market. The thesis examines these technologies and alternatives to them via a series of case studies.

I argue that these processes of subjection take place inside postmodernity. Meaning circulates in ways that are more complex than empiricist (ontic) or structuralist (epistemic) accounts of the connexion of signifier and signified will allow. As part of changes towards a service industry basis to liberal-capitalist economies, this has made for an aestheticised politics of civic identity. Processes of subjection manufacture subjects with a superficially free will that is in fact carefully invented through cultural policy and then self-administered. This effect of postmodernity is considered in foundational theoretical chapters prior to the case studies.

The thesis concludes that this is a significant factor limiting the utility of citizenship as a technology to be deployed by marginal social groups. I contend that whilst citizenship and its reformist logic are valuable tools for such groups, they also need to find technologies of the self which deny the notion of a fixed subjectivity that cultural policy ultimately seeks to inscribe.


System or process identification is the field of mathematical modeling of systems (processes) from test or experimental data. Most of the existing works on process modeling were based on LTI model. This paper presents the Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) model identification of feed gas pre-heater process in ammonia plant to cover changes in process operating conditions, such as start-up, normal operation and shut-down. Recursive Least Square (RLS) based algorithm is employed in the identification process. Data needed for identification are taken from DCS historian data of the process. The identification result is simulated and validated with the measured data. The process models obtained by this technique provide acceptable fit with the mean value of 92.88 %.


BACKGROUND
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a well-recognized cause of facial pain in the general population, and multiple sclerosis (MS) accounts for some of these cases. However, the prevalence of TN in MS is poorly understood. We investigated the prevalence of TN and how often TN is the initial presentation of MS in a large MS cohort.

METHODS
In 2009, we surveyed participants in the North America Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis Registry regarding TN, including date of onset and pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatments used. We estimated the frequency of TN and the frequency with which TN preceded the diagnosis of MS. We compared the demographic and clinical characteristics of participants who reported TN with those of participants who did not using descriptive statistics and logistic regression.

RESULTS
Among 8590 eligible survey respondents, the prevalence of TN was 830 (9.7%). Of these respondents, 588 reported the year when TN was diagnosed. The diagnosis of TN preceded that of MS in 88 respondents (15.0%), and the mean ± SD age at diagnosis of TN was 45.3 ± 11.0 years. The odds of reporting TN were higher in women and those with greater disability and longer disease duration. Pharmacologic treatments were used by 88.3% of respondents; 9.7% underwent surgical interventions.

CONCLUSIONS
In MS, TN occurs frequently and precedes the diagnosis of MS in 15.0% of individuals. Given the frequency of TN in MS, further epidemiological studies and clinical trials to identify effective pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic therapies for TN in MS are warranted.


The white clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) is a freshwater crustacean at imminent risk of extinction, largely due to the introduction of American signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) to Britain. With the purpose of determining how white clawed crayfish respond to habitat and spatial variables, this study correlated white clawed crayfish distribution over a 35 km length of the River Wansbeck, Northumberland, to physical variables at three-spatial scales. White clawed crayfish were present throughout the study area at an average density of 5.3 individuals per square metre. The realised niche of white clawed crayfish was very broad; the only available areas crayfish could not make use of were those with microhabitat scale D50 smaller than 8 mm. Within their wide realised niche, crayfish showed significant responses to habitat. The strongest response was to grain size, with crayfish preferentially selecting cobbles as refuges. Distance downstream and lateral distance did not influence distribution or density of white clawed crayfish but crayfish were more abundant in the upstream half of the study area, reflecting the higher availability of favourable habitat in low order streams. Patchiness in distribution was only evident at the sub-metre scale, suggesting crayfish are only directly responding to microhabitat scale heterogeneity. Habitat based conservation actions should be conducted at this scale. However, habitat variables operating at the kilometre section and site scale (100 m) influenced the suitability of microhabitats. The abundant, dense population of white clawed crayfish on the River Wansbeck makes it a site of international importance. It is therefore recommended for designation as a Special Area of Conservation.


The use of stomach temperature data loggers to record prey ingestion has proven to be very valuable when combined with time-depth recorders and satellite tracking devices in studies of seabird foraging ecology. This paper presents a similar system that will allow biologists to determine the precise timing and location of foraging by pinnipeds. The system includes a stomach temperature transmitter and an animal-mounted instr.ument package. The instrument package contains a satellite transmitter, for remote tracking of movements, and a data logger, for recording dive depth, swim speed, water temperature, and stomach temperature (made possible by an incorporated telemetry receiver). The instrument package can be remotely released upon command to allow data recovery without animal recapture. The system was tested on 6 Steller sea lions Eurnetopias jubatus in Southeast Alaska and found to be a powerful tool for quantifying foraging behaviour, although some suggestions for improvement are presented.


: The home care team dependent from the pediatric oncology unit in our institution started working in April, 1997. We evaluate in this paper the medical activities accomplished in seventeen month experience. The team is constituted by a pediatric oncologist, two pediatric nurses and a clinical assistant with experience in the specialty. The geographic area we cover is la Communidad Valenciana. We directly attend children living in Valencia city and its metropolitan area. For the rest of patients, we coordinate the interventions of the local primary care teams and local hospitals. 127 patients have been admitted in the home care unit in 433 occasions. The immediate reasons for the admission were: early discharge from the hospital (61%), followed by the administration of antibiotics (18%) and chemotherapy (12%) at home. We attended 17 children in the terminal phase of their diseases. Five of them required opioid treatment for pain control. Six out of eight patients living in the area of direct intervention of the home care team died at home. The most common cause of discharge (73%) was the achievement of the goals planned when the patient was included in the program. Only in two cases (0.5%) we did not found enough cooperation from the parents and the treatment was completed in the hospital. This program has been well accepted by our patients and their parents and permits to shorten the stay in the hospital.


Multiple myeloma (MM) is a fatal hematological malignancy, where the majority of patients are diagnosed with, or develop, destructive and debilitating osteolytic bone lesions. Current treatments for MM bone disease such as the bisphosphonate zoledronic acid can result in deleterious side effects at high doses. In this study, eliglustat, an FDA approved glycosphingolipid inhibitor, was shown to reduce MM bone disease in preclinical models of MM. Mechanistically, eliglustat alters the lipid composition and plasma membrane fluidity and acts as an autophagy flux inhibitor in bone-resorbing osteoclasts (OC). Autophagic degradation of the signaling molecule TRAF3 is key step in OC differentiation; this was prevented by eliglustat in OC precursors. In addition, eliglustat works depend on TRAF3 in vivo. Furthermore, the combination of eliglustat and zoledronic acid was found to have an additive effect to reduce MM bone disease, suggesting the potential for combination therapies that would allow for drug dose reductions. Taken together, this project identifies a novel mechanism in which glycosphingolipid inhibition reduces osteoclastogenesis via autophagy and highlights the translational potential of eliglustat for the treatment of bone loss disorders such as MM. One Sentence Summary Translational use of eliglustat as an autophagy inhibitor to limit bone lesions in multiple myeloma.


An investigation into the use of phytoplankton species as bio-diagonistic tools and in relation to associated water quality conditions were carried out from October, 2004 to September, 2006 for the Iyagbe lagoon in Southwestern Nigeria. Water chemistry conditions ranged from fresh, through brackish to sea situations. Other water chemical parameters showed marked variations and trends. For instance salinity ranged from 1.06 – 35.1‰. The phytoplankton spectrum (76 species) was represented by six divisions namely Bacillariophyta (diatoms, 38 taxa), Cyanophyta (blue-green algae, 18 taxa), Chlorophyta (green algae, 10 taxa), Euglenophyta (euglenoid, 4 taxa), Pyrrophyta (dinoflagellate, 3 taxa) and Chrysophyta (chrysophytes, 2 taxa). Diatoms formed the dominant group and represented a wider array of conditions than any other group. Water quality characteristics reflected by the phytoplankton crop in this study include levels for salinity, pH, cations, depth, nutrients and pollution. Further exactitudes on the bio-diagnostic characteristics of specific organisms are detailed within.


The time-dependence of molecular weight of gelatin, the cathode potential and the morphology of deposited Zn were investigated during long-term electrolysis of Zn to evaluate the degradation of gelatin and polyethylene glycol (PEG) added to the electrolyte for Zn electrowinning. Gelatin and PEG acted as a polarizer for Zn deposition, shifting the cathode potential to less noble direction. The polarization caused by the additives gradually decreased with increasing the electrolysis duration. The effective duration of additives significantly depended on the molecular weight and was longer in PEG-containing solution than in gelatin-containing solution. Gel permeation chromatography revealed that the molecular weight of gelatin in electrolyte decreased with increasing the electrolysis duration. The decrease in molecular weight of gelatin by electrolysis brought about the shift of the cathode potential to noble direction, showing that the molecular weight of degraded gelatin was related with the deposition potential of Zn. Even in the case without electrolysis, the molecular weight and polarization effect of gelatin decreased with increasing the lapse of time. On the other hand, the morphology and the crystal orientation of Zn obtained by long-term electrolysis corresponded to the change of the cathode potential with time regardless of the kinds of additives. With an increase in the cathodic polarization, the deposits showed the smaller grains with preferred orientation of (10-10). The morphology and the crystal orientation of deposited Zn became close to that in the additive-free solution when the polarization was decreased as a result of the degradation of additives.


Background and Hypothesis:
The objective of this study was to evaluate anthropometric and physical fitness measures from participants in the Forever-Fit Summer Camp (FFSC) between the years 2013 and 2017, comparing baseline and post-participation values. We hypothesized that participation in the FFSC would decrease the BMI Z-score of the campers during the 6-week program, as well as improve physical fitness measures. Further, we hypothesized that there would be an overall decrease in BMI and weight seen in campers who participated for multiple years.
Experimental Design:
In this 5-year cross-sectional evaluation, a total of 64 participants were included. During FFSC, biometrics, strength, endurance and flexibility were compared at baseline (Week 1) and 6 weeks after. This data from participants was compared using paired T-tests and compared the BMI Z-Score of campers over the years using repeated measures ANOVA.
Results:
Compared to baseline for each year, there was an overall decrease in BMI Z-Score and weight after the 6-week intervention. We observed an increase in strength and endurance, as seen with the 1-mile run and various strength test. Interestingly, we saw a decrease in flexibility in the campers as they progressed through the camp. Further, we observed an overall decrease in BMI Z-Score from 2013 to 2017.
Conclusion and Potential Impact:
The FFSC 6-week summer program had significantly decreased BMI and improved fitness measures. The activities performed in the FFSC could be implemented in other programs for youth to combat chronic conditions, such as Type 2 Diabetes.


Mathematical models are frequently used to model biological process, such as cardiac electrophysiological systems. In order to separate the models from the implementations, and to facilitate curation, domain specific languages (DSLs) have become a popular and effective means of specifying models (Lloyd et al., 2004; Hucka et al., 2004). In previous papers (Gill et al., 2012a; Gill et al., 2012b; McKeever et al., 2013) we have argued for including parameterised modules as part of such DSLs. We presented our prototype Ode language and showed how models could be created in a generic fashion. In this paper we extend our work with concrete examples and simulation results. We show how complex heart models can be constructed by aggregation, encapsulation and subtyping. Our use-case retraces the steps taken by (Niederer et al., 2009), which investigated the common history between cardiac models, and shows how they can be cast in our language to be reused and extended. Our DSL enables 'physiological model engineering' through the development of generic modules exploiting high cohesion and low coupling.


At the close of the Revolutionary War, more than 3,000 black Loyalists, many liberated from slavery by enlisting in the British army, made exodus in 1783 from New York to Nova Scotia in search of land and freedom. Almost half of the emigrants settled an independent black community at Birchtown, Nova Scotia, where, despite extraordinarily harsh conditions, they established their own churches and schools, and cultivated a shared sense of themselves as a chosen people. A majority of the population emigrated once again in 1791, this time setting sail for Sierra Leone to fulfill what they perceived to be their prophetic destiny. This circuit of gathering, exodus, and diaspora was grounded in a unique black Atlantic theology focused on redemption and Zion that was conceptualized and shaped by the charismatic black evangelists of diverse Protestant faiths who converged in the Nova Scotia settlements. "Face Zion Forward" now brings together the remarkable writings of these early authors of the black Atlantic. This collection of memoirs, sermons, and speeches, many of which are based on the Birchtown experience, documents how John Marrant, David George, Boston King, and Prince Hall envisioned the role of Africa and African American communities in black liberation. The volume demonstrates that these men were both collaborators and contestants in the construction of modern post-slavery black identities, and shows how the frameworks of Christian theology and Freemasonry influenced ideas about emancipation and communal independence. The centerpiece of the work is The Journal of John Murrant, published here in its entirety for the first time since 1790. Marrant's missionary diary not only illuminates the intricacies of eighteenth-century African American Christianity, but also presents a richly detailed account of everyday life in Birchtown. "Face Zion Forward" provides an informed reconstruction of the major ideological and theological conversations that occurred among North American blacks after the American Revolution and illustrates the disparate and complex underpinnings of the modern black Atlantic. In addition, the work presents invaluable insights into African American literary traditions and the development of Ethiopianist and black nationalist discourses.


Natural language provides an accessible and expressive interface to specify long-term tasks for robotic agents. However, non-experts are likely to specify such tasks with high-level instructions, which abstract over specific robot actions through several layers of abstraction. We propose that key to bridging this gap between language and robot actions over long execution horizons are persistent representations. We propose a persistent spatial semantic representation method, and show how it enables building an agent that performs hierarchical reasoning to effectively execute long-term tasks. We evaluate our approach on the ALFRED benchmark and achieve state-of-the-art results, despite completely avoiding the commonly used step-by-step instructions.


A group's collective identity is a complex phenomenon which is always difficult to delineate and understand, but however one does so, historical antecedents must be a crucial element. This year's "Presidential Address" explores this important question, which was raised in an earlier presidential discourse. On that occasion, Robert Craig Brown noted that "historical knowledge is an essential component of a nation's sense of cultural identity. ' ' Professor Wallot elucidates this theme: without a concept of what you have been, you cannot know who you are, or what you can be. As one of the characters in Joy Kogama's novel Obasan observes, "you are your history. If you cut off any of it, you're an amputee. ' 'Professor Wallot sets out to explore this problem by examining the Lower Canadian identity between roughly 1780 and 1815, in order to place the colony within the context of the culture of the North Atlantic world. Though Quebec/Lower Canada has often been portrayed as a closed society, relatively homogenous in its attitudes, cut off from its intellectual roots, and somewhat unsympathetic to new ideas, study of aspects of its culture suggest otherwise. The colony had access to contemporary international thought, in all of its variety, and was more than a passive observer in the clash of ideas and the rhythms of cultural change then current in Europe. In arriving at these conclusions, the author presents a two-part defence; in the first part of his paper, he examines the means of cultural diffusion, the role of printed materials in the formation of attitudes and the rapidity with which European ideas were transferred to Quebec. He concludes that, when one removes the time required to transmit these ideas, the colony was aware of, and deeply involved in, the intellectual cross-currents of the North Atlantic world.The author then proceeds to test the validity of this point by examining three quite different aspects of public culture: the discussion aroused by the fear of overpopulation and consequent impoverishment; the banking system and money, and finally, parliamentary theory and practice. In each of these fields, Professor Wallot concludes, the colony's cultural elite, at the very least, was aware of, and responsive to, recent European thought. In a society which boasted nearly universal literacy, this conclusion suggests a culture far more up-to-date than previous work would lead us to expect.


Abstract Purpose: To determine obstetrical outcome and predictive value of obstetrical symptoms and diagnostic examinations on adverse outcome after maternal trauma in pregnancy. Materials and methods: Retrospective study in a Dutch tertiary medical center, including women admitted for trauma in pregnancy between 1995 and 2005 and infants born from these pregnancies. Characteristics at trauma (type of trauma, severity) and obstetrical outcome were recorded, as well as prevalence and severity of trauma; prevalence of obstetrical symptoms and abnormal diagnostic examinations. Composite adverse obstetrical outcome was defined as fetal death, placental abruption, birth <37 weeks and/or birth weight <10th percentile. The predictive value of obstetrical symptoms or abnormal diagnostic tests on an adverse pregnancy outcome was analyzed (logistic regression analysis). Results: Trauma admissions occurred in 10 per 1000 deliveries. Injuries were non-severe in 147/159 (92%). Obstetrical symptoms and/or abnormal diagnostic tests were present in 64/159 (40%) and 12/159 (8%) respectively. Adverse pregnancy outcome was encountered in 17/80 cases, mainly preterm births (13/80 (16%)). Severe injuries were predictive for an adverse pregnancy outcome. Conclusions: We found a considerable rate of trauma during pregnancy. There was an increased risk for preterm birth and severity of injuries was predictive for adverse outcome.


Recent experience has shown that interior-point methods using a log barrier approach are far superior to classical simplex methods for computing solutions to large parametric quantile regression problems.In many large empirical applications, the design matrix has a very sparse structure. A typical example is the classical fixed-effect model for panel data where the parametric dimension of the model can be quite large, but the number of non-zero elements is quite small. Adopting recent developments in sparse linear algebra we introduce a modified version of the Frisch-Newton algorithm for quantile regression described in Portnoy and Koenker[28]. The new algorithm substantially reduces the storage (memory) requirements and increases computational speed. The modified algorithm also facilitates the development of nonparametric quantile regression methods. The pseudo design matrices employed in nonparametric quantile regression smoothing are inherently sparse in both the fidelity and roughness penalty components. Exploiting the sparse structure of these problems opens up a whole range of new possibilities for multivariate smoothing on large data sets via ANOVA-type decomposition and partial linear models.


Subject‐specific artifacts caused by head motion and physiological noise are major confounds in BOLD fMRI analyses. However, there is little consensus on the optimal choice of data preprocessing steps to minimize these effects. To evaluate the effects of various preprocessing strategies, we present a framework which comprises a combination of (1) nonparametric testing including reproducibility and prediction metrics of the data‐driven NPAIRS framework (Strother et al. [2002]: NeuroImage 15:747–771), and (2) intersubject comparison of SPM effects, using DISTATIS (a three‐way version of metric multidimensional scaling (Abdi et al. [2009]: NeuroImage 45:89–95). It is shown that the quality of brain activation maps may be significantly limited by sub‐optimal choices of data preprocessing steps (or "pipeline") in a clinical task‐design, an fMRI adaptation of the widely used Trail‐Making Test. The relative importance of motion correction, physiological noise correction, motion parameter regression, and temporal detrending were examined for fMRI data acquired in young, healthy adults. Analysis performance and the quality of activation maps were evaluated based on Penalized Discriminant Analysis (PDA). The relative importance of different preprocessing steps was assessed by (1) a nonparametric Friedman rank test for fixed sets of preprocessing steps, applied to all subjects; and (2) evaluating pipelines chosen specifically for each subject. Results demonstrate that preprocessing choices have significant, but subject‐dependant effects, and that individually‐optimized pipelines may significantly improve the reproducibility of fMRI results over fixed pipelines. This was demonstrated by the detection of a significant interaction with motion parameter regression and physiological noise correction, even though the range of subject head motion was small across the group (≪ 1 voxel). Optimizing pipelines on an individual‐subject basis also revealed brain activation patterns either weak or absent under fixed pipelines, which has implications for the overall interpretation of fMRI data, and the relative importance of preprocessing methods. Hum Brain Mapp, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


In this paper we analyze a cognitive radio network with one primary and one secondary transmitter, in which the primary transmitter has bursty arrivals while the secondary node is assumed to be saturated (i.e. always has a packet waiting to be transmitted). The secondary node transmits in a cognitive way such that it does not impede the performance of the primary node. We assume that the receivers have multipacket reception (MPR) capabilities and that the secondary node can take advantage of the MPR capability by transmitting simultaneously with the primary under certain conditions. We obtain analytical expressions for the stationary distribution of the primary node queue and we also provide conditions for its stability. Finally, we provide expressions for the aggregate throughput of the network as well as for the throughput at the secondary node.


To provide the orientation information of gear-boxes in the machining center, an algorithm was studied. The gear-box part was built based on dozens of parameterized features according to KBE (Knowledge Based Engineering), and was assumed being surrounded by six planes which were Front, Back, Left, Right, Bottom and Top. The features based on KBE were applied to the six planes one by one through the Boolean operation. Each feature was set a direction vector parameter which showed the feature orientation in the global coordinate system. After each direction vector of the six planes was calculated out based on the selected three points on each plane, the features' direction could be identified by comparing the two orientation vector parameters. The result is that CAM system can arrange the gear-box parts' clamping position more conveniently after the features owned orientation planes are identified.


A total of 314 strains of Haemophilus, isolated from clinical samples, were studied for the production of beta-galactosidase and beta-xylosidase. None of the H. influenzae strains studied (9 beta-lactamase positive strains and 129 beta-lactamase negative strains) possessed these enzymes. Both enzymes were almost constantly observed among strains of H. paraphrophilus (10 strains studied) and of H. paraphrohaemolyticus (9 strains studied). Among the other species (H. parainfluenzae, 55 strains; H. haemolyticus, 5 strains; H. parahaemolyticus, 97 strains), beta-galactosidase was present in about 30% of the strains studied whereas beta-xylosidase was detected occasionally (3% of the strains studied). Detection of these two enzymes could be a valuable test for the taxonomic study of the genus Haemophilus. However, the type of substrate used for the detection of beta-xylosidase is important: use of the para-nitro-phenyl-beta-xylopyranoside yielded more positive results than the use of its ortho-isomer.


Patients with pelvic trauma are known to be at increased risk for the development of thromboembolic complications. The incidence of deep venous thrombosis in patients with pelvic fractures is 35% to 60%. Proximal deep venous thrombosis, which is most likely to result in pulmonary embolism, occurs in 25% to 35% of these patients, and almost 1/2 of all proximal thrombi will be in the pelvic veins. The incidence of symptomatic pulmonary embolism in the pelvic trauma population is 2% to 10% whereas a greater proportion of patients will have clinically silent pulmonary embolism. Fatal pulmonary embolism occurs in 0.5% to 2% of patients with pelvic trauma. The cornerstone of effective management is prophylaxis and the most commonly used forms include low dose heparin, low molecular weight heparin, mechanical devices, and in some studies, inferior vena caval filters. Based on a critical review of the literature, an algorithm is proposed for the management of thromboprophylaxis in this trauma subgroup. This includes prophylaxis, screening, and treatment when proximal thrombosis is identified. Such a systematic approach to this potentially catastrophic problem may decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with thromboembolic complications in these patients.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate performance of a human portable blood glucose meter (PBGM), a veterinary PBGM, and a veterinary benchtop analyzer for measuring blood glucose concentration in rabbits and to evaluate the effect of sample characteristics on their performance.

DESIGN
Observational prospective cross-sectional study.

SAMPLE
Blood samples from 89 pet rabbits.

PROCEDURES
Blood glucose concentration was measured with a human PBGM (n = 89 rabbits), a veterinary PBGM (89), and a benchtop analyzer (32) and compared with results obtained with plasma in a laboratory analyzer (hexokinase method).

RESULTS
The human PBGM underestimated blood glucose concentration, had decreased accuracy at high Hcts, and had the lowest total error observed (11.4%). The veterinary PBGM overestimated blood glucose concentration, had decreased accuracy at low Hcts and at high blood glucose concentrations, and had the highest total error (15.5% and 29.8% for canine and feline settings, respectively). The benchtop analyzer had good accuracy and was not influenced by Hct or glucose concentrations. Clinical errors would have occurred in 0% of cases with the human PBGM and with the benchtop analyzer and in 9% (canine setting) to 6.7% (feline setting) of cases with the veterinary PBGM.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Results suggested that use of the human PBGM evaluated in this study would be acceptable for point-of-care testing of blood glucose concentration in rabbits when benchtop analyzers are not available. The use of the veterinary PBGM evaluated in this study may alter both treatment and diagnostic decisions because of the overestimation of glucose concentrations in some rabbits.


The climate of Mongolia is a harsh continental climate with four distinctive seasons, high annual and diurnal temperature fluctuations, and low rainfall. Because of the country's high altitude, it is generally colder than that of other countries in the same latitude. This study focuses on evaluating the suitability of two interpolation methods in terms of their accuracy at the air temperature data in Mongolia. Four data sets of air temperature from 1982 to 2019 in 60 meteorological stations located in Mongolia and elaborated from a 90 m resolution digital elevation model (DEM), latitude and longitude using two interpolation methods. ArcGIS is used to produce the spatially distributed air temperature data by using IDW and ordinary kriging. Three statistical methods are multiple regression, RMSE and bias, which showed that the IDW the best for this data from other methods by the results that have been obtained. Statistics on the latitude, longitude and surface elevation of each of the 37 years in Mongolia at 60 meteorological stations have been statistically valid with dependent coefficients at 95-99.9%. As the average air temperature, recorded at the meteorological stations, had a statistical correlation of -0.606 with latitude, 0.295 with longitude, and -0.432 with altitude, a multiple regression equation was developed and a highly accurate map for long terms air temperature covering 19822019 using interpolation IDW and Kriging method. Also, the highest RMSE value for maps used IDW was 1.38 while the lowest and average values were 0.03 and 0.44, respectively, and the highest bias was 1.21, lowest 0.95, and average 1.01. As opposed to, highest RMSE value for maps that used Kriging, was 6.16, lowest 0.27 and average 1.08 while highest bias was 1.29 and lowest was 0.85, with 1.01 as average. This demonstrates that IDW offers much better accuracy as opposed to Kriging and shows less bias errors. When the air temperature map that used the IDW method is compared against the meteorological station data the significance was 0.98 and when compared against ERA5 model results, significance was 0.95 showing strong statistical significance. Also, a comparison of air temperature map, processed by Kriging method and the meteorological station data shows 0.97 statistical significance, and comparison with ERA5 model shows (validation) 0.94 significance, which is very high. The mean value of the calculated temperature regression model in Mongolia and the root mean square error 0.020.09 for each station indicates that the estimation method is good and can be used in the future.


This paper considers the productivity impact on the US economy of the period of war mobilization and demobilization lasting from 1941 to 1948. Optimists have pointed to learning by doing in military production and spin-offs from military R & D as the basis for asserting a substantial positive effect of military conflict on potential output. Productivity data for the private non-farm economy are not consistent with this view, as they show slower total factor productivity (TFP) growth between 1941 and 1948 than before or after. The paper argues for adopting a less rosy perspective on the supply side effects of the war.


Nox5 is a unique Ca2+-sensitive Nox isoform that is expressed in human vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). Although Nox5 has been implicated in diabetic nephropathy, its role in vascular function and development of hypertension remain unclear. Nox5 is not expressed in rodents, and accordingly we generated humanised Nox5 mice with Nox5 expressed in a VSMC-specific manner (Nox5SM22). Control (wild-type) and Nox5SM22 mice were infused with Ang II (600 ng/Kg/day). Blood pressure (BP) was assessed by tail-cuff. Vascular function and structure of resistance arteries were measured by myography. Ang II increased BP in WT and Nox5SM22 mice with no significant differences. Arteries from Nox5SM22 mice exhibited reduced endothelium-dependent relaxation versus WT controls (%ACh relaxation: 55.1±4 vs ctl: 81.6±7%). Fasudil (Rho kinase inhibitor)-induced relaxation was reduced in Nox5SM22 mice versus controls (%Fas relaxation: 111.3±11 vs ctl: 166.6±8%) (p<0.05). Ang II increased the maximal contraction to U46619 (thromboxane A2 mimetic) in WT (115.8±2 vs untreated: 101.4±2%) and Nox5SM22 (121.3±3 vs untreated: 99.1±2) (p<0.05) and induced endothelial dysfunction in all groups. Fasudil-induced relaxation was impaired by Ang II in WT (102.7±6 vs untreated: 166.6±8%, p<0.05) but not further impaired in Nox5SM22 mice (114.9±6 vs untreated: 111.3±11%). Ang II increased cross-sectional area (CSA) and lumen diameter) while in Nox5SM22 mice, Ang II increased wall thickness, wall-to-lumen ratio, CSA and decreased lumen diameter, with associated increased vascular stiffness. Our findings indicate that in mice expressing human Nox5 in VSMCs, endothelium-dependent relaxation is impaired, fasudil-mediated vasodilation is attenuated and vessels undergo exaggerated hypertrophic inward remodelling with increased stiffness; processes that occur independently of BP elevation. These data suggest an important role for Nox5 in Ang II-induced vascular dysfunction and remodelling, but not in the development of hypertension. Moreover, we identify Rho kinase as a putative target for Nox5-induced vascular injury. We provide novel insights into Nox5 vascular biology and demonstrate that vascular Nox5 actions are dissociated from BP effects.


A retrospective study of risk factors for traumatic infant deaths in Oregon occurring from 1973 through 1982 was performed using vital records and medical examiner records. A total of 146 such deaths occurred during this period. Relative risks were calculated for various risk factors in the study group compared with all Oregon births. Factors found to be significantly associated with all traumatic deaths were low maternal age, out-of-hospital birth, unwed mother, late or no prenatal care, low birth weight, and low maternal education. Race, sex, and birth order were not associated with traumatic infant death. The traumatic deaths were grouped into homicides and accidents. The same risk factor associations, with the exception of out-of-hospital birth, were found for each group.


To the Editor:-In the March 1988 issue of the lournal, Wolf-Klein et all presented data susgesting that Alzheimer patients are healthier than other elderly patients. I would w e to raise a number of points in criticism. Although these findings have been suggested by studies of the prevalence of specific diseases in Alzheimer patients,I question whether the results of this study caq be generalized beyond the population studied. Patients who receive ,their care at centers like the Jewish Institute for Geriatric Care may not be representative of the elderly community at large. They are likely to be those patients with either multiple medical problems or a dementing illness referred for consultation and care. Thus, a significant selection bias would OCN in using the nondemented patients for thig group as controls to look at the relative health of Alzheimer patiehts. I would question the use of the non-Alzheimer dementia patients as a control group. The authors did n@ provide data supporting that the Alzheimer patients and the non-,Alzheimer dementia patients had similar ability to report symptoms. A diminished capacity to report symptoms would decrease identification of some diseases. The finding that the Alzheimek patients took fewer medications than the control groups was interpreted as substantiating the findings of less disease in the Alzheimer youp. An alternative and plausible explanation for this finding is that fear of exacerbating a preexisting dementia may have tempered p w b i n g habits. Finally to explain their results the authors offer as a "provocative hypothesis . . . the loss of recall and understanding in Alzheimer patients might decrease the mental stress of life" and thus be protective against disease where stress +y play a role. Iquestion the validity of this proposal. My experience with demented patients has been that confusion can result in considerable fear and anxiety, thus increasing rather than diminishing the stresses suffered by the patient.


Overlapping community structures can reflect the fact that an individual can belong to more than one community, especially the individuals in social networks. It is important to detect overlapping community structures in online social networks. In this paper, an overlapping community detection algorithm is proposed for online social networks. Different from previous works, this algorithm can be applied in both undirected and directed networks. Moreover, for people who have accounts in several online social networks, this algorithm can be used to combine community structures of different networks. We assume that users' community structure in an online social network is actually a reflection of users' community structure in real life. By combining different reflections with the proposed algorithm, detected community structure can match users' interest-based communities better.


The outcome of untreated hypertension was investigated in a population of 17,713 persons in southern Taiwan who were aged 15 or over when they had taken part in a blood pressure survey in 1963. In the 27-year follow-up period, 55.8% of the overall mortality was comprised of those who were found to be hypertensive (as defined by WHO) in 1963, 31.3% by borderline hypertensives, and 22.6% by normotensives. The 27-year mortality rate due to stroke was much higher in hypertensives than in normotensives (11.4% vs 1.8%, respectively). The 5-year survival rates for mild, moderate and severe hypertensives were 89.9%, 82.7% and 72.3%, respectively, and the 20-year rates were 60.2%, 37.2% and 25.2%, respectively. The causes of death were also recorded: among hypertensives, stroke accounted for 23.2% of all deaths of known cause, cancer 20.5%, cardiovascular disease 21.7%, respiratory disease 11.8%, and other causes 22.9%. From the results, it is concluded that obvious differences in mortality and cause of death exist between untreated hypertensives and normotensives.


In her article inspiring this symposium Lyonette Louis-Jacques observed While citation analyses exist for American legal materials, there are none for foreign and international law. The Opinions of the Advocates General of Court of Justice of the European Communities (hereafter Court or E.C.J.) are fertile ground for such an analysis yet they have almost never been the subject of study. Citations to foreign law can be found in Advocates Generals' Opinions. The citation of United States law in Advocates General's Opinions has been the subject of two previous studies. Peter Herzog's 1998 article United States Supreme Court Cases in the Court of Justice of the European Communities looked at ten Advocates General Opinions from 1980 through 1995. Dr. Carl Baudenbacher's 2003 article Judicial Globalization: New Development or Old Wine in New Bottles? looked at references in eight opinions from 1985 through 1998, including several opinions mentioned in Herzog's article. Both articles only discuss the Advocates Generals' citation to the law of the United States. To date no study has looked beyond citations to United States law when examining the use of foreign law in Advocates Generals' Opinions. With this study I intend to mind the gap and examine references in Advocates Generals' Opinions to the laws of all non-Member States. This study will also update the Herzog and Baudenbacher articles by examining citation to foreign law in Opinions from 1998 through 2007. Part I of this article discusses Opinions citing U.S. law over the past decade and compares those Opinions with the Opinions identified in the Herzog and Baudenbacher articles. The theories posited in the Herzog and Baudenbacher articles are examined in light of the past decade of citation to U.S. law in Advocates Generals' Opinions. Part II explores the citation of non-Member State jurisdictions other than the United States in Advocate Generals' Opinions. Part III critically analyzes the citation of foreign law by Advocates General. This section explores why Advocates General cite foreign law, why they typically provide complete numerical citations when referring to U.S. law, and why they devote more textual space to discussing U.S. law. The study concludes with predictions for the future.


The extent to which certain kinds of people are inundated with toxins, pollutants, bacteria, viruses, violence, and disaster is well documented. The various ways in which the extension of urbanization as a planetary phenomenon has refigured geographies of sustenance is also well established. This article focuses, instead, on exploring the interfacial oscillations among that which is experienced as habitable or uninhabitable, as a kind of regionalizing of relationships between life and nonlife. It looks at how possibilities of living disappear and reappear, often in the least expected situations and circumstances, and at how inhabitation itself becomes increasingly precarious through various devices and calculations deployed in order to guarantee it. Drawing upon decades of research and program development in urban Africa and Southeast Asia, the article explores some of ways in which the habitable and uninhabitable are redescribed in terms of each other and considers how this redescription could be used to formulate more judicious modalities of viable urban development, as urbanization itself seems to posit increased dangers to the viability of many lives.


Offers access to the journals that the Libraries subscribe to, electronic as well as in print that cover Latin American Studies.


Background and Purpose— Guidelines advocate screening all acute stroke patients for dysphagia. However, limited data are available regarding how many and which patients are screened and how failing a swallowing screen affects patient outcomes. We sought to evaluate predictors of receiving dysphagia screening after acute ischemic stroke and outcomes after failing a screening test. Methods— We used the Ontario Stroke Registry from April 1, 2010, to March 31, 2013, to identify patients hospitalized with acute ischemic stroke and determine predictors of documented dysphagia screening and outcomes after failing the screening test, including pneumonia, disability, and death. Results— Among 7171 patients, 6677 patients were eligible to receive dysphagia screening within 72 hours, yet 1280 (19.2%) patients did not undergo documented screening. Patients with mild strokes were significantly less likely than those with more severe strokes to have documented screening (adjusted odds ratio, 0.51; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.41–0.64). Failing dysphagia screening was associated with poor outcomes, including pneumonia (adjusted odds ratio, 4.71; 95% CI, 3.43–6.47), severe disability (adjusted odds ratio, 5.19; 95% CI, 4.48–6.02), discharge to long-term care (adjusted odds ratio, 2.79; 95% CI, 2.11–3.79), and 1-year mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.42; 95% CI, 2.09–2.80). Associations were maintained in patients with mild strokes. Conclusions— One in 5 patients with acute ischemic stroke did not have documented dysphagia screening, and patients with mild strokes were substantially less likely to have documented screening. Failing dysphagia screening was associated with poor outcomes, including in patients with mild strokes, highlighting the importance of dysphagia screening for all patients with acute ischemic stroke.


In a prior communication1we have stressed the close relation which usually exists between the clinical appearance of a superficial fungous eruption and the species of infecting micro-organism responsible for it. Increased experience tends to corroborate this phase of practical mycology. We have found that repeated cultures have often resulted in finding of a suspected fungus when the first attempt was barren of results or productive of only nonpathogenic strains of fungi. Determinative procedures available for investigating suspected fungous infections of the skin are sometimes inadequate to enable one to decide whether the fungus found on culture is primarily causative or a secondary invader. The mere finding of certain fungi which are of known pathogenic titer is usually considered sufficient evidence of pathogenicity. However, one may be in error if one trusts one's ability to obtain pathogenic material in any given case unless there is opportunity for prolonged study


Information systems security is a critical area of inquiry and closely allied with IT audit skills from the accounting discipline. While accounting scholars are well informed about IT audits, information systems scholars interested in the security aspects of IT audits sometimes lack knowledge about the process through which scholars and professionals become security and audit experts in order to assess the quality of information-security implementations. IT audit knowledge enriches cybersecurity professors for both teaching and research. Individuals skilled in accounting, such as graduates from combined accounting/information systems departments in business schools, are naturally oriented to industry certification groups and their professional certifications, but mainstream IT academics are not. In this paper, we report on a panel discussion at AMCIS 2017 that focused on how researchers and educators who seek professional certifications offered by organizations such as the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) can gain much richer knowledge of and insights into IT security assurance, which they can use for both teaching and research purposes. Such certifications provide valuable perspectives for the classroom and for research and are useful for IT professors interested in all aspects of security.


Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegler has been taxonomically studied for 130 years ago with collections of authentic specimens as type of Lentinus tonkinensis Pat. (already treated as synonym), collected from Ba Vi mountainous region (near to Hanoi) by Balansa (1887-1888), deposited in Paris (Patouillard, 1928) and recently supplemented with some newly - collected strains, native to high mountainous regions, North Vietnam: Cao Bang and Sa Pa shiitake, near to South China. Some Shiitake strains obtained from Japan, China as repesentatives of East Asian races of Lentinula edodes were analysed comparatively both morphological and molecular characteristics, showing that the Vietnam natively geographical races of Shiitake collected in Sa Pa mountains (1600-2800 m alt.), North Vietnam are so clearly segregated from strains imported from Changsha, Yunnan (China) and Tottori (Japan) - that are East Asian races, typical temperate Shiitake Lentinula edodes (similar to Cao bang race), that markedly similar to Southeast Asian - tropical Shiitake forms, but close to the species Lentinula lateritia and L. novaezelandieae , based on rDNA both D and ITS sequences. In South Vietnam, Shiitake races of Lentinula edodes, L. cf. lateritia and L. platinedodes sp.nov. were newly found on Langbiang mountain (1500-2000 m alt.) in Da Lat city, highland of Lam Dong province and in Cat Tien national park (600-150 m alt.), lowerland of Dong Nai province, particularly among which the last one is showing high similarity in morphological characters with both Amarica's Shiitake - type species, Lentinula boryana and L. edodes , due to the forms at different stages of development of fruitbodies, collected in the wild. This new species showed some phenotypte forms similar to each others in their early stages of morphological genesis of young fruitbodies in nature and in cultivations. However, they are the same in rDNA sequences, particularly located in the clades of New World Shiitake lineage. They share common secondary tropically features of speciations in the Lentinula , and their ontogenesis of fruitbodies shows the more primary fibrilose forms of Lentinula edodes differentiating to the secondary glabrous froms commonly found in species in South East Asia - Australian regions. The occurrence of tropical Shiitake both L. cf. lateritia and L. platinedodes in Vietnam would be a new evidence for direct relationships present between Old and New World Shiitake speciation lineages, that China - South East Asia regions would be an origin center of diversity of Lentinula , and the South East Asia - Australian regions would be a focus of tropical and subtropical diversity of Shiitake speciations and harbor Lentinula morphological species with high similarity and compatibility, and the temperate Shiitake races from the pivotal species Lentinula edodes differenciate and disperse, so largely in Australasia, particularly under cultivation, selection and breeding.


In the wake of recent events were reports of black men being killed by police officers. Policing and perceptions of the police have in some cases became national stories. Further, the deaths of Michael Brown and later Freddie Gray, just to name a few have led to an examination of police community relationships and how people view the police, particularly racial and ethnic minorities. Public views of the police in large part come from the media. A content analysis of The Philadelphia Inquirer, TIME Magazine and 60 Minutes episodes were conducted to explore the types of portrayals of police officers and policing in general. Focusing on the front page stories of the Philadelphia Inquirer, cover stories in TIME Magazine and segments on the television show 60 Minutes topics, beginning January 1, 2015 and until December 31 2016 findings suggested that stories that portrayed police in a particularly negative light or efforts to highlight good deeds by police officers did not dominate the news cycle. Further, nationally (TIME Magazine and 60 Minutes) police were seldom the focus, although when mentioned, negative stories outpace positive ones. Similar themes were found in locally within the Inquirer.


This paper explores elements of open education within the context of higher education. After an introduction to the origins of open education and its theoretical foundations, the topics of open and distance learning, international education issues in open education, open educational practices and scholarship, open educational resources, MOOCs, prior learning accreditation and recognition, and learner characteristics are considered, following the framework of macro, meso, and micro levels of research in open and distance learning. Implications for future research at the macro, meso, and micro levels are then provided.


This thesis puts forth the means of a strategic approach to address a persistent problem in the energy system and in this way, to transition the built environment to a future state that is more exergy-aware to curb CO2 emissions. Such a vision is made possible by the six-fold contributions of the research work: I) An analytical model is developed, which for the first time, formulates the CO2 emissions that are compounded in the energy system as a function of the systematic failures to match the supply and demand of exergy. This model is namely the Rational Exergy Management Model or REMM. II) REMM is then applied to analyze the pathways in which it is possible to lead the built environment into addressing structural overshoots in its exergy supply to curb CO2 emissions. The cases that embody these pathways are also analyzed over a base case, including cases for sustainable heating and cooling. III) New tools are designed to augment decision-making and exemplify a paradigm shift in the more rational usage of exergy to curb CO2 emissions. These include a scenario-based analysis tool, new options for CO2 wedges, and a multi-fold solution space for CO2 mitigation strategies based on REMM. IV) The concept of a net-zero exergy building (NZEXB) is developed and related to REMM strategies as the building block of an exergy-aware energy system. The target of a NZEXB is further supported by key design principles, which address shortcomings in state-of-the-art net-zero design. V) A premier building that deployed the key design principles to integrate building technology in an innovative, exergy-aware design and received LEED Platinum is analyzed on the basis of the NZEXB target. The results validate that this building boosts net self-sufficiency and curbs compound CO2 emissions, which are then presented in a proposed scheme to benchmark and/or label future NZEXBs. VI) Based on the scalability of the best-practices of the NZEXB ready building, the means to realize a smarter energy system that has exergy-aware relations in each aspect of the value chain to curb CO2 emissions are discussed. This includes a target for such a network at the community level, namely a net-zero exergy community (NZEXC). As a whole, the results of the thesis indicate that the strategic approach as provided by REMM and the NZEXB target of the research work has the potential to steer the speed and direction of societal action to curb CO2 emissions. The thesis concludes with a roadmap that represents a cyclical series of actions that may be scaled-up at various levels of the built environment in a transition to be in better balance with the Planet.


Machine learning techniques have the potential to revolutionize medical diagnosis. Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) are one of the most important sources of human genome variability; thus, they have been implicated in several human diseases. To separate the affected samples from the normal ones, various techniques have been applied on SNPs. Achieving high classification accuracy in such a high-dimensional space is crucial for successful diagnosis and treatment. In this work, we propose an accurate hybrid feature selection method for detecting the most informative SNPs and selecting an optimal SNP subset. The proposed method is based on the fusion of a filter and a wrapper method, i.e., the Conditional Mutual Information Maximization (CMIM) method and the support vector machine-recursive feature elimination, respectively. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated against four state-of-the-art feature selection methods, minimum redundancy maximum relevancy, fast correlation-based feature selection, CMIM, and ReliefF, using four classifiers, support vector machine, naive Bayes, linear discriminant analysis, and  $k$  nearest neighbors on five different SNP data sets obtained from the National Center for Biotechnology Information gene expression omnibus genomics data repository. The experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of the adopted feature selection approach outperforming all of the compared feature selection algorithms and achieving up to 96% classification accuracy for the used data set. In general, from these results we conclude that SNPs of the whole genome can be efficiently employed to distinguish affected individuals with complex diseases from the healthy ones.


Adipose fins are found on approximately 20% of ray-finned fish species. The apparently rudimentary anatomy of adipose fins inspired a longstanding hypothesis that these fins are vestigial and lack function. However, adipose fins have evolved repeatedly within Teleostei, suggesting adaptive function. Recently, adipose fins were proposed to function as mechanosensors, detecting fluid flow anterior to the caudal fin. Here we test the hypothesis that adipose fins are mechanosensitive in the catfish Corydoras aeneus. Neural activity, recorded from nerves that innervate the fin, was shown to encode information on both movement and position of the fin membrane, including the magnitude of fin membrane displacement. Thus, the adipose fin of C. aeneus is mechanosensitive and has the capacity to function as a 'precaudal flow sensor'. These data force re-evaluation of adipose fin clipping, a common strategy for tagging fishes, and inform hypotheses of how function evolves in novel vertebrate appendages.


An investigation was made on women afflicted by primary infertility with a view to ascertaining their ways of experiencing sexuality. The tools used were a questionnaire and some Murray T.A.T. tables. An analysis of the results has pointed out the existence of significant changes in sexuality with regard to decreased frequency of sexual intercourse. This change is meaningfully correlated with their socio-cultural level.


Nonlocality seems to be a basic aspect of what it is to be living. Living system is elementary particle-like coherent unit. The phenomenon of memory suggests temporal nonlocality. Also, remote mental interactions, if real, suggest nonlocality. In fact, nonlocality, both spatial and temporal, is the basic element of entire quantum TGD and, in particular, its applications in quantum biology, neuroscience, theory of consciousness and remote mental interactions. In this series of articles, I suggest pictures in Topological Geometrodynamics (TGD). I will begin from empirical findings related to nonlocality rather than problems of General Relativity or of particle physics. The hope is that this could make the basic ideas of TGD easier to grasp. Further, the mathematical framework and its interpretation in current state of TGD are briefly described and some applications of TGD inspired theory of consciousness and quantum biology are discussed.


Background:
 Hypertension is a major risk factor for stroke recurrence but it is poorly controlled among stroke survivors, particularly from minority groups. The Prevent Recurrence of All Inner-city Strokes through Education (PRAISE) trial tests whether a community-based, peer-led stroke education intervention improves stroke risk factors, primarily blood pressure control.

 Methods:
 Using community-based participatory research, clinicians, educators and stroke survivors developed a six-session peer-led workshop to help stroke survivors understand their illness, and identify and manage their recurrent risks, particularly hypertension. We recruited 600 individuals with a history of stroke or TIA within the past 5 years who were randomized to the intervention or a wait-list control group. At baseline, 6 and 12 months, we measured participants' blood pressures, socio-demographics, beliefs and behaviors. Six-month data collection has been completed.

 Results:
 Participants have a mean of 63 years, the majority are female (60%), Black or Latino (81%) and live in poverty (56%). At baseline, 31% in both groups had uncontrolled blood pressure (<140/90 mmHg). At six months, the intervention group demonstrated better blood pressure control when compared to the control group, 76% vs. 65% (p=0.01). The intervention group also had a significant blood pressure reduction of 3.6/2.0mmHg (p=0.005/p=0.04) compared to the control group (+0.5/-0.5mmHg).

 Conclusions:
 A peer-led educational program developed through a community-academic partnership was successful in improving blood pressure control at 6 months. While 12-month data will confirm the longevity of this impact, PRAISE is simple, culturally appropriate and inexpensive, and may represent an important and sustainable secondary stroke prevention strategy.


This paper proposes a radio channel assignment scheme called repacking on demand (RoD) for two-tier wireless local loop (WLL) networks. A two-tier WLL overlays a macrocell with several microcells. When a new call arrives at a two-tier WLL with RoD, if no idle channel is available in both the microcell and the macrocell, repacking is performed (i.e., a call in the macrocell is moved to its corresponding microcell), and then the reclaimed macrocell channel is used to serve the new call. An analytic model is proposed to compute the call blocking probability of the two-tier WLL with repacking. This analytic model is validated against simulation experiments. We prove that the blocking probability is not affected by the call holding time distributions, but is only dependent on the mean of the call holding times. Compared with some previous proposed schemes, RoD has low blocking probability and significantly reduces repacking rate.