Securitisation can transform ordinarily illiquid or risky assets into more liquid or less risky ones. Despite the recent rapid growth of securitisation, the Latin American market remains in its infancy, as reflected in the size and type of assets involved in transactions. Because of its benefits, further encouragement should be given to promoting this financing technique in the region. However, careful attention should also be paid to the associated risks.


Mobile money transfer services are popular services in Tanzania used to facilitate financial transactions for business activities and family matters. Despite of the fact that the services have many advantages to users; their contributions to Tanzanian agribusiness women on marketing their agricultural products are not empirically substantiated. This study aimed to investigate and establish the contribution of mobile money transfer services in marketing agricultural products to women involved in agribusiness by analyzing factors motivating agribusiness women to use mobile money transfer services in marketing agricultural products, to understand to what extent mobile money transfer services used by agribusiness women in marketing agricultural products and to identify challenges and advantages agribusiness women who use MMT get from using the services. A case study was Morogoro Municipality Tanzania. Both qualitative and quantitative from primary and secondary data were used in the study. Primary data were collected from agribusiness women within Morogoro Municipality, Secondary data were collected from network service providers, library and from the internet. Then quantitative data were analyzed by using SPSS program version 20 and qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis. The study identified that the services were used by agribusiness women and age, education, type of business products, capital and type of customer are the factors that motivate agribusiness women to use MMT services. It was identified that service providers agents problems, unavailability of network, high transaction cost compared to bank are among the challenges agribusiness women face in using MMT and promotion, time saving, security of their money are among of the advantages agribusiness women get from using MMT. It was recommended that due to its potentiality in facilitating money transactions; MMT service providers should make sure that their services are convenient, affordable and easy to use by their customers.


What is the aim today of talking about philology, either in absolute terms or related to other concepts such as linguistics or language sciences? On the one hand, it seems unfair to resort to metaphors that pair (traditional) philology and (textual) necrophilia. On the other hand, turning our back on the reality is not the appropriate response to current problems: a more applied training (in the professional field) is
needed, and (in the scientific context) the frontiers should be pushed back, because the old ones are obsolete and in need of reappraisal. Faced with a past and a present that are inevitably imperfect, this article is a reflection on the chances of a future in which philology (in the classical sense) is accompanied by language and communication sciences. The reason for this situation and for this specific proposal is not simply to follow the fashion or to embrace modernity, as the winner of the debate with antiquity: the aim is to try to provide a fuller professional training (a less erudite one) and a more interdisciplinary, less localist area of study.
The context of the article is provided by comment on a brief series of sociopolitical and cultural events in our setting, all of them previous to the elections to the Parliament of Catalonia in November 2006. Any analysis of events of this kind, even
the most superficial, shows that philologists or linguists should not undervalue a critical competence which, in its turn, should be transmitted to students as one of the skills involved in the processes of teaching, learning and knowledge transfer.
Instead of limiting itself to the fields of grammar and history of literature, an imaginative (not imaginary) philology need to be open to criticism and communication. If the natural epistemological context of philology (of any philology) is also that of communication, we should not object to the efforts to strengthen the lines of convergence rather than divergence and contrast. Can a philology without communication produce
anything but unemployable professionals? A clever (indirect) answer: although we may only be a fully-fledged nation in the preamble (not in the text) we should try hard to rescue our philology from the twilight zone.


Investment's risk management, the best feasible alternative's selection, alternatives ranking are usual practices of any project in construction. There is a set of attributes (parameters, factors, criteria) necessary for considering. Influence is noticed in environmental changes, cost reduction attributes in project's realization process, the effect of project's value on its realisation. Risk management is an essential part of project's life cycle. Management of investments risk means presence of all procedures control in any phase of the project. The estimation of risk must be carried out at various project stages. The investor work conditions changes continuously due to economic situation changes. Investment projects' quality estimation can be based only on the management's ingenuity of the investor and depend on its intuition and experience. The risk management attributes can have both qualitative and quantitative values. The biggest problem when making decisions is the estimation influence of different attributes. Given attributes significance values are based on experts' knowledge or new ways of its application. The article summarises the results of theoretical and empirical studies in the sphere of the multiattribute decision making by focusing on the peculiarities of attributes weight determined by applying an expert method. The proposed method includes five stages: attributes significance measuring, values analysis, weights estimation, measures improving and improved weights estimation. According to the article, the authors' opinion is considered appropriate to limit experts given values to the attributes importance. The offered method of the attributes weights estimation is applied when there is a limited number of experts and it cannot be increased. The offered method was tested in the solution of the actual problem.


Abstract There is a strong relation between chronic UV-B–induced sunburns and the development of skin cancer. Therefore, it is important to obtain a method that can be reproduced easily to detect individuals with similar skin color but different sensitiveness to sun exposure. The study evaluated 193 healthy volunteers (68% women; the average age was 38 years). They were divided into six groups of at least 30 subjects, according to skin type. The minimal erythema dose (MED) was assessed in two non–sun-exposed areas (thorax–infra-axillary area and on the buttocks), using a UV-B source (0.5 mW/cm2), with openings of 1 cm2, in increasing doses. The same areas were evaluated with a Minolta CR 300 Chromameter (L*a*b* system). The MED values ranged from 13 to 156 mJ/cm2; the coordinate L* (brightness) ranged from 75.96 to 30.15. The correlation between the MED and the brightness was negative in both areas (Pearson's correlation r = −0.91, P < 0.05). Color measurements, especially brightness, can be used to quickly assess skin sensibility. Considering the MED, there is a substantial overlapping of adjacent phototypes, but they could be separated into two groups: more sensitive individuals (Types I, II, III and IV) and less sensitive ones (Types V and VI).


In this paper, we investigate both qualitative and quantitative synthesis of optimal privacy-enforcing supervisors for partially-observed discrete-event systems. We consider a dynamic system whose information-flow is partially available to an intruder, which is modeled as a passive observer. We assume that the system has a"secret"that does not want to be revealed to the intruder. Our goal is to synthesize a supervisor that controls the system in a least-restrictive manner such that the closed-loop system meets the privacy requirement. For the qualitative case, we adopt the notion of infinite-step opacity as the privacy specification by requiring that the intruder can never determine for sure that the system is/was at a secret state for any specific instant. If the qualitative synthesis problem is not solvable or the synthesized solution is too restrictive, then we further investigate the quantitative synthesis problem so that the secret is revealed (if unavoidable) as late as possible. Effective algorithms are provided to solve both the qualitative and quantitative synthesis problems. Specifically, by building suitable information structures that involve information delays, we show that the optimal qualitative synthesis problem can be solved as a safety-game. The optimal quantitative synthesis problem can also be solved as an optimal total-cost control problem over an augmented information structure. Our work provides a complete solution to the standard infinite-step opacity control problem, which has not been solved without assumption on the relationship between controllable events and observable events. Furthermore, we generalize the opacity enforcement problem to the numerical setting by introducing the secret-revelation-time as a new quantitative measure.


Forty-eight isolates of aeromonads from clinical specimens were studied. The laboratory procedures employed and the results obtained are reported in the hope that they may be of assistance to other workers in the field of diagnostic microbiology. Capability of identifying these organisms in the laboratory will contribute to a better understanding of the role of this group of organisms in human disease as well as in diseases in other animals.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether Tai Chi or hydrotherapy classes for individuals with chronic symptomatic hip or knee osteoarthritis (OA) result in measurable clinical benefits.

METHODS
A randomized controlled trial was conducted among 152 older persons with chronic symptomatic hip or knee OA. Participants were randomly allocated for 12 weeks to hydrotherapy classes (n = 55), Tai Chi classes (n = 56), or a waiting list control group (n = 41). Outcomes were assessed 12 and 24 weeks after randomization and included pain and physical function (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index), general health status (Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 12 Health Survey [SF-12], version 2), psychological well-being, and physical performance (Up and Go test, 50-foot walk time, timed stair climb).

RESULTS
At 12 weeks, compared with controls, participants allocated to hydrotherapy classes demonstrated mean improvements (95% confidence interval) of 6.5 (0.4, 12.7) and 10.5 (3.6, 14.5) for pain and physical function scores (range 0-100), respectively, whereas participants allocated to Tai Chi classes demonstrated improvements of 5.2 (-0.8, 11.1) and 9.7 (2.8, 16.7), respectively. Both class allocations achieved significant improvements in the SF-12 physical component summary score, but only allocation to hydrotherapy achieved significant improvements in the physical performance measures. All significant improvements were sustained at 24 weeks. In this almost exclusively white sample, class attendance was higher for hydrotherapy, with 81% attending at least half of the available 24 classes, compared with 61% for Tai Chi.

CONCLUSION
Access to either hydrotherapy or Tai Chi classes can provide large and sustained improvements in physical function for many older, sedentary individuals with chronic hip or knee OA.


Introduction: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a linear, dsDNA virus that is regarded as the prototype of the Betaherpesvirinae subfamily of viruses. It has an established endemic status in certain locations around the globe, and is also reported to be the most prevalently occurring congenital infection in humans. Furthermore, Cytomegalovirus is notorious for being a persistent lifelong pathogen that poses a threat of reactivation as well.
Discussion: Congenital cytomegalovirus infection causes numerous ophthalmologic, and neurologic sequelae, and is also known for being the principal reason behind sensorineural hearing loss of non-genetic etiology in neonates. These symptoms, if present, may give rise to a premonition of congenital Cytomegalovirus disease, and so, a diagnosis can be established  through serology, radiology, and  PCR of salivary, urinary, or dried blood spot samples. Timely administration of ganciclovir or valganciclovir has proven to be effective in managing symptomatic cases of congenital CMV.
Conclusion: A well-timed delivery of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions is necessary to achieve healthy developmental outcomes for the neonate. Moreover, there is still  a need to study the role of antiviral therapy in silent cases since asymptomatic patients are at a risk of developing long-term clinical sequelae as well.
Relevance: An estimated 60-90% of women of child-bearing age get infected with Cytomegalovirus, and Congenital CMV disease is reported in 0.2-2.4% of all live births. Therefore, in order to develop effective screening and management protocols, it is vital to educate healthcare professionals regarding the various aspects of this congenital infection.


: It has been shown in chronic experiments on rats that electro-convulsive action applied in five to ten seconds after one-session conditioning completely precludes the reproduction of conditioned motor reactions, while conditioned bradycardiac reactions are clearly reproduced in tests one hour and 24 hours after elaboration. Unconditioned stimulus presented in another experimental situation six to seven days after elaboration and amnesic action, leads to a stable reproduction of the previously non-achieved conditioned motor reactions. The results obtained suggest that electrical seizures influence the reproduction of motor reactions, rather than fixation of temporary connection.


The DNA of distinct human papillomaviruses (HPVs) is regularly detected in the majority of human cervical carcinomas. In contrast to benign HPV-induced genital lesions, where the viral genomes are exclusively present as episomes, in cervical carcinomas HPV type 16 (HPV16) DNA was found to be integrated into the host DNA. In order to determine the physical state and expression of HPV DNA sequences at different stages of tumour development, we analysed a series of cervical lesions (mild, moderate and severe dysplasia and carcinoma in situ) that are considered precursors of carcinomas of the cervix. In 66.6% (18 of 27) of the tumours, HPV16 DNA was present. While in mild dysplasias only episomal HPV genomes were found, in all higher grade lesions integration of the viral DNA was detected. There was a close correlation between the episomal state and the expression of the HPV16 genomes: in 15 cases harbouring episomal HPV16 DNA (seven of which also contained integrated genomes) viral transcripts were present. We conclude that integration of HPV genomes takes place very early in cervical cancer development. In addition, the episomal state of the viral DNA depends on viral gene expression. The same conclusion, however, is not applicable in those lesions (three severe dysplasias) containing exclusively integrated HPV16 DNA. Thus, HPV16 DNA can persist in an integrated state without recognizable transcriptional activity. These results point to HPV16 as one potential prerequisite for the first steps in the multistage development of human cervical cancer.


The aim of this paper is to explore the spatial organization of neural networks under Markovian assumptions, in what concerns the behaviour of individual cells and the interconnection mechanism. Space-organizational properties of neural nets are very relevant in image modeling and pattern analysis, where spatial computations on stochastic two-dimensional image fields are involved. As a first approach we develop a random neural network model, based upon simple probabilistic assumptions, whose organization is studied by means of discrete-event simulation. We then investigate the possibility of approximating the random network's behaviour by using an analytical approach originating from the theory of general product-form queueing networks. The neural network is described by an open network of nodes, in which customers moving from node to node represent stimulations and connections between nodes are expressed in terms of suitably selected routing probabilities. We obtain the solution of the model under different disciplines affecting the time spent by a stimulation at each node visited. Results concerning the distribution of excitation in the network as a function of network topology and external stimulation arrival pattern are compared with measures obtained from the simulation and validate the approach followed.


We present the discovery of stellar tidal tails around the Large and the Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC, respectively) in the Gaia DR1 data. In between the Clouds, their tidal arms are stretched towards each other to form an almost continuous stellar bridge. Our analysis relies on the exquisite quality of the Gaia's photometric catalogue to build detailed star-count maps of the Clouds. We demonstrate that the Gaia DR1 data can be used to detect variable stars across the whole sky, and, in particular, RR Lyrae stars in and around the LMC and the SMC. Additionally, we use a combination of Gaia and GALEX to follow the distribution of Young Main Sequence stars in the Magellanic System. Viewed by Gaia, the Clouds show unmistakable signs of interaction. Around the LMC, clumps of RR Lyrae are observable as far as ∼20°, in agreement with the most recent map of Mira-like stars reported in Deason et al. The SMC's outer stellar density contours show a characteristic S-shape, symptomatic of the onset of tidal stripping. Beyond several degrees from the centre of the dwarf, the Gaia RR Lyrae stars trace the Cloud's trailing arm, extending towards the LMC. This stellar tidal tail mapped with RR Lyrae is not aligned with the gaseous Magellanic Bridge, and is shifted by some ∼5° from the Young Main Sequence bridge. We use the offset between the bridges to put constraints on the density of the hot gaseous corona of the Milky Way.


The homogeneous freezing of supercooled H 2 SO 4 /H 2 O solution droplets was investigated in the aerosol chamber AIDA (Aerosol Interactions and Dynamics in the Atmosphere) of Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. 24 freezing experiments were performed at temperatures between 189 and 235 K with aerosol particles in the diameter range 0.05 to 1 µm. Individual experiments started at homogeneous temperatures and ice saturation ratios between 0.9 and 0.95. Cloud cooling rates up to −2.8 K min −1 were simulated dynamically in the chamber by expansion cooling using a mechanical pump. Depending on the cooling rate and starting temperature, freezing threshold relative humidities were exceeded after expansion time periods between about 1 and 10 min. The onset of ice formation was measured with three independent methods showing good agreement among each other. Ice saturation ratios measured at the onset of ice formation increased from about 1.4 at 231 K to about 1.75 at 189 K. The experimental data set including thermodynamic parameters as well as physical and chemical aerosol analysis provides a good basis for microphysical model applications.


In February 2015 the Equality and Human Rights Commission (the Commission) published the results of its inquiry into non-natural deaths of adults with mental health conditions detained in police custody, prisons and psychiatric hospitals. Our inquiry found that repeated basic errors, a failure to learn lessons and a lack of rigorous systems and procedures have contributed to the non-natural deaths of hundreds of people with mental health conditions detained in these settings. This comment piece focuses on two significant areas from our inquiry where improvements need to be made in relation to non-natural deaths of adults with mental health conditions in police detention, based on compliance with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The first key area relates to recording and reducing the use of restraint against people with mental health conditions. The second key area is ensuring that lessons are learned from every non-natural death in police custody to prevent future deaths.


The origin of life is one the most fascinating problems of biology. The classic Miller-Urey experiment was carried out almost 60 years ago. In the experiment sparks were shot through primordial atmosphere consisting of methane, ammonia, hydrogen and water and the outcome was many of the aminoacids essential for life. The findings raised the optimism that the key to the understanding of the origins of life. After Miller's death 2007 scientists re-examined sealed test tubes from the experiment using modern methods found that well over 20 aminoacids-more than the 20 occurring in life- were produced in the experiments. The Urey-Miller experiments have yielded also another surprise: the black tar consisting mostly of hydrogen cyanide polymer produced in the experiments has turned out to be much more interesting than originally thought and suggests a direction where the candidates for precursors of living cells might be found. In earlier experiments nitrobenzene droplets doped with oleic anhydride exhibited some signatures of life. The droplets were capable to metabolism using oleic anhydride as "fuel" making for the droplet to move. Droplets can move along chemical gradients, sense each other's presence and react to it and have also demonstrated rudimentary memory. Droplets can even "solve" a maze having "food" at its other end. The basic objection against identification as primitive life form is that droplets have no genetic code and do not replicate. The model for dark nucleons however predicts that the states of nucleon are in one-one correspondence with DNA, RNA, tRNA, and aminoacid molecule and that vertebrate genetic code is naturally realized. The question is whether the realization of the genetic code in terms of dark nuclear strings might provide the system with genetic code and whether the replication could occur at the level of dark nucleon strings. In this article a model for oil droplets as a primitive life form is developed on basis of TGD inspired quantum model of biology. In particular, a proposal for how dark genes could couple to chemistry of oil droplets is developed.


Structure and energy properties of carrier are considered as the most important factors to information hiding performance. This paper develops a new method to analyze energy and structure characteristics of digital images in order to preprocess the carriers. We adopt GHM multi-wavelet transformation to decompose the cover image into sub-images with different energy level. Then we obtain the embedding regions which are expressed as numerical range by discrete cosine transform. We embed data with different robustness in different regions. Then we get the stego image which is rarely changed in energy and structure properties compared with the original cover image. Experimental results indicate that the invisibility and robustness can be increased separately by 26.87% and 19.25% averagely, and the ability against steganalysis such as RS and Higher Order Statistics based on wavelet coefficients can be improved. Moreover, our algorithm has excellent sensitivity of image processing.


(Book). This comprehensive guide is a must-have for the multitude of fans of this best-selling genre of popular music. Uncloudy Days is a treasure chest of substantial profiles on the influential names in gospel music history such as Thomas Dorsey, Mahalia Jackson, the Hawkins family, Clara Ward, James Cleveland, and the Winans. It also uncovers the history of one hit wonders and others who are not as familiar to gospel music fans. Everyone has a story to share and this book tells more than 500 of them, many based on personal interviews, including the trials and tribulations endured by so many gospel artists. The author offers entertaining and informative reviews that lead readers to the best recordings by their favorite artists and help them find new music to explore. A glossary of terms and numerous charts showing the best-selling gospel recordings and videos of all time round out this entertaining and indispensable resource for current fans and new converts alike.


Mechanical load-induced intracellular signaling events are important for subsequent skeletal muscle hypertrophy. We previously showed that load-induced activation of the cation channel TRPV1 caused an increase in intracellular calcium concentrations ([Ca2+]i) and that this activated mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and promoted muscle hypertrophy. However, the link between mechanical load-induced intracellular signaling events, and the TRPV1-mediated increases in [Ca2+]i are not fully understood. Here we show that administration of the TRPV1 agonist, capsaicin, induces phosphorylation of mTOR, p70S6K, S6, Erk1/2 and p38 MAPK, but not Akt, AMPK or GSK3β. Furthermore, the TRPV1-induced phosphorylation patterns resembled those induced by mechanical load. Our results continue to highlight the importance of TRPV1-mediated calcium signaling in load-induced intracellular signaling pathways.


Automobile-centered, low-density development was the defining feature of population growth in the United States for decades. This development pattern displaced wildlife, destroyed habitat, and contributed to a national loss of biodiversity. It also meant, eventually, that commutes and air quality worsened, a sense of local character was lost in many places, and the negative consequences of sprawl impacted an increasing percentage of the population. Those impacts led to something of a shift in the national attitude toward sprawl. More people than ever are fluent in concepts of "smart growth," "new urbanism," and "green building," and with these tools and others, municipalities across the country are working to redevelop a central core, rethink failing transit systems, and promote pockets of density. Changing technology may disrupt this trend. Self-driving vehicles are expected to be widespread within the next several decades. Those vehicles will likely reduce congestion, air pollution, and deaths, and free up huge amounts of productive time in the car. These benefits may also eliminate much of the conventional motivation and rationale behind sprawl reduction. As the time-cost of driving falls, driverless cars have the potential to incentivize human development of land that, by virtue of its distance from settled metropolitan areas, had been previously untouched. From the broader ecological perspective, each human surge into undeveloped land results in habitat destruction and fragmentation, and additional loss of biological diversity. New automobile technology may therefore usher in better air quality, increased safety, and a significant threat to ecosystem health. Our urban and suburban environments have been molded for centuries to the needs of various forms of transportation. The same result appears likely to occur in response to autonomous vehicles, if proactive steps are not taken to address their likely impacts. Currently, little planning is being done to prepare for driverless technology. Actors at multiple levels, however, have tools at their disposal to help ensure that new technology does not come at the expense of the nation's remaining natural habitats. This Article advocates for a shift in paradigm from policies that are merely anti-car to those that are pro-density, and provides suggestions for both cities and suburban areas for how harness the positive aspects of driverless cars while trying to stem the negative. Planning for density regardless of technology will help to ensure that, for the world of the future, there is actually a world.


Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) may be viewed as an analytic approximation of an intractable likelihood coupled with an elementary simulation step. Considering the first step as an explicit approximation of the likelihood allows, also, maximum-likelihood (or maximum-aposteriori) inference to be conducted, approximately, using essentially the same techniques. Such an approach is developed here and the convergence of this class of algorithms is characterised theoretically. The use of non-sufficient summary statistics is considered. Applying the proposed method to three problems demonstrates good performance. The proposed approach provides an alternative for approximating the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) in complex scenarios.


We employ comprehensive linked employer-employee data for Brazil to analyze wage determinants and compare results to Abowd et al. (2001) for French and U.S. manufacturing. While returns to human capital in Brazilian manufacturing exceed those of the other countries, occupation and gender differentials are similar. The worker-characteristics component accounts for much of the greater wage inequality in Brazil, but the establishment-fixed component has scant explanatory power. Thus, firm- or industry-level factors offer little scope for explaining the differences in wage inequality. Brazil's wage structure resembles that of France, a country with some similarity in labor market institutions.


This paper presents power-control strategies of a grid-connected hybrid generation system with versatile power transfer. The hybrid system is the combination of photovoltaic (PV) array, wind turbine, and battery storage via a common dc bus. Versatile power transfer was defined as multimodes of operation, including normal operation without use of battery, power dispatching, and power averaging, which enables grid- or user-friendly operation. A supervisory control regulates power generation of the individual components so as to enable the hybrid system to operate in the proposed modes of operation. The concept and principle of the hybrid system and its control were described. A simple technique using a low-pass filter was introduced for power averaging. A modified hysteresis-control strategy was applied in the battery converter. Modeling and simulations were based on an electromagnetic-transient-analysis program. A 30-kW hybrid inverter and its control system were developed. The simulation and experimental results were presented to evaluate the dynamic performance of the hybrid system under the proposed modes of operation.


This article is a reflection on collaborative policy research on liberalisation gender and livelihoods in the cashew sector in Mozambique. The research aims to examine the effects of liberalisation in the cashew sector from a gender perspective and to study the extent to which women and mens livelihoods may be enhanced by recent strategies to revive the sector. The article has two objectives: first to illustrate the way in which representations of womens involvement in the cashew sector in earlier research can be contested (cracking some myths) and second to illustrate some of the challenges involved in translating findings into policy messages so as to not merely generate another set of myths. The article begins by providing a brief overview of cashew nut production processing and trade and sets out the objectives and methods of the research. It then goes on to discuss findings related to womens access to land and cashew trees and the gender division of labour and benefits in cashew processing units. These findings challenged prevalent representations of women but posed difficulties in our attempts to translate them into policy messages. It concludes that some of these challenges arise from the pressures from funders and government to provide policy messages and practical recommendations relating to gender equality in an overall framework which emphasises poverty reduction within an essentially market-oriented neo-liberal approach to development. (excerpt)


Gamma-ray burst (GRB) observations at very high energies (VHE; E > 100 GeV) can impose tight constraints on some GRB emission models. Many GRB afterglow models predict a VHE component similar to that seen in blazars and plerions, in which the GRB spectral energy distribution has a double-peaked shape extending into the VHE regime. VHE emission coincident with delayed X-ray flare emission has also been predicted. GRB follow-up observations have had high priority in the observing program at the Whipple 10 m gamma-ray telescope, and GRBs will continue to be high-priority targets as the next-generation observatory, VERITAS, comes online. Upper limits on the VHE emission at late times (>~4 hr) from seven GRBs observed with the Whipple Telescope are reported here.


After coronavirus spread beyond China, many predicted that the virus would wreak havoc on low-income countries, especially those with overcrowded slums. And yet, nine months after the outbreak, the COVID-19 death toll in several of the world's biggest slums is very low. This paper asks the question: Do Bangladeshi slum dwellers possess some form of immunity to the effects of COVID-19? To shed light on the problem, we undertook two rounds of a survey in three of Dhaka city's largest slums before and after a super spreader event, the Eid-al-Adha festival. The findings suggest very low or negligible COVID-19 fatality among slum households. We propose four explanations of the seeming immunity to coronavirus among Dhaka's slum dwellers.


In response to the concern regarding the evaluation of knowledge management initiatives, this study introduces the concept of 'knowledge creating capabilities'. This concept refers to the balance of the four knowledge creation modes proposed in the SECI Model by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995). The relationship of this concept with corporate financial performance is explored using two financial indicators on small and medium Japanese enterprises from the manufacturing sector. The empirical evidence shows the positive association of knowledge creation capabilities with financial performance.


Plant derived compounds have been reported for their anticancer as well as antioxidant potential. Thymoquinone, the bioactive principle of Nigella sativa seeds possess a wide array of beneficial as well as pharmacological effects. The present study was aimed to evaluate the effect of thymoquinone on the levels of tumor markers and proinflammatory cytokines, NF-κB and nitric oxide in experimental groups of rats. A single dose of 7, 12-Dimethylbenz (α) anthracene (DMBA) (20 mg/kg/rat) diluted in olive oil was given orally to induce breast cancer. Thymoquinone (25 mg/kg body weight) was orally administered to DMBA Induced breast cancer rats. All animals were sacrificed after 13 weeks of experimentation. The important diagnostic biochemical indices of breast cancer (tumor markers) such as Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA) and Cancer Antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3), Serum Total Sialic Acid (TSA) and Lipid-bound Sialic Acid (LSA) were assayed in the serum. The anti-inflammatory potential of thymoquinone was determined by measuring the levels of proinflammatory cytokines such as Tissue Necrosis Factor (TNF-α), Interleukin-1β (IL-1β), Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the liver and kidney tissues. There was an observed decrease in the levels of tumor markers and declined proinflammatory cytokines level in the rats treated with thymoquinone. The results of the present study indicate that thymoquinone possess anti-inflammatory potential.


This paper describes the process of developing a standstill performance work using the Myo gesture control armband and the Bela embedded computing platform. The combination of Myo and Bela allows a portable and extensible version of the standstill performance concept while introducing muscle tension as an additional control parameter. We describe the technical details of our setup and introduce Myo-to-Bela and Myo-to-OSC software bridges that assist with prototyping compositions using the Myo controller.


A 68-year-old male was diagnosed as type 2 gastric cancer in the upper part of the stomach, then diagnosed as cT2 (MP) N0M0H0P0, cStage I B. Total gastrectomy and splenectomy with D2 lymph node dissection were performed. Final diagnosis including pathology was pT1 (SM) N1M0H0P0, pStage I B, and with his informed consent, an anticancer drug, UFT, was given as postoperative adjuvant therapy. Four months after the surgery, a 35-mm sized tumor recurring around the distal region of pancreas was detected by abdominal computed tomography (ACT). Then, combination chemo-radiotherapy using S-1, cisplatin and radiation (50 Gy) was performed. One year after the initial surgery, ACT showed a complete response (CR) of the recurred tumor, while outpatient chemotherapy with S-1 +CPT-11 and S-1 +paclitaxel was continuously performed, because of elevated CEA. Two years after initial surgery, the CEA value was elevated to 28.4 ng/mL, and so S-1 +docetaxel was applied. The patient is still alive with no sign of lesion recurrence by CT 3 years after initial surgery. Outpatient chemotherapy helped the patient maintain good quality of life. In addition, initial therapy for the recurred tumor including radiation proved to be a powerful way to control local growth of gastric cancer, even if hematogenous/lymphatic spreading of gastric cancer cells might be difficult to suppress with such chemo-radiotherapy.


Today, information is increasingly becoming a key business resource and organizations begin to implement Enterprise Content Management Systems (ECMS) to share those information. ECMS is an emerging approach that enables efficient sharing of business-related information. However, there is still a significant lack of knowledge on how to efficiently make use of these technologies for sharing information that support organization's business operations. In this paper, we investigate the use of ECMS in organizations that emphasize high levels of process integration termed as Coordination. We use a qualitative research approach to illustrate that in Coordination type of organizations, ECMS is useful for (1) sharing unstructured information, (2) sharing information that supports integrated business processes and (3) internal and external sharing. Finally, to ensure that ECMS can be effectively used for information sharing, our findings suggest three elements to be taken into considerations namely (1) relevant information that needs to be shared, (2) the patterns of integrated business processes that requires information sharing and (3) users that involve in the process of sharing. The finding is significant for business and IT managers because it will guide them with ways to use ECMS and gain more benefits from it.


Outdoor learning in education is an area that is difficult to 'measure' the benefits of. This paper is a critical analysis of outdoor learning experiences and aims to explore the impact opportunities may have on pupil development and children's subsequent conceptual understanding. It provides an attempt to yield a better understanding of 'experience' as a key concept of learning and to ultimately find ways to better personal practice and enhance the opportunities for children to reach their potential. The results of this research suggest that outdoor learning is best utilised when supplemented with focused classroom learning, providing learners with multiple sources and styles of information to deepen their conceptual understanding. A clear connection between pupil and teacher enjoyment and their subsequent engagement was present in the data, culminating in significant leaps forward in understanding and learning, thus providing evidence to support the provision of as many outdoor and experiential learning opportunities for students as possible.


Purpose. To determine the psychometric validity of the pediatric quality of life inventory (PedsQL 4.0) in assessing the impact of refractive errors on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in preschool children in Singapore. Methods. Parents of toddlers (aged 25 to 48 months) and young children (49 to 72 months) completed the PedsQL 4.0, an HRQoL scale as part of population-based trial in Singapore. The outcome measures were the overall score, and the "physical"; "emotional"; "social"; and "school" functioning subscales. Rasch analysis was used to validate the PedsQL 4.0. Results. Parents of 939 (48.9%) toddlers and 982 (51.1%) young children completed the PedsQL 4.0 survey. The overall mean (±standard deviation) spherical equivalence for the right eye was 0.47 ± 1.13 diopter (D) for toddlers and 0.74 ± 1.22 D for young children. One hundred forty-nine (15.9%) toddlers and 90 (9.2%) young children were considered myopic (≥−0.50 D). Most participants (n = 1286, 89.6%) had presenting visual acuity 6/9 or better. Rasch analysis showed evidence of disordered category thresholds and poor person-item targeting for both groups. The separation reliability was 0.00 for toddlers and 0.03 for young children, indicating there was no variance in both samples. The PedsQL 4.0 overall and subscale scores displayed substantial multidimensionality as the variance values explained by the measures was <25% in both groups. A minimum value of 60% is usually considering acceptable. Conclusions. The PedsQL 4.0 in its current state is not a valid psychometric scale to effectively evaluate the impact of refractive errors on HRQoL in preschool children in Singapore.


The Practice Placement in Palestine project is the result of collaborative efforts aimed at offering students from Lillehammer University College in Norway practical training in Palestinian refugee camps. The project brought the two cultures into close contact through which an exchange of ideas, cultural values, educational and social experiences took place. This contact aids in offering students educational opportunities that qualify them in their field of study and better their understanding of Arabic and Islamic culture. The paper offers explicit description of the project's vision, components, theoretical frames, procedures, successes, and obstacles. The project is unique in its proposals, results, and prospects.


Age, Plans to Move, and Perceptions of Collective Efficacy Wesley B. Jeffrey Department of Sociology, BYU Master of Science There is a growing recognition that to more fully understand the complex dynamics of neighborhoods and communities, we must effectively link the microand macro-level dimensions of community processes. As important as collective efficacy at the macro level has been shown to be, literature looking at factors shaping the individual-level experience is relatively scarce. Since the latent community attribute of collective efficacy is largely measured as a function of individual perceptions, understanding what affects the individual is vital, especially in light of within-neighborhood heterogeneity. In this study, I use insights from social disorganization theory, the systemic model to community attachment, and a life-course perspective in order to examine why age is associated with perceptions of collective efficacy. Utilizing Wave 1 L.A.FANS data (N=2,619), results show that age is positively associated with perceptions of collective efficacy, but that this relationship is indirect, with plans to move as the key mediator between age and perceptions of collective efficacy. Surprisingly, other factors linked to social disorganization theory and the systemic model of community attachment are not important for explaining the age relationship. Overall, this study takes the next step at identifying significant predictors of individual perceptions of collective efficacy both from the structural macro-level perspective and the individual micro-level perspective. Additionally, this analysis adds another urban context to the literature by analyzing Los Angeles County, a distinct area from those most looked at in previous studies.


inquest on her granddaughter and claimed that she had been raped on some open ground. Another was a disabled girl who had fallen out with her disabled boyfriend and alleged that an unknown person had raped her. In a third case a girl who had taken an overdose alleged that her stepfather had raped her, but this was not true. The girl has made many such allegations to police forces all over the country. It may well be that the stepfather had raped her in the past but the presenting story was untrue. At present the only way that the police can deal with these problems is to assume that a serious arrestable offence has been committed and put in motion a serious crime investigation. This is often not what the woman wants at all. Often she is making a cry for help. Just as Balint showed that a patient may present to a doctor with an "offer" which may not be the real problem, so the woman presenting to the police with a complaint of rape may have other problems than that with which she presents. She knows that she will be listened to and taken seriously in the police station but may find herself involved in an investigation from which she cannot easily withdraw. How much better it would be if all victims of sexual assault could be seen in a properly staffed unit, which would include specially trained police officers, who would be involved from the outset if a criminal investigation was necessary, but where the needs of the woman could be identified and satisfied ? Not only would this be of much more help to the woman concerned but it would save a great deal of police time (and money) in those cases where a prosecution was not appropriate.


Crop diseases cause large yield losses and are the major factors which limit the increase of agricultural production. The question of the lectins participation in the pathogens recognition and the formation of protective reactions of the plant is relevant. Changes in lectin activity of different cell fractions in organs of winter wheat seedlings (Triticum aestivum) under biotic stress were investigated. It was established that lectin activity of cell walls and cell organelles of uninfected seedlings was lower than lectin activity of both fractions of infected with eyespot causal agent seedlings. Lectin activity dynamics of various cell fractions was different under infection. Reaction response was more expressed in wheat seedlings of relatively resistant to pathogen variety Renan than in seedlings of susceptible variety Myronivska 808. Identified changes in activity of lectins of various cell fractions of both organs indicate their involvement in formation of protective reactions under the pathogenesis.


Chronic Lower Back Pain (CLBP) is one of the major types of pain that affects many people around the world. It is estimated that 28.1% of US adults suffer from this illness and 2.5 million of the UK population experience this type of pain every day. Most CLBP cases do not happen overnight and it is usually developed from a less serious but acute variant of lower back pain. An acute type of lower back pain can develop into a chronic one if the underlying cause is serious and left untreated. The longer a person is disabled by back pain, the less chance he or she returns to work and the more health care cost he or she will require. It is therefore important to identify the cause of back pains as early as possible in order to improve the chance of patient rehabilitation. The speediness of early diagnosis can depend on many factors including referral time from a general practitioner to the hospital, waiting time for a specialist appointment, time for a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan and time for the analysis result to come out. Currently diagnosing the lower back pain is done by visual observation and analysis of the lumbar spine MRI images by radiologists and clinicians and this process could take up much of their time and effort. This, therefore, rationalizes the need for a new method to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the imaging diagnostic process. This thesis details a novel methodology to automatically aid clinicians in performing diagnosis of CLBP on lumbar spine MRI images. The methodology is based on the current accepted medical practice of manual inspection of the MRI scans of the patient's lumbar spine as advised by several practitioners in this field. The main methodology is divided into three sub-methods the first sub-method is disc herniation detection using disc segmentation and centroid distance function. While the second sub-method is lumbar spinal stenosis detection via segmentation of area between anterior and posterior (AAP) Elements. Whereas, the last sub-method is the use of deep learning to perform semantic segmentation to identify regions in the MRI images that are relevant to the diagnosis process. The method then performs boundary delineation between these regions, identifies key points along the boundaries and measures distances between these points that can be used as an indication to the health of the lumbar spine. Due to a limitation in the size and suitability of the currently existing open-access lumbar spine dataset necessary to train and test any good classification algorithms, a dataset consisting of 48,345 MRI slices from a complete clinical lumbar MRI study of 515 symptomatic back pain patients from several specialty hospitals around the world has been created. Each MRI study is annotated by expert radiologists with notes regarding the observed characteristics, condition of the lumbar spine, or presence of diseases. The ground-truth dataset containing manually labelled segmented images has also been developed. To complement this ground-truth dataset, a novel method of constructing and evaluating the suitability of ground truth data for lumbar spine MRI image segmentation has been developed. A subset of the dataset, which includes the data for 101 patients, is used in a set of experiments that have been conducted using a variety of algorithms to conclude with using SegNet as the image segmentation algorithm. The network consists of VGG16 layers pre-trained using a subset of non-medical images from the ImageNet database and fine-tuned using the training portion of the ground-truth dataset. The results of these experiments show the accurate delineation of important boundaries of regions in lumbar spine MRI. The experiments also show very close agreement between the expert radiologists' notes on the condition of a lumbar spine and the conclusion of the system about the lumbar spine in the majority of cases.


BACKGROUND
During their lifetime, approximately 10% of Canadian women will develop breast cancer. An increased awareness of breast reconstruction in patients undergoing mastectomy appears to have increased the demand for breast reconstructive surgery.

OBJECTIVES
To study the rate of breast reconstructive surgeries performed in the province of Nova Scotia to determine whether the breast reconstructive services now offered are adequate to meet the needs of the population of this area.

METHODS
The number of breast reconstruction procedures and mastectomies completed in the province of Nova Scotia during the time period of 1992 to 2001 was reviewed. The data were obtained from Maritime Medical Care Incorporated, the provincial medical plan. Information available on patients coded as undergoing breast surgeries was reviewed (n=10,056). The data on the trends and demographics of the Nova Scotia population were obtained from Statistics Canada. The data on incidence, prevalence and trends of breast cancer were obtained from the Canadian Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute of Canada.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
There is strong evidence of an increasing trend in the number of reconstructive surgeries among the women who underwent mastectomy. The number of breast reconstruction procedures increased 15 fold during the study period. This is mainly attributed to the increased awareness of women undergoing mastectomy and improved education by surgeons, family physicians and breast cancer support groups. Health sector employees must evaluate these trends to determine if the breast reconstructive services currently offered in this region are adequate. Reconstructive surgery was negatively associated with increasing age. Place of residency (urban versus rural) seems to play a role in women's decisions to proceed with breast reconstruction.


OBJECTIVES
Analysing the level of psychic health in health workers from public hospitals in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This was a descriptive, traverse cohort (stratified proportional) study of a sample of 95 health workers; a socio-demographic and work-based questionnaire and the Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire (GGHQ) were used.

RESULTS
82% of the subjects were female, 60% were married, 81% catholic, 48% were aged more than 45, 73% had a workload of 40 hours per week and 63% worked at other places. 64% presented a good level of overall psychic health, the psychic health of 31% of them was becoming affected and 5% were in extreme danger.

CONCLUSIONS
The need for preventative action should be stressed, even with psychically healthy professionals, being, to avoid future damage or more serious worsening of these workers' psychic health.


This is the first of two papers responding (somewhat belatedly) to 'recent' commentary on various aspects of hyperplane dependence (HD) by several authors. In this paper I focus on the issues of the relations of HD to state reduction and unitary evolution. The authors who's comments I address here are Maudlin and Myrvold. In the second paper of this set I focus on HD dynamical variables and localizable properties and measurements and address comments of de Koning, Halvorson, Clifton and Wallace. Each paper ends with some reflections on the implications of HD for the ontology of Minkowski space-time. To set the stage for my responses, I begin this paper with some general position statements designed to correct what seem to be widespread and erroneous construals of some of my views. Two central points are argued for in this first paper. First, dynamical evolution occurs not only within foliations of Minkowski space-time. Rather the transition from the physical state of affairs on any one hyperplane to any other, whether the hyperplanes intersect or are parallel, is always an instance of dynamical evolution between them, generated by some active combination of boost-like transformations and/or time-like translations and/or state reductions and 'reconstructions'. This point gives rise to a generalized conception of a history of dynamical evolution, allowing for the use of parameterized families of hyperplanes that multiply cover some portions of space-time. Nevertheless, and this is the second central point, for any two generalized histories, H and H', the quantum states for a system on all the hyperplanes of H from the asymptotic past up to some hyperplane, h, determine the quantum states for the system on all the hyperplanes of H' from the asymptotic past up to any hyperplane, h', such that h' lies to the past of all those state reduction regions that lie to the future of all hyperplanes of H that are 'earlier' than h. Consideration of these results should defuse concerns that have been voiced about the coherence and consistency of HD. A position closely related to the second point (albeit restricted to the comparison of histories confined to foliations) has already been argued for by Myrvold (2002).


Wheat is one of the three major staple foods in the world. Although wheat is highly nutritional, it has a variety of allergenic components that are potentially fatal to humans and pose a significant hazard to the growth and consumption of wheat. Wheat allergy is a serious health problem, which is becoming more and more prevalent all over the world. To address and prevent related health risks, it is crucial to establish precise and sensitive detection and analytical methods as well as an understanding of the structure and sensitization mechanism of wheat allergens. Among various analytical tools, mass spectrometry (MS) is known to have high specificity and sensitivity. It is a promising non immune method to evaluate and quantify wheat allergens. In this article, the current research on the detection of wheat allergens based on mass spectrometry is reviewed. This review provides guidance for the further research on wheat allergen detection using mass spectrometry, and speeds up the development of wheat allergen research in China.


Introduction Azoospermia affects about 1% of men, of whom up to 15% inquire about infertility treatment. Information about predictive factors for these couples is very limited. Patients, Materials and Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of the clinical records of 118 cycles of intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatment after testicular sperm extraction for male azoospermia carried out between January 2008 and October 2015. Of those, 66 were first, 35 second, and 17 third cycles. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Predictive factors for successful pregnancy were evaluated and included male/female age, male/female body mass index, male/female nicotine use, and histological results of testes biopsies. Results Embryo quality and the number of embryos transferred were positively associated with pregnancy success (p = 0.003). Males whose partners conceived had a significantly lower body mass index than those whose partners did not conceive (p = 0.023). Neither female weight nor age nor smoking status of the male or female were significant factors. In cases with tubular atrophy ≥ SIGG grade 4 the chance of pregnancy was poor, irrespective of the existence of mature sperm and the number of cycles performed. Conclusion Overweight male patients should be advised about weight reduction prior to treatment, and counseling about success rates should include histological and sperm-positive biopsy results.


We present an accurate and efficient method for calculating highly excited 3D van der Waals (vdW) vibrational states of structurally nonrigid M⋅R complexes between an atom R and a large, arbitrarily shaped molecule M. Our method combines the atom–molecule Hamiltonian of Brocks and van Koeven, in which Cartesian components of the vector connecting R and the center of mass of M are used as internal coordinates, with the 3D discrete variable representation (DVR) of all three intermolecular large amplitude degrees of freedom. Our 3D DVR method is aimed at highly anisotropic M⋅R complexes, in which the size of the molecule is typically larger than the average atom–molecule distance. The symmetry of the complex (if any) is exploited by constructing symmetry adapted 3D DVRs which transform under the irreducible representations of the symmetry group, and bring the Hamiltonian matrix to a block diagonal form. The 3D DVR is particularly well suited for description of excited and strongly coupled, delocalized vdW states, and internal motions on very anharmonic intermolecular potentials with multiple minima. We use this method to calculate vdW vibrational energy levels and wave functions of a floppy complex naphthalene⋅Ar. The lower‐lying vdW states are assigned by inspection of the wave function plots.


In accessibility tests for digital preservation, over time we experience drifts of localized and labelled content in statistical models of evolving semantics represented as a vector field. This articulates the need to detect, measure, interpret and model outcomes of knowledge dynamics. To this end we employ a high-performance machine learning algorithm for the training of extremely large emergent self-organizing maps for exploratory data analysis. The working hypothesis we present here is that the dynamics of semantic drifts can be modeled on a relaxed version of Newtonian mechanics called social mechanics. By using term distances as a measure of semantic relatedness vs. their PageRank values indicating social importance and applied as variable `term mass', gravitation as a metaphor to express changes in the semantic content of a vector field lends a new perspective for experimentation. From `term gravitation' over time, one can compute its generating potential whose fluctuations manifest modifications in pairwise term similarity vs. social importance, thereby updating Osgood's semantic differential. The dataset examined is the public catalog metadata of Tate Galleries, London.


Revision of the type material of Nemecomyces mongolicus Pilát 1933 (Ann. Mycol. 31: 5455) has showed that this fungus is identical with Pholiota populnea (Pers.: Fr.) Kuyp. et Tjall., as suggested earlier by F. Kotlaba and Z. Pouzar in 1963. This fact is demonstrated by the agreement of macroand microcharacters of these two species. Problematic characters as habitus of the fruitbodies, presence or absence of cheilocystidia and terrestrial growth of Nemecomyces mongolicus are discussed together with the possibility of occurrence of Pholiota populnea in northwestern Mongolia. This analysis confirmed conspecificity of N. mongolicus and Pholiota populnea too. The author prefers to include P. populnea and the closely related species P. heteroclita and P. comosa into the subgenus Hemipholiota Sing, ex Sing, because this position corresponds well to the real situation in the genus Pholiota s.l. This solution also prevents undesirable new combinations because when treated as members of a separate genus, the all aforementioned species should be transferred to Nemecomyces Pilát 1933. This name is older than the recently published generic name Hemipholiota (Sing.) Romagn. ex Bon 1986.


This article presents a mathematical and computational analysis of the adjoint problem approach for parabolic inverse coefficient (or inverse heat conduction) problems based on boundary measured data. In Part I the mathematical analysis is given for three classes of typical inverse coefficient problems with various Neumann or/and Dirichlet types of measured output data. Although all three types of considered inverse coefficient problems are severely ill-posed, comparative numerical analysis show that the ill-posedness depends also on where the Neumann and Dirichlet conditions are given: in the direct problem or as an output data. For all these types of inverse problems the integral identities relating solutions of direct problems and appropriate adjoint problems solutions are derived. These integral identities permit proof of monotonicity, Lipschitz continuity, and hence invertibility of the corresponding input–output mappings. Based on these results solvability of all three types of inverse coefficient problems are proved. The degree of ill-posedness of inverse problems is demonstrated on numerical test examples.


Background: The worldwide increase in demand for academic staff in higher education over recent years has resulted in the employment of increasing numbers of sessional staff. This trend towards casual or sessional employment of academic staff has been of benefit to universities, providing both cost savings as well as increased diversity and flexibility of student education. For health professional programs, the use of practicing health professionals on a sessional basis has been invaluable in ensuring that student education is both current and relevant to their chosen profession. In terms of teaching workload, it has been estimated that internationally, a half of all teaching in tertiary institutions is undertaken by sessional staff.

Recent Australian statistics indicate that sessional staff are estimated to comprise approximately a quarter of the workforce in higher education institutions and are responsible for 50% of the teaching in universities. This high teaching load of sessional academics, in combination with a lack of attention being paid to their management and support, has potential implications for the quality of teaching and learning at universities. Sessional staff training and support programs have become well established in higher education institutions in both the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK), and are now being developed in the majority of universities around Australia. It is recognized that while general university wide policies are required for the support and management of sessional staff, training programs should be tailored to suit both the requirements of the particular institution and the specific school or discipline. For this reason, programs may vary widely in terms of structure and content, both within and between institutions. At the James Cook University (JCU), a general university-wide sessional staff orientation and training program has been in place since 2005 and attendance at this program is a requirement of ongoing employment for all JCU sessional staff. For tutors in the Discipline of Pharmacy, while this introductory session provides a good induction to the university environment and the process of student education, it is not pharmacy specific and in addition it does not address the ongoing needs of sessional staff.

Aim: The aim of this study was therefore to design, develop and evaluate a tutor training program specifically for pharmacist tutors in the Discipline of Pharmacy at James Cook University.

Methodology: In order to inform the design of the training program, a needs analysis study was conducted, which involved the development of a tutor questionnaire, which was sent to 40 past, present and potential pharmacist tutors at JCU. The questionnaire was used to inform a series of three focus groups involving pharmacist tutors, pharmacy academic staff and pharmacy students. Data from the tutor questionnaire was evaluated using mixed methods, integrating qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, with the data from the focus groups being analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis.

The pharmacist tutor training program was implemented for the 14 currently employed tutors in February 2013 and evaluated using two post training self-evaluation surveys. The first survey, distributed immediately after the face-to-face training session, assessed the usefulness and relevance of the training program. The second survey, distributed after one full semester of tutoring, obtained general information on perceived program benefits, problems experienced and potential future program topics. The second survey also required that respondents self-rate their competence levels at three stages in their development as tutors: prior to the program, immediately after the program and then again after one full semester. Competence ratings were obtained for a range of tutoring skills and attributes, including confidence, marking and assessment and teaching knowledge and skills. Data from the two post-training surveys was analyzed, again by the use of mixed methods combining both quantitative data analysis and qualitative thematic analysis.

Results and discussion: The needs analysis study highlighted the importance of pharmacist tutor involvement in the practical areas of the pharmacy curriculum, which included clinical dispensing, extemporaneous dispensing and clinical counselling. The tutor's role in marking and assessment was identified as an area for concern. The most important perceived benefits of a training program were enhanced teaching consistency and student learning and increased tutor confidence. Four major content areas for a tutor training program were identified as the provision of effective student feedback, student assessment, teaching practical skills and teaching communication skills.

The results of the first post-training feedback survey were overwhelmingly positive, with the majority of the 12 tutor respondents (83%) indicating that the content of the program was relevant and that the program had met their current needs. Tutors felt that the main benefits of the program were an increase in general confidence levels, the opportunity for interaction with other tutors and staff, a better understanding of their roles and expectations and the acknowledgement of tutors as an integral part of the pharmacy teaching team. Importantly, tutors found that the topic of 'Assessing student learning' was one of the most useful sections of the training program, with 92% of tutors rating this section as either very useful or mostly useful. This indicated that the program had appropriately addressed the problem area of assessment and marking. The findings of the second evaluation survey showed that tutor self-competence had improved in all suggested areas of competence between just prior to the program and after one full semester of tutoring, with the most significant improvement occurring in the area of marking and assessment. Initial competence prior to training was rated as average to good in most areas, while competence after one full semester of tutoring was rated as good to very good.

Conclusions: This study clearly indicates that the JCU pharmacist tutor training program has been successfully designed, developed and delivered to meet the needs of pharmacist tutors, in addition to delivering other benefits, including an improvement in both tutor confidence and competence. This program has also contributed towards the integration of pharmacist tutors into the Discipline of Pharmacy teaching team, which in turn will play a role in supporting academic staff in delivering improved learning outcomes for pharmacy students in the program at JCU.


In the development of scallop cultivation in Japan, larvae collection and propagation become an important factor. Although the monitoring program has been conducted, modeling of species distribution is becoming an important tool for understanding the effects of environmental changes and resources management. This study was conducted to construct a model for providing estimation of the scallop larvae distribution in Funka Bay, Hokkaido, Japan using the integration of remote sensing, Regression Quantile (RQ) and Geographic Information System (GIS)-based model. Data on scallop larvae were collected during one year spawning season from April to July 2003. Environmental parameters were extracted from multi sensor remotely sensed data (chlorophyll-a and sea surface temperature) and a hydrographic chart (water depth). These parameters together with larvae data were then analyzed using RQ. Finally, spatial models were constructed within a GIS by combining the RQ models with digital map of environmental parameters. The results show that the model was best explained by using only sea surface temperature. The highest larvae densities were predicted in a relatively broad distribution along with the shallow water regions (Toyoura and Sawara to Yakumo) and the deeper water areas (center of the bay). The spatial model built from the RQ provided robust estimation of the scallop larvae distributions in the study area, as confirmed by model validation using independent data. These findings could contribute on the monitoring program in this region in order to distinguish the potential areas for an effective spat collection.


InxGa1-xAs1-yNy/Al0.33Ga0.67As multiquantum wells grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy are studied by resonant inelastic light scattering. Sharp vibration modes have been observed at 323, 402, 454 and 501 cm-1. Their intensities resonate at the barrier bandgap reduced by the presence of N. Their resonance energies reveal the influence of the N concentration on the barrier gap at the multiquantum well interfaces. These peaks are interpreted in terms of local vibrations involving the pairing of N atoms, which seems to occur mostly at the quantum well interfaces due to preferential bonding of N to Al.


Key management is considered to be the prerequisite for secure communication in WSNs. However, many of those key management schemes normally either require the pre-deployment knowledge to generate keys, which is unrealistic, especially in large scale sensor networks, or consume a large amount of energy. In this paper, we present a new key management scheme named Energy-efficient Location-dependent Key Management scheme (ELKM). ELKM generates keys for each node based on their relative locations. Based on loose time synchronization, ELKM reduces energy consumption significantly on the total size of transmitted message comparing with previous works. The performance analysis shows that ELKM guarantees high security level and good network connectivity. Simulation results demonstrate that ELKM consumes less energy compared with LDK.


Abstract New collections of trilobites from the type section of the Parahio Formation in the Parahio Valley, Spiti, and from the Parahio, Karsha, and Kurgiakh formations in the Zanskar Valley, permit biozonation based on material precisely located within measured stratigraphic sections. Specimens preserved in limestone with mild tectonic deformation clarify the features of several Himalayan taxa known previously only from severely deformed specimens preserved in shale. A total of 75 trilobite taxa from the Cambrian of Spiti and Zanskar can be referred, questionably at least, at the generic level or below, and 61 of these are present in our new collections. This new material is assigned with confidence to 29 existing species, and to 12 new species. Three new genera, Haydenaspis, Bhargavia, and Himalisania, are established; new species include Haydenaspis parvatya, Prozacanthoides lahiri, Probowmania bhatti, Xingrenaspis parthiva, X. shyamalae, Bhargavia prakritika, Kaotaia prachina, Gunnia smithi, Sudanamonocarina sinindica, Proasaphiscus simoni, Koldinia odelli, and Torifera jelli. Ten additional Himalayan forms are assigned at the generic level only, and another 11 are questionably assigned to genera or species. The zonation proposed includes 6 zones and 3 levels, including the Haydenaspis parvatya level, the Oryctocephalus indicus level, the Kaotaia prachina Zone, the Paramecephalus defossus Zone, the Oryctocephalus salteri Zone, the Iranoleesia butes level, the Sudanomocarina sinindica Zone, the Lejopyge acantha Zone, and the Proagnostus bulbus Zone. The sections span from the upper part of the informal Stage 4, Series 2 of the Cambrian System, about 511 Ma old, to the Proagnostus bulbus zone of the Guzhangian Stage near the top of Series 3, dated at about 501 Ma. This time interval is represented by about 2000 m of section, which is thick compared to similar intervals elsewhere and is consistent with high rates of sedimentation along the Himalayan margin at the time. The fauna resembles others from equatorial peri-Gondwanaland, with closest similarity to that of South China. It also bears strong affinity to the North China fauna. Juvenile trilobites are described for the first time from India. A new Chinese species, Monanocephalus liquani, is also described.


A relatively intense photocurrent density up to 3.8 mA cm−2 was induced by visible light in n+-doped porous silicon (n-PSi) coated with a eumelanin thin film produced by ammonia-induced solid state polymerization (AISSP) of 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI). The photocurrent was not affected by acetic acid vapors but was irreversibly abated by gaseous ammonia. No detectable photocurrent was observed using p+-PSi as the inorganic substrate. These results point to eumelanin as a powerful enhancer of PSi photoresponse to visible light via hole-type electrical conduction.


TiN reinforced Ti coatings were produced by using the arc spraying process. TiN hard phases were synthesized during spraying using Ar/N2 reactive atomizing gas. The spray process was realised in an air atmosphere with a shrouded gun and in a chamber with closed loop Ar/N2-gas atmosphere. The content of TiN phases in Ti-coatings was increased by rising the N2-amount in atomizing gas during spraying. Sprayed coatings obtained a graded hardness ranging from 450HV0.1 near the substrate up to 650HV0.1 near the top (mean values). TiN-particle precipitations exhibited micro hardness up to 1350HV0.1. Structure investigations of manufactured coatings proved that they consist of pure titanium, titanium nitrides and small amounts of titanium oxides. Wear resistance of the coatings, tested by Taber Abraser and Pin on Disc, decreases from the coating surface to the substrate. According to Kesternich test, Ti/TiN-arc sprayed coatings exhibit good corrosion resistance.


Oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor 1 (OLR1) is upregulated in neurons and participates in hypertension-induced neuronal apoptosis. OLR1 deletion exerts protective effects on cerebral damage induced by hypertensive-induced stroke. Therefore, OLR1 is likely involved in the progress of intracerebral hemorrhage. In this study, we examined the potential role of OLR1 in intracerebral hemorrhage using a rat model. OLR1 small interfering RNA (10 μL; 50 pmol/μL) was injected into the right basal ganglia to knock down OLR1. Twenty-four hours later, 0.5 U collagenase type VII was injected to induce intracerebral hemorrhage. We found that knockdown of OLR1 attenuated neurological behavior impairment in rats with intracerebral hemorrhage and reduced hematoma, neuron loss, inflammatory reaction, and oxidative stress in rat brain tissue. We also found that silencing of OLR1 suppressed ferroptosis induced by intracerebral hemorrhage and the p38 signaling pathway. Therefore, silencing OLR1 exhibits protective effects against secondary injury of intracerebral hemorrhage. These findings suggest that OLR1 may be a novel potential therapeutic target for intracerebral hemorrhage.


The Striped snakehead fish, Channa striata is a freshwater air breathing fish species indigenous to Malaysia. It is locally known in Malaysia as Haruan. Channa striata is economically playing a major role in the aquaculture and fisheries industries. Channa striata is important especially as a food source in South East Asia. It has been broadly used for medical and pharmaceutical purposes due to its therapeutic and recuperative qualities. Among the many DNA marker systems available, EST microsatellites have a number of advantages due to its high level of transferability, high reproducibility, codominant inheritance and low cost for development compared to other molecular markers.
The present study employed 20 EST microsatellites designed from RNA transcriptome sequencing. Out of the 15 loci which were able to be amplified, four loci were found to be polymorphic. The polymorphic EST-SSR loci were applied to investigate the level of genetic variation and differentiation of four geographical populations of C.striata. The populations involved in this study included Johor, Kedah, Pahang and Sarawak.
The number of alleles per locus ranged from one to five. The highest value of heterozygosity was observed in Pahang population, while the lowest value corresponded to Kedah. No evidence of significant deviation from Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium was detected in all populations. There was no pattern on linkage among specific pairs of loci at all sites indicating no physical linkage is likely to be present among the loci analyzed. The value of population pair-wise Fst in this study indicates significant differentiation among populations. Kedah and Pahang are the most similar populations whereas Sarawak and Johor are the most different populations among them.
iv
Cross-species amplifications of C.striata primers were conducted on 10 species including Amblyrhynchicthy truncates, Barbichthys laevis, Barbonymus chwanenfeldii, Cirrhinus caudimaculatus, Hypsibarbus wetmorei, Osteochilus hasselti, Thynnichthys thynnoides, Pangasius nasutus, Hampala macrolepidota and Channa micropeltes. Out of the 10 species employed in cross-species amplification, Channa micropeltes was the only species in which the primers could work well. Among the 15 primers amplified in Channa striata, only 11 primers produced distinct and clear bands in Channa micropeltes. Seven out of these 11 primers could detect the same repeats indicating these primers were conserved in C.striata and C.micropeltes, which belong to the same family. This conservation of microsatellites can save time and cost in other Channidae family members since it is not necessary to develop microsatellite markers for each species.


Conduct Disorder (CD) is one of the most common mental disorders seen in children and adolescents, with conduct problems accounting for 30-40% of referrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). The majority of studies in this area have adopted case-control correlational designs, demonstrating associations rather than causal links between putative neuropsychological or neuroanatomical risk factors and CD. Family based designs allow us to move closer to inferring the causal role of such mediating risk factors in thedevelopmentof CD, through common genetic and environmental originating factors. One method, which has not yet been applied to CD research, is to study the biological relatives of those with CD, who do not show the disorder themselves, but may still carry risk markers for the condition. Identifyingshared neuropsychological or neuroanatomical deficits in both affected and unaffected relatives, would suggest shared genetic and environmental factors may mediate and increase the risk for developing CD. We therefore adopted a family design to test for the co-segregation of CD and its putative neuropsychological and neuroanatomical risk factors. There were three research groups: adolescents with CD (n=45), unaffected relatives of people with CD (n=24) and typically developing controls with no family history of CD (n=43). The project used a range of techniques, such as semi-structured psychiatric interviews, questionnaire measures, neuropsychological tasks(emotion recognition, fear conditioning, risky decision-making and economic decision-making) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)methods, to test whether CD and its putative cogntive and neuroanatomical deficits co-segregate within families. Clinical and personality characteristics that are thought to increase risk for CD, such as callous-unemotional traits, drug use and impulsivity, did not show a familial pattern but were only elevated in affected probands. The familial pattern of effects varied across neuropsychological domains. Unaffected relatives demonstrated similar impairments to CD probands (albeit to a lesser degree), in emotion recognition and fear conditioning, but there was no evidence of familial effectson decision-making, either under risk or in an economic exchange task. There was mixed evidencefor co-segregation of CD and neuroanatomical changes, with CD probands showing reductions in grey matter volume in the cerebellum, inferior frontal gyrus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex and unaffected relatives showing trends towards reductions in these regions. Interestingly, CD probands showed reduced grey matter volume in the anterior insula compared to unaffected relatives. The current study was the first to directly compare adolescents with CD, unaffected relatives of people with CD and healthy controls. The findings suggest that neuropsychological deficits in emotion recognition and fear conditioning may increase the individual's risk for developing CD in a probabilistic way and mayhelp to inform future longitudinal studies of thedevelopmentof CD and interventions for this condition.


An ichthyosaur skull from the Mowry Shale of Wyoming--the only good ichthyosaur skull so far known from the Cretaceous--is described and figured. Study of the well-preserved temporal region leads to the conclusion that the dermal element usually described in ichthyosaur skulls above the quadratojugal is nonexistent; that, hence, the large element bounding the temporal opening is the true squamosal, and the opening is thus of a typical euryapsid pattern. Illustrations of a Liassic ichthyosaur prepared by D. M. S. Watson are appended.


Strongly interacting many-body systems remain a central challenge of modern physics. Recent developments in the field of ultracold atomic physics have opened a new window onto this enduring problem. Experimental progress has revolutionized the approach to studying many-body systems and the exotic behaviors that emerge in these systems. It is now possible to engineer and directly measure a variety of models that can capture the essential features of real materials without the added complexity of disorder, impurities, or complicated or irregular geometries. The parameters of these models can be freely tuned with tremendous precision. These experimental realizations are an ideal setting in which to test and calibrate computational many-body methods that can provide insight and quantitative understanding to many of the open questions in condensed matter and many-body physics. In this thesis we study several models of strongly interacting many-fermion systems using cutting-edge numerical techniques including Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) mean-field theory and auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (AFQMC). We explore the exotic phases and behaviors that emerge in these systems, beginning with finite-momentum pairing states in attractive spin-polarized fermions. We next demonstrate the unique capability of AFQMC to treat systems with spin-orbit coupling (SOC). We obtain high-precision, and in many cases numerically exact, results on SOC systems that can eventually be compared directly to experiment. The first system we highlight is the attractive Fermi gas with Rashba SOC, which displays unconventional pairing, charge, and spin properties. We then study the coexistence of charge and superfluid order, as well as topological signatures, in attractive lattice fermions with Rashba SOC. Our results provide a new, high-accuracy understanding of a strongly interacting many-body system and its exotic behaviors. These techniques can serve as a general framework for the treatment of strong interactions and SOC in many-body systems, and provide a foundation for future work on exotic phases in models and real materials.


We study the timing and spectral properties of Be/X-ray binary pulsar EXO 2030+375 using a Suzaku observation taken on 2012 May 23, during a less intense Type I outburst. Pulsations were clearly detected in the X-ray light curves at a barycentric period of 41.2852 s, which suggest that the pulsar is spinning-up. The pulse profiles were found to be peculiar, e.g. unlike those obtained from the earlier Suzaku observation acquired on 2007 May 14. A single-peaked narrow profile at soft X-rays (0.5–10 keV range) changed to a double-peakedbroad profile in the 12–55 keV energy range and again reverted back to a smooth single-peaked profile at hard X-rays (55–70 keV range). The 1.0–100.0 keV broadband spectrum of the pulsar was found to be well described by three continuum models described as (i) a partial covering high energy cut-off power-law model, (ii) a partially absorbed power-law with high-energy exponential rolloff and (iii) a partial covering Negative and Positive power law with EXponential (NPEX) continuum model. Unlike the earlier Suzaku observation during which several low energy emission lines were detected, a weak and narrow Iron Kα emission line at 6.4 keV was only present in the pulsar spectrum during the 2012 May outburst. Non-detection of any absorption like feature in the 1–100 keV energy range supports the claim of the absence of the cyclotron resonance scattering feature in EXO 2030+375 from the earlier Suzaku observation. Pulse-phase resolved spectroscopy revealed the presence of additional dense matter causing the absence of a second peak from the soft X-ray pulse profiles. The details of the results are described in the paper.


The article examines the grassroots organizing efforts of the Coalition to Stop Institutional Violence, a broad-based alliance of prisoners' rights, mental patients' rights, and feminist groups in Greater Boston that opposed the expansion and medicalization of maximum-security units for women in Massachusetts's prisons and state mental hospitals in the 1970s. The case of the coalition, it argues, illustrates how grassroots feminist opposition to incarceration produced an epistemology of "violence against women" that complicated and contested liberal feminist demands for more aggressive criminalization and law enforcement of sexual and domestic violence during this period. The coalition forged an understanding of institutional violence that linked the politics of mental health to the repressive punishment of women prisoners' agency, and the expansion of medicalized incarceration to hierarchies of race, gender, class, and sexuality. The article explores how activists' critique of what they termed the "prison/ psychiatric state" engendered alternative conceptions of health, safety, and justice that, in turn, suggest the need for a more capacious understanding of opposition to gendered violence in the feminist 1970s.


Noun compounds are abundant in English and their interpretation is crucial for many natural language processing tasks. We propose a method for automatic two-noun noun compound interpretation that searches for suitable paraphrases in static corpora and then issues Web search engine queries to validate them. Native speakers were recruited to evaluate the returned paraphrases for noun compounds: those ranked first, second and third received an average score of 3.1842, 2.7687 and 2.5583 (on a scale of 1 to 5), respectively, which is considered promising given the difficulty of the task.


Word stress has become one of the elements that English learners pay attention to because of its complexity and unpredictability. The main purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of two word stress instruction approaches, explicit rule instruction and acoustic-perceptual instruction. The study consists of five parts: pre-test, training, immediate post-test, introspective protocols, and delayed post-test. Forty Chinese learners of English were recruited and invited to read and listen 62 disyllabic and multisyllabic words in three tests. The participants were divided into two groups. However, 7 participants dropped out, and there are 33 participants (18 in the explicit rule instruction group and 15 in the acoustic-perceptual instruction group) in the current study. Normal stress rules were involved while the basics of Praat and the graphical representations were instructed to visualize the lexical stress. Overall, the participants' English word stress perception and production improved in both groups. Participants who received explicit rule instruction made significant improvements in the two post-tests. The improvement of the learners who received the acoustic-perceptual approach in the immediate post-test is not significant but is significant in the delayed post-test. The acoustic-perceptual approach takes time to produce a marked effect on word stress learning.


We revisit the technique for partitioning ontologies using E-connections introduced by Cuenca Grau et al. (2006). We extend the underlying notions of E-connections and partitionings to the latest OWL 2 ontology language, with the exception of the universal role, which cannot be accommodated for reasons that we explain. Besides presenting a simplified notation for the theoretical foundations, we devise a new algorithm for computing partitions which, in contrast to the original quadratic-time algorithm, can be implemented in linear time, is deterministic, and admits simple rigorous correctness and maximality proofs. We further discuss possible extensions beyond OWL.


Technology evolution is providing new pervasive service scenarios characterised by a huge number of distributed and dynamic devices. Accordingly, a new generation of services and infrastructures are emerging which support situatedness, adaptivity and diversity. In this paper we model the overall world of services, data and devices, as a distributed computational ecosystem. Each entity will be modelled as an autonomous, spatially-situated individual of the ecosystem, whose existence is reified by an LSA (Live Semantic Annotation). Ecosystem's behaviour is controlled by coordination rules called eco-laws, which are sort of chemical-like reactions evolving the population of LSAs. We describe an architecture supporting this vision, a formal model of eco-laws, and finally show their usefulness in a scenario of crowd steering through pervasive displays.


This paper performs operation on the ratings based upon location which is defined as Location Aware Recommender System (LARS*). It achieves efficiency and performance by adopting the technique of user partitioning methods. It is spatiallyclose to the users who are arising queries. It supports the three main classes such as spatial ratings for non spatial item, non spatial rating for spatial item and spatial rating for spatial item. The item location can be exploited using travel penalty and preference locality. The omitted access of spatial items can be eliminated by using this technique that favours the recommendation closer in travel distance to querying users.
Keywords: Recommender System; Travel penalty; Collaborative Filtering


6 November 2012 - The Honorable Dato' Hou Kok Chung, the Deputy Minister of Higher Education Malaysia made a visit to MLCC and was also accompanied by Senator Dato' Ng Fook
Heng. They were given a cordial reception by Professor Dr Yuserrie Zainuddin, Assistant Vice Chancellor UMP (Student Affairs and Alumni); Professor Dr Abd. Jalil Borham, Dean of Centre for Modern Languages and Human Sciences; Chong Ah Kow, MLCC Coordinator; Abd Rahman Safie, Deputy Registrar; the volunteer teachers, Liu Xu, Yuan Jie, Zhang Cuicui and the committee members of the Inter-Varsity Mandarin Speaking Competition 2012. Dato' Dr. Hou was impressed by the initiative taken by UMP to set up MLCC in collaboration with Hebei University. It was his first visit to MLCC and he took the opportunity to give a belated welcome to the three volunteer teachers from Hebei University.


Urban streams are characterized by their impervious surface cover, lack of riparian vegetation, and pollutant loading. Studies have shown that urban streams uniquely cycle nutrients and pollutants leading to degradation of water quality throughout the watershed. The goal of my study was to understand the differences in aquatic ecosystem health and resilience between rural and urban streams in order to develop more effective ecological restoration practices. Previous studies within Baltimore County, Maryland, have found pollutants such as the antimicrobial triclocarban and the poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) phenanthrene, fluoranthene, and benzo(a)pyrene in the urban streams. Microbes assimilate dissolved organic matter (DOM) using extracellular enzymes, which have been studied as an indicator of microbial function. I measured extracellular enzyme activity (EEA) in the water of two rural and two urban streams focusing on the EEA of three enzymes, phosphatase (PHOS), betaglucosidase (BG), and leucine amino peptidase (LAP) to account for phosphorus, carbon and nitrogen substrates, respectively, in the DOM. For each site I measured EEA under ambient conditions and with four pollutant treatments at low and high doses. Overall, the EEA for the untreated water did not show consistent similarities or differences between the rural and urban sites, which were categorized by amount of impervious surface cover in the watershed. This suggests that additional site characteristics, such as hydrologic base flow, temperature or density of septic systems, might be important for determining land use effects on water quality and microbial function. With the addition of pollutant treatments, I hypothesized that urban sites would have higher EEA than rural sites because the microbial communities would have adapted to the degraded conditions; but that all sites would decrease in enzyme activity as dose of the treatment increased. However, the results showed the rural sites generally had higher activity than the urban sites, and
  that
  neither the
  urban
  nor
  the
  rural
  sites
  consistently
  declined
  in
  EEA
  with
  an
  increase
  in treatment
  dose.
  This suggests that greater microbial biodiversity and competition in the rural sites may be as important as the assimilation period of the microbial community in the more degraded sites.
   In contrast to the PHOS and BG enzyme activity, LAP activity was not significantly affected by any of the treatments or doses, suggesting that the nitrogen sources in these sites may primarily be found in the soil and sediment rather than dissolved as gases in water. These results demonstrate that EEA is an important, but complex tool for understanding microbial function in an ecosystem.


TO THE EDITOR: We read Oh and colleagues' (1) systematic review and meta-analysis on the benefits and harms of antipsychotics for preventing delirium in a cohort of surgical and critical care patients with interest. Their findings, including the results of 14 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), did not support the routine use of haloperidol or second-generation antipsychotics for this purpose. The fragility index (FI), an intuitive measure of the robustness of RCTs, was introduced for use in critical care medicine (2). Studies with higher FI scores have more robust findings than those with low scores. The FI was recently applied to different meta-analyses in order to evaluate the results when only studies with an FI greater than 0 were included (3, 4). Although Oh and colleagues performed an excellent statistical analysis in their review, we are concerned about the fragility of the included RCTs. We evaluated the FI of the RCTs included in Oh and colleagues' meta-analysis using a 2 × 2 contingency table and a single P value produced by the Fisher exact test (2). We were surprised that only 4 of the 14 included RCTs had an FI score greater than 0 for their primary outcome; the FI scores of these studies were as follows: Hakim and associates (reference 31 in Oh and colleagues' review), 1 (P = 0.034); Kaneko and associates (reference 41 in Oh and colleagues' review), 3 (P = 0.003); Prakanrattana and Prapaitrakool (reference 39 in Oh and colleagues' review), 3 (P = 0.008); and Wang and associates (reference 37 in Oh and colleagues' review), 2 (P = 0.033) (1). We then performed the meta-analysis on the delirium incidence using the DerSimonian–Laird random-effects models including only these 4 RCTs. We found no effect on delirium incidence between haloperidol and placebo (relative risk, 0.546 [95% CI, 0.296 to 1.005]) but did find a statistically significant effect between second-generation antipsychotics and placebo (relative risk, 0.376 [CI, 0.215 to 0.656]). These results show that even an analysis of robust trials confirms that second-generation antipsychotics may decrease the delirium LETTERS