Numerous randomized controlled trials have shown that implantable cardio- verter defibrillators (ICDs) reduce mortality from sudden cardiac death. Evidence-based medicine can elucidate the benefits of treatment and inform Medicare policy when applied in a consistent and nonselective manner. The use of cost-effectiveness data to determine Medicare coverage—and therefore access to a therapy—involves many practical challenges. Cost-effectiveness analysis may be more useful as a tool to guide marketplace decision making than as a regulatory mechanism. Medicare coverage does not mandate use of a therapy; it allows the discussion to occur between a patient and his or her doctor.


The famous Frank--Wolfe theorem ensures attainability of the optimal value for quadratic objective functions over a (possibly unbounded) polyhedron if the feasible values are bounded. This theorem does not hold in general for conic programs where linear constraints are replaced by more general convex constraints like positive semidefiniteness or copositivity conditions, despite the fact that the objective can be even linear. This paper studies exact penalizations of (classical) quadratic programs, i.e., optimization of quadratic functions over a polyhedron, and applies the results to establish a Frank--Wolfe-type theorem for the primal-dual pair of a class of conic programs that frequently arises in applications. One result is that uniqueness of the solution of the primal ensures dual attainability, i.e., existence of the solution of the dual.


The heritage of a people is, without doubt, the bedrock of their identity. The sheer size of the Northern part of Nigeria makes it a very important part of the country. This vast region has been having a common identity forged by literacy in the Arabic language. For many centuries before the coming of the imperialists, Arabic provided universal understanding among people of the Northern Nigeria. It was so important that even the imperial agents studied Arabic language in order to penetrate the culture of the people of the area they wanted to colonize. When the foreign power eventually succeeded in enthroning its own language as the official language, Arabic still remains very visible not only as a religious language but also as a springboard for literary endeavors in both local and foreign languages of the North. This paper therefore intends to study the influence of Arabic on the Nigerian Literature using Magana Jari Ce and Ruwan Bagaja by the renown Hausa writer, late Alhaji Abubakar Imam, as a case study. The paper is divided into: introduction, short biography of Abubakar Imam, Arabic influence on selected stories, general analysis of the stories, conclusion and recommendation.


ABSTRACT Moving from the assumption that local governments are significant stakeholders of women's empowerment policies, this article aims to examine the struggle against violence against women (VAW) at the local level through gender-sensitive policies employed by female mayors from a gender perspective and how these can be utilized as collective transformative resources for women's empowerment. Based on a field-study, the contention of this article is that gender budgeting, gender-sensitive collective-labor contracts, and women's support centers are institutional resources for the transformation of the municipal-budget, for attitude transformation in male employees, and for sustainable empowerment policies in the struggle against VAW in municipalities in Turkey. This article, stressing the link between the struggle against VAW and women's empowerment, reveals the significance of institutionalization of gender-sensitive policies and the struggle at local level as two prominent factors taken to be into consideration in women's empowerment.


Abstract As giant oil fields mature, the flow of results from development drilling and production history, as well as interpretations of new seismic data, provide an evolving view of in-place volumes, reservoir architecture and fluid movement through the reservoir. Often, such changes can trigger modifications to asset development plans and, together with economic conditions, revisions to estimates of ultimate recovery. The development of the Alba Field – a relatively heavy oil (19° API) accumulation lying in an Eocene deep-water channel complex in Block 16/26 of the UK's Central North Sea – has followed a similar pattern. With an estimated 900 mmbbl of oil in place, the reservoir is characterized by thick, high net-to-gross (NTG) sands with extremely favourable reservoir properties. Because of the less favourable mobility ratio, Alba has been developed exclusively by horizontal production wells, with pressure support provided by a series of seawater injectors. By mid-2012, after 18 years of production, more than 390 mmbbl of oil had been recovered. During production, several key seismic and drilling technologies were applied to address reservoir complexities and reservoir management concerns that emerged as field development progressed. The most significant of these include the following: a dramatic uplift in imaging the depositional architecture was provided by converted shear wave seismic data (1998), revealing an extremely irregular top reservoir and hinting at greater internal complexity than initially modelled; advances in extended reach drilling technology enabled a greater number of infill targets to be accessed, while geosteering techniques allowed better well placement, and horizontal completions using gravel packs improved well reliability; spectacular images of production cones beneath horizontal production wells extracted from a dedicated 4D monitor survey (2008) addressed the field's key dynamic uncertainty – where is the remaining oil? A challenge for Alba has been to fully understand a 4D seismic signal that originates from long horizontal producers where vertical rather than lateral sweep dominates. Ultimately, reliable reservoir models that capture these valuable dynamic insights, based on geologically reasonable interpretations, will be the key tool that enables bypassed oil to be targeted and recovered, as fields such as Alba advance towards their development vision.


It has been studied that the dependence of tunneling coefficient T on the ratio x of Ge, on the barrier width B L , on the well width W L and on the periodicity N in periodic superlattices Si1-xGex/Si by the method of transfer matrix, and shown in figures. The dependence of peak region width W on the above parameters are discussed in detail, and plotted, those are fitted in functions. These results may be useful to convert a weak mechanical signal into a strong tunneling current signal and to design electron devices based on meso- piezoresistive effect in the superlattices Si1-xGex/Si.


In this paper, a dynamic model for a robotic fish propelled by a tail with a flexible fin is presented. The robotic fish is composed of two links connected by an actuated joint; the frontal link is rigid and acts as the robotic fish body, while the rear link serves as the tail. The latter comprises a rigid element connected to a flexible caudal fin, whose underwater vibration is responsible for propulsion. The dynamics of the frontal link are described using Kirchhoff's equations of motion for rigid bodies in quiescent fluids. The tail vibration is modeled using Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and the effect of the encompassing fluid is described using the Morison equation. The thrust production is assessed from static thrust data in terms of the fin-tip displacement; other salient model parameters are estimated through a nonlinear least squares technique. The model is validated against experimental data on circular and S-shaped trajectories. The model can be used for simulation, prediction, design optimization, and control, as it allows for the description of the robot's motion as a function of the unique input of the system, that is, the servomotor angle. Within the latter application, a heading control algorithm, in which the controller is tuned on the basis of the dynamic model, is presented.


Objective: The authors of this study took part in a screening program in schools in Aydın province (unpublished study). This study assessed the final thyroid pathologies of these children with pathology detected during ultrasonography (USG) screening obtained as part of the screening program. Methods: A handheld wireless point-of-care USG device was used to screen the thyroid gland. Children with thyroid pathology were invited to the hospital where detailed lab study and an USG was examined. The study obtained the thyroid measurements, parenchymal features, and noted the presence of nodules in the detailed USG examination. Nodules were classified according to the Thyroid Imaging Reporting & Data System (TI-RADS™) and an USG-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) was performed according to TI-RADS. Results: A total of 1,553 cases from 21 schools between the ages of 6-17 were evaluated in the screening program. Thyroid pathology was detected in 176 (11.3%) cases. One hundred twenty of 176 patients' families agreed to attend our centre for further examination, where pathology was confirmed in 108 (90.0%) of the 120 cases. Among the 108 thyroid USG pathologies, 52 (48.1%) patients had a nodule and thyroiditis; 28 (25.9%) patients had only a nodule; 28 (25.9%) patients had only thyroiditis. Thyroiditis was present in 74.0% (n=80) of the cases, of those cases 56.3% (n=45) had peripheral thyroiditis, 31.3% (n=25) had diffuse thyroiditis and 12.5% (n=10) had overweight-related changes. Nodules were present in 73.4% (n=80) of the cases. A total of 9 USG-guided FNA were performed, and their pathology results were as followed; 55.6% (n=5) benign cytology, 11.1% (n=1) follicular adenoma, 11.1% (n=1) atypia of indeterminate significance, 11.1% (n=1) non-diagnostic cytology and 11.1% (n=1) papillary thyroid cancer. Conclusion: This study showed that thyroiditis and nodules in the thyroid gland are common disorders in children. Thyroid nodules may also have a high malignancy potential and the chance of early diagnosis of thyroid cancers with screening is demonstrated.


Atmospheric ice loads are a major design criterion of tall structures in cold regions. In this paper the possibility to derive the design ice loads using analysis of meteorological observations made routinely at a weather station is studied. Ice loads calculated by extrapolating weather station data and using simplistic ice loading and unloading models are compared with those measured on a 323-m-height lattice TV tower. The comparison is made cumulatively in 3-h intervals over seven winter periods. The results show reasonable agreement in the time of the icing events and in overall loads. In the cases where the cumulative ice loads differ, the discrepancies are mostly due to incorrectly predicted unloading events. This study points out the importance of on-site temperature data for successfully estimating cumulative ice loads over long cold periods.


Ozone (O3), a main component in photochemical smog, is a secondary pollutant formed through complex photochemical reactions involving nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In the past few decades, with the rapid economic development, industrialization and urbanization, the mixing ratio of O3 has increased substantially in China. O3 non-attainment days have been frequently observed. Despite great efforts made in the past few years, it is still difficult to alleviate O3 pollution in China, due to its non-linear relationship with the precursors. In view of the severe situation in China, this study presents a comprehensive review on the spatial-temporal variations of the relationship between O3 and its precursors (i.e. O3 formation regime), built upon the previous reviews of the spatial-temporal variations of O3 and its precursor levels. Valuable findings from previous studies are laid out for a better understanding of O3 pollution, followed by implications for the control of O3 pollution. This literature review indicates that O3 formation in most areas of the North China Plain (NCP), Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and Pearl River Delta (PRD) regions is in a VOC-limited regime during the high-O3 seasons due to dramatic emissions from human activities in cities. Outside these metropolitan areas, a NOx-limited regime dominates rural/remote areas. From summer to winter, the O3 formation regime over China shows a tendency to shift to a VOC-limited regime. Furthermore, O3 formation in China shifted toward increasing sensitivity to VOC emissions before the 12th Five-Year-Plan. However, after the 12th Five-Year-Plan, successful reduction of NOx slowed down this trend. Further effective control of VOCs is expected to achieve sustained O3 attainment in the future. To timely solve the current O3 pollution problem, precise control of O3 precursors is proposed, together with the joint prevention and control of regional air pollution.


Wind has a considerable effect on many water quality parameters. Some of the parameters are directly affected by the wind, while others are influenced by other physical water parameters like the velocity, temperature. etc. that are affected by wind and hence transfer their effect to water quality parameters. As the wind has an effect on water quality parameters, also covering waterways has a great effect on the water quality of those covered waterways. This is because covering a waterway alters the concentrations of its water quality parameters. This research is concerned with studying the combined effect of wind and covering of canals on different water quality parameters. The main Sheikh Zayed canal of the New Valley project in Toshka governorate in Egypt is taken as case study. Water quality parameters studied are dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) and total dissolved solids (TDS). Mathematical model was developed in order to carry on the simulation. After simulating the effect of wind and covering on these two water quality parameters it was found that the studied water quality parameters concentrations increased as the wind is gradually increased. Thus, TDS and DO showed maximum increase with increased wind speed and with uncovered canal area. TDS showed the max increase; namely 16%.


We study the influence of the intrinsic curvature on the large time behaviour of the heat equation in a tubular neighbourhood of an unbounded geodesic in a two-dimensional Riemannian manifold. Since we consider killing boundary conditions, there is always an exponential-type decay for the heat semigroup. We show that this exponential-type decay is slower for positively curved manifolds comparing to the flat case. As the main result, we establish a sharp extra polynomial-type decay for the heat semigroup on negatively curved manifolds comparing to the flat case. The proof employs the existence of Hardy-type inequalities for the Dirichlet Laplacian in the tubular neighbourhoods on negatively curved manifolds and the method of self-similar variables and weighted Sobolev spaces for the heat equation.


Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is an uncommon B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) that is incurable with standard therapies. The genetic drivers of this cancer have not been firmly established and the features known to contribute to differences in clinical course remain limited. To extend our understanding of the biological pathways involved in this malignancy, we performed a large-scale genomic analysis of MCL using data from 51 exomes alongside previously published exome cohorts. To confirm our findings, we re-sequenced the genes identified in the exome cohort in 212 MCL tumors, each having clinical follow-up data. We confirmed the prognostic association of TP53 and NOTCH1 mutations and further nominate two additional genes, EWSR1 and MEF2B, whose mutation respectively associated with poor and good outcome. Our sequencing revealed novel recurrent mutations including a unique missense hot spot in MEF2B and a pattern of non-coding mutations surrounding a single exon of the HNRNPH1 gene. We sequenced the whole genomes of 34 MCLs to confirm the focal nature of HNRNPH1 mutations. Using RNA-seq data from 110 of these cases, we identified a functional role for recurrent non-coding HNRNPH1 mutations in disrupting an auto-regulatory feedback mechanism. Overall, we identified three novel MCL-related genes with roles in RNA trafficking or splicing, namely DAZAP1, EWSR1, and HNRNPH1. Taken together, these data strongly implicate a role for aberrant regulation of splicing in MCL pathobiology. Key points RNA-binding proteins with roles in regulating alternative splicing, DAZAP1, EWSR1, HNRNPH1, are frequently mutated in MCL The majority of recurrent somatic HNRNPH1 mutations are intronic and HNRNPH1 exhibits self-regulation through alternative splicing


Networked data often consists of interconnected multityped nodes and links. A common assumption behind such heterogeneity is the shared clustering structure. However, existing network clustering approaches oversimplify the heterogeneity by either treating nodes or links in a homogeneous fashion, resulting in massive loss of information. In addition, these studies are more or less restricted to specific network schemas or applications, losing generality. In this paper, we introduce a flexible model to explain the process of forming heterogeneous links based on shared clustering information of heterogeneous nodes. Specifically, we categorize the link generation process into binary and weighted cases and model them respectively. We show these two cases can be seamlessly integrated into a unified model. We propose to maximize a joint log-likelihood function to infer the model efficiently with Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithms. Experiments on real-world networked data sets demonstrate the effectiveness and flexibility of the proposed method in fully capturing the dual heterogeneity of both nodes and links.


PKN1 is a stress-responsive protein kinase acting downstream of small GTP-binding proteins of the Rho/Rac family. The aim was to determine its role in endogenous cardioprotection. Hearts from PKN1 knockout (KO) or wild type (WT) littermate control mice were perfused in Langendorff mode and subjected to global ischemia and reperfusion (I/R). Myocardial infarct size was doubled in PKN1 KO hearts compared to WT. siRNA knockdown of PKN1 in cultured neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes (NRVM) significantly decreased cell survival and increased cell injury induced by simulated ischaemia/reperfusion (sI/R) which was reversed in NRVM transduced with a wild type (WT) or kinase dead (KD) PKN1 K644R mutant. PKN1 was basally phosphorylated on the activation loop Thr774 PDK1 target site and PhosTag® gel analysis showed net dephosphorylation of PKN1 during sI and early R despite Thr774 phosphorylation. Immunoprecipitation of PKN1 and GC-MS/MS following sI/R confirmed interaction with CamKIIδ. Confocal immunofluorescence analysis showed co-localisation of PKN1 and CamKIIδ at the SR/membrane during sI which correlated with phospholamban (PLB) Thr17 phosphorylation. siRNA knockdown of PKN1 resulted in increased CamKIIδ activation and increased PLB Thr17 phosphorylation during sI. PLB Thr17 phosphorylation and Sarco-Endoplasmic Reticulum Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA2) expression were also increased in PKN1 KO hearts. Therefore, loss of PKN1 in vivo significantly reduces endogenous cardioprotection and increases myocardial infarct size associated with remodelling of SR calcium handling proteins. PKN1-dependent cardioprotection is independent of its kinase activity.


The Permian and Triassic represent a time of major global climate change from icehouse to hothouse conditions and significant (∼25°) northward motion of landmasses amalgamated in essentially one supercontinent, Pangea. The greatest of all mass extinctions occurred around the Permian-Triassic boundary (251 Ma), although there is no consensus regarding the cause(s). Recent studies have suggested a meteor impact and worldwide die-off of vegetation, on the basis of sparse local observations. However, new analyses of global Permian and Triassic plant data in a paleogeographic context show that the scale and timing of effects varied markedly between regions. The patterns are best explained by differences in geography, climate, and fossil preservation, not by catastrophic events. Caution should be exercised when extrapolating local observations to global-scale interpretations. At the other extreme, global compilations of biotic change through time can be misleading if the effects of geography, climate, and preservation bias are not considered.


This thesis comprises three essays in macroeconomics and finance. In the first chapter we investigate the business cycle, property-price and investment dynamics when there is competition between households and firms for real estate. We introduce a construction sector into a RBC framework, which uses land, capital and labour to produce both commercial and residential real estate. This market structure activates a 'real estate substitution channel', where economic disturbances which alter the demand for one type of real estate, by affecting the overall costs of real estate production, endogenously create a substitution with its counterpart. For example, an increase in demand for residential real estate, also increases the cost of producing commercial structures which reduces the amount demanded by firms. In turn, this crowds out commercial real estate which affects the goods market in a similar way to an adverse aggregate supply shock. The estimated model reveals that housing preference shocks explain the largest part of the variation in property prices and residential investment, while commercial real estate prices are primarily driven by technology shocks. The second topic proposes a novel approach for testing for rational speculative bubbles in segmented capital markets. The basic idea is that, under capital controls, heterogeneity of speculative expectations across international equity markets causes financial assets with identical cash flow promises to trade at different prices. Because these deviations from the law of one price inherit the properties of the speculative bubble process, they display periods of explosive dynamics and have predictive power for future movements in equity prices in sample. These two hypotheses can be examined empirically using sequential unit root tests and predictive regressions. An attractive feature of this approach for bubble detection is that it does not require the specification of a model for market fundamentals, thus mitigating the well-known joint hypothesis problem. The focus of the paper is on mainland Chinese companies that cross list shares in Hong Kong. China is an ideal setting for our analysis because of the significant restrictions on capital movements imposed by the authorities and the turbulent behaviour of its stock market over the last decades. Finally, the third chapter investigates the causal effect of consumer confidence on the housing market dynamics, using narrative evidence. We adopt an external instrument approach that is using mass fatalities to identify exogenous variations in consumer confidence. We find that adverse sentiment shocks can negatively affect housing demand with a strong and prolonged reduction of house prices and new houses sold. The deterioration of sentiments worsens homeownership conditions, causes a response of monetary policy, and exacerbates real consumption spending. In a counterfactual experiment, we assess the importance of the housing market by restricting the response of the housing market variables to sentiment shock to be zero. We find that, the housing market can propagate the effect of the sentiment shock to the rest of the economy. The effect becomes particularly evident in longer horizons, specifically after one year, where the deviation from the unrestricted model becomes substantial.


The crystal structure of 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase (4-OT) inactivated by the active site-directed irreversible inhibitor 2-oxo-3-pentynoate (2-OP) has been determined to 2.4 A resolution. The structure of the enzyme covalently modified at Pro-1 by the resulting 2-oxo-3-pentenoate adduct is nearly superimposable on that of the free enzyme and confirms that the active site is located in a hydrophobic region surrounding Pro-1. Both structures can be described as a trimer of dimers where each dimer consists of a four-stranded beta-sheet with two antiparallel alpha-helices on one side. Examination of the structure also reveals noncovalent interactions between the adduct and two residues in the active site. The epsilon and eta nitrogens of the guanidinium side chain of Arg-39" from a neighboring dimer interact respectively with the C-2 carbonyl oxygen and one C-1 carboxylate oxygen of the adduct while the side chain of Arg-61' from the same dimer as the modified Pro-1 interacts with the C-1 carboxylate group in a bidentate fashion. An additional interaction to the 2-oxo group of the adduct is provided by one of the two ordered water molecules within the active site region. These interactions coupled with the observation that 2-oxo-3-butynoate is a more potent irreversible inhibitor of 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase than is 2-OP suggest that Arg-39" and the ordered water molecule polarize the carbonyl group of 2-OP which facilitates a Michael reaction between Pro-1 and the acetylene compound. On the basis of the crystal structure, a mechanism for the enzyme-catalyzed reaction is proposed.


Purpose: This study aimed to obtain an in-depth understanding on how nursing-, and medical students participating in a Mind-Body Medicine Skills program experienced participation and what the program has meant to them on a personal and a professional level.Methods: Based on a qualitative approach, first and second year students were interviewed 3 months after completion of the program. Interviews were analyzed with a qualitative content analysis. As a part of a larger study evaluating the effects on stress, empathy and self-reflection, this qualitative sub-study included 10 nursing students from Mid Sweden University, Sweden, and 10 medical students from University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. The Mind-Body Medicine Skills program was adapted from the program developed at Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington DC, and included 11 experiential sessions were the students were introduced to different mind-body techniques (mindfulness meditation, guided imagery, bio-feedback etc).Results: Data analysis is ongoing and more complete analysis will be presented at the conference. In preliminary analysis an overarching theme has been identified: The Mind-Body Medicine Skills program as a barrier opener of personal insights, and a starting point for a new journey in life. The participants describe how the course have made it possible for them obtain insights about themselves, both by self reflection in relation to experiences and through listening to the stories of the others. It is also described that they currently do not at all times explicitly use the direct techniques, but more separate personalized elements, which they have been able to incorporate in everyday situations: i.e. moments of mindfulness while walking, biking or eating, or taking a moment of breathing and relaxation before dealing with problematic situations with others.Conclusion: Participation in the Mind-Body Medicine Skills program can on an individual basis have a deep and profound meaning, stimulating to personal growth.


This paper investigated the thermo-mechanical bending failure characteristic of air plasma-sprayed (APS) thermal barrier coating (TBC) system at 1000 oC by three-point bending test. A through-width surface pre-crack on the centre surface of the top ceramic coating (TC) in TBC sample was firstly designed and made by air plasma spraying technology. The fracture characteristic and spallation phenomena of the TBC were investigated under bending test in air at 1000 oC. The effects of constant displacement rate, span width of bending equipment and thermal aging time on the thermo-mechanical bending failure of the APS TBC system were slight at 1000 oC. Using SEM observations and EDX analysis, the interface cracks initiation, propagation and coalescence were discussed in detail. Furthermore, the fracture surface located within the TBC close to the TBC/TGO interface for all APS TBC samples under bending at 1000 oC.


Granulomas induced by parasite eggs are the primary lesions in mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni. Temporal analysis of cytokine mRNA expression in lung tissue containing synchronized granulomas demonstrated a Th0-like pattern of lymphokine expression. IFN-gamma, IL-1 beta, and IL-6 were the primary cytokines induced by day 1 in developing lung granulomas initiated by i.v. egg injection. These changes were followed by increases in expression of IL-2, IL-4, and IL-10 mRNA on day 3 and TNF-alpha and IL-5 mRNA on day 6. Nearly all cytokine mRNA reached maximal levels by day 6, which preceded the peak in granuloma size seen on day 14. In vivo treatment of egg-injected mice with either anti-IL-2 or anti-IL-4 antibodies significantly diminished the size of circumoval granulomas in the lungs. Both groups of antibody-treated animals displayed a marked reduction in IL-4 as well as IL-5 mRNA expression, although IFN-gamma and IL-2 mRNA levels were unchanged or slightly increased. These findings confirm previous observations suggesting a role for IL-2 in egg-induced pathology via the generation of Th2-associated responses, and also indicate a primary function for IL-4 in granuloma formation. Analysis of responses after injection of eggs into nude mice demonstrated that only the Th2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-5 are exclusively dependent on T cells for their induction. Taken together, these data suggest that Th2 cells producing IL-4 play a major role in egg granuloma formation, and that the induction and ultimate down-modulation of Th2-like responses may be influenced by non-T-cell-derived cytokines.


Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the North Carolina Local Food Council has strengthened its role as a cohesive and effective organization during a public-health crisis to share challenges, devise solutions, and build resilience across local food systems in North Carolina. The Council includes representatives from 21 organizations working across the state, as well as three representatives from regional local food councils. The Council's response to the pandemic addressed three key areas of action: (1) Coordinate responses across multiple sectors; (2) Enhance collaboration across the food-supply chain; and (3) Facilitate data collection and public messaging. This paper describes the positive impacts the Council has had across North Carolina on consumers and producers of local food as a result of this collaborative network and long-established relationships across the state. Now, more than ever, the relationships and collaborative efforts of statewide organizations and partners are needed. The Council's crisis response has been strong because of the long-standing relationships of its members and its ability to share resources quickly, allowing it to work toward coordinated responses. The work of the North Carolina Local Food Council can serve as a model for other states that have state-level local food councils or want to develop them. In addition, the Council's work demonstrates how collaborations among statewide partners can foster resilience within local food systems, particularly during a public health crisis.


We construct p-adic L-functions associated to cuspidal Hilbert modular eigenforms of parallel weight two in certain dihedral or anticyclotomic extensions via the Jacquet–Langlands correspondence, generalizing works of Bertolini–Darmon, Vatsal and others. The construction given here is adelic, which allows us to deduce a precise interpolation formula from a Waldspurger-type theorem, as well as a formula for the dihedral μ-invariant. We also make a note of Howard's non-vanishing criterion for these p-adic L-functions, which can be used to reduce the associated Iwasawa main conjecture to a certain non-triviality criterion for families of p-adic L-functions.


Several combat- and noncombat-related stressors have been reported in Afghanistan. There is now accumulating evidence that suggests that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is linked to combat experiences; however, little is known about how these exposures might affect elite combat troops. This research aims to evaluate the prevalence of combat and noncombat related stressors, as well as PTSD in Portuguese Special Forces deployed in Afghanistan. Overall, participants reported high levels of exposure to combat and adverse physical conditions but also high levels of within-unit comradeship. The analysis also exposed that 2.7% of the participants reported symptoms compatible with PTSD and 8.8% with compatible partial PTSD. When the authors conducted a binary logistic regression, only the higher levels of combat exposure explained the symptoms of PTSD.


"Research on man and society must be internationalised". Alva Myrdal's social scienti fi c internationalism, 1950–1955 . in Early post-World War II international social science was marked by paradoxical tendencies. On the one hand it experienced a rapid expansion underblown by a new optimistic internationalism. On the other hand, many of the initiatives taken were increasingly a ff ected by emerging Cold War tensions. Embedded in these cross-cur-rents of internationalism and geopolitics, UNESCO's Department of Social Sciences (SSD) played a key role. The aim of this article is to analyze Alva Myrdal's social scienti fi c internationalism during her term as Director of UNESCO's SSD, 1950–1955, in the context of other contemporary ideas on international social science. Empiri-cally centred around fi fteen key texts by Myrdal, the article argues: fi rst, that a rela-tively distinct core in Myrdal's view on international social science can be discerned; second, that her social scienti fi c internationalism by large were in line with the previ-ous and dominating views within UNESCO's SSD, but also that Myrdal introduced and advocated a more interdisciplinary, applied and polycentric approach to international social science; third, that some discrete but important displacements can be discerned – in spite of the short period – over time.


The neighbourhood in which people live reflects their social class and preferences, so studying socio-spatial mobility between neighbourhood types gives insight into the openness of spatial class structures of societies and into the ability of people to leave disadvantaged neighbourhoods. In this paper we study the extent to which people move between different types of neighbourhoods by socio-economic status in different inequality and segregation contexts in four European countries: Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK (England and Wales), and Estonia. The study is based on population registers and census data for the 2001–2011 period. For England and Wales, which has long had high levels of income inequalities and high levels of socio-economic segregation, we find that levels of mobility between neighbourhood types are low and opportunities to move to more socio-economically advantaged neighbourhoods are modest. In Estonia, which used to be one of the most equal and least segregated countries in Europe, and now is one of the most unequal countries, we find high levels of mobility, but these reproduce segregation patterns and it is difficult to move to less deprived neighbourhoods for those in the most deprived neighbourhoods. In the Netherlands and Sweden, where income inequalities are the smallest, it is the easiest to move from the most deprived to less deprived neighbourhoods. The conclusion is that the combination of high levels of income inequalities and high levels of spatial segregation tend to lead to a vicious circle of segregation for low-income groups, where it is difficult to undertake upward socio-spatial mobility.


Christian readers will enjoy. Ellis reproaches institutional Christianity, not only with its share of responsibility for the Holocaust, but with having carried out an unjustifiable, destructive mission to evangelize and exploit the rest of the planet. He sums this up by describing the present generation, 'those who come after', in George Steiner's telling phrase, as the heirs, not only of Auschwitz, but of 1492. The Pope, in 1992, spoke of 'a valid, fruitful and admirable work of evangelisation' in South America, but for Ellis, modern South American history is the story of the near-destruction of the native American races by a Christian-European invasion. Ellis similarly attacks modern Israel for developing the same unholy alliance between religion and force, and quotes the story of Baruch Goldstein executing twenty-nine Palestinian Muslims at prayer during the Ramadan season on the Jewish holy day of Purim. He explores the way in which writers like Richard Rubinstein, George Steiner, Elie Wiesel, Jiirgen Moltmann, and Elsa Tamez have tried to find sufficient grounds for trusting God. Ellis concludes that Christianity and Judaism have come to an end, at least in the ways in which we have known and inherited them. This is an impressive and chilling book, which Christian orthodoxy will dismiss, perhaps with an appeal to the distinction between 'real' Christianity and 'bad' Christians , perhaps in terms of the doctrine of free will; alternatively, the death of Jesus will be said to


The tracking performance of a motion system based on a permanent-magnet linear motor (PMLM) is greatly affected by nonlinearities present, such as force ripples and frictions. Although various identification and compensation schemes haven been reported for the PMLM, to the authors' best knowledge, no direct and unified modeling method for force ripples and friction is available till now. This paper proposes a new method to identify various linear and nonlinear parameters in PMLM, using a hysteretic relay feedback. Dual-input describing functions are imported to leverage on the biased limit cycles generated by even nonlinearities due to force ripple. The explicit formulae, derived from the harmonic balance condition, enable direct computation of model parameters with a minimum number of relay experiments. Simulation results and real-time experiments will be presented to verify the practical appeal of proposed method in precision motion control.


The objective of this article is to describe the life story of mothers of malnourished children and their possible associations to socio-demographic and psychosocial aspects. It is a cross sectional study carried out in a public health basic unit in Porto Alegre (RS, Brazil), with a total of 82 mothers. It was used a structured questionnaire with socio demographic, reproductive variables and mothers' live events. A descriptive analysis and chi-square were used to investigate possible associations among the selected variables. Mothers had low schooling, low income and were multiparous besides, suffered parental abuse, had negative experiences with alcoholic parents (67%), were neglect in infancy (65%), have rejected the undernourished baby during pregnancy (70%). They related depression symptoms during pregnancy (70%) and postpartum (60%). The study showed a difference of proportion between mothers who suffered abuse in childhood and those who not suffered according to pregnancy rejection (p<0,001), depression during the pregnancy and after delivery (p<0,001). This study associated mother's life stories with live events that, beyond the social and economic disadvantage, could develop a weak interaction between mother-baby that contribute to malnutrition.


The quantal nature of synaptic depression produced by high frequency stimulations has been analyzed at a central synapse for the first time. Simultaneous intracellular recordings were obtained from the Mauthner cell and adjacent identifiable inhibitory interneurons. The presynaptic cells were stimulated at frequencies from 2 to 33 Hz, and the corresponding release parameters were determined using a computational procedure described elsewhere (Korn, H., A. Triller, A. Mallet, and D. S. Faber (1981) Science 213: 898–901). As in our previous studies, these entities were correlated with histological features of the neurons following systematic horseradish peroxidase injections and reconstructions. Evidence was obtained that, in the range of physiological conditions used, the binomial parameter n (number of available quanta for release) remains constant; thus every synaptic bouton continues to function as an independent all-or-none releasing unit. The progressive reduction in amplitude of postsynaptic potentials can be attributed solely to a lower probability of release, as shown by the fall of the binomial parameter p. This evidence supports the concept that p is a critical variable for short-term modifications of synaptic efficacy and may provide insight for instances of synaptic plasticity underlying those behavioral changes which can be attributed to presynaptic loci. The present study also represents a necessary step toward linking mathematical variables of models for transmitter exocytosis with subcellular events.


Swath sonar bathymetry reveals sinuous furrows, 400 m wide, kilometers long, and 4 m deep inscribed in semilithified clays on the southern Hudson apron. We interpret these as keel marks created by floating icebergs detached from the retreating Laurentide ice sheet since ca. 25 ka. Keel-mark orientations suggest two phases of iceberg rafting. These phases could correlate with Heinrich meltwater events H2 and H1 ca. 25 and 17 ka, bracketing the late Wisconsinan glacial maximum ca. 22 ka. During Holocene transgression, some keel marks were reworked and reformed into oblique ridges where older, sandier sediments crop out at the seafloor. Relict glacial features on the New Jersey outer shelf provide a tie between the timing of Laurentide glacial retreat and the evolution of shallow stratigraphy on this mid-latitude shelf during the last global sea-level cycle (ca. 120 ka to present).


In the analysis of large random wireless networks, the underlying node distribution is almost ubiquitously assumed to be the homogeneous Poisson point process. In this paper, the node locations are assumed to form a Poisson cluster process on the plane. We derive the distributional properties of the interference and provide upper and lower bounds for its distribution. We consider the probability of successful transmission in an interference-limited channel when fading is modeled as Rayleigh. We provide a numerically integrable expression for the outage probability and closed-form upper and lower bounds. We show that when the transmitter-receiver distance is large, the success probability is greater than that of a Poisson arrangement. These results characterize the performance of the system under geographical or MAC-induced clustering. We obtain the maximum intensity of transmitting nodes for a given outage constraint, i.e., the transmission capacity (of this spatial arrangement) and show that it is equal to that of a Poisson arrangement of nodes. For the analysis, techniques from stochastic geometry are used, in particular the probability generating functional of Poisson cluster processes, the Palm characterization of Poisson cluster processes, and the Campbell-Mecke theorem.


An adaptive function of the visual system is that it flexibly updates existing representations of objects upon changes. Such updating can also alter the representations of associated objects that are not directly observable. What mechanism supports this process? We propose that statistical learning provides a channel through which changes in one object are automatically transferred to related objects. Observers viewed a temporal sequence of paired circles. One circle in each pair then changed in size, and observers recalled the size of the other circle. When the first circle enlarged (or shrank), the second circle was judged to be larger (or smaller), suggesting that the change was automatically transferred to the predicted object (Experiment 1). The same, however, was not true if the second circle changed in size (Experiment 2). No observer was explicitly aware of the circle pairs. Thus, statistical learning enables the implicit updating of representations through predictive associations.


COVID-19 pandemic force to shut down all the educational institutes across the country. But we cannot stop our learning and sharing our knowledge. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to study the effectiveness of webinars and online workshops during the COVID-19 pandemic. Online survey method was used to collect the data from 210 respondents across India and from different institutes. Purposive sampling technique was used. Researchers have used self-made questionnaire with both open ended and close ended questions. Researchers have divided the analysis section into sub-sections like: readiness and purpose of participants, organizational aspects, efficiency of resource persons, instructional design and delivery, learning out comes/feedback and the respondents' reflection on online programs. The study revealed that pre-requisite knowledge of ICT tools and applications (86%) and pre-requisite knowledge of themes are very important to understand online programmes. Majority of the respondents said that they have attended the online programme as per their specialization (76%). But long duration programme creates boredom (68%). It is found that geographical location and internet connectivity are the major problems. The study revealed that organizers are working well in the ground of the online registration, selection of the theme, providing e-certificate on time and circulation of the power-point presentation and learning materials of the resource person to the participants and many more. But a loop hole is the poor technical difficulties from organizers side (64%). The study has reported that 71% of the respondents said, resource persons must have both content and technological skills. 42% respondents have accepted that resource persons have content knowledge but they do not have technological skills at per. The positive side is that resource persons give lectures with the help of power point presentations (74%). The remarkable part of the study is that 81% of the respondents have agreed with the transform of the education system in the post pandemic era through this online programme. Some other positive sides of online programmes are; budget friendly (56%), collaborative and discussion-based learning (67%), participants can use the learnt knowledge in the professional field (81%), preparing and submitting the tasks are easy (59%), practical and skill-based subjects can learn effectively (53%). The paper also discussed about the title of the online programme attended by the respondents, important points learned, new skills developed from the programmes during the lock down period, important themes want to learn in future and some of the suggestions for future online programmes. The study ends with giving some suggestions to the participants, organizers, curriculum planners, government and the educational institutes for improvement and smooth running of the online programmes.


A trial was carried out to investigate the effects of both insoluble and soluble grits supplemented to broiler chicken on the growth performance and gizzard stimulation. Particle size distribution of excreta, grit passage, grit disappearance and AME were also examined. 252 day-old male broiler chickens were raised in 4 pens for 5 days and 192 (> 130g) of them were randomly and equally allocated into 48 quail cages (4 birds in each cage) and maintained on a commercial pelleted diet. 48 cages were divided into 4 groups, which were control group, granite group, zeolite group and marble group. Grit stones were given to their respectively treatment group on day 5 (2 g/bird), 7 (3.75 g/bird), 9 (3.75 g/bird) and 18 (1 g/bird), 19 (1 g/bird) and 20 (1 g/bird) on top of the feed. Remaining grit stone residues were removed and recorded on day 13 and day 21. Bird weight and feed consumption were registered at 5, 11, 13, 18 and 21 days of age. Quantitative sampling of excreta was collected from 5-11, 11-13, 13-18 and 18-21 days of age. These samples were frozen immediately for further analysis. One randomly selected bird from each cage was killed and dissected on day 13, 18, 21 and 22. Full and empty gizzard weight was recorded on all dissection days. The crop was collected on day 21 and 22. Both gizzard content and intestines were frozen immediately for further analysis. The findings showed that marble supplementation impaired the feed intake and weight gain of birds, whereas insoluble grits had no effects on the growth performance of birds. The pH and size of gizzard content were not affected by marble supplementation nor insoluble grits supplementation, whereas birds from granite group had significantly (p<0.05) larger values of gizzard content weight, relative gizzard content and empty gizzard weight than birds from marble group on day 13. The particle size distribution of excreta and AME were not affected by insoluble grits nor marble grit.


The Monian Supergroup of western Anglesey comprises three major lithostratigraphic units: the basal South Stack Group, the pelitic New Harbour Group, and the overlying Gwna Melange. The South Stack Group comprises a sequence of deformed turbiditic metasandstones, pelites and subordinate quartzites. A dominance of Tabcde and Tbcde, turbiditic units, high sandstone to mudstone ratio and the presence of coarsening and thickening upward sequences indicate that the South Stack Group was deposited in a sand-rich fan system. The quartzites form large-scale sand-bodies (10–25 m thick) and are interpreted as major channel-fill sequences that transported mature quartz-arenites from relatively shallow marine environments deeper into the basin, by-passing the inner to mid-fan environments. Whole-rock sedimentary geochemistry indicates that the South Stack Group was deposited in a continental margin setting. The New Harbour Group forms a monotonous sequence of highly deformed pelites, semipelites and subordinate volcaniclastic psammites which exhibit geochemical characteristics of sandstones deposited in a continental island arc setting. Petrographic data indicate that the New Harbour Group records the dissection and unroofing of a pre-existing andesitic arc complex. Limited palaeocurrent data obtained for the South Stack Group and facies changes within the New Harbour Group suggest that the Monian Supergroup was deposited within a NE–SW-trending basin. No evidence was found to suggest that the Monian Supergroup represents part of an accretionary prism, consequently the deposition of the Monian Supergroup within the trench of a Monian subduction system cannot be justified.


In the last decade, natural fiber composite with thermoplastic and thermoset matrix has been applied by various industrial sectors in different parts of the world. Natural fibers such as kenaf, hemp, jute, and sisal provide various benefits such as reduction in the total product cost, reducing the dependence of products derived from petroleum, and can be recycled. This paper describes the idea of the kind and nature of green materials, the fiber use, method of manufacturing composite and green composite board manufacturing, and applications. Green composites emerging as a realistic alternative as a substitute for glass fiber reinforced composites and environmentally friendly, because the green composites from renewable resources, and material costs can be reduced on a large scale. The conclusion of this paper that the green composite is an important guide for producers of agricultural products, agricultural institutions, automotive companies, composite producers and material scientists. All dedicated to introducing environmentally friendly materials, production methods and applications.


The split-fovea theory proposes that visual word recognition is mediated by the splitting of the foveal image, with letters to the left of fixation projected to the right hemisphere (RH) and letters to the right of fixation projected to the left hemisphere (LH). We applied repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the left and right occipital cortex during a lexical decision task to investigate the extent to which word recognition processes could be accounted for according to the split-fovea theory. Unilateral rTMS significantly impaired lexical decision latencies to centrally presented words, supporting the suggestion that foveal representation of words is split between the cerebral hemispheres rather than bilateral. Behaviorally, we showed that words that have many orthographic neighbors sharing the same initial letters (lead neighbors) facilitated lexical decision more than words with few lead neighbors. This effect did not apply to end neighbors (orthographic neighbors sharing the same final letters). Crucially, rTMS over the RH impaired lead-, but not end-neighborhood facilitation. The results support the split-fovea theory, where the RH has primacy in representing lead neighbors of a written word.


Public authorities in developing economies typically have to deal with fiscal stress, lack of resources and an underdeveloped real estate industry. This poses a severe challenge at times of rapid urbanisation. Governments typically react to housing demand shocks by introducing policies that support the real estate market's capacity to supply housing. One prominent policy in this respect is land readjustment. It has been promoted as a best practice and has been extensively discussed from an efficiency perspective; however, little is known about the ecological performance of the urban landscapes that typically emerge with this tool. Therefore, this study developed an assessment framework that allows discussion of the ecological performance of these neighbourhoods as an outcome of the reciprocal interaction between public sector initiatives and real estate market responses. Based on a LEED ND assessment of the cases of Taipei and Seoul, the research identifies four institutional drivers of ecological costs. First, public agencies tend to neglect the ecological costs of greenfield site developments. Second, public agencies to not employ policies that promoe brownfield developments. Third, a weak public sectors' negotiating position can result in an ecologically inefficient urban pattern. And finally, the public sector's construction standardisation policies can impose real estate market limitations and wasteful use of resources in the long run.


Abstract Quantified balanced and restored crustal cross-sections across the NW Zagros Mountains are presented in this work integrating geological and geophysical local and global datasets. The balanced crustal cross-section reproduces the surficial folding and thrusting of the thick cover succession, including the near top of the Sarvak Formation (~90 Ma) that forms the top of the restored crustal cross-section. The base of the Arabian crust in the balanced cross-section is constrained by recently published seismic receiver function results showing a deepening of the Moho from 42 ± 2 km in the undeformed foreland basin to 56 ± 2 km beneath the High Zagros. The internal parts of the deformed crustal cross-section are constrained by new seismic tomographic sections imaging a ~50° NE-dipping sharp contact between the Arabian and Iranian crusts. These surfaces bound an area of 10800 km2 that should be kept constant during the Zagros orogeny. The Arabian crustal cross-section is restored using six different tectonosedimentary domains according to their sedimentary facies and palaeobathymetries, and assuming Airy isostasy and area conservation. While the two southwestern domains were directly determined from well-constrained surface data, the reconstruction of the distal domains to the NE was made using the recent margin model of Wrobel-Daveau et al. (2010) and fitting the total area calculated in the balanced cross-section. The Arabian continental–oceanic boundary, at the time corresponding to the near top of the Sarvak Formation, is located 169 km to the NE of the trace of the Main Recent Fault. Shortening is estimated at ~180 km for the cover rocks and ~149 km for the Arabian basement, including all compressional events from Late Cretaceous to Recent time, with an average shortening rate of ~2 mm yr−1 for the last 90 Ma.


Background: Sleep is a crucial element in human beings' development and sustainment of a healthy lifestyle; any chronic misalignment between the sleep–wake cycles could be associated with numerous physical and mental disturbances. Social jet lag (SJL) is the discrepancy between the midpoints of sleep in workdays and free days. Up to date, there is a scarcity of studies conducted regarding this disorder in the Middle East. Hence, we aimed toward studying the prevalence and predictors of SJL. Methods: This was an observational cross-sectional study. The sample size was 328 participants who are King Saud University employees and their families. Saudi individuals aged 18 years and above were included in the study. Pregnant women were excluded from the study. Data were collected using an interview-administered questionnaire (Munich ChronoType Questionnaire). SJL was calculated as the absolute difference between the midpoints of sleep on free days and workdays. The association between SJL and predictors was assessed using the Chi-square test. Results: A sample of 226 females and 62 males were analyzed. SJL was categorized into three groups, which are <1 h, 1–2 h, and >2 h. Our results showed that SJL of >2 h represents approximately half of the participants (49.7%) and appeared to be more among the 18–33 years' age group (56.5%). Participants with >2 h were found to have a significant difference between sleep durations on work and free days (5.9 ± 1.8 vs. 8.67 ± 1.91 h, P < 0.001, respectively). Conclusion: Lower SJL hours are associated with factors such as increased age and similar sleep duration on work and free days, in addition to alarm use on free days. Whereas, younger age, inflexible work schedule, smoking, and soft drinks' consumption are linked with higher SJL hours. Our future aim is to increase the awareness of controlling the factors which lead to higher SJL hours and the importance of having a balanced sleep.


Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease result from an interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Only one gene, NOD2/CARD15, has been clearly identified; a minority of people with alteration of this gene develop Crohn's disease. The NOD2/CARD15 protein is thought to be involved in defence against intracellular bacteria. This supports the idea that Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis result from altered immunological responses to the normal intestinal flora. Life expectancy is normal in ulcerative colitis and nearly so in Crohn's disease, but both conditions cause considerable morbidity. Approximately 80% of patients with Crohn's disease eventually require surgery, and about 25% of patients with ulcerative colitis require colectomy. Treatment of ulcerative colitis is generally by corticosteroids for acute disease and mesalazine for maintenance, but the range of therapies for Crohn's disease is expanding. Alternative therapies include immunosuppressives, enteral nutrition, antibiotics, anti-TNF antibody (infliximab), corticosteroids, and surgery. High dosages of corticosteroids may provide symptomatic relief in Crohn's disease but do not affect the long term natural history of the disease, and management strategies should avoid using steroids whenever possible.


Purpose: The purpose of the research is to present the algorithm for the validation of economic and financial websites, allowing to check the degree of accessibility of these websites in terms of WCAG standards with particular attention to people with disabilities and the elderly. The developed method is automatic and allows to obtain both a general score for the analyzed page and a detailed list of analyzed aspects. Design/methodology/Approach: A two-step needs analysis process was conducted to develop the algorithm. In the first phase, the literature was analyzed for selected aspects of accessibility particularly relevant to people with disabilities and the elderly. Findings: The results made it possible to determine the general directions of the algorithm, which are particularly important for the mentioned users. The next stage was the analysis of selected aspects of the websites in the context of their relation to the groups of recipients and the possibilities of analysis by the algorithm. The result of this stage is a set of 9 aspects, within which the individual elements checked by the algorithm were dissected. Practical Implications: The results obtained indicate that the evaluation made by the algorithm coincides with the evaluation of the accessibility of the pages made by the experts. The algorithm allows us to quickly analyze web pages for accessibility and to detect general trends that characterize a given theme of pages. It allows to make general recommendations for improvements and good practices for building accessible pages according to WCAG recommendations. Originality value: The algorithm created is a proprietary project that allows the automatic evaluation of websites. It is based on 9 aspects that make up websites, with the possibility of expanding to more. It can be used to supplement expert knowledge or be used as a general tool to inform about the state of accessibility for a given page.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance characteristics of new exhaust heat recovery device for the engine's fast warm-up. In this study, two different interior area designed for prototyping and on the exhaust heat recovery device to evaluate the performance compare the performance characteristics were chosen a better product. A company's product and selected prototype-2 were evaluated and compared the performance. This experiment was conducted under the same conditions. The time from starting to warm-up of engine was measured. As a result, the performance characteristics of the prototype-2 was not higher than that of the A company's product. However, in comparison with base system, prototype-2 of the exhaust heat recovery device discover that the warm-up time was shortened.


Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is an index of greenness or photosynthetic activity in a plant. It is a technique of obtaining  various features based upon their spectral signature  such as vegetation index, land cover classification, urban areas and remaining areas presented in the image. The NDVI differencing method using Landsat thematic mapping images and Landsat oli  was implemented to assess the chane in vegetation cover from 2001to 2017. In the present study, Landsat TM images of 2001 and landsat 8 of 2017 were used to extract NDVI values. The NDVI values calculated from the satellite image of the year 2001 ranges from 0.62 to -0.41 and that of the year 2017 shows a significant change across the whole region and its value ranges from 0.53 to -0.10 based upon their spectral signature .This technique is also  used for the mapping of changes in land use  and land cover.  NDVI method is applied according to its characteristic like vegetation at different NDVI threshold values such as -0.1, -0.09, 0.14, 0.06, 0.28, 0.35, and 0.5. The NDVI values were initially computed using the Natural Breaks (Jenks) method to classify NDVI map. Results confirmed that the area without vegetation, such as water bodies, as well as built up areas and barren lands, increased from 35 % in 2001 to 39.67 % in 2017.Key words: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index,land use/landcover, spectral signature


Aim: To assess pre-existing astigmatism and to evaluate the effect of limbal relaxing incision on pre-existing astigmatism post-operatively in patients undergoing SICS cataract surgery.
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Ophthalmology at Nehru Hospital attached to B.R.D. Medical College, Gorakhpur from period of July 2016 to June 2017.
Study Design: This study is a comparative observational study. All the surgeries were performed by one surgeon.
Study Group: patients meeting the inclusion criteria i.e. 1-3 D astigmatism as per keratometric readings.
Results: A total of 90 patients were included in the study. Mean age 58.19 ± 7 years(range 30-70yrs). Mean pre-operative astigmatism of 1.44 ± 0.39D was found in these patients. Data analyzed demonstrated statistically significant reduction in the mean post-operative day 30 astigmatism in the LRI group to 0.54 ± 0.34 D (range: 0 to 2.5)  from 1.31 ± 0.38 D (range: 1 to 3 D) preoperatively as compared to control group to 1.19 ± 0.56 D (range: 0 to 2.5) from 1.57 ± 0.37 D (range: 1 to 3 D) preoperatively, p-value 0.0001. There were no intraoperative complications or postoperative subjective complaints in our patients.
Conclusion: Limbal relaxing incisions performed during SICS cataract surgery appear to be effective as well as safe procedure to reduce pre-existing corneal astigmatism.

Keywords: LRI, SICS, Cataract, Astigmatism.


Agricultural information when provided and utilized improves practices, farm income, living conditions and agricultural development. In spite of the current agricultural extension services, income level of farm women is commonly described as low. This study adopted survey design, using multistage sampling technique and questionnaire to gather information from 500 women in Benue state. The study found out that agricultural extension agent, farmers' union, and Agricultural Institutions, government projects, mobile phones and other farmers were major information sources consulted. On the overall, rural women's use of agricultural information was slightly above average with information on market location and farm implements mostly used. Further, majority of rural women made considerably low farm income. Use of agricultural information had effect on rural women's farm income. The study recommends provision of more productivity related information and need for Nigerian rural development strategies to reflect creation of enabling environment for farm income generation among women. Keywords: Rural women, Agricultural Research Information utilization, Farm income, Benue state, Information .


Background: Infertility is considered a taboo in the society of Bangladesh and is negated in reproductive health programs as well as in the research setting. Yet it is crucial and endemic for social and public health sectors. In Bangladesh, infertile women have to bear the drudgery of dishonor and shame because of their childlessness. The childless women have to shoulder most of the burden of ill-treatment for impotence regardless of who is at fault. Like other social stigmas, this also intersects across class, gender and setting barriers.
Objective: The aim of the study is to understand the social struggles, stigmatization and treatment seeking behavior of infertile women of different classes in the urban context of Bangladesh.
Methodology: A descriptive qualitative research methodology with in-depth interviews was used to collect data from 20 childless urban women aged between 18 to 45 years. They were urban residents for at least ten years and were aware of their infertile condition for at least one year.
Results: The research results showed that childless women, irrespective of their class identities, always live with stigma, accusations and fear of abandonment in their personal lives. It also initiates an arena of violence. Many infertile women face physical and mental abuse due to their childlessness. The treatment seeking behaviors also vary based on financial conditions and the formality of the services among infertile women of different social classes.
Conclusion: Infertility is a critical component of reproductive health. When a woman's worth is measured by her reproductive functions, the childless woman faces humiliation and even abandonment. Attitude towards them is changed due to the societal norms and patriarchal social structures. This affects their treatment seeking behaviors as well. A proper understanding of the social condition of infertile women will facilitate the improved quality of women's reproductive health care services.
J Shaheed Suhrawardy Med Coll 2020; 12(2): 82-86


Current state-of-the-art detectors typically exploit feature pyramid to detect objects at different scales. Among them, FPN is one of the representative works that build a feature pyramid by multi-scale features summation. However, the design defects behind prevent the multi-scale features from being fully exploited. In this paper, we begin by first analyzing the design defects of feature pyramid in FPN, and then introduce a new feature pyramid architecture named AugFPN to address these problems. Specifically, AugFPN consists of three components: Consistent Supervision, Residual Feature Augmentation, and Soft RoI Selection. AugFPN narrows the semantic gaps between features of different scales before feature fusion through Consistent Supervision. In feature fusion, ratio-invariant context information is extracted by Residual Feature Augmentation to reduce the information loss of feature map at the highest pyramid level. Finally, Soft RoI Selection is employed to learn a better RoI feature adaptively after feature fusion. By replacing FPN with AugFPN in Faster R-CNN, our models achieve 2.3 and 1.6 points higher Average Precision (AP) when using ResNet50 and MobileNet-v2 as backbone respectively. Furthermore, AugFPN improves RetinaNet by 1.6 points AP and FCOS by 0.9 points AP when using ResNet50 as backbone. Codes are available on https://github.com/Gus-Guo/AugFPN.


Transient stability and sensitivity analysis of power systems are problems of enormous academic and practical interest. These classical problems have received renewed interest, because of the advancement in sensor technology in the form of phasor measurement units (PMUs). The advancement in sensor technology has provided unique opportunity for the development of real-time stability monitoring and sensitivity analysis tools. Transient stability problem in power system is inherently a problem of stability analysis of the non-equilibrium dynamics, because for a short time period following a fault or disturbance the system trajectory moves away from the equilibrium point. The real-time stability decision has to be made over this short time period. However, the existing stability definitions and hence analysis tools for transient stability are asymptotic in nature. In this thesis, we discover theoretical foundations for the short-term transient stability analysis of power systems, based on the theory of normally hyperbolic invariant manifolds and finite time Lyapunov exponents, adopted from geometric theory of dynamical systems. The theory of normally hyperbolic surfaces allows us to characterize the rate of expansion and contraction of co-dimension one material surfaces in the phase space. The expansion and contraction rates of these material surfaces can be computed in finite time. We prove that the expansion and contraction rates can be used as finite time transient stability certificates. Furthermore, material surfaces with maximum expansion and contraction rate are identified with the stability boundaries. These stability boundaries are used for computation of stability margin. We have used the theoretical framework for the development of model-based and model-free real-time stability monitoring methods. Both the model-based and model-free approaches rely on the availability of high resolution time series data from the PMUs for stability prediction. The problem of sensitivity analysis of power system, subjected to changes or uncertainty in load parameters and network topology, is also studied using the theory of normally hyperbolic manifolds. The sensitivity analysis is used for the identification


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Parent artery occlusion has long been considered the reference treatment for large/giant or fusiform aneurysms of the carotid siphon. However, meager recent data exist on this technique, which tends to be replaced by stent-assisted reconstructive techniques. In our department since 2004, we have assessed the safety, efficacy, and complication risk factors of parent artery occlusion by using coils for trapping these aneurysms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We determined retrospectively the complication rate, factors associated with the occurrence of an ischemic event, changes in symptoms of mass effect, evolution of the aneurysmal size, and the growth of an additional aneurysm after treatment. RESULTS: Fifty-six consecutive patients were included, with a median age of 54 years (range, 25–85 years; 92% women), 48% with giant aneurysms and 75% with infraclinoid aneurysms. There was a permanent morbidity rate of 5% exclusively due to ischemia, a zero mortality rate, an aneurysmal retraction rate of 91%, and an improvement rate for pain of 98% and for cranial nerve palsy of 72%, with a median follow-up of >3 years. Para-/supraclinoid topography of the aneurysm (P = .043) and the presence of cardiovascular risk factors (P = .024) were associated with an excessive risk of an ischemic event, whereas the presence of a mural thrombus had a protective role (P = .033). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, parent artery occlusion by using coils to treat large/giant or fusiform aneurysms of the carotid siphon was safe and effective, especially for giant infraclinoid aneurysms. According to recent meta-analyses, these results suggest that the validation of stent-assisted reconstructive treatments for these aneurysms requires controlled studies with parent occlusion artery.


Cervical cancer is one of the few diseases that reflect global inequities. In low and middle income countries, its incidence is nearly twice as high and its death rates three times as high compared to high income countries. Programs must focus on changing these trends. Visualizing with acetic acid encompasses the following: First, the health Care provider (HCP) does vaginal examination using a speculum, then dilute (3-5%) acetic acid (vinegar) is applied to the cervix. The presence of abnormal tissue often temporarily appears white when exposed to vinegar and then cervical color changes are observed with a naked eye. The outcome of Visual inspection with acetic acid is very subjective and depends with the level of skill of health care provider as well as availability of procedure supplies and adhering to Via procedure guidelines. The aim of this study was to determine the Extent to which Visual Inspection with acetic acid guidelines are adhered to in selected health facilities in Embu county prior to intervention and after intervention. An intervention study design was used. In particular, fourteen health care providers who were the initial study respondents were taken through an intensive VIA training for two days didactic and a four days clinical practice with guidance of preceptors. The facilities where respondents were recruited from were selected using a purposeful sampling method. Prior to intervention, a baseline data was taken that included use of questionnaires and observational checklist to determine adherence to VIA guidelines. The health care providers were then followed up for a period of four months where by 434 women were screened. The study area was Embu County in Kenya and the target population was the health services providers who provided VIA services in government facilities. The data was collected through self-administered questionnaires and observational checklists. In addition, secondary data was obtained from the health facility records and KDHS 2014. For data analysis, quantitative techniques of analysis were used. This study established that, despite all the respondents having some form of prior training on cervical cancer screening using VIA/VILLI, positivity rate was low before intervention. Cervical cancer screening guidelines were poorly adhered to prior to training compared to improved adherence after training. After intervention, healthcare providers were able to make the correct diagnosis and identify precancerous lesions. Cervical cancer screening uptake also scaled up. Baseline positivity was 0.8% and after training it was 14.1%. The study Concludes and Recommends that based on the key findings of this study, the MOH VIA training guidelines and curriculum should be revised to accommodate clinical practice for at least 4 days after 2 days didactic training with use of preceptors and cervical images.


Information provided by a source should be assessed by an intelligent agent on the basis of several criteria: most notably, its content and the trust one has in its source. In turn, the observed quality of information should feed back on the assessment of its source, and such feedback should intelligently distribute among different features of the source—e.g., competence and sincerity. We propose a formal framework in which trust is not treated as a monolithic and static concept. We regard trust as a multi-dimensional concept relativized to the sincerity of the source and its competence with respect to specific domains: both these aspects influence the assessment of the information, and also determine a feedback on the trustworthiness degree of its source. We provide a framework to describe the combined effects of competence and sincerity on the perceived quality of information. We focus on the feedback dynamics from information quality to source evaluation, highlighting the role that uncertainty reduction, and social comparison play in determining the amount and the distribution of feedback. Category: I.2.11, Distributed Artificial Intelligence, Intelligent agents


Infectious Disease![Figure][1]

Google Trends data allow for monitoring of disease outbreaks.

PHOTO: HARTPHOTOGRAPHY/[SHUTTERSTOCK.COM][2]

Chicken pox is usually a mild disease of children and, consequently, national vaccination and reporting policies vary widely. In countries that do not immunize against chicken pox, Google Trends recorded a strong seasonal signal in search behavior for information about chicken pox. Tellingly, Bakker et al. found that the seasonal search signal reverses between the Southern and Northern Hemispheres and declines when a country mandates vaccination. Thus, Google data allow for monitoring of an underreported viral infection, forecasting outbreaks and measuring the impact of immunization for chicken pox, and perhaps also for other seasonal childhood infections.

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 10.1073/pnas.1523941113 (2016).

 [1]: pending:yes
 [2]: http://SHUTTERSTOCK.COM


To identify proteins that regulate potassium channel activity and expression, we performed functional screening of mammalian cDNA libraries in yeast that express the mammalian K+ channel Kir2.1. Growth of Kir2.1-expressing yeast in media with low K+ concentration is a function of K+ uptake via Kir2.1 channels. Therefore, the host strain was transformed with a human cDNA library, and cDNA clones that rescued growth at low K+ concentration were selected. One of these clones was identical to the protein of unknown function isolated previously as γ-aminobutyric acid receptor-interacting factor 1 (GRIF-1) (Beck, M., Brickley, K., Wilkinson, H., Sharma, S., Smith, M., Chazot, P., Pollard, S., and Stephenson, F. (2002) J. Biol. Chem. 277, 30079-30090). GRIF-1 specifically enhanced Kir2.1-dependent growth in yeast and Kir2.1-mediated 86Rb+ efflux in HEK293 cells. Quantitative microscopy and flow cytometry analysis of immunolabeled surface Kir2.1 channel showed that GRIF-1 significantly increased the number of Kir2.1 channels in the plasma membrane of COS and HEK293 cells. Physical interaction of Kir2.1 channel and GRIF-1 was demonstrated by co-immunoprecipitation from HEK293 lysates and yeast two-hybrid assay. In vivo association of Kir2.1 and GRIF-1 was demonstrated by co-immunoprecipitation from brain lysate. Yeast two-hybrid assays showed that an N-terminal region of GRIF-1 interacts with a C-terminal region of Kir2.1. These results indicate that GRIF-1 binds to Kir2.1 and facilitates trafficking of this channel to the cell surface.


: A review is made to sum up the indications when diuretics may be the drug of choice in the treatment of hypertension. Advantages from the combined treatment of thiazide diuretics and other antihypertensive agents are also emphasized. Adverse effects from diuretic treatment, i. e. hypokalemia, hyperuricemia, impaired glucose tolerance and risks associated with unfavourable serum lipoprotein patterns are discussed. It is concluded that from a hemodynamic point of view thiazide diuretics can be a good therapeutic alternative for most patients, excepting those with hyperkinetic circulation. It is recommended to use lower doses of thiazide diuretics than previously and the monitoring of S-potassium is necessary in all patients.


This paper analyses the impact of the 2003 CAP reform on Spanish agricultural sector in the context of the recent CAP Health Check and high food prices, using PROMAPA, a positive mathematical programming model for representative farms. The analysis compares the model results for base year 2002 to the findings for a scenario with the CAP reform measures in place, taking into account recent modifications. The effect of adopting a full decoupling scheme instead of the present partial decoupling is also studied. Brief descriptions are given of the PROMAPA model, the representative farm considered and the assumptions about both price variations and the policy measures simulated. The findings showed that the farming area for cereals grew substantially after abolition of the compulsory set-aside and that the impact of transition to full decoupling was scant, except in the sheep and rearing cattle sub-sectors, where it considerably steepened the already sizeable decline in livestock numbers induced by the partial decoupling scheme.


A three dimensional molecular dynamics model is employed to simulate AFM-based lithography process. To investigate effects of tip geometry, three kinds of tip models are proposed: a cone-shape tip with a hemisphere at the end, a round-edged three sided pyramid tip with a hemisphere at the end and a sharp-edged three sided pyramid tip. These models simulate scratching behaviors of AFM tip at different scratching depths. Results showed that materials removal behavior and scratching forces were significantly affected by tip geometry, depending on the scratching depth and scratching directions. The specific energy using a sharp-edged three sided pyramid tip displayed a different behavior comparing to that using a round-edged three sided pyramid. However, scratching orientations exhibited no effects on the specific energy.


Background: The rationale of the HIT-LGG protocol is to delay standard radiotherapy through administration of chemotherapy for children with progressive low grade glioma at an age under 5 years and in older children upon individual decision. Patients and Method: Until October 10th., 1999, 402 patients from 69 hospitals were registered. 130 children with progressive tumors were treated after a median observation time of 5 months: 46 patients received primary radiotherapy and 84 primary chemotherapy. A ten week induction period with weekly Vincristine and pulses of Carboplatin at weeks 1, 4, 7 and 10 is followed by consolidation with simultaneous application of both drugs every 4 weeks until week 53. Results: Of 84 patients in the chemotherapy arm of the study (49 male, 35 female, 23 NF I, median age 2.99 years) 36 received treatment at diagnosis and 43 after a median observation time of 19.7 months. 94,3% achieved a clinical and neuro-radiological response according to protocol criteria (5 CR, 30 PRIOR, 31 SD) after a median of 5.1 months. 4 tumors showed primary progression (9 too early, 5 not known). Only 6 of 84 children received radiation therapy for progressive disease during (2) or after termination (4) of chemotherapy, after a median delay of 25.6 months at a median age of 6.0 years. At a median observation time of 21.0 months, 6 children are in CR, 11 in PR, 48 have SD, 4 tumors are progressive and 3 children died of their tumor. (9 too early, 3 not known). PFS is at 72% after 36 months. 24 of 27 children experiencing allergic reactions to Carboplatin had to interrupt chemotherapy prematurely. Conclusions: Combination therapy with Carboplatin and Vincristine can effectively delay the start of radiotherapy in children with progressive low-grade glioma. The high rate of hypersensitivity reactions has to prompt future modifications of treatment.


Graphics processing unit (GPU) virtualization technology enables a single GPU to be shared among multiple virtual machines (VMs), thereby allowing multiple VMs to perform GPU operations simultaneously with a single GPU. Because GPUs exhibit lower resource scalability than central processing units (CPUs), memory, and storage, many VMs encounter resource shortages while running GPU operations concurrently, implying that the VM performing the GPU operation must wait to use the GPU. In this paper, we propose a partial migration technique for general‐purpose graphics processing unit (GPGPU) tasks to prevent the GPU resource shortage in a remote procedure call‐based GPU virtualization environment. The proposed method allows a GPGPU task to be migrated to another physical server's GPU based on the available resources of the target's GPU device, thereby reducing the wait time of the VM to use the GPU. With this approach, we prevent resource shortages and minimize performance degradation for GPGPU operations running on multiple VMs. Our proposed method can prevent GPU memory shortage, improve GPGPU task performance by up to 14%, and improve GPU computational performance by up to 82%. In addition, experiments show that the migration of GPGPU tasks minimizes the impact on other VMs.


In the present study, the entanglement between photonic coherent or squeezed distributions and a two-level atom in a leaky cavity at zero temperature, is reported. To investigate the time evolution of atom-photon entanglement the master equation for the density matrix, in the secular approximation, is solved. We then proceed by partial transposing the analytical expressions so obtained to numerically compute the negativity as a function of time. Our results demonstrate that as the initial photon mean number increases, the atom-photon entanglement decays at a faster pace for the coherent distribution compared to the squeezed distribution. Moreover, it is shown that the degree of atom-photon entanglement is much higher and more stable for the squeezed distribution than that for the coherent one. A consequence of the latter is that the time intervals during which the atom-photon entanglement is distillable is longer for the squeezed distribution. The results of the present report are of great potential in forming maximal entangled states of atom-photon systems, through distillation.


Management of benign endobronchial mass with central airway obstruction remains challenging. The benefits and outcomes of cryotherapy in benign diseases are not clear, especially endobronchial tuberculosis. We collected medical records of patients with benign endobronchial mass who received cryotherapy and refused surgery as the first choice of treatment. Between 2007 and 2011, 16 patients were included. The leading diagnosis was endobronchial tuberculosis (n = 9, 56.25%), followed by non-tuberculosis granuloma (n = 2, 12.5%), leiomyoma (n = 2, 12.5%), foreign body (n = 2, 12.5%), and chondroma (n = 1, 6.25%). The overall incidence of endobronchial lesion re-stenosis post-cryotherapy was 31.25% (5/16 patients). Patients with endobronchial tuberculosis had a higher re-stenosis rate, necessitating management, than patients with other diagnoses (56.25% vs. 0%; p value, 0.0174). The median follow-up duration of the patients was 15.25 months (n = 16; interquartile range, 7-36.13 months). The cumulative re-stenosis rate of endobronchial lesions was also higher in patients with endobronchial tuberculosis (80%; median duration, 17 months; p value, 0.036). Cryotherapy is feasible for the management of benign endobronchial mass. Among patients with endobronchial tuberculosis after cryotherapy removal, completed anti-tuberculosis treatment and regular follow-up are mandatory for higher restenosis rate. However, surgical treatment provides a rescue therapy among these patients when restenosis.


NASA seeks novel approaches in reconfigurable, reprogrammable communication systems to enable the vision of Space, Exploration, Science, and Aeronautical Systems. Exploration of Martian and lunar environments will require advancements in communication systems to manage the demands of the harsh space environment on space electronics, maintain flexibility and adaptability to changing needs and requirements, and provide flexibility and survivability due to increased mission durations. NASA missions can have vastly different transceiver requirements (e.g. 1's to 10's Mbps at UHF and S-band frequency bands up to 10's to 1000's Mbps at X, and Ka-band frequency bands.) and available resources depending on the science objective, operating environment, and spacecraft resources. For example, deep space missions are often power constrained; operating over large distances, and subsequently have lower data transmission rates when compared to near-Earth or near-planetary satellites. These requirements and resource limitations are known prior to launch; therefore, the scalability feature can be used to maximize transceiver efficiency while minimizing resources consumed. Larger platforms, such as vehicles or relay spacecraft, may provide more resources but may also be expected to perform more complex functions or support multiple and simultaneous communication links to a diverse set of assets.


Careful placement of a computational application within a target device cluster is critical for achieving low application completion time. The problem is challenging due to its NP-hardness and combinatorial nature. In recent years, learning-based approaches have been proposed to learn a placement policy that can be applied to unseen applications, motivated by the problem of placing a neural network across cloud servers. These approaches, however, generally assume the device cluster is fixed, which is not the case in mobile or edge computing settings, where heterogeneous devices move in and out of range for a particular application. We propose a new learning approach called GiPH, which learns policies that generalize to dynamic device clusters via 1) a novel graph representation gpNet that efficiently encodes the information needed for choosing a good placement, and 2) a scalable graph neural network (GNN) that learns a summary of the gpNet information. GiPH turns the placement problem into that of finding a sequence of placement improvements, learning a policy for selecting this sequence that scales to problems of arbitrary size. We evaluate GiPH with a wide range of task graphs and device clusters and show that our learned policy rapidly find good placements for new problem instances. GiPH finds placements with up to 30.5% lower completion times, searching up to 3X faster than other search-based placement policies.


There is widespread agreement that the patent system in the United States is in need of reform. Most of the proposals for patent reform that have proliferated in recent years share two common assumptions: first, that patent policy is best made through case-by- case adjudication of the validity of individual patents; and, second, that the existing allocation of authority over patent policy, in which the courts are primarily responsible for interpreting and applying the broad language of the Patent Act, ought not to be disturbed. This Article challenges both assumptions. I approach the problem of patent reform primarily as a problem of sound administration rather than innovation policy and argue that Congress should grant the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) substantive rule-making authority. The administrative structure of the patent system has been largely unchanged since 1836. But the administrative tasks that a well-performing patent system must carry out have changed markedly since that time. Most importantly, technology in the early- to mid- nineteenth century was relatively uniform. Today, by contrast, the process of innovation varies widely among different technologies and different industries. If the patent system is to meet its goal of providing incentives for innovation, it must self-consciously tailor the elements of patentability — both rules and standards — to those diverse circumstances. Optimal patent policymaking requires forward-looking deliberation and cost-benefit analysis based on technological and economic expertise; clarity and predictability so that entities making invest- ment choices based on the property-like aspects of patents can be confident in the legal regime governing those rights; and transparency and accountability to ensure that the public interest — which is often distinct from the interests of patent holders — is taken into account. Unlike courts, agencies acting through rulemaking can gather and expertly analyze all of the relevant information to make express policy judgments based on costs and benefits, can decide issues prospectively and avoid piecemeal decision making, and can systematically engage the public in the policy-making process. Although agencies are subject to certain well-understood institutional pathologies, such as capture by powerful interests, on balance they are more likely to make effective patent policy than courts. Granting the PTO substantive rule-making authority would require significant changes to the structure and function of that agency, and to the role of the courts. The PTO would require the ad- dition of a policy-making capacity separate but capable of drawing insights from the examination process. The courts in turn would play a constructive secondary role by surfacing issues that require atten- tion in the interstices of agency rules and engaging in judicial review of those rules under traditional standards of administrative law.


Purpose: To assess family nurse practitioner (FNP) student perception of research abstract usefulness in clinical decision making. Data sources: A randomized controlled trial conducted in a simulated environment with graduate FNP students of the Graduate School of Nursing, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Given a clinical case study and modified MEDLINE search tool accessible via an iPad device, participants were asked to develop a treatment plan and complete a data collection form. The primary measure was perceived usefulness of the research abstracts in clinical decision making regarding a simulated obese patient seeking to prevent type 2 diabetes. Secondary measures related to participant demographics and accessibility and usefulness of full‐text manuscripts. Conclusions: The majority of NP students identified readily available research abstracts as useful in shaping their clinical decision making. The presence or absence of full‐text manuscripts associated with the abstracts did not appear to influence the perceived abstract usefulness. The majority of students with full‐text manuscript access in the timed simulated clinical encounter read at least one paper, but cited insufficient time to read full‐text as a constraint. Implications for practice: Research abstracts at point of care may be valuable to FNPs if easily accessible and integrated into clinical workflow.


The San Andreas fault system of California comprises dominantly right-lateral strike-slip faults and forms part of the Pacific-North American plate boundary. This fault system has been studied extensively using geological and geophysical methods since it was first brought into prominence by the 1906 M = 8(^1)(_4) San Francisco earthquake. Observations of surface deformation thought to define an earthquake deformation cycle have been inferred from terrestrial and space-based geodetic methods. The observed relative motion in these networks has also been used to constrain the distribution of motion across the plate boundary. Sites in three profiles extending across the fault system in the San Francisco bay region were measured up to 7 times between March 1990 and February 1993 using the Global Positioning System (GPS). The data were processed using the Bernese V3.2 software. The GPS data were combined with trilateration and VLBI data to create a spatially dense sample of the deformation field in the region. Approximately 35±3 mm/yr of fault-parallel (N33oW) shear is distributed across a deforming zone that increases in width northwards from 60 to 100 km and in style from fault-concentrated deformation in the south to near-linear trends in the north. No systematic convergence upon the fault is observed. Both two- and three-dimensional models of dislocations in an elastic half-space were used to model the deformation and to investigate the effects of structural complexities such as a low-rigidity fault zone, the depth to which surface creep extends, geometrical complexities of the fault system and along-strike variations in slip rate. The models produce a remarkably close fit to the deformation despite such a rheologically simple Earth structure. Approximately half of the observed deformation is accommodated along faults to the east of the San Andreas fault. A zone of concentrated deformation across the San Andreas fault zone in the north of the region may be the result of a 1-2 km wide low-rigidity fault zone there. Surface creep rates, although highly variable, appear to increase to the south. An increase in depth of the surface creep zone to the south may also accompany this. The variations in slip rate at depth along strike are consistent with connectivity between the major faults of the system. Quasi-steady slip on discrete fault planes or shear zones may occur down to 2-3 times the seismogenic depth and deformation rates are probably almost constant throughout much of the earthquake cycle. The present earthquake potential calculated from the estimated slip rates indicate that several fault segments may have an earthquake potential equivalent in magnitude to the "characteristic" earthquake assumed for that segment. The estimates of relative motion indicate that deformation across the San Andreas fault system, plus that observed to the east of the Sierra Nevada mountains, can account for all of the Pacific-North American plate motion rate.