Repeated spike firing can transmit information at synapses and modulate spike timing, shape, and conduction velocity. These latter effects have been found to result from voltage-induced changes in ion currents and could alter the signals carried by axons. Here, we test whether Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) regulates spike propagation in adult rat optic nerve. We find that small-, medium-, and large-diameter axons bind anti-Thr286-phosphorylated CaMKII (pT286) antibodies and that, in isolated optic nerves, electrical stimulation reduces pT286 levels, spike propagation is hastened by CaMKII autophosphorylation and slowed by CaMKII dephosphorylation, single and multiple spikes slow propagation of subsequently activated spikes, and more frequent stimulation produces greater slowing. Likewise, exposing freely moving animals to flickering illumination reduces pT286 levels in optic nerves and electrically eliciting spikes in vivo in either the optic nerve or optic chiasm slows subsequent spike propagation in the optic nerve. By increasing the time that elapses between successive spikes as they propagate, pT286 dephosphorylation and activity-induced spike slowing reduce the frequency of propagated spikes below the frequency at which they were elicited and would thus limit the frequency at which axons synaptically drive target neurons. Consistent with this, the ability of retinal ganglion cells to drive at least some lateral geniculate neurons has been found to increase when presented with light flashes at low and moderate temporal frequencies but less so at high frequencies. Activity-induced decreases in spike frequency may also reduce the energy required to maintain normal intracellular Na+ and Ca2+ levels. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT By propagating along axons at constant velocities, spikes could drive synapses as frequently as they are initiated. However, the onset of spiking has been found to alter the conduction velocity of subsequent ("follower") spikes in various preparations. Here, we find that spikes reduce spike frequency in rat optic nerve by slowing follower spike propagation and that electrically stimulated spiking ex vivo and spike-generating flickering illumination in vivo produce net decreases in axonal Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) autophosphorylation. Consistent with these effects, propagation speed increases and decreases, respectively, with CaMKII autophosphorylation and dephosphorylation. Lowering spike frequency by CaMKII dephosphorylation is a novel consequence of axonal spiking and light adaptation that could decrease synaptic gain as stimulus frequency increases and may also reduce energy use.


A well‐established result in the literature is that Social Security reduces steady state welfare in a standard life cycle model. However, less is known about the historical quantitative effects of the program on agents who were alive when the program was adopted. In a computational life cycle model that simulates the Great Depression and the enactment of Social Security, this paper quantifies the welfare effects of the program's enactment on the cohorts of agents who experienced it. In contrast to the standard steady state results, we find that the adoption of the original Social Security generally improved these cohorts' welfare, in part because these cohorts received far more benefits relative to their contributions than they would have received if they lived their entire life in the steady state with Social Security. Moreover, the negative general equilibrium welfare effect of Social Security associated with capital crowd‐out was reduced during the transition, because it took many periods for agents to adjust their savings levels in response to the program's adoption. The positive welfare effect experienced by these transitional agents offers one explanation for why the program that may reduce welfare in the steady state was originally adopted.


MALAY KINSHIP AND MARRIAGE IN SINGAPORE. By JUDITH DJAMOUR. pp. 152. The Athlone Press, 1950. 25s. This excellent little book gives a surprisingly full account of the structure of a Malay society that forms less than a tenth of Singapore's population. There are chapters on kinship, the household, marriage, children, and divorce. For several decades there have been about fifty divorces to every 100 marriages. The author confirms my impression that the divorce rate in matrilineal Negri Sembilan was exceptionally high (59 per cent), though in the State of Perlis in 1952 it was 92 • 7 per cent! There is a closely reasoned exposition of the causes and consequences of divorce, which fortunately hardly affects the children.


This paper set out to define the lessons learned from the process of characterizing the amount of practical use of eHealth on national level by collecting and comparing log data harvested from national logs in the Nordic countries. The health systems of the Nordic countries are quite similar in structure and their eHealth strategies include similar elements, however when confronted with the specific context in the different systems it proved challenging to define a common set of indicators for monitoring the practical use of eHealth. A thorough analysis of context leading to the definitions of the indicators is the basis needed due to the complexity of the data in the national logs. A comprehensive knowledge of the structure that underlines these logs is of utmost importance when striving for collecting comparable data. Although challenging, the process of defining indicators for practical use of eHealth by data harvested trough national logs is not an impossible task, but a task that requires in depth discussions of definitions of indicators as well as a substantial insight into the architecture and content of the national databases. There is need for continuous work on these indicators to ensure their quality and thus make sure that the defined indicators can meaningfully inform eHealth policies.


Modeling travel demand by time of day is gaining increasing attention in the practice of travel demand forecasting. The relationship between time-of-day (departure-time) choice and mode choice for nonwork trips is investigated. Two alternative causal structures are considered: one in which departure-time choice precedes mode choice and a second in which mode choice precedes departure-time choice. These two causal structures are analyzed in a recursive bivariate probit modeling framework that allows random error covariance. The estimation is performed separately for worker and nonworker samples drawn from the 1999 Southeast Florida Regional Household Travel Survey. For workers, model estimation results show that the causal structure in which departure-time choice precedes mode choice performs significantly better. For nonworkers, the reverse causal relationship, in which mode choice precedes departure-time choice, is found to be a more suitable joint modeling structure. These two findings can be reasonably explained from a travel behavior perspective and have important implications for advanced travel demand model development and application.


In onshore oilfields, sucker rod pumps are deployed to lift fluids from wells to the surface, which are then transferred by a pipeline network to a central facility. Each pump operates according to a cyclic control policy that alternates between a period of production and a period of recess, allowing the reservoir to replenish the fluids. To minimize the peak in the electric power drawn by the sucker rods, previous works have considered the scheduling of the control policies over time. However, when the production system sprawls over a large area, the energy required to force the flow through the pipelines and the pressure drops are significant. To this end, this article develops mixed-integer nonlinear formulations and mixed-integer linear approximations for baseline control-policy scheduling and reconfiguration.


In the present study, Ca2P2O7-doped β-Ca3(PO4)2 bioceramics were fabricated by pressureless sintering process. The effect of Ca2P2O7 on the sintering ability, mechanical strength and degradability of the ceramics were investigated. The results showed that the Ca2P2O7 could apparently decrease the sintering ability and mechanical properties of β-Ca3(PO4)2. Moreover, the relative density and mechanical strength of the sintered samples decreased gradually with the increase of the Ca2P2O7 additive amount. However, the dissolution rate of the samples increased with the increase of the Ca2P2O7 additive amount.


Indonesia changed its development strategy from an inward-looking import substitution to an outward-looking export orientation in the mid 1980s. Deregulation measures introduced during this period have made the Indonesian economy become more integrated with the world economy. This study examines the impact of a more globally integrated Indonesian economy on its labor market. The findings indicate that increasing economic openness is associated with growing outputs, which has resulted in an expansion of employment and growing real wages of both skilled and unskilled workers. Employment of skilled workers, however, has grown faster than that of unskilled workers. On the other hand, unskilled wages have grown faster than skilled wages, resulting in declining wage inequality. This is consistent with the theoretical prediction from the Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson model. However, this pattern of change in relative employment and wages is also consistent with the prevailing long-term trend of a growing relative supply of skilled workers.


The Shinnery Review literary magazine of Abilene Christian University includes original short stories, essays, poetry, artwork, and other creative works.


ABSTRACT The goal in this article is to develop a practical tool that identifies changes in the brain activity as recorded in electroencephalograms (EEG). Our method is devised to detect possibly subtle disruptions in normal brain functioning that precede the onset of an epileptic seizure. Moreover, it is able to capture the evolution of seizure spread from one region (or channel) to another. The proposed frequency-specific change-point detection method (FreSpeD) deploys a cumulative sum-type test statistic within a binary segmentation algorithm. We demonstrate the theoretical properties of FreSpeD and show its robustness to parameter choice and advantages against two competing methods. Furthermore, the FreSpeD method produces directly interpretable output. When applied to epileptic seizure EEG data, FreSpeD identifies the correct brain region as the focal point of seizure and the timing of the seizure onset. Moreover, FreSpeD detects changes in cross-coherence immediately before seizure onset which indicate an evolution leading up to the seizure. These changes are subtle and were not captured by the methods that previously analyzed the same EEG data. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.


Rongokako is a giant who regularly terrorises the pa of the Heretaunga tribe, stealing their food and setting fire to the houses, until he falls in love with the chiefteness Hinerakau. The chief of the tribe asks Rongokako to bite a path through the hills to Waimarama before he'll consent to the marriage, but the giant chokes on a piece of earth and dies, falling in such a way that the shape of the giant can still be seen today in the hills east of Havelock North.


A Monte Carlo method for studying farm planning problems is developed. The method allows the building of a flexible model including several objective functions, economies of scale, integer formulations and interactions between activities arising from, for example, rotational yield effects. The maximum number of activities in the solutions can be determined in advance. Minimum levels for the activities can be specified to eliminate levels of no practical interest. Many solutions are obtained between which the decision-maker can choose. A statistical analysis of the solutions for different levels of the objective functions gives an informative survey of the possible plans. Decision-making based on the Monte Carlo output may be of special interest with regard to "the behavioural theory of the firm".


CONTEXT
Due to maldigestion, pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (PEI) in chronic pancreatitis may lead to deficiencies in fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamin D. This may, in turn, can cause disturbances in bone metabolism and reduce bone mineral density.

OBJECTIVE
To conduct a prospective study of maldigestion, bone metabolism, and bone mineral density in a group of patients with chronic pancreatitis.

METHODS
A total of 50 male patients with proven chronic pancreatitis (36/50 alcohol; 42/50 smokers) were studied. Pancreatic exocrine function was assessed using the fecal elastase-1 test. Blood and urine samples were analyzed for parameters related to pancreatitis, nutrition, endocrine status, and bone metabolism. Bone mineral density was measured with dual-energy X-ray absorption (DXA) and conventional vertebral X-rays. A standardized questionnaire for osteoporosis was given.

RESULTS
Twenty-eight of the patients had PEI (fecal elastase-1 <200 µg/g), 25 had bone pain, and 21 had a history of bone fractures. Serum 25-OH-cholecalciferol and urine calcium were decreased and deoxypyridinoline concentrations were increased in urine. Serum calcium, bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, and parathyroid hormone were within normal limits. There was no statistical correlation between three classes of fecal elastase-1 (<100 µg/g; 100-200 µg/g; >200 µg/g) and calcium, 25-OH-cholecalciferol, or deoxypyridinoline. Of the 15 patients who underwent DXA, 5 had normal bone mineral density (T score >-1), 9 had osteopenia (T score from -1 to - 2.5), and 1 had osteoporosis (T score <-2.5). There was a trend toward a correlation between low fecal elastase-1 and low T scores (P=0.065). Low fecal elastase-1 correlated with low bone mineral density in conventional X-rays (P<0.05). Patients receiving pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) had significantly higher DXA values (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Patients with chronic pancreatitis have osteoporosis, along with abnormal bone metabolism and reduced bone mineral density as measured by DXA and X-ray. PERT is associated with less osteopathy.


Nobiletin (NBT), a citrus flavonoid, has been associated with various health benefits. Herein, we investigated the chemopreventive actions of NBT and its metabolites in a pulmonary carcinogenesis mouse model and human lung cancer cells. In 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK)-treated mice, the oral administration of NBT significantly suppressed lung tumorigenesis as evidenced by reduced tumor volume compared to the control mice. NBT also greatly attenuated cell proliferation in the lung of NNK-treated mice. Our previous study has identified three major metabolites of NBT, namely, 3'-demethylnobiletin (M1), 4'-demethylnobiletin (M2), and 3',4'-didemethylnobiletin (M3). In this study, we further determined the inhibitory effects of NBT and its metabolites on human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells and the underlying mechanisms of action. Interestingly, we found that M2 and M3 exerted much stronger growth inhibition on both H460 and H1299 cells, compared to their parent compound NBT. Flow cytometry and western blotting analysis revealed that M2 and M3 caused significant cell cycle arrest and cellular apoptosis and profoundly modulated multiple proteins associated with cell proliferation and cell death, including p21, cyclin B1, CDK1, cyclin D1, CDK6, CDK4, Bax, cleaved caspase-1, and cleaved PARP. Overall, our results demonstrated that the oral administration of NBT significantly inhibited lung carcinogenesis in mice, and these chemopreventive effects could be attributed to its metabolites that showed potent anti-cancer effects.


Background
The prognostic role of a comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) on the management of elderly patients with advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains to be established. The objective of this analysis was to determine the prognostic role of each CGA domain on overall survival (OS) among elderly patients with advanced-stage NSCLC.

Methods
We pooled individual data from two prospective, randomized phases II trials in patients over 65 years old with advanced-stage NSCLC, who were considered fit (0405 trial) or no-fit (0505 trial) based on a CGA. Both trials compared first-line chemotherapy followed by second-line erlotinib with the reverse strategy in terms of progression-free survival (PFS) and OS. Factors prognostic of OS were sought by using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log rank test for univariate analysis, and a Cox model for multivariate analysis.

Results
Analysis performed on 194 patients (mean age: 77 years, male gender: 70%, never- or ex-smokers: 56%) showed, in univariate analysis that performance status (PS), smoking status, Charlson, simplified Charlson, nutritional scores, and a mobility score were prognostics of OS. In multivariate analysis, PS [HR: 1.4 (1.02-1.9), P=0.04] and the Charlson score [HR: 1.46 (1.07-1.99), P=0.02] were independently prognostic of OS, while the nutritional score [HR: 0.69 (0.46-1.04), P=0.07] and the mobility score [HR: 0.25 (0.06-1.01), P=0.06] were close to significance.

Conclusions
PS and comorbidities appear to be the main predictors of OS in elderly advanced NSCLC patients selected on the basis of CGA.


The proliferation of unconventional natural gas drilling has brought considerable recent attention to the possible impacts that this new technology may have on greenhouse gas emissions. In Pennsylvania, estimates of these possible impacts are very difficult to accurately assess in large part due to the highly uncertain contribution from legacy abandoned and orphaned gas (AOG) wells. This paper outlines our work in establishing a methodology for measuring the methane leak rate from AOG wells in Western Pennsylvania. The theory and methodology of an enclosure method for measuring the methane mass leak rate from one AOG natural gas well is described. Summary data for four other measurements and three other wells is presented. The goal of this work is to take the first steps towards an accurate determination of the contribution of AOWs to anthropogenic methane emissions in Pennsylvania.


Abstract We determine the solutions of a nonlinear Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation which arises in the modelling of mean-variance hedging subject to a terminal condition. Firstly we establish those forms of the equation which admit the maximal number of Lie point symmetries and then examine each in turn. We show that the Lie method is only suitable for an equation of maximal symmetry. We indicate the applicability of the method to cases in which the parametric function depends also upon the time.


We report a method to include non-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in oriented cylindrical phases of poly(styrene)-b-poly(vinylpyridine) (PS-b-PVP) block copolymers, perpendicular or parallel to a substrate. The combination of AFM, TEM, GISAXS and spectroscopy allows a complete characterization of the nanocomposite. AuNPs are produced by the ultra-sound reduction of a gold salt in the copolymer solution, prior to the deposition of the film by spin-coating. The AuNPs are found to be located within the PVP cylinders exclusively. Sizes from 2 to 4 nm are tuned as a function of the initial gold salt concentration. A seeded-growth of these pre-formed AuNPs was also achieved by a further ultra-sound treatment to produce larger AuNPs (up to d=10 nm) with plasmon resonance properties. For parallel cylinders, the presence of AuNPs in the PVP domains disturbs the organization, while, for perpendicular cylinders, the PVP domains are swollen without any change in their orientation. The synthesis of AuNPs inside the copolymer was also performed by radiolysis, through the irradiation of the copolymer solution or the copolymer film, both containing the gold salt. In these cases, the presence of plasmonic AuNPs was also evidenced. Offering a control of the AuNPs size (< 2 nm to 10 nm) and location, the presented method is a unique way of inserting plasmonic AuNPs into oriented cylinders for reaching anisotropic geometries of valuable interest for optics


Objective: To investigate the effects of Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) on wound healing of diabetic mice.
Methods: Streptozotocin (STZ) was used to induce establishing wound healing model group of type 1 diabetic mouse in the experiment. The protein expression of HIF-1α and VEGF at different time point were measured in the wound healing model group of type-I diabetic mouse and normal control group by use of Western blotting and then relative mRNA expression quantity of HIF-1α and VEGF were determined with relative quantitative method.
Results: Before the operation, the difference between the diabetic model group and the normal control group in HIF-1α and VEGF expression as well as the relative expression quantity of mRNA was not statistically significant (P>0.05). At the fifth day of finishing operation, compared with the preoperative level the protein expression levels of HIF-1α and VEGF increased in the normal control group (P<0.05) and decreased in the diabetic model group (P<0.05) and the relative expression quantity of HIF-1α and VEGF mRNA in the normal control group was obviously higher that in the diabetic model group (P<0.05).
Conclusion: HIF-1α and VEGF play important roles in diabetic wound healing and the decrease of their expression level may lead to lack of angiogenesis, which will delay the healing of diabetic wound.


Graphene is a material with outstanding properties that make it an excellent candidate for advanced applications in future electronics and photonics. The potential of graphene in high-speed analog electronics is currently being explored extensively because of its high carrier mobility, its high carrier saturation velocity, and the insensitivity of its electrical-transport behavior to temperature variations. Herein, we review some of the key material and carrier-transport physics of graphene, then focus on high-frequency graphene field-effect transistors, and finally discuss graphene monolithically integrated circuits (ICs). These high-frequency graphene transistors and ICs could become essential elements in the blossoming fields of wireless communications, sensing, and imaging. After discussing graphene electronics, we describe the impressive photonic properties of graphene. Graphene interacts strongly with light over a very wide spectral range from microwaves to ultraviolet radiation. Most importantly, the light–graphene interaction can be adjusted using an electric field or chemical dopant, making graphene-based photonic devices tunable. Single-particle interband transitions lead to a universal optical absorption of about 2% per layer, whereas intraband free-carrier transitions dominate in the microwave and terahertz wavelength range. The tunable plasmonic absorption of patterned graphene adds yet another dimension to graphene photonics. We show that these unique photonic properties of graphene over a broad wavelength range make it promising for many photonic applications such as fast photodetectors, optical modulators, far-infrared filters, polarizers, and electromagnetic wave shields. These graphene photonic devices could find various applications in optical communications, infrared imaging, and national security.


We introduce Larq Compute Engine, the world's fastest Binarized Neural Network (BNN) inference engine, and use this framework to investigate several important questions about the efficiency of BNNs and to design a new state-of-the-art BNN architecture. LCE provides highly optimized implementations of binary operations and accelerates binary convolutions by 8.5 - 18.5x compared to their full-precision counterparts on Pixel 1 phones. LCE's integration with Larq and a sophisticated MLIR-based converter allow users to move smoothly from training to deployment. By extending TensorFlow and TensorFlow Lite, LCE supports models which combine binary and full-precision layers, and can be easily integrated into existing applications. Using LCE, we analyze the performance of existing BNN computer vision architectures and develop QuickNet, a simple, easy-to-reproduce BNN that outperforms existing binary networks in terms of latency and accuracy on ImageNet. Furthermore, we investigate the impact of full-precision shortcuts and the relationship between number of MACs and model latency. We are convinced that empirical performance should drive BNN architecture design and hope this work will facilitate others to design, benchmark and deploy binary models.


INTRODUCTION
The study of the subjective effects of abuse substances may facilitate comprehension of the high prevalence of substance abuse in psychosis.

OBJECTIVE
To assess the subjective effects of psychoactive substances in psychotic patients with substance use disorder in a prospective open study with a 6 month evaluation.

METHODS
Thirty patients consecutively admitted for the first time to a psychiatric hospital because of a psychotic disorder (DSM-IV) were included. Sociodemographic data, substance use history, drug urine test, and severity of psychotic symptoms measured by BPRS, SANS and SAPS were evaluated. The subjective effects of drugs were assessed with the short form of the ARCI questionnaire. Patients were re-assessed at six months followup.

RESULTS
Sixty-three percent of patients were male, mean age 29.2 years. A total of 46.6% presented at least one substance use disorder. Differences between substance users group and non-substance users group were only related to sex (more male in substance user group), and no other sociodemographic and clinical differences were found. The main abuse drugs found were: 86% cannabis, 17% cocaine, 17% alcohol, 3% heroin and 3% hypnosedatives. Fifty percent only consumed cannabis. The psychotic patients with substance use disorder showed higher punctuation in MBG scale (euphoria scale); no differences in other ARCI scales were found. At six months follow-up, 83.3% patients were re-assessed and no differences were found.

CONCLUSIONS
The psychotic patients with substance use disorder showed a higher subjective effect of euphoria than non-substance user psychotics, suggesting that drug use is mainly related to obtaining euphoria-like effects than sedatives in this group.


Introduction Intestinal failure (IF) occurs when there is reduced intestinal absorption causing malnutrition and/or dehydration. The management of this condition has changed since the very first patients were started on long-term parenteral support in the form of parenteral nutrition in the 1960s. At our unit our first patient was started on long-term parenteral support in the 1970's. We now care for the largest number of HPN patients in the UK. We describe changes in aetiology as seen in our unit over the last 36 years. Method Clinical records of 974 adult patients receiving home parenteral support for IF at our tertiary referral centre were analysed from a period from January 1979 until October 2016. Demographic data including age, sex, underlying aetiology, complication rates and survival was recorded. Difference between groups were analysed by with chi-squared tests, and the Cox's regression model was used to assess survival. Results The mean age of patients treated at our unit has increased from 31±16.5 to 52±17.6 years from pre 1989 to 2010–2016. During the same period there has been a change in the underlying aetiology, with a greater percentage of patients with IF due to surgical complications (3.4% to 28.8%% (p<0.001)), fewer with IBD as an underlying cause (37.9% to 22.6%)%) (p<0.001) and malignancy now forming a proportion of our patient cohort (0% to 8.4%)%). IF related complications have reduced with significant change in percentage of patients with catheter related blood-stream infections (71.4% to 42.2%)%) (p<0.005) and central venous catheter associated thrombosis (36% to 5.3%)%) (p<0.001). Associated with these findings overall survival was better in the pre 1995 era HR 0.2–0.4 (p=0.02). Abstract AODWE-009 Figure 1 Conclusion At our institution there has been a significant change in the underlying aetiology and demographics of patients with IF. The age of initiation of home parenteral support is increasing, and there has been a reduction in the proportion of patients with IBD as the underlying cause of IF with an increase in surgical complications and malignancy. Our data also shows that there has been a reduction in the rates of complications related to IF including catheter related blood stream infection rates and rates of central venous thrombosis. Notably survival outcomes were significantly better in the period pre 1995, which is likely explained by the fact that we now are treating older patients with complex underlying conditions associated with poorer outcomes. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


The surface meteorological data collected during 1963 and 1964 indicate that the northward migration of the ITCZ is associated with a shift of the warm waters to the northern Indian Ocean. The warmer waters, found in the equatorial regions during the northern winter, shift northward during spring and this shift is completed by the end of May, the beginning of the summer monsoon. The shifting of the warm water pool from winter till the beginning of the summer monsoon, during the period 1981 to 1984, suggests that the position of the warmer areas in the Bay of Bengal in May is an indicator of the subsequent summer rainfall over India. The statistical method adopted for the long range forcasting of the Indian summer monsoon gives very little consideration to the cause- effect relationships. None of the oceanic parameters is considered for this prediction. The storage and release of the thermal energy in the upper layers of the ocean is one of such parameters. For the lack of this information, a related parameter, the sea surface temperature is considered for a discussion on its relationship to the summer monsoon rainfall over India


Ilya Kaminskiy - Director, Sectoral forecasting centre, Siberian State Medical University. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Address: 2, Moskovskiy trakt, Tomsk, 634050, Russian Federation. Ludmila Ogorodova - Deputy Chair, State Duma Committee for Science and High Technologies, and Chair, Technology Platform «Medicine of the Future». E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Address: 1, Okhotny Ryad str., Moscow, 103265, Russian Federation. Maxim Patrushev - Head, Laboratory for Genomic and Proteomic Studies, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University. E-mail: email@example.com Аddress: 14, Alexander Nevsky str., Kaliningrad, 236041, Russian Federation.Alexander Chulok - Head, Division for S&T Forecasting, Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge, National Research University - Higher School of Economics. E-mail: email@example.com. Address: National Research University - Higher School of Economics, 20 Myasnitskaya str., Moscow, 101000, Russian Federation. Many countries consider healthcare a priority area of development. Its future milestones lie in two key dimensions: social - combating common and complex diseases, and economic - establishing S&T basis that will provide leadership, or at least a decent niche in the global markets.The paper provides the results of a study conducted by the HSE in cooperation with the member organizations of technology platform "Medicine of the Future". It supposes and empirically tests the feasibility of matching challenges and responses aimed at selecting the priorities of S&T development. The study identified underlying trends and S&T areas that will shape the medium and long term prospects of medicine, as well as backlogs allowing gaining strong global market positions. The possible technology responses for the most significant healthcare challenges for Russia are identified, and a priority research agenda is proposed.The authors conclude that Russia lacks breakthrough S&T capacities in the majority of promising medical areas. Meanwhile, domestic advances in some fields still offer the chance for a breakthrough and gaining solid positions on global markets as well as for integration in the value chain. Time to catch up with these opportunities however is running out: most of them are estimated to be available only for the next 5-7 years, so urgent actions are required.These results have been widely discussed in the framework of a range of communication platforms, including that of expert groups preparing the draft state-run programme «Development of Science and Technology for the period up to 2020», and working committees of the technology platform «Medicine of the Future», which are presented at Russian and international conferences.


Recent studies of the global phase diagram of quantum-critical heavy-fermion metals prompt consideration of the interplay between the Kondo interactions and quantum fluctuations of the local moments alone. Toward this goal, we study a Bose-Fermi Kondo model (BFKM) with Ising anisotropy in the presence of a local transverse field that generates quantum fluctuations in the local-moment sector. We apply the numerical renormalization-group method to the case of a sub-Ohmic bosonic bath exponent and a constant conduction-electron density of states. Starting in the Kondo phase at zero transverse-field, there is a smooth crossover with increasing transverse field from a fully screened to a fully polarized impurity spin. By contrast, if the system starts in its localized phase, then increasing the transverse field causes a continuous, Kondo-destruction transition into the partially polarized Kondo phase. The critical exponents at this quantum phase transition exhibit hyperscaling and take essentially the same values as those of the BFKM in zero transverse field. The many-body spectrum at criticality varies continuously with the bare transverse field, indicating a line of critical points. We discuss implications of these results for the global phase diagram of the Kondo lattice model.


Abstract An extensive core database from the Late Jurassic Fulmar Formation illustrates the practicalities of facies analysis and depositional modelling in highly bioturbated, heterolithic, shallow marine siliciclastic strata. Twelve major sedimentary facies (1–12) are defined on the basis of lithology, grain size, visually estimated sand-silt content and the presence or absence of primary sedimentary structures. Ichnofabric characteristics are also defined and have proved to be not always facies specific. For purposes of depositional modelling the 12 facies types are resolved into six facies associations (A-F), each representative of distinct shoreline/shallow marine environments. From these associations three broad depositional models have been constructed: storm-influenced shoreface (model 1), bioturbated shoreface (model 2) and a speculative bioturbated shelf model (model 3). Stratigraphical and palaeontological criteria suggest that models 1 and 2 are shoreline-attached; sedimentological data indicate that they occur as end-members to a spectrum of shoreline settings constrained by incident wave energy 'bands'. For shorefaces subject to significant storm influence, well-preserved event beds occur seaward of the upper shoreface. In the bioturbated shoreface model, however, the lower shoreface and adjacent shelf deposits are characterized by intense infaunal reworking. The bioturbated shelf model displays no clear evidence of shoreline connection, with the resultant facies often exhibiting highly abundant siliceous sponge spicules, together with other open marine indicators such as belemnites and rare ammonites. Unlike the shoreface sand bodies, which received sediment from basin-margin fluvial systems, shelf sand bodies in the Fulmar Formation are more likely to have been intrabasinally sourced along relay ramps or other forms of transfer zone. This sediment may have undergone a long transit/residence period on the shelf prior to eventual burial in hanging-wall depocentres strongly influenced by Zechstein salt withdrawal. This study demonstrates that an ichnofabric approach (as opposed to one of simple ichnodiversity) is highly significant with respect to the description and modelling of highly bioturbated shallow marine siliciclastic strata. In the Fulmar formation, ichnofabric analysis is capable of providing sensitive information on fluctuations in depositional energy levels, water depth, sedimentation rates, erosion rates, substrate consistency and dissolved oxygen levels. Evidence of these fluctuations is often apparent at intra-facies scale, but would largely go unnoticed using a conventional sedimentological approach to data gathering, based on ichnodiversity at best. Depositionally significant changes in ichnofabric may occur without any significant change in ichnodiversity. Ichnofabric analysis also plays an important role in the hierarchical assessment of key stratal surfaces for purposes of sequence stratigraphic modelling.


We propose a minimal model which accommodates the long-standing anomaly of muon magnetic moment based on abelian discrete flavor symmetries. The standard model is extended by scalar doublets charged under a Zn lepton flavor symmetry. In these models, a large contribution to the muon magnetic moment can be obtained by the chirality enhancement from new scalar mediated diagrams without conflicting with the flavor symmetry. Thanks to the lepton flavor symmetry, these models automatically forbid lepton flavor violation. The minimal model is based on Z4 symmetry with only one extra scalar doublet. In this model, we show that the parameter space favored by the muon g− 2 can easily be consistent with experimental constraints and theoretical bounds such as the electroweak precision tests, lepton universality, potential stability condition and triviality bound as well as the LHC direct search mass bound. The new contributions to the muon electric dipole moment and the Higgs decay into γγ can be indirect signals of the model. email@example.com firstname.lastname@example.com email@example.com


The effect of cadmium (Cd) on high-affinity sulfate transport of maize (Zea mays) roots was studied and related to the changes in the levels of sulfate and nonprotein thiols during Cd-induced phytochelatin (PC) biosynthesis. Ten micromolar CdCl2 in the nutrient solution induced a 100% increase in sulfate uptake by roots. This was not observed either for potassium or phosphate uptake, suggesting a specific effect of Cd on sulfate transport. The higher sulfate uptake was not dependent on a change in the proton motive force that energizes it. In fact, in Cd-treated plants, the transmembrane electric potential difference of root cortical cells was only slightly more negative than in the controls, the external pH did not change, and the activity of the plasma membrane H -ATPase did not increase. Kinetics analysis showed that in the range of the high-affinity sulfate transport systems, 10 to 250 m, Cd exposure did not influence the Km value (about 20 m), whereas it doubled the Vmax value with respect to the control. Northern-blot analysis showed that Cd-induced sulfate uptake was related to a higher level of mRNA encoding for a putative high-affinity sulfate transporter in roots. Cd-induced sulfate uptake was associated to both a decrease in the contents of sulfate and glutathione and synthesis of a large amount of PCs. These results suggest that Cd-induced sulfate uptake depends on a pretranslational regulation of the high-affinity sulfate transporter gene and that this response is necessary for sustaining the higher sulfur demand during PC biosynthesis.


Molecular dynamics simulations of nucleation of Lennard-Jones vapor confined in a slit pore have been performed. The walls of the slit pore are structureless walls; each wall interacts with vapor molecules via Lennard-Jones 9–3 potential. The rate of nucleation in the steady state is determined by analyzing time evolution of the cluster size distribution. At the same vapor density and temperature, the nucleation rate in the slit pore is higher than in the homogeneous vapor [K. Yasuoka and M. Matsumoto, J. Chem. Phys. 109, 8451 (1998)], irrespective of the strength of attraction between the wall and vapor molecules. However, this attraction strongly affects the process of nucleus formation: if the attraction is weak (a drying wall), nuclei tend to form in the middle of the pore, whereas if the attraction is strong (a wetting wall), the nucleus formation originates from two sources, the surface diffusion of adsorbed molecules and deposition of clusters formed in the middle of the pore.


AIMS
Prevention of aspiration pneumonia is a great concern in the era of global aging. The assessment of pharyngeal post-swallow residue is important because remaining food and liquid in the pharyngeal area has a possibility of flowing into the lower airway which can cause aspiration pneumonia. Ultrasound examination has been recently used to assess swallowing disorders because of its noninvasiveness. The aim of this study was to investigate the performance for detecting pharyngeal post-swallow residue using an ultrasound examination by comparing with those using a fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of a swallowing study as a reference.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
A linear array transducer attached to the thyroid cartilage to visualize the vocal folds in the sagittal plane. The pharyngeal post-swallow residue in the ultrasound movie was interpreted as a misty hyperechoic area above the vocal folds that remained after swallowing. Nineteen ultrasound images simultaneously obtained with fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing study images from nine participants (eight men) with a median age of 70 years at a dysphagia outpatient clinic were analyzed by the montage of swallowing examinations.

RESULTS
Misty hyperechoic areas above the vocal folds that remained after swallowing were detected in 10 ultrasound images. Eight US images out of ten correctly detected pharyngeal post-swallow residue. The sensitivity for detecting pharyngeal post-swallow residue of 19 images from nine participants by US examination was 62%, and the specificity was 67%.

CONCLUSIONS
The proposed detection method of pharyngeal post-swallow residue by ultrasound examination enabled the real-time assessment for swallowing of people with dysphagia. Ultrasound assessment-based daily swallowing care which detects pharyngeal residue will be useful for preventing aspiration pneumonia.


We present an analysis of the genotype-phenotype map in Grammatical Evolution (GE). The standard map adopted in GE is a depth-first expansion of the non-terminal symbols during the derivation sequence. Earlier studies have indicated that allowing the path of the expansion to be under the guidance of evolution as opposed to a deterministic process produced significant performance gains on all of the benchmark problems analysed. In this study we extend this analysis to include a breadth-first and random map, investigate additional benchmark problems, and take into consideration the implications of recent results on alternative grammar representations with this new evidence. We conclude that it is possible to improve the performance of grammar-based Genetic Programming by the manner in which a genotype-phenotype map is performed.


The new code DESC is presented to solve for fixed-boundary ideal magnetohydrodynamic equilibria in stellarators. The approach directly solves the equilibrium force balance as a system of nonlinear equations in the form f ( x ) = 0. The independent variables x represent nested magnetic flux surfaces expressed in the inverse representation with toroidal flux coordinates, and the equations f ( x ) quantify equilibrium force balance errors at discrete points in real space. Discretizing with global Fourier–Zernike basis functions properly treats the magnetic axis and minimizes the number of coefficients needed to describe the flux surfaces. The pseudospectral method provides great flexibility in where the errors are evaluated, and the system of equations is efficiently solved with a Newton–Raphson iteration. Equilibria are computed and compared against VMEC for both axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric examples. The results show fast convergence rates and solutions with low errors throughout the plasma volume.


Background We recently identified novel risk factors for EAMC in distance runners, including age, gender, racing distance, a history of chronic diseases, medication, training and competition load, and running injuries. The relationships between these risk factors for EAMC are over-simplified, and complex path relationships between these risk factors and EAMC have not been investigated. Objective The objective of the analysis was to explore the complex relationships among the risk factors associated with EAMC by means of path analysis, in order to estimate direct as well as indirect path relationships between the risk factors and EAMC. In addition, we sought to explore total effects by aggregating the direct and indirect effects. Design and Settings 41 698 runners (21 km and 56 km), who were part of a 2-year prospective cohort study. Type of Study Path analysis of prospective data. Main Outcome Measurements Indirect, direct and total path estimates of the predictors of EAMC in distance runners. Results Body Mass Index (BMI) and age were significant indirect predictors of EAMC (p<0.0001), while training and competition load, a history of chronic disease, medication use for chronic disease, and a history of running injuries were significant direct predictors for EAMC (p<0.0001). Gender was a significant direct as well as indirect predictor of EAMC (P<0.0001) and thus the total effect gives the overall impact of gender as a predictor of EAMC. Conclusions Using a path analysis approach, novel risk factors for EAMC (indirect and direct relationships) were identified, indicating that the risk factors associated with EAMC are complex. Indirect risk factors do not impact directly on EAMC, but rather through their effects on direct risk factors. These data enable clinicians to better understand these complex relationships of risk factors and can apply this to knowledge in the prevention, diagnosis and management of EAMC in athletes.


The influence of initial imperfection of plates on the shear resistance of hybrid plate girder fabricated using slender plate elements is studied. Nonlinear finite element analysis was performed to compute the ultimate shear strength of hybrid girder. Imperfection analysis was performed by varying the magnitude of imperfection on web panel of hybrid plate girder to compare the variation in ultimate shear strength. The study was also done by varying the yield strength and slenderness ratio of web panel. The result of the study indicates that the ultimate shear strength of hybrid plate girder decreases with increase in the magnitude of initial imperfection. The effect of imperfection on shear strength was significantly high for plate girder with low web slenderness ratio and high yield strength of web panel. The maximum lateral as well as the vertical deflection at ultimate strength state of the model increases with increase in magnitude of imperfection.


We study COMP-AMS, a distributed optimization framework based on gradient averaging and adaptive AMSGrad algorithm. Gradient compression with error feedback is applied to reduce the communication cost in the gradient transmission process. Our convergence analysis of COMP-AMS shows that such compressed gradient averaging strategy yields same convergence rate as standard AMSGrad, and also exhibits the linear speedup effect w.r.t. the number of local workers. Compared with recently proposed protocols on distributed adaptive methods, COMP-AMS is simple and convenient. Numerical experiments are conducted to justify the theoretical findings, and demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve same test accuracy as the full-gradient AMSGrad with substantial communication savings. With its simplicity and efficiency, COMP-AMS can serve as a useful distributed training framework for adaptive gradient methods.


We present a study of galaxies in the Abell 901/902 Supercluster at z similar to 0.165, based on HST ACS F606W, COMBO-17, Spitzer 24 mu m, XMM-Newton X-ray, and gravitational lensing maps, as part of the STAGES survey. We characterize galaxies with strong externally-triggered morphological distortions and normal relatively undisturbed galaxies, using visual classification and quantitative CAS parameters. We compare normal and distorted galaxies in terms of their frequency, distribution within the cluster, star formation properties, and relationship to dark matter (DM) or surface mass density, and intra-cluster medium (ICM) density. We revisit the morphology density relation, which postulates a higher fraction of early type galaxies in dense environments, by considering separately galaxies with a low bulge-to-disk (BID) ratio and a low gas content as these two parameters may not he correlated in clusters. We report here on our preliminary analysis.


Allegations that the UK Secret Intelligence Service and Security Service were complicit in extraordinary rendition in the "War on Terror" raise concerns about the effectiveness of the existing UK intelligence oversight framework. This thesis analyses the response of oversight institutions to the allegations, and considers their ability to provide meaningful intelligence oversight, both individually and holistically. It considers an oversight framework based on the separation of powers, in which the state institutions have complementary roles.

This thesis argues that the existing legislative oversight framework is outdated and that although due weight should be afforded to national security concerns, the current balance lies too far in favour of the executive. Both the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) and judiciary require greater powers to provide meaningful oversight. There is also an increasing role for civil society and transnational organisations, especially given the difficulties international intelligence cooperation poses for domestic intelligence oversight.

The thesis considers: (1) the legislative oversight framework and law relating to extraordinary rendition; (2) the global intelligence landscape in which the UK intelligence and security agencies operate, and effect of increasing international intelligence cooperation; (3) executive oversight and the relationship between the executive and the UK agencies; (4) the structure and powers of the ISC, and its reports concerning extraordinary rendition; (5) the role of the judiciary within intelligence oversight, and judgments made in the context of extraordinary rendition; (6) the increasing role for non-traditional actors, including Non-Governmental and Transnational Organisations and the Press.


Reputation is a critical factor in the recruiting process. Organizational reputation also is a complex variable. Different dimensions of reputation may play very different roles in attracting recruits. In this study, a multidimensional (i.e., performance, character/integrity, support) reputation model is used to predict male basketball recruits' university choice. Data were collected on the ESPN Top 100 male high school athletes recruited to NCAA Division I basketball programs for each year from 2010–2014 ( n = 500). Probit regression analyses using maximum likelihood estimation predicted to what extent each reputation-based dimension affected the likelihood of an athlete selecting a university.


The stripping in of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) is assessed by AASHTO T283 by means of the indirect tensile strength test. The tensile strength ratio (TSR) is used as the criterion for strength retention after sample conditioning. In recent years, the dynamic modulus (E*) test, conducted according to AASHTO TP62-03, has gained wider use in the pavement community for two reasons: it is a major input into the Guide for Mechanistic–Empirical Design of New and Rehabilitated Pavement Structures and is being used as a simple performance test indicator. The objective of this study was to assess whether the E* laboratory test can be used as a replacement test property for indirect tensile strength in AASHTO T283. Because the E* test is nondestructive, unlike the indirect tensile strength test, the advantage would be that the same specimens could be used before and after moisture conditioning. The scope of work in this research included conducting a laboratory testing program on several types of asphalt mixtures by means of both test procedures. All mixtures were obtained from construction projects in the field. A unique aspect of this study was that some of the mixtures failed in the field after stripping. The E* tests were used to determine the percent of retained stiffness, a term referred to as E* stiffness ratio (ESR). Results of both TSR and ESR conducted on the same mixtures were compared and statistically analyzed. The analysis indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between the measured TSR and ESR values for the same mixture. The correlation obtained between the two ratios had good measures of accuracy. It was concluded that the ESR can potentially replace TSR testing to assess field moisture damage for asphalt mixtures. The recommendation was to continue the testing program and expand the database for future analysis.


The article critically analyses the role of the Nigerian courts in mediating resultant tensions in the post-authoritarian transition period. In doing this, I examine jurisprudence emanating from the courts on some serious inter-governmental disputes, as well as decisions bordering on individual and group rights, particularly those connected to the transition process. The dynamics of democratic transition in Nigeria after decades of military rule dictates the inevitability of these disputes. The military left a legacy of systemic distortion and institutional dysfunctions which constitute formidable challenges to the transitioning society. The article argues a case for a purposive jurisprudential approach to resolving the ensuing tensions which typically threaten the viability of the transition.


This article investigates the informational requirements of resource allocation processes in pure exchange economies with consumption externalities. It is shown that the distributive Lindahl mechanism has a minimal informational size of the message space, and thus it is informationally the most efficient allocation process that is informationally decentralized and realizes Pareto-efficient allocations over the class of economies that include nonmalevolent economies. Furthermore, it is shown that the distributive Lindahl mechanism is the unique informationally efficient decentralized mechanism that realizes Pareto-efficient and individually rational allocations over a certain class of nonmalevolent economies. Copyright 2004 by the Economics Department Of The University Of Pennsylvania And Osaka University Institute Of Social And Economic Research Association.


Abstract Security is a complex, contradictory, deepening and broadening, multi-dimensional (societal, economic, environmental and political) subject from ancient times to the present day in the literature. Furthermore, there isn't always a harmonic relationship between its dimensions. Generally, in the literature, it is assumed that there is a negative perception between security and economy. And when economic security analyzed, academicians occasionally observe the subject through microeconomic perspective; individuals and firms. This paper aims to establish a different theoretical and methodological basis on economic security. Economic security model will be presented in an international political economic context and macro-framework. It is based on a multivariate approach to foreign economic policy analysis (FEP). In this analysis we will use a schematic system of interactive functions that co-exist dynamically with wider context and by doing that we want to achieve to demonstrate its analytical workings. The interactive functions which are mentioned above are cognitive-ideological approaches; generic economic security objectives, technical policy realms, economic diplomacy and actor based influences. Also there are 'important key terms that are used to help to understand the context. For example, actors who are responsible for directing of foreign economic policy are FEP protagonists; the polities that protagonists represent are FEP powers and a group which has a direct interest in structure and process of foreign economic policy. In current global era state policy makers lost the tightness of their policy making process and the FEP context becomes more important. As the control of state weakened, so the context factors strengthened. With these tools, economic security can be defined as "safeguarding the structural integrity and prosperity-generating capabilities and interest of a politico-economic entity in the context of various externalized risks and threats that confront it." As a result, in this paper we try to give an integrated perspective on economic security which provide important orientation for FEP studies by macro-focused character. Key Words: Security, economic security, international macro economy, foreign policy analysis (FEP), international political economy.


This study discusses in depth the youth unemployment "problem" and examines the various policy responses to it, including education and training, and active labour market policy. It emphasizes the need for adequate labour market information, policy monitoring and programme evaluation to help provide more and better-quality jobs for young people - while also offering specific recommendations and guidelines for this age group in industrialized, transition and developing countries, While analysing the characteristics, causes and consequences of youth unemployment, the study explores the nature of the youth labour market and how it differs from the labour market for other workers. It looks at minimum wages, as well as the pivotal role of education and training systems. It also identifies vital ILO instruments concerned with young people and examines the broader international policy challenges faced by many countries around the world. In particular, it discusses the failure of many countries to integrate young people into good, quality employment. Active labour market policies, both successful and unsuccessful, are evaluated, and the book looks closely at policies promoting wage employment, self-employment and programmes aimed at disadvantaged young people. The book reveals how youth unemployment is first and foremost a consequence of poor macroeconomic performance and suggests ways in which countries can formulate coordinated youth employment policies according to the state of their economies. In contrast to prevalent approaches in the literature, it emphasizes the need to go beyond a purely supply-side response. The study includes strategies for involving governments, as well as employers' and workers' organizations, in tackling youth unemployment and providing alternatives.


High-power lasers can be used to clear a foggy or cloudy atmosphere by exploding and shattering water microdroplets into smaller fragments. The physics of laser–droplet interaction strongly depend on the excitation wavelength and pulse duration, and new techniques with optimized energy requirements that enable lossless long-distance propagation are urgently needed. In this work, a novel and elegant way of water droplet shattering by sub-µJ long-wave infrared ultrashort laser pulses is proposed, making it possible to practically avoid undesirable electron plasma generation in a water droplet and optical breakdown in air. A multiphysics study is performed, which takes into account a hierarchy of physical processes including free carrier plasma kinetics underpinned by a full-vector nonlinear Maxwell solver and the thermomechanical dynamics of pressure waves followed by droplet shattering into smaller fragments described by Navier–Stokes equations. Our results are crucial both for understanding the fundamental nature of water excitation with long-wave infrared radiation and for development of laser applications such as atmospheric communications.


BACKGROUND
Because of the high incidence of recurrent tumor, many surgeons have become disenchanted with transplantation as a treatment for cholangiocarcinoma.

METHODS
The Cincinnati Transplant Tumor Registry database was used to examine 207 patients who underwent liver transplantation for otherwise unresectable cholangiocarcinoma or cholangiohepatoma. Specific factors evaluated included tumor size, presence of multiple nodules, evidence of tumor spread at surgery, and treatment with adjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. Incidentally found tumors were compared to tumors that were known or suspected to be present before transplantation.

RESULTS
The 1, 2, and 5-year survival estimates using life table analysis were 72, 48, and 23%. Fifty-one percent of patients had recurrence of their tumors after transplantation and 84% of recurrences occurred within 2 years of transplantation. Survival after recurrence was rarely more than 1 year. Forty-seven percent of recurrences occurred in the allograft and 30% in the lungs. Tumor recurrence, and evidence of tumor spread at the time of surgery, were negative prognostic variables. There were no positive prognostic variables. Patients with incidentally found cholangiocarcinomas did not have improved survival over patients with known or suspected tumors. A small number of patients survived for more than 5 years without recurrence. However, this group had no variable in common that would aid in the selection of similar patients in the future.

CONCLUSIONS
Because of the high rate of recurrent tumor and lack of positive prognostic variables, transplantation should seldom be used as a treatment for cholangiocarcinoma. For transplantation to be a viable treatment in the future, more effective adjuvant therapies are necessary.


A practical methodology that can be applied to optimize the process yield of IC fabrication lines is described. The yield maximization problem is first reformulated into a deterministic design centering problem. Macromodeling and problem decomposition are then applied to solve the design centering problem efficiently. The effectiveness of this methodology is illustrated through a simulation example involving a CMOS process adopted from an industrial line.<<ETX>>


ABSTRACT Chagas' disease is a global public health problem due to the recent exchange of population between Latin America and other regions, including Europe. The recent development of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for Trypanosoma cruzi infection may improve patient access to diagnosis and care worldwide. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of the Chagas Stat-Pak RDT in a cohort of undocumented Latin-American migrants living in Geneva, Switzerland. Study participants were enrolled in a primary health care center. The Chagas Stat-Pak test was performed independently on blood and serum samples. A combination of two commercialized enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based serological tests was used for comparison (reference standard). A total of 999 adults (median age, 36 years) were included in the study; the majority were women (83%) and originally from Bolivia (47%) or Brazil (25%). A total of 125 participants (12.5%) were diagnosed with T. cruzi infection; with the exception of three individuals, all individuals diagnosed with T. cruzi were originally from Bolivia. The sensitivity and specificity of the Chagas Stat-Pak test on blood samples were 95.2% (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 89.2% to 97.9%) and 99.9% (95% CI, 99.3% to 100%), respectively. When the test was performed on serum samples, the sensitivity was 96% (95% CI, 91% to 98.3%), and the specificity was 99.8% (95% CI, 99.2% to 99.9%). The concordance of test results for blood and serum samples was 99.7%. Both negative and positive predictive values were above 98%. The Chagas Stat-Pak is an accurate diagnostic test for T. cruzi infection among Latin-American migrants living in Europe. The mild deficit in sensitivity should be interpreted in light of its ease of use and capacity to provide immediate results, which allow more people at risk to have access to diagnosis and care both in countries where Chagas' disease is endemic and in countries where this disease is not endemic.


CP and Form 5330 filers may enter dollars and cents. For all other forms, enter whole dollars only. If you check the box on line 1a, 2a, 3a, 4a, 5a, 6a, 7a, 8a, 9a, or 10a below, and the amount on that line for the return being filed with this form was blank, then leave line 1b, 2b, 3b, 4b, 5b, 6b, 7b, 8b, 9b, or 10b, whichever is applicable, blank (do not enter -0-). But, if you entered -0on the return, then enter -0on the


Many plants can successfully join root and shoot sections at cut surfaces when severed at the stem. Graft healing is complex and conserved in diverse taxonomic groups with different vascular structures. Herein, we compared transcriptome data from autografted and separated stem sections of Arabidopsis thaliana and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) to explore changes related to graft healing. Using orthologous gene pairs identified between the two species, temperal expression patterns of evolutionary associated genes in grafted top and bottom, separated top and bottom, and intact stems were exhibited. Genes with expression preference indicate functional diversification of genes related to anatomical structure and cellular development in the two species. Expression profiles of the variable genes revealed common pathways operating during graft healing, including phenylpropanoid metabolism, response to oxygen-containing compounds, xylan, and cell wall biogenesis, mitosis and the cell cycle, carboxylic acid catabolism, and meristem structural organization. In addition, vascular differentiation related NAC domain transcription factors and genome-wide members in Arabidopsis and tomato were used for phylogenetic and expression analysis. Expression differences were largely consistent with sequence differences, reflecting high similarity for protein-coding and regulatory regions of individual clades. NAC proteins mainly clustered in accordance with their reported functions in xylem differentiation or cambium formation. The putative conserved mechanisms suggested by conserved genes and functions could help to expand graft healing theory to a wider range of species, and temporal fluctuations in common pathways imply conserved biological processes during graft healing.


As geochemists and mineralogists, we are well aware of the impact of our science. We can often reel off examples of how our discoveries have influenced industry and improved humankind's knowledge about how the Earth works, as well as how natural and anthropogenic processes have led to its present state. Moreover, because of a century of analytical developments and conceptual breakthroughs, geochemists are now versatile and can now work across the entire spectrum of the Earth sciences. However, we are not so good at promoting the social and economic impacts of geochemistry.


The ideal Non Destructive Evaluation/Examination process should be carried out using a fully automated system: planning, execution, evaluation and reporting would be all tasks performed by automated technologies and artificial intelligence that don't need human intervention, thus taking the Human Factor out of the equation. Not yet reaching this level of automation, it is still possible to improve the overall quality of the NDE process to increase both speed and quality, while maintaining safety.
 Ultrasonic Testing NDE is considered a safe, portable and reliable inspection method. Detection and characterization depends upon factors like technician's experience and skills, especially for shear wave UT, where an amplitude vs time signal, the A-Scan, is the only given information from the specimen to be examined. With this technique there is very little digital data saved, often in the form of screenshots.
 The evolution of shear wave UT was represented by the use of an array probe with the Phased Array technique: the new capabilities of simultaneously steering the beam in multiple directions and combining all the A-Scans in images together, has made it easier to interpret any anomalies found during inspection.
 However, skill and experience are still very important factors to avoid false positive and false negative results. For example, focusing distance from the array probe and false signals from mode conversion may lead to the wrong conclusions.
 Ultrasonic imaging technology based on full matrix capture has the intrinsic ability to improve interpretation over more conventional techniques such as PA UT or shear wave UT since it provides information not only about the size of flaws, but also on their geometry in terms of horizontal and vertical extent.


In data stream mining, sliding window can record the latest and most useful patterns, but the best size can not be accurately determined. To aim at data with the characteristics of data flow in some simulation systems, this paper proposes a method for mining the closed frequent patterns in the mixed window of data stream. The pattern of data stream could be completely recorded by scanning the stream only once. And the pruning method of T-Moment could reduce the space complexity of sliding window tree and the maintenance cost of the closed frequent patterns tree. To differentiate the historical and the latest patterns, a time decaying model was applied. The experimental results show that the algorithm has good efficiency and accuracy.


The photocatalytic degradation of organic contaminants (such as industrial dyes, insecticides, pesticides, … etc) in water, using TiO2 under UV are commonly used procedures. Modifying TiO2 with CdS is also a common technique used for water purification under visible light. In this work both commercial and prepared TiO2 were used for photo-degradation of two model contaminants, methyl orange (MO) and phenazpyridine (PhPy). In order to sensitize TiO2 to visible light, a chemical path deposition method (CBD) was used to precipitate non-scale (~20 nm) CdS particles on TiO2 particle surfaces. Sand was used as a supporting surface for the TiO2/CdS catalyst. UV-visible spectra, photoluminescence emission spectra, XRD and SEM imaging were measured to characterize the prepared catalyst systems. Effects of catalyst concentration, initial contaminant concentration and pH on photo-degradation rate were studied. Turnover number and quantum yield were also calculated for comparison study. Despite the high efficiency of TiO2/CdS catalyst system in degrading water contaminants, voltametric analysis confirmed complete CdS decomposition during the photo-degradation process. Due to hazardous nature of resulting Cd 2+ in the treated water, an alternative sensitizer has been suggested based on natural nontoxic dyes. Anthocyanin was used here for the first time as a sensitizer for the rutile TiO2 system. Activated Carbon (AC) was also used as a supporting substrate. Electronic absorption spectra, FT-IR spectra, and TGA analysis were used to characterize the prepared TiO2/Anthocyanine catalyst systems. The efficiency of the new catalyst system, in photo-degradation of MO and PhPY was assessed. An observable efficiency was noted specially when using AC/TiO2/Anthocyanin at low pH in photo-degradation of MO. Details of results, discussions and suggested mechanisms will be presented in this presentation


Abstract Viburnum ozarkense was recently resurrected as a distinct species after having been synonymized with the related and partially sympatric Viburnum molle for much of the latter half of the 20th century. Presently, V. ozarkense is considered to be endemic to the Interior Highlands physiographic region of western Arkansas, southern Missouri, and eastern Oklahoma. However, this research suggests that although V. ozarkense is morphologically distinct from V. molle, it cannot be distinguished from V. bracteatum, a species found more than 500 km away in southeastern Tennessee, northeastern Alabama, and northwestern Georgia. Based on morphological and phytogeographical evidence, V. ozarkense is here considered to be conspecific with V. bracteatum. An overview of the expanded taxonomic concept, distribution, ecology and rarity of V. bracteatum is provided.


Muds and mudstones are the prime control on fluid flow in sedimentary basins and near-surface environments. As the world's commonest sediment type, they act as quitards in sedimentary basins, restricting water flow, and they influence the development of overpressure. In petroleum systems they act as source rocks for nearly all oil and much gas, determine migration directions between source and trap in most settings, and act as seals to many reservoirs. In near surface environments, they not only control natural flow, but have also been used over the centuries to restrict leakage, most pertinently in recent times from waste disposal sites. This book focuses on fluid flow through muds and mudstones. Such flow controls processes such as water escape from a mud during burial, upward or downward petroleum expulsion from a source-rock sequence, leakage from a petroleum reservoir, or containment of leachate in a clay-lined landfill site. Despite the significance of muds and mudstones, their fine-grained nature means that our knowledge of their composition and properties lags behind that of other sediments. Their physical and bulk properties are poorly defined, particularly as they relate to behaviour at depth; for instance, what mudstone permeability should be applied when carrying out a particular fluid-flow modelling exercise, or under what conditions does flow through fractures dominate flow through the capillary matrix? A search of the Science Citation Index from 1981 to 1998 revealed 13 380 articles containing the word 'mud' or 'shale' in the title, keyword or abstract; about 750 per year. 5986


Storage systems are the next frontier for providing protection against intrusion. Since storage systems see changes to persistent data, several types of intrusions can be detected by storage systems. Intrusion detection (ID) techniques can be deployed in various storage systems. In this paper, we study how intrusions can be detected at the block storage level and in SAN environments. We propose novel approaches for storage-based intrusion detection and discuss how features of state-of-the-art block storage systems can be used for intrusion detection and recovery of compromised data. In particular we present two prototype systems. First we present a real time intrusion detection system (IDS), which has been integrated within a storage management and virtualization system. In this system incoming requests for storage blocks are examined for signs of intrusions in real time. We then discuss how intrusion detection schemes can be deployed as an appliance loosely coupled with a SAN storage system. The major advantage of this approach is that it does not require any modification and enhancement to the storage system software. In this approach, we use the space and time efficient point-in-time copy operation provided by SAN storage devices. We also present performance results showing that the impact of ID on the overall storage system performance is negligible. Recovering data in compromised systems is also discussed.


Microprocessors continue on the relentless path to provide more performance. Every new innovation in computing—distributed computing on the Internet, data mining, Java programming, and multimedia data streams—requires more cycles and computing power. Even traditional applications such as databases and numerically intensive codes present increasing problem sizes that drive demand for higher performance. Design innovations, compiler technology, manufacturing process improvements, and integrated circuit advances have been driving exponential performance increases in microprocessors. To continue this growth in the future, Hewlett-Packard and Intel architects examined barriers in contemporary designs and found that instruction-level parallelism (ILP) can be exploited for further performance increases. This article examines the motivation, operation, and benefits of the major features of IA-64. Intel's IA-64 manual provides a complete specification of the IA-64 architecture.


Background: Macrophages are important cells for the innate immunity. Circulating monocytes are attracted to tissues by chemotactic factors and become macrophages under the influence of their microenvironment. Several studies suggested that local and systemic upregulation of fibrogenic cytokines and downregulation of antifibrotic cytokine are central to the pathogenesis of oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF). Currently, there have been no attempts made to elucidate the presence and role of macrophages in OSMF. Aim: Our aim was to study the expression of CD68 in OSMF patients and to investigate the possible correlation of macrophages using CD68 in various histopathological grades of OSMF. Subjects and Methods: A prospective case–control study which included 40 patients was conducted after obtaining informed consent and Ethical Committee clearance. Ten cases were normal control and thirty cases had OSMF. Biopsy was performed and a quantitative study of macrophages was done using CD68 antigen and was immunohistochemically localized. Statistical analysis was carried out using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 17.0 version (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results: OSMF was observed in male patients of a younger age group. The macrophage number in the patients of intermediate and advanced stage of OSMF was higher than that of the controls which was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that CD68 plays a vital role in the pathogenesis of OSMF and can be regarded as a useful marker for assessing the progress of the disease.


This classic text by Fei Xiaotong, China's finest social scientist, was first published in 1947 and is Fei's chief theoretical statement about the distinctive characteristics of Chinese society. Written in Chinese from a Chinese point of view for a Chinese audience, "From the Soil" describes the contrasting organizational principles of Chinese and Western societies, thereby conveying the essential features of both. Fei shows how these unique features reflect and are reflected in the moral and ethical characters of people in these societies. This profound, challenging book is both succinct and accessible. In its first complete English-language edition, it is likely to have a wide impact on Western social theorists. Gary G. Hamilton and Wang Zheng's translation captures Fei's jargonless, straightforward style of writing. Their introduction describes Fei's education and career as a sociologist, the fate of his writings on and off the Mainland, and the sociological significance of his analysis. The translators' epilogue highlights the social reforms for China that Fei drew from his analysis and advocated in a companion text written in the same period.


A 75-year-old woman with severe mitral regurgitation (MR) successfully underwent mitral valve plasty with edge-to-edge plasty and commissural annuloplasty. Three days after the operation, she was found to have moderate MR caused by tethering of the valve. Functional MR occurring as a complication of mitral edge-to-edge plasty could be treated conservatively.


OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to evaluate fractal analysis as a tool to quantitatively determine the mandibular trabecular bone changes in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF).

METHODS
In the present study, fractal analysis was performed using ImageJ (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD) program with box-counting method over panoramic radiographs of 25 patients (14 females and 11 males) with CRF and 26 healthy individuals (14 females and 12 males) as a control group. The fractal dimension (FD) values of the patients and healthy individuals were compared. In addition, average biochemical parameters [parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), product of Ca and P levels (CaxP), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), vitamin D] of the patients with CRF, as measured during the 3 months before the panoramic radiographs, were compared with FD values.

RESULTS
According to the results, FD values of the patients with CRF were found to be statistically lower than the control group (p < 0.05). The average PTH levels of the patients with CRF were 416.16 ± 310.3 pg ml(-1); average Ca levels were 8.94 ± 1.2 mg dl(-1); average P levels were 5.76 ± 1.7 mg dl(-1); average CaxP values were 51.12 ± 15.03; average ALP levels were 83.44 ± 36.8 U l(-1); and the average vitamin D values were 19.43 ± 9.7 ng ml(-1). In addition, there was no significant correlation between FD values and the biochemical parameters of the patients, and there was no correlation between age, gender and FD.

CONCLUSIONS
The FD values of the patients with CRF were lower than those of the controls. This finding suggests that FD analysis might be a promising simple and cost-effective tool for evaluating trabecular bone structure.


Precision feeding is essential for micro-stamping, especially in multi-stage progressive forming operations, where necessary feeding rates also have to be maintained. Research in micro-stamping of thinner sheet metals (<100 microns) led to investigations of the performance of existing sheet-metal feeders, regarding their accuracy and repeatability in high speed micro-stamping. The results indicated that the pursuance of higher feeding accuracy and repeatability which aimed at 5-15% of the strip thickness was unachievable with the existing micro-feeders. A new high-precision and high-speed feeder was, therefore, developed for micro-sheet-forming. The feeder design was supported with micro-forming process analysis and feeding simulations. It was constructed with collaboration with an industrial partner. The initial tests conducted demonstrated higher feeding accuracy and repeatability, compared to existing commercial feeders, which indicated a promising solution for micro-sheet-forming where thin sheet metals are to be fed.


Bureaucratic Reform became one of Indonesia administrative reform strategy. Civil service as the importing agent of bureaucratic is need to be reformed for making good governance and good public services. When administrative reform is defined as a political process which is designed to compromised bureaucracy and other systems in community, the process itself would never be free of political interference. It's a challenge for bureaucracy in Indonesia to run of the Act, the newest form of management system for civil servant, based on merit system. Because one of the act goals is to build civilian personnel who have integrity, professional, neutral and free from political interference, free from corruption, collusion, and nepotism and be able to organize a public service to community. This paper objective is analyzing the merit system in the three of act, specific on promotion system. Research was done with literature study, data collection using interviews with the key persons (such as policy maker, and the ministerial officials). Qualitative analysis is used to process the data. The result of this study show the comparisons analyzes of the three acts on civil service promotion system in Indonesia.


Coronavirus COVID-19 started in December 2019, and it has spread rapidly across China and the whole world. In this chapter, we analyzed the number of confirmed cases in US, India, France, Russia and Brazil. Additionally, we took into account Latin American countries like Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Mexico. We noticed, how some countries got a low death rate, despite its high number of confirmed cases (US). Additionally, it is interesting, how some countries with a high percentage of obesity got the highest death rate (Mexico). Also, we noticed a decreasing number in confirmed cases after a intensive vaccination plan (US). Finally, we evaluated Weibull Long Short-Term Memory (W-LSTM) and Multiplicative Trend Exponential Smoothing (MTES) to predict confirmed cases, in this case, W-LSTM showed a more realistic forecasting.


We demonstrate an all-fiber all-normal-dispersion Yb-doped fiber laser that is passively mode locked by a graphene oxide (GO)-polymer. Because of good solution processing characteristic of the GO to polymer, a GO-polymer saturable absorber (SA) was successfully fabricated. Self-started mode-locking laser performance was investigated comprehensively at different cavity lengths, from 5, 24, to 94 m. The results showed that the pulse duration varies from hundreds of picoseconds to nanoseconds. In addition, the average output power of the mode-locked fiber laser can reach up to 500 mW. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that pulses with large chirps can be more easily amplified to reach high output power.


A new understanding of the notion of regularizer is proposed. It is argued that this new notion is more realistic than the old one and better fits the practical computational needs. An example of the regularizer in the new sense is given. A method for constructing regularizers in the new sense is proposed and justified.


Exotic hadron states, which are called XYZ particles also, are beyond the quark model scope, even though they are allowed by the Quantum Chromodynamics. As a 𝜏 -charm factory, BESIII experiment has collected the largest electron-positron collision data in the 𝜏 -charm region, which could be used to study XYZ states. In this paper, the recent results from BESIII about X(3872) and vector Charmonium-like states will be reviewed.


Two-phase Flow is widely involved in reactor design and is directly relevant to reactor safety. However, the flow regime in narrow rectangular channels still needs further study because it has a considerable difference from tube and bundle channels. To investigate the two-phase flow regime and interfacial structure characteristics, the air-water experiment with an adiabatic vertical channel of 4 × 66 × 1800, 6 × 66 × 1800 mm have been conducted under atmosphere pressure condition. The impedance void meter was used to measure the global void fraction in narrow rectangular channels. A high-speed camera was used to record the profiles of the flow regime. The flow regime was identified by the random forest clustering algorithm based on a training sample. The profiles of different parameters, including void fraction, pressure loss at Z/D = 150, were analyzed in this paper. Furthermore, based on the parameters' distribution, the regime transition criteria in narrow rectangular channels were discussed. It is shown that the transition from bubble to slug flow always occurred when the average void fraction is 0.17–0.2. The transition value is 0.57–0.62 when the slug Flow changes to the churn-turbulent Flow and 0.78–0.8 from churn-turbulent to annular Flow. The constant used in the Lockhart-Martinelli correlation is found to calculate the frictional pressure drop in a rectangular channel. Furthermore, the drift-model applied to the rectangular channel is verified.


Abstract. Three-dimensional (3D) micro/nano-manipulation using optical tweezers is a significant technique for various scientific fields ranging from biology to nanotechnology. For the dynamic handling of multiple/individual micro-objects in a true 3D working space, we present an improved hybrid optical tweezers system consisting of two multibeam techniques. These two techniques include the generalized phase contrast method with a spatial light modulator and the time-shared scanning method with a two-axis steering mirror and an electrically focus-tunable lens. Unlike our previously reported system that could only handle micro-objects in a two and half dimensional working space, the present system has high versatility for controlled manipulation of multiple micro-objects in a true 3D working space. The controlled rotation of five beads forming a pentagon, that of four beads forming a tetrahedron about arbitrary axes, and the fully automated assembly and subsequent 3D translation of micro-bead arrays are successfully demonstrated as part of the 3D manipulation experiment.


In the USA today, there is a dilemma as to how to organize and administer cost-effective healthcare from primary to tertiary care. In developing countries, there is an absence of a systematic system of primary health care up to tertiary health care. The organization and planning of health services requires: formulation of performance indices of health services; methods of evaluating these indices; a basis for the allocation of resources to health services in proportion to the discrepancy between the expected and assessed performance indices; and a methodology for optimizing the healthcare performance index for a prescribed budget for each level of health service and for integrated health services, in a tertiary-care hospital as well as for a public health system at the state level. The objectives and the curriculum of such a healthcare engineering and management program are presented in this paper.


Protein adsorption at charged surfaces is a common process in the development of functional technological devices. Accurately reproducing the environment above the surface in simulations is essential for understanding how the adsorption process can be influenced and utilised. Here we present a simulation strategy that includes the electric field above the charged surface as well as the screening ions in solution, using standard molecular dynamics tools. With this approach we investigate the adsorption of Hen Egg White Lysozyme (HEWL) onto a model charged silica surface. We find that the screening effects of the ions slow down the adsorption process, giving the protein more time to find its optimal orientation as it adsorbs. Furthermore, we find that the concentrated ionic region directly above the surface helps to stabilise the protein structure in its adsorbed state. Together these effects imply that the adsorbed HEWL might retain its biological activity, with its active site exposed to solution rather than to the surface. Furthermore, this work shows how the steering effects of the electric field, coupled to the ionic screening, might be used to develop general strategies for surface functionalization through protein adsorption for technological applications.


One wireless network architecture that has received a lot of attention recently is the mobile ad hoc network (MANET). It is attractive because the network can be quickly deployed without the infrastructure of base stations. One main feature of MANET is that mobile hosts may communicate with each other through a sequence of wireless links (i.e., in a multihop manner). While many routing protocols have been proposed for MANET by considering criteria such as length, quality, bandwidth, and signal strength [S. Agarwal et al., 2000], [D.B. Johnson et al., 2000], [R. Dube et al., Feb. 1997], [Z. Haas and M. Pearlman, 2000], [M. Jiang et al., 1998], [C. Perkins and P. Bhagwat, Sept. 1994], the issue of route lifetime has not been addressed formally. This paper presents a formal model to predict the lifetime of a routing path based on the random walk model. Route lifetime is derived based on a probabilistic model. Through such investigation, we hope to provide further insight into issues such as route selection, route maintenance, and network scalability related to MANETs.


This thesis is concerned with modelling inspection policies of facilities which
Qraduallv deteriorate in time. The context of inspection policies lends itself readily to
probabilistic modelling. Indeed, many of the published theoretical models to be found
in the literature adopt a Markov approach, where states are usually 'operating', 'operating
but fault present', and 'failed'. However, most of these models fail to discuss the 'fit' of
the model to data,a nd virtually no exampleso f actual applications or case-studiesa re to
be found.
hi a series of recent papers dating from 1984, a robust approach to solve these
problems has been introduced and developed as the Delay Time Model (DTM). The
central concept for this model is the delay time, h, of a fault which is the time lapse
from when a fault could first be noticed until the time when its repair can be delayed no
longer because of unacceptable consequences. The bottle neck in delay time modelling
is how to estimate the delay time distribution parameters. Two methods for estimating
these parameters have been developed. namely the subjective method and the objective
method.
Markov models have the advantage of an extensive body of theory. 'fliere are,
however. difficulties of definition, measurement, and calculation when applying Markov
models to real-world situations within a maintenance context. Indeed. this problem has
motivated the current research which ainis to explore the two modelling methodologies
in cases where comparison is valid, and also to gain an insight as to how robust Markov
inspection models can be as decision-aids where Markovian properties are not strictly
satisfied. It Nvill be seen that a class of inspection problems could be solved by a serni-
Markov model using the delay time concept. In this thesis, a typical senii-i%Ia, rkov
inspection model based upon the delay time concept is presented for a complex
repairable systein that may fail during the course of its service lifetime and the results
are compared. Finally, a case study of the senii-Markov inspection model and the delay
time model is discussed.


Introduction The purpose of this survey is to assess trainees attitudes and exposure to ERCP training in the south east region of England and also to explore the demand for ERCP endoscopists in future. Methods Two separate short survey questionnaires were sent using an online survey tool between July 2012 to October 2012. One was sent to the trainees and the second questionnaire was sent to the Consultant Gastroenterologists in this region. In some instances survey was conducted through telephone, e-mail or in person. Results Out of 43 trainees, nearly 10/43(23%) were getting trained in ERCP, 14/43 (33%) mentioned that their training needs had been assessed, 32/43 (75%) were not aware of the current need for consultant ERCPs in this region. Among the trainees who do not want to get trained in ERCP, 5/33 (16%) of them had interest in other sub-specialty, 4/33(14%) considered it a difficult procedure to get trained and 3/33(9%) did not have any appropriate guidance. The other reasons include high risks and complication 3/33 (9%), longer duration of training 1/33(3%) and lack of training facilities 2/33 (6%). Among the trainees who performed ERCPs only 2/10(20%) had done more than 100 procedures. None of them got more than 75% selective duct cannulation rate. Majority of trainees, about 30/43 (70%) of them pointed out that ERCP should not be an essential skill for gaining a consultant job. Out of 55 consultants gastroenterologists 27/55 (50%) of them perform ERCP. Of these 27 consultants, 18/27 (67%) trained at least one trainee. Only 3/27 (11%) consultants mentioned that they would stop doing ERCP procedures in the next 5 years and 6/27(22%) within next 10 years. 7/27 (25%) of the consultants thought that their colleague/colleagues would take over the ERCP service when they retire and 12/27 (45%) thought that new ERCP consultants will be recruited. Conclusion This survey suggests that there is currently only a need for 2–3 trainees to be learning ERCP if the current demand is stable. The number of trainees training in ERCP need to be very small unless we accept that the trained ERCP endoscopists might give up on transition to consultant. There is a disparity in that consultants claim they are delivering ERCP training but this is not reflected in the results of the trainee's responses. Most of the trainees are in their early stage of in the ERCP training. None of the trainees got over 75% selective cannulation rate. Disclosure of Interest None Declared.


'The Irish are out in force': it was a rainy summer day on the fields of the Somme, and they were very young, in their early teens, in fact. However, this was not 1916, but 2016, when the centenary of one of the bloodiest battles in history attracted an international crowd, including large contingents of school children from the Republic. In contrast to the 50th anniversary, which, in 1966, had been a 'Unionist' commemoration – claimed by the Northern Irish loyalists as their own, while the survivors of the Southern veterans kept their heads down and suppressed this part of their past – in 2016, the conflict was widely construed as an inclusive experience, which saw men and women giving their lives 'for Ireland' even when fighting 'for King and Empire'. A generation ago this would have shocked traditional nationalists, who regarded the Great War as an 'English' one, in contrast to the Easter Rising and the subsequent War of Independence. However, European integration and the Peace Process gradually brought about a different mindset. Among historians, it was the late Keith Jeffery who spearheaded the revision of our perception of Ireland's standing in the war. This reassessment was further developed in 2008, with John Horne's editing Our war, a volume jointly published by RTÉ (the Irish broadcasting company) and the Royal Irish Academy, in which ten of the leading historians of the period – including Keith Jeffery, Paul Bew, David Fitzpatrick, and Catriona Pennell – presented Ireland as a protagonist, rather than merely a victim of British imperialism. By 2016, this new understanding had largely reshaped both government and public perceptions, with 'the emergence of a more tolerant and flexible sense of Irish identity'. This has been confirmed by the largely consensual nature of the war centenary commemorations. While Dublin took the initiative, Northern Ireland's Sinn Féin leaders were ready to follow suit with the then deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness, visiting the battlefield of the Western Front to honour the memory of the Irish dead, and the Speaker of the Belfast Assembly, Mitchel McLaughlin, and his party colleague, Elisha McCallion, the mayor of Derry and Strabane, laying wreaths at the local war memorials.