Abstract:
 Proper taxonomic classification of species is essential to the conservation of rare species to ensure that they garner needed protection. This study was undertaken to determine relationships among the Hawaiian representatives of Cryptocarya. This genus is represented in Hawai'i on the islands of Kaua'i and O'ahu, where it is currently classified as a single species (C. mannii) and not considered endangered. It had previously been recognized as two species, C. mannii on Kaua'i where it is relatively abundant and C. oahuensis on O'ahu. O'ahu plants have been in decline since their discovery over 100 yr ago and now only one naturally occurring plant is known. RAPD analysis demonstrates that populations on Kaua'i are genetically distinct from those on O'ahu. Sequence analysis of nuclear (ITS) and plastid (trnK intron) gene regions shows distinctions among plants from different islands (ITS: four or five base substitutions plus one repeat length difference; trnK intron: one base substitution plus one repeat length difference). Differentiation identified here is comparable with that of some congeneric species elsewhere and is consistent with recognition of C. oahuensis and C. mannii as separate species. Both species are members of the Asian-Australian clade in a broader phylogenetic analysis. Morphological traits that distinguish each species are examined, and a key to the species is provided. Conservation measures to protect the critically endangered C. oahuensis are discussed.


Code change metrics mined from source control repositories have proven to be the most reliable predictors of bugs in contemporary software engineering research. Yet a definitive modus operandi for obtaining the required data from a particular software configuration management (SCM) repository needs to be put forward. In this paper, we define a modus operandi to extract some popular change metrics from the Eclipse repository on Github, which can be generalized for any open source Github repository. We define few code change metrics that are intuitively significant for predicting bugs. Bug prediction models built with these metrics along with the existing prominent code change metrics prove to be competent and consistent as per our experiments on five different versions of Eclipse JDT project. We explored Naïve Bayes Tree algorithm to build a prediction model and have found it to perform better than other commonly used algorithms in this problem domain.


The planning and execution of manual actions can be influenced by concomitant processing of manual action verbs. However, this phenomenon manifests in varied ways throughout the literature, ranging from facilitation to interference effects. Suggestively, stimuli across studies vary randomly in two potentially relevant variables: verb motility and effector quantity (i.e., the amount of movement and the number of hands implied by the word, respectively). Here we examine the role of these factors during keyboard typing, a strategic bimanual task validated in previous works. Forty-one participants read and typed high and low motility items from four categories: bimanual, unimanual, and non-manual action verbs, as well as minimally motoric verbs. Motor planning and execution were captured by first-letter lag (the lapse between word presentation and first keystroke) and whole-word lag (the lapse between the first and last keystroke). We found that verb motility modulated action planning and execution, both stages being delayed by high (relative to low) motility verbs. Effector quantity also influenced both stages, which were facilitated by bimanual verbs relative to unimanual verbs and non-manual verbs (this effect being confined to high motility items during action execution). Accordingly, motor-language coupling effects seem sensitive to words' implied motility and number of evoked limbs. These findings refine our understanding of how semantics influences bodily movement.


— Remote sensing has proved its usefulness for the crisis mitigation through situation report and damage assessment. Visual analysis of satellite images is conducted by analysts, however automatic or decision aid method are desired. We propose a semi-automatic damage assessment method based on a pair of very high spatial resolution (VHR) images and some ancillary data. It is applied to two disaster cases, for which the QuickBird images acquisition conditions differ. For each case, the two images also have very different viewing and illumination angles. Hence their comparison requires a preliminary registration; an automatic method adapted to VHR images is described. Then several change features are extracted from the buildings, and their relevance to assess damage on buildings is evaluated. Some textural features allow a damage assessment, but correlation coefficients are more efficient. Finally, a step toward the full automation of the method is done, skipping the supervision step of the classification process. We show the robustness of the global approach for both disaster cases with average performances closed to 75 % when 4 damage classes are discriminated, up to 90 % for a intact/damaged detection.


The C-terminal domain of Hsp90 displays independent chaperone activity, mediates dimerization, and contains the MEEVD motif essential for interaction with tetratricopeptide repeat-containing immunophilin cochaperones assembled in mature steroid receptor complexes. An α-helical region, upstream of the MEEVD peptide, helps form the dimerization interface and includes a hydrophobic microdomain that contributes to the Hsp90 interaction with the immunophilin cochaperones and corresponds to the binding site for novobiocin, a coumarin-related Hsp90 inhibitor. Mutation of selected residues within the hydrophobic microdomain significantly impacted the chaperone function of a recombinant C-terminal Hsp90 fragment and novobiocin inhibited wild-type chaperone activity. Prior incubation of the Hsp90 fragment with novobiocin led to a direct blockade of immunophilin cochaperone binding. However, the drug had little influence on the pre-formed Hsp90-immunophilin complex, suggesting that bound cochaperones mask the novobiocin-binding site. We observed a differential effect of the drug on Hsp90-immunophilin interaction, suggesting that the immunophilins make distinct contacts within the C-terminal domain to specifically modulate Hsp90 function. Novobiocin also precluded the interaction of full-length Hsp90 with the p50cdc37 cochaperone, which targets the N-terminal nucleotide-binding domain, and is prevalent in Hsp90 complexes with protein kinase substrates. Novobiocin therefore acts locally and allosterically to induce conformational changes within multiple regions of the Hsp90 protein. We provide evidence that coumermycin A1, a coumarin structurally related to novobiocin, interferes with dimerization of the Hsp90 C-terminal domain. Coumarin-based inhibitors then may antagonize Hsp90 function by inducing a conformation favoring separation of the C-terminal domains and release of substrate.


Objective To identify food choices allowing the fulfillment of nutritionally adequate diets resembling actual food patterns at the lowest cost achievable for the Brazilian population, stratified by income level. Methods Food consumption and prices were obtained from the Household Budget Survey (n = 55,970 households) and National Dietary Survey (n = 32,749 individuals). The sample was stratified into capitals of the states and further by income levels according to the official minimum wage (totaling 108 geographic-economic strata, or GES). Linear programming models were performed for each GES in order to find the lowest cost of diets that meet a set of nutritional constraints. In order to find realistic diets, constraints referring to preferences were introduced in the models allowing optimized food quantities to depart progressively from the current intake for each food and food group. The impact of meeting each target nutrient was assessed by performing models removing each nutrient at the time. Results The observed and optimized diet costs were US$2.16 and US$2.58 per capita/day. The highest cost increment and the greatest food shifts were observed in the lowest income level. The nutrient adequacy was reached by mainly increasing fruits and vegetables, beans, fish and seafood, dairy, nuts, and eggs; and reducing red and processed meat, chicken, margarine and butter, cookies, cakes, sugar-sweetened beverages, and sauces. As the departure from the current intakes increase, the optimized healthy diet cost reduced. In the lowest income, the lowest cost increment was about US$ 0.10; in the higher income levels, it tended to be cheaper than the observed cost. Calcium was the most expensive nutrient to meet adequacy. Conclusion Nutritionally adequate diets are possible but costlier than the observed.


To seek new potential materials for hydrogen storage, an arc-discharge method was employed to prepare nanosized nickel(or cobalt)/graphite composites, in which the nickel (or cobalt) particles were highly dispersed in a carbon matrix with particle size between 20 and 70 nm (or 5-20 nm). Quantitative TPD measurements showed that at about 500 °C and 30-50 atm these nanosized composites could uptake up to 2.8 wt % H 2 , which can be released at 500 °C and 1 atm. The addition of Ni (or Co) in C was found to largely enhance the H? adsorption, with the optimal amount of Ni being 20 wt %. In-situ FTIR showed that hydrogen was dissociatively adsorbed only in the presence of a transition metal and bonded to carbon atoms forming C-H bond. The hydrogen adsorption/desorption could be recycled. However, the capacity decreased to 1.6 wt % after 5 cycles. TEM, XPS, and BET surface-area and pore-volume measurements revealed that some of the transition metal particles migrated out from the carbon matrix and agglomerated after the H 2 adsorption/ desorption cycles, which may reduce the transition metal-carbon synergism and thus the H 2 storage capacity. Under low temperatures below -120 °C and moderate pressures above 6 atm hydrogen storage by these Ni(or Co)/C composites could be detected. Storage capacity up to 2.7 wt % for Ni/C was measured by PCI at 77 K and 70 atm.


Criollo horses were used in the past only for field services, especially countryside work. However, currently, they have been used as sports animals in several modalities involving turns in legs and exercises on irregular terrain, predisposing them to injuries in the distal extremity. Among the alterations recognized as cause of lameness in this region are the conditions related to collateral ligaments of the distal interphalangeal joint (CL-DIPJ), which in horses are structures that help to maintain joint stability and suffer a high pressure due to the high body weight, especially when it is not equally distributed at the stance phase. Considering the importance of the ultrasound anatomical knowledge of this structure for the early diagnosis of locomotive affections in the digit of Criollo horses, this study aimed to standardize CL-DIPJ measurements in healthy horses of this breed. We used 25 adult Criollo horses not submitted to sports practice. For ultrasonographic evaluation, after a trichotomy of the region, an ultrasound Chison 8300VET and a 6.0 MHz linear probe were used with a standoff pad. This technique uses a cross-sectional view, in which CL-DIPJ is visualized in the distal concavity portion of the middle phalanx, being a standard for the measurements. For ligament measurements, the variables dorsopalmar diameter (DPD), latero-medial diameter (LMD), and cross-sectional area (CSA) of ligaments were used. Three measurements were performed for each variable and average values were obtained, which were compared to each other and did not present significant differences (p > 0.05). The average measurements of diameter and area of collateral ligaments of the distal interphalangeal joint in Criollo horses were 9.04 mm for DPD, 7.55 mm for LMD, and 0.52 mm2 for CSA. This was the first study that standardized the size of this structure in this breed.


We present recent progress of lattice QCD studies on hadronic interactions which play a crucial role to understand the properties of atomic nuclei and hadron resonances. There are two methods, the plateau method (or the direct method) and the HAL QCD method, to study the hadronic interactions. In the plateau method, the determination of a ground state energy from the temporal correlation functions of multi-hadron systems is a key to reliably extract the physical observables. It turns out that, due to the contamination of excited elastic scattering states nearby, one can easily be misled by a fake plateau into extracting the ground state energy. We introduce a consistency check (sanity check) which can rule out obviously false results obtained from a fake plateau, and find that none of the results obtained at the moment for two-baryon systems in the plateau method pass the test. On the other hand, the HAL QCD method is free from the fake-plateau problem. We investigate the systematic uncertainties of the HAL QCD method, which are found to be well controlled.On the basis of the HAL QCD method, the structure of the tetraquark candidate Z c (3900), which was experimentally reported in e+ e- collisions, is studied by the s-wave two-meson coupled-channel scattering. The results show that the Z c (3900) is not a conventional resonance but a threshold cusp. A semi-phenomenological analysis with the coupled-channel interaction to the experimentally observed decay mode is also presented to confirm the conclusion.


Here the research results are presented whit the aim of comparing two types of grape harvesting machines, one using horizontal shaking (SO) and another using vertical shaking (SV). Both machines have been tested for the mechanical harvesting of Trebbiano Romagnolo trained by Casarsa and by GDC. The attention was focused on the extent of the vibrations transferred from the shaker, on the effects on the products and on the plants and on the final features of the wine. The results have shown differences between the two grape harvesting machines and to a lesser extent between the adjustments used with each machine. The extent and the duration of the vibrations transmitted have affected the mistreatment on the vegetation, the harvest's characteristics and the results of the enological transformation. Thanks to a closer interaction between the plant and the machine, the vertical shaking system has allowed for an overall better performance.


Prior clinical findings have indicated a potential lack of naltrexone efficacy among African Americans with alcohol dependence. However, no definitive conclusions have been drawn due to the relatively small numbers of African Americans in most alcohol treatment trials. The purpose of this study was to examine alcohol and naltrexone effects on healthy African-American individuals in a laboratory environment. Nonalcohol-dependent social drinking adults of African descent (n = 43) were recruited for participation. After consenting and completing the baseline assessment, they participated in four separate alcohol challenge sessions each separated by at least 10 days. During each of the sessions, subjects were administered alcohol or sham drinks, after pretreatment with either naltrexone (50 mg/day) or placebo in a double-blind fashion. The order of the four sessions was randomly assigned. During each session, breath alcohol levels and subjective responses were measured. Results indicate an alcohol effect among these subjects for subjective responses, but no naltrexone effect. Similar to the apparent lack of clinical efficacy findings, naltrexone does not appear to impact alcohol effects in African-American social drinkers. Future studies should investigate African-American populations with heavy drinking as well as alcohol-dependent subjects in order to strengthen the parallels to clinical findings.


Difficulties faced by primary care physicians as they increase their responsibility for the diagnosis of inherited cancer risk include issues of cognitive strategy, the context of care, and cultural and institutional factors. Charateristics common to many genetic disorders—such as rarity, variability, implications for relatives, and temporal pattern—render our usual cognitive strategies less effective. Constraints of managed care, care teams, and high turnover of panels create a particularly difficult context for the care of people at risk for inherited cancer. Echoes of the eugenics movement, the implications of expanding genetic knowledge, and concerns about discrimination all complicate collaborative clinical decision making. Eight strategies are suggested to cope with these barriers to diagnosis. Primary care physicians also face challenges managing patients identified as at increased risk for inherited cancer. These include confidentiality, coordination and communication. Concerns for protecting the patient's confidentiality can inadvertently leave primary care physicians with partial information. Coordination is complicated when multiple organ systems and individuals are at risk, and knowledgable specialty centers may be distant. Communication requires sensitivity and skill in translating complex concepts from molecular biology and statistics into lay terms. Seven strategies are suggested to help with management. Cancer 1999;86:1763–8. © 1999 American Cancer Society.


Honey bees pollinate an estimated $15 billion worth of crops each year. It is therefore vital that beekeepers assess the productivity and health of colonies in order to reassure the reproductive future of this species. Modern techniques in which beekeepers can assess honey bee colony health are labor intensive, costly, and invasive to the bees as they must open and rearrange the hive to assess colony health. A radar-based sensor, placed outside of the hive, can be used to assess colony activity and health in a non-invasive manner. In order to validate the function of this hive monitor and quantify colony health several colonies were studied with three objectives: (i) Objective I looked to affirm that bee activity was a good predictor of colony health. The relationship between honey bee colony health and hive activity of eleven hives were observed over the course of a week and then assessed for health status by estimating brood (immatures) and adult population size (total frame area occupied per colony) (ii); Objective II looked at the activity indices derived from the radar output were correlated with counts of foraging bees determined through the use of a manual counter (bees/second), an optical sensor, counting the Doppler signature tracks in recorded radar data and weather conditions; and (iii) the activity indices (RMS) vs colony health were observed for five hives over the course of two weeks. Results were characterized by statistically significant correlations in all objectives. A model was constructed in Objective I that resulted in an r2 of 0.84. This model confirmed that the radar-derived activity index was a good measure of bee activity. It also showed that solar radiation was the best weather factor predicting bee activity. Objective II affirmed that bee activity was a good predictor of colony health with an r2 of 0.53. Objective III affirmed that radar-derived activity was a good predictor of colony health with an r2 of 0.56. This data provides evidence that the radar-based hive activity monitor is a viable tool for monitoring honey bee colony health.


Following Swedish ratification of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in 1989, a number of further reforms of Sweden's system of local government have taken place. Based on premises derived from institutional theory, this article examines the extent to which these reforms can be seen as further adjustments to the Charter. Analyses of monitoring reports and policy documents indicate that the reforms are largely inspired by the Charter but that some key features of the Swedish legal system, such as the lack of a significant judicial remedy, remain unaffected despite the demands of the Charter.


In foveated imaging method, geometrical aberrations are corrected in just one point of view called fovea. The fovea can be dynamically changed by changing the phase of a liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LC-SLM). These devices suffer from technological problems that limit their range of change capability. This limitation, renders the foveated imaging systems that use such devices, single wavelength and thus having a low illumination. In this paper, a technique named Spectral Scanning (SS) is proposed. In the SS method, aberration compensation is performed sequentially for each of three colors that span a wide band. Based on the sharpening effect, the combined image shows a rather good resolvability in the whole band. Foveated imager implemented by this technique can be used to image multi-chromatically and panchromatically large field angles with an acceptably little loss in the contrast as compared with traditional single wavelength systems. In fact, the design example showcased in this paper is shown to extend field of view up to 10 times of that of the original lens and illumination gain is about 15-fold as compared with the single wavelength foveated imager.


We investigate the problem of generating natural language summaries from knowledge base triples. Our approach is based on a pointer-generator network, which, in addition to generating regular words from a fixed target vocabulary, is able to verbalise triples in several ways. We undertake an automatic and a human evaluation on single and open-domain summaries generation tasks. Both show that our approach significantly outperforms other data-driven baselines.


Using statistical thermodynamics such as Simplified SAFT equation of state (SSAFTEoS) for estimating phase equilibrium and fluid properties of different materials have been used widely. SSAFT EoS has been developed for associative and non-associative compounds. At high pressure inter molecular forces are very important, on the other hand, in spite of the fact that SSAFT EoS has strength theoretical foundation, it can predict the behavior of high pressure systems. In this research, four solid solubility of benzoic acid, naphthalene, pyrene and Phenanthrene in supercritical carbon dioxide have been studied, SSAFT EoS has been used for modeling. At the end the results have been compared with experimental data. The highest and the absolute average deviation error (AAPD), for carbon dioxide - Phenanthrene and benzoic acid - carbon dioxide systems have been reported 2.22 and 4.43 respectively. Keywords : SSAFT EoS; Supercritical carbon dioxide; Solid compounds; Solubility.


The purpose of this research is to determine the relationship of the best quality oil palm at the different age of plants in peatlands. The method used in this research is the survey method using diagonal sampling 5% of the land area in order to obtain 27 plants of all plants ages (6, 7 and 9 years old). The data analyzed were fresh weight, dry weight, volume of fruit, thick mesocarp, water capacity, oil return and free fatty acid of oil palm. Data were analyzed using the t test and correlation at the 5% level. The results showed the age of the plant affects the weight of fresh fruit, fruit, dry weight and the volume of oil palm fruits, but did not affect the mesocarp thickness, the water capacity of fruit, oil content and free fatty acid of oil palm fruit. Based on the quality standards of oil palm fruits PTPN V (2007) in this study, plant with age 6, 7 and 9 years old have bad fruit, water capacity, good oil yield fruit and free fatty acid with medium quality of fruit. Keywords: age, oil palm, peatlands, quality


The increase of nonlinear loads due to the proliferation of electronic equipment causes power quality in the power system to deteriorate. Harmonic current drawn from a supply by the nonlinear load results in the distortion of the supply voltage waveform at the point of common coupling (PCC) due to the source impedance. Both distorted current and voltage may cause end-user equipment to malfunction, conductors to overheat and may reduce the efficiency and life expectancy of the equipment connected at the PCC.An series active filter(SAF), typically consists of a three phase pulse width modulation (PWM) voltage source inverter, when this equipment is connected in series with the ac source impedance it is possible to improve the compensation characteristics of the passive filters in parallel connection.A three-phase series hybrid active filter(SHAF) topology is proposed in this project for improving the voltage profile in a distribution system. It is constituted by a series active filter and a passive filter connected in parallel with the load. The control strategy is based on the instantaneous reactive power theory, so that the voltage waveform injected by the active filter is able to compensate the reactive power and the load voltage harmonics and to balance asymmetrical loads. The proposed algorithm also improves the behavior of the series active filter with the introduction of passive filter. Hysteresis current control PWM method is used for producing switching signals for the switches of voltage source inverter. Simulations have been carried out on the MATLAB-Simulink platform with Non linear load and the results are presented and analysed. The proposed d-q theory effectively produced compensating reference voltage and hysteresis current control PWM method produced the required switching signals to control the switches effectively.The results show that the proposed topology of SHAF improved the voltage quality at the point of common coupling.


Objective: To investigate the repeatability and criterion related validity of the 20 m multistage fitness test (MFT) for predicting maximal oxygen uptake (Vo2max) in active young men. Methods: Data were gathered from two phases using 30 subjects (x̄±s; age = 21.8±3.6 years, mass = 76.9±10.7 kg, stature = 1.76±0.05 m). MFT repeatability was investigated in phase 1 where 21 subjects performed the test twice. The MFT criterion validity to predict Vo2max was investigated in phase 2 where 30 subjects performed a continuous incremental laboratory test to volitional exhaustion to determine Vo2max and the MFT. Results: Phase 1 showed non-significant bias between the two applications of the MFT (x̄diff±sdiff = −0.4±1.4 ml kg−1 min−1; t = −1.37, p = 0.190) with 95% limits of agreement (LoA) ±2.7 ml kg−1 min−1 and heteroscedasticity 0.223 (p = 0.330). Log transformation of these data reduced heteroscedasticity to 0.056 (p = 0.808) with bias −0.007±0.025 (t = −1.35, p = 0.190) and LoA±0.049. Antilogs gave a mean bias on the ratio scale of 0.993 and random error (ratio limits) ×/÷1.050. Phase 2 showed that the MFT significantly underpredicted Vo2max (x̄diff±sdiff = 1.8±3.2 ml kg−1 min−1; t = 3.10, p = 0.004). LoA were ±6.3 ml kg−1 min−1 and heteroscedasticity 0.084 (p = 0.658). Log transformation reduced heteroscedasticity to −0.045 (p = 0.814) with LoA±0.110. The significant systematic bias was not eliminated (x̄diff±sdiff = 0.033±0.056; t = 3.20, p = 0.003). Antilogs gave a mean bias of 1.034 with random error×/÷1.116. Conclusions: These findings lend support to previous investigations of the MFT by identifying that in the population assessed it provides results that are repeatable but it routinely underestimates Vo2max when compared to laboratory determinations. Unlike previous findings, however, these results show that when applying an arguably more appropriate analysis method, the MFT does not provide valid predictions of Vo2max.


The past decade has seen the growing use of performance data in the hope of bringing about quality improvements in health care. Most recently, an emphasis on health outcomes (and especially mortality rates) has led to much activity around collecting and publishing such data. Two major problems intervene. What meanings can be ascribed to reported health outcomes? And what impacts are they likely to have on clinical performance? Much empirical work supports the assertion that reported outcomes may be poor indicators of service quality. In addition, the impact of these data may be small or even detrimental unless great care is made to connect the reporting with explicit quality-improving actions.


Aim: Orthoptists are familiar with AC/A ratios and the concept that accommodation drives convergence, but the reverse relationship, that of the accommodation associated with convergence, is rarely considered. Methods: This article reviews published evidence from our laboratory which has investigated the drives o both vergence and accommodation. All studies involved a method by which accommodation and vergence were measured concurrently and objectively to a range of visual stimuli which manipulate blur, disparity and proximal/looming cues in different combinations. Results: Results are summarised for both typical and atypical participants, and over development between birth and adulthood. Conclusions: For the majority of typical children andadults, as well as patients with most heterophorias and intermittent exotropia, disparity is the main cue to both vergence and accommodation. Thus the convergence of accommodation relationship is more influential than that of accommodative vergence. Differences in 'style' of near cue use may be a more useful way to think about responses to stimuli moving in depth, and their consequences for orthoptic patients, than either AC/A or CA/C ratios. The implications of a strong role for vergence accommodation in orthoptic practice are considered.


Enterprise architecture (EA) is a popular approach to driving digital transformation in the public sector. Implementing EA is viewed as important in facilitating the adoption of innovative technologies and new business models. However, public sector organizations have so far been unable to gain any significant benefits from EA programs. Recent reports from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Norwegian Productivity Committee have pointed to health and education as sectors with significant potential for improved effectivity and efficiency. The health sector in particular suffers from poor coordination among units. In this study, we aim to provide an understanding of the central challenges for organizational acceptance of EA projects in the Norwegian public sector. We conducted three case studies in 18 enterprises and divisions in the health, higher education, and labor and welfare sectors. We find three major challenges for the EA initiative, involving the autonomy of the organizational units, the national objectives that are not followed up with financial initiatives, and the lack of understanding of EA and holistic thinking. We also illustrate how institutional theory can be used to offer insights into the EA implementation process.


Aim. To study the features of biochemical and morphometric parame-ters in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cognitive impairment (CI). Material and methods. The experimental group included 72 patients with CI and T2D, the control group − 20 patients with T2D and without CI. We used the Montreal Cognitive Scale (MoCA) to assess the presence of CI. We also evaluated the levels of 1,5-anhydroglucitol (1,5-AG), continu-ous glucose monitoring (CGM), and data of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Results. We revealed that patients with T2D and CI have high HbA 1c levels, but there was no significant difference of 1,5-AG levels between the groups. In patients with CI, we also established a decrease in gray and white matter surface area, as well as subcortical structures (the hip-pocampus, nucleus accumbens and putamen on both sides; the amyg-dala and globus pallidus on the right). The severity of CI correlated with polyneuropathy severity. In patients with proliferative retinopathy, there was a decrease in the volume of the caudate nucleus, globus pallidus, putamen and nucleus accumbens. Conclusion. The study revealed that patients with T2D with CI have worse levels of carbohydrate metabolism parameters, as well as a decrease in the cortical and subcortical brain structures.


Abstract Aims To identify clusters based on graduating nursing students' self‐reported professional competence and their achievement on a national examination. Furthermore, to describe and compare the identified clusters regarding sample characteristics, students' perceptions of overall quality of the nursing programme, and students' general self‐efficacy (GSE). Design A cross‐sectional study combining survey data and results from a national examination. Methods Data were collected at two universities and one university college in Sweden in January 2017, including 179 students in the final term of the nursing programme. The study was based on the Nurse Professional Competence Scale, the GSE scale, and results from the National Clinical Final Examination. A two‐step cluster analysis was used to identify competence profiles, followed by comparative analyses between clusters. Results Three clusters were identified illustrating students' different competence profiles. Students in Clusters 1 and 2 passed the examination, but differed in their self‐assessments of competence, rating themselves under and above the overall median value, respectively. Students in Cluster 3 failed the examination but rated themselves at the overall median level or higher. Conclusion The study illustrates how nursing students' self‐assessed competence might differ from competency assessed by examination, which is challenging for nursing education. Self‐evaluation is a key learning outcome and is, in the long run, essential to patient safety. Impact The study has identified clusters of students where some overestimate and others underestimate their competence. Students who assessed their competence low but passed the exam assessed their GSE lower than other students. The findings illuminate the need for student‐centred strategies in nursing education, including elements of self‐assessment in relation to examination to make the students more aware of their clinical competence.


Does monetary policy have economically significant effects on
 the real output? Historically, economists have tended to hold markedly
 different views with regard to this question. In recent times, however,
 there seems to be increasing consensus among monetary economists and
 policy-makers that monetary policy does have real effects, at least in
 the short run.1 Consequently, focus of monetary policy analysis has
 recently shifted from the big question of whether money matters, to
 emphasising other aspects of monetary policy and its relations to real
 economic activity. One aspect that has received considerable attention
 of late is the sectoral or regional effects of monetary policy shocks.
 Recent studies on the subject make it quite clear that different sectors
 or regions of the economy respond differently to monetary shocks. This
 observation has profound implications for the macroeconomic management
 as the central bank will have to weigh the varying consequences of its
 actions on different sectors or regions of the economy. For instance,
 the tightening of monetary policy might be considered mild from the
 aggregate perspective, yet it can be viewed as excessive for certain
 sectors. If this is true then monetary policy should have strong
 distributional effects within the economy. Accordingly, information on
 which sectors react first and are more adversely affected by monetary
 tightening provides valuable information to monetary authorities in
 designing appropriate monetary policies. Additionally, the results can
 contribute to our understanding of the underlying nature of transmission
 mechanism. And for that reason, many economists have called for a
 disaggregated analysis of monetary transmission mechanism [e.g., Domac
 (1999), Dedola and Lippi (2005), Ganley and Salmon (1997), Carlino and
 DeFina (1998)].


Roughly one third of a cohort drop out of high school across OECD countries, and developing effective tools to address prime-aged high school dropouts is a key policy question. We leverage high quality Norwegian register data, and for identification we exploit reforms enabling access to high school for adults above the age of 25. The paper finds that considerable increases in high school completion and beyond among women lead to higher earnings, increased employment, and decreased fertility. As male education remains unchanged by the reforms, later life education reduces the pre-existing gender earnings gap by a considerable fraction.


Soil`s behavior, when subjected to cyclic loading, may often be reduced stiffness giving large deformations. For undrained conditions a possible pore pressure build-up will reduce the capacity even further. This may affect the design of foundations and the stability of slopes. Undrained cyclic response of clay has been simulated by an Iwan model combining several elasto-plastic soil models coupled in parallel. Each of these models was assigned with a unique set of parameters. The soil behavior is described by the Cam Clay Model, with a degradation term implemented. The cyclic model is independent of the frequency of the applied load. Seven triaxial tests have been conducted, where five of these were cyclic tests with different cyclic amplitudes. High friction forces were found to disturb the quality of the cyclic tests. In addition one creep test, and one shear test was conducted. The results from the cyclic simulation is totally dependent on the number and values of the parameters used. The interaction between them will also influence the results. Manually determination of the parameters needed are a time-consuming process. A recommended solution to improve the model is to find an automatic method where the parameters could be determined from a representative cyclic triaxial test. Based on the most common results from the triaxial simulations, a realistic pore pressure build-up may be modeled. Hysteresis in the soil will also be accounted for. However, low accumulation of plastic strains and only a slight change in stiffness resulted in approximate identical hysteresis loops calculated for each cycle. The reason for this is most likely that the right value, number and interaction between the included parameters have to be found. There are some unsolved issues regarding modeling of the permanent strain that have to further be evaluated. By solving these problems, the presented method for modeling undrained cyclic loading on clay is likely to be representative for the general trend of the soil`s behavior.


Introduction: HER2 overexpression is present in 7 to 34% of gastric carcinomas. Several studies have demonstrated associations between HER2 overexpression and clinicopathological variables, including tumor depth, lymph node metastasis, and intestinal morphology. HER2 overexpression has been linked to shorter survival. Aim: In this study, we aimed to determine the frequency of HER2 overexpression in patients with metastatic gastric carcinoma referred to our clinic, to assess HER2 expression using immunohistochemistry (IHC) or silver in situ hybridization (SISH) and to demonstrate potential associations between HER2 expression and histopathological parameters. Materials and Methods: In this study, we assessed archival samples from 120 patients diagnosed with metastatic gastric carcinoma between 2015 and 2019 and tested for HER2 status. Samples had been obtained by endoscopic biopsy in 84 patients and gastric resection in 36 patients, whereas 36 patients were diagnosed in other health facilities and were referred to our department for consulting. Hematoxylin-eosin stained preparations were reassessed, and diagnoses were confirmed based on World Health Organization (WHO), and Lauren classifications and HER2 results were compared to previous results. HER2 status was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) or silver in situ hybridization (SISH) in available paraffin-embedded tumor sections. Associations between HER2 expression levels and age, sex, tumor location,  size and histological type of the tumor, lymphovascular,  perineural and perinodal invasion and perinodal invasion, lymph node metastasis, and site of metastasis. Results: 84 (70%) out of 120 patients with metastatic gastric carcinoma were male, and 36  (30%) were female, and the mean age was  60.7 years  (age range: 21-90 years).  84 patients had undergone an endoscopic biopsy, and 36 patients had undergone gastric resection, whereas 39 patients were diagnosed in other health facilities and were referred to our department for consulting. In total 31(25.8%) out of 120 subjects tested positive for HER2 overexpression Comparisons of histological patterns, according to Lauren's classification, indicated that intestinal type was predominant in both groups, and none of the diffuse gastric carcinomas was HER2 positive. A statistically significant intergroup difference was found with respect to the prevalence of diffuse gastric carcinoma (p=0.03). Conclusion: In our study, HER-2 gene amplification (25.8%) is compatible with the literature. Her2 positive tumors were mostly located proximally and were not observed in diffuse type. In this respect, they were found statistically significant. Keywords: Her2,SISH,Gastric  Carcinoma Original Article: DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/79-07 Publication date: August 31 st 2020


: Pepsinogens were studied in histological specimens of gastric carcinoma by indirect immunoperoxidase method. They were identified in 14 out of 24 intestinal tumors and in 2 out of 6 mixed carcinomas, but none was found in any of 10 diffuse carcinomas. Pepsinogen C was found in all pepsinogen-positive tumors, pepsinogen A--in 11 of them, and an antigen common with swine pepsin--in 2 tumors only. The pepsinogens were also observed in metastases of pepsinogen-positive primary tumors.


With people attaching importance to sustainable development and reducing environmental pollution, distributed generation technology is attracting more and more and more attention due to its unique environmental protection and economy. However, distributed generation will change with natural conditions so that it can not output power constantly and steadily, and most DGs are connected to the power system at distribution network side, this will cause system stability problem. In order to fully play the role of distributed power and avoid the adverse effects of its existence, a power conversion sand energy storage system to effectively regulate the system stability of distributed generation connected to the grid is presented. MATLAB/Simulink is used as a simulation and study tool in this paper, a system model of distributed generation connected to the grid is built and combined with actual operation in different environments to conduct real-time simulation analysis, the simulation results show that the power conversion system can enhance system stability of distributed generation connected to the grid.


Confusion over architecture, while not uncommon in software development in general, seems prevalent in middleware. I attribute this to the fact that middleware systems are typically distributed and heterogeneous. In general, distributed systems are difficult to design, implement, debug, and maintain. When you mix in multiples of hardware platforms, operating systems, protocols, applications, and vendors, the complexity can rise to the point where nobody really understands the whole system. When systems span large enterprises and comprise multiple technologies and approaches, their keepers tend to have far more to worry about than the purity of the system's architecture. A company that fails to implement a system architecture is forced to undertake a system rewrite with every move to a new technology. The article discusses how to manage a system so as to avoid these problems.


Surrogate model assisted evolutionary algorithms (SAEAs) have recently attracted much attention due to the growing need for computationally expensive optimization in many real-world applications. Most current SAEAs, however, focus on small-scale problems. SAEAs for medium-scale problems (i.e., 20-50 decision variables) have not yet been well studied. In this paper, a Gaussian process surrogate model assisted evolutionary algorithm for medium-scale computationally expensive optimization problems (GPEME) is proposed and investigated. Its major components are a surrogate model-aware search mechanism for expensive optimization problems when a high-quality surrogate model is difficult to build and dimension reduction techniques for tackling the "curse of dimensionality." A new framework is developed and used in GPEME, which carefully coordinates the surrogate modeling and the evolutionary search, so that the search can focus on a small promising area and is supported by the constructed surrogate model. Sammon mapping is introduced to transform the decision variables from tens of dimensions to a few dimensions, in order to take advantage of Gaussian process surrogate modeling in a low-dimensional space. Empirical studies on benchmark problems with 20, 30, and 50 variables and a real-world power amplifier design automation problem with 17 variables show the high efficiency and effectiveness of GPEME. Compared to three state-of-the-art SAEAs, better or similar solutions can be obtained with 12% to 50% exact function evaluations.


In this study, ecosystem quality of Emet Stream Basin was evaluated by investigating some water quality parameters and trace toxic element accumulations. According to data observed, the contaminated areas had much higher concentrations, an average of 20 times for water and 40 times for sediment in terms of arsenic and 30 times for water and 10 times for sediment in terms of boron than the uncontaminated areas. The amounts of arsenic in muscle tissues of Squalius cii, Capoeta tinca and Barbus oligolepis were much higher and the amounts of zinc in muscle tissues of C. tinca and B. oligolepis were higher than the limit values of Turkish Food Codex. According to results of factor analysis, three factors named as 'mining, agricultural and climate factors' explained 75.41% of the total variance and according to results of cluster analysis, three statistically significant clusters named as 'low, moderate and high polluted areas' were formed.


A gram-positive, nonfermentative, rod-shaped bacterium designated St-5, identified as Rhodococcus, was isolated from Kuwait soil. Grown on hydrocarbon, such as kerosene and n-paraffin, the bacterium produced surface-active compounds (biosurfactants). Measurements of surface tension, critical micelle dilution and emulsifying activity indicated that the biosurfactant is produced as a primary metabolite. The ST-5 culture surface-active component is mainly glycolipid in nature. Whole-culture broth dropped surface tension to values below 27 mN/m and was stable during, exposure to high salinity (10% NaCl), elevated temperatures (120-degrees-C for 15 min) and a wide range of pH values. The culture broth was effective in recovering up to 86% of the residual oil from oil-saturated sand packs, indicating potential value in enhanced oil-recovery processes.


Real Estate education in the US at the graduate level has has a 'bumpy' time in US academic institutions. Up until the year 2000 or so, most real estate was taught, if at all, in business schools as a finance/valuation proposition. There was little or no bow to the Graaskamp model of multi- and inter-disciplinary curriculum in recognition of the diverse disciplines that impact real estate and hence the need for a curriculum to match.In 2006 when the University of Maryland established it's Master of Real Estate Development [MRED] program it embraced the multi-disciplinary approach, and was the 7th program in the US based outside of a Business School, offering a more extensive (and broader based) education for real estate professionals. There are now more than 20 such programs in the US as well as multiple programs across Europe. Each program is quite unique and can be compared for differences in curriculum, pedagogy, delivery method (executive, on line, face to face), student background preparation, emphasis on professional skills development, as well as type of faculty (research, clinical, professional) and desired outcomes/positions for students.This paper compares two programs with similar objectives but very different delivery methods -- one in the US (Maryland) the other in Bucharest, Romania. The Maryland program is now 9 years old and has evolved with a parallel emphasis on financial competency as well as professional skills development. The Advanced Studies in Urbanism and Real Estate Development (ASURED) established in 2014 is affiliated with the 'Ion Mincu' University of Architecture and Urban Planning and is accredited by RICS. This paper will address what are the common, as well as dissimilar, elements of each program and provide a further basis for consideration of educational standard setting in real estate education, both in US and Europe.


The early centuries of the Christian church are widely regarded as the most decisive and influential for the formation of the church's convictions about Jesus Christ. The essays in this volume offer readers a fresh orientation, and groundbreaking analyses, of the figure of Jesus in late antiquity. Written by historians and theologians who examine the thought of leading theologians, Latin and Greek, from the second through the seventh centuries, these essays honor and complement the scholarship of Brian E. Daley, Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.While most discussions still confine patristic Christology to its conciliar trajectory, this volume broadens our horizons. The essays gathered here explore aspects of early Christology that cannot be narrowly confined to the path marked by the ecumenical councils. The contributors locate Jesus within a rich matrix of relationships: they explore how early Christian theologians connected Jesus Christ to their other doctrinal concerns about God, the gift of salvation, and the eschaton, and they articulate how convictions about Jesus Christ informed numerous practices, including discipleship, martyrdom, scriptural interpretation, and even the practice of thinking well about Christ.


This paper examines cost and management accounting reforms in the UK central government. It provides a historical context to the subsequent reform fervour associated with New Public Management (NPM) (Hood, 1995) and offers some explanations for the underdeveloped state of accounting up to the mid 1970s. It suggests that the perceived 'failure' of the Army Costing Experiment restrained the development of cost accounting, both before, and after, the Second World War and it was, instead, the Treasury inspired Organisation and Method techniques that became dominant (Walkland and Hicks, NAUK, T316/2; Agar, 2003). This continued into the early 1950s with the influential Crick report on government accounting promoting the status quo rather than accounting change.

The marked change in political, economic and social forces in the late 1950s (Theakston, 1995: p.84), coupled with the introduction of Programme Planning Budgeting Systems (PPBS) in the United States fuelled a renewed interest in the measurement of outputs and management accounting information (Cook, 1986). This was followed by limited institutional change, with the introduction of a Management Accounting Unit at the Treasury.

But the failure of PPBS in the USA, together with reservations within the civil service and the Fulton Report's (1968) call for responsible management, all contributed to the rejection of government accounting along programme lines and led instead to the selective investigation of government expenditure (Gray and Jenkins, 1982; Heclo and Wildavsky, 1981). These investigations owed more to Organisation and Methods than accounting, but it would be the dormant accounting technologies, debated in the 1960s, that would eventually reappear as NPM.

Key words: civil service, accounting change, PPBS, accounting history, NPM


Electrical earth resistivity measurement methods produce suitable solutions for different problems in engineering. In this study the water content of the base rocks of abandoned waste water (small scale) dam in SelcukUniversitycampus was researched. Water localization in the base rocks, its distribution in vertical and lateral directions were analyzed through electrical resistivity measurements. Similarities between this field tests and mining applications were also researched and several field implications were found in this industry branch as well. Country rocks around mine galleries, tunnels, open pit slopes and benches are all application site for electrical resistivity methods to control the rock masses beyond the visible part of them. Water content, discontinuity localizations, fault lines, disturbed zones , stressed zone around the pillars and galleries are all potential application sites for this methods. Measurements performed in this research are mostly similar to the application of electrical resistivity test to mining sites. In this study, earth resistivity of base rocks of waste water dam has been measured by earth resistivity equipment. Three different lines of electrodes have been used in the measurements (Combine Pole-dipole, Pole-pole, Pole-dipole). The test results then analyzed by using RES2DINV earth resistivity modeling software.


ABSTRACT This study provides a systematic review of the effects of 19 teacher expectation interventions. Prior research on teacher expectations primarily focussed on correlational relationships with student and teacher characteristics, leaving open the questions of whether it is possible to raise teacher expectations and to prevent (too) low expectations from having detrimental effects on student achievement. These questions were the scope of the current review. We distinguished 3 types of interventions: changing teacher behaviour, creating awareness of expectancy effects, and addressing the beliefs underlying the expectations. The results indicated that it was possible to raise teacher expectations and subsequent student achievement. We found summary effects of Hedges' g = 0.38 and 0.30, respectively. The narrative review suggested that the intervention type did not affect the effectiveness, but teacher support for the intervention did. However, verification of this suggestion with moderator analysis was not possible due to the limited number of interventions.


Since the beginning of the past decade, the tolerance of corruption by citizens of most Latin American countries has become a concept in its own right within the broader study of corruption. This construct, however, lacks a systematic approach and is yet to account for specific types of corruption tolerance or identify appropriate indicators to measure them. The present study addresses these voids by analyzing data provided by LAPOP's AmericasBarometer 2006 for Peru (a typical case for the incidence of bribery in Latin America) and the Global Corruption Barometer against a carefully constructed framework for the understanding of the phenomenon of corruption tolerance. The results indicate that attitudes toward specific types of low-level corruption should not be equated to citizens' decisions to engage in such behavior. They further suggest that the study of corruption tolerance has the potential to greatly improve our understanding of the determinants of corruption in developing countries.


Over the past decade, the rise of blockchain technology has led to the emergence of a growing number of decentralized platforms that are governed less by platform owners and more through community efforts. The emergence of blockchain platforms offers a unique opportunity to examine alternative structures for platform governance and to develop a theory around the value of centralized, semi-decentralized, and decentralized governance. Drawing on mechanism design theory, we evaluate the tradeoffs between centralization and decentralization and hypothesize semi-decentralization as a higher-performing governance structure. Empirical evidence from the blockchain industry shows that decentralization has an inverted U-shaped relationship with platforms' market capitalization, developer attention, and development activity. We further examine factors driving the decentralization of platform governance and find that digital platforms of the infrastructure layer—relative to those of the application layer—have a tendency to become more decentralized. This tendency, nevertheless, can be offset by experienced leaders to achieve semi-decentralization. Overall, this study contributes new insights on the characteristics, antecedents, and consequences of effective platform governance.


It has been common engineering practice to define characteristic values for loading and capacity of structures in order to assess the structural capacity of existing structures. This approach, yet practical and intuitive, lead to the comparison of deterministic values (characteristic values) that had to represent all the variability of the problem and is considered to be conservative, as usually loading is overestimated and capacity underestimated, yielding to calculations with high safety margins for the extreme events. Probabilistic methods have tried to overcome this limitation by computing the overall probability of failure (pf) for the lifetime of the structure, taking into account the real probabilistic distribution of both loading and resistance. In this paper, Predictive Likelihood (PL) is presented as a powerful method to determine the lifetime distribution for loading and resistance. From these lifetime distributions the probability of failure is computed. An example of the application of the proposed method is finally presented. The result obtained using PL is then compared with the numerical approximation for the exact lifetime probability of failure.


This guide has links to library resources that will provide information on technology in museums and art exhibitions. There is also some general guidance on locating books and articles in our library. There are specific books listed as well as some data


Acetylcholine is the main transmitter of the parasympathetic vagus nerve. According to the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (CAP) concept, acetylcholine has been shown to be important for signal transmission within the immune system and also for a variety of other functions throughout the organism. The spleen is thought to play an important role in regulating the CAP. In contrast, the existence of a "non-neuronal cardiac cholinergic system" that influences cardiac innervation during inflammation has been hypothesized, with recent publications introducing the heart instead of the spleen as a possible interface between the immune and nervous systems. To prove this hypothesis, we investigated whether selectively disrupting vagal stimulation of the right ventricle plays an important role in rat CAP regulation during endotoxemia. We performed a selective resection of the right cardiac branch of the Nervus vagus (VGX) with a corresponding sham resection in vehicle-injected and endotoxemic rats. Rats were injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1 mg/kg body weight, intravenously) and observed for 4 h. Intraoperative blood gas analysis was performed, and hemodynamic parameters were assessed using a left ventricular pressure-volume catheter. Rat hearts and blood were collected, and the expression and concentration of proinflammatory cytokines using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were measured, respectively. Four hours after injection, LPS induced a marked deterioration in rat blood gas parameters such as pH value, potassium, base excess, glucose, and lactate. The mean arterial blood pressure and the end-diastolic volume had decreased significantly. Further, significant increases in blood cholinesterases and in proinflammatory (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α) cytokine concentration and gene expression were obtained. Right cardiac vagus nerve resection (VGX) led to a marked decrease in heart acetylcholine concentration and an increase in cardiac acetylcholinesterase activity. Without LPS, VGX changed rat hemodynamic parameters, including heart frequency, cardiac output, and end-diastolic volume. In contrast, VGX during endotoxemia did not significantly change the concentration and expression of proinflammatory cytokines in the heart. In conclusion we demonstrate that right cardiac vagal innervation regulates cardiac acetylcholine content but neither improves nor worsens systemic inflammation.


The GRE specification contains a Key field, which MAY contain a value
that is used to identify a particular GRE data stream. This
specification defines a new Mobile IP extension that is used to
exchange the value to be used in the GRE Key field. This extension
further allows the Mobility Agents to setup the necessary protocol
interfaces prior to receiving the mobile's traffic. The new
extension option allows a foreign agent to request GRE tunneling
without disturbing the Home Agent behavior specified for Mobile Ipv4.
GRE tunneling provides an advantage that allows operator's private
home networks to be overlaid and allows the HA to provide overlapping
home addresses to different subscribers. When the tuple < Care of
Address, Home Address and Home Agent Address > is the same across
multiple subscriber sessions, GRE tunneling will provide a means for
the FA and HA to identify data streams for the individual sessions
based on the GRE key. In the absence of this key identifier, the data
streams cannot be distinguished from each other, a significant
drawback when using IP-in-IP tunneling.


During fault diagnostics of mechanical systems, information fusion methods were widely used to improve the reliability. However, diagnostic information comes from all life cycle of a mechanical device and they are always heterogeneous. Whereas heterogeneous information is difficult to be interconnecting, intercommunicating and inter-operating, so how to represent heterogeneous information is a key problem in integrated diagnostics. In this paper, a novel ontology-based representation method of heterogeneous diagnostic information is presented in detail. Firstly it introduces basic principles of ontology-based modeling. Then three methods of ontology-based information modeling are studied respectively. In the end an example of ontology-based modeling for a diesel engine is given.


Perception was recognised by Helmholtz as an inferential process whereby learned expectations about the environment combine with sensory experience to give rise to percepts. Expectations are flexible, built from past experiences over multiple time-scales. What is the nature of perceptual expectations? How are they learned? How do they affect perception? These are the questions I propose to address in this thesis. I focus on two important yet simple perceptual attributes of sounds whose perception is widely regarded as effortless and automatic : pitch and frequency. In a first study, I aim to propose a definition of pitch as the solution of a computational goal. Pitch is a fundamental and salient perceptual attribute of many behaviourally important sounds including speech and music. The effortless nature of its perception has led to the search for a direct physical correlate of pitch and for mechanisms to extract pitch from peripheral neural responses. I propose instead that pitch is the outcome of a probabilistic inference of an underlying periodicity in sounds given a learned statistical prior over naturally pitch-evoking sounds, explaining in a single model a wide range of psychophysical results. In two other psychophysical studies I study how and at what time-scales recent sensory history affects the perception of frequency shifts and pitch shifts. (1) When subjects are presented with ambiguous pitch shifts (using octave ambiguous Shepard tone pairs), I show that sensory history is used to leverage the ambiguity in a way that reflects expectations of spectro-temporal continuity of auditory scenes. (2) In delayed 2 tone frequency discrimination tasks, I explore the contraction bias : when asked to report which of two tones separated by brief silence is higher, subjects behave as though they hear the earlier tone 'contracted' in frequency towards a combination of recently presented stimulus frequencies, and the mean of the overall distribution of tones used in the experiment. I propose that expectations - the statistical learning of the sampled stimulus distribution - are built online and combined with sensory evidence in a statistically optimal fashion. Models derived in the thesis embody the concept of perception as unconscious inference. The results support the view that even apparently primitive acoustic percepts may derive from subtle statistical inference, suggesting that such inferential processes operate at all levels across our sensory systems.


The disposition of dextrorphan after single ascending iv doses and multiple iv dosing regimens was studied in Marshall beagle dogs. A dose-dependent decrease in plasma clearance was observed after the administration of single iv doses of 0.88 mg/kg, 2.64 mg/kg, and 8.8 mg/kg of dextrorphan (i.e. mean plasma clearance values +/- SD were 100 +/- 25 vs. 68 +/- 28 vs. 48 +/- 20 ml/min.kg, respectively; p less than 0.001). Upon multiple dosing, the plasma clearance of dextrorphan increased in a time-dependent fashion for the two highest doses, approaching values observed for the 0.88 mg/kg/day iv dosing regimen. Female dogs exhibited a greater increase in plasma clearance with time. For all dogs, however, dextrorphan plasma clearance approached or exceeded hepatic plasma flow rate, suggesting the possibility of extrahepatic metabolism or elimination. Modest dose- and time-dependent changes in the steady-state volume of distribution of dextrorphan also were observed. The AUC of the conjugated metabolites of dextrorphan decreased in a time-dependent manner for the 8.8 mg/kg/day dosing regimen. The nonlinear kinetics of dextrorphan after iv administration appeared to occur only after potentially toxic dosing regimens of dextrorphan hydrochloride. We postulate mechanisms to explain the dose- and time-dependent kinetics of dextrorphan observed in the beagle dog.


Cardiac re-transplantation (ReTx) accounts for a small proportion of the patients under- going heart transplantation every year. However, due to improved patient management following transplant, the number of patients potentially requiring re-transplant is grow- ing. We will review the current epidemiology of ReTx and describe the potential increase in candidates for ReTx. We will also highlight important characteristics of patients undergoing ReTx including co-morbidities and allosensitization. We will summarize single-center and registry data on patient outcomes following ReTx, and discuss patient selection. Finally, we will outline the management of patients following cardiac ReTx as well as alternate therapies and ethical considerations in cardiac ReTx.


The Prussian Kriegsspiel was the very first professional wargame and was originally introduced in the Prussian army in 1824 but has so far seen very little systematic research. This research project has compiled a corpus from all the rulesets currently extant, which was then made subject to formal and linguistic analysis. This yielded results in three important areas: First, by comparing them with a collection of contemporary texts on military theory it was possible to identify Kriegsspiel rulesets as distinctive text types. Second, comparing the rulesets gave valuable insights into the developmental history of the Kriegsspiel. And finally, it was possible to distinguish three distinctive phases in the development of the Kriegsspiel.


The concept of recovery has been well documented in the Irish state's policies on mental health. More widely, the notion has been contested and embroiled in a number of definitional debates. Given the formative nature of this unfolding discourse, this research explored the meaning of recovery from the perspectives of one inter-professional team delivering mental health services to vulnerable individuals within an Irish community setting. The researchers sought to analyse whether the disciplines of medicine, psychology, nursing and social work could work together purposively to promote the biopsychosocial approach to recovery-oriented practice. This vein of inquiry was salient as an array of literature suggested that the traditional biomedical model continued to undermine this approach. The research adopted a case study design and used semi-structured interviews to collect the data. The findings highlighted that the notion of recovery was shared broadly but also embraced diverse inflexions across the various disciplinary leanings. This plurality of meaning encouraged positive examples of working together and promoted a holistic understanding of the service user's needs, with no specific discipline colonising the professional or therapeutic agenda. These findings generate insights into how recovery can be better understood and progressed within Irish mental health policy and service development.


Cloud computing is the prevailing mode of designing, creating and deploying complex applications nowadays. Its underlying assumptions include distributed computing, but also new concepts that need to be incorporated in the different fields. In this short paper we will make a review of how the world of cloud computing has intersected the complex systems and artificial life field, and how it has been used as inspiration for new models or implementation of new and powerful algorithms


Far from acting defensively to preserve the social relations and red ideologies that originally gave it power, the Chinese Communist Party is leading a social and economic transformation that could be expected to lead to direct challenges to its authority. The surprising degree of change in the Chinese socio-economic transformation and the fact that this transformation has been going on for forty years now and has not yet resulted in fundamental challenges subverting its rule have inspired my study. The overarching theoretical enquiry in my dissertation resonates with one of the most important theoretical questions in political sociology: how does the state maintain compliance from the governed in periods of rapid social and economic transformation, and how does the logic of its governmentality change along with its priorities? My work is built on the Weberian and Gramscian tradition of understanding state rule and highlights the individual's rationale of "believing" and "consent", but also takes account of the Foucaudian "governmentality" the state uses to maintain its rule and investigates the underlined rationality. Empirically, I take advantage of the pension changes among China's social welfare reforms, decipher a two-way story of statecraft in authoritarian regimes and explore whether there may be room for cognitional counter-conduct from the public. My work demonstrates that the Chinese state works through benefit allocation, propaganda, experimentation with policy and many other approaches, in order to shape public expectations and justify its rule. However, the state's well-designed statecraft needs to enable individuals to make sense of their experience and must resonate with their "common sense". Individuals can update their knowledge from personal interest, information from government policies, signals from current society (their peers) to decide whether to stay loyal or choose non-compliance. In a situation when active counter-conduct such as resistance is not possible, individuals may choose cognitional rebellion and falsify their public compliance.


The purpose of this essay is to highlight some aspects of European unification, as it progressed throughout history. In this respect, two sets of historical moments and principles are outlined. Today's EU has developed through three main sets of historical moments: Growth, Construction, Constitution; while the principles are defined by Subsidiarity, Development and Solidarity. It is stated that the development of Europe was centered around its economy, till achieving an economic constitution. From this base, new institutions were developed, along with their political roles and functions. Given this, the task of the present European Convention will be to provide a more coherent and solid frame to the entire process, starting with the principles that formed the base of the constitutional idea of Europe.


An ideal physical human–robot interaction (pHRI) should offer the users robotic systems
that are easy to handle, intuitive to use, ergonomic and adaptive to human habits and
preferences. But the variance in the user behavior is often high and rather unpredictable,
which hinders the development of such systems. This article introduces a Personalized
Adaptive Stiffness controller for pHRI that is calibrated for the user's force profile and
validates its performance in an extensive user study with 49 participants on two different
tasks. The user study compares the new scheme to conventional fixed stiffness or gravitation
compensation controllers on the 7DOF
KUKA LWR IVb by employing two typical
jointmanipulation
tasks. The results clearly point out the importance of considering task
specific parameters and human specific parameters while designing control modes for
pHRI. The analysis shows that for simpler tasks a standard fixed controller may perform
sufficiently well and that respective task dependency strongly prevails over individual
differences. In the more complex task, quantitative and qualitative results reveal differences
between the respective control modes, where the Personalized Adaptive Stiffness
controller excels in terms of both performance gain and user preference. Further analysis
shows that human and task parameters can be combined and quantified by considering
the manipulability of a simplified human arm model. The analysis of user's interaction
force profiles confirms this finding.


Abstract Background : Coenzyme Q 10 (CoQ 10 ) supplementation has been reported to improve symptoms of heart failure and quality of life, and to reduce hospitalisation. Most prior trials have been openlabel and in some, only 50% of patients took angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI). Aim : To determine the effects of CoQ 10 in patients with a New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class II or III heart failure due to ischaemic or dilated cardiomyopathy who have been treated with ACEI but not beta-blockers. Methods : Thirty-nine patients in NYHA Class II or III heart failure were randomised in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study with 150 mg/day of oral CoQ 10 or placebo. Results : Thirty-five patients completed the trial. After 3 months of therapy, the NYHA class in theCoQ 10 group ( n =17) showed a significant improvement of 0.5 class compared with the placebo ( n =18) ( P = 0.01). Specific Activities Scale class showed a significant ( P = 0.004) improvement in the CoQ 10 group, but no change in the placebo group. The 6-min walk-test distance showed a significant ( P = 0.047) increase in the CoQ 10 group with no change in the placebo group (between-group difference P = 0.29). For the Naughton exercise test times the difference in increase in exercise time approached significance in favour of the CoQ 1) group ( P = 0.056). There was a correlation between the increase in exercise time and the increase in serum CoQ 10 level ( P = 0.024). There was a threefold increase in the CoQ 10 level in the treated group (.07 ± 2.1 ± 0.3 μg/mL), but no change in the placebo group. Conclusions : This pilot study accords with published data suggesting that CoQ 10 therapy improves cardiac functional status in patients with moderately severe dilated cardiomyopathy receiving maximal non beta-blocker therapy. Future multicentre studies with larger numbers are indicated.


Of growing importance in healthcare delivery is the issue of how the risk of providing services to healthcare maintenance organizations (HMOs) enrollees should be shared by the provider and the HMO. Understanding and monitoring risk-sharing arrangements and how they are developing is critical. This article reviews the trends in managed care and risk sharing and examines regulation of capitation and risk sharing as it varies form state to state.


Experiments in statistical nonlinear acoustics are reviewed. Measurements of the average intensities of the harmonics of a narrow-band randomly modulated signal, the nonlinear transformation of broad aerodynamic-noise spectra, and different effects involving the interaction of regular and random waves (active suppression of noise by an intense signal, excess fading of a weak signal in noise fields, cascade-like broadening of spectra, formation of white noise, and other effects) are described. Theoretical explanations are given for the observed phenomena. An approximate method is developed for finding the stochastic solutions of equations of the Burgers and Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya type. Results on the diffraction of intense noise, taking into account the effects of the spatial and temporal statistics, the excitation of random waves by distributed sources, and the formation of steady-state spectra, are presented for the first time. The problems of the nonlinear transformation of the statistical characteristics of acoustic noise and other general questions are discussed.


PURPOSE
The aim of this study was to assess and compare quality as well as economic aspects of CAD/CAM high strength ceramic three-unit FDP frameworks ordered from dental laboratories located in emerging countries and Switzerland.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The master casts of six cases were sent to five dental laboratories located in Thailand (Bangkok), China (Peking and Shenzhen), Turkey (Izmir), and Switzerland (Bern). Each laboratory was using a different CAD/CAM system. The clinical fit of the frameworks was qualitatively assessed, and the thickness of the framework material, the connector height, the width, and the diameter were evaluated using a measuring sensor. The analysis of the internal fit of the frameworks was performed by means of a replica technique, whereas the inner and outer surfaces of the frameworks were evaluated for traces of postprocessing and damage to the intaglio surface with light and electronic microscopes. Groups (dental laboratories and cases) were compared for statistically significant differences using Mann-Whitney U-tests after Bonferroni correction.

RESULTS
An acceptable clinical fit was found at 97.9% of the margins produced in laboratory E, 87.5% in B, 93.7% in C, 79.2% in A, and 62.5% in D. The mean framework thicknesses were not statistically significantly different for the premolar regions; however, for the molar area 4/8 of the evaluated sites were statistically significantly different. Circumference, surface, and width of the connectors produced in the different laboratories were statistically significantly different but not the height. There were great differences in the designs for the pontic and connector regions, and some of the frameworks would not be recommended for clinical use. Traces of heavy postprocessing were found in frameworks from some of the laboratories. The prices per framework ranged from US$177 to US$896.

CONCLUSIONS
By ordering laboratory work in developing countries, a considerable price reduction was obtained compared to the price level in Switzerland. Despite the use of the standardized CAD/CAM chains of production in all laboratories, a large variability in the quality aspects, such as clinical marginal fit, connector and pontic design, as well as postprocessing traces was noted. Recommended sound handling of postprocessing was not applied in all laboratories. Dentists should be aware of the true and factitious advantages of CAD/CAM production chains and not lose control over the process.


In this article, we report on our interpretation of past and current literature on negotiating risk and resilience in the everyday lives of people living with dementia. We undertook the literature review on which this article is based as part of an ongoing qualitative study designed to explore issues of risk and resilience from the point of view of people living with dementia in urban and rural communities. We carried out a search of international, peer-reviewed publications in 2012 with an emphasis on UK policy and practice. We also accessed UK Government documents and reports for background detail. We found that there is a personal, collective, practice and policy-based will to secure robust and positive responses to risk and to work with individual and collective notions of resilience. However, there is a competing practice narrative of vulnerability and protection, and a concern with litigation that undermines positive responses to risk. There is some recognition that for community dementia services to be responsive and proactive to the needs and wishes of their users, risk and resilience need to be considered from within complex and diverse, local perspectives and lifelong knowledge. We would add to this by emphasising that an understanding of local context is also needed to fully appreciate complex and nuanced positioning of the person living with dementia. Resources may or may not be in place, but how and why they are used (or not used), and how the person with dementia may be influenced (or not) by others and by localised contexts, may have far-reaching implications for policy and practice.


The lack of openness for entrepreneurship in Romania is known. The share of micro-enterprises in Romania in the total number of SMEs is 88%, lower than the average of 92% of the European Union. In this context, very few young people start a business on their own. In Romania, 1 in 100 young people start a business on their own, compared to 1 in 4 young people in the Czech Republic, Poland or Hungary. Thus, only 11% of Romanian companies are owned by young people up to 29 years of age.
A common problem is that students or graduates from the technical profiles in universities in Romania choose to enter the business world, to a great extent, in trade or services to the detriment of the material goods creation.
The paper aims, on the basis of a broader study involving students from three faculties at the Polytechnica University of Bucharest, to know how students choose their business ideas, their perception of the need to innovate and how the innovation of a product is an option for they. The innovation of a product, where engineers are supposed to play an important role, is the rarest form of innovation and more difficult to approach through a broader and variuos knowledge that is needed it.
The purpose of the research is to understand how the creation and use of an e-learning platform oriented to product innovation at the Polytechnica University of Bucharest would fill and complete the lack of information due to the differences between the curricula corresponding to the chosen specializations. The e-learning platform will provide information available 24 hours / 7 days, the study will be easier, student collaboration will be easier and can help create spin-offs and get financial support and advice for those student entrepreneurs which demonstrate maturity and have results in approaching the product development process within their own businesses.


Uterine carcinosarcoma is a very rare type of cancer. In most common cases it has poor prognosis, because it is discovered at an advanced stage. There is no specific test for this type of malignant neoplasm. We present an unusual case of uterine carcinosarcoma in a young patient. It was diagnosed accidentally after the pathological result of a cytological smear. The described case points at the usefulness of prophylactic examinations, as different types of malignancies can be detected in asymptomatic stages.


This book represents the culmination of the author's work to date – it incorporates and updates previous articles and adds much new material. This book is not – nor was it ever intended to be – a comparative grammar of either the Indo-European or the Afroasiatic language families. It is, rather, a comparison of Proto-Indo-European with Proto-Afroasiatic. While this is not the first attempt to demonstrate that Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Afroasiatic are genetically related, it is the first to use the radical revision of the Proto-Indo-European consonantal system proposed by Thomas V. Gamkrelidze, Paul J. Hopper, and Vjaceslav V. Ivanov. Moreover, unlike previous endeavors, this is the first to make extensive use of data from the non-Semitic branches of Afroasiatic. The assumptions underlying this investigation of the possibility of the common genetic origin of Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Afroasiatic differ considerably from the assumptions made in other works on "Nostratic"; the methodological approach followed in this monograph has been one of rigorous adherence to the time-honored principles of comparative reconstruction.


Abstract We report a single centre's experience of the diagnosis and management of an uncommon form of type 2 von Willebrand disease (VWD) in members of two unrelated families. The affected patients presented with mild to moderate bleeding phenotypes and accompanying MCMDM-1 VWD bleeding assessment tool scores of 5 or less. Genetic analysis in both families confirmed a missense mutation in exon 30 of the von Willebrand factor (VWF) gene, a single base substitution T>A at nucleotide 5282 which led to change at codon 1761 from methionine to lysine (M1761K). This mutation lies within the A3 domain of the VWF protein, a region that is important for collagen binding. All affected patients were found to have normal coagulation profiles, normal VWF multimers and normal VWF assays except the VWF collagen-binding (VWF: CB) assay levels, which were significantly reduced. Desmopressin effected a good response in all treated patients, with a 3- to 5-fold rise of VWF:CB levels. However, there was variability in the degree to which VWF:CB levels remained elevated. Surgical procedures, including the delivery of one patient, were able to be managed with either desmopressin and/or tranexamic acid alone, with little need for recourse to VWF factor concentrate therapy.


The increasing applications of networking have caused limitation of dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) in next generation access networks such as Ethernet passive optical network (EPON). In this paper, Arishtat, a novel EPON-based DBA method has been proposed that shows advantages over currently available methods. In Arishtat, which is based on the auction theory, optical line terminal runs an auction-based process to effectively register optical network units bandwidth requests and allocates the highest bidders based on the amount of available bandwidth. Simulation results indicate significant improvements comparing to Fair sharing using dual-service-level agreements, and 'limited service' interleaved polling with adaptive cycle time methods regarding quality of service parameters such as packet loss, throughput, line utilisation and the execution time of running method.


As more and more oil recovery scenarios use seawater, the need to identify the possible mechanisms of wettability state changes in oil reservoirs has never been greater. By using molecular dynamics simulations, this study sheds light on the effect of ions common to seawater (Ca2+, K+, Mg2+, Na+, Cl−, HCO3−, SO4 2−) on the affinity between silica and carbonate as the traditional rock types and asphaltene molecules as an important contributing factor of reservoir oil wetness. In the case of carbonate and silica being the reservoir rock types, the measured parameters indicate good agreement with each other, meaning that (HCO3 − & SO4 2−) and (Na+ & Cl−) ions reached maximum bonding energies of (25485, 25511, 4096, and −4093 eV, respectively). As with the surface charge density measurements, the results of the non-bonding energies between the individual atomic structures agree with those from the simulation cell. In the presence of a silica surface, the radial distribution function (RDF) results determine that the peak of the maximum value for the distribution of the ions is 4.2. However, these values range from 3 to 6.6, suggesting that different ions perform better under the influence of carbonate rock. As these ions are distributed in the simulation box along with the adsorption domain, the conditions for sequestering asphaltene from the rock surface are made ideal for dissolution and removal. At equal ion strength, measuring the distance between the center of mass of rocks and asphaltene structures reveals a maximum repulsion force of 22.1 Å and a maximum detachment force of 10.4 Å in the presence of SO4 2− and Na+ ions on carbonate and silica surfaces.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Smooth muscle is essential for maintaining homeostasis for many body functions and provides adaptive responses to stresses imposed by pathologic disorders. Identified cell signaling networks have defined many potential mechanisms for initiating smooth muscle contraction with or without myosin regulatory light chain (RLC) phosphorylation by myosin light chain kinase (MLCK). We generated tamoxifen-inducible and smooth muscle-specific MLCK knockout (KO) mice and provide direct loss-of-function evidence that shows the primary importance of MLCK in phasic smooth muscle contractions.

METHODS
We used the Cre-loxP system to establish Mlck floxed mice in which exons 23, 24, and 25 were flanked by 2 loxP sites. Smooth muscle-specific MLCK KO mice were generated by crossing Mlck floxed mice with SM-CreER(T2) (ki) mice followed by tamoxifen treatment. The phenotype was assessed by histologic, biochemical, molecular, cell biological, and physiologic analyses.

RESULTS
Targeted deletion of MLCK in adult mouse smooth muscle resulted in severe gut dysmotility characterized by weak peristalsis, dilation of the digestive tract, and reduction of feces excretion and food intake. There was also abnormal urinary bladder function and lower blood pressure. Isolated muscles showed a loss of RLC phosphorylation and force development induced by K(+)-depolarization. The kinase knockout also markedly reduced RLC phosphorylation and force development with acetylcholine which activates Ca(2+)-sensitizing signaling pathways.

CONCLUSIONS
MLCK and its phosphorylation of RLC are required physiologically for smooth muscle contraction and are essential for normal gastrointestinal motility.


It has long been recognized that quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in the X-ray light curves of accreting black hole and neutron star binaries have the potential to be powerful diagnostics of strong field gravity. However, this potential cannot be fulfilled without a working theoretical model, which has remained elusive. Perhaps, the most promising model associates the QPO with Lense–Thirring precession of the inner accretion flow, with the changes in viewing angle and Doppler boosting modulating the flux over the course of a precession cycle. Here, we consider the polarization signature of a precessing inner accretion flow. We use simple assumptions about the Comptonization process generating the emitted spectrum and take all relativistic effects into account, parallel transporting polarization vectors toward the observer along null geodesics in the Kerr metric. We find that both the degree of linear polarization and the polarization angle should be modulated on the QPO frequency. We calculate the predicted absolute rms variability amplitude of the polarization degree and angle for a specific model geometry. We find that it should be possible to detect these modulations for a reasonable fraction of parameter space with a future X-ray polarimeter such as NASA's Polarization Spectroscopic Telescope Array (the satellite incarnation of the balloon experiment X-Calibur).


Van fish is a fish that can live in soda water at pH 9-10. Van fishing area is a very important source of protein for the people. The variations in tissue metal levels according to gender and weight in Van fish (Alburnus tarichi, Güldenstadt 1814) were studied. This study was conducted for the first time in Van fish. Which it is very important for living organisms Calcium(Ca), magnesium(Mg), sodium(Na), potassium(K), cobalt(Co), chromium(Cr) and lithium(Li) elements levels in the muscle, liver, gill, gonad, and brain tissues of Van fish were investigated by using inductively-coupled plasma-optic emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The results were evaluated in two groups as macro-elements(Ca, Mg, Na, K) and trace-elements(Co, Cr, Li). Cobalt concentration in brain tissue was found to be higher than those in other tissues. Also, male fish had higher metal concentrations than female fish and their metal levels in brain and gonad tissues varied with their weight (P<0.05). This study shows that consumption of Van fish can be consumed to supply some necessary minerals required for a healthy nutrition.


Popular cinema is saturated with images and narratives of empire. With "Projecting Empire", Chapman and Cull have written the first major study of imperialism and cinema for over thirty years. This welcome text maps the history of empire cinema in both Hollywood and Britain through a serious of case studies of popular films including biopics, adventures, literary adaptations, melodramas, comedies and documentaries, from the 1930s and "The Four Feathers" to the present, with "Indiana Jones" and "Three Kings". The authors consider industry-wide trends and place the films in their wider cultural and historical contexts. Using primary sources that include private papers, they look at the presence of particular auteurs in the cinema of Imperialism, including Korda, Lean, Huston and Attenborough, as well as the actors who brought the stories to life, such as Elizabeth Taylor and George Clooney. At a time when imperialism has a new significance in the world, this book will fulfil the needs of students and interested filmgoers alike.


The last two decades have seen attempts to replace non biodegradable, synthetic food packaging films with alternatives made from biopolymers. The objective of the present work was to evaluate sensory quality of tea leaf and culinary tastemaker powder when sealed in pouches based on starch films. Films were developed from corn starch and a functional polysaccharide (FP) from amylose (AM), methylcellulose (MC), and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC), using a casting technique. Pouches were stored inside a secondary package (plastic jar) under ambient condition for 90 days. Sensory attributes of the stored food samples were evaluated (tea in liquor form) and the scores analysed by fuzzy logic. Results were compared with similarly stored foods but using market available poly-pouches as packaging material. For tea and tastemaker in general, the relative importance of the sensory attributes under consideration was assessed as:  aroma (Highly important) >taste (Highly important)>colour (Highly important) > strength (Important) for tea, and taste (Highly important)>aroma (Highly important)>colour (Important)>appearance (Important) for tastemaker. Among the three films that were developed, the highly important sensory attributes of aroma and taste were maintained as 'Very good' when the foods were packed in starch–HPMC/AM film. When the products were packed in market-available poly-pouches they exhibited similar attributes. With the exception of 'Very good' maintenance of the colour of tastemaker by the commercial pouch, irrespective of film and food, the colour and strength/appearance were retained in the 'Good'-'Satisfactory' range. The overall sensory score of tea was also maintained as 'Very good' in starch-HPMC film.