A field investigation was carried out at TNAU, Coimbatore, during 2015 to evaluate the performance of drip and micro sprinklers fertigation on groundnut. The experiment consisted of 11 treatments, three replications with two irrigation levels (100% and 75% PE), two fertigation levels (100% and 75% RDF), two irrigation systems (drip and micro sprinkler) and one surface irrigation with soil application of recommended doses of fertilizer (RDF). The use of drip and micro sprinkler system offers a great degree of control over water and fertilizer application (fertigation), which helps to meet the requirement of crops. The analysis of the data of moisture content was done before and after irrigation and soil moisture contour maps for longitudinal cross section of the soil moisture were plotted by using software 'SURFER'. It was observed that under drip and micro irrigation, the moisture content was near to the field capacity with little fluctuation in between before and after irrigation whereas, under surface irrigation from 48 hours after irrigation, there was sharp decline in soil moisture content with time. Significantly higher plant height (15.72, 30.61, 39.20 and 40.17 cm), leaf area index (LAI) (1.85, 2.95, 3.86 and 3.42) and dry weight per plant (7.09, 19.28, 26.55 and 27.48 g) were recorded at (30, 60, 90 days after sowing (DAS) and harvest, respectively) and pod yield (3495 kg ha-1) under drip irrigation at 100% PE with fertigation at 100% RDF with WSF, as compared to all other treatments and lowest under surface irrigation.


Abstract Using data from a survey of farm operators in two Virginia counties, the authors analyze farmers' soil conservation decisions. Results indicate that financial factors, including income and debt, are the most important influences on the sample farmers' use of conservation practices. Additional factors such as perception of erosion, education level, off-farm employment, and tenancy also influence conservation expenditures. Factors influencing conservation tillage acreage differ from those influencing expenditures for other conservation practices. In particular, age and race of the operator and on-farm erosion potential are significantly related to the use of conservation tillage but not other practices. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for conservation programs.


Solid solutions of GaxCoFe1-xCrO4 ( x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0) were obtained by solid state reactions in air at 1623K. X-ray and neutron powder diffraction measurements have been performed on the materials in order to characterize them. Rietveld refinement of neutron powder diffraction data showed cubic symmetry corresponding to the space group Fd-3m for all of the samples in the series. The results reveal that Ga has been substituted for Fe selectively. Ga exclusively occupies the octahedral site up to x = 0.8, while at x =1.0 a small amount of Ga (5%)enters into the tetrahedral site in the compound. Cr, Fe and Co cations are distributed between the tetrahedral 8 a and octahedral 16 d sites. Their proportion at each site varies with composition. The fractional coordinates of oxygen are almost the same in all the samples while the lattice parameter shows a slight decrease with increasing Ga content. The magnetic structure at room temperature was ferrimagnetic for the composition x = 0.0 and x = 0.2.


The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between cytosolic pH and vesicular pH during ATP depletion. Using digitized video microscopy and single, cultured rat hepatocytes, cytosolic pH and vesicular pH were quantitated by ratio imaging of BCECF (2′, 7′ biscarboxyethyl‐5, 6‐carboxyfluorescein) fluorescence and fluoresceindextran fluorescence, respectively. Basal value for cytosolic pH was 7.26 and basal value for vesicular pH was 4.86. During ATP depletion by metabolic inhibition with KCN plus iodoacetic acid or antimycin A, cytosolic pH decreased 0.71 units to 6.55. In separate experiments under identical conditions, vesicular pH increased 1.59 units to 6.45, suggesting that protons were leaking from acidic vesicles during ATP depletion. Fluorescein‐dextran fluorescence remained punctate, indicating that the rise in vesicular pH was due to an efflux of protons from vesicles and not loss of vesicle integrity. To determine whether efflux of protons from acidic vesicles can acidify cytosolic pH, we used two maneuvers that result in leakage of protons from acidic vesicles without significantly decreasing cellular ATP: (a) hypotonic stress in K+ free media and (b) exposure of the cells to the H+ ‐ATPase inhibitor NBD‐Cl. Both hypotonic stress and NBD‐Cl decreased cytosolic pH 0.4 units to 6.86 and increased vesicular pH 2.0 units to 6.76, resulting in near‐equilibration of cytosolic pH and vesicular pH. Thus an efflux of protons from intracellular compartments will acidify cytosolic pH of hepatocytes (pH 6.86), but not to the same degree as ATP depletion (pH 6.55). Calculations based on buffering capacities and relative volumes of the cytosol and acidic compartments suggest that efflux of protons from acidic compartments into the cytosol may account for up to 20% of the decrease of cytosolic pH during the ATP depletion of anoxia observed in hepatocytes. (HEPATOLOGY 1991;14:626–633.)


Rigid motion computation or estimation is a cornerstone in numerous fields. Attitude computation can be achieved by integrating the angular velocity measured by gyroscopes, the accuracy of which is crucially important for the dead-reckoning inertial navigation. The state-of-the-art attitude algorithms have unexceptionally relied on the simplified differential equation of the rotation vector to obtain the attitude. This paper proposes a functional iteration technique with the Rodrigues vector (named the RodFIter method) to analytically reconstruct the attitude from gyroscope measurements. The RodFIter method is provably exact in reconstructing the incremental attitude as long as the angular velocity is exact. Notably, the Rodrigues vector is analytically obtained and can be used to update the attitude over the considered time interval. The proposed method gives birth to an ultimate attitude algorithm scheme that can be naturally extended to the general rigid motion computation. It is extensively evaluated under the attitude coning motion and compares favorably in accuracy with the mainstream attitude algorithms. This paper is believed having eliminated the long-standing theoretical barrier in exact motion integration from inertial measurements.


Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate three dimensional cerebroplacental ratio (CPR 3D) using 3D power Doppler angiography (3D PDA) in the intrauterine monitoring of the growth restricted fetuses (IUGR). Methods: Cerebroplacental ratio (CPR), the ratio between PI of MCA and PI of umbilical artery (UA), is a better predictor for adverse outcome than a single vessel considered alone. We defined CPR 3DPDA as the ratio between vascular indices of a region of fetal brain (ROI) and the vascular indices of the placenta using 3DPDA methodology. The ROI evaluated were a 'frontal zone', sprinkled mainly by anterior cerebral artery, obtained tracing a contour passing through the anterior side of cavum septum pellucido (CSP) surrounding part of temporal and frontal bone. Then a second ROI obtained tracing a contour from temporal bones of the width of CSP included ('temporal zone') sprinkled by middle cerebral artery MCA. We considered 3DPDA vascular indexes (VI = vascularisation FI = flow, VFI = vascularisation and flow). We enrolled 33 IUGR fetuses and 81 adeguate for gestational age, as control cases (24–38 weeks). IUGR fetuses were divided into 2 groups: group 1, IUGR with normal flussimetry of umbilical artery (UA) and MCA; group 2, IUGR with abnormal UA-PI (mean > 2 SD) and abnormal MCA-PI (PI < 2 SD). We calculated the 2D CPR and the CPR 3D of the frontal and temporal cerebral zones for all vascular indexes. Results: Values of 2D CPR were in accordance with the expected ones. CPR 3D, applying VI and VFI, both in frontal and temporal zone demonstrated a statistically significant different values compared with control cases. Conclusions: CPR 3D can be considered a new parameter: it demonstrates the vascular redistribution in frontal and temporal zones during the 'brain sparing effect' in IUGR fetuses also in the group of IUGR fetuses without bidimensional pathological flussimetry.


Introduction: Cognitive dysfunction is prevalent in depressive as well as manic episodes in individuals with Bipolar Disorder (BD). Even more, after symptom remission, many individuals with BD experience persisting cognitive impairment also in euthymic periods, leading to high illness burden and low quality of life. According to a recent research in animals and healthy humans, microbiota may influence cognitive processes via the brain-gut axis. A strategy to examine the role of the microbiota in different diseases is the intake of supplements that modulate the gut microbiome. The aim of this pilot study was to analyze the impact of probiotic supplements on cognitive parameters in a cohort of euthymic individuals with BD, receiving daily probiotic treatment over a time period of 3 months. Methods: A total of 20 euthymic individuals with BD received probiotic supplement over a time period of 3 months and completed a cognitive test battery at 3 time points (t1 at time of inclusion, t2 after one month and t3 after 3 months of probiotic intake). Results: We found a significant improvement of performance concerning attention and psychomotor processing speed measured with the Digit Symbol Test after one (t2) as well as after 3 months (t3) of treatment (F = 8.60; η2 = 0.49, p < 0.01). Furthermore, executive function measured with the TMT-B, increased significantly over 3 months (F = 3.68; η2 = 0.29, p < 0.05). Conclusion: The results confirm the hypotheses that probiotic supplement might help stable individuals with BD to improve the cognitive function, which in turn might lead to better psychosocial, occupational, work and financial functioning. Nevertheless, the idea of this potential new treatment is challenging because of the variety of the human's gut microbiota.


Berg, A. I. Life satisfaction in late life: Markers and predictors of level and change among 80+ year olds. Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The overall aim of the thesis was to examine within-individual and between-individual changes in life satisfaction in the oldest-old using different time metrics and to study life satisfaction within the context of psychosocial and health-related variables. Data were obtained from the Swedish OCTO-Twin Study of individuals aged 80 and older who were able to complete the Life Satisfaction Index-Z (LSI-Z). In Study I the association between life satisfaction and scales and questions regarding demographics, self-rated overall health and medically based health, functional capacity (instrumental and personal activities of daily living), cognitive function, depression, locus of control, and social network was investigated. Analyses indicated that social network quality, self-rated overall health, sense of being in control of one's life, widowhood, and depressive symptoms were associated with life satisfaction. A gender-specific pattern was found; self-rated overall health and depressive symptoms were related to life satisfaction in women, whereas widowhood was significantly associated with lower satisfaction among men. In Study II the associates identified in Study I; perceived quality of social network, self-rated overall health, depressive symptoms, locus of control, and widowhood, in addition to financial satisfaction and the personality traits neuroticism and extraversion, were investigated as predictors of change in life satisfaction across four measurements over a 6-year period. Growth curve analysis showed a fairly consistent significant linear decline in life satisfaction. Certain markers predicted decrease in life satisfaction; the loss of spouse, particularly in men, and higher levels of depressive symptoms. Results suggest that life satisfaction is influenced by changes in psychosocial variables although there is an overall stability in level of life satisfaction in the oldest old. In Study III different time metrics were examined in the study of late life changes in life satisfaction. Findings of age-graded stability of life satisfaction, despite health-related losses distinctive of the oldest old, suggest that mortality-related processes could be more influential than chronological age. The study investigated changes in life satisfaction at 4 measurement occasions over a 6-year period using two competing parameterizations of time, chronological age and time-to-death. Growth curve analyses showed a linear decrease in both time-structures, but the time-to-death metric revealed a significantly better model fit. Notably, age, gender, SES, years to death, level or change in overall load of disease and self-rated health did not predict time-to-death related changes. Lower overall disease load was, however, related to higher levels of life satisfaction. In individuals with higher disease load, an external locus of control was related to lower satisfaction with life. Among those who rated their health as poor, a higher level of neuroticism was related to lower life satisfaction. The results suggest that a time-to-death metric was superior to chronological age to predict change in life satisfaction. In Study IV the relationships between life satisfaction and 25 specific chronic diagnoses were investigated. Problems with sleep, urinary incontinence and stroke were significantly related to life satisfaction in both men and women. Among men, angina pectoris and eczema were related to lower life satisfaction, whereas among women peptic ulcer was related to lower life satisfaction. The results confirm previous findings of a weak relationship between medically based measures of health and life satisfaction. However, health care and future studies of health and life satisfaction need to recognize and address that the meaning and consequences of various diseases may differ among individuals and that gender differences should be considered in this context. Overall findings from the thesis demonstrate a homogenous decline in life satisfaction in the oldest-old. Despite health-related losses, social network and personal resources accounted for substantial inter-individual differences in life satisfaction. The thesis demonstrated the need to analyse associates of life satisfaction at the intra-individual level and within a broader context of psychosocial and health-related variables also in late life.


We present novel, analytical, equilibrium-chemistry formulae for the abundances of molecules in hot exoplanetary atmospheres that include the carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen networks. Our hydrogen-dominated solutions involve acetylene (C2H2), ammonia (NH3), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ethylene (C2H4), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), methane (CH4), molecular nitrogen (N2), and water (H2O). By considering only the gas phase, we prove that the mixing ratio of carbon monoxide is governed by a decic equation (polynomial equation of 10 degrees). We validate our solutions against numerical calculations of equilibrium chemistry that perform Gibbs free energy minimization and demonstrate that they are accurate at the level for temperatures from 500 to 3000 K. In hydrogen-dominated atmospheres, the ratio of abundances of HCN to CH4 is nearly constant across a wide range of carbon-to-oxygen ratios, which makes it a robust diagnostic of the metallicity in the gas phase. Our validated formulae allow for the convenient benchmarking of chemical kinetics codes and provide an efficient way of enforcing chemical equilibrium in atmospheric retrieval calculations.


ABSTRACT Based on the concept of directional solidification, several experimental models for the casting process of Sn-10wt%Pb alloy with different magnetic field arrangements are built in this work and the effects of the magnetic field on the solidification morphology are investigated. According to the experimental results, it has been found that the water-cooling chill located at the bottom of the casting mold can supply the sufficient temperature gradient to reach directional solidification. From the microstructure observation, the casting can be divided into three zones, the chill, columnar, and equiaxed zones. In the case of directional solidification with the lateral magnetic field and cyclic magnetic field, there are coarser columnar structures than without a magnetic field, but one obtains thinner columnar structures with a longitudinal magnetic field. This study can facilitate the successful and optimum utilization of the magnetic field in the solidification process of Sn-10 wt%Pb Alloy.


The role of the property sector to the national economy is very important. Not only its role in absorbing labor but also contributions to improving national economic growth. Great relevance to other sectors of the economy also makes the property sector requires strict protection and supervision of various parties, especially the government. It aims to prevent systemic risk due to the fall of the property sector to other economic sectors. Risks and uncertainties always occur in property development. The risk of an effect on every stage of the process of the development of ideas, feasibility studies, commitment to the construction and operation phase. The risk management process is generally a continuous and iterative process, even every kind of development is different and unique properties. This study aims to identify sources of risk, risk factors, the level of hazard, vulnerability level, the level of capacity and determine the priority risks in property development process. Steps being taken in this study include: the identification of sources of risk, the stage of identification of risk factors, the stage of identification of the level of hazard, the stage of identification of the level of vulnerability, the stage of identification of the level of capacity, the stage of risk analysis and risk priority index ( IPR). Conceptually, the proposed method in this study refers to the key measures of risk management that includes identification, qualitative risk analysis in the process of property development. Data collected through interviews and questionnaires by resource persons involved in property development in the tourism area Mandalika Resort Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara Province. Results of research on the development of the area Mandalika Resort Lombok can be concluded that the stages of development that are most at risk is the stage of an idea (IPR = 0.152), followed by the stage of feasibility (IPR = 0.067), then the commitment stage (IPR = 0,036), construction (IPR = 0.026) and stage management (IPR = 0.010). The results of this assessment indicate that the idea stage is the stage of development of the property are recommended to get treatment or priority risk response. Concluded the process of property development in the region Mandalika Resort Lombok is not worth continuing before risk mitigation that is unacceptable


Time-resolved spectra, decay kinetics, degree of polarization of the luminescence and transient optical absorption induced by irradiation of BeO with an electron, synchrotron and subsequent laser pulses have been studied. It is found that the two pairs of slowly and fastly decaying intrinsic luminescence bands at 6.7, 4.9 and 4.4 eV are associated with the two different types of the self-trapped excitons. The 1.7 eV transient optical absorption band and the ultra-violet absorption band at 3.6 eV are attributed to the electron and hole components of the self-trapped excitons, respectively. The transient optical absorption band with decay time of 6.5 ms is found to be due to the self-trapped holes. The models of self-trapped excitons and holes are discussed on the basis of the present experimental results.


OBJECTIVES
(1) to measure levels of tear eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) in patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC); (2) to verify any correlation between ECP and the severity of the disease; (3) to verify the effect of different topical therapies on the levels of tear ECP; (4) to investigate the activity of histamine degrading enzymes in tears and plasma of VKC patients.

METHODS
ECP was measured by RIA in tears from 23 VKC patients before and after therapy, and from seven controls. Tear cytology, ocular signs and symptoms were also evaluated before and after treatment. Histamine was measured by ELISA in both plasma and tears from 19 VKC patients and six age-matched controls, in both acid-treated (no enzyme activity) and untreated (enzyme activity) samples.

RESULTS
(1) tear ECP levels were significantly higher in VKC patients than in healthy controls; (2) tear ECP levels showed a significant correlation to signs (p <0.005) and symptoms (p <0.001) of the disease; (3) tear ECP was reduced by both 2% cyclosporine and 0.1% dexamethasone; (4) tear and plasma histaminase activity, measured by the ratio of histamine in treated to untreated samples, were significantly lower in VKC patients compared to controls (p <0.0001 and p <0.001, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS
Tear ECP levels reflect the clinical status of VKC patients. The measurement of ECP may prove to be a useful objective tool in evaluating allergic conjunctivitis and the effectiveness of specific treatments. Moreover, VKC patients show a significantly impaired histaminase capability, at both the local and systemic level. This dysfunction may exacerbate the effects of local histamine release in the course of the disease.


The raw information of a typical human genome has been generated at 2001 by Human Genome Project. However, since there are a huge amount of data, it is still a big challenge for people to understand them, and extract useful structure and function information, such as the function of genes, the structure of proteins encoded by gene, and the function of proteins. Understanding these information is crucial for us to improve longevity and quality of life, and has a lot of applications, such as genomic medicine, drug design, and etc. In the meantime, machine learning techniques are growing rapidly and are good at processing large datasets, but many of them are limited for the impact on larger real world problems. In this thesis, three major contributions are described. First of all, we generate gene-gene interaction network from human genome conformation data by Hi-C technique, and the relationship of gene function and gene-gene interaction has been discovered. Second, we introduce a novel framework SMISS, which uses new source of information from gene-gene interaction network and uses a new way to integrate difference sources of information for protein function prediction. Finally, we introduce a tool called DeepQA which use machine learning technique to evaluate how well is the predicted protein structure, and a method MULTICOM for protein structure prediction. All of these protein structure and function prediction methods are available as software and web servers which are freely available to the scientific communities. xvii Chapter


The exodus of men is the most opted strategy adopted by rural households to diversify income and reduce risks associated with agriculture. Migration plays a very important role in reducing the liquidity and credit constraints of rural households in India. Data shows there are roughly 30 per cent internal migrants in the country. Despite the existence of studies on patterns and determinants of migration in various out-migrating states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala etc., literature on the same in States with high in-migration are scarce. This article makes an attempt to comprehensively look into patterns and determinants of in-migration in three states. We have used the unit level data on migration (NSSO 64th Round) and tabulated it with suitable statistical techniques. To have a better understanding of determinants of in-migration in the states of Maharashtra, Delhi and West Bengal, a binary logistic regression model have been employed. We found that the majority of male migrants in these states is from within the state and but from different districts. Another interesting finding is that determining factors for migration vary across states. Social group, education, age, monthly expenditure are significant factors in determining migration decisions.


Objective: In patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), hydroxychloroquine prevents disease flares and damage accrual and facilitates the response to mycophenolate mofetil in those with renal involvement. A study was undertaken to determine whether hydroxychloroquine also exerts a protective effect on survival. Methods: Patients with SLE from the multiethnic LUMINA (LUpus in MInorities: NAture vs nurture) cohort were studied. A case-control study was performed within the context of this cohort in which deceased patients (cases) were matched for disease duration (within 6 months) with alive patients (controls) in a proportion of 3:1. Survival was the outcome of interest. Propensity scores were derived by logistic regression to adjust for confounding by indication as patients with SLE with milder disease manifestations are more likely to be prescribed hydroxychloroquine. A conditional logistic regression model was used to estimate the risk of death and hydroxychloroquine use with and without the propensity score as the adjustment variable. Results: There were 608 patients, of whom 61 had died (cases). Hydroxychloroquine had a protective effect on survival (OR 0.128 (95% CI 0.054 to 0.301 for hydroxychloroquine alone and OR 0.319 (95% CI 0.118 to 0.864) after adding the propensity score). As expected, the propensity score itself was also protective. Conclusions: Hydroxychloroquine, which overall is well tolerated by patients with SLE, has a protective effect on survival which is evident even after taking into consideration the factors associated with treatment decisions. This information is of importance to all clinicians involved in the care of patients with SLE.


Abstract This introduction reviews the contributions this collection of articles makes to understanding migration, social reproduction and social protection. Migration necessarily involves reconfigurations of family relations and these entail changes in the patterning of social (in)security. Our expansive interpretation of the concepts of social reproduction and social protection situate the reorganisation of gendered family lives as integral to the migration–development nexus. Life-course thinking informs analysis of how migrants 'do family' and what this means for gender, identity and (in)security. The collection explores how 'care deficits' are managed, both discursively through the negotiation of gendered ideologies about gender identity and the family, and through the everyday practice of social reproduction. The resulting reorganisation of social security involves taking on new risks and vulnerabilities for migrants and their families. For both internal and international migrants the challenges involved in securing social reproduction are powerfully shaped by welfare and migratory regimes and raise important questions about the relationship between social protection and broader social policy and citizenship issues.


In this paper we propose a novel spinning named semi-openend ring spinning. To discuss the theory, an infinitesimal cylinderchained fiber model is established, the differential Equations of the infinitesimal cylinder at different moment are established and revolved by Runge-Kutta integration. The trajectory of a fiber in vortex is simulated by a self-designed MATLAB procedure. The computation results coincide well with the experimental results. When the fiber bundle passing by the front nip is affected by the vortex and resulted into a partially strengthened and wrapped structure, it could be subsequently twisted with less twists by traveler and ring, thus the productivity could be potentially increased.


beta-Carotene 15,15'-dioxygenase catalyzes the conversion of beta-carotene into two molecules of retinal. Although this enzyme reaction is the first step in providing animals with vitamin A, there is little knowledge about its regulation in mammals. In order to facilitate studies on this enzyme, we have developed a rapid and simple assay method for the measurement of retinal formation by beta-carotene dioxygenase. All-trans-beta-carotene solubilized in aqueous solution with Tween 40 was incubated with an enzyme preparation of rat tissue at 37 degrees C for 30 min. Then, the reaction was stopped with a formaldehyde treatment followed by addition of acetonitrile. After centrifugation, the supernatant was directly subjected to high-pressure liquid chromatographic analysis of retinal. This assay method did not involve any vigorous extraction or concentration procedure. All-trans- and 13-cis-retinals, major geometric isomers found in the reaction mixture, were coeluted at 7.5 min, but they were well separated from other possible metabolites of beta-carotene such as retinoic acid, retinol, and apocarotenals. Moreover, the recovery of retinal reached more than 93% and the detection limit of standard retinal was 0.2 pmol/0.2 ml of reaction mixture. Enzyme activities of rat tissues were 694, 180, 16, 8, and approx 1 pmol retinal/mg protein/h in the intestine, liver, brain, lung, and kidney homogenates, respectively.


Under the background of modern industrialization, the traditional process bursts out new vitality with unique hand-painted art taste and traditional culture connotation. On the basis of absorbing the essence of traditional handicrafts, in this paper the traditional silk hand-painted fabrics is focused. Its artistic character, fashion and practicability are discussed respectively. The second design methods based on modern science and art concept retain the original aesthetic characteristic, and furthermore do innovation in process, pattern and fabric design. The research results would be helpful to practical production design and satisfy the relative market.


Discussion and author's closure of paper 45–58, by J. B. Whitehead and J. M. Kopper, presented at the AIEE winter technical meeting, New York, N. Y., January 22–26, 1945, and published in AIEE TRANSACTIONS, 1945, April section, pages 171–7.


This paper aims at prompting a discussion on the need to measure the financial capability of non-traditional minority ethnic business owners in Scotland in order to enhance the provision of business support. This would be achieved through a targeted 'needs based' approach that offers a better understanding of the viability of their enterprises and the most efficient use of available funds to meet their objectives. A literature review will identify current research on financial capability focusing on definitions and measurement, methodologies, questionnaires, and findings. The review will also help to develop a framework for a model of business owner financial capability that will be tested in current research being conducted on Latin American business owners in Scotland. Discussion and research should provide a starting point in the research of mechanisms to efficiently deliver financial support to minority ethnic businesses, and the paper aims to encourage contributions and participation to build an understanding of financial capability in the context of minority ethnic businesses. This discussion has profound implications to the provision of business support and economic growth in Scotland: it entails structuring knowledge based dialogues between consultants and the beneficiaries of sponsored backing to promote mutually beneficial outcomes to financial decisions.


OBJECTIVE: To review current data about the management of agitated or aggressive patients. METHOD: Through a search of databases (PubMed and Web of Science), empirical articles and reviews about pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for the management of agitation and /or violence were identified. RESULTS: The non-pharmacological management of agitation/aggression encompasses the organization of space and appropriateness of behavior and attitudes of health professionals. The main goal of pharmacological management is rapid tranquilization aimed at reducing symptoms of agitation and aggression, without the induction of deep or prolonged sedation, keeping the patient calm, but completely or partially responsive. Polypharmacy should be avoided, and doses of medications should be as small as possible, adjusted according to clinical need. Intramuscular administration of medication should be considered as a last resort and the options for the use of antipsychotics and benzodiazepines are described and commented. The physical management by means of mechanical restraint may be necessary in violent situations where there is risk to the patient or staff, and must meet strict criteria. CONCLUSION: Procedures must be carefully implemented to avoid physical and emotional complications for patients and staff.


Plant roots co-inhabit the soil with a diverse consortium of microbes of which a number attempt to enter symbiosis with the plant. These microbes may be pathogenic, mutualistic or commensal. Hence, the health and survival of plants is heavily reliant on their ability to perceive different microbial lifestyles and respond appropriately. Emerging research suggests that there is a pivotal role for plant root secondary metabolites in responding to microbial colonization. However, it is largely unknown if plants are able to differentiate between microbes of different lifestyles and respond differently during the earliest stages of pre-symbiosis (i.e. prior to physical contact). By studying, here, plant responses to a range of microbial isolates, we questioned: (1) if individual microbes of different lifestyles and species caused alterations to the plant root metabolome during pre-symbiosis, and (2) if these early metabolite responses correlate with the outcome of the symbiotic interaction in later phases of colonization. We compared the changes of the root tip metabolite profile of the model tree Eucalyptus grandis during pre-symbiosis with two isolates of a pathogenic fungus (Armillaria luteobubalina), one isolate of a pathogenic oomycete (Phytophthora cinnamomi), two isolates of an incompatible mutualistic fungus (Suillus granulatus), and six isolates of a compatible mutualistic fungus (Pisolithus microcarpus). Untargeted metabolite profiling revealed predominantly positive root metabolite responses at the pre-symbiosis stage, prior to any observable phenotypical changes of the root tips. Metabolite responses in the host tissue that were specific to each microbial species were identified. A deeper analysis of the root metabolomic profiles during pre-symbiotic contact with six strains of P. microcarpus showed a connection between these early metabolite responses in the root with later colonization success. Further investigation using isotopic tracing revealed a portion of metabolites found in root tips originated from the fungus. RNA-sequencing also showed that the plant roots undergo complementary transcriptomic reprogramming in responses to the fungal stimuli. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the early metabolite responses of plant roots are partially selective towards the lifestyle of the interacting microbe, and that these responses can be crucial in determining the outcome of the interaction.


Computer-supported learning is an increasingly important form of study since it allows for independent learning and individualized instruction. In this paper, we discuss a novel approach to developing an intelligent tutoring system for teaching textbook-style mathematical proofs. We characterize the particularities of the domain and discuss common ITS design models. Our approach is motivated by phenomena found in a corpus of tutorial dialogs that were collected in a Wizard-of-Oz experiment. We show how an intelligent tutor for textbook-style mathematical proofs can be built on top of an adapted assertion-level proof assistant by reusing representations and proof search strategies originally developed for automated and interactive theorem proving. The resulting prototype was successfully evaluated on a corpus of tutorial dialogs and yields good results.


ABSTRACT A psychoeducational intervention (Keep your brain fit!) was designed for the middle-aged and older working population. The intervention focuses on increasing knowledge and awareness about cognitive ageing and teaching strategies to cope with cognitive changes. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the e-health intervention in terms of subjective cognitive functioning. As secondary aims, objective cognitive functioning and psychological well-being were also measured. A randomised controlled trial that included people aged 40 to 65 years was conducted. A maximum of 4 weeks was allowed to complete the intervention. The outcome measures were obtained from an online test battery that was administered at baseline, post-test and at 4-week follow-up. A total of 376 participants completed the whole study. After the intervention, the experimental group reported more feelings of stability concerning memory functioning and perceived greater locus of control over memory compared to the control group. These effects were maintained at the 4-week follow-up. Taking into account the relatively low costs and easy accessibility of this e-health intervention, we consider the programme to be a valuable contribution to public healthcare interventions for middle-aged and older adults.


Over the last several decades developing countries, especially in Asia, have undergone large scale rapid urbanization, impacting their developmental patterns. Compounded with increased economic prosperity and social mobility attracting individuals and companies, to urban centres, has led to severe administrative challenges that can negatively affect the citizens, nation, and environment. In efforts to mitigate those adverse side effects cities have instituted, or citizens naturally adopted, a variety of strategies to address those issues. These strategies result in the typologies of rapid urbanization that are most prevalent in developing Asian cities. By focusing on Asian and Chinese cities, using shanghai as a test case, this research proposes several major typological categories associated with rapidly urbanizing areas. Shanghai's rapid urbanization has been shaped by seven main typologies of urban growth and expansion, since the implementation of China's economic growth policies and its resurgence as an influential global city. Spatial typological patterns of urban growth in Shanghai are analyzed to explain how the economic prosperity and social mobility have been managed. Typological adaptations learned from the historical urban expansion provide the subsequent strategies for future sustainable development in a rapidly urbanizing area.


The Academy of Pediatric Physical Therapy Research Summit IV issued a Call to Action for community-wide intensification of a research enterprise in inquiries related to pediatric brain injury and motor disability by way of technological integration. But the barriers can seem high, and the pathways to integrative clinical research can seem poorly marked. Here, we answer the Call by providing framework to 3 objectives: (1) instrumentation, (2) biometrics and study design, and (3) data analytics. We identify emergent cases where this Call has been answered and advocate for others to echo the Call both in highly visible physical therapy venues and in forums where the audience is diverse.


A three-dimensional (3D) model has been developed for simulation of the physical properties of an electrically driven shape memory alloy (SMA) microactuator used for control of a microvalve. The mechanical behavior is decribed by a two phase macromodel taking into account material and geometrical nonlinearity. The simulation makes use of mechanical, electrical and thermal finite element programs, which are coupled by a program for management of the simulation sequence as well as the exchange of data between the different finite element programs. Mechanical tests confirm the simulated forces and displacements. From the pressure-dependent gas flow in the valve an effective heat transfer coefficient is determined to simulate the convective heat exchange. The simulated heat transfer times are in quantitative agreement with experimentally determined time constants of the microvalve.


Objective To determine the microRNA (miR) signature in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) T helper (Th)17 cells. Methods Interleukin (IL)-17A-producing CD4+ T cells from patients with AS and healthy controls were FACS-sorted for miR sequencing and qPCR validation. miR-10b function was determined by miR mimic expression followed by cytokine measurement, transcriptome analysis, qPCR and luciferase assays. Results AS Th17 cells exhibited a miR signature characterised by upregulation of miR-155-5p, miR-210-3p and miR-10b. miR-10b has not been described previously in Th17 cells and was selected for further characterisation. miR-10b is transiently induced in in vitro differentiated Th17 cells. Transcriptome, qPCR and luciferase assays suggest that MAP3K7 is targeted by miR-10b. Both miR-10b overexpression and MAP3K7 silencing inhibited production of IL-17A by both total CD4 and differentiating Th17 cells. Conclusions AS Th17 cells have a specific miR signature and upregulate miR-10b in vitro. Our data suggest that miR-10b is upregulated by proinflammatory cytokines and may act as a feedback loop to suppress IL-17A by targeting MAP3K7. miR-10b is a potential therapeutic candidate to suppress pathogenic Th17 cell function in patients with AS.


»Politische Theorie des Mensch-Tier-Verhältnisses. Umrisse eines neuen Forschungsprogramms«. Animal Politics, i.e. the study of human-animal relations in Political Theory, is a relative newcomer to the portfolio of Animal Studies. While other academic disciplines, from Cultural Studies and Moral Philosophy to History, Sociology and Law, have all established highly visible branches of Animal Studies in recent decades, Political Theory has struggled to carve out a distinctive approach. In this contribution, we identify five features highlighting the fact that human-animal relations are conceived from within Political Theory, distinguishing Animal Politics from Animal Ethics and Animal Rights. Animal Politics is concerned with the political subjection of humans and animals (1) and with the existence, nature and justification of animals' coercive claims (2). It discusses the political inclusion of animals in human polities and the claims of 'sovereign' animal collectives (3). Animal Politics develops normative designs with a view to their practical, non-ideal realisation (4), and, finally, reflects its own status as a body of discourse within democratic societies (5). In the final part of the contribution, we present the contributions to this HSR Forum.


The present thesis is a response to Kripke's sceptical argument for the conclusion that there are no facts of the matter concerning what any speaker means by any expression. This conclusion gives rise a paradox: if true, it is meaningless, and if it is meaningless it cannot be true. I focus on two main topics. The first of these is the putative normativity of meaning, which is taken by Kripke to provide an a priori reason to reject any putative naturalistic or reductive theory of meaning. The second is the naturalisation of meaning. The sceptical challenge is ultimately to account for semantic facts in terms of non-semantic ones. It seems that this would be achieved through a successful naturalisation of the semantic relations.

 I argue against the claim that meaning is normative in any sense that could provide an a priori argument against factualism about meaning. I then consider the most prominent naturalistic responses to Kripke's argument and find all of these to be unsatisfactory. I then attempt to provide a partial dissolution of the sceptical paradox by arguing that there are reasons to expect naturalising project in semantics to fail other than the truth of Kripke's sceptical conclusion. First, I contend that we are not in a position to know what the eventual resources of a naturalised semantics would be. Since our current science is incomplete and potentially subject to revision, it would be a methodological mistake to view any putative naturalising base for semantic facts as metaphysically fixed. Second, I argue that the semantic facts themselves do not constitute a tractable domain for scientific theorising. I conclude that we should neither be too perturbed by, nor draw sceptical conclusions too swiftly from, the failure of such naturalising projects.


We study the linear subspace fitting problem in the overparameterized setting, where the estimated subspace can perfectly interpolate the training examples. Our scope includes the least-squares solutions to subspace fitting tasks with varying levels of supervision in the training data (i.e., the proportion of input-output examples of the desired low-dimensional mapping) and orthonormality of the vectors defining the learned operator. This flexible family of problems connects standard, unsupervised subspace fitting that enforces strict orthonormality with a corresponding regression task that is fully supervised and does not constrain the linear operator structure. This class of problems is defined over a supervision-orthonormality plane, where each coordinate induces a problem instance with a unique pair of supervision level and softness of orthonormality constraints. We explore this plane and show that the generalization errors of the corresponding subspace fitting problems follow double descent trends as the settings become more supervised and less orthonormally constrained.


Abstract

New flexible-form and semi-parametric autoregressive non-linear count models for panel data are developed to analyse the spread and containment of the COVID-19 pandemic. The models are based on a discrete time form of the SIR model. These methods lead naturally to estimators of the infection process and daily reproduction numbers by jurisdiction. Two semi-parametric versions of the reproduction numbers are developed corresponding to currently popular parametric estimators. The estimators are applied to a large international data set to estimate these parameters for 221 jurisdictions at both national and subnational levels.

JEL classification numbers: C14, C23, I18.
Keywords: COVID-19, Reproduction Numbers, Panel Data, Count Models, Semi-parametric Approach.


The precast concrete roofing slab produced from the local factory were below the Iraqi standard requirement (NO 1107-1988). This study has been made to improve the production of precast concrete slabs by using(propylene – ethylene copolymer grid )which is a waste material produced from the base of polymer boxes . The depended mix of the precast concrete slab in the local factory did not use the correct proportion ,tested mixes were redesigned and prepared to achieve the limited requirements . Propylene – ethylene copolymer grid was used to have better results، less costs, with protection of the environment from pollution ,where there is difficulty to remove it even when it is fully exposed to severe weather conditions .the manufactured slabs had dimensions of (800×800×40)mm and testing program extended to 60 days of age and comprised ,breaking loads, water absorption ,and impact resistance of concrete. The total number of manufactured samples was (55 slabs). The test results indicated that the weigh ted mix proportions ((1:1.5:2.45) cement :sand : gravel ) with w/c=0.41 , superplasticiz er(0.75 liter/100 kg of cement )and propylene –ethylene copolymer grid with a dimension (600×600)mm enhances the mechanical properties of concrete . It increased the breaking load by 81 % compared to ordinary production. while the impact resistance increased to 26 blows compared to 3 blows for the ordinary production. However, the polymer grid decreased the width and depth of cracks and maintained the integrity of the slabs after failure .


This article is concerned with the role of committees in collective decision making processes in a world where agents must be motivated to collect information. Committees improve the quality of decision making by providing information and by coordinating the collection of information. We address two types of questions. First, how does the composition of a committee affect final decisions? Second, what is the optimal composition of a committee from the decision maker's point of view? As to the latter question, we show that the cost of information collection plays an important role. If this cost is low, then the preferences of the committee members should be aligned to those of the decision maker. Members with similar preferences as the decision maker collect the proper pieces of information. Moreover, manipulation of information does not occur if the preferences of the decision maker and the members are consonant. If the cost of searching is high, then the committee should be composed of members with polarized preferences. Outliers have a strong incentive to search for information.


Background: Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains are considered as one of the most important widespread food-borne pathogens, which cause diarrhea and life threatening diseases, such as hemolytic uremic syndrome, in humans. More recently, the STEC strains have also been incriminated to cause diarrhea and hemorrhagic colitis in calves; enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) also causes diarrhea in neonate animals. Objectives: This study aimed to study the prevalence and antibacterial resistance patterns of STEC and EPEC in fecal samples from diarrheic calves in Mashhad and Garmsar districts, Iran. Materials and Methods: A total of 115 fecal samples were collected from diarrheic animals, 75 from Mashhad and 40 from Garmsar districts. A total of 146 E. coli isolates were obtained from culture and subjected to multiplex-PCR assay targeting stx1, stx2, eaeA and ehly virulence genes. The antibacterial resistance patterns of the virulence-positive isolates were determined using disc diffusion method. Results: Eight samples (6.9%) carried the strains with positive results for at least one of the tested virulence genes. Five samples (4.3%) contained the stx-positive strains (STEC) and three (2.6%) carried the eaeA-positive and stx-negative strains, which were categorized as EPEC. In nine virulence-positive E. coli isolates, stx1 (n = 6) was the predominant virulence gene, followed by ehly (n = 5), eae (n = 4), and stx2 (n = 2). Antibacterial resistance patterns of virulence-positive isolates were also determined and nine resistance profiles were discriminated; higher rates of resistance were observed in isolates from Mashhad. Conclusions: This study indicated that other pathologic factors might play a more important role in calf diarrhea in the studied areas, but public health significance of these strains should not be overlooked.


We have constructed isotype-specific subclones from the 3' untranslated regions of alpha-skeletal, alpha-cardiac, beta-cytoskeletal, and gamma-cytoskeletal actin cDNAs. These clones have been used as hybridization probes to assay the number and organization of these actin isotypes in the human genome. Hybridization of these probes to human genomic actin clones (Engel et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 78:4674-4678, 1981; Engel et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 2:674-684, 1982) has allowed the unambiguous assignment of the genomic clones to isotypically defined actin subfamilies. In addition, only one isotype-specific probe hybridizes to each actin-containing gene, with a single exception. This result suggests that the multiple actin genes in the human genome are not closely linked. Genomic DNA blots probed with these subclones under stringent conditions demonstrate that the alpha-skeletal and alpha-cardiac muscle actin genes are single copy, whereas the cytoskeletal actins, beta and gamma, are present in multiple copies in the human genome. Most of the actin genes of other mammals are cytoplasmic as well. These observations have important implications for the evolution of multigene families.


We propose a flexible method for estimating luminosity functions (LFs) based on kernel density estimation (KDE), the most popular nonparametric density estimation approach developed in modern statistics, to overcome issues surrounding binning of LFs. One challenge in applying KDE to LFs is how to treat the boundary bias problem, since astronomical surveys usually obtain truncated samples predominantly due to the flux-density limits of surveys. We use two solutions, the transformation KDE method (φ̂t), and the transformation-reflection KDE method (φ̂tr) to reduce the boundary bias. We develop a new likelihood cross-validation criterion for selecting optimal bandwidths, based on which, the posterior probability distribution of bandwidth and transformation parameters for φ̂t and φ̂tr are derived within a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling procedure. The simulation result shows that φ̂t and φ̂tr perform better than the traditional binned method, especially in the sparse data regime around the flux-limit of a survey or at the bright-end of the LF. To further improve the performance of our KDE methods, we develop the transformation-reflection adaptive KDE approach (φ̂tra). Monte Carlo simulations suggest that it has a good stability and reliability in performance, and is around an order of magnitude more accurate than using the binned method. By applying our adaptive KDE method to a quasar sample, we find that it achieves estimates comparable to the rigorous determination by a previous work, while making far fewer assumptions about the LF. The KDE method we develop has the advantages of both parametric and non-parametric methods.


We present MUSE, a software framework for combining existing computational tools from different astrophysical domains into a single multi-physics, multi-scale application. MUSE facilitates the coupling of existing codes written in different languages by providing inter-language tools and by specifying an interface between each module and the framework that represents a balance between generality and computational efficiency. This approach allows scientists to use combinations of codes to solve highly-coupled problems without the need to write new codes for other domains or significantly alter their existing codes. MUSE currently incorporates the domains of stellar dynamics, stellar evolution and stellar hydrodynamics for studying generalized stellar systems. We have now reached a "Noah's Ark" milestone, with (at least) two available numerical solvers for each domain. MUSE can treat multi-scale and multi-physics systems in which the time- and size-scales are well separated, like simulating the evolution of planetary systems, small stellar associations, dense stellar clusters, galaxies and galactic nuclei. In this paper we describe two examples calculated using MUSE: the merger of two galaxies and an N -body simulation with live stellar evolution. In addition, we demonstrate an implementation of MUSE on a distributed computer which may also include special-purpose hardware, such as GRAPEs or GPUs, to accelerate computations. The current MUSE code base is publicly available as open source at http://muse.li.


This article that looks at the dominant mode of representing political violence in Ireland in the media in Britain. The article has an historical focus that looks specifically at 19th century images and contrasts these with late twentieth century representations.


1. Whole‐cell and perforated patch recording techniques were used to examine the activation, deactivation and inactivation of the time‐dependent hyperpolarization‐activated inward currents (Ih) in isolated superior colliculus‐projecting (SCP) neurons from rat primary visual cortex. 2. Examination of inward current waveforms revealed the presence of two kinetically distinct components of Ih: one that activates with a time constant of the order of hundreds of milliseconds, and one that activates with a time constant of the order of seconds. We have termed these Ih,f and Ih,s, to denote the fast and slow components, respectively, of current activation. The time constants of activation of both Ih,f and Ih,s decrease with increasing membrane hyperpolarization. 3. Following the onset of hyperpolarizing voltage steps, a delay is evident prior to time‐dependent inward current activation. This delay is voltage dependent and decreases with increasing membrane hyperpolarization. 4. The sigmoidal inward current waveforms are well fitted by the sum of two exponentials in which the faster term, corresponding to the activation of Ih,f, is raised to the power 1.34 +/‐ 0.26 (mean +/‐ S.D.). The non‐integral exponent suggests that Ih,f activation involves at least two energetically non‐equivalent gating transitions prior to channel opening. 5. Over a limited voltage range, tail currents could also be resolved into two distinct components. The faster component, which corresponds to the deactivation of Ih,f, decayed over a single exponential time course with a mean (+/‐ S.D.) time constant of 355 +/‐ 161 ms at ‐70 mV. Ih,s decay also followed a single exponential time course with a mean (+/‐ S.D.) time constant of 2428 +/‐ 1285 ms at ‐70 mV. Both deactivation time constants decreased with increasing depolarization. 6. The separation of inward current activation and deactivation into two distinct components and the lack of correlation between the relative amplitudes of these components suggest that Ih,f and Ih,s reflect the presence of two functionally distinct channel populations. 7. No decrements in time‐dependent hyperpolarization‐activated inward currents were observed during hyperpolarizations lasting up to 18 s, suggesting that neither Ih,f nor Ih,s inactivates from the open state. In addition, 10 s depolarizations to 0 mV prior to activation did not alter the waveforms of the inward currents activated directly from ‐40 mV, suggesting that Ih,f and Ih,s also do not inactivate from closed states. 8. The hyperpolarization‐activated currents in rat SCP neurons are ideally suited to contribute to the control of the resting membrane potential and input resistance.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


Salman Rushdie once observed that William Faulkner was the writer most frequently cited by third world authors as their major influence. Inspired by the unexpected lines of influence and sympathy that Rushdie's statement implied, this book seeks to understand connections between American and global experience as discernible in twentieth-century fiction. The worldwide imprint of modern American experience has, of late, invited reappraisals of canonical writers and classic national themes from globalist perspectives. Advancing this line of critical inquiry, this book argues that the work of Salman Rushdie, Ralph Ellison, and William Faulkner reveals a century-long transformation of how American identity and experience have been imagined, and that these transformations have been provoked by new forms of immigration and by unanticipated mixings of cultures and ethnic groups. This book makes two innovations: first, it places a contemporary world writer's fiction in an American context; second, it places two modern American writers' novels in a world context. Works discussed include Rushdie's The Ground Beneath Her Feet and Satanic Verses; Ellison's Invisible Man and Juneteenth; and Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury and Light in August. The scholarly materials range from U.S. immigration history and critical race theory to contemporary studies of cultural and economic globalization.


Frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) is a scarring alopecia whose incidence is increasing significantly in our country. It is characterized by loss of frontotemporal hairline that mostly affects postmenopausal women, with a negative impact on quality of life. It is associated with early menopause in 14% of cases and hypothyroidism in 15%. With regard to treatment, 5 α -reductase inhibitors are the drugs that have shown improvement of the disease in a larger number of cases. We report a new case of FFA in a woman of 77 years successfully treated with finasteride at doses of 2.5mg daily.


What is implicit bias? What does it look like? How can we define and address it in personal and legal contexts, working towards the end goal of making the workplace more amenable to successful career paths for all engaged? These questions constitute the modern taxonomy of questions in the area of gender discrimination. Thanks to plaintiffs of the past fifty years and their arduous battles under Title VII with quid pro quo sexual harassment, hostile environment sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, gender discrimination in benefits and work assignments, and many other indignities, we have passed through the era of blatant, un-actionable gender-based discrimination. Of course, certain work environments continue to pose threats to female workers. In those environments, employers and supervisors prey on women who are ill-positioned to access legal and other support services, thus continue to operate workplace environments that openly discriminate based on gender and openly threaten female employees. But the risks to female workers are not only present in those extreme environments. Women in safe, corporate jobs and women in professional jobs, those white collar bastions of Mad Men fame, still battle an evolved species of gender discrimination which flows from implicit bias against women generally and specifically against women attempting to compete in male-driven industries and professions.
Betty Dukes was a Wal-Mart employee who could not get promoted into an entry level management position despite her employer's sophisticated employment policies which included the legally appropriate policies designed to protect women at Wal-Mart from gender-based discrimination. At Wal-Mart, the decision to elevate employees into entry-level management positions was delegated to department and store managers. Those managers, who were predominantly male at the time of Betty Dukes's employment, used their discretion in determining which employees should be elevated to the more lucrative manager positions. Despite a strong work record, Betty Dukes was overlooked time and time again. She ultimately filed suit against Wal-Mart under Title VII for gender-based discrimination arguing that it was the discretion vested in the junior managers that caused the gender-based discrimination. Male managers tended to promote male employees onto the management track, defaulting at times to stereotypes about women managers and perceptions of which employees needed the better positions to advance in the company or to support families at home. The culture at Wal-Mart allowed stereotypes about women's ability to function as managers to block gateway promotions of female retail workers to managers. In this way, the covert message mimicked an overt message that women were less amenable to work and should not take jobs away from men. Betty Dukes argued that the male managers who held the promotion power employed an implicit bias against women that constituted Title VII gender-based discrimination.
Ellen Pao worked in a very different professional context. Ellen Pao was an Ivy-League educated management analyst and lawyer who had enjoyed success in the field of banking and finance. She was praised for her intellect and talents and rose in her profession to a position within the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. She joined the firm as a junior partner performing various functions within the firm including managing projects and new initiatives, identifying potential investments, and supporting the firm's managing partner, John Doerr. Her goal was to be promoted to a full partner at the firm, which specialized in venture capital financing for Silicon Valley start-up tech companies. In this environment, she was a woman among men at every turn, dealing both with the male-dominated atmosphere of banking and finance as well as the male-dominated atmosphere of Silicon Valley tech. By her own assessment, she struggled at times to find her footing in this mixed environment. She also felt pressure to form good working relationships with her male colleagues and please her male superiors. The firm's "family" culture required close contact and Ellen Pao ultimately became romantically involved with Ajit Nazre, a same-level colleague, after rebuffing his advances and reporting Nazre's behavior to superiors in the firm. After complaining of harassment by Nazre and other partners, Ellen Pao continued her work at Kleiner, working towards her goal of partnership. However, she was never considered for partner, being excluded from opportunities, meetings and events, which were essential to advancement in the firm. The firm relied on her personnel reviews in evaluating her for partnership, which included evaluative comments that ran the gamut from her having "sharp elbows" and complaining too much or being too sensitive. Ellen Pao was forced to walk the impossible tightrope between femininity and perceptions of job-related masculine superiority. When she was brusque with colleagues and junior employees, she was criticized for mannerisms routinely employed by men in both the finance and tech industries. When she did not assert herself, she was labeled as weak. When she complained about harassment, she was criticized for making trouble. This storm of critique led her to leave Kleiner and file a claim for Title VII gender-based discrimination premised on the theory that Pao's employer, despite written policies and procedures which protected against discrimination, used stereotypes and the male manager's implicit biases against women colleagues to position Ellen Pao for her eventual failure.
Betty Dukes and Ellen Pao may appear to have little in common but they are both pioneers in developing a conversation about the role of implicit bias against women in the workplace. This article will discuss their cases in greater detail as a means to focus on a larger question regarding gender-based discrimination and implicit bias. Courts and scholars have recognized the existence of structural or Second Generation discrimination, which describes aspects of an organization's structure that facilitate or enable implicit gender bias. Betty Dukes's case was an unsuccessful attempt to litigate a claim for Second Generation discrimination under Title VII, ultimately failing at the United States Supreme Court. Ellen Pao was also unsuccessful in her effort to persuade a San Francisco jury that she was a victim of Second Generation discrimination. In both cases, men and women of various backgrounds determined the ultimate fate of the claims. This article asks if Title VII claims based on Second Generation discrimination are further inhibited by the implicit biases of judges and juries. How can a female plaintiff convince a fact-finder, or a reviewing judge, that she has been discriminated against through the use of stereotypes and bias if those hearing the case share the same implicit gender bias?
This article will begin by examining the Pao and Dukes cases, focusing on the role of the decision-makers in the ultimate outcomes of those cases. The article will then consider implicit bias as a concept, noting the interplay between implicit bias and gender-based stereotypes. Building on that understanding, the article will explore generally the evolution of Second Generation discrimination as a legal theory, connecting that analysis back to Dukes's and Pao's cases. The article will then explore the role of implicit bias in the court system, reviewing social science literature regarding the role of gender-based bias in the courtroom as it relates to female attorneys, female litigants, and the effect of certain "feminine traits" in the courtroom. The article will argue that gender-based implicit bias against women litigants plays out in the form of a Third Generation Discrimination, a term developed here, by layering on the biases of judges and juries. Third Generation Discrimination further undermines efforts by women seeking relief under Title VII for workplace discrimination based on claims that her employer allowed bias against her to curb her opportunities for advancement. Women will only succeed in implicit bias cases, such as those brought by Dukes and Pao, if the facts of the case are evaluated by those who can assess the case without regard to their own preconceptions about the role of women in the workplace and in society.


Assay of N1-MNA was conducted in 96 urine samples using two methodological variants with external and internal N1-MNA standards. Basing on significant fluctuations of the percent of detecting N1-MNA added to urine, the necessity of using the internal standard was proved. A significant (up to 30%) overestimating of the values in using the external standard makes difficult revealing niacin deficiency. It has been recommended that NAD preparation be used as an internal standard in NAD + NADP assay in the blood, that permits one to simplify significantly the counting and to avoid the universal coefficient (used in literature) of recalculating N1-MNA fluorescence to nicotinamide coenzyme fluorescence because this coefficient is not a constant value.


In recent years, the competition for shelf space has intensified, as more products now compete for a retail space that has remained roughly constant. In this paper, we analyze the dynamics of this competition in a multi-supplier retail point. Assuming that sales are shelf space dependent, we consider a retailer that optimizes its shelf space allocation among different products based on their sales level and profit margins. In this context, product manufacturers set their wholesale prices so as to obtain larger shelf space allocations but at the same time keep margins as high as possible. We analyze the equilibrium situation in the supply chain, and find that generally the retailer's and the suppliers' incentives are misaligned, resulting in suboptimal retail prices and shelf space allocations. We however find that the inefficiencies induced by suboptimal shelf space allocation decisions are small relative to those induced by suboptimal pricing decisions.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether segregated, early weaned pigs have better growth performance and different microbial flora than those pigs raised on-site.

DESIGN
Prospective, observational study.

ANIMALS
Pigs from a commercial operation that were known to be infected with several common swine pathogens.

PROCEDURE
Pigs (7 to 10 days old) were weaned and segregated from the farm of origin and compared with littermate control pigs (14 to 17 days old) that were weaned and raised on-site. Pig weight was measured and microbial flora were isolated at 14-day intervals for 84 days, beginning when the pigs were 7 to 10 days old.

RESULTS
At 50 days of age, the segregated, early weaned pigs had a mean weight of 23.7 kg, compared with a mean weight of 12.5 kg for control pigs. Pasteurella multocida was isolated from fewer segregated, early weaned pigs than from controls. Signs of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae infection were detected in control pigs but not in segregated early weaned pigs. Clinical, serologic, or bacteriologic signs of early postnatal vertical transmission of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae were not detected in either group.

CLINICAL IMPLICATION
Vertical transmission of M hyopneumoniae was prevented by weaning pigs at 7 to 10 days of age and segregating them off-site, without the use of medication. Although medicated controls were not compared, results from this herd revealed that use of antibiotics is not the most important factor for disease control in segregated, early weaning programs. Minimizing antibiotic use in disease-control protocols reduces costs as well as removes the need for extra-label drugs.


LENs is a Python module integrating a variety of state-of-the-art approaches to provide logic explanations from neural networks. This package focuses on bringing these methods to non-specialists. It has minimal dependencies and it is distributed under the Apache 2.0 licence allowing both academic and commercial use. Source code and documentation can be downloaded from the github repository: https://github.com/pietrobarbiero/logic_explainer_networks.


In this study we implement a set of econometric models to analyze the determinants of household hurricane evacuation choice for a sample of 1,355 households in Florida. This article contributes to the literature by accounting for two issues normally neglected in previous studies; namely, time and space. The empirical results suggest that households living in risky environments (mobile home and flooding areas) are more likely to evacuate. In addition, households with kids and those who have experience the treat of a hurricane also display higher probabilities to evacuate. Conversely, homeowners and households with pets are less likely to evacuate than their counterparts. Regional differences in propensity to evacuate are also clearly demonstrated, with households in southeast Florida less likely to evacuate than those in northwest Florida.


In this paper, a novel CMOS-nano hybrid reconfigurable field-prgrammable gate array architecture (rFPGA) is introduced based on resistive memory (RRAM) devices. Different from the existing crossbar-based CMOS-nano architectures, rFPGA consists of mainly 1T1R RRAM structures that can be fabricated by using a CMOS-compatible process. These devices can efficiently establish FPGA block memories. More importantly, novel RRAM routing switches are developed to replace the CMOS routing switches to achieve significant density enhancement and power reduction. The simulation results demonstrate that 2-D and 3-D rFPGAs provide at least 2× -3× overall improvement in terms of area with 20% lower power consumption, compared with the corresponding CMOS FPGAs.


COVID-19 has become a global pandemic that threatens millions of people worldwide. There is an urgent call for developing effective drugs against the virus (SARS-CoV-2) causing this disease. The main protease of SARS-CoV-2, 3C-like protease (3CLpro), is highly conserved across coronaviruses and is essential for the maturation process of viral polyprotein. Scutellariae radix (Huangqin in Chinese), the root of Scutellaria baicalensis has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat viral infection related symptoms. The extracts of S. baicalensis have exhibited broad spectrum antiviral activities. We studied the anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity of S. baicalensis and its ingredient compounds. We found that the ethanol extract of S. baicalensis inhibits SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro activity in vitro and the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in Vero cells with an EC50 of 0.74 μg/ml. Among the major components of S. baicalensis, baicalein strongly inhibits SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro activity with an IC50 of 0.39 μM. We further identified four baicalein analogue compounds from other herbs that inhibit SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro activity at microM concentration. Our study demonstrates that the extract of S. baicalensis has effective anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity and baicalein and analogue compounds are strong SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro inhibitors.


Allergic rhinitis (AR) is considered a strong risk factor for the onset of asthma. Bronchial hyperreactivity (BHR) may be present in patients with AR. Forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75% of vital capacity (FEF(25-75)) may be impaired in AR patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of BHR in a large group of patients with AR and whether FEF(25-75) might be related to BHR. Four thousand seven hundred eighty-one patients with AR were enrolled. Clinical examination, skin-prick test, spirometry, and methacholine challenge were performed in all patients. Fourteen percent of patients had severe BHR and 25.3% had mild BHR. Patients with low FEF(25-75) values (such as ≤65% of predicted) had severe BHR more frequently than patients with normal FEF(25-75) values (p < 0.001). In addition, low FEF(25-75) values constitute a relevant predictive factor (OR = 12.9) for severe BHR. This study shows that a relevant percentage of AR patients had BHR, and impaired FEF(25-75) values might predict it. Therefore, BHR should be suspected in AR patients with low FEF(25-75) values.


Cytomegalovirus (CMV) was isolated from lung tissue in 8 of 55 (14-6%) necropsies on patients who had received immunosuppressive therapy. Recovery of CMV was best (14 of 16 specimens, 87%) from fresh tissue that had been processed immediately. Storage of specimens at 4 degrees C before inoculation into cell cultures slightly reduced, to 58%, the recovery of CMV. However, conventional freezing of tissue to -- 20 degrees C for four to seven days significantly reduced the recovery of CMV, to 25% (p less than 0-001). In three of eight specimens from which virus was recovered, CMV inclusion bodies were found on tracheal smears. Sixty-five percent of the virus-negative group had measurable complement-fixing antibody in blood taken at necropsy, compared with 86% in the virus-positive group. However, there was no significant differences in antibody levels in the two groups. Our study indicates that specimens submitted for CMV isolation should be sent for virus isolation as rapidly as possible and should not be frozen. The level of antibody in a single serum taken in necropsy does not correlate well with morphological or cultural evidence of active infection.


Treatment of rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RASMC) with 1 or 100 microg ml-1 lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for 20-24 h led to expression of the inducible form of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) as detected by Western blotting for iNOS protein, and by determination of increased cellular nitrite formation. LPS-induced nitrite production was inhibited almost completely by concomitant treatment of cells with LPS and either (a) pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC, 25 microm), an antioxidant inhibitor of NF-kappaB activation; (b) N-tosyl-L-phenylalanine chloromethyl ketone (TPCK, 20 and 40 microm), a proteasomal inhibitor which prevents NF-kappaB activation; (c) nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA, 10 and 50 microm), a lipoxygenase inhibitor; or (d) apocynin (2, 3.5 and 5 m m), an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase. Gel-shift assays using nuclear protein extracts incubated with a 32P-labelled DNA binding probe for NF-kappaB detected two electrophoretically separable complexes containing NF-kappaB. A faster migrating complex obtained when using both LPS-treated and untreated cells appeared to represent a basal or constitutive NF-kappaB activity, whereas a slower band was found only after LPS-treatment. The latter band was abolished when using cells treated for 1 h with LPS in the presence of PDTC (25 microm) or TPCK (20 microm), but was not inhibited by NDGA (50 microm) or apocynin (3.5 m m). The basal band was unaffected by any of the cell signalling inhibitors. Densitometry of Western blots indicated that LPS-induced iNOS protein expression was inhibited to a similar extent (between 74 and 87%) by the latter concentrations of PDTC, TPCK, NDGA and apocynin. The ability of PDTC and TPCK to abolish LPS-specific NF-kappaB activation, while also producing considerable inhibition of iNOS protein expression and nitrite formation, suggests that induction of iNOS by LPS in RASMC involves NF-kappaB-dependent transcription. However, the failure of NDGA and apocynin to prevent NF-kappaB activation, at least during early stages (up to 1 h) of its nuclear accumulation, suggests that these agents may affect cell signalling pathways which regulate iNOS induction by another mechanism to be determined.


The central nervous system must determine which sensory events occur at the same time. Actively moving the head corresponds with large changes in the relationship between the observer and the environment, sensorimotor processing, and spatiotemporal perception. Numerous studies have shown that head movement onset must precede the onset of other sensory events in order to be perceived as simultaneous, indicating that head movement perception is slow. Active head movement perception has been shown to be slower than passive head movement perception and dependent on head movement velocity, where participants who move their head faster than other participants require the head to move even earlier than comparison stimuli to be perceived as simultaneous. These results suggest that head movement perception is slower (i.e., suppressed) when the head moves faster. The present study used a within-subjects design to measure the point of subjective simultaneity (PSS) between active head movement speeds and a comparison sound stimulus. Our results clearly show that i) head movement perception is faster when the head moves faster within-subjects, ii) active head movement onset must still precede the onset of other sensory events (Average PSS: -123 to -52 ms) in order to be perceived as occurring simultaneously even at the fastest speeds (Average peak velocity: 76°/s to 257°/s). We conclude that head movement perception is slow, but that this delay is minimized with increased speed. While we do not provide evidence against sensory suppression, which requires active versus passive head movement comparison, our results do rule out velocity-based suppression.


Sedation in the intensive care unit (ICU), in the United Kingdom known as the intensive therapy unit or ITU has evolved from what was essentially an extended general anaesthetic, where patients were heavily sedated and often fully paralysed with neuromuscular blocking drugs to an evidenced based, multidisciplinary concept of care. The underlying tenets of good sedation practice have not changed- the relief of pain, anxiety and agitation, the need for tolerance of ICU interventions and nursing care and the management of delirium. What has changed is our approach in light of studies looking at the short and long term outcomes in trauma patients who require ICU treatment. It is now apparent that heavy sedation can be harmful, and as such sedation has become a more complicated and multifaceted issue. This review will look at the most commonly used ICU sedatives and how to develop a sedation strategy for the trauma patient based on the interplay between the factors necessitating sedation, namely pain, agitation and delirium. Consideration is given to alternative treatments to reduce sedation such as control of the ICU environment and alternative pharmacological therapies.


Protein synthesis is a process central to all life on Earth, including mammalian cells. During this process, ribosomes attach to mRNA strands and translate them into proteins using amino acids. Under stress (for example, when the supply of circulating amino acids has been disrupted by tissue injury), ribosomes can stall. Ribosome profiling, a technique that creates a snapshot of active ribosomes in a cell by sequencing ribosome-protected mRNA fragments, captures a snapshot of ribosomes along transcripts and can detect such stalling events. This method has also revealed that the patterns of ribosomes along transcripts can vary from transcript to transcript in a manner that has not yet been explained. Here, we analyzed ribosome profiling data from amino acid-starved pancreatic cancer cells to explore whether the pattern of ribosome distribution along transcripts under normal conditions can predict the degree of ribosome stalling under stress. We hypothesized that ribosomes would stall more along "elongation-limited" transcripts that have fewer ribosome footprints near the start and stop codons than "initiation-limited" transcripts that have a large fraction of footprints at the start codon. Indeed, we found that ribosomes in amino acid-deprived cells stalled more along elongation-limited transcripts. By contrast, we observed no relationship between read density near start and stop and disparities between mRNA sequencing reads and ribosome profiling reads. This research identifies an important relationship between read distribution and propensity for ribosomes to stall, although more work is needed to fully understand the patterns of ribosome distribution along transcripts in ribosome profiling data.


Abstract:This essay analyses Bertrand Russell as a historical writer and theorist of history. His most influential work of history—the History of Western Philosophy—is subjected, for the first time, to the standards of Russell's own principles of historiography, as laid out in a series of essays published over his lifetime. Considering the full gamut of reactions to Russell's History, the essay investigates whether the numerous criticisms laid against this work may be answered or ameliorated by contextualizing his writing within his own theories regarding the role and scope of the historian. Such an approach, it is argued, is partially successful. While Russell's writings on the discipline of history shed considerable light upon many of his own idiosyncrasies as a historical writer, there are still several strong criticisms of his work that remain unanswered.


ABSTRACT An exceptionally well exposed marine-nonmarine transition in middle Miocene strata exists in the southeastern Caliente Range, California. About 50 individual progradational sequences form a succession that ranges in thickness from approximately 1000 m (where predominantly nonmarine) to more than 2500 m (where predominantly marine). Paleogeographic evidence in basalt flows near the top of the succession and in overlying fluvial deposits indicates that these middle Miocene strata were deposited across a north-northwest trending shoreline. A complete progradational sequence typically is several meters to a few tens of meters thick and includes strata that represent three intertonguing stratigraphic units. Individual sequences generally rest on a thin gravel deposit interpreted as a transgressive lag on an erosional surface. The gravel is overlain by structureless siltstone or fine-grained sandstone deposited at water depths where the rate of faunal mixing exceeded that of production of structures by physical processes. These rocks grade upward into bedded fine sandstone deposited closer to shore where physical processes exceeded bioturbation. Crossbedded lenses of coarse sand or fine gravel in the upper part of this facies suggest the presence of fairly long-period surface waves. The bedded fine sandstone is sharply ove lain by a cross bedded coarse sandstone facies that is interpreted as a combined offshore bar-rip channel-surf zone assemblage. Cross-strata dip dominantly offshore, suggesting substantial deposition from rip currents. A secondary, shoreparallel mode of cross-strata direction suggests longshore currents produced by surface waves from the northwest. The crossbedded coarse-grained sandstone grades upward into planar-bedded medium-grained sandstone that is interpreted as a beach foreshore. This facies grades upward through structureless medium-grained sandstone into nonmarine or lagoonal red and green mudstone of the Caliente Formation. The middle Miocene succession was deposited in a subsiding basin that was otherwise remarkably stable tectonically; the position of the strand line differed no more than a few kilometers through a period of 1 to 3 m.y. The average duration of the transgressive-regressive cycles, a few tens of thousands of years, together with their distribution in groups of three or four in the lower two-thirds of the succession, is consistent with the pattern of long-term climatic cycles produced by periodicity of the earth's solar orbit and may be related to eustatic sea level changes attendant to the development of the Antarctic ice cap. Changes in the pattern of progradation in the upper part of the succession and nearby basaltic eruptions may have been precursors to the onset of movement along th San Andreas fault in this area 12-14 m.y. ago.


BACKGROUND
Prophylactic removal of asymptomatic disease-free impacted wisdom teeth is surgical removal of wisdom teeth in the absence of symptoms and with no evidence of local disease. Impacted wisdom teeth may be associated with pathological changes, such as pericoronitis, root resorption, gum and alveolar bone disease (periodontitis), caries and the development of cysts and tumours. When surgical removal is carried out in older people, the risk of postoperative complications, pain and discomfort is increased. Other reasons to justify prophylactic removal of asymptomatic disease-free impacted third molars have included preventing late lower incisor crowding, preventing damage to adjacent structures such as the second molar or the inferior alveolar nerve, in preparation for orthognathic surgery, in preparation for radiotherapy or during procedures to treat people with trauma to the affected area. Removal of asymptomatic disease-free wisdom teeth is a common procedure, and researchers must determine whether evidence supports this practice. This review is an update of an existing review published in 2012.

OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the effects of removal compared with retention (conservative management) of asymptomatic disease-free impacted wisdom teeth in adolescents and adults.

SEARCH METHODS
We searched the following electronic databases: Cochrane Oral Health's Trials Register (to 24 May 2016), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (2016, Issue 4), MEDLINE Ovid (1946 to 24 May 2016) and Embase Ovid (1980 to 24 May 2016). We searched ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform for ongoing and unpublished studies to 24 May 2016. We imposed no restrictions on language or date of publication in our search of electronic databases.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Studies comparing removal (or absence) with retention (or presence) of asymptomatic disease-free impacted wisdom teeth in adolescents or adults. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with no restriction on length of follow-up, if available. We considered quasi-RCTs and prospective cohort studies for inclusion if investigators measured outcomes with follow-up of five years or longer.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Eight review authors screened search results and assessed the eligibility of studies for inclusion according to the review inclusion criteria. Eight review authors independently conducted risk of bias assessments in duplicate. When information was unclear, we contacted study authors for additional information.

MAIN RESULTS
This review includes two studies. The previous review included one RCT with a parallel-group design, which was conducted in a dental hospital setting in the United Kingdom; our new search for this update identified one prospective cohort study conducted in the private sector in the USA. Primary outcome No eligible studies in this review reported the effects of removal compared with retention of asymptomatic disease-free impacted wisdom teeth on health-related quality of life Secondary outcomes We found only low to very low quality evidence of the effects of removal compared with retention of asymptomatic disease-free impacted wisdom teeth for a limited number of secondary outcome measures.One prospective cohort study, reporting data from a subgroup of 416 healthy male participants, aged 24 to 84 years, compared the effect of the absence (previous removal or agenesis) against the presence of asymptomatic disease-free impacted wisdom teeth on periodontitis and caries associated with the distal of the adjacent second molar during a follow-up period of three to over 25 years. Very low quality evidence suggests that the presence of asymptomatic disease-free impacted wisdom teeth may be associated with increased risk of periodontitis affecting the adjacent second molar in the long term. In the same study, which is at serious risk of bias, there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate a difference in caries risk associated with the presence or absence of impacted wisdom teeth.One RCT with 164 randomised and 77 analysed adolescent participants compared the effect of extraction with retention of asymptomatic disease-free impacted wisdom teeth on dimensional changes in the dental arch after five years. Participants (55% female) had previously undergone orthodontic treatment and had 'crowded' wisdom teeth. No evidence from this study, which was at high risk of bias, was found to suggest that removal of asymptomatic disease-free impacted wisdom teeth has a clinically significant effect on dimensional changes in the dental arch.The included studies did not measure our other secondary outcomes: costs, other adverse events associated with retention of asymptomatic disease-free impacted wisdom teeth (pericoronitis, root resorption, cyst formation, tumour formation, inflammation/infection) and adverse effects associated with their removal (alveolar osteitis/postoperative infection, nerve injury, damage to adjacent teeth during surgery, bleeding, osteonecrosis related to medication/radiotherapy, inflammation/infection).

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Insufficient evidence is available to determine whether or not asymptomatic disease-free impacted wisdom teeth should be removed. Although asymptomatic disease-free impacted wisdom teeth may be associated with increased risk of periodontitis affecting adjacent second molars in the long term, the evidence is of very low quality. Well-designed RCTs investigating long-term and rare effects of retention and removal of asymptomatic disease-free impacted wisdom teeth, in a representative group of individuals, are unlikely to be feasible. In their continuing absence, high quality, long-term prospective cohort studies may provide valuable evidence in the future. Given the lack of available evidence, patient values should be considered and clinical expertise used to guide shared decision making with patients who have asymptomatic disease-free impacted wisdom teeth. If the decision is made to retain asymptomatic disease-free impacted wisdom teeth, clinical assessment at regular intervals to prevent undesirable outcomes is advisable.


Creativity, i.e., the process of generating and developing fresh and original ideas or products that are useful or effective, is a valuable skill in a variety of domains. Creativity is called an essential 21st-century skill that should be taught in schools. The use of educational technology to promote creativity is an active study field, as evidenced by several studies linking creativity in the classroom to beneficial learning outcomes. Despite the burgeoning body of research on adaptive technology for education, mining creative thinking patterns from educational data remains a challenging task. In this paper, to address this challenge, we put the first step towards formalizing educational knowledge by constructing a domain-specific Knowledge Base to identify essential concepts, facts, and assumptions in identifying creative patterns. We then introduce a pipeline to contextualize the raw educational data, such as assessments and class activities. Finally, we present a rule-based approach to learning from the Knowledge Base, and facilitate mining creative thinking patterns from contextualized data and knowledge. We evaluate our approach with real-world datasets and highlight how the proposed pipeline can help instructors understand creative thinking patterns from students' activities and assessment tasks.


Background Ovarian cancer is the next most lethal gynaecological malignancy after cervical cancer, with about 125,000 deaths each year worldwide. Treatment options are still limited and even though 80% of women respond to first-line treatment many undergo recurrence and death. In Italy trabectedin in combination with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin has been approved for the treatment of patients with relapsed platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer since March 2011, but NHS refunds are limited to only partially platinum-sensitive patients, who have relapsed between 6 and 12 months after treatment with platinum-based treatment. This ruling stems from the results obtained from the open-label randomised phase III OVA-301 clinical trial for this group of patients, which included only patients treated in second line. Purpose To analyse the responses in terms of progression-free survival (PFS) of 2 groups of patients who relapsed after treatment with platinum-based treatment: partially platinum-sensitive patients, who relapse between 6 and 12 months and platinum-sensitive patients, who relapse after 12 months. Materials and methods Clinical cards and protocol sequences with trabectedin were analysed contained in the database of the compounding centre of 2 cancer centres in Sicily. Patients were enrolled from 2010 to 2012, including multi-treated patients. Progression-free survival after the first platinum-based treatment and PFI (platinum free interval) were calculated and the relative PFS was calculated. Records of platinum-resistant patients who relapsed between 0 and 6 months after treatment were also analysed with permission of the Italian law no. 648/96. Results The patients who received trabectedin have mostly been heavily pre-treated (III and IV line), only 10% are receiving second-line treatment. The median PFS with PFI≥ 6 months is 6.96, and the platinum-resistant group (27%) shows a median PFS of 2.5 months. The partially platinum-sensitive group had a PFS of 6.96 months, and the platinum- sensitive group 5.6 months. Conclusions To confirm the relationship found in the trials, the PFI greatly influences the response even in multi-treated patients: the response in terms of PFS is greater in the partially platinum-sensitive. The limitation of the treatment only to the setting of partially platinum-sensitive patients imposed by the Italian regulatory agency allows for greater access to care for patients who can benefit most at the expense of those for which, however, there is no therapeutic alternative with comparable effectiveness. At the moment there are no studies on the use of trabectedin in association with III or IV line of treatment for a comparison of the responses in clinical practice. No conflict of interest.