In previous work, we have reported that the scalability of parallel processing algorithms for hyperspectral image analysis is affected by the amount of data to exchanged through the communication network of the parallel system. However, large messages are common in hyperspectral imaging applications since processing algorithms are often pixel-based, and each pixel vector to be exchanged through the communication network is made up of hundreds of spectral values. Thus, decreasing the amount of data to be exchanged could improve the scalability and parallel performance. In this paper, we propose a new framework based on intelligent utilization of data compression techniques for improving the scalability of a standard spectral unmixin-based parallel hyperspectral processing chain on heterogeneous networks of workstations. Our experimental results indicate that adaptive, wavelet-based lossy compression can lead to improvements in the scalability of the parallel algorithms without significantly sacrificing algorithm analysis accuracy.


Background Pharmaceutical care(PC) is the responsible provision of drug therapy for the purpose of achieving definite outcomes that improve a patient's quality of life. Purpose To analyse the results of a PC program in patients who are infected with the virus of hepatitis C(HCV). Materials and Methods Period of study: April 2007-October 2011. It was aimed to prevent, detect and resolve medication-related problems (MRPs) in HCV patients. Phases: First visit: Prescription validation, medical history revision and elaboration of patient medical record. The authors inform patients about adverse reactions, interactions and healthy lifestyle habits. The authors stress the importance of treatment compliance in order to obtain a sustained viral response and how to minimise the side effects. Subsequent visits: Personalised monitoring, detection of MRPs and Pharmaceutical Intervention (PI). The authors establish visiting hours and evaluate the adherence to the pharmacotheraphy. The adherence calculation is done through dispensing registers. The adherent patient endorses the rule 80/80/80:80% of interferon (IFN), ribavirin (RBV) doses and 80% of the treatment time in relation to the genotype. Results 542 interviews were done in 365 patients under IFN and RBV treatment: oral information 67.16% and both oral and written 32.84%. Face to face interviews 90.22% and telephone ones 9.41%. 27.86% to start the treatment, 69.74% during the treatment, 0.55% by treatment change, 1.66% possible interaction and others 0.18%. Counselling reasons (227), the most frequent were: tiredness 15.86%, mental disorders 11,89%, reaction at the injection site 8.81%, gastrointestinal discomfort 8.81%, pseudo-flu syndrome 8.37%, insomnia 6.61% and pruritus 6.61%. 536 PI were accepted, with recommendations about healthy lifestyle habits and some pieces of advice on medication administration and handling side effects. In 45 times, patients were referred to the specialist doctor. Conclusions The majority of the patients applied for PC during the pharmacotheraphy follow-up, above all, by side effects related to medication. The interviews with the patients reinforce the information on their pharmacotheraphy in order to minimise side effects and resolve MRPs. The PC program in HCV patients helps to improve the safe use of medications and avoids unnecessary visits to the specialist doctor.


Abstract A sample of land snails was recently collected in a fragment of Atlantic rainforest, in the vicinities of the city of Nanuque (north of Minas Gerais state, Brazil), totaling 15 species. The following new species are herein described: Leiostracus carnavalescus n. sp. and Rhinus botocudus n. sp. (Bulimulidae), and Obeliscus boitata n. sp. (Subulinidae), the first two accompanied by anatomical descriptions. Moreover, the geographical ranges of some species are extended to Minas Gerais: Auris bilabiata, Bahiensis cf. bahiensis, Cyclopomops moricandi, Dysopeas muibum, Helicina boettgeri, Helicina variabilis, Prohappia besckei, and Rectartemon piquetensis. The discovery of new species in such a small forest fragment is a clear reminder of how little the Brazilian terrestrial snail fauna is known. It also points to the fact that these few remaining forest fragments may house many new and possibly endemic species and should, therefore, be properly preserved.


During the floods in August 2002, the city of Dresden was the most affected area in Germany. In total, about 15% of the city was flooded, causing tremendous damage. Dresden was hit by floods of streams, the Elbe tributaries WeiBeritz and Lockwitzbach, the Elbe River and groundwater. The flood risk awareness and flood preparedness of authorities, households and companies was low. After the floods, the communal authorities in Dresden developed a new flood management concept and many households and companies were motivated to undertake precautionary measures. However, the proportion of people willing to invest in precautionary measures remains lower than in the rural parts of Saxony. Therefore, improved campaigns and financial incentives should be used to further encourage the urban people and companies to implement flood precautionary measures. Additionally, damage mitigation measures have to be maintained and preparedness has to be kept at a high level over time.


Transforming collected raw-state data into research results involves the use of certain precedures so as to systematize, categorize and enable its analysis by the researcher.In the specific case of the analysis of communications, adequate mechanisms are demanded so one is able to find in data obtained by means of interviews, messages and documents in general information that illustrate, explain or help bring investigated phenomena to light. Among such mechanisms are the analysis of contents and the analysis of speech as theorical-methodological propositions, intending to surpass their status as "simple techniques of analysis†and compose a field of knowledge. Thus, this present text has been elaborated aiming to providing a better understanding about what constitutes the contents and speech analyses, so as to providing researchers with some subsidy for their adequate utilization. For such, the authors intended to approach these two fields of knowledge, primarily giving their definition, contextualizing them and reporting their historical origins. Next, the authors sought to dealing with each one's utilization, operationalization and organization, as well as with their specificities. Later, some comparisons between the analisys of contents and the analysis of speech were elaborated, aiming to facilitate the reader's understanding. Last, some final considerations were woven which deal with the limitations of this work in the sense of trying to approach, in a short essay, two areas of knowledge about which a vast amplitude of studies, publishings and research already exist.


We exposed Hyalella azteca to p,p′‐dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene for intervals of 1 to 4 d and followed mortality out to 10 d. Mortality was determined as the cessation of heartbeat; dead organism body residue was determined daily. To model mortality probability, body residues of the living organisms were estimated using published kinetic data with concentration‐dependent rate constants. The estimated residues compared favorably with measured residues in the dead organisms (predicted body residue = 1.302 ± 0.142 measured body residue + 10.351 ± 15.766, r2 = 0.64, n = 50). The response data were collected at discrete intervals; thus, it was not possible to determine the exact time of death for organisms. Consequently, we analyzed the mortality data using discrete interval analysis, in a Bayesian hierarchical framework, with body residue as the dose metric. The predicted body residues to produce mortality were similar across the duration of exposure when postexposure mortality was considered. The concentration for 50% mortality was 0.47 μmol/g (148.6 μg/g, range 0.32–0.66 μmol/g), and predictions of response indicted 95% (range 73–99.9%) mortality at 0.79 μmol/g (250 μg/g) and 4% (range 1.2–9.6%) mortality at 0.16 μmol/g (50 μg/g). The lethal residue for 50% mortality based on interval analysis for short‐term exposures with postexposure mortality resulted in values similar to long‐term continuous exposures for exposure durations of more than 600 h.


: This paper, elaborated by consensus between experts from Scientific Societies and the Health Administration, is aimed at providing general guidelines for the elaboration and prompting of cardiovascular disease primary prevention programmes, through individual risk factors screening and control. It is expected to be helpful for primary care professionals. After reviewing the rationale and logistics of the programmes starting in the Spanish context, an outline for the risk screening and assessment of the individuals attending the health services is set out. The strategies for high risk individuals control and the periodic health examination of low risk subjects are developed, emphasizing the multifactorial approach. Lastly operational criteria for the management of each risk factor taking simultaneously into account the whole risk picture, embracing definition criteria and consensus recommendations, are stated.


Coding variants in genes encoding for epigenetic regulators are an emerging cause of neurological dysfunction and cancer. However, a systematic effort to identify disease candidates within the human epigenetic machinery (EM) has not been performed, and it is unclear whether features exist that distinguish between variation-intolerant and variation-tolerant EM genes, and between EM genes associated with neurological dysfunction versus cancer. Here, we rigorously define a set of 295 human genes with a direct role in epigenetic regulation (writers, erasers, remodelers, readers). Systematic exploration of these genes reveals that while individual enzymatic functions are always mutually exclusive, readers often also exhibit enzymatic activity as well (dual function EM genes). We find that the majority of EM genes are very intolerant to loss-of-function variation, even when compared to the dosage sensitive group of transcription factors. Using this strategy, we identify 103 novel EM disease candidates. We show that the intolerance to loss-of-function variation is driven by the protein domains encoding the epigenetic function, strongly suggesting that disease is caused by a perturbed chromatin state. Unexpectedly, we also describe a large subset of EM genes that are co-expressed within multiple tissues. This subset is almost exclusively populated by extremely variation-intolerant EM genes, and shows enrichment for dual function EM genes. It is also highly enriched for genes associated with neurological dysfunction, even when accounting for dosage sensitivity, but not for cancer-associated EM genes. These findings prioritize novel disease candidate EM genes, and suggest that the co-expression itself may play a functional role in normal neurological homeostasis.


This work deals with the enormous significance of the concept of equilibrium in economic analysis. Volume one provides a historical perspective on the origins, development and criticisms of the idea; volume two covers competitive equilibrium; and volume three reveals recent developments.


Cesarean section is widely used operation procedure in the world. The regional anesthesia is preferred than general anesthesia. The risk of fetus is higher in general than in regional anesthesia. The drug treatment effect on regional anesthesia plays an important role to control the systolic blood pressure (SBP) during the surgery. The goal of this work is to know the effective drug to control the SBP among cesarean anesthetic patients. The dependent prior with Bayesian approach is applied in the binary response data set. The secondary data in anesthesia has been applied to compare the two drug treatments, viz. (1) Phenylephrine and (2) Ephedrine, in cesarean patients with spinal anesthesia. In both drug groups the mean of SBP has been found controlled over the duration of the surgery. No rapid changes of SBP level among the patients are observed. At the end of study it is found that the means of SBP cesarean anesthetic patients are found higher in Phenylephrine group. The Bayesian dependent prior is found to offer effective tool for drug treatment effect comparison. The drug treatment effect Ephedrine is found to be more effective to control the SBP over the duration of surgery than Phenylephrine.


During the last decades, a growing number of financial derivatives traded both in- and outside organized exchanges enforced the interconnectedness of participants in financial markets. Traditionally, scholars and practitioners argued, that derivatives allow to transfer economic risks to the market participants best able to bear them and thereby decrease systemic risk. However, this implies the ability to properly assess the inherent risk prior to the acquisition in order to make an informed in- vestment decision. In contrast to the traditional argument for the systemic benefit of risk sharing, this paper argues that the complex design of financial derivatives – characterized by multiple derivation of pooling-based derivatives – increases the potential for a systemic crisis substantially.The argumentation for this relationship between the complexity of financial derivatives and systemic risk starts with an analysis of the decision behavior under uncertainty. In particular, the difference in the perception of (determinable) risk on the one hand, and ambiguity on the other hand builds the foundation of the following argumentation. The next step points out the relevant contractual mechanisms of financial derivatives and their economic consequences: The pooling of risk sets a strong incentive for the issuer to communicate only a part of the valuation-relevant information to third-parties (information destruction effect). The structuring of risk by the principle of subordination causes the relevance of influencing factors on the overall risk structure of the derivative to shift materially. If, finally, these derivatives are once again pooled and structured, the economic effects of estimation errors on the identified value of the derivative of 2nd degree are systematically enforced. The paper concludes, that there will be simply too little information available from a certain (a priori undetectable) level of derivation on, to provide a reliable risk assessment in the light of the material impact of estimation errors. Thus, the multiple derivation of pooling-based derivatives goes hand in hand with enormous operational risk and model risk.As long as decision makers place trust in the functionality of the valuation models and estimation heuristics applied, they are faced with determinable risk. If that trust erodes, they perceive ambiguity – a situation where they feel to lose control, react pessimistically or may even panic. The higher the level of complexity market participants are faced with and the more imperfect the information regarding the risky assets (both shown to be a result of the multiple derivation of pooling-based derivatives), the higher is the level of trust aggregated in financial markets. Trust relations are – from a systemic point of view – informational transmission channels for systemic events: As the accumulated level of trust in economic boom periods turns – after an unexpected shock – suddenly to distrust as a reflex of decision makers to handle the perceived complexity under asymmetric information, decision makers are now faced with ambiguity. Since there is a self-enforcing tendency between distrust, ambiguity and the risk sensitivity, which finally affects the leverage applied by market participants and their demand for risky assets, markets become ultimately illiquid. Moreover, as decision makers do not strictly distinct between different classes of financial instruments, their decision behavior regarding all assets will change (for which they are marginal investors), so that a downward spiral induced by complex derivatives affects other segments of financial markets, too, and finally swashes to the real economy.


The municipality of Knivsta plans to expand from 15,000 to 25,000 inhabitants until the year 2025. In order to do so the municipality is planning to build a new residential area, Nydal. The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to estimate the heat demand for the new district and to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of using a common or an individual heat solution. The common solution consists of a pipe grid system connecting each building with a central heat source and in the individual solution each building has its own heat source. The heat units that have been used are combined heat and power and solar thermal heating.The total yearly heat demand for Nydal was calculated to total 21.6 GWh for the common solution and 19.4 GWh for the individual solution. This implies that the losses in the pipe grid are 2.2 GWh. The heat demand peaks are largest in January, about 7600 kW, and smallest in July, about 300 kW. To cover the heat demand for the common solution during summer, solar panels need to cover 6.5 per cent of the roof area. To be able to cover the heat demand for the larger buildings in the individual solution up to 45 per cent of the roof area needs to be covered with solar panels. Furthermore, the total installed heat power from CHP plants is 4320 kW in the common solution and 7375 kW in the individual solution. In conclusion, a common solution is to prefer because less CHP needs to be installed despite heat losses in the pipe grid.


The aim of this paper is to review the current situation regarding plagiarism and ghostwriting, and to stimulate debate about how universities should respond to the rise in these forms of academic misconduct. The apparent upsurge in academic misconduct means that universities today face one of the greatest challenges to academic integrity they have had to deal with ever since the university system came into existence some 800 years ago. Plagiarism and ghostwriting are undermining the integrity of university degrees to an extent not seen before. Academia and fraud are not strangers. Universities have a long history of cheating of one sort or another, often associated with examinations, but also with research. In the past this cheating involved activities such as smuggling notes (commonly called 'crib sheets') into examinations, and consulting them even under the watchful eyes of invigilators. It also involved students obtaining sight of an examination paper in advance. The fraudulent creation of research results has also been an issue. However, in the 21st century, the opportunities for cheating have exploded. This has resulted in universities becoming more concerned about ensuring the integrity of their examination processes and the degrees they award. Our paper focuses on cheating in the writing of dissertations or theses required at undergraduate or postgraduate level, with an emphasis on plagiarism and ghostwriting. We do not propose a simple solution to these problems, as preventing or stopping cheating is not just a matter of catching the wrongdoers. Cheating is endogenous to the current university education system, and needs to be addressed in terms of not only prevention and detection but also how people who are found to engage in such misconduct are treated. We suggest that creative ways of promoting learning would help to minimise cheating at universities. It is also important to ensure that the issue is discussed openly among students and faculty staff.


Video telephony is a representative service in 3G mobile network. There have been many efforts to improve quality of video telephony service in different fields. In Korea, leading mobile service providers, SKTelecom and KTF service the WCDMA network and more than four million people are using it. This paper proposes an error minimizing algorithm using cross-layer adaptation between physical layer and video codec for the video telephony over WCDMA network. We simulated 3G-324M protocol with MPEG4 video codec, and simulation results show suggested algorithm improve packet transmission rate for improving quality of video telephony service.


The effects of the three inhalation anaesthetics enflurane, isoflurane and halothane were tested in vitro on accommodation of rat CA1 neurones. At near clinical concentrations (approximately 2.5%) the anaesthetics slightly depressed antidromic field potential responses. At the same concentrations the anaesthetics also blocked accommodation reversibly and reduced the after hyperpolarization of CA1 neurones. No significant changes in the threshold potential were observed, although the resting membrane potential was often increased in the presence of the anaesthetics. The action of enflurane was not blocked by propranolol 20 mumol litre-1 and enflurane had no obvious effect on the duration of Ca2+ spikes of CA1 neurones. It is concluded that the anaesthetics may have a direct effect on membrane K+ channels such as the Ca2+-activated K+ conductance and that the block of accommodation is unlikely to account for the proconvulsant action of enflurane.


The emergence of the effective management of knowledge resources as a key factor in gaining and sustaining competitive advantage presents new challenges to construction firms. Evaluating knowledge management practices is considered one of the most important challenges facing firms in today's business environment. This paper proposes a model for evaluating the knowledge management practices of construction firms. The proposed model incorporates knowledge management concepts and multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural networks to construct an importance–comparative performance analysis (ICPA) map, a simple visual tool that can provide powerful diagnostic information to executives of construction firms. The model evaluates a firm's knowledge management practices, identifies its competitive advantages and disadvantages in each knowledge management practice, and sets priorities for managerial actions to improve knowledge management practices. A real-world case study was conducted by administering a survey to 105 co...


With the rapid growth of networking, cyber–physical–social systems (CPSSs) provide vast amounts of information. Aimed at the huge and complex data provided by networking, obtaining valuable information to meet precise search needs when capturing user intention has become a major challenge, especially in personalized websites. General search engines face difficulties in addressing the challenges brought by this exploding amount of information. In this paper, we use real-time location and relevant feedback technology to design and implement an efficient, configurable, and intelligent retrieval framework for personalized websites in CPSSs. To improve the retrieval results, this paper also proposes a strategy of implicit relevant feedback based on click-through data analysis, which can obtain the relationship between the user query conditions and retrieval results. Finally, this paper designs a personalized PageRank algorithm including modified parameters to improve the ranking quality of the retrieval results using the relevant feedback from other users in the interest group. Experiments illustrate that the proposed accurate and intelligent retrieval framework improves the user experience.


Genetic relationships between some of Malva species as determined with ISSR and ISJ markers Two categories of DNA markers were used to determine genetic relationships among eight Malva taxa. A maximum parsimony analysis validated the division of the genus Malva into the sections Bismalva and Malva. The species classified into those sections formed separate clusters. M. moschata was a distinctive species in the section Bismalva, as confirmed by previous genetic research based on ITS and cpDNA sequence analyses. The applied markers revealed a very high level of genetic identity between M. alcea and M. excisa and enabled molecular identification of M. alcea var. fastigiata. Speciesspecific markers were determined for the majority of the analyzed species, permitting their molecular identification. A specific marker supporting the differentiation of M. alcea and M. excisa was not found.


Delirium is one of the most fascinating and poorly understood syndromes in medicine. To a large extent, attempts to study the pathophysiology of delirium have been hampered by the many different types of delirium and their variable symptom expression. The emergence of sophisticated brain imaging methodologies has made it possible to move beyond diagnostic considerations and investigate the neurobiology of specific symptom clusters observed in delirium and related conditions. In this review, neuroimaging findings of relevance to delirium are interpreted in relation to phenomenologically similar symptom states as well as clinical diagnoses. A promising approach in this regard is to combine neuroimaging techniques with symptom-provoking pharmacologic challenge paradigms. Such symptom-oriented neuroimaging studies hold particular promise for improving our understanding of the pathophysiology of delirium and its treatment.


Sustainable methods are required in developing regions to treat and recover value from pit latrine sludge. One potential strategy is to pyrolyse pit latrine contents and generate char and bio-oil, which can then be used as a soil enhancer and fuel, respectively. Despite the many benefits associated with the process, there is very limited relevant literature available. This study examines its feasibility. Initially, the energy balance associated with pyrolysis of sewage sludge was calculated using data from 14 literature studies. For dewatered sewage sludge, the average energy input required during drying and pyrolysis 2.9 ± 0.2 MJ kg−1 sludge, while the average net energy recovered from combustion of bio-oil was 6.9 ± 0.2 MJ kg−1. For sewage sludge which had been dewatered and dried prior to pyrolysis equivalent values were 1.2 ± 0.2 MJ kg−1 and 8.5 ± 0.9 MJ kg−1. Parallel calculations were then undertaken with pit latrine sludge as the hypothetical feedstock, assuming a water content of 30, 52, 82 or 97% wt. The energy input required was 2.1, 2.6, 3.3 and 3.6 MJ kg−1, respectively. Corresponding net energy recoveries from pyrolysis combined with use of the resultant bio-oil as fuel were 9.7 ± 0.8, 7.1 ± 0.8, 6.5 ± 0.8 and 6.1 ± 0.8 MJ kg−1. Char production is more favorable from stabilised pit latrine sludge with lower moisture and volatile solids content. Barriers to pyrolysis of pit latrine sludge are discussed, including the heterogeneity of pit latrine composition and the difficulty of collecting high-viscosity sludge. Overall, this study demonstrates the potential that pyrolysis has as a disposal and value addition method for pit latrine sludge. Innovative methods for sludge drying and pit emptying will expedite the process becoming a reality.


We examine firms' motivation to change their main bank and how this switch affects loans, interest payments, and firm performance. Applying treatment effect analysis to unique firm-bank matched Ukrainian data, we find that larger and more highly leveraged companies are more likely to switch their main bank. Importantly, firms tend to switch to a new main bank that holds a higher share of equity in the firm and thus has stronger power. The results also suggest that after switching, firms obtain additional access to bank loans but, on average, have lower profits due to bigger interest payments.


In this work, a novel and unified approach for multi-view video (MVV) object segmentation is presented. In the first stage, a region-based graph-theoretic color segmentation algorithm is proposed, in which the popular Normalized Cuts segmentation method is improved with some modifications on its graph structure. Segmentation is obtained by recursive bi-partitioning of a weighted graph of an initial over-segmentation mask. The available segmentation mask is also utilized during dense depth map estimation step, based on a novel modified planeand anglesweeping strategy for each of these regions. Dense depth estimation is achieved by region-wise planarity assumption for the whole scene, in which depth models are estimated for sub-regions. Finally, the multi-view image segmentation algorithm is extended to object segmentation in MVV by the additional optical flow information. The required motion field is obtained via region-based matching that has consistent parameterization with color segmentation and dense depth map estimation algorithms. Experimental results indicate that proposed approach segments semantically meaningful objects in MVV with high precision.


OBJECTIVE
Being a kind of post-transcriptional modification (PTCM) in RNA, the 2'-Omethylation modification occurs in the processes of life development and disease formation as well. Accordingly, from the angles of both basic research and drug development, we are facing a challenging problem: given an uncharacterized RNA sequence formed by many nucleotides of A (adenine), C (cytosine), G (guanine), and U (uracil), which one can be of 2-O'-methylation modification, and which one cannot? Unfortunately, so far no computational method whatsoever has been developed to address such a problem.

METHOD
To fill this empty area, we propose a predictor called iRNA-2methyl. It is formed by incorporating a series of sequence-coupled factors into the general PseKNC (pseudo nucleotide composition), followed by fusing 12 basic random forest classifier into four ensemble predictors, with each aimed to identify the cases of A, C, G, and U along the RNA sequence concerned, respectively.

RESULTS
Rigorous jackknife cross-validations have indicated that the success rates are very high (>93%). For the convenience of most experimental scientists, a user-friendly web-server for iRNA-2methyl has been established at http://www.jci-bioinfo.cn/iRNA-2methyl, by which users can easily obtain their desired results without the need to go through the complicated mathematical equations involved.

CONCLUSION
The proposed predictor iRNA-2methyl will become a very useful bioinformatics tool for medicinal chemistry, helping to design effective drugs against the diseases related to the 2'-Omethylation modification.


Summary — This study presents a fragment of research aimed at determining the thermal stability of a cellulose-based composite material used for building gating systems for large iron castings. The behavior of the material itself at elevated temperatures is of major significance for the mould filling process. In this research, thermal analysis methods (DTG, TG, DSC) were used to explain the course of the thermal degradation of the analysed material by establishing thermal effects of transformations occurring during its heating as well as its structural and mass changes. The research was conducted at the temperature range of 40—1000 °C. The degradation process was found to start at the temperature of approx. 300 °C, and the total mass loss at the range of 300—750 °C amounted to 48.8 %. The mass loss observed is accompanied by very strong exothermal effects. The remaining part of the sample mass which had not decomposed up to the temperature of 1000 °C (approx. 51.2 %) probably represents the carbon fibres and ceramic clay present in the material, because these decompose at a temperature higher than the range of the performed thermal analysis and higher than the temperature of the liquid metal fed into the gating system (about 1300— 1400 °C). In addition, volatile products of degradation were analysed using IR spectrum and the thermogravimetry (TG) method coupled online with mass spectrometry (MS). In the temperature range 300—750 °C signals for small molecular masses were noticed, which indicates that the degradation process and fragmentation of polymer chains in the cellulose occur as well as formation of small particle compounds, primarily H 2 O and CO 2 . No signals given off by aromatic compounds


OBJECT
The aim of this study was to describe a new, minimally invasive technique for the endoscopic evacuation of intracerebral hematomas (ICHs) and the clinical and radiological outcomes in patients who underwent the procedure. The authors used a multifunctional three-in-one endoscopic instrument that combines a 0 degrees, 4-mm rigid telescope, an irrigation cannula, and a cautery electrode.

METHODS
In 13 patients a small keyhole craniotomy was made through noneloquent cortex to gain access to the hematoma. After opening the dura mater, a small cortical tunnel (approximately 6 mm in diameter) was created using bipolar forceps and suction to enter into the clot. The three-in-one endoscope was then introduced to provide illumination and irrigation inside the cavity. The clot was safely aspirated under endoscopic vision and constant irrigation by performing microsurgical suction with the other hand. Hemostasis could be achieved using electrocautery and Surgicel. This technique eliminates the use of an endoscopic sheath, thus providing more maneuverability to the neurosurgeon. The brilliant illumination provided by the endoscope and the possibility of using electrocautery in the depths of the brain combined with the increased maneuverability make this technique valuable. Near-complete hematoma evacuation was achieved in 11 (85%) of 13 patients. There were four deaths (30%).

CONCLUSIONS
Safe and effective evacuation of large ICHs is possible by using the three-in-one endoscopic device. Appropriate indications for surgery in patients with large intracerebral hemorrhage must be developed.


This dissertation deals with a proposition of new efficient energy protocols for wireless sensor networks (WSN) which are characterized by a low traffic, a high latency and a limited and non renewable energy. To do so, several works dealing with communication architecture, routing protocols and medium access control (MAC) protocols for Ad hoc networks and WSN were firstly analyzed. This, allowed us to propose a new MAC (ECo-MAC) and routing protocols that benefit from the low traffic feature of the majority of WSN applications enabling thus the saving of energy and an increase of the network lifetime. These protocols are used to create two cross-layered models for the two nodes sensor and base station (BS). To evaluate our proposition, we have used these models in the Optimized Network Engineering Tool (OPNET) simulator. The obtained results, under different network configurations, show important gains in terms of energy saving and latency, compared to works based on the S-MAC protocol. In a second step, we build a sensor and a BS models according to the timed automata formalism and using UPPAAL model checker tool we check the correctness of the new ECo-MAC protocol behaviour and the time slot duration in the worst case. Finally, from a discrete time Markov chains (DTMCs) modelling, we provide, by using probabilistic symbolic model checker (PRISM) tool, a formal justification of our adoption for some parameters values of the backoff procedure of our ECo-MAC protocol.


Abstract Background: Existing recommendations on whether mothers with COVID-19 should continue breastfeeding are still conflicting. We aimed to conduct a rapid review of mother-to-child transmission of COVID-19 during breastfeeding. Methods: We systematically searched Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane library, China Biology Medicine disc, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and preprint articles up to March 2020. We included studies relevant to transmission through milk and respiratory droplets during breastfeeding of mothers with COVID-19, SARS, MERS and influenza. Two reviewers independently screened studies for eligibility, extracted data, assessed risk of bias and used GRADE to assess certainty of evidence. Results: A total of 4481 records were identified in our literature search. Six studies (five case reports and one case series) involving 58 mothers (16 mothers with COVID-19, 42 mothers with influenza) and their infants proved eligible. Five case reports showed that the viral nucleic acid tests for all thirteen collected samples of breast milk from mothers with COVID-19 were negative. A case series of 42 influenza infected postpartum mothers taking precautions (hand hygiene and wearing masks) before breastfeeding showed that no neonates were infected with influenza during one-month of follow-up. Conclusions: The current evidence indicates that SARS-CoV-2 viral nucleic acid has not been detected in breast milk. The benefits of breastfeeding may outweigh the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in infants. Mothers with COVID-19 should take appropriate precautions to reduce the risk of transmission via droplets and close contact during breastfeeding. Keywords: Breastfeeding; COVID-19; infant; mother-to-child transmission; rapid Review.


Purpose: To evaluate the effect of topical diclofenac sodium 0.1% on the corneal epithelial healing after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) Methods: In this prospective randomized double blind clinical trial, PRK was performed on 82 patients. Thirty-three cases of them receiving topical diclofenac four times per day after surgical procedure and 45 patients did not receive this medication as a control group. Patients were compared for corneal epithelial healing after treatment. Results: Statistically significant delayed epithelial healing has been found in the treatment group 24 hours after PRK but corneal reepithelialization has been completed in all patients four days after surgery. Conclusion: Postoperative topical diclofenac used following PRK may delay the epithelial healing.


Enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) has been developed. A principle of the assay was the competitive method and used a double antibody solid phase technique. TSH-horse radish peroxidase (HRP) conjugate and TSH-beta-D-galactosidase (beta-Gal) conjugate were used, and a fluorometry was introduced for measuring the activity of the enzyme. The substrates for determining the enzyme activities were 4-methylumbelliferyl-beta-D-galactoside for beta-Gal, and 3-p(hydroxyphenyl)-propionic acid for HRP. A polyacetal bead coated with a purified double antibody was used for the separation of Bound and Free. With the assay methods, TSH in two of 3mm discs of dried blood on filter paper was measurable. The whole process was completed within 24 hours. TSH standards containing 0.05 microU/tube showed 80 approximately 90% of B/Bo, and the containing 0.25 microU/tube showed about 50% of B/Bo. As a routine method for mass screening of primary congenital hypothyroidism, the EIA method using TSH-beta-Gal was adopted. A variation resulting from day to day experiments was 4.7 approximately 9.4% at B/Bo during a seven day trial. From April of 1980, 12357 samples of newborn blood on filter paper were measured, and a distribution of the value of TSH in dried blood was almost the same as that obtained by RIA. Three cases of cogenital hypothyroidism were detected, and about 0.15% of the total samples showed a TSH concentration higher than 20 microU/ml of whole blood. All the samples were determined by RIA too, and the TSH values obtained from the EIA method were compared to that obtained from the RIA method. The correlation of both EIA and RIA methods was analyzed. Although there were slight discrepancies between EIA and RIA, the samples having high TSH values with the RIA method were all detected by the EIA method. Therefore, the EIA method will be usable as a tool for the mass-screening for the detection of primary congenital hypothyroidism.


Universities have a role in society different from other businesses or service industries. Universities as any human organizations are composed of people. And like any organization, they have a mission, objectives, goals, structures, roles and relationships of authority, decision-making processes and communication, interpersonal and intergroup dynamics, needs, values and interfaces. The diversity of determinants implies that the strategic management of universities become a multifunctional system decisions, which must be formulated, implemented and evaluated in order to achieve their long-term goals. The process of strategic management in universities incorporates the development and strategy formulation, implementation, monitoring and feedback. This article discusses the strategic management of organizations, especially universities, emphasizing the role that this process can have on the organization and how its implementation can help to enhance their leadership role in society to which it is addresse.


In this article, we develop a modeling framework to describe the uplink behavior of radio access in a sliced cell, including most features of the standard 3GPP multiple access procedures. Our model allows evaluating throughput and latency of each slice, as a function of cell parameters, when resources are in part dedicated to individual slices and in part shared. The availability of an accurate model is extremely important for the automated run time management of the cell and for the correct setting of its parameters. Indeed, our model considers most details of the behavior of sliced 5G cells, including Access Class Barring (ACB) and Random Access CHannel (RACH) procedures, preamble decoding, Random Access Response (RAR), and Radio Resource Control (RRC) procedures. To cope with a number of slices devoted to serve various co-deployed tenants, we derive a multi-class queueing model of the network processor. We then present (i) an accurate and computationally efficient technique to derive the performance measures of interest using continuous-time Markov chains, which scales up to a few slices only, and (ii) tight performance bounds, which are useful to tackle the case of more than a fistful of slices. We prove the accuracy of the model by comparison against a detailed simulator. Eventually, with our performance evaluation study, we show that our model is very effective in providing insight and guidelines for allocation and management of resources in cells hosting slices for services with different characteristics and performance requirements, such as machine type communications and human type communications.


Water chemistry and chemical denudation in relation to local environmental conditions were investigated in a drainage basin of approximately 9 km2 in northernmost Swedish Lapland (Latnjavagge). Discharge and surface water electric conductivity were measured over the summer of 2001 at selected sites. The chemical investigations show differences between sub‐areas and changes over the season as well as overall rates of chemical denudation. Transects within the catchment using a radio‐magnetotelluric geophysical method describe regolith thickness and ground frost conditions at the time of measurement. This combination of methods obtains information on the influence of regolith thickness and ground frost upon sub‐surface drainage and chemical denudation, not only along the profiles but also, by extension, on areas further upslope. In this paper the techniques are outlined and the approach demonstrated for three sub‐areas with different regolith thicknesses and thaw development. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This thesis has two purposes; emphasizing the importance of data quality of Big Data, and identifying and evaluating potential error sources in JavaScript tracking (a client side on - site online behavior clickstream data collection method commonly used in web analytics). The importance of data quality of Big Data is emphasized through the evaluation of JavaScript tracking. The Total Survey Error framework is applied to JavaScript tracking and 17 nonsampling error sources are identified and evaluated. The bias imposed by these error sources varies from large to small, but the major takeaway is the large number of error sources actually identified. More work is needed. Big Data has much to gain from quality work. Similarly, there is much that can be done with statistics in web analytics.


This study examines structural iconicity in silent gesture by way of the representation and perception of transitive and intransitive events in silent gesture. Specifically, this study focuses on the Iconicity of Quantity and the Iconicity of Complexity, or the strong cross-linguistic tendency for transitive events to be conceptually and structurally more complex than intransitive ones, and for this property to be represented explicitly in verbal morphology where available. Through silent gesture elicitation and perception studies and follow-up handshape analyses, it is demonstrated that non-signers produce and interpret silent gestures in harmony with these iconicity principles. To support our analysis, we identify and recast previous work on event representations in silent gesture and sign language as manifestations of structural iconicity principles.


The Burn Care Quality Platform (BCQP) consolidates data previously collected from the National Burn Repository and the Burn Quality Improvement Program into a single registry. Its data elements and their associated definitions are tailored to create consistency across other national trauma registries, namely the National Trauma Data Bank implemented by the American College of Surgeons Trauma Quality Improvement Program (ACS TQIP). The BCQP now includes 103 participating burn centers and has captured data from 375,000 total patients as of 2021. With 12,000 patients entered under the current data dictionary, the BCQP represents the largest registry of its kind. On behalf of the American Burn Association Research Committee, the aim of this whitepaper is to provide a succinct overview of the BCQP, showcasing its unique features, strengths, limitations, and relevant statistical considerations. This whitepaper will highlight the resources available to the burn research community and offer insight on proper study design when preparing to conduct a large data set investigation for burn care. All recommendations herein were formulated through the consensus of a multidisciplinary committee and based on the available scientific evidence.


Most of the recently cloned cytokine receptors that operate in the immune and hematopoietic systems contain no tyrosine kinase domains in their cytoplasmic regions, unlike the family of growth factor receptors defined earlier. However, they can be assigned to several new types of receptor families based on structural similarities among them. It is characteristic of these receptors that many of them require a receptor‐associated molecule in order to achieve high‐affinity ligand binding and/or transmission of cytoplasmic signals. Receptor‐associated molecules have been found that transduce cytoplasmic signals and are shared by different cytokine receptors. Phosphorylation of the receptors and of various cytoplasmic proteins after ligand stimulation seems to be a common event in cytokine systems. Insight into the pleiotropic and redundant nature of cytokine action is provided by the discovery of several new cytokine receptor families and of shared signal transduction molecules and by the idea that several cytoplasmic kinases may be able to functionally substitute for one another in transmitting cytokine signals.— Taga, T., Kishimoto, T. Cytokine receptors and signal transduction. FASEB J. 7: 3387‐3396; 1993.


The purposes of this study were to develop a theoretical-based, comprehension process assessment and to measure children's reading comprehension processes. This assessment was based on Hannon & Daneman's (2001) paradigm and Hannon & Frias' (2012) component processes tasks, including the memory measure, the inference measure, knowledge access and integration measure, and modified to two parts in order to assess 4th to 6th graders' reading comprehension processes. We reduced the difficulties and complexity of this comprehension measure for younger children. Four-hundred-and-fifty participants (at 4th to 6th grade level) were recruited from four elementary schools in Chia-Yi, Taiwan. The results show that the Cronbach's alpha coefficients were .75 to .87 and the citerion-reference validity was around .70 to .75 with the Chinese Reading Comprehension Test. There were good item discriminations and difficulties, analysed by the Rash model.


Abstract. Organic matter supplement is well-known to influence soil aggregate stability (AS), but the corresponding change in recently deposited fine sediment is not documented well. In this study, improvements in aggregate stability of recently deposited sediment supplemented with the farmyard manure (FYM) and tea waste (TW) during 18-week incubation under controlled conditions. The FYM and TW were applied to recently deposited sediment at different doses (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, and 15 % on weight base). The AS was determined at different times after adding organic matter (2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 14th, and 18th weeks) using wet sieving methods. The results showed that aggregate stability of deposited sediment treated with TW was statistically significantly higher than these of samples treated with FYM. Aggregate stability increased with increasing doses of both FYM and TW. In the FYM applied samples, AS reached the highest value at the end of second week, and declined within the following incubation period. However, in the samples treated with TW, AS reached the highest value at the end of eighth week. The results of this study were clearly indicated that tea waste and farmyard manure applications noticeably increased aggregate stability of recently deposited sediment, therefore it is suggested that TW and FYM could be used for structural stabilization of sediments.


Despite a lack of consistent diagnostic criteria, the metabolic syndrome (MetS) is increasingly evident in children and adolescents, portending a tsunami of chronic disease and mortality as this generation ages. The diagnostic criteria for MetS apply absolute cutoffs to continuous variables and fail to take into account aging, pubertal changes, and race/ethnicity. We attempt to define MetS mechanistically to determine its specific etiologies and to identify targets for therapy. Whereas the majority of studies document a relationship of visceral fat to insulin resistance, ectopic liver fat correlates better with dysfunctional insulin dynamics from which the rest of MetS derives. In contrast to the systemic metabolism of glucose, the liver is the primary metabolic clearinghouse for 4 specific foodstuffs that have been associated with the development of MetS: trans-fats, branched-chain amino acids, ethanol, and fructose. These 4 substrates (1) are not insulin regulated and (2) deliver metabolic intermediates to hepatic mitochondria without an appropriate "pop-off" mechanism for excess substrate, enhancing lipogenesis and ectopic adipose storage. Excessive fatty acid derivatives interfere with hepatic insulin signal transduction. Reactive oxygen species accumulate, which cannot be quenched by adjacent peroxisomes; these reactive oxygen species reach the endoplasmic reticulum, leading to a compensatory process termed the "unfolded protein response," driving further insulin resistance and eventually insulin deficiency. No obvious drug target exists in this pathway; thus, the only rational therapeutic approaches remain (1) altering hepatic substrate availability (dietary modification), (2) reducing hepatic substrate flux (high fiber), or (3) increasing mitochondrial efficiency (exercise).


Despite developing surgical techniques in urethral surgery, the outcome and complications are still unsatisfactory. Alternative treatment modality has been coming up, particularly in patients with longer stricture, under revision surgery, and penile stricture. Tissue engineering grafts are a promising approach for substituting urethral reconstruction. Over the decades, numerous preclinical studies have been published to show the efficacy and safety of different origins of materials, the presence of autologous cells (acellular matrices or autologous cell-seeded matrices), and the construction of engineered tissue (patch or tubularized constructs) on animal models. However, the results of these studies have not yet reached the intended level for daily clinical practice. A PubMed database search was performed for articles, using specific keywords, published between 1998 and 2022, with a selection on using tissue-engineered grafts for urethroplasty. Many materials have been used as a graft, such as acellular bladder matrix, small intestinal submucosa, acellular dermal matrix, and polyglycolic acid with or without cells, and were evaluated according to the functional and anatomical outcomes comprising complications. According to current literature, tubularized scaffolds constructed from co-cultured cells have promising results for the future. However, high-quality evidence through randomized controlled studies with larger sample sizes, with a long-term follow-up is required to determine accurate outcomes.


BACKGROUND Renal failure is a frequent event after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Hemodynamic alterations during surgery as well as the underlying disease are the predisposing factors. We aimed to study intermittent furosemide therapy in the prevention of renal failure in patients undergoing CABG. METHODS In a single-blind randomized controlled trial, 123 elective CABG patients, 18-75 years, entered the study. Clearance of creatinine, urea and water were measured. Patients were randomly assigned into three groups: furosemide in prime (0.3-0.4 mg/kg); intermittent furosemide during CABG (0.2 mg/kg, if there was a decrease in urinary excretion) and control (no furosemide). RESULTS There was a significant change in serum urea, sodium and fluid balance in "intermittent furosemide" group; other variables did not change significantly before or after the operation. Post-operative fluid balance was significantly higher in "intermittent furosemide" group (2573 ± 205 ml) compared to control (1574.0 ± 155.0 ml) (P < 0.010); also, fluid balance was higher in "intermittent furosemide" group (2573 ± 205 ml) compared to "furosemide in prime" group (1935.0 ± 169.00 ml) (P < 0.010). CONCLUSION The study demonstrated no benefit from intermittent furosemide in elective CABG compared to furosemide in prime volume or even placebo.


The secrecy capacity of relay channels with orthogonal components is studied in the presence of additional passive eavesdropper nodes. The relay and destination receive signals from the source on two orthogonal channels such that the destination also receives transmissions from the relay on its channel. The eavesdropper(s) can overhear either one or both of the orthogonal channels. For a single eavesdropper node, the secrecy capacity is shown to be achieved by a partial decode-and-forward (PDF) scheme when the eavesdropper can overhear only one of the two orthogonal channels. For the case of two eavesdropper nodes, secrecy capacity is shown to be achieved by PDF for a sub-class of channels.


The objectives of this research are: (1) to identify the methods that implemented in teaching English process at 7th grade of MTs Negeri 1 Kabupaten Gorontalo, (2) to know the procedures of English teaching method that implemented in English teaching process of 7th grade of MTs Negeri 1 Kabupaten Gorontalo.
The research used qualitative descriptive method, to describe the method that implemented by the teacher in English teaching process.The subjects of this research were English teacher and the students of 7th grade. Instrument used in this research were observation, interview, and documentation. The technique of analyzing data was identifying by reducing, displaying, and drawing conclusion of the data.
The results of this research shown that there are four types of language teaching method that used by the English teacher. Those are Discovery Learning, Total Physical Response, Communicative Language Teaching (Role Play), and Direct Method. The teacher implemented the language teaching methods by modifying the procedures of language teaching method.


This article will consider the reasons for the inclusion of cocaine in the Hague Opium Convention of 1912. This was the first time that the emerging international drugs regulatory system considered substances other than opiates and it was British delegates who took the initiative to include cocaine in discussions and in the final version of the agreement. Historians have tended to keep brief their accounts of this episode, seeing the British agenda on cocaine as driven primarily by their wider interests in opium, or alluding briefly to colonial anxieties about manufactured drugs. This article returns to the events of 1911–12 and argues that Britain's position on cocaine deserves greater attention. It shows that British administrations in Asia had tried to control a growing market there for the drug since the turn of the century, and that their efforts had failed. In exploring the history of these efforts, and their impacts in the early days of the international narcotics-control regime, the article suggests that imperial policies are more complex than many historians have previously acknowledged, and that it may be time for fresh thinking on the relationship between empires and drugs in modern Asia.


l'IlFJ PARLIAMFJNTARY PATHFINDER. By Wliliam II. Bartlett. (Handy Information Series.) New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. 160 PII. Cloth. Price, 4[; cenw net. Postage, 5 cents. Th~ ....\"Ival of In Mm.'!t In parliamentary prndlco Is one or the helpfUl and healthful s[gnll of tn .. Umooo. Woman's clnbs. eSJlCclally, make It of tho, utmost ImperInnce ~h6t I;lirJs, lIB well as boys, he ta.ugh,t by practice ns well I1S theory tho IIrst principles or deli~rath~ proceedings. Scrlhner's Sons. 177 pp, Price, [;0 cents. Hero are told some of tho most tascinaling stories of the azes with the hrlghtness and good cheer of modern limes. The illustrations are delightful, nnd the book, which selis for only IIfty cents, bas mnny of the characteristics of l,ool<s of larger price. By EULALIE OSGOOD GROVER THE OUTDOOR PRIMER


The paper examines the development of Kant's moral philosophy at the time of Critique of Pure Reason. By relying mostly on the so-called reflections, it argues that in the middle of the 1770s Kant was in possession of a rather comprehensive theory of morality as worthiness to be happy, built upon the universalisation of happiness and leading immanently to a moral theology. Even before the publication of Critique this conception was, mainly due to a closer definition of the concept of happiness that now included intellectuality, freedom, and self-satisfaction, reformulated into a system of the epigenesis of happiness out of the laws of freedom. The reflections from the early 1780s suggest the existence of yet another phase, as this conception was further developed into a system of the epigenesis of pure morality which, by drawing a pronounced parallel between cognition and action, now tried to establish the unconditional obligation by examining the a priori conditions of the unity of the willing of a finite rational being. Although the project appears highly promising, inherently consistent, and outwardly in complete agreement with the framework of a critical theory of cognition, it was unexpectedly given up – presumably under the influence of Rousseau and possibly as an overreaction to Garve. But since according to the author the final version of Kant's moral theory basically implies a pre-critical subject of action, the paper concludes by suggesting that a truly consequent reconstruction of critical moral philosophy requires a reintroduction of the elements once given up by Kant.


A program to produce large cofired aluminum nitride (AIN) packages for support of silicon-based high-density multichip modules (MCMs) is discussed. Perimeter leaded packages measuring over 4 in in length and having over 600 leads on 0.025-in centers have been developed. The size and fine lead pitch require tight dimensional control, including 0.1% on both the flatness and the placement of cofired lead pads. These dimensional requirements, as well as the hermeticity and thermal-mechanical reliability requirements for military use, have been met through a combination of engineering/design solutions and the implementations of new material systems and processes. >


Leiopotherapon unicolor is the most widespread freshwater fish species in Australia. A comprehensive allozyme and mitochondrial DNA 16S rRNA data set was assembled from 141 specimens of L. unicolor collected Australia-wide in order to test for cryptic speciation in this far-ranging species. Surprisingly, little genetic diversity was observed within L. unicolor and provided no evidence for the existence of cryptic species within this lineage. In contrast, a small sample set of L. aheneus used as the outgroup showed two highly divergent haplotypes strongly suggestive of cryptic speciation. L. unicolor has a number of ecological and life history attributes that may explain the lack of significant genetic divergence over substantial geographical distances. The occurrence of other widespread fish and crustacean species that also display only limited genetic diversity indicate that climate conditions more favourable to dispersal across central and northern Australia than is suggested by the extent of present-day aridity have occurred in the relatively recent geological past.


Despite an extensive literature on cancer-related fatigue, there are still gaps in knowledge concerning its development and alleviation. The overall aim of this thesis was to explore symptom experiences and self-care activities during radiotherapy. Further, specifically in patients undergoing pelvic radiotherapy, to investigate the correlation between fatigue and signs of intestinal injury and to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of an intervention aimed at alleviating fatigue and gastrointestinal symptoms.

All studies comprised adults with cancer undergoing radiotherapy with focus on patients undergoing pelvic radiotherapy in three out of four studies. Both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis was used through and within the studies. Grounded theory formed data collection and data analysis of the qualitative component in Paper I. The process of validating the Swedish version of the Revised Piper Fatigue Scale in Paper II included face validity, internal consistency, reliability and external and discriminative validity. Paper III and IV was performed on the basis that the development of fatigue rest upon a radiation-induced intestinal injury resulting in a cytokine induced inflammatory reaction, which in turn may elicit fatigue. In Paper III associations between fatigue and intestinal injury were analyzed. Paper IV contains a quasi-experimental pilot study. All patients were allocated to an intervention based on bovine colostrum to be taken daily during radiotherapy with the intent to address the intestinal injury by strengthening the mucosal barrier. Feasibility was the primary variable together with data on symptoms, intestinal injury and biomarkers for systemic inflammation. A historical comparison group (Paper III) was used to evaluate the effect of the intervention.

The result showed that living through pelvic radiotherapy can be understood as a process to maintain self-identity. The experiences and self-initiated activities which formed this process were understood to comprise of focusing on symptoms, getting cured and on self-image. Patients experienced several distressing symptoms comprised both situational and existential meaning. The validation of the Swedish version of the Revised Piper Fatigue Scale resulted in several modifications to the questionnaire. The internal consistency of the Swedish version of the questionnaire was different from that of the original version and the discriminative validity of the four subscales was not supported. The subscale of affective meaning needs further evaluation. A significant negative correlation was found between fatigue and epithelial atrophy in the intestine and a significant positive correlation was found between fatigue and diarrhea. These correlations imply a link between fatigue and intestinal injury. Signs of systemic inflammation were evident. In the interventional study, 56% adhered to the intervention. Feasibility was limited by smell, taste and consistency the preparation. The results indicated an alleviation of fatigue,…


1. Changes in the intensity of the illumination falling on the compound eye produce transient changes in the interspike interval of the tonic potentials generated by the eye muscle of Calliphora vomitoria . These changes are distinct and frequently different in direction from changes in resting activity produced by light and dark adaptation which have been described previously. 2. The effect of 'light-on' at high stimulus intensities is to produce a transient increase in the interspike intervals of the eye-muscle potentials. At lower intensities the result is a transient decrease in the interspike intervals. 3. 'Light-off' consistently evokes a decrease in the interspike interval, and the magnitude of the decrease is graded with the logarithm of the preceding light intensity. 4. With high-intensity stimuli changes in the interspike intervals occur within 200 msec of a change in illumination and continue to develop for at least 2 sec. The interspike intervals have returned to near to the pre-stimulus values within 30 sec to 2 min of the onset of the stimulus. 5. The behaviour of the eye-muscle system is described for 'near-threshold' stimuli and response 'threshold' is found to vary with adapting intensity in a way which illustrates a Weber-Fechner relationship.


Traditionally, HEP experiments exploit the multiple cores in a CPU by having each core process one event. However, future PC designs are expected to use CPUs which double the number of processing cores at the same rate as the cost of memory falls by a factor of two. This effectively means the amount of memory per processing core will remain constant. This is a major challenge for LHC processing frameworks since the LHC is expected to deliver more complex events (e.g. greater pileup events) in the coming years while the LHC experiment's frameworks are already memory constrained. Therefore in the not so distant future we may need to be able to efficiently use multiple cores to process one event. In this presentation we will discuss a design for an HEP processing framework which can allow very fine grained parallelization within one event as well as supporting processing multiple events simultaneously while minimizing the memory footprint of the job. The design is built around the libdispatch framework created by Apple Inc. (a port for Linux is available) whose central concept is the use of task queues. This design also accommodates the reality that not all code will be thread safe and therefore allows one to easily mark modules or sub parts of modules as being thread unsafe. In addition, the design efficiently handles the requirement that events in one run must all be processed before starting to process events from a different run. After explaining the design we will provide measurements from simulating different processing scenarios where the processing times used for the simulation are drawn from processing times measured from actual CMS event processing.


The pantropic emergence of severe dengue disease can partly be attributed to the co-circulation of different dengue viruses (DENVs) in the same geographical location. Effective monitoring for circulation of each of the four DENVs is critical to inform disease mitigation strategies. In low resource settings, this can be effectively achieved by utilizing inexpensive, rapid, sensitive and specific assays to detect viruses in mosquito populations. In this study, we developed four rapid DENV tests with direct applicability for low-resource virus surveillance in mosquitoes. The test protocols utilize a novel sample preparation step, a single-temperature isothermal amplification, and a simple lateral flow detection. Analytical sensitivity testing demonstrated tests could detect down to 1,000 copies/µL of virus-specific DENV RNA, and analytical specificity testing indicated tests were highly specific for their respective virus, and did not detect closely related flaviviruses. All four DENV tests showed excellent diagnostic specificity and sensitivity when used for detection of both individually infected mosquitoes and infected mosquitoes in pools of uninfected mosquitoes. With individually infected mosquitoes, the rapid DENV-1, -2 and -3 tests showed 100% diagnostic sensitivity (95% CI = 69% to 100%, n=8 for DENV-1; n=10 for DENV 2,3) and the DENV-4 test showed 92% diagnostic sensitivity (CI: 62% to 100%, n=12) along with 100% diagnostic specificity (CI: 48–100%) for all four tests. Testing infected mosquito pools, the rapid DENV-2, -3 and -4 tests showed 100% diagnostic sensitivity (95% CI = 69% to 100%, n=10) and the DENV-1 test showed 90% diagnostic sensitivity (55.50% to 99.75%, n=10) together with 100% diagnostic specificity (CI: 48–100%). Our tests reduce the operational time required to perform mosquito infection status surveillance testing from > two hours to only 35 minutes, and have potential to improve accessibility of mosquito screening, improving monitoring and control strategies in low-income countries most affected by dengue outbreaks.


Background: Coagulase negative Staphylococci (CoNS) are one of the most common bacteria found on human skin and on mucous membranes as a component of normal flora. The presence of CoNS in clinical specimens is frequently associated with an infectious aetiology or contamination. Objectives: We aimed to evaluate CoNS species distribution and susceptibility patterns in specimens obtained from clinics and hospitals in the Northern area of Jordan. Methods: Standard identification methods showed the presence of CoNS in 223 specimens at different local hospitals. Susceptibility testing was performed using 18 antibiotics in accordance with the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) recommendations. Results: Staphylococcus epidermidis and S. haemolyticus were found to be the most common species isolated from all specimens representing 122 (54.7%) and 52 (23.4%) of all CoNS species, respectively. Antibiotic susceptibility testing of CoNS species revealed their sensitivity to vancomycin, linozolid, rifampin and nitrofurantin, while showing a highly resistant pattern to ampicillin, penicillin, ceftriaxone, cefazolin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and erythromycin. Some variation of the susceptibility pattern of CoNS species were identified in specimens isolated from the ICU and paediatric hospital wards as well as from clinical specimens of urine, blood and catheter tips. Conclusion: The most common CoNS isolates were found to be S. epidermidis and S. haemolyticus with variable percentag-es according to the specimen source. Moreover, a high susceptibility CoNS to vancomycin, rifampin, and linezolid showed resistance to amoxicillin and penicillin.


The support of IP-based real-time services in the next-generation mobile systems requires the coupling of mobility with quality of service. The mobile node can experience disruptions or even intermittent disconnections of an ongoing real-time session due to handovers. The duration of such interruptions is called disruption time or handover delay and can heavily affect user satisfaction. Therefore, this delay needs to be minimized to provide good quality VoIP services. In this paper, we focus on the network-layer mobility, specifically on mobile Internet protocols (MIP) since they are natural candidates for providing network layer mobility. Using analytical models, we evaluate MIPv4 and MIPv6 and compare their performances in terms of handover delay for VoIP services. To optimize the handover delay, we propose to use the adaptive retransmission timer described in this paper. The results obtained using the adaptive timer technique show that for 3% frame error rate and a 9.6 Kbps channel, the handoff delay is about 0.67 s for MIPv6 and 0.32 s for MIPv4. MIPv4 gives an appropriate support to VoIP services in terms of handover delay but the end-to-end delay may be affected by the triangular routing avoided in MIPv6.


Contrasting Effects of Aqueous Vermicompost Extract Mixtures on Growth of Brassica oleracea var. sabellica
Luis Alfredo Cendan, Carlos Vazquez and Dora Pilar Maul.
School of Science, Technology, and Engineering Management, St. Thomas University, Miami Gardens, FL 33054
Organic fertilizers not only maintain soil fertility but enhance the biological activity of the soil, which improve the efficiency of nutrient use by the plants. Vermicompost, a nutrient-rich organic fertilizer made by composting earthworms can be used in the preparation of aqueous extracts known to increase crop yield and plant health. Vermicompost was produced through cultivation of Red Wriggler worms (Eisenia fetida), a common composting species and used in the preparation of aqueous fertilizing mixtures. Kale (Brassica oleracea var. sabellica), a leafy vegetable known for its high nutritional properties, was grown in the STU organic garden in the spring of 2016. Plants were fertilized with one of three vermicompost-based solutions containing different combinations of organic additives, such as fish emulsion, corn syrup and/or a seaweed blend. Mixtures were prepared weekly and applied, in 4 gal. doses to the plants in each study group twice a week over the course of 10 weeks. Upon harvest, the height, wet weight, and dry weight of the plants were measured. ANOVA and Tukey test analysis showed a significant positive effect on all vermicompost-treated plants compared to the control. Kale plants receiving the mixture T1 (a combination of vermicompost and fish emulsion) resulted in significantly greater height, wet weight, and dry weight in comparison to the other treatments.


In this paper we study the problem of learning a low-rank (sparse) distance matrix. We propose a novel metric learning model which can simultaneously conduct dimension reduction and learn a distance matrix. The sparse representation involves a mixed-norm regularization which is non-convex. We then show that it can be equivalently formulated as a convex saddle (min-max) problem. From this saddle representation, we develop an efficient smooth optimization approach [17] for sparse metric learning, although the learning model is based on a non-differentiable loss function. Finally, we run experiments to validate the effectiveness and efficiency of our sparse metric learning model on various datasets.


Due to the fact that human albumin is expensive, for the treatment of hypoproteinemic edema in patient with poor nutrition (anorexia, vomiting, etc) there is a tendency to use fresh frozen plasma. Fresh frozen plasma and plasma from platelets concentrates help restore protein levels, but they can produce side effects due to the fact that they contain clotting factors. One of these side effects is thrombosis, including in the pulmonary blood circulation, generating pulmonary arterial hypertension. In this article we present the clinical case of a female patient with acute myelogenous leukemia, which in the complete remission state presented a severe edematous syndrome - until anasarca - for which she received transfusions with human albumin, plasma and platelet concentrates (she was in post-chemotherapy aplasia). With the increase of serum protein levels we also observed an increase of the edema, which led to further investigations and to ultrasound diagnosis of major pulmonary hypertension, together with a high peak of thrombin generation. While reducing the peak of thrombin generation, we noticed the decrease of the pulmonary blood pressure. In this article we discussed the role of plasma transfusions and other predisposing factors in the occurrence of this episode.


Agent-based systems have been widely used to develop industrial control systems when they are required to address issues such as flexibility, scalability and portability. The most common approach to develop such control systems is with agents embedded in a platform that provides software libraries and runtime services that ease the development process. These platforms also bring challenges to the agent-based control system engineering. For example, they might introduce default design features, such as a global directory of agents. Furthermore, agents are generally locked in a platform and depend on the platform's available support for deployment across computing infrastructures. This article addresses these challenges through an approach for building agent-based control systems, that relaxes the dependencies in multiagent system (MAS) platforms, through the use of container-based virtualisation. The proposed approach is elaborated via a reference architecture that enables the implementation of agents as self-contained applications that can be deployed, on-demand, in independent environments but still are able to communicate and coordinate with other agents of the control system. We built a prototype using this approach and evaluated it in the context of a case study for the supervisory control of digital network infrastructures. This case study enabled us to demonstrate feasibility of the approach and to show the flexibility, of the resulting control system, to adopt several topologies as well as to operate at different scales, over emulated networks. We also concluded that designing agents as individual deployment units is also cost-effective especially in control scenarios with low number of stable agents.


Ongoing efforts to reduce medical errors and enhance quality of patient care focus primarily on technological innovations. However, important management issues that underlie about two-thirds of adverse events have commanded insufficient attention. This article examines two alternative management philosophies—control-based and commitment-based—premised on opposite sets of assumptions about human motivation, and it develops a model linking the overall management philosophy with medical errors and quality of care. The current control-based culture and management systems in health care organizations are inherently inadequate in delivering high quality of patient care and safety. Consequently, there is a need to transform them for bringing further improvements in clinical outcomes. Implementing commitment-based management will foster collaboration, communication, coordination, and teamwork, the essential mechanisms for reducing medical errors and rendering high-quality health care.


PurposeIn spite of emerging research on building information modelling (BIM) capability assessment, there is a general dearth of knowledge about the links between often pre-emptive capability measurement attributes and actual delivery success. More so, current studies have not considered success from the wider construction supply chain (CSC) perspective. So far, the perceived importance of capability metrics is not based on post-project evaluations of their contribution to BIM delivery success. This paper aims to identify relevant BIM capability attributes used for qualifying CSC organisations for projects and further aims to investigate their relative importance and influence on some key aspects of BIM delivery success.Design/methodology/approachBased on heretofore validated set of BIM capability attributes from semi-structured interviews and a Delphi study, a survey of CSC firms on BIM-enabled projects was used to model the influence of BIM capability attributes on BIM delivery success. Multiple regression modelling was performed to ascertain the nature of the relationship between BIM capability attributes and the key aspects of BIM delivery success as identified from the literature.FindingsBIM staff experience and the suitability of proposed methodology prior to project commencement were identified as the most influential on BIM delivery quality, as well as delivery within schedule and on budget. Conversely, the administrative and strategic-level capacities were found as the most influential in leveraging collaboration, coordination or integration of the CSC on projects through BIM.Originality/valueThis study provides a step change in prioritising BIM capability criteria based on evidence of their contribution to delivery success in key performance areas, rather than their perceived importance as capability metrics as widely practised.


is more likely to cause irritation of the intima, reduces blood flow around the cannula, and increases the risk of thrombophlebitis. Using small gauge catheters in large diameter veins reduces the incidence of thrombophlebitis.7 In a controlled trial Khawaja et al showed that 16 gauge and 18 gauge cannulas survived longer than 14 gauge cannulas.5 Formation of thrombus is related to the size of the intravascular device, and therefore thrombus due to a small cannula is less likely to impede blood flow.5 Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory gel seems to delay the onset of thrombophlebitis related to the cannula and reduces its incidence by half with no difference in bacterial colonisationbetween control and treatment groups.9


This study deals with the low cycle fatigue (LCF) behaviour of two steels strengthened by oxide dispersion. The ODS Eurofer steel shows cyclic softening, slower than in the case of the same steel without oxide particles. The 14Cr ODS ferritic steel is cyclically stable, even a slight cyclic hardening is observed at 650 °C. The reasons for this different behaviour lie probably in the less resistant matrix with a lot of weak subgrain boundaries in ODS Eurofer, because no clear difference in the oxide particles distribution was found.


Fe65Co35 thin films have been deposited on SiO2 substrates using sputtering technique with different choices of seed layer; Ru, Ni82.5Fe17.5, Rh, Y and Zr. Best soft magnetic properties were observed with seed layers of Ru, Ni82.5Fe17.5 and Rh. Adding these seed layers, the coercivity of the Fe65Co35 films decreased to values of around 1.5 mT, which can be compared to the value of 12.5 mT obtained for films deposited without seed layer. Further investigations were performed on samples with these three seed layers in terms of dynamic magnetic properties, both on as prepared and annealed samples, using constant frequency cavity and broadband ferromagnetic resonance measurements. Damping parameters of around 8.0 10−3 and 4.5 10−3 were obtained from in-plane and out-of-plane measurements, respectively, for the as prepared samples, values that were reduced to about 6.5 10−3 and 4.0 10−3 for annealed samples.


The increasing availability and use of immunoassays in clinical chemistry have revealed a number of endogeneous interferences. Solid-phase sandwich immunoassays based on monoclonal antibodies are particularly sensitive to any factor able to bridge immunoglobulins together. Heterophilic immunoglobulin antibodies have been demonstrated in up to 40% of patient samples and to cause spuriously elevated results unless certain precautions are taken. Rheumatoid factors belong to the same category, but their affinity is usually too low to cause significant interference. Immunoscintigraphy generates high-litre anti-immunoglobulin responses causing serious interferences in immunoassays. Recently interfering factors of unknown nature causing nonspecific binding of enzyme-labelled antibodies have been observed. Spuriously decreased values can be caused by complement, which may interfere with antigen-binding to solid phase antibody. The aforementioned and other endogeneous interferences in immunoassays are reviewed and...


The self-organizing feature maps developed by Kohonen appear to capture some of the advantages of the natural systems on which they are based. A summary of the operation of this form of artificial neural network is presented. It was concluded that the primary benefits of using self-organizing feature maps result from their adaptability and plasticity while most problems are largely caused by the lack of a rigorous mathematical foundation. Two different robotics applications are described. In the first, developed by Martinez and Schulten, a hierarchical structure composed of many self-organizing feature maps is used to control a five degree of freedom robot arm. While it was noted that there may be some practical problems, the general idea of using a hierarchical structure appears sound and may be applicable to a wider range of problems. The second robotics application was developed by Saxon and Mukherjee. They used a single self-organizing feature map to learn the motion map of a two degree of freedom arm. The use of such a system should simplify path planning by combining multiple constraints into a 2-D structure. Comments University of Pennsylvania Department of Computer and Information Science Technical Report No. MSCIS-91-46. This technical report is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/cis_reports/405 Self Organizanig Feature Maps and Their Application To Robotics MS-CIS-91-46 GRASP LAB 268


In corneal scraping smears from 13 patients with clinically suspected herpes simplex keratitis (HSK). HSK is demonstrated by means of peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) technique with antisera to herpes simplex virus (HSV) in Papanicolaou-destained cellular samples. The staining for HSV antigen was present in seven cases of corneal scraping smears with superficial keratitis (dendritic and geographic ulcers) while six cases of stromal keratitis (deep keratitis) failed to show HSV antigen except in one case. Specific antigen for HSV was predominantly present in the cytoplasm rather than in the nucleus. Immunoreactions were negative with HSV antisera in patients with other infections and in those in a normal control group. Using the PAP technique. detection of HSV antigen in corneal scraping smears was of great value in the diagnosis of HSK, especially in cases of superficial keratitis. Diagn Cytopathd 1985;1:3 17-21.


Neurologists must have been following the explosion of information about peptides in gut and brain with some amazement. Clinical practice has not led us to suppose that there would be such a dramatic interrelation between these two organs. However, since about 1974, it has been revealed that many of the peptides present in the gastro-intestinal tract are also present in restricted areas of the brain. To have to consider that hormones such as cholecystokinin, vaso-active intestinal polypeptide, and bombesin must be involved in the workings of the nervous system may appear a difficult concept to grasp. Likewise, the discovery that certain neurotransmitters, such as substance P, the enkephalins, and neurotensin are widely distributed in the gut as well as the brain also has seemed surprising. The very number of these gut-brain peptides is amazing; at a recent count, twenty-one such substances have been identified, and there may be many more. Many of these regulatory peptides can be found in the gut and the nervous system of lower animal forms, even in such coelenterates as Hydra. It seems likely that peptides came into use


Apart from other factors such as die design and manufacturing, heat treatment, working conditions etc, performance of hot extrusion die can directly be related to the billet quality used in the extrusion press. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of Al-6063 billet source (primary or secondary) on extrusion die life based on microstructural and statistical analyses. In microstructural investigation, secondary (remelt) billet cast in-house at local extrusion plant is compared with primary (smelter) billet by applying different material characterization techniques including optical microscopy, hardness measurement, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The statistical study is based on the failure history of some 53 hollow-profile dies in which the effect of billet quality on various measurable process parameters including extrusion ratio, billet temperature, exit temperature and repeated nitriding is analysed and related with useful die service life. Comparatively coarse grain structure, non-homogeneous distribution of secondary phases, and high hardness in the case of secondary billet were found responsible for poor die performance as observed in statistical investigation of failed dies. Two types of regression models are also proposed for prediction of die life in terms of secondary billets' usage and measurable influencing parameters. Using current results, some suggestions during in-house billet preparation of secondary billets have been devised for improved die life.


The therapeutic efficacy of captopril, the inhibitor of the angiotensin-converting enzyme was studied in 18 patients with noticeable chronic cardiac insufficiency, who were refractory to foxglove drugs and diuretics. The use of captopril improved the patients' clinical status, significantly decreased the left ventricle volume and elevated the cardiac discharge. A simultaneous increase in diuresis during the day, favorable shifts in the electrolytic blood composition, a decrease in the concentration of blood plasma aldosterone and the level of carboxycatepsin in the blood serum were observed. Favorable changes in the hemodynamic and clinical-biochemical parameters during captopril therapy made it possible to achieve a positive therapeutic effect in 15 (83.3%) patients with refractory cardiac insufficiency. Subsequent recommendation of diuretics and maintenance doses of cardiac glycosides stabilized the therapeutic effect of captopril producing no complications. Thus, the incorporation of captopril in the management of severe refractory cardiac insufficiency was substantiated pathogenetically and found appropriate.


In this paper, we first present a linear programming based approach for modeling and solving the resource matching problem in grid environments with heterogeneous resources. The resource matching problem described here takes into account resource sharing, job priorities, dependencies on multiple resource types, and resource specific policies. We then propose a web service style architecture for on-line matching of independent jobs with resources in a grid environment and describe a prototype implementation. Our preliminary performance results indicate that the linear programming based approach for resource matching is efficient in speed and accuracy and can keep up with high job arrival rates – an important criterion for on-line resource matching systems. Also, the web service style architecture makes the system scalable and extendable. It can also be integrated with other existing grid services in a straightforward manner.


Recent studies have suggested that p53 regulates the G2 checkpoint in the cell cycle and that this function is required for the maintenance of genomic integrity. In this study, we investigated a regulatory role of p53 specifically in G2-M transition. Human bladder carcinoma cells lacking functional p53 were synchronized at G1-S, which is preceded by p53-mediated G1 arrest. p53 expression in the synchronized cells was induced by infection with a recombinant adenovirus that encodes p53. After release from the G1-S arrest, the cells progressed to S-phase and G2 but failed to enter mitosis. Biochemical analysis showed that p53 inhibits cell cycle-dependent expression of cdc2 and cyclin B1 and consequently inhibits cdc2 kinase. The role of cyclin B1-associated cdc2 kinase in p53-mediated G2-M arrest was further investigated by expression of both cyclin B1 and cdc2AF, in which inhibitory phosphorylation sites were substituted. The cells expressing both cdc2AF and cyclin B1 showed a constitutive activation of cdc2 kinase during cell cycle progression and passed through G2-M regardless of p53 expression. Therefore, inactivation of cdc2 kinase through cdc2 and cyclin B1 repression is an essential step in p53-mediated G2-M arrest.


Gender and development (GAD)-related issues are important topics in nation building. GAD focal persons in government agencies are identified to mainstream implementation of GAD-related activities to include research and development. However, one of the limiting factors in gender-related research is the lack of technical knowledge on data analytics which is fundamental for decision-making. The Socio-Economics Research and Data Analytics Center in Luzon (SERDAC–Luzon) was established as a government's response to this limitation. The Center aims to enhance the capacity of researchers in basic and advanced socio-economic research, especially on the use of statistical software for data analytics to a range of gender issues. Trainings were conducted among GAD focal persons to enhance their competency on the use of SPSS for data analytics. Lectures, discussions, and workshops using the software were the teaching modalities. Data on the GAD focal person participants in the trainings conducted at two universities were used. The pre- and post-assessment scores were the variables, and the differences of the scores indicated the effects of the training on their competency and level of knowledge. Differential response of the male and female participants was also analyzed. There was a difference in the level of competency and knowledge in data analysis and the use of the software by gender as indicated in the participants' pre- and post-assessment scores. The training was effective in providing the participants knowledge and skills. The trainings contributed to the improvement of the participants' competency on the use of the software and knowledge for data analytics.


This research provides evidence from three Czech Faculties of Economics and one English Business School on students" expectations regarding their investment in higher education. It examines the expected earnings from which rates of return are calculated using the short-cut method, and ex ante risk is estimated using the coefficient of variation. Micro-level data have been collected specifically for the purpose of this study using a repeated cross-sectional survey. In addition to personal and socio-economic characteristics, first year students were asked to estimate their earnings with and without a university degree at two points in time – at the point of labour market entry and ten years later, and at three levels of probability – minimum, most likely and maximum. This study aims to investigate the factors that influence the expectations and to determine whether students act rationally as investors and according to the theory of human capital.

Earnings expectations have been found to increase with education and experience. Students expect their earnings to grow faster and further thanks to a university degree and expect their earnings at the point of graduation to be similar to the earnings they expected with ten years of post-secondary labour market experience. Students from high income families expect higher earnings than those from low income families. Women have been found to expect lower earnings than men and the gender-pay gap increases with education and experience. Students from England expect higher earnings than their Czech peers. The findings reveal that a very large majority of students act according to the theory of human capital by expecting at least zero rates of return, and that there is a positive relationship between returns and risk and thus that students act rationally as investors.

The average rate of return expected by English students is around 23% while those expected by Czech students range from 14% to 18%. Gender differences in rates of return were identified in England with women expecting higher rates of return. Nevertheless, it is concluded that gender differences in rates of return should be reported on in the context of risk-free rates of return otherwise the results may be misleading. Average ex ante risk associated with university education is the coefficient of variation of 0.35, which is similar to a randomly selected financial portfolio of 30 stocks. The expected risk-return trade-off is large; for a 1.1pp increase in risk men expect to be compensated by a 1pp increase in the rate of return while women expect for every 2pp increase in risk a 1pp increase in the rate of return.


Discrete Fracture Modeling for Fractured Reservoirs Using Voronoi Grid Blocks. (May 2006) Matthew Edward Gross, B.S., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. David Schechter Fractured reservoirs are commonly simulated using the Dual Porosity model, but for many major fields, the model does not match field results. For these cases, it is necessary to perform a more complex simulation including either individual fractures or pseudofracture groups modeled in their own grid blocks. Discrete Fracture Modeling (DFN) is still a relatively new field, and most research on it up to this point has been done with Delaunay tessellations. This research investigates an alternative approach using Voronoi diagrams, yet applying the same DFN principles outlined in previous works. Through the careful positioning of node points, a grid of Voronoi polygons can be produced so that block boundaries fall along the fractures, allowing us to use the DFN simulation methods as proposed in the literature. Using Voronoi diagrams allows us to use far fewer polygons than the Delaunay approach, and also allows us to perfectly align flow so as to eliminate grid alignment errors that plagued previous static systems. The nature of the Voronoi polygon further allows us to simplify permeability calculations due to orthogonality and, by extension, is more accurate than the commonly used cornerpoint formulation for non-square grid blocks.


This paper uses data from a survey of more than 1,400 farming households in Hungary to identify a set of profiles of farming households, which are active in the rental market and to estimate econometrically the impact of household characteristics, such as social, physical, and human capital, as well as regional and environmental characteristics on land rental activities. We show that the decision of farming households to lease in land is related to their land endowment, their access to capital assets, human capital variables such as age and education and their social capital. Environmental factors are also important.