In his influential book Disagreement: Politics and Philosophy Jacques Ranciere builds a substantial critique of liberal regimes present in most Western countries. He finds them defective because: (1) they allow wealth and economic power of groups and individuals to influence public decision-making, making those with economic power an elite group; (2) they allow knowledge and expertise of groups and individuals to influence public decision-making, making those with epistemic power an elite group; (3) they allow and encourage social and economic conditions that make people inappropriate for decision-making on important issues, making those with certain characteristics thus acquired an inferior group. We focus on the Ranciere's second objection by relying on Estlund's epistemic proceduralis approach and claim that one does not have to embrace postmodernist idea of reducing reason to relations of power in order to present a substantial critique of our contemporary society. Furthermore, we argue that one does not have to base egalitarian democracy on postmodernist ideas that reject the truth-tracking potential of democratic procedures – egalitarian democracy is perfectly compatible with the idea of truth in politics.


[1] We present one Martian year of observations of the density and temperature in the upper atmosphere of Mars (between 60 and 130 km) obtained by the Mars Express ultraviolet spectrometer Spectroscopy for Investigation of Characteristics of the Atmosphere of Mars (SPICAM). Six hundred sixteen profiles were retrieved using stellar occultations technique at various latitude and longitude. The atmospheric densities exhibit large seasonal fluctuations due to variations in the dust content of the lower atmosphere which controls the temperature and, thus, the atmospheric scale height, below 50 km. In particular, the year observed by SPICAM was affected by an unexpected dust loading around Ls = 130° which induced a sudden increase of density above 60 km. The diurnal cycle could not be analyzed in detail because most data were obtained at nighttime, except for a few occultations observed around noon during northern winter. There, the averaged midday profile is found to slightly differ from the corresponding midnight profile, with the observed differences being consistent with propagating thermal tides and variations in local solar heating. About 6% of the observed mesopause temperatures exhibits temperature below the CO 2 frost point, especially during northern summer in the tropics. Comparison with atmospheric general circulation model predictions shows that the existing models overestimate the temperature around the mesopause (above 80 to 100 km) by up to 30 K, probably because of an underestimation of the atomic oxygen concentration which controls the CO 2 infrared cooling.


This article considers the impact of recent Supreme Court cases on the reach and interpretation of federal criminal law, and the extent to which debates about that law should be more grounded in constitutional considerations. Special attention is paid to the problem of statutes with jurisdictional elements, using the Hobbs Act as an example. The article begins with what Professors Abrams and Beale call the "great debate on the nature of the federal role." This debate is generally presented as a matter of how far Congress should go in developing our system of overlapping state and federal crimes. It was assumed, certainly before Lopez, that constraints on Congress were few. There is a wealth of scholarly analysis of Lopez and its impact on federal power. However, to some extent, the debate on federal criminal law remains cast as primarily one of policy. The article examines the report of the American Bar Association's Task Force on the Federalization of Criminal Law. It considers both the Report's analysis of the present system and its recommendations to Congress. The analysis reflects a strongly federalistic approach. However, despite federalistic premises, there is relatively little discussion of possible constitutional limits on Congress. After Lopez, these considerations would bolster the Report's analysis and conclusions. The article notes in particular the strength of an individual rights critique of the dual systems of criminal law, and suggests that it fits comfortably within classical notions of federalism as advancing protection of rights. The Report was written after Lopez but prior to the recent decisions in United States v. Morrison and Jones v. United States. The article discusses these cases in some depth. Morrison is presented as primarily a reaffirmation of Lopez. Of particular interest are the dissents of Justices Souter and Breyer; for example, the former criticized the current majority's approach as a doomed attempt to return to "the federalism of some earlier time." In light of the sharp Lopez-like disagreements in Morrison, the decision in Jones is somewhat surprising. The specific result was the narrow construction of a federal arson statute. What is striking is that constitutional concerns played a substantial role in this construction and that Justice Ginsburg - a Lopez dissenter - cited Lopez as the source of these concerns. Jones involved a statute with a jurisdictional element. The article turns to the questions raised by such statutes, noting that the majority opinions in Lopez and Jones suggested a hospitable approach toward them. The general question is how to transpose limits on Congress' power to legislate over a class of activities to the context of individual instances of an activity. Serious theoretical problems are present. For example, should courts aggregate the effect of individual acts when a statute contains a jurisdictional element, thus suggesting a focus on the individual case? These problems are surfacing in litigation under the Hobbs Act. Ultimately, the Supreme Court will need to clarify the constitutional and other issues presented by statutes with jurisdictional elements.


Natriuretic peptide (NP) family is composed of atrial, brain and C‐type NP (NPPA, NPPB and NPPC). Here, we aimed to investigate NP expression in testis and epididymis during postnatal development. NPPA expression was observed in gonocytes at prepubertal period but in only spermatocytes in pachytene and leptotene/zygotene stage at pubertal period. In prepubertal and pubertal periods, we detected NPPB expression in only Leydig cells. However, NPPC expression was detected in all of the gonocytes and Sertoli cells, spermatocytes and some interstitial cells in prepubertal and pubertal periods. In postpubertal and mature periods, NPPA and NPPB staining were detected in Leydig cells, elongated and round spermatids but not in spermatogonia and spermatocytes. However, we observed NPPC expression in all cells of the seminiferous tubules and Leydig cells in the postpubertal and mature periods. Epididymal epithelium showed intense NPPC expression during postnatal period but weak NPPA and NPPB expression in prepubertal and pubertal periods. The expression of three NPs in the testis significantly increased after puberty. In conclusion, puberty had a significant effect on NP expression in testis. Unlike NPPA and NPPB, expression of NPPC in all cells of the seminiferous tubule suggests that NPPC is effective in each step of spermatogenesis.


Low skeletal muscle area (SMA) and muscle radiation attenuation (MRA) have been associated with poor prognosis in various patient populations. Both non‐contrast and contrast CT scans are used to determine SMA and MRA. The effect of the use of a contrast agent on SMA and MRA is unknown. Therefore, we investigated agreement between these two scan options. SMA and MRA of 41 healthy individuals were analysed on a paired non‐contrast and contrast single CT scan, and agreement between paired scan results was assessed with use of Bland–Altman plots, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), standard error of measurements (SEM) and smallest detectable differences at a 95% confidence level (SDD95). Analyses were stratified by tube voltage. Difference in SMA between non‐contrast and contrast scans made with a different tube voltage was 7·0 ± 7·5 cm2; for scans made with the same tube voltage this was 2·3 ± 1·7 cm2. Agreement was excellent for both methods: ICC: 0·952, SEM: 7·2 cm2, SDD95: 19·9 cm2 and ICC: 0·997, SEM: 2·0 cm2, SDD95: 5·6 cm2, respectively. MRA of scans made with a different tube voltage differed 1·3 ± 11·3 HU, and agreement was poor (ICC: 0·207, SEM: 7·9 HU, SDD95: 21·8 HU). For scans made with the same tube voltage the difference was 6·7 ± 3·2 HU, and agreement was good (ICC: 0·682, SEM: 5·3 HU, SDD95: 14·6 HU). In conclusion, SMA and MRA can be slightly influenced by the use of contrast agent. To minimise measurement error, image acquisition parameters of the scans should be similar.


One of the major factors affecting oral drug bioavailability is the activity of intestinal transport proteins, particularly for the drugs that undergo absorption by active transport mechanism. Many of the active pharmacological agents and the excipients used in their formulation are reported to modulate the activity of these transporters thereby either enhancing or decreasing the drug absorption and its systemic availability. These excipients are considered pharmacologically "inert" and have been used since years in pharmaceutical formulations. Appreciable interest is developing on the data demonstrating the role of excipients in altering the drug absorption across the intestine. Careful selection of the excipients thus is very important. A correctly chosen excipient can enhance the drug bioavailability and thus its therapeutic efficacy without increasing its dose. For locally acting drugs having systemic side effects, a proper excipient could lead to a decrease in its systemic absorption, thus reducing its side effects. This review focuses on the current findings of the excipients identified to modulate the activity of transporters, their mechanism of modulating the transporter's activity and various formulation strategies using these excipients to enhance drug absorption. Key words: Caco‐2 cell monolayers, drug transport, intestinal transporters, pharmaceutical excipients


BACKGROUND: Postoperative spinal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks are common but rarely cause extensive CSF collections that require specialized imaging to detect the site of the dural breach. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the use of digital subtraction myelography (DSM) for patients with extensive extradural CSF collections after spine surgery. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed to identify a consecutive group of patients with extensive postoperative spinal CSF leaks who underwent DSM. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients (9 men and 12 women) were identified. The mean age was 46.7 years (range, 17-75 years). The mean duration of the postoperative CSF leak was 3.3 years (range, 3 months to 21 years). MRI showed superficial siderosis in 6 patients. DSM showed the exact location of the CSF leak in 19 (90%) of the 21 patients. These 19 patients all underwent surgery to repair the CSF leak, and the location of the CSF leak could be confirmed intraoperatively in all 19 patients. In 4 (19%) of the 21 patients, DSM also showed a CSF-venous fistula at the same location as the postoperative dural tear. CONCLUSION: In this study, DSM had a 90% detection rate of visualizing the exact site of the dural breach in patients with extensive postoperative spinal CSF leaks. The coexistence of a CSF-venous fistula in addition to the primary dural tear was present in about one-fifth of patients. The presence of a CSF-venous fistula should be considered if CSF leak symptoms persist in spite of successful repair of a durotomy.


The contemporary architect operates within a profession which is detached from the physical processes undertaken during the making of architecture. The emergence of two-dimensional representation as the architect's primary mode of communication and design is deeply embedded within architectural praxis. The fundamental physical reality of architecture requires that the architect have an experientially based understanding of architecture's conceptual drivers.

This situation necessitates re-conceptualizing the process of creating architecture. By reverting to a tangibly based method of design the creation of representative and demonstrative artefacts can aid in developing a stimulating and exploratory design process. The proposed method of design imbues the designer with a direct corporal experience of architectural ideas heightening an awareness of existent and emergent complexities in manifesting architectural works. The maturation of an architectural intuition steeped in the material reality of architecture developed through the fabrication of architectural prototypes is a critical tool in the arsenal of the contemporary architect.


In the 1990s, in many countries, log wages became a more convex function of education: returns to college increased and returns to intermediate education declined. This paper argues that an important cause of this convexi…cation was a two-stage demand-supply interaction: an increased demand for both sorts of educated workers stimulated a supply response; the increased supply of intermediate-educated further increased the demand for college-educated workers, because these two types of labour are complementary. This argument is supported by an empirical equilibrium model of savings and educational choices for Mexico, where the degree of convexi…cation was ampli…ed by loosening credit constraints.


In estimating the regression curve there are three approaches, namely parametric regression, nonparametric regression and semiparametric regression. Nonparametric regression approach has high flexibility. Nonparametric regression approach that is quite popular is Truncated Spline. Truncated Spline is a polynomial pieces which have segmented and continuous. One of the advantages of Spline is that it can handle data that changes at certain sub intervals, so this model tends to search for data estimates wherever the data pattern moves and there are points of knots. In reality, data patterns often change at certain sub intervals, one of which is data on poverty in the Papua Province. Papua Province is ranked first in the percentage of poor people in Indonesia. The best of model Truncated Spline in nonparametric regression for the poverty model in Papua Province is using a combination of knot.


BACKGROUND
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is made up of two subscales but is typically used as a single summary measure. However, research has shown that the two subscales may have differential properties in older adults.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and the concurrent and predictive validity for development of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) of the positively-worded (PSS-PW) and negatively-worded (PSS-NW) subscale scores of the PSS in older adults.

METHODS
We recruited community residing older adults free of dementia from the Einstein Aging Study. Reliability of the PSS-PW and PSS-NW was assessed using Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency and intraclass correlation for one year test-retest reliability. Concurrent validity was evaluated by examining the relationship between the PSS subscales and depression, anxiety, neuroticism, and positive and negative affect. Predictive validity was assessed using multivariate Cox regression analyses to examine the relationship between baseline PSS-PW and PSS-NW score and subsequent onset of aMCI.

RESULTS
Both PSS-PW and PSS-NW showed adequate internal consistency and retest reliabilities. Both the PSS-PW and PSS-NW were associated with depression, neuroticism, and negative affect. The PSS-NW was uniquely associated with anxiety while the PSS-PW was uniquely associated with positive affect. Only the PSS-PW was associated with a statistically significant increased risk of incident aMCI (HR = 1.27; 95% CI: 1.06-1.51 for every 5-point increase in PSS-PW).

CONCLUSIONS
Evaluating the separate effects of the two PSS subscales may reveal more information than simply using a single summation score. Future research should investigate the PSS-PW and PSS-NW as separate subscales.


ABSTRACT The narrow view of habits predominant within behavioural approaches to change management conceptualizes them as passive transition points between stimuli and responses. John Dewey's broad view of habit, by contrast, conceptualizes habits as the very basis for how individuals interact with their environments, one another, and themselves. We highlight the renewed relevance of Dewey's conceptualization of habit by clarifying it as (1) a function between individuals and environments; (2) a custom produced within social settings; (3) a process intertwined with inquiries and impulses. We illustrate each of these characteristics through the example of a French factory, within which we claim that the narrow view prevails, and a Danish IT company, within which we claim the presence of a broader view. We proceed to discuss consequences of the broad view to change management research. MAD statement This paper Make a Difference (MAD) by pointing to the relevance of looking at habit in understanding the microdynamics of change. Rather than understanding habit in a narrow sense as automatic behaviour triggers by environmental clues, the paper presents a broad conceptions of habit that understands habit as a social and materially disposition that both make change recipients resist and receptive towards change. This conception of habit is based on the work of the pragmatist philosophy and psychology of John Dewey, applied to two empirical cases and discussed in light of change management literature


Background: Maternal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines that are likely to be implementable in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are in final stages of clinical trials. Data on the number of women presenting for antenatal care (ANC) per day and proportion attending within the proposed gestational window for vaccine delivery, is a prerequisite to guide development of vaccine vial size and inform vaccine uptake in this setting. Methods: We undertook administrative review and abstraction of ANC attendance records from 2019 registers of 24 selected health facilities, stratified by the level of care, from Kilifi, Siaya and Nairobi counties in Kenya. Additional data were obtained from Mother and Child Health (MCH) booklets of women in each of the Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) areas of Kilifi, Nairobi and Siaya. Data analysis involved descriptive summaries of the number (mean, median) and proportion of women attending ANC within the gestational window period of 28-32 weeks and 24-36 weeks. Results: A total of 62,153 ANC records were abstracted, 33,872 from Kilifi, 19,438 from Siaya and 8,943 from Nairobi Counties. The median (Interquartile range, IQR) number of women attending ANC per day at a gestational age window of 28-32 and 24-36 weeks, respectively, were: 4 (2-6) and 7 (4-12) in dispensaries, 5 (2-9) and 10 (4-19) in health centres and 6 (4-11) and 16 (10-26) in county referral hospitals. In the HDSS areas of Kilifi, Siaya and Nairobi, pregnant women attending at least one ANC visit, within a window of 28-32 weeks, were: 77% (360/470), 75% (590/791) and 67% (547/821), respectively. Conclusions: About 70% of pregnant women across three distinct geographical regions in Kenya, attend ANC within 28-32 weeks of gestation. A multidose vial size with about five doses per vial, approximates daily ANC attendance and would not incur possible wastage in similar settings.


ABSTRACT Italy has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to official data by the Italian National Institute of Health (as of July 22, 2020), more than 34,000 patients, mostly elderly men, have died of COVID-19. The majority of these deaths (82 percent) are concentrated in the Northern regions. This study investigates Italy's North–South dichotomy, exploring differences in social norms and family habits among Italian regions from a feminist perspective. Relying on time-use data, it analyzes whether family roles have protected elderly people from the pandemic in the South as compared to the North. The paper emphasizes the need to recognize the value of care and support unpaid care work performed by elderly people within and across households. Further, the paper argues for the need to consider the changing conditions of eldercare and contributes to the growing debate about its quality in Italy and elsewhere. HIGHLIGHTS Care of and by the elderly has become a new feature of North–South dualism in social norms in Italy. North vs. South response to the pandemic reflects differences in terms of caring spirits. Differences in family structures may explain regional differences in severity of elderly mortality from COVID-19. The need to recognize the value of unpaid work has become urgent in the wake of the pandemic. Attention must be devoted to the intangible aspects of intrahousehold care practices.


For the sake of safety of structures subjected to abnormal loadings, damper could be one of the effective devices to reduce the responses by the energy dispassion functions. Key points in the process of development and application of damper and aseismatic engineering are narrated. Due to the highly nonlinear behavior properties, most of the case studies aim on these kind of dynamic analysis only working on structures with elastic linearly behavior systems. In addition to the nonlinearly behavior of damper devices, structures behave into nonlinearly as well when subjected by abnormal excitation, for instance, severe earthquakes. Materials respond into nonlinearly beyond yielding or plastic hinges occurred somewhere in the controlled structures. Proper software package is used to calculate the responses of simple portal frames which are controlled with dampers allocated. Both of structures and damper devices are considered and behaved according to its nonlinearly properties. Responses beyond yielding of material are rationally analyzed and revealed in time history expressions.


Fog is a meteorological/environmental phenomenon which happens across the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) and leads to significant social and economic problems, especially posing significant threats to public health and causing disruptions in air and road traffic. Meteorological stations in Pakistan provide limited information regarding fog episodes as these provide only point observations. Continuous monitoring, as well as a spatially coherent picture of fog distribution, is possible through the use of satellite observations. This study focuses on the 2012–2015 winter fog episodes over the Pakistan region using the Moderate Resolution Image Spectrometer (MODIS), the Ozone Monitoring Instrument and the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) products. The main objective of the study was to map the spatial distribution of aerosols, their types, and to identify the aerosol origins during special weather conditions like fog in Pakistan. The study also included ground monitoring of particulate matter (PM) concentrations, which were conducted during the 2014–2015 winter period only. Overall, this study is part of a multi-country project supported by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), started in 2014–2015 winter period, whereby scientists from Bangladesh, India and Nepal have also conducted measurements at their respective sites. A significant correlation between MODIS (AOD) and AERONET Station (AOD) data from Lahore was identified. Mass concentration of PM10 at all sampling sites within Lahore city exceeded the National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) levels on most of the occasions. Smoke and absorbing aerosol were found to be major constituents of winter fog in Pakistan. Furthermore, an extended span of winter fog was also observed in Lahore city during the winter of 2014–2015. The Vertical Feature Mask (VFM) provided by CALIPSO satellite confirmed the low-lying aerosol layers, instead of clouds for the vertical profiles of selected case studies.


We develop a model to measure the degree of oligopsony power in the beef packing industry, while accommodating variable proportions technology, that can be estimated with fewer data requirements. In particular, nonspecialized input quantities, which are often not available, are not needed. Through application of the envelope theorem, we show that the relationship between value marginal product and marginal factor cost can be defined over the prices of the nonspecialized inputs rather than their corresponding quantities. When applied to the beef packing industry, we find no evidence of oligopsony power over our 1967-93 sample period.


In the early days of corneal research, a numbingly long delay existed between the report of the original laboratory concept and its eventual clinical use. For example, in 1824, Reisinger first told the medical community of removing a piece of cornea from a rabbit and then replacing the same piece, which stayed transparent. One could say this was, at least conceptually, the first corneal transplant. However, the world had to wait almost 90 years before Zirm achieved the first successful human penetrating keratoplasty. It then took another 25 years before human cadaver corneas were used on patients. Or consider the subject of keratoprosthesis. In 1856, Nussbaum unsuccessfully attempted to place a glass corneal implant in a patient. More than 100 years had to pass before the first successful keratoprosthesis was implanted. As you can see, in the good old days an ophthalmologist could do his professional reading leisurely. After all,


Gelatin hydrogels can mimic the microenvironments of natural tissues and encapsulate cells homogeneously, which makes them attractive for cartilage tissue engineering. Both the mechanical and biochemical properties of hydrogels can affect the phenotype of chondrocytes. However, the influence of each property on chondrocyte phenotype is unclear due to the difficulty in separating the roles of these properties. In this study, we aimed to study the influence of hydrogel stiffness on chondrocyte phenotype while excluding the role of biochemical factors, such as adhesion site density in the hydrogels. By altering the degree of methacryloyl functionalization, gelatin hydrogels with different stiffnesses of 3.8, 17.1, and 29.9 kPa Young's modulus were prepared from the same concentration of gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) macromers. Bovine articular chondrocytes were encapsulated in the hydrogels and cultured for 14 days. The influence of hydrogel stiffness on the cell behaviors including cell viability, cell morphology, and maintenance of chondrogenic phenotype was evaluated. GelMA hydrogels with high stiffness (29.9 kPa) showed the best results on maintaining chondrogenic phenotype. These results will be useful for the design and preparation of scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering.


Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is bacteria considered to be present in half of the population and it is a public health problem worldwide. Most patients infected with H. pylori show no clinical symptoms; nonetheless, approximately 10% to 20% of these patients will develop peptic ulcers and 1% will develop gastric cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified H. pylori as a Group 1 carcinogen, recognized as the only bacteria capable of producing cancer. Samples of drinking water (n = 44) from aqueducts with chlorination treatment in selected areas with high prevalence of gastric cancer were analyzed in Costa Rica. Samples of drinking water from Panama (n = 44) from aqueducts supplying untreated water for human consumption in the province of Chiriqui were also analyzed. The molecular marker of H. pylori, glmM, was used, and to optimize the Real Time PCR (qPCR) technique, annealing temperature, concentration of primers and probe were standardized; also, by analyzing different standard curves, the best reaction conditions that allowed detecting and quantifying the gene were determined. The LightCycler® 480 II (LC480II) equipment from Roche Diagnostics GmbH was used, as well as the Absolute Quantification Analysis by means of the Second Derivative Maximum Method. In the case of the samples from Costa Rica, it was determined that 79.5% were positive for H. pylori; removing outlier high average, quantification of bacteria was determined in 3.6 × 103 copies/100 mL. For Panama it was determined that 86% of the samples were found positive for the presence of H. pylori; removing outlier high average quantification of bacteria was determined at 3.3 × 102 copies/100 mL. The difference in values between the aqueducts in both countries revealed an environmental distribution of the bacteria of epidemiological interest in each case.


Studying properties of random polynomials has marked a shift in algebraic geometry. Instead of worst-case analysis, which often leads to overly pessimistic perspectives, randomness helps perform average-case analysis, and thus obtain a more realistic view. Also, via Erdos' astonishing 'probabilistic method', one can potentially obtain deterministic results by introducing randomness into a question that apriori had nothing to do with randomness.

In this thesis, we study topological questions in real algebraic geometry, o-minimal geometry and random algebraic geometry, with motivation from incidence combinatorics. Specifically, we prove results along two different threads:

1. Topology of semi-algebraic and definable (over any o-minimal structure over R) sets, in both deterministic and random settings.2. Topology of random hypersurface arrangements. In this case, we also prove a result that could be of independent interest in random graph theory.

Towards the first thread, motivated by applications in o-minimal incidence combinatorics, we prove bounds (both deterministic and random) on the topological complexity (as measured by the Betti numbers) of general definable hypersurfaces restricted to algebraic sets. Given any sequence of hypersurfaces, we show that there exists a definable hypersurface G, and a sequence of polynomials, such that each manifold in the sequence of hypersurfaces appears as a component of G restricted to the zero set of some polynomial in the sequence of polynomials. This shows that the topology of the intersection of a definable hypersurface and an algebraic set can be made arbitrarily pathological. On the other hand, we show that for random polynomials, the Betti numbers of the restriction of the zero set of a random polynomial to any definable set deviates from a Bezout-type bound with bounded probability.

Progress in o-minimal incidence combinatorics has lagged behind the developments in incidence combinatorics in the algebraic case due to the absence of an o-minimal version of the Guth-Katz polynomial partitioning theorem, and the first part of our work explains why this is so difficult. However, our average result shows that if we can prove that the measure of the set of polynomials which satisfy a certain property necessary for polynomial partitioning is suitably bounded from below, by the probabilistic method, we get an o-minimal polynomial partitioning theorem. This would be a tremendous breakthrough and would enable progress on multiple fronts in model theoretic combinatorics.

Along the second thread, we have studied the average Betti numbers of random hypersurface arrangements. Specifically, we study how the average Betti numbers of a finite arrangement of random hypersurfaces grows in terms of the degrees of the polynomials in the arrangement, as well as the number of polynomials. This is proved using a random Mayer-Vietoris spectral sequence argument. We supplement this result with a better bound on the average Betti numbers when one considers an arrangement of quadrics. This question turns out to be equivalent to studying the expected number of connected components of a certain random graph model, which has not been studied before, and thus could be of independent interest. While our motivation once again was incidence combinatorics, we obtained the first bounds on the topology of arrangements of random hypersurfaces, with an unexpected bonus of a result in random graphs.


A series of novel 3,5-dimethyl arylazo pyrazoles (3a-i) were synthesized by reacting various oxybutyrates with methyl paraben (1) in glacial acetic acid medium. The key intermediate oxybutyrates (2a-i) were prepared from substituted phenyl diazonium salts and acetyl acetone in alcohol medium. The structures of the synthesized compounds have been established on the basis of spectral data (IR, 1H-NMR, Mass). The antibacterial and antifungal activity of the compounds has also been evaluated. Few of them have shown significant antifungal activity when compared to standard Flucanazole.


A novel human action recognition algorithm based on edit distance is proposed in this paper. In the method, the mesh feature of each image in human action sequence is firstly calculated; then the feature vectors are quantized through a rival penalized competitive neural network; and through this processing, the time-sequential image sequences are converted into symbolic sequences. For human action recognition, the observed action is firstly vector quantized with the former competitive neural network; then the normalized edit distances to the training samples are calculated and the action which best matches the observed sequence is chosen as the final category. The experiments on Weizmann dataset demonstrate that our method is effective for human action recognition. The average recognition accuracy can reach above 94%.


The treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax in the civilian population can be influenced by the age of the patient and the presence of associated pulmonary disease. The medical records of 130 patients who presented with 168 occurrences of SP were reviewed during an 1 1-year period (1973 to 1984). Follow-up was from a minimum of 30 months to 13 years (mean 6.3 years). The therapeutic options included observation alone (40 occurrences), thoracentesis (6 occurrences), chest tube thoracostomy ( 102 occurrences), and thoracotomy (20 occurrences). Treatment of SF should be prompt with the objective of complete re-expansion of the lung and prevention of recurrent pneumothorax. This should be accomplished by the use of chest tube thoracostomy with early addition of thoracotomy as necessary. Selected use of thoracentesis can be effective. The use of observation alone can be dangerous and is associated with a higher recurrence rate. (Chest 1989; 96:1302-06)


The volatile compounds and the content of isothiocyanates of five landraces of violet cauliflower (cv 157, cv 25, cv 75, cv 98, and cv 141) and one selective line set up by DOFATA (cv 98 S1/3) were studied. The volatile compounds, obtained from endogenous enzymatic hydrolysis of glucosinolates, were extracted and concentrated from each sample using a microwave-KS112 apolar resin coupled technique. The volatile extracts were quali-quantitatively analysed by GC/MS. All the samples had almost the same characteristic volatile compounds of the Brassicaceae family (isothiotyanates, nitriles, sulfures, and thionitriles) and carbonilic compounds (aldehids and chetons), but the quantitative aroma profiles were different. The high concentrations of isothiocyanates (3-5 mg/100 g s.s.) and carbonilic compounds (15-21 mg/100 g s.s.) were found in cv 98 and cv 141. The concentrations of sulfures were ranged from 6 to 9 mg/100 g s.s. in all the samples. The concentrations of nitriles and thionitriles were below 1 mg/100 g s.s. in all the samples, except for cv 98. The cv 98 could be considered more aromatic in respect of others for the higher content of total volatile substances; cv 141 contained the higher concentrations of specific isothiocyanates which could control human cancer.


Various approaches adopted by state governments towards their respective indigenous populations, as they pertain to the Saami of Sweden and Norway, and to the San living in Namibia and Botswana, have been examined, and their impact on the socio-cultural, economic and political aspects of these societies assessed. This dissertation further analyses the rationale behind the implementation of these policies and concludes that the arguments used to justify government intervention were frequently flawed: earlier policies introduced during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were based on perceptions that native populations were 'inferior' and expendable whereas more recent government strategies revealed an inadequate understanding and appreciation of the indigenous groups to which the policies were directed. As a consequence, the Saami and San were dispossessed of their lands, forcibly assimilated into the majority population, and even subjected to campaigns of sterilisation (the Saami) and genocide (the San). It is argued that, although widespread abhorrence of these policies eventually resulted in their demise, renewed threats to the cultural traditions of the Saami and the San have appeared in the form of national economic industries including tourism, energy provision and mineral extraction. The thesis asserts that these new threats have been instrumental in stimulating ethno-political mobilisation and the formation of 'grassroots'' movements amongst the two indigenous groups. Paradoxically, a degree of acceptance of government policies among these indigenous groups has led to conflicts and fragmentation within these movements resulting from the desire by some members to maintain cultural traditions and the wish by others to access the higher living standards enjoyed by the majority populations. The impact of earlier and contemporary anthropological theory on the formulation of government policies has also been examined and adjudged to have had both beneficial and adverse impacts.


This study tested the hypothesis that the variables specified by social exchange theory (perceived rewards of exercising, perceived costs of exercising, social and tangible investments, and available alternative activities) are associated with exercise behavior and satisfaction. 190 health club members completed a questionnaire assessing attitudes toward exercise, exercise behavior, and demographic information. Exercise frequency and satisfaction were regressed on the social exchange theory variables and demographic covariates. Exercise satisfaction, the number of investments in exercise, and the number of available alternative activities were significantly related to exercise frequency, and the number of perceived rewards of exercise and the number of investments were significantly related to exercise satisfaction. These results suggest that social exchange theory is useful for explaining exercise behavior.


A size intelligent prediction control model during traverse grinding is constructed. The model is composed of the neural network prediction model, the deformation optimal adaptive control system and fuzzy control model. Dynamic Elman network is used in the prediction model. The first and the second derivative of the actual amount removed from the workpiece are added into the network input, which can greatly improve the prediction accuracy. The flexible factor is introduced to the fuzzy control model, which can self-adapt and adjust the quantification factor and scale factor in the fuzzy control. Simulation and experiment verify that the developed prediction control model is feasible and has high prediction and control precision.


In order to determine the structure of the optimal CEO contract, we create a principal agent model and implement it on a sample of Norwegian firms. The model takes account of executives' loss‐ and risk‐aversion and the fact that undiversified and risk‐averse executives do not put the same value on stock options as shareholders do. We employ the certainty equivalent approach in determining the perceived value of the CEO's stock options and conduct a comprehensive numerical computer simulation to determine the optimal CEO contract. Our analysis delivers four important findings. First, our results show that the option's exercise price of long term option grants does not affect executive performance in the optimal contract. When awarding the executive premium or at‐the‐money options, we find similar CEO performance and contracts cost for long term options grants. Premium options do however have a lower incentive effect. At‐the‐money options must therefore be substituted with larger amounts of premium options to induce the same level of effort. Second, the CEO's ability to affect the firm outcome has a large impact on the optimal contract. As the executive's action has an increasing impact on the firm performance, the marginal incentive effect from equity awards increase. This results in higher levels of effort and cheaper contracts. Third, our results indicate that Norwegian firms suffer large agency costs as they fail to present executives with optimal contracts. Norwegian executives should receive more stocks and options and a lower base salary. This tradeoff would involve a transfer of risk from the shareholders to the executive, resulting in a higher total compensation due to the CEO's need for a risk premium. The increase in executive compensation is however more than outweighed by the increase in CEO effort and shareholder return. We also find it to be optimal from the shareholders view that executives invest more of their personal wealth in the company. Finally, we show that our model is a good predictor of CEO performance. When we run our model for the actual CEO contract of the sample firms, we predict a performance close to the observed level. This suggests that executives indeed are risk‐ and loss‐averse. We propose some societal constraints on the magnitude of the executive compensation in Norway in an attempt to explain why firms fail to present executives with optimal performance incentives.


The problem of gauge invariance of the physical sector of (2+1)-dimensional Maxwell-Chern-Simons quantum electrodynamics (QED 2+1 ) is studied. It is shown that using Proca mass term for the infrared regularization one obtains gauge-invariant fermion mass and the physical mass shell of QED 2+1 is well-defined in all orders of the per-turbation theory. We are demonstrating also a class of gauges in the framework of QED 2+1 , including transversal and Feynman-like ones, where the physical sector is well defined and independent of the gauge parameter.


THE STAINING OF TUBERCLE BACILLI. SIR,-Under the above headinig there occurs, in the BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL of May 30tlh, a notice of Prof. B. Fraenkel's communicationi to tlhe Deutsche mied. IfJochenschr. on the subject of my modification of the Zielil-Neelsen method. Permit mne to mention, for the information of anyone wlho may be interested in the matter, that the Wochenschrift of April 30th publishes a reply from Dr. Immerwahr, whose article of March 26th (contaiining the statenment that my method was selected for recent investigations at the Moabit Hospital) was the means of eliciting Professor Fraenkel's note. Thle WochenschrKft of April 30th also contains a short reply from nie.I am, etc., Eastbourine. HENRY S. GABBETT.


Two field experiments were carried out to evaluate the effects of Moringa leaf extract on the growth, yield and yield components of snap bean. The results showed that Moringa leaf extract applied at 11, 20, 33 and 50% concentration to snap bean plants at 10 days after emergence significantly (P ≤ 0.05) increased vegetative growth, leaf chlorophyll content, plant dry matter (shoot and root), yield components and fresh pod yield. The snap bean response to increasing Moringa extract concentration was quadratic with respect to plant height, leaf area, leaf number, leaf chlorophyll content, shoot dry matter and root dry matter. However, Moringa leaf extract significantly (P ≤ 0.05) reduced shoot and root water contents. Due to the Moringa extracts-induced increase in vegetative growth, leaf chlorophyll content, yield components and yield of snap beans, it was concluded that Moringa leaf extract could be used to enhance the growth and development of snap beans.


Tabular data synthesis has received wide attention in the literature. This is because available data is often limited, incomplete, or cannot be obtained easily, and data privacy is becoming increasingly important. In this work, we present a generalized GAN framework for tabular synthesis, which combines the adversarial training of GANs and the negative log-density regularization of invertible neural networks. The proposed framework can be used for two distinctive objectives. First, we can further improve the synthesis quality, by decreasing the negative log-density of real records in the process of adversarial training. On the other hand, by increasing the negative log-density of real records, realistic fake records can be synthesized in a way that they are not too much close to real records and reduce the chance of potential information leakage. We conduct experiments with real-world datasets for classification, regression, and privacy attacks. In general, the proposed method demonstrates the best synthesis quality (in terms of task-oriented evaluation metrics, e.g., F1) when decreasing the negative log-density during the adversarial training. If increasing the negative log-density, our experimental results show that the distance between real and fake records increases, enhancing robustness against privacy attacks.


Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) or tertiary recovery is vastly applied to mostly mature and
depleted oil reservoirs nowadays. One of the many EOR techniques is the Water-
Alternating-Gas (WAG) process whereby water and gas are alternately injected for
periods of time to provide better sweep efficiency hence improve oil recovery. !t is well
known that whenever the fluid saturations undergo a cyclic process, relative
permeability display hysteresis effects. Recent studies have been done on establishing
the effect of hysteresis on WAG process. However, different hysteresis models will
have different assumption and methods which eventually affects the production profile
and recovery of an oil field. The main objective of this project is to quantify the effect of
different hysteresis models (Carlson and Killough's model) on a conceptual model using
black oil simulation. In addition to the main objective, sensitivities studies on the model
without hysteresis were done to obtain optimum values prior to running the model with
hysteresis. Hysteresis effect always results in higher oil recovery and oil production rate
compared to the model without hysteresis. The quantification of both the hysteresis
models shows that Killough's model results in higher oil recovery compared to
Carlson's model. This is due to the fact that Killough uses particular equations to
produce the scanning curve where else Carlson's scanning curve is produced by shifting
the imbibitions curve horizontally until it cuts the drainage curve at the maximum nonwetting
phase saturation. The way the scanning curve (intermediate imbibiton curves) is
generated differs in both the models. This quantification of different hysteresis models
can help in obtaining more precise prediction of forecasting oil recovery in the future.
in


The Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) Human Proteome Project (HPP) continues to make progress on its two overall goals: (1) completing the protein parts list, with an annual update of the HUPO draft human proteome, and (2) making proteomics an integrated complement to genomics and transcriptomics throughout biomedical and life sciences research. neXtProt version 2017-01-23 has 17 008 confident protein identifications (Protein Existence [PE] level 1) that are compliant with the HPP Guidelines v2.1 ( https://hupo.org/Guidelines ), up from 13 664 in 2012-12 and 16 518 in 2016-04. Remaining to be found by mass spectrometry and other methods are 2579 "missing proteins" (PE2+3+4), down from 2949 in 2016. PeptideAtlas 2017-01 has 15 173 canonical proteins, accounting for nearly all of the 15 290 PE1 proteins based on MS data. These resources have extensive data on PTMs, single amino acid variants, and splice isoforms. The Human Protein Atlas v16 has 10 492 highly curated protein entries with tissue and subcellular spatial localization of proteins and transcript expression. Organ-specific popular protein lists have been generated for broad use in quantitative targeted proteomics using SRM-MS or DIA-SWATH-MS studies of biology and disease.


SUMMARY Interpretation of magnetotelluric (MT) data for three-dimensional (3-D) regional conductivity structures remains uncommon, and two-dimensional (2-D) models are often considered an adequate approach. In this paper we examine 2-D interpretation of 3-D data by considering the synthetic responses of a 3-D structure chosen specifically to highlight the advantages and limitations of 2-D interpretation. 2-D models were obtained from inversion of the synthetic 3-D data set with different conditions (noise and distortion) applied to the data. We demonstrate the importance of understanding galvanic distortion of the data and show how 2-D inversion is improved when the regional data are corrected prior to modelling. When the 3-D conductive structure is located below the profile, the models obtained suggest that the effects of finite strike are not significant if the structure has a strike extent greater than about one-half of a skin depth. In this case the use of only TM-mode data determined better the horizontal extent of the 3-D anomaly. When the profiles are located away from the 3-D conductive structure the use of only TM-mode data can imagine phantom conductive structures below the profile, in this case the use of both polarizations produced a better determination of the subsurface structures. It is important to note that the main structures are identified in all the cases considered here, although in some cases the large data misfit would cause scepticism about features of the models.


OBJECTIVE
The maximum output charge for ECT devices is limited to 576 millicoulombs in the United States, although there are no data ensuring that this limit will allow consistently effective treatments. The authors examined whether this limit has a negative impact on therapeutic response and, therefore, whether a higher stimulus charge should be available.

METHOD
They retrospectively reviewed the records of 471 patients who received a clinical index course of ECT at Duke University between 1991 and 1998. These patients received conservative stimulus dosing of 2.25 times seizure threshold for unilateral ECT and 1.5 times seizure threshold for bilateral ECT.

RESULTS
Seventy-two (15%) of the 471 patients required the maximum stimulus intensity during their index ECT course. Of these, 24 (5% of the total) had either a short EEG seizure (less than 25 seconds) or had no seizure at the maximum level. Strategies to augment therapeutic response with caffeine, ketamine, or hyperventilation were used in 14 of the 24 patients, and data on therapeutic response were available for 22 of the 24. Only seven (32%) of these 22 patients were considered ECT responders, compared with 242 (66%) of the remaining 364 patients for whom data on response to ECT were available. Older age and pre-ECT course EEG slowing were predictors of requiring the maximum stimulus level.

CONCLUSIONS
The maximum available stimulus output was therapeutically insufficient for 5% of the patients studied even when available means to augment response were instituted. This percentage would likely be even larger with the use of a less conservative dosing protocol for unilateral ECT. Increases in maximum stimulus output for ECT devices should be considered as a means to ensure adequate treatment response.


The Opuntia cochineal scale or false carmine cochineal scale, Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell) (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae), is spreading rapidly in many countries, especially in the Mediterranean basin, where it has become a serious pest of prickly pear crops, Opuntia ficus‐indica (L.) Miller (Cactaceae). This crop is an important food resource both for humans and livestock. The cochineal was originally used as a biological agent to control cactaceous weeds in many countries where Opuntiaceae had been introduced. Currently, in some countries where the prickly pear is no longer considered a weed but a productive crop, as in the Mediterranean area, D. opuntiae has changed its role from a highly prized biological control agent to the status of serious pest. This paper provides an overview of the current knowledge on D. opuntiae for farmers and stakeholders in order to indicate the most appropriate way to limit or counteract the spread of this pest especially in new cultivated areas.


The paper presents results of comparative studies of tempering processes of quenched and conventionally treated tool steel vs. the same steel quenched and cryo-treated. Also ageing processes of Al-4.7%Cu alloy after conventional and cryo-treatments are analyzed and the results presented. It has been observed that in both cases cryogenic treatment has an effect on the development of the tempering and ageing processes. The mechanisms of the influence are different in each case. In the cryo-treated steel, the tempering processes already begin in the process of reaching ambient temperature from 196°C and accelerate the increase in hardness because of tempering. In conventionally treated Al-Cu alloy the processes of dissolving precipitates and the resulting decrease in hardness occur earlier than in the cryo-treated alloy. Reazons of such changes have been analyzed.


PURPOSE
To develop Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQs) and nutrient databases for urban and rural Indian populations with diverse dietary habits for the PURE (Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological) pilot study.

PROCEDURE
24 hour dietary recalls were obtained from 84 rural and 60 urban subjects. From a comprehensive food list, separate FFQs were developed for the two groups. Nutrient analysis of the FFQ required the selection of foods, development of recipes and application of these to cooked foods to develop a nutrient database. The FFQs were piloted in 80 urban and 77 rural subjects. Separately for each group, a stepwise regression method was used to identify foods contributing to a cumulative 90% of variance to total energy intake. Nutrient and food group intakes were compared using an independent t-test.

MAIN FINDINGS
The urban and the rural FFQs contained 129 and 102 foods respectively, of which 82 foods were common to both. Fourteen urban foods and eight rural foods explained a cumulative 90% of variance for total energy intake. Daily intakes for most nutrients and food groups were two to three fold higher in the urban than in the rural group.

CONCLUSIONS
In Indian populations with diverse dietary habits, using standard methods to develop separate FFQs can capture dietary intakes adequately. To develop nutrient databases, substitution of local food composition tables with data from other sources using standard methods to match foods can be adopted.


Public policy discussions on how to regulate acupuncture and herbal medical practitioners have reached a stalemate in the United Kingdom. After considerable activity in the first half of the current decade a wider review of professional regulation has re-opened the discussion as to the most appropriate way to regulate the practice of all health-care practitioners. In the meantime, the public continues to consult complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners in large numbers and self-medicate with herbal products and other natural remedies, posing challenges for policy-makers as to how to ensure public safety. In the NHS, providers and purchasers struggle to reconcile demands for access to CAM services with their clinical governance requirements. Hong Kong implemented new arrangements for the statutory regulation of traditional Chinese medical practitioners in the 1990s and has experienced the challenges of regulating a large established private market as well as integrating Chinese medicine further into the public health system. This experience is analysed in order to see whether the approach adopted there could address the public policy challenges faced in the UK. The article finds that, despite key cultural and historical differences related to the provision and use of CAM services, the similarities between the health-care systems and the reasons for moves to professional regulation in Hong Kong and the UK provide useful insights into what is happening in the UK in relation to service provision and the relationship with the NHS and the medical profession. These are discussed in the light of current health policy developments in the UK.


This study demonstrates a simple approach for fabricating a 3D-μPAD from a single sheet of paper by double-sided printing and lamination. First, a wax printer prints vertically symmetrical and asymmetrical wax patterns onto a double-sided paper surface. Then, a laminator melts the printed wax patterns to form microfluidic channels in the paper sheet. The vertically symmetrical wax patterns form vertical channels when the melted wax patterns make contact with each other. The asymmetrical wax patterns form lateral and vertical channels at the cross section of the paper when the printed wax patterns are melted to a lower height than the thickness of the single sheet of paper. Finally, the two types of wax patterns form a 3D microfluidic network to move fluid laterally and vertically in the single sheet of paper. This method eliminates major technical hurdles related to the complicated and tedious alignment, assembly, bonding, and punching process. This 3D-μPAD can be used in a multiplex digital assay to measure the concentration of a target analyte in a sample solution simply by counting the number of colored bars at a fixed time. It does not require any external instruments to perform digital measurements. Therefore, we expect that this approach could be an instrument-free assay format for use in developing countries.


We argue that economic value to society is created by converting input resources into valued outputs though the application of technology. To support this argument, the concept of technology leverage is introduced, and it is noted that the same input resource can be converted into different output values depending upon the technology employed in the conversion process and the state of technical innovation at the time the conversion occurs. This implies that through as yet unrealised innovations, future generations may create greater value for the same amount of resource than is currently possible. This difference has significant ramifications for current day resource allocation decisions. In addition to more conventional conservation arguments, technology leverage also recognises that the future value of retaining resources, especially non-renewable ones, may be evaluated using real option valuation techniques. These concepts are helpful in determining more comprehensive policies relating to resource allocation decisions.


In ultrasonic vibration assisted grinding (UAG) along the axial direction, the machining process of an abrasive grit is introduced in this paper. During the internal UAG, the critical speed is determined by the amplitude and frequency of ultrasonic vibration. During the surface UAG, the cutting model of an abrasive grit is established and the cutting trace length of an abrasive grit and the grinding force making chips deformation is analyzed in theory. The analysis results show that the cutting trace length is longer by introducing ultrasonic vibration along the axial direction; the grinding force is decreased, the higher vibration amplitude and frequency is helpful to the decrease of the grinding force and the higher grinding wheel speed weakens the contributiveness of ultrasonic vibration to the decrease of the grinding force.


Obesity is a serious public health challenge. In recent years various strategies for treatment of obesity are researched. Because oflimitations of drugs currently available, new preparations for treatment are searched (especially safe natural products). PinnoThinâ"¢,Korean pine nut oil with high content of pinolenic acid, was subjected to two studies, which evaluated its influence on satiety hormonescholecystokinin and glucagon like peptide 1. The results of the studies confirmed, that pine nut oil is capable of increase ofsatiety hormones release and therefore it suppresses appetite. It does not have any effect on hunger inducing factor ghrelin. Thestudy of toxicity showed that pine nut oil is not toxic and so it is safe for obesity treatment.


Background: Nondaily or intermittent smokers (ITS) are increasingly common, but how much nicotine, if any, ITS take in and how quickly they metabolize it has not yet been studied. Methods: We compared carbon monoxide (CO), urinary cotinine, and nicotine metabolism [nicotine metabolite ratio (NMR): 3-hydroxycotinine:cotinine] in 224 ITS and 222 daily smokers (DS). Effects of gender and ethnicity were examined. Results: DS had higher cotinine concentrations than ITS (1,396 ± 69 vs. 478 ± 44 ng/mL), attributable to higher cigarettes per day (CPD). In both groups, cotinine rose more slowly as CPD increased. There were no differences in cotinine between White (WH) and African American (AA) DS; among ITS, AA cotinine was over twice that of WH. Among DS, CO was significantly higher among WH than AA smokers, but significantly lower among WH ITS than AA ITS. Although AA ITS smoked more than WH ITS (CPD: 4.13 ± 0.55 vs. 3.31 ± 0.41), this did not account for the observed cotinine nor CO differences. There were no differences in NMR by group or race, nor any gender effects. Conclusions: At comparable CPD, DS' and ITS' intake of nicotine per cigarette was similar, as were their rates of nicotine metabolism. Among ITS, AA smokers smoke more and take in more nicotine per cigarette than WH ITS, consistent with the view of ITS as a heterogeneous group. Impact: Differences in nicotine intake per cigarette and metabolism likely cannot account for differences in DS and ITS smoking. Future studies should explore ethnic differences in ITS smoking. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 23(7); 1264–72. ©2014 AACR.


The density function of noise spectrum of open and complex systems changes by the power of frequency. This exponent can be examined, in the case of appropriate conditions, as an invariant quantity characteristic of the system. The value of power exponent is responsive also to the small-scale disorders by means of which we may specify the forecast of failure or the assessed operation life of the system. We are going to demonstrate the method relying on the examination of a controlled radiofrequency diathermia unit and a Peltier water-cooler for medical use.


Department of Information of Malaysia is one of the public organizations directly involved in the provision of information to the public. To ensure that all services rendered acceptable, organizational communication in the Department of Information should be given serious consideration so that each activity can be transformed properly. Therefore, this study was undertaken to assess organizational communication in a learning organization in order to see the extent to which employees have a description of social capital and support to the organization of learning activities. The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationship that is formed through the social interactions between workers and management by integrating the four aspects of social capital, namely social trust, institutional trust, social norms and networking. For this purpose, a total of 190 respondents from the Information Department headquarters staff in Putrajaya was selected for this study. The study uses questionnaires as research tool and analyses key findings using the Pearson correlation test to examine relationships between various aspects. The study also applied social capital theory as the basis of research framework the when analyzing findings. The results showed that staff describe positive social capital within the organization and consider organizational learning as a strategy to improve the performance of the department in the future.


The imaging protocol of the UK multicentre magnetic resonance imaging study for screening in women at genetic risk of breast cancer aims to assist in detecting and diagnosing malignant breast lesions. In this paper, we evaluate a three-layer, feed-forward, backpropagation neural network as an artificial radiological classifier using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and compare the results with those obtained using a proposed radiological scoring system for the study which currently supplements the radiologist's clinical opinion, in comparison with histological diagnosis. Based on the 76 symptomatic cases evaluated, descriptive features scored by radiologists showed considerable overlap between benign and malignant, although some features such as irregular contours and heterogeneous enhancement were more often associated with malignant pathology. In this preliminary evaluation, ROC analysis showed that the proposed scoring scheme did not perform well, indicating further refinement is required. When all 23 features were used in the neural network, its performance was poorer than that of the scoring scheme. When only ten features were used, limited to descriptors of enhancement characteristics, the neural network performed similar to the scoring scheme. This comparison shows that the neural network approach to clinical diagnosis has considerable potential and warrants further development.


This study aimed to explore the risk rate of falls and intrinsic risk factors related to falls in elderly people in northeastern Thailand. The sample group consisted of 1,609 people who were 60 years old and above. They were from provinces having an index of aging between 100.0 -119.9 (Ubon Ratchathani and Khonkaen, two communities each) and that of 80.0 – 99.9 ( Maha Sarakhan, Udon Thani, Nakhonratchasima, and Surin, two communities each). General data records from and geriatric screening forms were used for data collection from April – May 2018. Obtained data were analyzed by using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and inferential statistics. Also, the chi-square test, Fisher's exact test and multiple logistic regression were employed for analyzing the relationships. The relationship value was presented by the Odds ratio and 95% reliability.
The results of the study revealed that 478 elderly people in this study (30%) were risky to falls. It was found that an increase in age had an opportunity to be risky to falls for 1.2 times (95% CI = 1.1 – 1.3, p < .01). Elderly people reading a newspaper at a distance of 1 foot had no opportunity to be risky to falls for 1.8 times (95% CI = 1.4 – 2.4, p < .01). Elderly people having a deficiency in knowing how to think had an opportunity to be risky to falls for 2.3 times (95% CI = 1.7 – 3.1, p < .01). Also, elderly people who had a knee ache had an opportunity to be risky to falls for 1.6 times (95% CI = 1.3 – 2, p < .01). The following were suggestions, elderly people should check their eyesight at least once a year; those having a knee ache should see a doctor and must follow his suggestions, and medical staff should check the brain of elderly people every time they go to the hospital. This aims to prevent internal risk factors related to falls in elderly people.


We review recent calculations of second order corrections to heavy quark decays. Techniques developed in this context are applicable to many processes involving heavy charged particles, for example the nonabelian dipole radiation. Calculations involving relativistic radiating particles are also discussed.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to establish reference values for body composition as measured by Bioelectrical Impedance Analyser (BIA) in adult females without any endocrinological and/or metabolic disorders, according to their body mass index (BMI) grouped as normal, overweight, obese and morbid obese.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
This study was performed in a total of 327 adult females. In addition to the estimation of their body weight, height, waist and hip circumference, their body composition was measured by BIA. The results were statistically evaluated by a computer program using ANOVA test.

RESULTS
Together with the increase of BMI also the percentage of body fat and basal metabolism (BM) increased significantly, while the percentage of body water, fat free mass as well as lean/fat ratio showed a significant decrease. In addition, waist and hip ratio, percentage of body fat and BM showed a significant positive corelation with BMI.

CONCLUSION
These results are recommended to be used as reference values for the studies on body composition, especially to predict the degree of body fatness of obese patients and also nutritional status of patients who need nutritional supports.


Abstract Zinc (Zn) is an essential mineral and its deficiency manifests in non-specific clinical signs that require long time to develop. The response of swine intestine to Zn restriction was evaluated to identify early changes that can be indicative of Zn deficiency. Twenty-seven pigs (body weight = 77⋅5 ± 2⋅5 kg) were assigned to one of three diets: diet without added Zn (Zn-restricted diet, ZnR), and ZnR-supplemented with either 50 (Zn50) or 100 mg of Zn/kg of diet (Zn100) of Zn supplied by ZnCl2. After 32 d consuming the diets, serum Zn concentration in ZnR pigs was below the range of 0⋅59–1⋅37 μg/ml considered sufficient, thereby confirming subclinical Zn deficiency. Pigs showed no obvious health or growth changes. RNA-seq analysis followed by qPCR showed decreased expression of metallothionein-1 (MT1) (P < 0⋅05) and increased expression of Zn transporter ZIP4 (P < 0⋅05) in jejunum and ileum of ZnR pigs compared with Zn-supplemented pigs. Ingenuity pathway analysis revealed that Zn50 and Zn100 induced changes in genes related to nucleotide excision repair and integrin signalling pathways. The top gene network in the ZnR group compared with Zn100 was related to lipid and drug metabolism; and compared with Zn50, was related to cellular proliferation, assembly and organisation. Dietary Zn concentrations resulted in differences in genes related to immune pathways. Our analysis showed that small intestine presents changes associated with Zn deficiency after 32 d of Zn restriction, suggesting that the intestine could be a sentinel organ for Zn deficiency.


We consider polynomial-time Turing machines that have access to two oracles and investigate when the order of oracle queries is significant. The oracles used here are complete languages for the Polynomial Hierarchy (PH). We prove that, for solving decision problems, the order of oracle queries does not matter. This improves upon the previous result of Hemaspaandra, Hemaspaandra and Hempel, who showed that the order of the queries does not matter if the base machine asks only one query to each oracle. On the other hand, we prove that, for computing functions, the order of oracle queries does matter unless PH collapses.


Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) are getting growing interest because of wide-range of applications. Most applications of these networks demand reliable data delivery over longer period in an efficient and timely manner. However, resource-constrained nature of these networks makes routing in a harsh and unpredictable underwater environment challenging. Most existing schemes either employ static or mobile sink for data collection. However, in former sensors near the sink deplete out their energy more quickly which limits network lifetime. Mobile sink based schemes are not suitable for delay-sensitive large-scale applications. Unlike prior work, this paper presents a novel Advanced AUV-aided Energy Efficient Routing Protocol (AAEERP) for reliable data delivery. To prolong network lifetime, AAEERP employs an autonomous underwater vehicle to collect data from gateways. To minimize energy consumption, we use a shortest path tree algorithm while associating sensor nodes with the gateways and devise a criterion to limit the association count of nodes. Moreover, the role of gateways is rotated to balance the energy consumption. To prevent data loss, AAEERP allows dynamic data collection time to AUV depending up the count of member sensors for each gateway. The performance of the AAEERP is validated through simulations. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of AAEERP in terms of various performance metrics.


Delaunay refinement is a widely used method for the construction of guaranteed quality triangular and tetrahedral meshes. We present the algorithm and the software for the parallel constrained Delaunay mesh generation. Our approach is based on the decomposition of the original mesh generation problem into N smaller subproblems which are meshed in parallel. The parallel algorithm is asynchronous with small messages which can be aggregated and exhibits low communication costs. On a heterogeneous cluster of more than 100 processors our implementation can generate over one billion triangles in less than 3 minutes, while the single-node performance is comparable to that of the fastest to our knowledge sequential guaranteed quality Delaunay meshing library (the Triangle).


In recent years, the face of many professions has changed dramatically. Globalization, altered demographics and the explosion of innovations in information technology have created new opportunities and challenges, even new occupations have arisen to meet the demand. Nowadays, both, public and the private sectors are seeking proof of competence through the certification of new and existing professions. Before licensing a person to practice a profession, requirements for that license should be established. These requirements typically include educational prerequisites and assessments of the knowledge and skill expected of a beginning professional. Then, if a candidate satisfies the educational prerequisites and demonstrates adequate knowledge and skill through tests and performance assessments, an authorized body grants the candidate a license. This paper attempts to compare the existing system of accreditation and certification systems that are available in the national/international level. Thus providing a road map to develop a certification system for engineering faculties in India, where the authors is currently working on.


Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are one of the major categories of pollutants entering the marine environment and finally accumulating in the sediments. Their occurrence raises major concerns for human health, especially during coastal activities (bathing waters, aquaculture, etc), having combined adverse effects still largely unknown when they are present as mixtures. Moreover, during their remobilization (e.g. dredging activities), their bioavailability can increase resulting in a risk for marine environment. Several of them are known to be potential human carcinogens including benzo[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene and benzo[ghi]perylene. Therefore they have been included in the priority list of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC and also sixteen of them have been regulated by the US EPA as priority pollutants, and their distributions in the environment and potential human health risks have become the focus of much attention. The determination of PAHs in environmental matrices has been subject of great scientific attention during the latest years, as the accuracy and sensitivity of analytical methods need to be improved in order to be able to detect the compounds of interest in a complex matrix such as sediments. Therefore, significant research is being devoted to the optimization of analytical methodologies. A great number of studies have been performed on PAHs analysis in marine sediments. Various analytical procedures based on gas chromatographic analyses are reviewed and comparatively discussed in this paper.


This study was initiated out of the growing concern of the prevailing poor sense of
pitch intervals among music teacher trainees reflected the unsure perception and
direction in their aural training. It was sought that in employing a computer assisted
instruction approach in aural training with the use of an aural software will offer
music teacher trainees an opportunity to work independently on their aural skills
outside the confines of a formal aural lesson in the classroom. This study hopes to
bring greater efficiency for music teacher educators to structure aural lessons tailored
to music teacher trainees' pace and ability.
The objective of the study was to compare the effect of a textual input versus an
iconic input in computer assisted instruction on interval recognition of music major and non music major teacher trainees at a teacher's training college. The study also
investigated the music teacher trainees' evaluation of the aural training software,
Auralia. The textual input group (n=32) and iconic input group (n=32) consisted of
music major (n=16) and non music major (n=16) teacher trainees in each input
group. The textual input and the iconic input groups completed 20 drill and practice
lessons in interval recognition. Both groups completed a progressive test at every
session, a total of 20 progressive tests for the 20 lessons. At the end of the treatment
in the study, each input group completed a final test from the aural software. Pretest
and posttest of the same contents were administered to the groups before and after
the study.
The results indicated there were no significant differences in interval recognition
achievement in the final tests and posttests between the textual input (music major
and non music major) and iconic input (music major and non music major) groups.
The results also showed no significant differences in music teacher trainees'
evaluation of the software between the textual input (music major and non music
major) and iconic input (music major and non music major) group. This CAl study
suggests that in employing two different inputs, a textual input or an iconic input
using aural software had no significant differences on interval recognition.


In the past, a generation covered a larger span of time, having more members. However, today, thanks to the developments in technology and many other factors generations change frequently having less members and covering a few years. What matters now is the workforce itself and how these different generations work together. The current workforce has 3 generations working together while waiting for the fourth one. Soon, it is inevitable that 5 or 6 generations will be working at the same workplace. As a result, it is crucial to understand the type of leadership a generation prefers in business and academic life. The aim of this study was to find out how leadership style choice differs among four generations (Baby Boomers, Generations X, Generation Y, and Generation Z) of academics and prospective academics in Turkey. In the study, 265 participants from different generation rated the leadership attributes that contribute or impede effective leadership. The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) Project research survey by House et al. (2004) was used to find out the leadership style choice of different generations. The statistical relationships were determined between the generation variable and the 16 primary leadership subscales through MANOVAs and ANOVAs. The results of the tests showed that significant differences exist among the four different generations in 3 of the 16 leadership subscales. These subscales are Charismatic 3: Self-sacrifice, Conflict-inducer, and Face saver.
Key words: Leadership, Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, Generation Z.


Opportunistic scheduling was initially proposed to exploit user channel diversity for network capacity enhancement. However, the achievable gain of opportunistic schedulers is generally restrained due to fairness considerations which impose a tradeoff between fairness and throughput. In this paper, we show via analysis and numerical simulations that opportunistic scheduling not only increases network throughput dramatically, but also increases energy efficiency and can be fair to the users when they cooperate, in particular by using D2D communications. We propose to leverage smartphone's dual-radio interface capabilities to form clusters among mobile users. We design simple, scalable and energy-efficient D2D-assisted opportunistic strategies, which would incentivize mobile users to form clusters. We use a coalitional game theory approach to analyze the cluster formation mechanism, and show that proportional fair-based intra-cluster payoff distribution brings significant incentive to all mobile users regardless of their channel quality.


A recent growing body of studies shows that many important phenomena in economics are, or can be, driven by the fact that humans cannot digest all available information, but they can choose which exact pieces of information to attend to. Such phenomena span macroeconomics, finance, labor economics, political economy, and beyond. People's choices of what information to attend to, i.e., what optimal heuristic to use, are driven by current economic conditions and determine the form of mistakes that they make. Combining these behavioral insights together with optimizing approaches of classical economics yields a new generally applicable model. The implied behavior features numerous types of empirically supported departures from existing classical models, is potentially highly practical for answering policy questions, and motivates further empirical work. One distinction from most models in behavioral economics is that this model allows for studying the adaptation of agents' behavioral biases due to changes in policy or economic conditions.


The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hesperidin on male reproductive system in rats to which methotrexate (MTX) was administered. In the study, 28 male Wistar albino rats at the age of 8 weeks and had 250-300 g of live weight were used. Four experimental groups were formed; Group 1 (n=7): The control group, only feed and water were given. Group 2 (n=7): MTX group, a single dose of 20 mg/ kg of i.p. MTX was administered. Group 3 (n=7): Hesperidin group, 200 mg/kg of hesperidin was administered by gavage for 7 days. Group 4: MTX + hesperidin group (n=7): Following administration of a single dose of 20 mg/kg i.p. MTX , 200 mg/kg of Hesperidin was administered by oral gavage for 7 days. At the end of the experiment, rats were decapitated and biochemical, histopathological and spermatological parameters were examined. It was observed that in the MTX group, sperm motility and density, the enzymes CAT, GPx and SOD and GSH level decreased, TNF-alpha and IL-1 Beta, as well as MDA, levels were increased, regular structure of spermatogenic cells was impaired, and seminiferous tubules became necrotic and degenerative. It was determined that spermatological parameters improved and, necrotic and degenerative changes diminished by the administration of MTX+hesperidin. These outcomes indicated that hesperidin had a protective effect on destructive effects of MTX in rat testiclesv.


Over the last two decades, a growing body of research has shown positive impacts for task planning in task-based instruction (e.g., Ellis, 2005; Foster & Skehan, 1996). However, what learners plan during pretask planning, and whether any specific planning strategies are more beneficial in encouraging learners to attend to linguistic forms and facilitating second language development, have not been systematically investigated. The present study examined the effects of pretask modeling as a planning strategy on learners' attention to question structures and their subsequent question development. Korean junior high school students from two classes were assigned to either pretask modeling or no modeling groups. They completed a pretest, three tasks in pairs, and two posttests over a period of 5 weeks. The modeling group viewed pretask modeling videos as a part of their guided planning, whereas the no modeling group was provided with unguided planning time. The individual learners' think-aloud protocols during planning time and learner–learner interaction during task performance were audio-recorded, and the data were analyzed in terms of language-related episodes. Question development was determined based on Pienemann and Johnston's (1987) developmental sequence. Results indicate that pretask modeling facilitated learners' attention to form, especially during planning time, and their question development.


Rethinking Discipleship at Faith Methodist Church in Singapore: Making Disciples through Effective Small Groups Moh-Ying Wong Doctor of Ministry School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary 2015 The goal of this paper is to develop an intentional communal disciple-making process at Faith Methodist Church that will help foster life transformation among its members. At Faith Methodist Church, a transformed life is defined as one growing in the areas of Fellowship (community), Adoration (worship), Involvement (service), Transformation (discipleship), and Harvest (evangelism). The adopted strategy will use the congregation's existing small group structure as the primary vehicle to grow its members in these areas. Faith Methodist Church is located in Singapore, which is an economically thriving city-state. Singapore's cosmopolitan character, affluence, and pragmatism have given rise to a people who value busyness, material success, power, pleasure, and status. As these societal values permeate the church, there is the danger of members allowing themselves to be changed by the world rather than the Gospel. In order to avert this, there needs to be in place a disciple-making process which strives to teach its members how to engage with Christ in ways that run countercultural to the ways of the world and to grow in spiritual maturity. This paper will contain three parts. Part One will explore the culture of the people of Singapore. In addition, reference will be made to the ongoing influences of pluralism, consumerism, and materialism. This segment also introduces the community of Faith Methodist Church and its vision, organizational structure, and ethos. Current approaches to discipleship will be studied, followed by an examination of their strengths and weaknesses. Part Two examines the underlying theological and biblical justification for the project with emphasis on the church's Methodist heritage. Part Three presents the ministry plan and implementation strategy. The end result of the project is to create an environment where members can encounter God, experience community, engage the world, emulate Christ, and evangelize others. Content Reader: Kurt Fredrickson, PhD Words: 295


ABSTRACT. Corgozinho K.B., Cunha S.C.S., Neves A.P., Belchior C., Damico C.B., Silva C.A., Souza H.J.M.& Ferreira A.M.R. [Ionized calcium serum evaluation in unilateral thyroidectomized cats.] Avaliacao do calcio ionizado em gatos submetidos a tireoidectomia unilateral. Revista Brasileira de Medicina Veterinaria 37(4):345-349, 2015. Pos-Graduacao em Clinica e Reproducao Animal, Faculdade de Veterinaria, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Rua Vital Brasil Filho, 64, Niteroi, RJ 24230-340, Brasil. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Seventeen hyperthyroid cats with cervical palpable nodules were submitted to clinical and laboratorial examination and they were prepared to surgery. Unilateral thyroparathyroidectomy with parathyroid gland autotransplantation was performed. Concentrations of serum urea, creatinine, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, phosphorus, potassium, total thyroxine and hematologic profile were determined before and seven days after surgery. Blood samples for serum ionized calcium concentration were collected before and after surgery on days 1, 2, 7, 15, 21. All cats had ionized calcium concentration within the reference range before surgery. Serum calcium concentration fell significantly in all cats within 24 hours after surgery. Hypocalcemia occurred in two cats without clinical signs. Ionized calcium concentration decreased after surgery and returned to normal levels on day 7 postoperatively. The results of this study suggest that calcium concentration must be measured before surgery in cats submitted to thyroidectomy even if they are submitted to unilateral technique.


This study deals with deformation behavior of a shape-control plate which consists of an aluminum alloy plate and a pre-strained NiTi shape memory alloy (SMA) wire. The shape-control plate exhibits reciprocating bending deformation by heating and cooling. Deformation behavior of the plate is examined by electric heating and natural cooling of the SMA wire. Experimental results exhibit that the bending deformation of the plate is considerably stable over more than two thousand heating-cooling cycles and can be well controlled by electric current. Furthermore, the deformation behavior of the plate is analyzed by a simple beam theory for the aluminum alloy plate and Brinson's one-dimensional constitutive model for the SMA wire taking account of not only martensitic transformation but also rhombohedral-phase transformation. Numerical results describe well the deformation behavior of the shape-control plate observed in the experiments.


Many types of research have revealed that root canal anatomy differs by race and country based on various national populations, but no study has been conducted on the UAE population.

 Identifying the most common morphology of the upper premolars in a group of local and non-local people in the UAE.

 Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of 215 intact maxillary premolars were analyzed. The Pearson Chi-squared test and the two samples t-test were applied.

 Most of the maxillary first premolars were two-root formed (90%). Single-rooted teeth were less common (8%). Three-rooted maxillary first premolars represented a low frequency of 1.9%. Most of the maxillary second premolar teeth studied in this research (52%) had two roots. Almost all local and non-local populations had two canals for both first and second maxillary premolar. Only two maxillary first premolars (0.2%) had the three-canal morphology. The most frequent canal morphology in the maxillary first premolar group among local UAE and non-local was type V. The maxillary second premolar group among local UAE was type II (32%). In non-local UAE, type V (25%). In addition, six types of uncommon canal anatomic variants (types 1-2-3, 2-3-2, 3-2-1, 1-2-3-2, 2-1-2-1, and 3-2) were discovered in 3.7% of local UAE and 36.3% of non-local UAE.

 The results suggest a more quantitative approach to maxillary first and second premolar access cavity preparation in the UAE population to prevent errors and iatrogenic damage when identifying the canals.


Abstract As part of the process of developing transformative pedagogies in the 21st century, the important question arises for us – as teachers, learners and researchers – of how to better align education with the diverse realities of students' lives and the places they inhabit. Conversely, we might also ask how we can value and harness this diversity in background and locus as a pedagogical tool for facilitating experiential, group-dynamic and student-centred learning experiences. The answers to these questions are of great importance in terms of how we address the growing rejection of, apathy towards and alienation from the education system felt by many students, particularly among disadvantaged groups. In order to address these questions, it is necessary for us to re-evaluate existing models of teaching and learning, and re-conceptualise alternative pedagogies and their underlying epistemologies. In this paper, I will focus on exploring the principles that underpin Indigenous pedagogies and environmental education, and their potential to complement one another in a transformative endeavour.


Recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Asia, Europe, and Africa have caused severe impacts on the broiler sector through production losses, trade restrictions and negative shocks to demand. This study develops a multimarket econometric model that is the basis of simulations to assess the spread and market implications of a potential HPAI outbreak in U.S. broiler industry. It takes into account market power that might exist within the livestock and meat sectors and endogenizes the optimal production condition on the model system. The results imply that the HPAI shocks affect prices at different marketing levels unequally and change the price margins along the supply chain with the existence of market power. The change in the price margin, although statistically significant, is quite small in absolute value.


In this paper, the attenuation of coplanar waveguides (CPWs) with wide and narrow ground planes have been simulated and compared with experimental results up to 1 THz. By assessing the validity of the full-wave analysis, the subterahertz attenuation of CPWs can be predicted. Furthermore, it is quantitatively verified that the use of narrow ground planes significantly reduces the radiation loss, which leads to a large reduction in the total attenuation of CPWs at subterahertz frequencies.


BACKGROUND
Head and neck cancer treatment has developed over the last decade, with improved mortality and survival rates, but the treatments often result in dysphagia (a difficulty in swallowing) as a side effect. This may be acute, resolving after treatment, or remain as a long-term negative sequela of head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment. Interventions to counteract the problems associated with dysphagia include swallowing exercises or modification of diet (bolus texture, size), or both.

OBJECTIVES
To determine the effects of therapeutic exercises, undertaken before, during and/or immediately after HNC treatment, on swallowing, aspiration and adverse events such as chest infections, aspiration pneumonia and profound weight loss, in people treated curatively for advanced-stage (stage III, stage IV) squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

SEARCH METHODS
The Cochrane ENT Information Specialist searched the ENT Trials Register; Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL 2016, Issue 6); MEDLINE; PubMed; Embase; CINAHL; LILACS; KoreaMed; IndMed; PakMediNet; Web of Science; ClinicalTrials.gov; ICTRP; speechBITE; Google Scholar; Google and additional sources for published and unpublished trials. The date of the search was 1 July 2016.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We selected randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of adults with head and neck cancer (stage III, stage IV) who underwent therapeutic exercises for swallowing before, during and/or immediately after HNC treatment to help produce safe and efficient swallowing. The main comparison was therapeutic exercises versus treatment as usual (TAU). Other possible comparison pairs included: therapeutic exercises versus sham exercises and therapeutic exercises plus TAU versus TAU. TAU consisted of reactive management of a patient's dysphagia, when this occurred. When severe, this included insertion of either a percutaneous endoscopic gastroscopy or nasogastric tube for non-oral feeding.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
We used the standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. Our primary outcomes were: safety and efficiency of oral swallowing, as measured by reduced/no aspiration; oropharyngeal swallowing efficiency (OPSE) measures, taken from videofluoroscopy swallowing studies; and adverse events, such as chest infections, aspiration pneumonia and profound weight loss. Secondary outcomes were time to return to function (swallowing); self-reported changes to quality of life; changes to psychological well-being - depression, anxiety and stress; patient satisfaction with the intervention; patient compliance with the intervention; and cost-effectiveness of the intervention.

MAIN RESULTS
We included six studies (reported as seven papers) involving 326 participants whose ages ranged from 39 to 83 years, with a gender bias towards men (73% to 95% across studies), reflecting the characteristics of patients with HNC. The risk of bias in the studies was generally high.We did not pool data from studies because of significant differences in the interventions and outcomes evaluated. We found a lack of standardisation and consistency in the outcomes measured and the endpoints at which they were evaluated.We found no evidence that therapeutic exercises were better than TAU, or any other treatment, in improving the safety and efficiency of oral swallowing (our primary outcome) or in improving any of the secondary outcomes.Using the GRADE system, we classified the overall quality of the evidence for each outcome as very low, due to the limited number of trials and their low quality. There were no adverse events reported that were directly attributable to the intervention (swallowing exercises).

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
We found no evidence that undertaking therapeutic exercises before, during and/or immediately after HNC treatment leads to improvement in oral swallowing. This absence of evidence may be due to the small participant numbers in trials, resulting in insufficient power to detect any difference. Data from the identified trials could not be combined due to differences in the choice of primary outcomes and in the measurement tools used to assess them, and the differing baseline and endpoints across studies.Designing and implementing studies with stronger methodological rigour is essential. There needs to be agreement about the key primary outcomes, the choice of validated assessment tools to measure them and the time points at which those measurements are made.