Objective To identify, critically appraise, synthesise and present the available evidence on healthcare professionals' perceptions of the facilitators and barriers to implementing electronic prescribing, dispensing and/or administration of medicines in the hospital setting. Methods A systematic search of studies focusing on healthcare professionals' perceptions of technologies for prescribing, dispensing and administering medicines in the hospital setting was performed using MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Centre for Reviews and Dissemination. Grey literature inclusive of manual searching of core journals, relevant conference abstracts and online theses were also searched. Independent duplicate screening of titles, abstracts and full texts was performed by the authors. Data extraction and quality assessment were undertaken using standardised tools, followed by narrative synthesis. Key findings Five papers were included in the systematic review after screening 2566 titles. Reasons for exclusion were duplicate publication; non-hospital setting; a lack of investigation of healthcare professionals' perceptions and a lack of focus on implementation processes or systems specific to electronic prescribing, dispensing or administration of medicines. Studies were conducted in the USA, Sweden and Australia. All studies used qualitative interview methods. Healthcare professionals perceived systems improved patient safety and provided better access to patients' drug histories and that team leadership and equipment availability and reliability were essential for successful implementation. Key barriers included hardware and network problems; altered work practices such as time pressure on using the system and remote ordering as a potential risk for errors; and weakened interpersonal communication between healthcare professionals and with patients. Conclusions Few studies were identified on healthcare professionals' perceptions of the facilitators and barriers to system implementation in hospitals. Key facilitators included a perception of increased patient safety and better access to patients' drug history while key barriers involved technical problems, changes to routine work practices and weakened interpersonal communication. Investigating this area further will assist in improving patient safety and reducing medication costs by informing and strengthening implementation strategies.


Many factors such as the use of low-quality lens, inappropriate image acquisition technique, and the uncertainty of environment condition affect digital image acquisition process. As a result, noisy image may be obtainedwhich is difficult to be recognized, processed, and analysed. The most occurred noise is salt and pepper which appears as white and black spots in image. This noise is usually removed or suppressed using median filter. However, improper size of median filter kernel may yield in poor result. This work aims to find the most suitable median filter kernel size combination using Breadth search, Depth Searchand Generate and Testmethods in order to obtain the best median filtering result. In this work, four median filter kernel sizes are used, i.e. 3×3, 5×5, 7×7, and 9×9. Filtering performance using each obtained combination is defined by measuring the Mean Square Error (MSE) of the filtered and unnoisy image (ground truth). Result shows that the best median filter kernel size combination is {3×3}. This combination is obtained using Breadth Search Method with the MSE of 27.0308.


This paper estimates the political oligopoly power of domestic raw-milk producers in the Korean dairy market. Domestic raw-milk price for fluid use is decided exogenously by the government. The government announces the reference price of raw-milk price for fluid use to protect the domestic raw-milk producers from the potential market power of domestic dairy processors, because historically many small-sized domestic producers are a relatively weaker group than domestic processors. Here, this study has two questions: one is about how effectively the government protects the producers and the other is about how much the producers exert their political power against the government to raise the reference price in this process. Furthermore, this paper also tests how much the political oligopoly power of domestic producers is affected by the change of domestic political situation which is the inauguration of Korea Dairy Committee in this case. To answer these questions, this paper develops a theoretical model from a social welfare function and empirically estimates the political oligopoly power using the new empirical industrial organization (NEIO) approach.


Abstract. The risk resulting from natural hazards can be derived from the combination of parameters of physical processes and the damage potential. Even though the damage potential has been taken into account more frequently, quantifying statements are still missing. This study presents a detailed recording of the damage potential in the study area and describes the development of the damage potential since 1950 in decades. In the community, the increase of the number of buildings and their values is above average of the region. 37% of the existing buildings are located in legally declared avalanche hazard zones. In these areas, the probability of presence of persons increased considerably due to tourism activities and shows substantial seasonal fluctuations. If the analysis of the damage potential and the hazard estimation are performed with the same degree of precision, risk analysis and risk management will be improved significantly.


The interaction of 4'-N(2-aminoethyl)aminomethyl-4,5',8-trimethylpsoralen-modified oligonucleoside methylphosphonates with synthetic ds-DNA containing a T7 RNA polymerase promoter was studied. The oligomers effectively crosslinked with either coding or noncoding ss-DNA when irradiated at 365 nm, but not with ds-DNA. The extent of the crosslinking reaction, which was complete within 16 min: (a) reached its maximum at an oligomer concentration of 3 microM; (b) remained constant below the Tm of the duplex and then rapidly decreased; and (c) appeared to depend upon the sequence surrounding the psoralen crosslinking site. An oligomer crosslinked to the template strand inhibited transcription by T7 RNA polymerase whereas an oligomer crosslinked to the non-template strand had only a small inhibitory effect. Oligomers did not crosslink to ds-DNA undergoing transcription nor did they inhibit the transcription reaction.


Religion and Depression in Adolescence* The probability of being depressed increases dramatically during adolescence and is linked to a range of adverse outcomes. Many studies show a correlation between religiosity and mental health, yet the question remains whether the link is causal. The key issue is selection into religiosity. We exploit plausibly random variation in adolescents' peers to shift religiosity independently of other individual-level unobservables that might affect depression. Using a nationally representative sample of adolescents in the US, we find robust effects of religiosity on depression, that are particularly strong for the most depressed. These effects are not a result of social context. Instead, we find that religiosity buffers against stressors, possibly through improved social and psychological resources. This has implications especially for effective mental health policy. JEL Classification: I10, Z12


In my previous papers on the Carboniferous Murchsoniæ I have given some account of most of the different genera or sections into which the family Murchisoniidæ has been divided. It is not, therefore, necessary to refer to many of these again, as I am here only describing the British members of one of these established genera, namely Hormotoma, Sailer, and also of the new genus Ectomaria, Koken. These two genera contain some of the oldest known species of elongated gasteropoda. They are both distinguished from the typical Murchisoniæ by merely possessing a sinus in the outer lip, instead of having a deep narrow slit with parallel edges; also the lines of growth retreat towards, and advance from, the sinus more obliquely. The protoconch, which throws so important a light upon the affinities of the gasteropoda, is so far unknown in Ectomaria and Hormotoma, neither has it been found out whether these shells have opercula. In the present state of our knowledge it is doubtful in what degree these genera are related either one to another, or to the typical Murchisoniæ. Hormotoma agrees with Murchisonia therein that the sinus gives rise to a band, though it is generally somewhat indistinctly limited ; whereas Ectomaria can hardly be said to possess a band, the greatest sinuosity of the lines of growth being merely situated between two keels. Koken does not place Ectomaria in the Murchisoniidæ, and it is not clear to which family he would refer it ; apparently it stands in


Aims: We investigated how modification of levels of the sex hormones 17β-estradiol and testosterone affects vascular contraction and nongenomic vascular effects of 17β-estradiol. Methods: Male and female rats were treated with vehicle, 17β-estradiol (25 µg/kg/day) or testosterone (1 mg/kg/day) for 14 consecutive days after sham gonadectomy or gonadectomy was performed. Isometric tensions were then measured from mesenteric arteries of each group of rats. Results: Contraction to phenylephrine was increased in mesenteric arteries from rats with or without gonadectomy treated with testosterone for 14 days compared to their intact controls. Contraction to phenylephrine was reduced in mesenteric arteries of rats with or without gonadectomy treated with 17β-estradiol for 14 days compared to their intact controls. Incubation of mesenteric arteries with 17β-estradiol (1 nmol/l) for 30 min reduced contraction to phenylephrine in mesenteric arteries of rats that were treated with testosterone for 14 days. This acute incubation of 17β-estradiol had no effect on arteries from rats that were treated with 17β-estradiol for 14 days. The acute effect of 17β-estradiol (1 nmol/l) is preserved in arteries without endothelium. Conclusion: Our results suggest that 14 days' testosterone treatment enhances while 14 days' 17β-estradiol treatment suppresses contraction as well as the nongenomic effects of 17β-estradiol in the vascular smooth muscles.


In female mammals, dosage compensation for X-linked genes is ensured through random X-chromosome inactivation, which is initiated by mono-allelic up-regulation of Xist. We use mathematical modeling to identify the regulatory principles required to establish the mono-allelic and female-specific Xist expression pattern and test model predictions experimentally. A cis-acting positive feedback, which in mice is mediated by mutual repression of Xist and its antisense transcript Tsix, together with a trans-acting negative feedback are sufficient to explain mono-allelic Xist up-regulation. The model can reproduce data from several mutant, aneuploid and polyploid murine cell lines and explains Xist expression patterns in other mammalian species. Furthermore, it predicts that transient, reversible bi-allelic Xist expression is not restricted to rabbits and humans but can also occur in mice, which we indeed confirm to occur in mouse embryos. Overall, our study provides a conceptual framework of the molecular mechanisms required to initiate random X-chromosome inactivation.


Obesity and sarcopenic obesity (SO) are characterized by excess body fat with or without low muscle mass affecting bio‐psycho‐social health, functioning, and subsequently quality of life in older adults. We mapped outcomes addressed in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on lifestyle interventions in community‐dwelling older people with (sarcopenic) obesity. Systematic searches in Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Web of Science were conducted. Two reviewers independently performed screening and extracted data on outcomes, outcome domains, assessment methods, units, and measurement time. A bubble chart and heat maps were generated to visually display results. Fifty‐four RCTs (7 in SO) reporting 464 outcomes in the outcome domains: physical function (n = 42), body composition/anthropometry (n = 120), biomarkers (n = 190), physiological (n = 30), psychological (n = 47), quality of life (n = 14), pain (n = 4), sleep (n = 2), medications (n = 3), and risk of adverse health events (n = 5) were included. Heterogeneity in terms of outcome definition, assessment methods, measurement units, and measurement times was found. Psychological and quality of life domains were investigated in a minority of studies. There is almost no information beyond 52 weeks. This evidence map is the first step of a harmonization process to improve comparability of RCTs in older people with (sarcopenic) obesity and facilitate the derivation of evidence‐based clinical decisions.


Article Abstract—Apomorphine is a non-narcotic morphine derivative that acts as a potent dopaminergic agonist. Its high first-pass hepatic metabolism prevents effectiveness by the oral route; instead, subcutaneous injection is the usual route, and intranasal, sublingual, rectal, and iontophoretic transdermal delivery has been investigated for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD). The rate of uptake after subcutaneous injection is influenced by factors such as location, temperature, depth of injection, and body fat. Studies have shown the latency of onset to clinical effect after s.c. injection ranged from 7.3 to 14 minutes. Cerebrospinal fluid Tmaxlags behind plasma Tmax by 10 to 20 minutes. Considerable intersubject variability is found with pharmacokinetic variables; in some studies there are five- to tenfold differences in Cmaxand area-under-the-concentration-time-curve seen in PD patients. Apomorphine metabolism occurs through several enzymatic pathways, including N-demethylation, sulfation, glucuronidation, and catechol-O-methyltransferase as well as by nonenzymatic oxidation. The complexities of apomorphine uptake, distribution, and clearance probably contribute to its variability of clinical actions.


Wireless cellular networks often need to convey the same data to multiple users simultaneously. This kind of transmission is known as physical layer multicasting. Unfortunately, when any user fails to receive the data correctly, the information must be retransmitted to all the users, resulting in a waste of radio resources. Thus, it is important to investigate the outage probability of multicast channels, which is defined as the probability that the smallest maximum achievable rate among all of the users is smaller than a specified transmission rate. In this paper, we consider the use of multiple antenna multicast channels where the transmitter is equipped with Mt antennas and independent data is transmitted on each antenna to K users. Using extreme value theory, we derive a closed form limiting distribution that the exact distribution of the multicasting channel converges to when the number of users K is taken to infinity. From this result, we find upper and lower-bounds on the outage probability. It is shown that for a given outage probability the upper-bound becomes sufficiently tight to approximate the exact outage probability with K such that it converges to the exact one with a speed faster than Theta (K-1/M t). Using this upper-bound, we identify conditions on the transmission rate and the transmit power necessary to maintain constant outage performance as K increases. Specifically, the transmission rate should be decreased as Theta (K-1/M t) or the transmit power should be increased as Theta (K1/M t). This means that the outage performance improves as the number of transmit antennas increases, because spatial diversity can be well exploited. However, this increase in the number of transmit antennas requires a significant cost. To improve the performance without requiring additional cost, we consider a multiple-slot multicasting that transmits the same data over multiple slots and an antenna subset selection scheme that transmits the data over some subset of the transmit antennas. It is shown that the transmission rate of multiple-slot scheme can be increased when the number of slots is carefully chosen and the diversity-multiplexing trade-off is the same as that of K = 1. Also, the gain in the transmission rate from selecting some subset of the transmit antennas is derived.


Seldom is a book academically rigorous and highly readable for the general audience. Black Cowboys in the American West is an exception. Th is anthology, edited by Bruce A. Glasrud and Michael N. Searles, greatly contributes to our knowledge of African American participation in the American West. It will be utilized in classrooms and by nonacademic readers. And for that reason, the editors have achieved their goal. Searles, in his concluding essay, claims that "it was this lack of recognition that produced the popular notion that black cowboys did not exist" (216). Th e authors of this volume have resuscitated the lives of African American men and women whose contributions to the Great Plains and the American West should not be forgotten. Th e thirteen essays in this volume are divided into three sections: Cowboys on the Range, Performing Cowboys, and Outriders of the Black Cowboys. Th e fi rst section, "Cowboys on the Range," begins with an important essay on African American cowboys and the livestock industry before Emancipation and follows with essays on three key black cowboys (and one daring black Seminole vaquera). Matthew "Bones" Hooks, Johana July, Daniel Webster "80 John" Wallace, and Nat Love, aka Deadwood Dick, are given the rightful recognition they deserve. It greatly contributes to our knowledge that the black cowboy experience here is individualized and not talked about in the collective. Th e exploits of these three men and one woman are both historically accurate and fantastically mythological, and the authors demonstrate how the myth oft en overtook reality for many famous cowboys (both black and white) in the American West. Th e second section, "Performing Cowboys," explores black rodeo in Texas and Oklahoma, musical traditions among black cowboys, and the Bronze Buckaroo, who was perhaps the most famous black cinematic cowboy, Herb Jeffries. The third section, "Outriders of the Black Cowboys," discusses individuals and subject matter tangential to the black cowboy experience but indeed fascinating. Th e authors discuss African Americans in Dodge City, musical cowboy Charley Willis, and legendary lawman Bass Reeves. But perhaps the standout essay in this volume is Miantae Metcalf McConnell's essay on Mary Fields. Th e story of this middleaged African American woman, who fi rst traveled west to aid Mother Mary Amadeus of the Ursuline order, is remarkable. Mary Fields lived fi ve lives in one lifetime. Black Cowboys in the American West is a remarkably accessible volume that will encourage readers to explore more on black Western life.


The design of an ASIC realizing an image processing algorithm as part of a biomedical application is described. The Cathedral-II silicon compiler has been used to specify and simulate the behavior and to synthesize a hardware implementation. The high-level optimization tasks that were repaired by the performance specifications are discussed. New optimizations are introduced and the interaction of different optimization tasks are highlighted.<<ETX>>


The bioleaching of arsenopyrite, the oxidation of arsenate and the precipitation of ferric arsenate are competing reactions, hence their rates depend on the relative concentrations of the respective species, and the activity of the bacterial culture. Bacterial arsenic resistance may be attributed to the Pst+ Pit- mutation and an energy dependent efflux pump. Pst+ Pit- mutations result in a reduced uptake of arsenate. This enables the bacteria to survive in solutions in which the arsenate concentration is significantly higher than the arsenite concentration. However, the excretion of arsenate requires energy. Therefore, in the absence of an energy source or during periods of reduced bacterial activity, the inhibitory effect of arsenate may manifest at concentrations to which the culture has been adapted. The chemical ferric leaching rate of pyrite and arsenopyrite decrease with a decrease in the solution redox and may be descriptionbed using a modified Butler-Volmer equation. The bacterial ferrous-iron oxidation kinetics of L. ferrooxidans also depend on the redox potential, and can be descriptionbed using a Michaelis-Menten type model modified to account for both temperature and pH. A model developed using the independently determined ferric leaching, and ferrous-iron oxidizing kinetics, has been shown to compare well with the experimental data for the continuous bioleaching of pyrite. Keywords: Leptospirillum ferrooxidans, arsenopyrite, bioleaching, sulphide minerals ferrous-iron oxidation kinetics, ferric leaching kinetics, redox potential


Background:Conventional transbronchial needle aspiration (C-TBNA) has been proven to be a safe, minimally invasive, and cost-effective technique in establishing the diagnosis of mediastinal pathologies. We studied the success of C-TBNA in our community practice, in patients with mediastinal lymphadenopathies. Materials and Methods:The technique of C-TBNA was learned solely from the literature, videos, and by practicing on inanimate models during "hands-on" courses. Conventional TBNA with 21- and/or 19-gauge Smooth Shot Needles was performed on consecutive patients with undiagnosed mediastinal lymphadenopathy. Results:Fifty-four patients (38 men), mean age 56.9±11.8 years, underwent C-TBNA. Thirty-three patients had nodes >20 mm. The final diagnoses were malignancy, 29; sarcoidosis, 9; reactive lymph nodes, 15; and tuberculosis, 1. The final diagnosis was established by C-TBNA in 27. The exclusive diagnostic yield of TBNA was 42.5% (n: 23). Nodal size had an impact on outcome (P=0.002), whereas location did not (P=0.82). C-TBNA was positive in 22/34 when malignancy was suspected (yield 64.7%) and positive in 5/20 when benign diagnoses were also included in the differential (yield 25%) (P=0.005). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predicted value, negative predicted value, and diagnostic accuracy were 79.4%, 100%, 100%, 73%, and 81.5%, respectively. Conclusions:C-TBNA can be successfully learned without formal training and can be easily applied in the community practice.


The standardization of the Web Ontology Language, OWL, leaves (at least) two crucial issues for Web-based ontologies unsatisfactorily resolved, namely how to represent and reason with multiple distinct, but linked ontologies, and how to enable effective knowledge reuse and sharing on the Semantic Web. In this paper, we present a solution for these fundamental problems based on EConnections. We aim to use E-Connections to provide modelers with suitable means for developing Web ontologies in a modular way and to provide an alternative to the owl:imports construct. With such motivation, we present in this paper a syntactic and semantic extension of the Web Ontology language that covers E-Connections of OWL-DL ontologies. We show how to use such an extension as an alternative to the owl:imports construct in many modeling situations. We investigate different combinations of the logics SHIN (D),SHON (D) and SHIO(D) for which it is possible to design and implement reasoning algorithms, well-suited for optimization. Finally, we provide support for E-Connections in both an ontology editor, SWOOP, and an OWL reasoner, Pellet.


Hollow vesicles made from a single or double layer of block-copolymer molecules, called polymersomes, represent an important technological platform for new developments in nano-medicine and nano-biotechnology. A central aspect in creating functional polymersomes is their combination with proteins, especially through encapsulation in the inner cavity of the vesicles. When producing polymersomes by techniques such as film rehydration, significant proportions of the proteins used are trapped in the vesicle lumen, resulting in high encapsulation efficiencies. However, because of the difficulty of scaling up, such methods are limited to laboratory experiments and are not suitable for industrial scale production. Recently, we developed a scalable polymersome production process in stirred-tank reactors, but the statistical encapsulation of proteins resulted in fairly low encapsulation efficiencies of around 0.5%. To increase encapsulation in this process, proteins were genetically fused with hydrophobic membrane anchoring peptides. This resulted in encapsulation efficiencies of up to 25.68%. Since proteins are deposited on the outside and inside of the polymer membrane in this process, two methods for the targeted removal of protein domains by proteolysis with tobacco etch virus protease and intein splicing were evaluated. This study demonstrates the proof-of-principle for production of protein-functionalized polymersomes in a scalable process.


Issues related to the emotional effects of surgery on the adolescent are reviewed in this paper. Psychological aspects of the preoperative preparation of the adolescent and family are discussed. Caution is suggested regarding overgeneralizations from the sometimes conflicting data in the literature, reviewed here, on social aspects of physical appearance. An outline of a plan for the work-up of an adolescent undergoing appearance changing surgery is presented. The importance of communication and patience in approaching the adolescent is stressed.


The usual process to produce NiTi shape memory alloy is by vacuum induction melting (VIM) using a graphite crucible, which causes contamination of the melt with carbon. Contamination with oxygen originates from the residual oxygen inside the melting chamber. An alternative process to produce NiTi alloys is by electron beam melting (EBM) using a water-cooled copper crucible that eliminates carbon contamination, and the oxygen contamination would be minimal due to operation in a vacuum of better than 10 -2 Pa. In a previous work, it was demonstrated that the technique is feasible for button shaped samples weighing around 30g. The present work presents the results on the scale up program that enables the production of larger samples/ingots. The results are very promising in terms of chemical composition homogeneity as well as in terms of carbon contamination, the latter being four to ten times lower than the commercially-produced VIM products, and in terms of final oxygen content which is shown to depend primarily on the starting raw materials.


Wireless communication between two nodes in a multi-path, multi-hop network does not require that the forward transmission path and the reverse one are the same. However, if a physical-layer security scheme based on mutual channelstate-information (CSI) [3],[4] is used, they at least have to make sure that they use the same channels for secret-key generation. A protocol is proposed in this paper to achieve that purpose in a secure manner. An information-theoretic analysis of physical-layer key generation given in [2] states that there are vulnerable key symbols that might be estimated by eavesdroppers. In this paper, we show how to protect those key symbols by means of physical-layer key encoding. We provide necessary and sufficient conditions on the code in order to achieve perfect secrecy, even when the eavesdropper knows the code, and derive the asymptotic code rate accordingly. We also discuss how to design the code when the number of vulnerable key symbols are not known.


Much of contemporary systems biology owes its success to the abstraction of a network, the idea that diverse kinds of molecular, cellular, and organismal species and interactions can be modeled as relational nodes and edges in a graph of dependencies. Since the advent of high-throughput data acquisition technologies in fields such as genomics, metabolomics, and neuroscience, the automated inference and reconstruction of such interaction networks directly from large sets of activation data, commonly known as reverse-engineering, has become a routine procedure. Whereas early attempts at network reverse-engineering focused predominantly on producing maps of system architectures with minimal predictive modeling, reconstructions now play instrumental roles in answering questions about the statistics and dynamics of the underlying systems they represent. Many of these predictions have clinical relevance, suggesting novel paradigms for drug discovery and disease treatment. While other reviews focus predominantly on the details and effectiveness of individual network inference algorithms, here we examine the emerging field as a whole. We first summarize several key application areas in which inferred networks have made successful predictions. We then outline the two major classes of reverse-engineering methodologies, emphasizing that the type of prediction that one aims to make dictates the algorithms one should employ. We conclude by discussing whether recent breakthroughs justify the computational costs of large-scale reverse-engineering sufficiently to admit it as a mainstay in the quantitative analysis of living systems.


The peak shape of tris(2-methyl-8-quinolinolato)gallium(III) by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography was found to be very sensitive to trace amounts of silanol groups on the surface of octadecylsylanized silica gel (ODS silica gel). The variation of the peak of the gallium(III) complex can be used as a probe of the residual silanol groups in an ODS column. The chromatographic peak parameters of the complex were compared with the silanol activities output by some silanol-detecting tests using nitrogen-containing compounds as probes. The comparison was performed with several commercially available ODS columns and laboratory-packed columns in which the amount of silanol groups was controlled by mixing fully endcapped ODS materials and a non-endcapped ODS material. The peak height was the most effective parameter among the peak parameters, and much more sensitive than the silanol-detecting tests using nitrogen-containing compounds, in detecting a trace amount of silanol groups that could not be detected by other silanol-detecting tests.


The emergence of COVID-19 continues to pose severe threats to global public health. The pandemic has infected over 171 million people and claimed more than 3.5 million lives to date. We investigated the binding potential of antiviral cyanobacterial proteins including cyanovirin-N, scytovirin and phycocyanin with fundamental proteins involved in attachment and replication of SARS-CoV-2. Cyanovirin-N displayed the highest binding energy scores (−16.8 ± 0.02 kcal/mol, −12.3 ± 0.03 kcal/mol and −13.4 ± 0.02 kcal/mol, respectively) with the spike protein, the main protease (Mpro) and the papainlike protease (PLpro) of SARS-CoV-2. Cyanovirin-N was observed to interact with the crucial residues involved in the attachment of the human ACE2 receptor. Analysis of the binding affinities calculated employing the molecular mechanics-Poisson–Boltzmann surface area (MM-PBSA) approach revealed that all forms of energy, except the polar solvation energy, favourably contributed to the interactions of cyanovirin-N with the viral proteins. With particular emphasis on cyanovirin-N, the current work presents evidence for the potential inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 by cyanobacterial proteins, and offers the opportunity for in vitro and in vivo experiments to deploy the cyanobacterial proteins as valuable therapeutics against COVID-19.


Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of an ecological, multi-component adolescent obesity prevention intervention called School Wellness Integration Targeting Child Health–Middle School (SWITCH–MS). Methods: Following the effectiveness-implementation hybrid type 3 quasi-experimental design, seven middle schools (377 students) in Iowa, United States, were stratified into "experienced" (n = 3; 110 students) or "inexperienced" (n = 4; 267 students) groups to receive the 12-week SWITCH–MS intervention. To evaluate implementation, school informants (n = 10) responded to a survey and students completed behavioral tracking in the classroom on a website. For effectiveness evaluation, students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades completed a validated questionnaire before and after intervention, to measure behaviors of physical activity (PA; "Do"), screen-based activity ("View"), and fruits and vegetable consumption ("Chew"). Results: The two groups of schools showed similar levels of implementation for best practices, awareness, and engagement. Behavioral tracking rate favored the experienced schools early on (47.5% vs. 11.7%), but differences leveled off in weeks 3–12 (sustained at 30.1–44.3%). Linear mixed models demonstrated significant time effects for "Do" (at school and out of school; p < 0.01) and "View" behaviors (p = 0.02), after controlling for student- and school-level covariates. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that prior experience with SWITCH–MS may not be a prominent factor for implementation and effectiveness, although greater experience is associated with favorable behavioral tracking when the intervention is first launched.


The match between the environmental conditions of an introduction area and the preferences of an introduced species is the first prerequisite for establishment. Yet, introduction areas are usually landscapes, i.e. heterogeneous sets of habitats that are more or less favourable to the introduced species. Because individuals are able to disperse after their introduction, the quality of the habitat surrounding the introduction site is as critical to the persistence of introduced populations as the quality of the introduction site itself. Moreover, demographic mechanisms such as Allee effects or dispersal mortality can hamper dispersal and affect spread across the landscape, in interaction with the spatial distribution of favourable habitat patches. In this study, we investigate the impact of the spatial distribution of heterogeneous quality habitats on establishment and early spread. First, we simulated introductions in one-dimensional landscapes for different dispersal rates and either dispersal mortality or Allee effects. The landscapes differed by the distribution of favourable and less favourable habitats, which were either clustered into few large aggregates of the same quality or scattered into multiple smaller ones. Second, we tested the predictions of simulations by performing experimental introductions of hymenopteran parasitoids (Trichogramma chilonis) in 'clustered' and 'scattered' microcosm landscapes. Results highlighted two impacts of the clustering of favourable habitat: by decreasing the risks of dispersal from the introduction site to unfavourable habitat early during the invasion, it increased establishment success. However, by increasing the distance between favourable habitat patches, it also hindered the subsequent spread of introduced species over larger areas.


With an ever-changing market environment, converging industries are constantly trying to compete innovatively using commercial and scientific acumen to create advantage. Previously, successful strategy employed a set of robust steps which now need to change so that these firms can ensure their ability to be competitive. In this day and age, strategy now involves balancing a desired end goal, a recognition of the actual skills and having digital lens to overlay any and all recommendations. Using technology as an enabler, firms can ensure that its goals and its people are in the best possible position to deliver.


Cretaceous–Paleogene overpressure distribution in the Danish Central Graben shows a remarkable coincidence with the thickness of the rapidly deposited middle Miocene to Holocene succession. Slow deposition of smectite-dominated clays in a deep-marine environment occurred from the late Paleocene until the middle Miocene, and the resultant mudstone succession constitutes the main barrier that delays pressure dissipation. Between the late Miocene and the Holocene, the Upper Cretaceous–Paleogene succession became overpressured, probably because of accelerated depositional rates. Quantification of this disequilibrium compaction mechanism relies mainly on a determination of permeability and effective compressibility of the Paleogene shales. This article shows that realistic permeabilities can be assumed, provided that compressibilities describing the plastic process of compaction are used in the pressure equation instead of the elastic compressibilites that, for instance, can be derived from log data. One-dimensional (1-D) modeling is applied in two cases: a well from the Dan chalk field, where accelerated deposition since the Tortonian (11.2 Ma) produced a present-day overpressure of 7.97 MPa (1156 psi); and a well from the South Arne chalk field, where accelerated deposition since the early Serravallian (14.6 Ma) produced a present-day overpressure of 13.9 MPa (2016 psi). This is based on an identical set of parameters and compares with the observed 7.7 and 14.8 MPa (1117 and 2147 psi ) overpressure at the two locations. The modeled development of the pressure profiles shows that an effective stress minimum occurred in the upper part of the Paleogene succession. This is consistent with the observed ubiquitous intraformational faulting at that level. About 80% of the added Neogene load is estimated to have been converted to overpressure.


Model building is identified as the most important part of the analysis and design process for software systems. A set of primitives to support this process is presented, along with a formal language, MSG.84, for recording the results of analysis and design. The semantics of the notation is defined in terms of the actor formalism, which is based on a message passing paradigm. The automatic derivation of a graphical form of the specification for user review is discussed. Potentials for computer-aided design based on MSG.84 are indicated.


This paper reports on the design optimization done for Double Sided silicon microStrip Detectors (DSSDs) to reduce the Equivalent Noise Charge (ENC) and to maximize the breakdown voltage and Charge Collection E ciency. Various isolation techniques have been explored and a detailed comparison has been studied to optimize the detector performance. For the evaluation of the performance of the silicon detectors, a radiation damage model has been included. The neutron fluence is expected to be 2 10 13 neqcm 2 per year for five years of expected CBM run with intermediate periods of warm maintenance, cold maintenance and shutdown. Transient simulations have been performed to estimate the charge collection performance of the irradiated detectors and simulations have been verified with experimental data.


Recent years have witnessed a new trend of building ontology-based question answering systems. These systems use semantic web information to produce more precise answers to users' queries. However, these systems are mostly designed for English. In this paper, we introduce an ontology-based question answering system named KbQAS which, to the best of our knowledge, is the first one made for Vietnamese. KbQAS employs our question analysis approach that systematically constructs a knowledge base of grammar rules to convert each input question into an intermediate representation element. KbQAS then takes the intermediate representation element with respect to a target ontology and applies concept-matching techniques to return an answer. On a wide range of Vietnamese questions, experimental results show that the performance of KbQAS is promising with accuracies of 84.1% and 82.4% for analyzing input questions and retrieving output answers, respectively. Furthermore, our question analysis approach can easily be applied to new domains and new languages, thus saving time and human effort.


This paper describes an approach to the sonification of realtime twitter music trend data realized for the ICAD 2012 Sonification Competition: Listening to the World Listening. The paper will discuss the techniques used to create the sonification and the motivations behind them, including details of the data analysis, mapping strategies, visual display and sonification output. The system analyses the Twitter Music Trends data feed, which aggregates music listening data from Twitter by artist, as well as the Echo Nest REST API to determine the perceived emotional affect and prevailing descriptions of a selection of the latest trending artists. The resulting data is visualized and sonified in real-time to facilitate analysis and generate an appealing visual and auditory display of the resulting data. Experience with the system suggests that it is successful in allowing users to determine perceived emotional affect and quality for a number of artists simultaneously, and could allow further investigation into the correlation between these factors. The system also generates appealing visual music that reaches beyond the practice of scientific investigation to reach out to a wider audience.


This paper examines the ways in which the learning environment can be enhanced for higher level learners by means of feedback via screencasting and peer assessment.  A group of final year veterinary nursing students in DkIT were given tutor feedback via screencasting and encouraged to formatively peer assess each other's work.  Their attitudes to these feedback methods and their reflections on the usefulness of these methods for their learning form the basis of this paper.  Deep learning, improved communication leading to greater social cohesion in the learning group and increased self-confidence are positive outcomes which such methods can evince if learner fear and apprehension is carefully addressed and controlled.


Natural convection from flat plates finds diverse applications in engineering and natural systems. While previous studies have considered natural convection from isothermal vertical plates in air and tilted plates in water subject to uniform flux, little attention has been given to natural convection from inclined narrow plates in air. This work reports on experiments undertaken on an inclined narrow plate with uniform flux boundary conditions. The spatial distribution of temperature along the length of the plate was measured for a range of imposed uniform flux values and inclination angles, ranging between vertical and downward-facing horizontal. The temperature profile along the plate indicates convective heat transfer rates associated with the development of the flow from a laminar to a turbulent regime. An interesting result of increased convection loss at a downward-facing inclination was observed, and is shown to be associated with the absence of sidewalls. Smoke visualisation of the flow was undertaken and the transition from laminar to turbulent flow was observed.


A cobalt Schiff base catalyst with ionic substituents on the ligand, N,N′-ethylenebis(acetylacetoniminato)-cobalt(II) hexafluorophosphoric pyridinium (Co-[Salen-Py][PF6]2), was synthesized. It displayed an excellent catalytic performance for the oxidation of 4-methyl guaiacol to vanillin (conversion = 100%, selectivity = 90%). Tentative reaction mechanism research indicated that the electron-withdrawing pyridinium substituent on the ligand of Co(acacen) is responsible for the high selectivity of vanillin. Meanwhile, utilizing ethylene glycol and water as solvent, vanillin can be isolated by simple crystallization in the form of a sodium salt, and the mother liquid of the crystallization, with a large amount of NaOH (the mole ratio of NaOH/4-methyl guaiacol = 2.38/1), can be successfully recycled at least three times, thereby decreasing the mole ratio of base/substrate from 3.3 : 1 to 1.05 : 1 when the mother liquid of crystallization was recycled. This strategy provides a potentially greener alternative for the synthesis of vanillin in industry.


Many urban activity and location decisions can be viewed as the outcomes of sequential search processes. In this paper are addressed the special econometric aspects associated with the analysis of observations on such processes. Four distinct informational situations of particular relevance to search phenomena are identified, each one corresponding to different data-availability conditions. The likelihood functions appropriate for estimating the parameters of search models in each one of those informational situations are derived. Special cases in which these likelihood functions appear to be computationally tractable are also indicated in the appendix.


Scholars have documented substantial classes of iconic vocabulary in many non-Indo-European languages. In comparison, Indo-European languages like English are assumed to be arbitrary outside of a small number of onomatopoeic words. In three experiments, we asked English speakers to rate the iconicity of words from the MacArthurBates Communicative Developmental Inventory. We found English—contrary to common belief—exhibits iconicity that correlates with age of acquisition and differs across lexical classes. Words judged as most iconic are learned earlier, in accord with findings that iconic words are easier to learn. We also find that adjectives and verbs are more iconic than nouns, supporting the idea that iconicity provides an extra cue in learning more difficult abstract meanings. Our results provide new evidence for a relationship between iconicity and word learning and suggest iconicity may be a more pervasive property of spoken languages than previously thought.


. In this study, a Piezoelectric Actuated Valveless Micropump (PAVM) has been designed and successfully fabricated using MEMS fabrication processes. A PZT: Pb (ZrTi) Ox (lead titanate zirconate) disc is used to actuate a silicon membrane by applying an alternating electrical field across the actuator. The resultant reciprocating movement of the pump membrane is then converted into pumping effect. Preliminary analysis of the fluidic characteristics of this micropump was performed using CoventorWare Simulator with MEMs-FSI (Fluid Structure Interaction) module to understand the working behaviour of the pump system. The pump is fabricated in a simple micromachining process with two optical masks using a double side polished silicon wafer. The tests carried out on the micropump have produced promising results to be used in the drug delivery system.


Understanding grounding-line dynamics is necessary for predictions of long-term ice-sheet stability. However, despite growing observations of the tidal influence on grounding-line migration, this short-timescale migration is poorly understood, with most modeling attempts assuming beam theory to calculate displacements. Here we present an improved model of tidal grounding-line migration that treats migration as an elastic fracture problem, forced by the additional ocean water pressure from the tide. This new model predicts that the grounding line cannot be assumed to be in hydrostatic equilibrium and, furthermore, that migration is inherently asymmetric and nonlinear, with migration distances that are not proportional to the tidal load. Specifically, for constant surface slope, the grounding line migrates upstream approximately ten times further as the tide rises from mean sea level to high tide than it migrates downstream as the tide falls from mean sea level to low tide, and migration distances are substantially larger than simple flotation arguments suggest. Numerical tests also show that the dependence of migration distance on elastic moduli and ice-sheet thickness are inconsistent with predictions of beam theory for a range of realistic values. Finally, applying the new model to observations in Antarctica results in new estimates of bed slopes, though these estimates remain uncertain due to imperfect knowledge of the relevant rheological parameters.


A key attraction of virtual machines (VMs) is live migration - the ability to move their execution state across physical machines even as the VMs continue to run. Unfortunately, the traditional pre-copy and post-copy techniques are not agile in the face of resource pressures at the source host, since it takes a long time to transfer the memory state of a VM. Consequently, the performance suffers for all VMs - those being migrated as well as those being left behind. Prior works have attempted to optimize indirect measures of migration effectiveness such as downtime, total migration time, and network overhead. However, none have treated the performance of VMs impacted by migration as the primary metric of migration effectiveness. We propose an Agile live migration technique that quickly recovers the performance of all VMs under resource pressure by eliminating resource pressure faster than traditional live migration. The working set of a VM is typically much smaller than its full memory footprint. Our approach works by transparently tracking the working set of each VM and offloading the non-working set (cold pages) in advance to portable per-VM swap devices. We present a new hybrid pre/post-copy technique that reduces the performance impact on the VM's workload by transferring only the working set of the VM while enabling destination to remotely access cold pages from the per-VM swap device. We describe the challenges in the design and implementation of Agile live migration in the KVM/QEMU platform without modifying the guest OS in the VM. When live migrating under memory pressure, we demonstrate a reduction in the performance impact on VMs by a up to factor of 2, reduction in migration time by up to factor of 4 besides reduction in memory pressure on both the source and destination hosts.


This article presents algorithms for the optimization of radio resources and proposes an optimization model that can be implemented in dynamic mobile networks based on RoF. The algorithms are based on linear relaxation technique for integer linear programming (ILP) problems. The formulation models a multi-tier structure of antennas with increasing radius. Considering this antenna structure the optimizer performs dynamic cell merging and cell splitting in the coverage area for saving resources and yet improving network availability. Both the integer and the relaxation formulations showed similar results for all the experiments, but the time of processing required by the relaxation algorithms was much shorter than that required by the integer algorithm for large instances of the problem, which highlights the advantages of relaxation techniques under time constraints.


The study aims to achieve three objectives using the system generalized method of moments as the main estimation technique. Firstly, the study investigates top managers'managerial ability as a determinant of capital structure. Secondly, the study examines the moderating effect of top managers' managerial ability on the relationship between debt and shareholders' returns. Third, the study investigates the moderating effect of
 firm-age on the relationship between debt and shareholders' returns.
 The results reveal that top managers' managerial ability is a determinant of capital structure in Malaysia and the results are robust to alternative model specification and
 different capital structure proxy. Top managers' managerial ability also positively moderate the relationship between debt and shareholders' returns in Malaysia. In addition, the firm-age positively moderates the relationship between debt and shareholders' returns. The implications of the findings are as follow: shareholders need to conduct research to understand the management capital structure strategy. This is because good capital structure decisions that maximize interest tax-shield, and increase the return to shareholders reflects top managers' ability. Top managers need to update their skills as well as maintain a sustainable debt level in their capital structure that increases the shareholders' returns. Policymakers should be more specific about the top managers' education and experience requirements, and create the enabling environment
 for further managerial development.
 The study contributes to the literature in two main ways. Firstly, unlike previous studies that uses dummy variable to measure managerial ability, this study quantify and
 develops an index (average) measure of top managers' managerial ability. Secondly,unlike previous study that assumes that increase in capital structure and shareholders'returns reflect top managers' managerial ability, this study separates managers' ability
 from capital structure and return components. This approach allows top managers'managerial ability to directly affect firms' capital structure and to moderate debtshareholders'returns relationship.


To date, research on the psychosocial consequences of mass trauma resulting from war and organized violence on children has primarily focused on the individual as the unit of treatment and analysis with particular focus on mental disorders caused by traumatic stress. This body of research has stimulated the development of promising individual-level treatment approaches for addressing psychological trauma. In contrast, there is virtually no literature addressing the effects of mass trauma on the family and community systems. Research conducted in Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, two long-standing war-torn societies, found that in addition to multiple exposure to war or disaster-related traumatic events children also indicated high levels of exposure to family violence. These findings point to the need for conjoint family- and community-based programs of prevention and intervention that are specifically tailored for the context of the affected society. In particular, programs should take issues such as poverty, child labor, and parental alcohol use into account in assessing and treating children in the aftermath of mass trauma.


Once infected with HIV-1, the host immune system is incapable of ridding itself of the virus. HIV-1 uses latent viral reservoirs (LR) within CD4+ T cells to replicate. Within these reservoirs, HIV-1 is able to go into a latent state where it cannot be detected by the host's immune system or current HIV-1 treatments. By utilizing viewing assays and CRISPR-Cas9, there may be a possibility to identify, isolate, and then cut out HIV-1 from an infected cell. Two possible viewing assays have been proposed and studied in recent research. PCR assays are quicker and easier to administer while viral outgrowth assays (VOA) can measure the activation of the resting memory CD4+ T cells and the release of the HIV-1 from latency. Although research has shown that similar results may be able to be found from PCR, VOA is still the primary assay for HIV-1 LR studies. Current limitations of these assays include the PCR tending to overestimate the size of the LR and VOA underestimates the size, which, in turn, gives a possible false HIV-1 negative reading. Being able to view these LR at a precise reading is vital for the success of CRISPR-Cas9. Several strategies for the use of CRISPR-Cas9 have been proposed to aid in the excision of the HIV-1 LR from the genome of a cell, including saCas9 and spCas9. saCas9 would create a double-stranded break within the HIV-1 genetic code and would fully terminate the virus. Current research is focused on finding a viral transporter for the CRISPR-Cas9 that is big enough to fit the genetic coding needed to ensure the correct cleavage around the HIV-1 yet small enough to be successful. spCas9 is researched as a genome-editing tool that can cleave a eukaryotic double helix due to its double-stranded binding site. Along with dCas9, this technique can be used to potentially 'cut out' the HIV-1 LRs and catalyze an HIV-1 reactivation which will cause virus-producing cell death. This ability causes both strands of the studied eukaryotic cell (in this case HIV-1) to be inactive and can thus repress the expression of the targeted genes. A method of delivery is needed to be studied in order for this strategy to be feasible.


Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) gamma is a nuclear receptor that is a key regulator of adipogenesis and is present in two isoforms generated by alternative splicing, PPARgamma1 and PPARgamma2. Studies of the ability of each isoform to stimulate fat differentiation have yielded ambiguous results, in part because PPARgamma stimulates its own expression. We have thus undertaken a formal genetic analysis using PPARgamma-null fibroblast cell lines to assess the specific role of each individual isoform in adipogenesis. We show here that both PPARgamma1 and PPARgamma2 have the intrinsic ability to stimulate robust adipogenesis. Adipose cells stimulated by either PPARgamma1 or PPARgamma2 express a similar gene profile and show similar responses to insulin. However, in response to low ligand concentrations, PPARgamma2 shows a quantitatively greater ability to induce adipogenesis. Analyses involving coactivator binding and transcriptional assays indicate that PPARgamma2 has an enhanced ability to bind components of the DRIP/TRAP complex, coactivators required for fat differentiation.


A goal of cloud service management is to design self-adaptable auto-scaler to react to workload fluctuations and changing the resources assigned. The key problem is how and when to add/remove resources in order to meet agreed service-level agreements. Reducing application cost and guaranteeing service-level agreements (SLAs) are two critical factors of dynamic controller design. In this paper, we compare two dynamic learning strategies based on a fuzzy logic system, which learns and modifies fuzzy scaling rules at runtime. A self-adaptive fuzzy logic controller is combined with two reinforcement learning (RL) approaches: (i) Fuzzy SARSA learning FSL and (ii) Fuzzy Q-learning FQL. As an off-policy approach, Q-learning learns independent of the policy currently followed, whereas SARSA as an on-policy always incorporates the actual agent's behavior and leads to faster learning. Both approaches are implemented and compared in their advantages and disadvantages, here in the OpenStack cloud platform. We demonstrate that both auto-scaling approaches can handle various load traffic situations, sudden and periodic, and delivering resources on demand while reducing operating costs and preventing SLA violations. The experimental results demonstrate that FSL and FQL have acceptable performance in terms of adjusted number of virtual machine targeted to optimize SLA compliance and response time.


Abstract Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women worldwide. These rising trends have emphasized the need of prompt detection, effective clinical evaluation, and exact diagnosis of the breast disease. Aim: To analyze and compare the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values and accuracy of ultrasonography (USG) and fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in diagnosing malignant breast lump. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional, prospective study was done. One hundred sixteen female patients attending surgery department with breast lump were included. After complete clinical evaluation of the lump, all patients underwent USG and FNAC examination for diagnosis of the lump, and further subjected to excisional biopsy/definitive surgery, the results of which were further compared with the histopathological results to determine the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of FNAC and USG. Results: Out of 116, 61 (52.58%) benign lesions were found while the remaining 55 (47.41%) resulted to be malignant lesions on histopathological examination (HPE). Ultrasonography reported 46 true positive, 60 true negative, and 4 false negative cases with 6 inconclusive reports; whereas, FNAC reported 47 true positive, 61 true negative, and 6 false negative cases with 2 inconclusive reports. There were no false positive cases detected by USG and FNAC. Thus, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and diagnostic accuracy for USG was found to be 92, 100, 100, 93.75, and 96.36% (χ2-value = 94.88, p-value = 0.0001,S) and values of 88.68, 100, 100, 91.04, and 94.73% were obtained for FNAC respectively (χ2-value = 92.04, p = 0.0001,S). Conclusion: In diagnosing malignant breast lesion, USG and FNAC are 100% specific. Although USG appears more sensitive than FNAC, the percentage of indeterminate report is higher with USG.


We investigate the red giant branch (RGB) subpopulations of NGC 1851 using Ca uvby photometry. Our color–magnitude diagrams show that the RGB stars have two subpopulations and the RGB stars in NGC 1851 appear to have distinct elemental abundance patterns with the [Ca/H] abundance. We discuss that the elemental abundance patterns can be explained by the contributions from the asymptotic giant stars, confirming the previous studies by others. The RR Lyrae variables in NGC 1851 appear to have a large metallicity spread and, perhaps, a bimodal metallicity distribution. Our period shift analysis of the RR Lyrae variables shows that the helium enhancement appears to be insignificant in the NGC 1851 RR Lyrae population. However, the helium enrichment scenario in the blue or the red parts of horizontal branch (HB) cannot be completely ruled out. Our results show that about 18% of the bright RGB stars have enhanced CNO abundances, sharply in contrast to previous estimates by others (≈38%), making it difficult to explain the double subgiant, RGB sequences, and the bimodal HB distribution by their number ratios.


The recent invasion of Iraq challenges a cornerstone of contemporary international law: the prohibition on the use of force by one state against another state. The conventional wisdom is that the United States embarked on the invasion with little regard for international law or for the attitudes reflected by other nations, including the other members of the UN Security Council. This article disputes that conventional wisdom. First, the Bush administration could have ignored international law and the Security Council, but in fact deployed a fairly sophisticated legal theory as to why U.S. actions were permissible under international law, a theory that entailed the use of prior Security Council resolutions in combination with the concept of material breach. The article examines that theory in detail and finds that the Bush administration theory is plausible but unpersuasive. Second, given that the United States invaded Iraq using an unpersuasive legal theory, this article considers whether international law can be said to have had any real influence on the United States at all. In other words, did the United States deploy its legal theory simply as a cover for action it intended to take all along, or did international law play a role in the decision-making process? The article suggests that international law played a role at various points in the decision-making process: within the executive branch, within the congress and public opinion, and in the attitudes of foreign states that were important to the success of the U.S. action. The article concludes that international law is not well-placed to prevent a major power, such as the United States, from embarking on action deemed central to its national security, but contends that - in the case of the invasion of Iraq - international law played a central role in setting the terms of the discourse within and among states and providing a key forum for the development of global community expectations.


Acoustic emission (AE) technique has a promising application for crack detection in rail tracks. However, it is still a challenging task to identify the size of fatigue cracks from AE signals. This paper proposes an index based on wavelet coefficients to accurately distinguish AE waves induced by crack propagation and crack closure, and a novel method of crack quantification based on crack closure induced AE waves. A higher count rate of crack closure induced AE waves indicates a larger crack size. The performance of the proposed method was validated by a three-point bending fatigue test on the rail steel specimen. In contrast with the traditional method, which is based on crack propagation induced AE waves and good at detecting crack growth rate, this method estimates the crack size without using the cumulative AE information, and is thus applicable to crack quantification of both new and existing structures. These two methods can be used to complement each other leading to a more efficient approach for crack detection, which has the potential for condition monitoring of rail tracks in the field. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/314


PURPOSE
Erectile dysfunction is a common side effect in men treated for prostate cancer. Previously published studies document the incidence of erectile dysfunction in men treated for prostate cancer to be between 20% and 88%. To our knowledge a prospective evaluation focused on the development of erectile dysfunction in men treated for prostate cancer has not elucidated components of its chronology or risk factors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A centralized prospective database of 2,956 patients diagnosed with prostate cancer at a single institution was studied in regard to pretreatment and posttreatment erectile dysfunction. Of these 2,956 patients 802 had sufficient information regarding erectile function and comprise our study population. Factors analyzed in regard to treatment and erectile dysfunction include treatment modality, that is radical prostatectomy, external beam radiation therapy and watchful waiting, and ethnicity, patient age, clinical stage and tumor histological grade.

RESULTS
No significant difference was noted in the posttreatment erectile function between patients treated with radical prostatectomy or external beam radiation (10% versus 15%). Patients selecting watchful waiting had the lowest risk of erectile dysfunction. Clinical stage and race were significant predictors for the development of erectile dysfunction in the watchful waiting and external beam radiation treatment groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Erectile dysfunction develops in greater than 80% of patients treated for prostate cancer. External beam radiation has the same risk for erectile dysfunction as radical prostatectomy.


Bee viruses pose a considerable risk for the health of honeybee colonies all over the world. In this project we aim to collect representative data for eight bee viruses in Austrian honeybee colonies to identify the most problematic virus species. Additionally, we want to raise the awareness of beekeepers for virus infections and to encourage them to integrate preventive measures into their beekeeping routine.
In September 2018, 198 beekeepers sampled bees from five of their colonies and sent the living bees to AGES (Austrian Agency of Health and Food Safety Ltd.) for analysis. Bees were killed by freezing upon arrival and analysed for the presence and virus titer of eight honeybee viruses by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Six of the eight viruses were detected in the samples. The prevalence varied strongly between the viruses, some of them nearly ubiquitous and others rare. However, the presence of the viruses did not correlate with health status of the colonies. This demonstrates that viruses are widely present in Austrian apiaries as covert infections, as has been described for other European countries. The presence of an infection in a seemingly healthy colony was a new information for many of the participating beekeepers. They were informed about preventive beekeeping measures to avoid an outbreak of an overt virus infection. The project will be continued until 2021, including two additional samplings.


We consider the characterization of muscle fatigue through noninvasive sensing mechanism such as surface electromyography (SEMG). While changes in the properties of SEMG signals with respect to muscle fatigue have been reported in the literature, the large variation in these signals across different individuals makes the task of modeling and classification of SEMG signals challenging. Indeed, the variation in SEMG parameters from subject to subject creates differences in the data distribution. In this paper, we propose a transfer learning framework based on the multi-source domain adaptation methodology for detecting different stages of fatigue using SEMG signals, that addresses the distribution differences. In the proposed framework, the SEMG data of a subject represent a domain; data from multiple subjects in the training set form the multiple source domains and the test subject data form the target domain. SEMG signals are predominantly different in conditional probability distribution across subjects. The key feature of the proposed framework is a novel weighting scheme that addresses the conditional probability distribution differences across multiple domains (subjects). We have validated the proposed framework on Surface Electromyogram signals collected from 8 people during a fatigue-causing repetitive gripping activity. Comprehensive experiments on the SEMG data set demonstrate that the proposed method improves the classification accuracy by 20% to 30% over the cases without any domain adaptation method and by 13% to 30% over the existing state-of-the-art domain adaptation methods.


It is well-known that the size of propositional classical proofs can be huge. Proof theoretical studies discovered exponential gaps between normal or cut free proofs and their respective non-normal proofs. The aim of this work is to study how to reduce the weight of propositional deductions. We present the formalism of proof-graphs for purely implicational logic, which are graphs of a specific shape that are intended to capture the logical structure of a deduction. The advantage of this formalism is that formulas can be shared in the reduced proof.
In the present paper we give a precise definition of proof-graphs for the minimal implicational logic, together with a normalization procedure for these proof-graphs. In contrast to standard tree-like formalisms, our normalization does not increase the number of nodes, when applied to the corresponding minimal proof-graph representations.


This study investigates the relationship between the self-report Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) and the clinician-rated Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV). A representative sample of 92 girls and 70 boys, 12 to 20 years of age (mean age, 17 years), who received services at a clinic for adolescents with substance misuse problems, was studied. Moderate correlations (r =.30—.51) were found between conceptually corresponding YPI and PCL:YV factor scores among both boys and girls, whereas correlations between individual subscales of the YPI and items of the PCL:YV were not as consistent. A cross-tabulation of groupings based on the three-factor models of the two instruments largely supported the categorical convergent validity of the YPI, particularly for low and high scorers. Although more studies with larger samples are needed, results indicate that the YPI is a cost-effective measure of psychopathic traits in adolescents in research settings.


A Semantic Parser generates a logical form graph from an utterance where the edges are semantic roles and nodes are word senses in an ontology that supports reasoning. The generated representation attempts to capture the full meaning of the utterance. While the process of parsing works to resolve lexical ambiguity, a number of errors in the logical forms arise from incorrectly assigned word sense determinations. This is especially true in logical and rule-based semantic parsers. Although the performance of statistical word sense disambiguation methods is superior to the word sense output of semantic parser, these systems do not produce the rich role structure or a detailed semantic representation of the sentence content. In this work, we use decisions from a statistical WSD system to inform a logical semantic parser and greatly improve semantic type assignments in the resulting logical forms.


The majority of mobile apps are free-to-play and so include a variety of forms of advertising and other mechanisms for monetization. These monetization mechanisms often have deceptive elements and closely resemble what designers know as Dark Patterns. In-app advertising and purchasing have been studied with adults but, to-date, younger users have received comparatively little consideration despite their increased susceptibility to manipulation. This paper addresses the gap in research by creating the ADD (App Dark Design) framework which brings together insights from practitioners, theory from existing related research, and the findings from a user study which gathered qualitative data from 39 girls aged 12-13 years. We also derive a set of emerging issues and identify future research questions. This work is the first of its kind to create a framework to support the critical consideration of the design of free-to-play apps. We have identified a set of problematic Dark Design aspects that young people across the world are encountering in their apps every day and we hope this paper will both raise awareness and stimulate further research work on this important topic.


BACKGROUND
The Wireless Innovation for Seniors with Diabetes Mellitus (WISDM) study demonstrated continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) reduced hypoglycemia over 6 months among older adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) compared with blood glucose monitoring (BGM). We explored heterogeneous treatment effects of CGM on hypoglycemia by formulating a data-driven decision rule that selects an intervention (ie, CGM vs BGM) to minimize percentage of time <70 mg/dL for each individual WISDM participant.

METHOD
The precision medicine analyses used data from participants with complete data (n = 194 older adults, including those who received CGM [n = 100] and BGM [n = 94] in the trial). Policy tree and decision list algorithms were fit with 14 baseline demographic, clinical, and laboratory measures. The primary outcome was CGM-measured percentage of time spent in hypoglycemic range (<70 mg/dL), and the decision rule assigned participants to a subgroup reflecting the treatment estimated to minimize this outcome across all follow-up visits.

RESULTS
The optimal decision rule was found to be a decision list with 3 steps. The first step moved WISDM participants with baseline time-below range >1.35% and no detectable C-peptide levels to the CGM subgroup (n = 139), and the second step moved WISDM participants with a baseline time-below range of >6.45% to the CGM subgroup (n = 18). The remaining participants (n = 37) were left in the BGM subgroup. Compared with the BGM subgroup (n = 37; 19%), the group for whom CGM minimized hypoglycemia (n = 157; 81%) had more baseline hypoglycemia, a lower proportion of detectable C-peptide, higher glycemic variability, longer disease duration, and higher proportion of insulin pump use.

CONCLUSIONS
The decision rule underscores the benefits of CGM for older adults to reduce hypoglycemia. Diagnostic CGM and laboratory markers may inform decision-making surrounding therapeutic CGM and identify older adults for whom CGM may be a critical intervention to reduce hypoglycemia.


Every designated commando in the police department undergoes training for the improvement of his quick reflexes for attacking the surprise enemy and shooting accuracy in a given short period, typically 4 seconds. Present day commando training system in India lacks efficiency in posing a surprise enemy, timing control, programmability and measure of success or failure. The authors are engaged into the development of a completely automated commando training system employing a wireless sensor network (WSN) technology along with RFID technology. The project implementation also has a number of requisite mechanical systems fitted with an enemy bust figure, placed in a remote and harsh environment but hidden. Each of these systems has microprocessor based WSN router and a tiny camera for its operation. The active RFID tags are placed but hidden, along the commandopsilas predetermined moving path for continuously monitoring commandopsilas movement by a computer system. The paper describes the microcontroller based router, various aspects of the network design, RFID employment details, synchronization and operation, data exchange and image transfer among the network nodes, software controlled coordinator and data frames used for operation and control.


Objective: Workplace offers a promising venue for encouraging smoking cessation. Worksite smoking cessation programs offer a number of advantages, including the accessibility of the target population, the availability of occupational health support and the potential for peer pressure and peer support. Financial incentives given to teams rather than individual participants could create team based effort to support and reinforce smoking cessation within the workplace. The purpose of this study is to identify the effectiveness of team-based financial incentives in improving long-term rates of smoking cessation among employees. Methods: Total 28 smokers who were healthcare workers from St. Paul's Hospital, were enrolled. The financial incentives were ₩50,000 for smoking cessation at 1 week and 1 month after the initial cessation and ₩100,000 for abstinence at 3 and 6 months after the initial cessation. Results: Abstinence rate at 3, 6 and 12 months after the initial cessation were 61%, 54% and 50%, respectively. There were no differences in age, body mass indexes and spirometric indexes between the success and failure group. Nicotine dependence scores were significantly higher in the failure group at 3 months, but not at 6 and 12 months. Smokers who participated within 1 month of enrollment had a higher abstinence rate at 3 months than those who participated after 1 month (p=0.007). Conclusion: Team based financial incentives resulted in high abstinence rates, which was maintained through 12 months. These results suggest that the financial incentives given to teams could make use of the potential for peer pressure and peer support over a longer period. In addition, more intensive management is needed to members who participate after 1 month and have higher nicotine dependence scores, which results in a lower abstinence rate. Citation Format: Lee Sang Haak, Yeo Chang Dong, Kim In Kyoung, Kang Hye Sun, Lee Hwa Young, Park Chan Kwon, Kim Myung Sook. Effectiveness of team-based financial incentives for smoking cessation in the workplace. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2012 Oct 16-19; Anaheim, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Prev Res 2012;5(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B08.


Abstract. Despite their differences from more advanced and more powerful lidars, the low construction and operation cost of ceilometers (originally designed for cloud base height monitoring) has fostered their use for the quantitative study of aerosol properties. The large number of ceilometers available worldwide represents a strong motivation to investigate both the extent to which they can be used to fill in the geographical gaps between advanced lidar stations and also how their continuous data flow can be linked to existing networks of the more advanced lidars, like EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network). In this paper, multi-wavelength Raman lidar measurements are used to investigate the capability of ceilometers to provide reliable information about atmospheric aerosol properties through the INTERACT (INTERcomparison of Aerosol and Cloud Tracking) campaign carried out at the CNR-IMAA Atmospheric Observatory (760 m a.s.l., 40.60° N, 15.72° E), in the framework of the ACTRIS (Aerosol Clouds Trace gases Research InfraStructure) FP7 project. This work is the first time that three different commercial ceilometers with an advanced Raman lidar are compared over a period of 6 months. The comparison of the attenuated backscatter coefficient profiles from a multi-wavelength Raman lidar and three ceilometers (CHM15k, CS135s, CT25K) reveals differences due to the expected discrepancy in the signal to noise ratio (SNR) but also due to changes in the ambient temperature on the short and mid-term stability of ceilometer calibration. Therefore, technological improvements are needed to move ceilometers towards operational use in the monitoring of atmospheric aerosols in the low and free troposphere.


INFLUENCE OF CATARACT SURGERY ON MEASUREMENTS OF SPECTRAL DOMAIN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY Bambo et al evaluated the effect of uncomplicated cataract phacoemulsification on the measurements of macular and retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) using two spectral domain (SD) optical coherence tomography (OCT) instruments-Cirrus OCT (Zeiss) and Spectralis OCT (Heidelberg)-in 60 eyes healthy subjects. The RNFL measurements differed before and after surgery, and most of these differences were statistically significant. Macular thickness measurements using the Spectralis OCT were not significantly different between the two visits, whereas the differences found with the Cirrus OCT were statistically significant. The authors conclude that presence of cataracts affects RNFL and macular measurements performed with SD-OCT.


Brings out the nature of public expenditure accountability in India especially at the federal level. The perversities - large role for off budget items, the process that leads to expanding expenditures with little functional but much procedural control, are brought out. The division of expenditure into Plan and Non-Plan is one the perversities since it leads to gaming by state governments to get central funds. Despite many cumbersome reporting requirements, there is little functional oversight or even corrective measures possible in the current system. General public concern for the fiscal deficit alone may not be the right approach, and attempts to reduce the same by cutting out expenditures may not be right especially when the elasiticity of tax revenures with respect to investment expenditures in a recessionary situation is high. Argues for a structural approach to the fiscal deficit and shows the limitations of the sustainability approach. Suggests that major changes are required in the process of budgeting, in the vast array of centrally sponsored schemes and in the mode of subsidisation.


Abstract Hassett W, Zimmerman J, Rollwagen-Bollens G, Bollens SM, Counihan TD. 2021. An experimental evaluation of the efficacy of imaging flow cytometry (FlowCam) for detecting invasive Dreissened and Corbiculid bivalve veligers. Lake Reserv Manage. 37:406–417. Zebra (Dreissena polymorpha) and quagga (D. bugensis) mussels, first introduced from central Asia into the Great Lakes of North America in the late 1980s, have crossed the continental divide and more recently spread across western North America. At the same time, several new technologies have been developed for the early detection of dreissenids, including the FlowCam, a digital imaging-in-flow instrument, intended to detect dreissenid planktonic larvae (veligers). However, the efficacy of this technology has rarely been tested. We experimentally evaluated the FlowCam's ability to capture identifiable images of quagga mussel veligers under 2 different types of conditions: (i) deionized water, and (ii) Columbia River Basin water (CRBW), including natural sediment and native plankton. We further evaluated the FlowCam's ability to distinguish between dreissenid veligers and corbiculid veligers (Asian clam, Corbicula fluminea). We interpret our results to indicate that the FlowCam can consistently detect dreissenid veligers across a range of veliger densities. Moreover, the presence of other plankton and detritus only slightly affected dreissenid detection by the FlowCam. However, the orientation of individual bivalve veligers as they were imaged by the FlowCam precluded specific identification of a substantial proportion (24.8%) of veligers as either dreissenid or corbiculid. We suggest that the FlowCam is an important detection tool best utilized as part of a multifaceted approach, including traditional microscopy and possibly environmental DNA.


Past researchs have been trying to recommend artifacts that are likely to change together in a task to assist developers in making changes to a software system, often using techniques like association rules. Association rules learning is a data mining technique that has been frequently used to discover evolutionary couplings. These couplings constitute a fundamental piece of modern change prediction techniques. However, using association rules to detect evolutionary coupling requires a number of configuration parameters, such as measures of interest (e.g. support and confidence), their cut-off values, and the portion of the commit history from which co-change relationships will be extracted. To accomplish this set up, researchers have to carry out empirical studies for each project, testing a few variations of the parameters before choosing a configuration. This makes it difficult to use association rules in practice, since developers would need to perform experiments before applying the technique and would end up choosing non-optimal solutions that lead to wrong predictions. In this paper, we propose a fitness function for a Genetic Algorithm that optimizes the co-change recommendations and evaluate it on five open source projects (CPython, Django, Laravel, Shiny and Gson). The results indicate that our genetic algorithm is able to find optimized cut-off values for support and confidence, as well as to determine which length of commit history yields the best recommendations. We also find that, for projects with less commit history (5k commits), our approach produced better results than the regression function proposed in the literature. This result is particularly encouraging, because repositories such as GitHub host many young projects. Our results can be used by researchers when conducting co-change prediction studies and by tool developers to produce automated support to be used by practitioners.


Overtraining is the result of an imbalance between stress and recovery, in addition to short recovery time and psychosocial events. In this case study, a questionnaire of stress and recovery in sports was used to assess the level of overtraining of an elite female Brazilian volleyball player. The results showed that the heavy loads caused changes in the athlete's profile, resulting in an increase in the fatigue scales. The recovery periods were fundamental to restore her physical and psychological capacities. Finally, the method used detected changes in the athlete's profile after acute events, such as an unexpected defeat. We concluded that changes in the profile of the curve, showed by the instrument, reflected the different moments of the collection, thus reflecting the change in the stress overload. Therefore, the detection or monitoring of stressing factors might be valuable to improve the physical and psychological performance of a team.


Some 85% of all raw wool produced in Australia is sold on the open-cry auction system (Bolt 2004). Current debate among wool growers highlighted the need to explore other methods available and, of these, determine what are the most preferred. Four focus groups were conducted in regional Western Australia to ascertain primary producers' opinions on the options available for selling their raw wool. Focus group p articipants were given a series of scenarios to brainstorm, these focused on offering advice to a new neighbour who had n ever grown wool. Results of the research showed that auctioning wool via the services of a broker is by far the preferred selling method. Forward contracting and internet-based selling were options that were unfamiliar but worthy of trial while futures and op tions trading, value-added selling and selling direct to mills were the least favoured methods. Further to this it was found that producers are willing to try selling methods that shorten the wool supply chain and they also favour relationship-based systems.


The bumble and cuckooo bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombini; Bombus spp. and Psithyrus spp., respectively) are important plant pollinators and any decline in numbers or species constitutes a significant threat both to biological diversity and to whole economies. The distribution, status and factors threatening all 60 known taxa (species and subspecies) of Bombini of 11 countries of Western and Central Europe (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland) were assessed from the beginning of the 20th century. The analysis was based on a literature review, unpublished data, personal communications, our own observations, and an expert review. The IUCN Red List categories were used for assessing the threat of extinction. Eighty per cent of taxa were threatened in at least one country of the region, and 30% of taxa were threatened throughout their range in the countries considered. More species went extinct per country in the second than in the first half of the 20th century, and four taxa went extinct in all 11 countries during 1951–2000. Amongst the factors adversely affecting the Bombini anthropogenic factors (particularly those associated with large-scale farming schemes) appear to be of greater importance than natural factors. To halt population declines and species extinctions it will be necessary to preserve aspects of traditional farming practices and for all Bombini to be afforded legal protection in all countries of the region. The implementation of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy is likely to have the greatest single impact upon pollinators in the near future.


Lipopolysaccharides from pea-nodulating strain Rhizobium leguminosarum by. viciae 3841, as all other members of the family Rhizobiaceae with the possible exception of Azorhizobium caulinodans, contains a very long chain fatty acid; 27-hydroxyoctacosanoic acid (27OHC28:0) in its lipid A region. The exact function and importance of this residue, however, is not known. In this work, a previously constructed mutant, Rhizobium leguminosarum by. viciae 22, deficient in the fatty acid residue, was analyzed for its symbiotic phenotype. While the mutant was able to form nitrogen-fixing nodules, a detailed study of the timing and efficiency of nodulation using light and electron microscopy showed that there was a delay in the onset of nodulation and nodule tissue invasion. Further, microscopy showed that the mutant was unable to differentiate normally forming numerous irregularly shaped bacteroids, that the resultant mature bacteroids were unusually large, and that several bacteroids were frequently enclosed in a single symbiosome membrane, a feature not observed with parent bacteroids. In addition, the mutant nodules were delayed in the onset of nitrogenase production and showed reduced nitrogenase throughout the testing period. These results imply that the lack of 27OHC28:0 in the lipid A in mutant bacteroids results in altered membrane properties that are essential for the development of normal bacteroids.


Legged locomotion is high environmental adaptability by the effect of ability to choose landing positions freely, but low transfer efficiency. Because, the output is consumed by supporting upper body. In this paper, we propose a passive walking assist device with two air cylinders and surge tanks. This new device has three advantages in comparison with conventional devices. (1): The proposed device can effectively assist than conventional devices that are arranged spring element series to leg, because it has a twist arranged spring in parallel without interfering swing motions. (2): The weight is very light (1.5kg) and assist force is powerful (about 20~40 N / leg), using the system it runs by air. (3): The assist force is not from the electricity, from the loss of walking. Demonstrating these effects, we create the device and measured feelings and assist powers, Feeling are measured throughout the walking motion and bends by each load condition. Assist power are measured by a device that reproduces the walk. From result of this, it is expected that leg power can be assisted effectively.


Abstract Background: Community-based rehabilitation can help to maximize function following acquired brain injury (ABI); however, data on treatment outcome is limited in quantity. Objective: To describe and evaluate client outcomes of an outpatient programme for adults with moderate-to-severe traumatic and non-traumatic ABI. Methods: Two phase design involving retrospective and longitudinal study of programme completers with ABI (n = 47). Changes in functioning were measured with the Mayo-Portland Inventory (MPAI-4), administered pre- and immediately post-rehabilitation and at 3 years follow-up. Self-ratings were supplemented with MPAI-4 data from significant others (n = 32) and staff (n = 32). Results: Injured individuals and informants reported improved physical and psychosocial functioning immediately following the completion of community rehabilitation, with medium-to-large and significant treatment gains noted on the MPAI-4 ability, adjustment and participation sub-scales (Cohen's d range = 0.31–1.10). A deterioration in individuals' adjustment was further reported at follow-up, although this was based on limited data. Issues with longer-term rehabilitation service provision were additionally noted. Conclusions: The data support the need for continuity of care, including ongoing emotional support, to cater to the complex and dynamic needs of the ABI population. However, these results need to be considered in the context of a small sample size and quasi-experimental design.


Histone H1 is highly phosphorylated in mitotic HeLa cells, but is quickly dephosphorylated in vivo at the end of mitosis and in vitro following cell lysis. We show here that okadaic acid and microcystin-LR block the in vitro dephosphorylation of H1 and that they do so directly by inhibiting the histone H1 phosphatase rather than by some indirect mechanism. The concentrations of microcystin and okadaic acid required for inhibition strongly suggest that the histone H1 phosphatase is either PP1 or an unknown protein phosphatase with okadaic acid-sensitivity similar to PP1. The histone H1 phosphatase is predominantly located in chromosomes with at most one copy for every 86 nucleosomes. This tends to support its identification as PP1, since localization in mitotic chromosomes is a characteristic of PP1 but not of the other known okadaic acid-sensitive protein phosphatases. We also show that treatment of metaphase-arrested HeLa cells with staurosporine and olomoucine, inhibitors of p34cdc2 and other protein kinases, rapidly induces reassembly of interphase nuclei and dephosphorylation of histone H1 without chromosome segregation. This result indicates that protein kinase activity must remain elevated to maintain a mitotic block. Using this as a model system for the M- to G1-phase transition, we present evidence from inhibitor studies suggesting that the in vivo histone H1 phosphatase may be either PP1 or another phosphatase with similar okadaic acid-sensitivity, but not PP2A.


Introduction: Medication non-adherence is a global issue. Past review on the interventions to improve medication adherence provided little practical implications for healthcare professionals and policy makers in Malaysia, due to the substantive differences across studies. Hence, this review attempted to evaluate the interventions on improving medication adherence conducted in Malaysia, to generate some insights and recommendations for future interventions. Method: Search of past literatures from Google Scholar, PubMed, MEDLINE, EBSCO, PsycINFO, CINAHL (via EBSCO) with search strategy: "medication adherence or medication compliance" [Mesh] AND "intervention" [Mesh] AND "Malaysia" AND English [lang- Lang] was conducted on September 28, 2016. The framework of judging methodological quality used by Zwikker and colleagues was employed. Results and Discussion: A total of 28 articles were identified. Studies which were not conducted using Malaysia population, not measuring medication adherence, without intervention on medication adherence, non-prospective and non-experimental design were omitted. Hence, 9 articles were retained for further evaluation. Eight out of the nine prospective randomized controlled studies were found to be low-quality studies. Overall, interventions that were pharmacist led, physician led, adoption of automated text messaging reminder and improvised medication labelling were found to be effective. Conclusion: This review provides valuable insights on contemporary interventions to improve medication adherence conducted in Malaysia. It is suggested that multifaceted approach with involvement of different healthcare professionals should be encouraged to synergize the strengths of each profession and to further enhance the effectiveness of interventions. Key words: Interventions, Improving, Medication adherence, Malaysia.


OBJECTIVE
To determine if weekly oral 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine (2-CdA) can induce selective lymphocytopenia, and reduce inflammation, in patients with refractory psoriatic arthritis.

METHODS
Seven patients with psoriatic arthritis were treated with oral 2-CdA at weekly dosages of 0.3 mg/kg to 0.45 mg/kg for 12 weeks, followed by monthly maintenance therapy. The patients were evaluated after 6 months.

RESULTS
The drug treatment produced selective lymphocytopenia, and reduced lymphocyte infiltration into involved skin. One patient did not complete 12 weeks of therapy because of perceived lack of efficacy. Four of the 6 remaining patients had improved joint disease, and 5 of 6 had improved psoriasis.

CONCLUSION
Weekly oral 2-CdA appears to be a well-tolerated regimen for the inducement of peripheral lymphocytopenia in patients with psoriatic arthritis. Larger-scale, controlled trials may be warranted.