Over the past decade, an increasing body of evidence has suggested that threedimensional (3-D) Monte Carlo (MC) light transport simulations are affected by the inherent limitations and errors of voxel-based domain boundaries. In this work, we specifically address this challenge using a hybrid MC algorithm, namely split-voxel MC or SVMC, that combines both mesh and voxel domain information to greatly improve MC simulation accuracy while remaining highly flexible and efficient in parallel hardware, such as graphics processing units (GPU). We achieve this by applying a marching-cubes algorithm to a pre-segmented domain to extract and encode sub-voxel information of curved surfaces, which is then used to inform ray-tracing computation within boundary voxels. This preservation of curved boundaries in a voxel data structure demonstrates significantly improved accuracy in several benchmarks, including a human brain atlas. The accuracy of the SVMC algorithm is comparable to that of mesh-based MC (MMC), but runs 2x-6x faster and requires only a lightweight preprocessing step. The proposed algorithm has been implemented in our open-source software and is freely available at http://mcx.space.


Turkey has the highest number of refugees in the world and is currently home to 3.7 million Syrians who had to flee from their country due to the conflict that started in 2011. This paper aims to focus on the fertility and marriage preferences of Syrian refugees by using a widely used qualitative research method Focus Group Discussions. The main findings revealed that socio-demographic indicators, the departure and arrival conditions in home and host country and the current place of residence had affected how families and individuals adjusted themselves and how they changed their fertility and marriage plans since their arrival in Turkey. Yet, the main findings also showed that while forced migration caused normative changes on some, some others reacted and saw these changes just as a temporary adjustment.


Using data across U.S. states over a recent decade, this paper uniquely uses three qualitatively different measures of entrepreneurship to examine the knowledge flows from patents, paying attention to the dynamic nature of such influences. We find that there are significant variations in the effects of knowledge flows across entrepreneurship types and, in general, these effects are not immediate. The greatest positive effect of knowledge spillovers is on startup entrepreneurship and the resulting magnitude grows somewhat over time. The spillovers are modest on overall entrepreneurship, while entrepreneurs who were previously employed see more immediate benefits. These findings are generally robust. (JEL L26, O33, O51, M21)


In this Commentary, Professor Franke offers an account of the Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas. She concludes that in overruling the earlier Bowers v. Hardwick decision, Justice Kennedy does not rely upon a robust form of freedom made available by the Court's earlier reproductive rights cases, but instead announces a kind of privatized liberty right that allows gay and lesbian couples the right to intimacy in the bedroom. In this sense, the rights-holders in Lawrence are people in relationships and the liberty right those couples enjoy does not extend beyond the domain of the private. Franke expresses concern that Lawrence risks domesticating the gay and lesbian civil rights movement. She argues that the limited scope of the Lawrence opinion, as well as the gay community's reaction to it, can be traced, in large part, to the palimpsestic presence of Bowers in the opinion and in the political organizing that has followed it.


Sepsis is a worldwide healthcare condition that is responsible for a significant percentage of neonatal, paediatric and adult deaths. Improving the recognition of sepsis can help to improve early detection and treatment to ultimately improve outcomes for patients with sepsis. The Surviving Sepsis Guidelines are international guidelines that have been established to outline best practices for the management of sepsis. The new 2012 guidelines provide a number of updates including a focus on establishing goals of care and integration of palliative care and end of life care concepts. New recommendations include that goals of care and prognosis be discussed with patients and families. In addition, goals of care should be incorporated into treatment and end-of-life care planning, utilising palliative care principles. Goals of care should be addressed as early as feasible but no later than within 72 hours. This session will discuss the process of updating the guidelines, highlighting key features of the new guidelines with respect to the integration of palliative and end of life care concepts.


In 1979 a tallgrass prairie was established in southwestern Ohio; a second prairie , adjacent to the first, was established in 1983 (4- year and 8-year sites). These sites differed in time since establishment, seed source, extent of burning, and extent of soil preparation. Six remnant prairies were also selected for comparison with the established sites. The 8-year site was dominated by switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash.), components of the original seed mix, while the 4-year site was dominated by old-field species and big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman). Both 4-year and 8-year sites were equally similar to native Ohio prairies in terms of species presence, but not in terms of species abundance. Most of the vegetational differences between the established sites were attributed to the source of the seed used in prairie establishment. The seed source also accounted for differences between the study sites and native Ohio sites.


In some sports, as for example in diving, performance is measured as a subjectively evaluated artistic gestalt. The purpose of this study was to compare the traditional scale used in competitive diving with the Borg CR100 scale®, a scale where categorical expressions are placed where they perceptually belong on a ratio scale (e.g., G. Borg and E. Borg, 2001). Two internationally recognized Swedish judges volunteered as subjects and judged a sample of 45 videotaped dives, both with the traditional scale and with the CR scale. The results show that the Borg CR100 scale® worked at least equally well as the traditional scale, even though there might have been some tendency for translation between scales.


Ever since J. L. Austin's famous "plea for excuses," if not before, the standard account of the distinction between a justification and an excuse has been this: one has a justification for what one has done just in case one did not do wrong in doing it; one has an excuse, just in case one lacks a justification (that is, one did do wrong), but is nonetheless not to be blamed for what one did.1 There is an excuse, then, if there is reason or grounds for not imputing blameworthiness despite the presence of wrongdoing. There is an analogue to this concept of an excuse that has strangely escaped the notice of all but a few.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To test hypotheses that patients cared for by Oncology Certified Nurses (OCNs(r)) have superior outcomes compared to those cared for by noncertified nurses.

DESIGN
Descriptive ex post facto.

SETTING
A homecare agency in the midwestern United States.

SAMPLE
20 nurses (7 certified and 13 noncertified) and charts for 181 of their patients.

METHODS
Retrospective chart review.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Symptom management (i.e., pain and fatigue), adverse events (e.g., infection and decubitus ulcers), and episodic care utilization (e.g., visits to care facilities, admissions to care facilities, unscheduled home visits).

FINDINGS
Contrary to hypotheses, the two groups did not differ with respect to assessment of pain at admission, number of pain assessments subsequent to admission, assessment of fatigue at admission, number of unplanned visits to care facilities, admissions to care facilities, and number of unscheduled home visits. As hypothesized, the OCNs(r) documented a higher number of postadmission fatigue assessments (p less than 0.05). Contrary to hypotheses, patients of OCNs(r) had a greater number of infections and fewer documented instances of patient teaching regarding infection.

CONCLUSIONS
Little support was found for the hypothesis that nursing care by OCNs(r) results in superior patient outcomes in comparison to care by noncertified nurses.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
Further research is needed to examine the dimensions of clinical practice that may demonstrate the benefits of care by OCNs(r).


3,3',5-Tri-iodo-L-thyronine (L-T3) binding sites from rat erythrocyte membranes were solubilized in an active form by using the zwitterionic detergent CHAPS or the anionic detergent lauroylsarcosine. The binding protein was successively purified by Sephadex G-200 and affinity chromatography. The purified material retained its binding activity and exhibited high affinity and specificity compared with those displayed in the original membrane. Yield was about 10% of the starting activity. The specific binding activity was enriched by approx. 100-fold, which represents a purity of only 0.1%. Analysis of the purified preparation on SDS/PAGE showed two major protein bands (Mr 64,000 and Mr 50,000), but these could not represent the binding protein since the purity obtained was low. However, affinity-labelling experiments with N-bromoacetyl-L-[125I]T3 in intact membranes showed that two proteins (also with Mr values of 64,000 and 50,000) bound the hormone specifically, suggesting a co-migration of hormone receptors and contaminants on gel electrophoresis.


An explosion of genomic data in recent years has necessitated the novel application of old algorithms and the development of new algorithms in order to process and understand this information. One specific type of data comes in the form of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) which have significant biological importance. They do, however, require a lot of work in the dry lab once they have been created in a wet lab before anything meaningful can be made of the data. ESTs are short fragments of genomic data that represent the active genes in a sequenced sample. The sequencing process is complex and involves the copying, magnification and then splitting up of long complete sequences. The splitting of each copy is random and by looking for overlaps on the shorter sequences we can then begin to re-assemble the original long sequence. The process of finding the overlaps is called clustering and in theory it groups all the ESTs from a single gene together (where data sets in general contain ESTs from many different genes). Two new heuristics have been developed in this research that aim to speed up the time taken to do the clustering, which is traditionally an all-against-all comparison (and thus quadratic time complexity). The first heuristic uses a sorted word list of all the words in all the sequences to rapidly identify matching pairs of sequences. Further, the standard deviation between the relative position where words occur in the matching sequences is used to determine the quality of the matches – if a pair of sequences has sufficiently many words in common, and the variation in relative positions of those words is sufficiently low it is then tested by the second heuristic. The second heuristic uses a distance measure called d1 which identifies pairs of matching sequences in a very similar way to the d2 distance measure. d2 is an accepted distance calculation for calculating the relatedness of ESTs, but d1 is used as a comparison as it runs in linear time and rules out many of the potential matches from the first heuristic that would also be ruled out by the final d2 comparison. The results show that with careful selection of clustering parameters a significant speed-up can be made over various competing clustering techniques with little significant impact on clustering quality.


Generation of plausible yet incorrect factual information, termed hallucination, is an unsolved issue in large language models. We study the ability of language models to deliberate on the responses they give in order to correct their mistakes. We develop the Chain-of-Verification (CoVe) method whereby the model first (i) drafts an initial response; then (ii) plans verification questions to fact-check its draft; (iii) answers those questions independently so the answers are not biased by other responses; and (iv) generates its final verified response. In experiments, we show CoVe decreases hallucinations across a variety of tasks, from list-based questions from Wikidata, closed book MultiSpanQA and longform text generation.


In this article I shall discuss the Surrealist collection of objects as a form of art which arises out of mass production forces of the new era. These goods, deeply rooted in the capitalist laws of use-, exchange- and surplus-value, carry in themselves two materialist approaches which end in dialectical materialism. On the one hand, they epitomize the supreme forces of commodity fetishism ingrained in capitalist structures; on the other hand, they arouse unconscious desires which respond to the needs of the society of consumption. Thus, I will explore the act of object-collecting in the most radical Surrealist practices (dream objects, found objects, poeme-objets, calligrammes, readymades and Surrealist objects) as a way to not only delve into a new art, but also to reflect on societal ongoing transformations and paradoxes.


Non-pharmacological treatments (NPTs) including psychotherapies and behavioral therapies have proven to be an effective treatment tool for patients with depression. More importantly, NPTs reduce drop-out rates for pharmacotherapy when combined with it. Given that one of the major obstacles to effective treatment of depression is low adherence to antidepressant therapies, NPTs deserve more attention in treating patients with depression. This study aims to analyze the current status of NPTs for patients with depression and the relationship with adherence to antidepressant therapies in Korea. The Health Insurance Review Agency (HIRA)'s claims database from 2006 to 2008 was used in the analysis and those patients with at least one inpatient diagnosis with depression or twice diagnosed in outpatient services were included in the analysis (n=290,188). NPTs were identified by HIRA treatment codes in each claim except a routine care treatment (HIRA treatment code, NN011). Adherence to antidepressant therapies was defined as 180-day medication possession ratio. The claims for NPTs decreased almost 25% in 2008 while the number of patients with depression and the claims for antide-pressants were consistently increasing during the same period. Those patients with claims for 4 or more NPTs showed a higher adherence rate than those without. The downward trend of NPT use deserves more attention since it may reduce adherence to pharmacotherapies and increase future medical costs through more relapses from the lowered adherence rates.


Objective: This study aimed at comparing the antiplaque, anticalculus, and antigingivitis potentials of a mouth rinse containing essential oil, alcohol, zinc, and fluoride with a mouth rinse containing cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) 0.1% over 1-, 2-, and 3-month periods. Methods: This study was a double-blind, parallel randomized clinical trial with a 3-day run-in phase. Respondents were asked to gargle twice daily with 15 ml of mouth rinse for 30 seconds after brushing teeth. Respondents were 80 females with a mean age of 21 years, and a single dental examiner was employed throughout the study to decrease the variance. Prophylaxis was performed for all respondents before the intervention. Three mouth rinses were tested: Group 1 with the mouth rinse containing CPC 0.1%, Group 2 as the negative control, and Group 3 as the positive control with a mouth rinse containing alcohol. Evaluations were conducted by plaque index, gingival index, calculus index, and CariScreen examinations. Results: The clinical trial showed that the mouth rinse with alcohol and the mouth rinse containing CPC 0.1% were effective in inhibiting bacterial buildup (antiplaque) and have anticalculus properties, but with no statistically significant antigingivitis effect. Conclusion: It was found that the mouth rinse containing alcohol has similar effectiveness with CPC 0.1% mouth rinse, but side effects, such as a burning sensation, were reported in the alcohol-containing mouth rinse.


Today's economic systems are, on the one hand, exposed to various risks and uncertainties with their trends changing almost daily, while on the other hand, they represent an extremely complex system with a large number of sustainable influential parameters. The challenge is to model macroeconomic parameters and achieve sustainability, yet also satisfy conflict situations with an increased level of uncertainty. The aim of this paper is to create an appropriate functional model by examining the mutual influence of various macroeconomic factors. It assesses a total of four scenarios considering mutual influences of: FDI (foreign direct investments), GDP (gross domestic product), imports, exports, inflation rate, RER (real exchange rate) and employment rate as defined parameters. First, the DEA (Data envelopment analysis) model was applied to determine the initial efficiency of two countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) and Serbia, for the period 2005–2020. Then, PCA (Principal Component Analysis) was applied in combination with DEA to obtain more precise values. In addition, IMF SWARA (Improved Fuzzy Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis) was applied to define weight coefficients of macro-economic parameters. Finally, the CRADIS (compromise ranking of alternatives from distance to ideal solution) model was applied for the final ranking of part of decision-making units. This developed, integrated model can be classified as a mathematical method for economic analysis and gives extended opportunities for solving different problems. The results show that 2009, 2013 and 2016 were the most favorable years in terms of the conditions set when it comes to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and 2012, 2014 and 2016 when it comes to Serbia. These years have been singled out and can be a benchmark for further handling and modeling of macroeconomic elements. In addition, correlation was tested using statistical coefficients.


Advanced packaging technologies are driven by two generally balanced forces: performance advances being made by the semiconductor industry and the product requirements of the leading electronics markets. The semiconductor advancements include shrinking feature sizes and innovative transistor structures that provide ever more functionality per unit area of silicon and faster clock rates. One of the leading electronics markets is the portable electronics market, covering cell phones, digital assistants, portable entertainment and digital cameras. These products are driving smaller and thinner packages, finer featured substrates, multichip packages, such as SiPs (System-in-Packages) and 3-D stacking. They are also driving to mixed analog, digital, and RF circuitry within one package with increasing concerns with interconnect parasitics, EMI shielding and thermal performance. A new family of embedded chip packaging and interconnection approaches are being developed to address the next generation portable electronics circuits. These embedded chip approaches feature embedded actives and passives, micro-vias, thin film polymer dielectrics and fine line build-up interconnections. This paper will look at a number of embedded chip approaches including the GE Embedded Chip Build-Up technology and analyze the electrical, density, reliability and cost advantages of this approach and show examples of its use in chip scale, chip carrier, and SiP applications for portable electronics applications.


We test whether individuals internalize the effects that their behavior may have on the social image of their group. In our experiment, we recruit pairs of real-life friends and study whether rule breaking in the form of misreporting decreases when misreporting may have negative spillovers on the image of the friend. We find that participants hurt their friends' social image by misreporting because external observers update their beliefs: they rightfully expect that a participant whose friend misreported is likely to misreport himself. However, participants misreport as often when their behavior can hurt the friend's image as when it cannot, even though hurting their friends' image reduces their own monetary gains. Our interpretation is that they underestimate the impact of their behavior on external observers' beliefs about their friends. Our results cast doubts on the capacity of groups to sustain a good image absent the possibility of punishment, which is bad news. The good news is that external observers may use image spillovers to update their beliefs and interact with members of social groups more efficiently.


The social media era was started around ten years ago. It began with LinkedIn, which was launched in 2003, followed by MySpace and Facebook in 2004, YouTube in 2005, and Twitter in 2006. In less than a decade, its population has grown rapidly, and it has reached billions of people worldwide. Facebook has more than 500 million users worldwide; Twitter has approximately 175 million users; LinkedIn has more than 90 million users; and MySpace has 57 million users (Curtis, 2011). A study shows that 40% of Fortune 500 companies have accounts on social media sites, but have not integrated it into their company's websites (i.e. Facebook/Twitter icons are hard to locate on their webpage). The reluctance to promote these sites is mainly due to concerns such as legal and content control issues (Ochman, 2011). This reluctance is supported by the fact that many examples show little to no relation between brand/company's activities in social media sites and its business performance. For example, a failed pop star Peter Andre has approximately 450,000 followers on his Twitter (Ritson, 2010). The popularity of social media sites has also spread to companies and firms as part of their strategies. A study by public relation firm Burson-Marsteller shows that 86% of 100 largest companies on the Fortune 500 list use at least one of the social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or blogs, and 28% of them use all four platforms2. The study also shows that 65% of these companies use Twitter, which makes it as the most popular social media site among business firms (Burson-Marsteller, 2010). According to Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 64% of marketers spend five hours or more per week on social media and 39% of them spend ten hours or more weekly (Stelzner, 2009). These findings show that more and more companies are becoming actively involved in social media, which also shows the emerging of social media sites as the new marketing/promotion platform that is also known as social media marketing.


A new test pattern generation method for the stuck-at faults in VLSI circuits is presented in this paper, the method uses Hopfield neural networks and chaotic simulated annealing. The Hopfield neural network corresponding to a digital circuit is built, the test patterns of faults in digital circuits are produced by computing the optima of the energy function. A chaotic simulated annealing algorithm is designed, which combines the features of chaotic systems and conventional simulated annealing, it is able to take the advantages of the stochastic properties and global search ability of chaotic system. The algorithm is used to compute the optima of the energy function of neural networks in order to produce the test patterns of faults. Experimental results show that the test pattern generation method proposed in this paper can produce the test patterns in short time for both single stuck-at faults and multiple stuck-at faults in digital circuits.


Background: Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the most frequently used treatment modality for patients presenting with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Current professional society guidelines recommend culprit artery only PCI. Recent evidence suggests the potential benefit of multivessel PCI among patients with STEMI that is not complicated by cardiogenic shock. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for clinical studies of patients with STEMI, not complicated by cardiogenic shock, who underwent primary PCI between January 1966 and January 2018. We evaluated all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, reinfarction, and repeat revascularization among patients randomized to a multivessel PCI strategy compared to a culprit artery only PCI strategy. Results: Four randomized clinical trials with a total of 1,044 patients met the inclusion criteria. Five hundred and sixty-six patients underwent multivessel PCI, and 478 patients underwent culprit artery only PCI. Multivessel PCI reduced all the studied endpoints: total death, cardiac death, reinfarction, and repeat revascularization (all P values <0.05). Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the largest metaanalysis of randomized controlled trials studying multivessel PCI vs culprit artery only PCI in STEMI patients without shock, among whom lesion severity was graded by angiography alone. We found that compared to culprit artery only PCI, the multivessel PCI strategy was beneficial in reducing all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, reinfarction, and the need for repeat revascularization.


Within unified stereological approach the silicon carbide-based ceramics SiSiC , SSiC, and LPSiC are treated as binary compositions, that despite certain structure ordering differences might be similarly described as comprising topologically continuous component (that provides the high level of physical and mechanical properties), and a discrete component. The paper demonstrates the necessity of using dimensionless criterial parameters for adequate description of the integral microstructure ordering level; said parameters including the characteristics of both continuous and discrete components of the composite ceramic material. Generalized equations are derived for compound stereological parameters of the discussed materials, along with statistically reliable approximations of the strength characteristics as functions of these parameters.


Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was applied to analyze the essential oil extracted from the leaves of 50 individual plants of Cinnamomum camphora, which were collected from the same mountain in Jiangxi province of China. 32 peaks in total were identified in these samples, which were then categorized into five chemotypes (bornel type, BN; camphor type, CP; isoneolidol type, ID; cineole type, CE; linalool type, LN) according to the primary component in the essential oil. In the meanwhile, total DNA was extracted from each sample for random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis, As a result, a total of 97 amplification products derived from 10 RAPD primers were obtained. These RAPD data were then analyzed using SPSS 10.0 software with 1 and 0 matrix, Jaccard's coefficient and between-group linkage methods. Our results revealed that the estimated Jaccard's differences between chemotypes varied in the range of 0-25, and that the pattern obtained from RAPD was totally accordant with the identification of GC-MS and the biosynthesis pathways of terpene. Thus, we propose that both GC-MS and RAPD are reliable and useful to identify the chemotypes of Cinnamomum camphora, and that quality control and large-scale cultivation of Cinnamomum camphora are possible.


The RsmA/CsrA family of global post-transcriptional regulators are small RNA-binding proteins involved in the regulation of a large number of genes such as those involved in quorum sensing, virulence factor production, secondary metabolism, motility and biofilm formation. They bind to target mRNAs and hence modulate their stability and translation rates. Their effects are antagonised by small non-coding regulatory RNAs. The control of expression of target genes via this post-transcriptional regulatory network is mostly operated in Pseudomonas spp. via the GacS/GacA two component system. This study aimed to perform a biophysical analysis of RsmA and to obtain a preliminary understanding of the structure, function and regulation of RsmN, a new atypical RsmA homologue from Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
RsmA was purified and biophysical analysis confirmed that RsmA exists as a dimer and is highly stable at high temperatures (75 °C) and low pH (5.2). Although RsmN was found to be structurally similar to RsmA, no functional phenotypes have been identified. Consequently, rsmN was mutated and transcriptional fusions to rsmN and its anti-sense transcript were constructed for expression studies. Phenotypic analysis indicated that RsmN was not involved in the control of swarming, pyocyanin, elastase and protease production or glycogen accumulation. Unlike RsmA, RsmN does not have a control on the restriction modification system of P. aeruginosa. Transcriptional fusions revealed RetS, LadS and GacA all appear to have a 21 significant effect as activators of both the rsmN and nmsR promoters. 2-Alkyl-4(1H)-quinolone (AQ) signalling also modulate rsmN expression possibly via the iron chelating properties of 2-alkyl-3-hydroxy-4(1H)-heptyl-quinolone (PQS). RsmN targets identified from Deep Sequencing include those required for structural outer membrane proteins, transcriptional regulators as well as genes involved in motility, secretion, flagellar structure and biofilms. RsmA, RsmZ and RsmY were all identified as targets together with the small RNAs RgsA (indirectly gac-controlled) and the antagonistic RNA CrcZ (represses catabolite repression control protein Crc). Targets common to both RsmN and RsmA include the transcriptional regulators Vfr, PqsR, MvaT and Anr, regulatory RNAs RsmZ and RsmY together with transcripts corresponding to the pqsABCDE operon, LasB, LecA/B, RhlI, LasR/I, Crc and CrcZ.
The identification of many mRNA targets for RsmN which are shared with targets of RsmA provides further evidence that RsmN is involved in global-post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression.


Abstract – Bifurcations leading to chaos have been investigated in a number of one dimensional dynamical systems by varying the parameters incorporated within the systems. The property hyperbolicity has been studied in detail in each case which has significant characteristic behaviours for regular and chaotic evolutions. In the process, the calculations for invariant set have also been carried out. A broad analysis of bifurcations and hyperbolicity provide some interesting results. The fractal property, self-similarity, has also been observed for chaotic regions within the bifurcation diagram. The results of numerical calculations assume significant values.


In this paper a multi-hop wireless network is considered to analyze the delay performance. We assume that there is a fixed route between a given source and destination pair. The multi-hop nature of network may cause complex correlations of the service process. In order to handle them, we propose a queue grouping technique. An interference model is assumed which is set based. With the help of interference constraints the lower bound of delay performance is obtained. To achieve this systematic methodology is used. The simple-path delay-optimal policy we designed is used for wireless networks. Empirical studies revealed that our approach is good to optimize scheduling policies and analyzing delay in multi-hop wireless networks.


This page serves as the place for record keeping and document depository of the York College Library assessment activities including plans, reports, and any other related information.


Background and Aim: Self-medication, as a common risky health behavior, has financial and non-financial costs for Iranians. This study aimed at determining the situation of self-medication and factors influencing it among women in Yasuj, Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 192 women referred to urban health care centers in Yasuj, selected randomly from the existing health files at the centers. Data were collected using a standard questionnaire based on the Health Belief Model and analyzed by SPSS 16 statistical software. Results: The most widely used medicines for self-medication were those for common cold and antibiotics from among over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and prescription-only-medicines ( POM), respectively. Perceived susceptibility (17.63± 3.46) was the main construct associated with self-medication among women. Conclusion: Once the causes of self-medication and its relationship with the Health Belief Model constructs are known, designing and implementing educational programs aiming at promoting awareness and perception of population groups, especially women, seems necessary.


We propose a new approach to the task of fine grained entity type classifications based on label embeddings that allows for information sharing among related labels. Specifically, we learn an embedding for each label and each feature such that labels which frequently co-occur are close in the embedded space. We show that it outperforms state-of-the-art methods on two fine grained entity-classification benchmarks and that the model can exploit the finer-grained labels to improve classification of standard coarse types.


In the context of the high-profile controversy that has unfolded in the UK around the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and its possible adverse effects, this paper addresses how parents in Brighton are thinking about MMR for their own children. Research focusing on parents' engagement with MMR has been dominated by analysis of the proximate influences on their choices, and in particular scientific and media information, guiding policy to focus on information and education. The ethnographic work in Brighton reported in this paper, to be complemented by survey work, begins to question the validity of such reasoning by showing how wider personal and social issues shape parents' immunisation actions. Extended parental narratives show how parents' practices around MMR are shaped by their personal histories, by birth experiences and related feelings of control, by family health histories, by their readings of their child's health and particular strengths and vulnerabilities, by particular engagements with health services, by processes of confidence-building and undermining, and by friendships and conversations with others, which are themselves shaped by wider social differences and transformations. "MMR talk" has become a social phenomenon. Many see vaccination as a personal decision which must respond to the particularities of a child's immune system. These perspectives both challenge key tenets of public health policy, and suggest ways in which people's engagements with MMR reflect wider changes in their relations with science and the state.


Lippia alba, a Brazilian species, from the Verbenaceae family, is planted and used throughout Brazil in traditional medicine such as analgesic, calminative and sedative, using aqueous extract of leaves. This study investigated the effect of GA3, ethephon and CCC spray solutions on the growth of L. alba at different times of the year. The experiment was carried out at Sao Manuel Experimental Station from the Universidade Estadual Paulista in Botucatu, Brazil, from December 1995 to December 1996. The experiment consisted of 7 treatments with three replications in complete randomized blocks, and the treatment was applied to the plots and at harvest time, to the subplots. The treatments included control, giberellic acid (GA3 50 and 100 mg.L-1), 2-cloroetil-fosfonic acid (ethephon 100 and 200 mg.L-1) and 2-cloroetil-trimetil ammonium chloride (CCC- 1000 and 2000 mg.L-1). The vegetable regulators were applied at two different periods, forty and a hundred days after establishment of the experiment, and the growth of the plants was evaluated six times. After the first application, the plants were collected at intervals of 14 days. Plant growth regulators GA3, and CCC tended to elevate the results of the evaluated parameters (dry matter of stem, leaves, flowers and total) but the results always stayed smaller or equal to the control.


The primary purpose of this Article is to evaluate the four most recent Supreme Court decisions on personal jurisdiction and situate those decisions within the history of Supreme Court personal jurisdiction jurisprudence. Starting with the seminal case of Pennoyer v. Neff, personal jurisdiction jurisprudence has been remarkably kaleidoscopic,with the Supreme Court intervening at various intervals to redefine the law in broad strokes, while zigzagging from one doctrinal position to another and thereby leaving lower courts to hash out the application of an evolving personal jurisdiction doctrine to varying fact patterns. I will divide this jurisprudential history into two main groups of cases after Pennoyer was superseded by the modern minimum contacts approach. The first group of decisions begins with International Shoe Co. v. Washington and continues through Hanson v. Denckla. The second group begins almost two decades later with Shaffer v. Heitner and continues through Asahi Metal Industry Co. v. Superior Court and Burnham v. Superior Court.


A series of eight novel complexes of chloranilic acid (CA) with the first-row transition metals (M = Mn, Cr, Ni, Co) were prepared and characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, IR spectroscopy and polycrystalline X-band electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. All studied complexes revealed distorted octahedral arrangements. Three coordination modes of the chloranilate ligand are observed: bidentate, bis(bidentate) and, a novel one, mono+bidentate bridging, which can easily be distinguished by IR spectra. The size of the metal atom and different modes of chloranilate coordination affect crystal-packing topologies: 0D (mononuclear or dinuclear) and 1D (zig-zag chains or ladder-like chains). However, the ancillary ligands have a minor influence on the topology of the systems studied.


y composition was studied in 31 patients receiving chemotherapy for small-cell lung cancer. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either 4 weeks of total parenteral nutrition (study group) or to continue a self-regulated oral diet (control group). The relationship between height and total body nitrogen was altered initially for patients who had lost more than 5% of body weight. During the 4 weeks of parenteral nutrition, body weight, total body fat, and total body potassium, but not total body nitrogen, increased significantly in the study group (p less than 0.001). However, after parenteral nutrition was stopped, body weight and potassium levels in the study group fell significantly and to the same extent as in the control group. Nitrogen levels showed an overall fall in the 32 weeks of observation for both groups. After the period of parenteral nutrition, the decrease in body fat was significantly greater in the control group than in the study group (p less than 0.05). Thus, parenteral nutrition increased body fat and total body potassium, but not total body nitrogen.


Abstract. The increasing need of renewable energy fosters the expansion of wind turbine sites for power production throughout Europe with manifold effects, both on the positive and negative side. The latter concerns, among others, radar observations in the proximity of wind turbine (WT) sites. With the aim of better understanding the effects of large, moving scatterers like wind turbines on radar returns, MeteoSwiss performed two dedicated measurement campaigns with a mobile X-band Doppler polarimetric weather radar (METEOR 50DX) in the north-eastern part of Switzerland in March 2019 and March 2020. Based on the usage of a X-band radar system, the performed campaigns are up to now unique. The main goal was to quantify the effects of wind turbines on the observed radar moments, to retrieve the radar cross section (RCS) of the turbine themselves, and to investigate the conditions leading to the occurrence of the largest RCS. Dedicated scan strategies, consisting of PPI (Plan Position Indicator), RHI (Range-height Indicator) and fixed-pointing modes, were defined and used for observing a wind park consisting of three large wind turbines. During both campaigns, measurements were taken in 24/7 operation. The highest measured maxima of horizontal reflectivity (ZH) and RCS reached 78.5 dBZ respectively 44.1 dBsm. A wind turbine orientation (yawing) stratified statistical analysis shows no clear correlation with the received maximum returns. However, the median values and 99th percentiles of ZH and RCS show different enhancements for specific relative orientations. Further, we show, based on investigating correlations and an OLS (ordinary least square) model analyses, that the fast changing rotor blade angle (pitch) is a key parameter, which strongly contributes to the variability of the observed returns.


Background: The present patent deals with the generation of peptides derived from the activity-dependent peptide and tau mimetic to study its effect on microtubule stability, its ability to bind to tubulin and MAPs, as well as promoting cell survival. Objective: To analyze these peptides and their effects as potential therapeutic elements for neurodegenerative diseases. Methods: We review the action of the peptides described by Gozes and collaborators and compare the effectiveness with those already reported in the literature for Alzheimer's disease. Conclusion: The research of Dr. Gozes and collaborators has shown that the addition of picomolar concentration of the peptides promotes cell survival, by interacting with tubulin and stabilizing the microtubules. Based on the results, these peptides seem to be very attractive candidates for therapeutical intervention in neurodegenerative diseases.


Introduction Febrile neutropenia (FN) is one of the life threatening complications in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Several comorbidities that are related to chronic inflammation, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cholecystolithiasis and dental caries, may influence the risk of FN, but few reports are available on these correlations. Aims To assess the risk factors of chemotherapy-induced FN in lung cancer patients, we respectively analyzed the correlation between the incidence of FN and chronic comorbidities. Methods This study was a retrospective analysis of lung cancer patients treated with systemic chemotherapy at University of miyazaki hospital between April 2010 and December 2015. The history of comorbidities and FN events were identified using electronic medical records. The definition of FN was used the criteria of CTCAE (ver. 4.0). Results This study was conducted with 270 patients (mean age of 65.2±9.4 years) as the subject. 46 cases (17%) developed FN for the duration of chemotherapy. The histological types of lung cancer were small cell lung cancer (n = 77), adenocarcinoma (n = 122), squamous cell carcinoma (n = 41), and other types (n = 30). COPD [odds ratio (OR) = 2.5, 95%Confidence interval (CI) = 1.16–5.38, p = 0.02) was associated with a significantly increased FN risk. Cholecystolithiasis [OR = 1.47, 95%CI = 0.32–6.68, p = 0.61], sinusitis [OR = 1.03, 95%CI = 0.29–3.71, p = 1.00], constipation [OR = 1.47, 95%CI = 0.32–6.68, p = 0.61] and dental caries [OR = 1.17, 95%CI = 0.43–3.21, p = 1.00] had no significant association with FN. Conclusions COPD is reliable predictor to evaluate risk of chemotherapy-induced FN in the lung cancer patients.


Imiquimod is a TLR7/8 agonist that has anticancer therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of precancerous skin lesions and certain nonmelanoma skin cancers. To test our hypothesis that imiquimod enhances DNA repair as a mechanism for its anticancer activity, the nucleotide excision repair genes were studied in bone marrow-derived cells. Imiquimod enhanced the expression of xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) A and other DNA repair genes (quantitative real-time PCR analysis) and resulted in an increased nuclear localization of the DNA repair enzyme XPA. This was dependent on MyD88, as bone marrow-derived cells from MyD88−/− mice did not increase XPA gene expression and did not enhance the survival of MyD88−/−-derived bone marrow-derived cells after UV B exposure as was observed in bone marrow-derived cells from MyD88+/+ mice. Imiquimod also enhanced DNA repair of UV light (UVL)-irradiated gene expression constructs and accelerated the resolution of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers after UVL exposures in P388 and XS52. Lastly, topical treatment of mouse skin with 5% imiquimod cream prior to UVL irradiation resulted in a decrease in the number of cyclobutane pyridimine dimer-positive APC that were found in local lymph nodes 24 h after UVL irradiation in both wild-type and IL-12 gene-targeted mice. In total, these data support the idea that TLR7 agonists such as imiquimod enhance DNA repair in bone marrow-derived cells. This property is likely to be an important mechanism for its anticancer effects because it protects cutaneous APC from the deleterious effects of UVL.


The mechanism of promoter location by DNA-dependent RNA polymerase of Escherichia coli was investigated. The occupancies of DNA fragments carrying the A1 promoter of bacteriophage T7 were analyzed as a function of the length of flanking sequences adjacent to the promoter. Competition between the promoters on different fragments showed qualitatively that DNA sequences downstream of the promoter enhanced promoter occupancy, whereas upstream flanking sequences had little or no influence on occupancy. This was studied quantitatively by using a set of DNA fragments with four identical A1 promoters (I-IV) equidistant from each other, but with different lengths of flanking sequences upstream from promoter I and downstream from promoter IV. The relative occupancies of these promoters showed that downstream DNA sequences of up to 250 base pairs increased the occupancy of the adjacent promoter, whereas upstream sequences longer than 70 base pairs had little or no effect on occupancy. Promoter occupancies measured as a function of the length of the downstream flanking DNA sequences were fit by a published theory that takes into account an enhancement of signal-sequence location by linear diffusion.


During first gamete interaction, oligosaccharides on the glycoproteins present in oocyte envelopes of the rock shrimp, Rhynchocinetes typus, play an important role in spermatozoon recognition prior to the onset of penetration. These oligosaccharides have terminal monosaccharides that may be recognized by means of specific lectins. A variety of marine species have monosaccharides on their oocyte envelopes, allowing them to interact with the spermatozoa. The number and location of the monosaccharides varies during oocyte maturation. However, this phenomenon has not been studied in shrimp. The present study evaluates the presence and location of monosaccharides on oocyte envelopes during maturation using seven specific lectins conjugated to FITC (GNL, LCA, Con-A BS-1, LTA, GLS-II,DBA); these recognize mannose (α 1-3) mannose, α-mannose, α-glucose, glucose, galactose, fucose, N-acetyl-glucosamine, and N-acetyl- galactosamine, respectively. Participation of these carbohydrates in the fertilization process was determined through the insemination of fresh oocytes with spermatozoa previously incubated with the different monosaccharides that block the active sites of the spermatozoa, inhibiting fertilization. The results showed the presence of N-acetyl-glucosamine and mannose on the oocyte envelopes, indicating that these sugars could be the receptors during the first gamete interaction. The results also suggested that glucose could be a complementary receptor to N-acetyl-glucosamine and mannose since, despite the low concentration of glucose on the envelope, this sugar generated a high degree of fertilization inhibition.


A dynamical model for traffic networks is proposed and analyzed. In the traffic network, the transportation demands are considered as multi-commodity flows where each commodity has a unique destination. The network is modeled by a multigraph where at each node each commodity splits among the outgoing links in a way such that the drivers are more likely to avoid a road when the density on it increases. It will be shown that if the graph has no cycles, the density of each commodity on each link will converge to a unique limit that does not depend on the initial state.
 Network resilience, namely structural robustness of the network with respect to perturbations, is also studied. In particular, it is shown that if all commodities have access to all outgoing links, the network can manage perturbations whose magnitude is less than a quantity which plays the natural role of residual capacity of an equilibrium. If instead not all commodities have access to all links, overreaction of the network to perturbations implies that even small perturbations might be amplified
and start a cascade.
 Finally, the idea of back-pressure is employed to provide a simple distributed control strategy. Analogously to the single commodity case, such actual strategy is able to back-propagate the information that congestion is happening ahead, thus allowing the drivers to reroute even if their decision is based on local information only.


Alcohol and drugs have been identified as key risk factors for youth (aged 15-24 years) and adult drownings in high-income countries (HIC). Whilst alcohol specific drowning prevention education programs have been developed and implemented, youth continue to be over-represented in drowning statistics, including those linked with alcohol. Therefore, this project aimed to: (i) review and assess all alcohol themed drowning prevention campaigns within HICs; (ii) determine whether the campaign had undergone evaluation for effectiveness; and (iii) provide recommendations to improve the effectiveness of future interventions. For each of the eighty-one HICs identified for the 2019 fiscal year, searches of peer-reviewed literature (through academic databases) and grey literature (through webpages and emails to organisations) were conducted. Twelve alcohol focused campaigns were identified, with only two providing limited information about program evaluation. For most campaigns identified, there was a dearth of information available and therefore assessment of campaign quality was unfeasible. This brief report highlights a lack of alcohol themed drowning prevention campaigns in HIC, and an absence of evaluations on their effectiveness. Implications associated with a lack of program evaluation are discussed and adoption of the recommendations from this brief report should enhance the quality of future research in this area.


Previous work done by our group had found that infusion of G-CSF mobilized haploidentical donor white blood cells at a dose of 1 – 2 x 108 CD3+ cells/kg into refractory cancer patients after 100 cGy total body irradiation resulted in a number of complete and partial responses in those patients with hematological malignancies. These responses occurred despite elimination of the donor cells by 2 weeks after infusion. The effector mechanism(s) responsible for these anti-cancer responses were not determined although it was noted that there was a cytokine storm appearing within a day following infusion of the cells. Alloreactive responses could be driving the anti-cancer responses using a variety of mechanisms. One possible mechanism is that the alloreactive response overrides inhibitory mechanisms present in the cancer patient allowing the existing cancer reactive effector cells to become activated and lyse cancer cells. Alternatively the alloreactive cytolytic T cells could be cross-reacting with the antigens expressed on the tumor cells. To test these possibilities, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) or the CD3+ T cells isolated from the PBMNC of newly diagnosed leukemic patients were mixed with mitomycin C treated fully allogeneic stimulator PBMNC (from 1 or 2 different normal controls chosen at random) or the CD3- cells from the leukemic patients. Their ability to proliferate in response to the allogeneic stimulation was tested on day five and their ability to lyse autologous leukemia cells after stimulation was tested on day seven. Ten total patients (8 AML, 1 CML, and 1 CMML) were enrolled in the study. The average white blood cell count was 57,640 cells/uL (range 7,100 – 336,500 cells/uL) with 4 -80% peripheral blasts. The results indicated that in 16/20 combinations, leukemic T cells were able to proliferate in response to allogeneic stimulators, however anti-cancer cytolytic activity was only detected in 9/19 evaluable combinations. These results demonstrated that alloreactive responses are able to induce anti-leukemic cytolytic responses by T cells from a subset of leukemic patients. One explanation for the inability of some combinations to generate anti-leukemic cytolytic activity could be the presence of inhibitory mechanisms which could not be overcome by the alloreactive responses. Immunophenotypic analysis of the leukemic T cells did reveal an increased number of T regulatory cells and increases in the expression of inhibitory receptors on the lymphocytes from some of the patients. Alternatively, it may be that the leukemic T cells had not been stimulated with the appropriate allogeneic antigens. An allogeneic stimulator pool comprised of cells from ten different normal donors was prepared and will be used to test whether increasing the number of allogeneic disparities in culture would enhance the ability of the leukemic T cells to generate anti-leukemic responses. These studies have suggested that cancer-reactive cells can be generated from leukemic patient T cells using alloreactive responses. To further test the role of these effector cells and identify additional effector cells, blood samples will be obtained from patients enrolled in the clinical protocol which is in the process of being restarted, having received FDA approval. Clearer definition and characterization of the anti-cancer effector cells should permit alterations to the protocol that would lead to enhanced anti-cancer responses in an increased number of refractory cancer patients. Citation Format: Loren D. Fast, John Reagan, Martha Nevola, Peter Quesenberry. Antitumor responses driven by alloreactivity. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Immunology: Multidisciplinary Science Driving Basic and Clinical Advances; Dec 2-5, 2012; Miami, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B22.


ABSTRACT The fluG gene is a member of a family of genes required for conidiation and sterigmatocystin production in Aspergillus nidulans. We examined the role of the Aspergillus flavus fluG orthologue in asexual development and aflatoxin biosynthesis. Deletion of fluG in A. flavus yielded strains with an approximately 3-fold reduction in conidiation but a 30-fold increase in sclerotial formation when grown on potato dextrose agar in the dark. The concurrent developmental changes suggest that A. flavus FluG exerts opposite effects on a mutual signaling pathway for both processes. The altered conidial development was in part attributable to delayed expression of brlA, a gene controlling conidiophore formation. Unlike the loss of sterigmatocystin production by A. nidulans fluG deletion strains, aflatoxin biosynthesis was not affected by the fluG deletion in A. flavus. In A. nidulans, FluG was recently found to be involved in the formation of dehydroaustinol, a component of a diffusible signal of conidiation. Coculturing experiments did not show a similar diffusible meroterpenoid secondary metabolite produced by A. flavus. These results suggest that the function of fluG and the signaling pathways related to conidiation are different in the two related aspergilli.


This country report aims to give an estimation of the development of public health care expenditures in Hungary during the first half of the 21st century. The model used for analysis is the ILO social budget model. Since this model is a full budget model, it includes not only the expenditure side, but the revenue side also. The structure of the model is presented in Section 2 of this report following a discussion of the long-term projections recently prepared for the Hungarian health care system (Section 1). The third section contains a review of main databases used by the model, while the fourth describes the underlying assumptions and development of main variables of the baseline scenario. The second part of the same section discusses alternative assumptions, aiming to provide sensitivity analyses for the baseline scenario. Results of both the baseline scenario and sensitivity analyses are presented in Section 5. Section 6 summarises these results and draws conclusions, while the final section formulates some policy recommendations based on the findings of our model (Section 7).


Using ecological footprint and decomposition analysis models, energy ecological footprint (EEF) from 2000 to 2008 in Bohai Rim Region was calculated. The EEF change and the impact factors were also analysed. The results showed that the EEF increased continuously from 2000 to 2008. The total values of EEF increased to 4.578×108 hm2 in 2008 from 2.159×108 hm2 in 2000, and the values per capita increased to 1.946 hm2 from 0.974 hm2. These contributed 50-60 percent of regional total ecological pressure. In all contribution factors, GDP growth was highest, energy structure and population size were inferior, and energy strength was lowest. Though the energy strength was decreased continuously, this was not enough to counteract the ecological impact derived from immoderate energy structure and consumption level. This led to energy ecological footprint in Bohai Rim Region increasing continuously.


Abstract Vulnerability assessments can play a vital role in the designing of appropriate adaptation and mitigation policies targeted towards climate change and its impacts on ecosystems, and for those who depend upon the sensitive resources for their livelihoods and well-being. Vulnerability is often reflected in the economic system as well as the socio-economic features of the population living in that system. This article attempts to build a picture of the socio-economic context of vulnerability by focusing on indicators that measure both the state of socio-economic development of the people as well as their capacity to progress further. The result of agricultural vulnerability index suggests indicators such as cropping intensity, gross irrigated area and commercial crop area are the major drivers in determining the vulnerability of the districts of Karnataka. The socio-economic and livelihood index depicts indicators like per capita income, population density and percentage of literacy rate are the major drivers and contribute to the overall livelihood vulnerability of districts.


Digital still cameras capable of filming short video clips are readily available, but the quality of these recordings for telemedicine has not been reported. We performed a blinded study using four commonly available digital cameras. A simulated patient with a hemiplegic gait pattern was filmed by the same videographer in an identical, brightly lit indoor setting. Six neurologists viewed the blinded video clips on their PC and comparisons were made between cameras, between video clips recorded with and without a tripod, and between video clips filmed on high- or low-quality settings. Use of a tripod had a smaller effect than expected, while images taken on a high-quality setting were strongly preferred to those taken on a low-quality setting. Although there was some variability in video quality between selected cameras, all were of sufficient quality to identify physical signs such as gait and tremor. Adequate-quality video clips of movement disorders can be produced with low-cost cameras and transmitted by email for teleneurology purposes.


In the wake of the cold war, the international community has faced a sudden increase in regional conflicts. While the likelihood of large-scale wars between major powers has significantly decreased, smaller-scale regional and ethnic conflicts have proliferated, presenting a new challenge to strategists and policymakers around the world. Today, the need to strengthen peacekeeping mechanisms and to prevent and resolve conflicts is a major item on the international agenda. In this volume, five Japanese international relations experts examine such topics as UN reform for the enhancement of preventive diplomacy capabilities; post-conflict peacebuilding; the principle of self-determination and ethnic conflict; the impact of forced displacement of populations on conflict prevention efforts; reconceptualizing security communities and power-sharing for preventing conflict; and the connection between human rights, democratization, and preventive diplomacy. By analyzing the international community's responses to conflicts in such locations as the African Great Lakes region, the Balkans, Myanmar, and Cambodia, the authors draw lessons for managing regional conflict through preventive diplomacy. Contributors include Akizuki Hiroko (Asia University, Japan), Hoshino Toshiya (Osaka University, Japan), Kikkawa Gen (Kobe University, Japan), Miyawaki Noboru (Matsuyama University, Japan), and Shoji Mariko (Keiai University, Japan).


We discuss Chalmers' "hard problem" in respect of a mind/brain identity theory. We examine a handful of mathematical parallels between the visual field and its concomitant quantum field, and argue for an identity between the two fields.


Mobile data traffic has been growing exponentially over the past few years. A report from Cisco shows that the mobile data traffic in 2014 grew 69 percent and was nearly 30 times the size of the entire global Internet in 2000 [item 1) in the Appendix]. One of the primary contributors to the explosive mobile traffic growth is the rapid proliferation of mobile social applications running on multimedia mobile devices (particularly smartphones). These sharp increases in mobile traffic (particularly from mobile social applications) are projected to continue in the foreseeable future. As mobile networks by and large are designed and deployed to meet people's social needs, people's behaviors and interactions in the social domain will shape their ways to access mobile services. Therefore, there is an urgent need to integrate social effects into the design of mobile networks.


The book presents discussions and debates from three distinct areas of service design research: societal change, value co-creation and development of service design. User participation can change society, and service design can contribute to this change. The service design approach provides tools for engaging the citizen and policy design. Service design plays a role in value co-creation and innovation processes. This role is more strategic than it is merely operative. Service design is establishing itself as a discipline. This debate includes a strong multi-disciplinary approach and the research and development of service design methods. The book includes chapters from top service design authors (Daniela Sangiorgi, Stefan Holmlid, Andy Polaine, Nicola Morelli etc.) and interesting case studies (Arne Van Oosterom and Tim Schuurman from Designthinkers and Erik Widmark and Emma Johansson from Transformator etc.) from design consultancies and researchers.


Abstract 613

Background: Lenalidomide (Revlimid®) is an oral immunomodulatory agent with clinical efficacy in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). In patients with relapsed/refractory MM, lenalidomide plus dexamethasone improved time to progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS) in comparison with dexamethasone alone. In newly diagnosed MM patients, the current study compares the efficacy and safety of melphalan, prednisone and lenalidomide (MPR) with that of MP alone.

Methods: Key inclusion criteria were: ≥65 years of age, newly diagnosed and symptomatic MM. 459 patients were randomly assigned to receive MPR followed by lenalidomide maintenance therapy or MPR followed by placebo maintenance therapy or MP followed by placebo maintenance therapy ([Figure 1][1]). The study induction and maintenance phases were followed by an open label lenalidomide extension and a follow-up phase. All patients received aspirin 100 mg/day as thrombo-prophylaxis. The primary endpoint of the study is progression free survival (PFS). The secondary endpoints are OS, time-to-progression, response rate, time to response, response duration, time-to-next anti-myeloma therapy, safety, quality of life and exploratory assessment of cytogenetic abnormalities. Primary comparison is based on the intent-to-treat population comparing PFS between MPR followed by lenalidomide with MP followed by placebo; secondary comparisons are between MPR followed by lenalidomide and MPR followed by placebo, and between MPR followed by placebo and MP followed by placebo.

![Figure][2]

Results: The first patient was enrolled in February 2007. A pre-planned interim analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety was performed at 50% information. An independent central adjudication committee determined the assessment and timing of progressive disease prior to the interim analysis. At the interim analysis, it was determined by the Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) that the study had crossed the O'Brien Fleming superiority boundary for the primary endpoint, demonstrating a highly statistically significant improvement in PFS for patients treated with MPR compared with MP as first-line treatment for MM patients. The topline results will be availabel at the time of the meeting.

Conclusions: MPR is an effective and safe regimen for front-line use in MM. PFS was significantly improved in patients who received MPR followed by lenalidomide maintenance compared with those who received MP followed by placebo maintenance. MPR followed by lenalidomide maintenance is a new therapeutic option and can be considered a new standard for patients older than 65 years old.

Disclosures: Palumbo: Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen Cilag: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pharmion: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Off Label Use: Lenalidomide is not approved for first line use in multiple myeloma. Dimopoulos: Celgene: Honoraria. Delforge: Janssen-Cilag: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Kropff: Ortho Biotech: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Foa: Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Yu: Celgene: Employment. Herbein: Celgene: Employment. Mei: Celgene: Employment. Jacques: Celgene: Employment. Catalano: Celgene: Research Funding.

 [1]: #F1
 [2]: pending:yes


Keyphrases are useful information extracted from documents. They reflect the main ideas of the text. Therefore knowing the list of keyphrases can save substantial amount of time which can be lost during searching for a document about a particular topic. Unfortunately, there are many documents which do not include a list of keyphrases. Thus automatic extraction of keyphrases becomes an important task. In this paper, a method for Turkish keyphrase extraction is explained.


RNA folding into stable tertiary structures is remarkably sensitive to the concentrations and types of cations present; an understanding of the physical basis of ion-RNA interactions is therefore a prerequisite for a quantitative accounting of RNA stability. This article summarizes the energetic factors that must be considered when ions interact with two different RNA environments. "Diffuse ions" accumulate near the RNA because of the RNA electrostatic field and remain largely hydrated. A "chelated" ion directly contacts a specific location on the RNA surface and is held in place by electrostatic forces. Energetic costs of ion chelation include displacement of some of the waters of hydration by the RNA surface and repulsion of diffuse ions. Methods are discussed for computing both the free energy of the set of diffuse ions associated with an RNA and the binding free energies of individual chelated ions. Such calculations quantitatively account for the effects of Mg(2+) on RNA stability where experimental data are available. An important conclusion is that diffuse ions are a major factor in the stabilization of RNA tertiary structures.


ABSTRACT Introduction: To systematically review the literature regarding the side effects of pharmacotherapy in children with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional abdominal pain – not otherwise specified (FAP-NOS). Areas covered: Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Embase databases were searched from inception to May 2018. The following inclusion criteria were applied: (1) randomized controlled trials (RCTs), cohort studies or case-control studies; (2) in children aged 4–18 years or adult studies if children are reported separately; (3) reporting a diagnosis of IBS or FAP-NOS as defined by the authors; and (4) reporting the occurrence of side effects of pharmacotherapy. Quality assessment of included studies was conducted. Expert opinion: A total of 4619 articles were identified; 17 were included. In 10/17 (59%) studies, side effects of pharmacotherapy (antispasmodics, antidepressants, antihistaminic agents, serotonergic agents and antibiotics) occurred. The majority of side effects were: (1) limited to the gastrointestinal tract and central nervous system and, 2) mild and transient. No serious adverse events were reported. This systematic review shows that data on safety in children with functional abdominal pain disorders are scarce, and highlights the lack of high-quality research for potential side effects of pediatric IBS and FAP-NOS. Further research by means of large well-designed-follow-up studies is necessary.


This paper describes a study of how the gazes of 3rd party observers of dialogue move when a speaker is taking the turn and producing a back-channel, respectively. The data is collected and basic processing is complete, but the results section for the paper is not yet in place. It will be in time for the workshop, however, and will be presented there, should this paper outline be accepted..


Ogma civellae life stages are illustrated and differentiated on the basis of ovary development, body length, stylet length, cuticular ornamentation and arrangement of scales. Second-stage juveniles have body annules without spines, and body, ovary and stylet 138-177, 8-10, and 34-39 µm long, respectively. The third-stage juveniles have body annules with 4-6 palmate and spinate scales, ending with a variable number and form of projections disposed in eight longitudinal rows. This stage has body, ovary, and stylet 203-263, 16-19, and 45-60 µm long, respectively. The fourth-stage juveniles each have body annules with 8 scales similar to those of J3, disposed in 8 longitudinal rows and body, ovary, and stylet 368-385, 60-85, and 62-69 µm long, respectively. Adult females maturity can be distinguished by body, ovary and stylet lenght of 381-531, 282-382, and 70-84 µm, respectively, and their unique cuticular ornamentation. Each of the anterior 60-63 body annules bears a continuous fringe with 66-80 spines showing simple or bifurcated tips, while 8-10 terminal annules bear palmate projections in alternate rows. Histological examination of Ipomoea batatas roots infected by O. civellae indicated that the nematode feeds ectoparasitically on the epidermal and hypodermal cells. Feeding tubes surrounding the stylet were observed in these cells.


This paper, emphasizing the importance of native language awareness in translation and drawing on problems observed in university students, sets out with an assumption that native language awareness, which is supposed to have satisfactorily developed either naturally or through previous stages of education, may undergo a serious process of "interruption" or "blockage ", as we call it, during written translations made particularly from the source language (English) to the mother tongue (Turkish). The fact that stu¬dents can recognize their mother tongue mistakes either after self-monitoring or after the instructor's remarks may indicate that translated texts, which are seemingly Turkish, yet lacking many of the naturally well-formed fea¬tures of the mother tongue discourse, suffer from such problems either due to the heavy concentration of mind on the source language structures or due to the problems originating from the gaps in the translation training. Performances of a total of 60 subjects, comprising an equal number of freshman and senior students from two different departments at Hacettepe University - Department of Linguistics and Department of Translation and Interpretation - have been compared through tests of English, mother tongue awareness and translation to find out (a) what actual reasons lie behind the problem, (b) whether there is any positive improvement from the freshman to the senior groups in both departments, and (c) whether extensive translation training marks a positive effect on students to help them avoid problems concerning native language awareness.


This research presents the results of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the use of the Dutch placement verbs zetten
 ('put') and leggen ('lay') by French-speaking learners of Dutch. The experiment consisted of a productive task. The results
 confirm that the use of Dutch placement verbs is problematic for French-speaking learners, but they also reveal some important
 tendencies. First, our analysis demonstrates that French-speaking learners tend to underuse these verbs, which can be explained by
 the fact that placement events in French are often described by means of a neutral verb such as 'mettre' ('put') as opposed to the
 more specific verbs in Dutch. Secondly, the learners occasionally also tend to overuse the placement verbs in contexts where such
 verbs are not allowed, an observation which is seemingly paradoxical to the first one. Thirdly, learners also tend to confuse
 'zetten' with 'leggen' and vice versa.


This paper deals with the hygrothermal stress induced in a polymeric thin film deposited on Si wafer subjected to the combined influence of temperature change and moisture absorption. The laser scanning method and the boundary element method (BEM) are employed to investigate the residual stresses. The film/wafer system is assumed to be linearly elastic. The film/substrate system is assumed to be stress-free at a temperature of C o 300 and is cooled from a cure temperature down to room temperature. Then the moisture concentration in the film is increased to the saturation level. The normal stress across thickness of the thin film is estimated from wafer curvature measurements. The boundary element method is employed to investigate the whole stresses in the film. The numerical results for the normal stress across thickness of the film show good agreement with experimental results obtained by using the laser scanning method. The singular stress is observed near the interface corner. Such residual stresses are large enough to initiate interface delamination to relieve the residual stresses.


This research characterizes the biological diversity of millet crops in the semiarid regions of India at the household and village‐community ( panchayat) scales of analysis, placing that evidence in the context of local seed systems. A set of seed system parameters that span formal and informal exchange and can be measured empirically are proposed. The analysis is based on data collected through sample surveys of farmers and traders in selected sites of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, combined with cultivar taxonomies developed with geneticists and applied to seed samples. Findings demonstrate that millet crop diversity levels at both scales of analysis are significantly influenced by seed system parameters, factors which related studies have omitted. In particular, the presence of active local (formal and informal) seed markets enhances millet richness among and within farming communities. Crop improvement strategies oriented toward local seed markets could provide important benefits and incentives to farm households living in these marginal environments. There is a need, however, for an enhanced theoretical understanding of local seed markets in analyzing crop variety choices and the diversity of materials grown in less favored environments.


In the course of present space lander's optimization, the problems, such as hardness of information integration, partiality of optimization, still exist. In order to solve these problems, Lander Multidisciplinary Optimization Platform has been built. Four engineering tools (Pro/Engineer, Patran, Nastran, ADAMS) are integrated into the platform based on optimization software—iSIGHT, which could ensure space lander's kinematics and dynamics characteristics. Good optimum scheme is obtained after comprehensive optimization of the platform. Besides, the platform is managed by simulation management software—MSC.SimManage. Multidisciplinary optimization can be realized automatically through parameterized interface of the platform.


Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a noninvasive imaging technique used for the diagnosis and assessment of many diseases, particularly cancer. It relies on positron emitting radioisotopes to analyze the tissues and organs functions. A PET scanner consists of a set of detectors surrounding the patient that will detect coincident gamma annihilation photons originating from the β^+ decay of the radiopharmaceutical injected into the patient and thus creating tomographic images. Geant4 Application for Tomography Emission (GATE) is a Monte Carlo based simulation platform developed by the OpenGATE collaboration and used in the field of medical imaging. Monte Carlo methods are useful in the field of radiation medicine because of the stochastic nature of the processes involving radiation. GATE enables the modeling of scanners based on emission tomography, in particular the PET scanner. The GATE software consists of defining the geometry of the scanner, the shielding layers, the characteristics of the crystal detector and the radioactive source, the phantom where this latter is encapsulated as well as the physics processes taking place. Then, the simulation is carried out to identify the main performance parameters of the scanner and compare them to the experimental values. The scanner modeled in this work is the Gemini TF PET/CT (Philips Medical Systems). It is being simulated using GATE and the results of sensitivity (S), scatter fraction (SF) and spatial resolution (SR) are being studied and compared to the published measurements. The sensitivity of the scanner represents its ability to detect coincident photons emitted from inside the Field Of View (FOV) of the scanner. It is defined as the number of counts per unit time of true coincident event for a given source strength. The scatter fraction is a measure of the system's sensitivity to scatter. The scattering of one or both of the gamma rays due to the interaction with the surrounding tissue results in falsely located coincidence events. Therefore, it is important to determine the ratio of scattered counts to the total of scattered and true counts. This ratio is called the Scatter Fraction. The Spatial resolution of a PET scanner represents its ability to reproduce the image of an object while clearly showing the variations in the distribution of radioactivity. It is defined as the minimum distance between two points in an image that the scanner can detect. In order to study each one of these performance parameters, dedicated phantoms that are proposed by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) were used in our simulation. The NEMA protocol is widely accepted as methodology for the assessment of the performance of PET systems. The radionuclide used for each type of simulation as well as the source distribution were chosen according to NEMA standards as well. The simulated data were analyzed using ROOT, a data statistical analysis framework written in C??. Image reconstruction follows the data processing, and tomographic images are created through traditional filtered back-projection, or through an iterative series of back and forward-projection steps. All simulations and analyses presented in this work were carried out using the Texas A&M at Qatar High Performance Cluster (HPC). We will report on the results of the sensitivity, scatter fraction and spatial resolution of the scanner described.


Impact evaluations of development programmes usually focus on a comparison of participants with a control group. However, if the programme generates externalities for non-participants such an approach will capture only part of the programme's impact. Based on a unique large-scale quantitative survey we estimate the direct as well as the spillover effects of a women's empowerment programme in rural India on child immunization and school enrollment. The survey covers both participants and non-participants living in programme villages, as well as respondents in control villages where the programme is not yet active. We account for participation selection bias using instrumental variables. The control villages allow us to test the exclusion restriction and provide us with an effective control group to analyze programme impact. We find both direct effects and significant spillovers on non-participants. The impact of interventions might be substantially underestimated if such external effects were not taken into account.


A detailed study on soil resources characterization based on the understanding of the soil system is not available at Dugda district. With the cognizance of this fact, the present study was conducted to characterize the morphological and physicochemical properties of soils, classify the soils according to World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) of Argo-Gedilala Subwatershed in Dugda District of Oromia Regional State, Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia. Four slope classes were considered and one pedon was opened for each and described in the field on a standard description sheet for each slope category. Soil samples were collected from genetic horizons of each pedon for laboratory analysis of the selected physicochemical properties of the soils. The soils were classified into different Reference Soil Groups following the (WRB).The organic carbon (OC) content of the study area ranged from low to medium/moderate (0.64 to 1.83%). Total nitrogen (TN),available.phosphorus (Av.P), cation exchange capacity (CEC) and  percent base saturation (PBS) of the soils were in  the range of (0.066-0.135%), (2.24-4.81 mgkg-1), (39.52-43.52) cmol(+)kg-1) and (77.57- 89.8%), respectively. Accordingly, they were rated as low to medium, very low to low, high to very high and high to very high, respectively. The soil classification revealed that pedon 1 and pedon 2 were Cambic Chernic Phaeozems (Pantoclayic, Humic, Hypereutric); and pedon 4, Cambic Chernic Phaeozem (Pantoclayic, Humic); whereas, pedon 3 is found to be a kind of Luvic Phaeozem (Abruptic, Albic, Clayic, Differentic, Hypereutric). The soils of the study area had low organic matter, available P and total nitrogen content, which can be seen as production constraints of all cultivated lands. To overcome the identified limitations, increasing the organic matter levels through continuous application of manure.

 Key words: Genetic horizons, morphological properties, pedon, physicochemical properties, slope.


ABSTRACT Four sandstone facies were defined in a 300-m-thick diamictite member of the glacigene Permo-Carboniferous Dwyka Formation. The laterally persistent type-A sandstones comprising quartz arenite are conformable to the bedding of the diamictite and are unreformed. They are interpreted as subaqueous outwash-fan deposits. Sandstone facies B (also quartz arenites) occurs intermittently along bedding planes in the diamictite and shows soft-sediment deformation. It represents subaqueous, segmented outwash-fan deposits which were primarily deformed by density loading of the soft diamicton. The highly irregular type-C sandstones comprise quartz and lithic arenites and wackes, are randomly distributed in the diamictite, and are deformed. They ale interpreted as esker and esker-delta deposits and rafted lumps of frozen meltwater sands deformed by overriding ice or density loading of the diamicton. Facies D consists of quartz and lithic arenites and represents clastic dikes and diapiric injections formed by density loading of waterlogged meltwater sand. The three diamictite subfacies associated with the sandstones were deposited in open water by iceberg rafting, suspension settling, and debris flow, by a combination of lodgement and melt-out processes below grounded ice, and below an ice shelf by debris rain, suspension settling, and slope failure. The outwash-fan deposits, esker deltas, clastic dikes, and diapiric injections are confined to those parts of the basin covered by open water and the ice shelf. The esker deposits formed in areas overlain by grounded ice. Episodic advance of the ice lobes and oscillation of the ice-grounding line eroded the fan sediments and also contributed to the deformation of the sand bodies.


The influence of soil structure on the behavior of clay-rich mixtures has been examined. Mixtures of sand and bentonite, known as buffer, have been studied to determine their suitability for nuclear fuel waste containment. Triaxial tests have been performed on compacted specimens to determine the strength and constitutive behavior of the buffer. Two techniques were followed in preparing specimens. In the first method, specimens were compacted to dry densities of 1.5 Mg/m3 and 28% moisture content and were allowed to equilibrate to their confining pressures prior to test. The second method, which aimed at shortening the test durations, involved forming specimens at dry densities corresponding to equilibrium states at the test pressure levels. This required compacting sand-bentonite mixtures at different densities and moisture contents. The study indicates that the compressibility and stress-strain behavior of the buffer are strongly influenced by specimen preparation techniques. Because of the different degrees of soil manipulation and moulding moisture contents, the specimens had different macrostructures. This affected the swelling and shear behavior of the buffer. However, preyield porewater pressure response and ultimate shear resistance appeared to be unaffected by preparation techniques. Shear test results suggest that the buffer is anisotropic and slightly strain softening in shear. An ultimate strength envelope of c' = 0 kPa and φ' = 14° is determined in the pressure range of 0 to 1.5 MPa.


Silicon photonics is a key technology for constructing large-scale photonic integrated circuits (PICs) because it enables large-scale wafer processes with high uniformity and quality. To further improve device characteristics, heterogeneous integration of III-V compound semiconductors that provide optical gain, a high modulation efficiency, and optical non-linearity is desired. This paper describes the heterogeneous integration of membrane III-V compound semiconductor photonic devices that have a similar structure including thickness and refractive index. These devices provide efficient optical coupling with a Si waveguide using a simple taper waveguide structure. If the total thickness of the film structure is designed to be less than the critical thickness (calculated to be 430 nm for fabrication conditions such as bonding and growth temperatures), high-quality epitaxial layers can be grown on a thin InP layer directly bonded to the Si substrate. Therefore, regrowth techniques are employed on bonded InP layer on SiO2/Si substrate. We fabricate two kinds of laser-integrated Mach-Zehnder modulators using epitaxial regrowth on Si substrates. One uses Si phase modulators, and the other uses InP-based modulators. A micro-transfer-printing technology is also important when the number of III-V devices is relatively small. Furthermore, the micro-transfer-printing technology enables devices to be selected that meet the required characteristics before integration. For this purpose, we try to integrate a membrane laser on a Si substrate, in which the membrane laser is fabricated on InP substrate. The device shows a threshold current of 0.8 mA when the active region length is 140 μm. Finally, we briefly describe a transmission module, in which directly modulated membrane lasers and electronic drivers are integrated by flip-chip bonding through Au bumps. To reduce power consumption, it is important to design driver circuits that incorporate semiconductor lasers as electronic components. We demonstrate a 2-channel 53-Gbit/s 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM4) transmitter front-end consisting of a 2-channel PAM4 shunt laser driver and 2-channel O-band directly modulated membrane lasers. The total power consumption is only 60.7 mW, resulting in 0.57 mW/Gbit/s.


The objective of this study was to estimate the preventive effect of various dry cow management measures against quarter new intramammary infections (IMI) during the dry period up to 21 d postcalving. Moreover, the potential publication bias was assessed in the studies selected for this analysis. The intervention measures were blanket dry cow therapy (BDCT), selective dry cow therapy (SDCT), cloxacillin compared with other dry cow therapy products, and teat sealant. A meta-analysis relative risk (RR) was calculated per intervention and pathogen group when enough studies were available from the 33 selected studies. Results of the meta-analyses were examined using publication bias tests. Blanket dry cow therapy showed significant protection against new IMI caused by Streptococcus spp. [the pooled RR was 0.39 (0.30 to 0.51)] but no protection was observed against coliform new IMI [the pooled RR was 0.95 (0.81 to 1.10)]. After correction for publication bias, it became doubtful whether DCT is protective against new Staphylococcus spp. IMI. Cloxacillin showed similar protection against new quarter IMI compared with other DCT products [the pooled RR was 1.09 (0.94 to 1.25)]. Selective dry cow therapy showed higher protection against new IMI compared with no DCT [the pooled RR was 0.51 (0.30 to 0.86)]. However, BDCT showed more protection when compared with SDCT [the pooled RR was 0.55 (0.37 to 0.80)], but the inference about whether BDCT is superior to SDCT was dependent on whether the selection criteria for SDCT was at the cow or quarter level. Internal teat sealants showed significant protection against new IMI during the dry period [the pooled RR was 0.39 (0.18 to 0.82)]. Publication bias should be taken into account when attempts are made to review literature in a meta-analysis.


Why are some companies highly successful in spotting and exploiting global opportunities, while others mismanage them or miss them entirely? The answer could lie in the company's mindset, a topical subject currently doing the rounds at numerous executive education seminars. The term corporate mindset refers to how the company sees the world and how this affects its actions. For companies operating on a global scale, developing a global corporate mindset presents a formidable managerial challenge. The corporate mindset determines to what extent management encourages and values cultural diversity, while simultaneously maintaining a certain degree of strategic cohesion. Developing a global corporate mindset and a group of global managers as its main flag bearers has become a key prerequisite for successfully competing and growing in worldwide markets. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


The path between journalism and parliamentary media advising is well trodden. However, there has been little examination of the impact becoming a media adviser has on a reporter's conception of journalism values and practice. This paper reports on a selection of findings from broader inductive qualitative research into the under-explored career transition from journalism to parliamentary media advising and back. Semi-structured interviews with 21 journalists who had moved between the two roles revealed the shift to political public relations (PR) led several of the journalists to reassess their commitment to the fundamental journalism principle of the "public's right to know". Once working as parliamentary media advisers, the transcripts showed a growing sense of caution around the release information by the former journalists, in response to the confidential nature of politics, and being on the receiving end of unethical journalism practice. Central to this change was an erosion of trust in particular reporters due to perceptions of unethical practice. Based on these findings this paper argues it is important for both journalists and political media advisers to reflect on the way in which their own actions might be perceived by the other, and consider whether their practices are helping to facilitate or restrict the free flow of information to the public.


Social capital is a multi-dimensional concept, which reinstates the importance of informal social networks, formal social networks and social trust for the functioning of societies and institutions. The study of European history and the increasing political and administrative autonomy of European regions offer theoretical and empirical ground to undertake research at the comparative level. In this respect, Beugelsdijk and Van Schaik (2005a; 2005b) proposed a first comparative measurement of social capital in European regions. In this chapter, I deal with the technical shortcomings of their work and I propose in conclusion a categorization of European regions based on classical sociological theory. The remainder of the chapter is as follows: first, I discuss the rationale to propose a cross-regional analysis of social capital in order to complement the traditional cross-national comparisons; second I analyse the most influential methods adopted to measure social capital; third, I discuss the method used in the chapter to categorize European regions and nations; and fourth, I compare the cross-regional and cross-national classifications.


Studying pervasive computing's impact on consumer attitudes and the acceptance rate of new interfaces can help in the design and development of successful business application employing voice-enabled Web systems. The proposed voice-enabled Web system integrates multiple channels and provides users with choices for accessing information on the Internet. It gives users options to meet their needs, fit their preferences, or overcome environmental constraints. Although mobile phones have various options for accessing the Internet, small mobile devices generally have a hard time creating and displaying information


Evidence suggests that in the past support services for patients and family carers of terminally ill people have often been unavailable or inadequate in addressing their needs. This chapter will briefly summarize the context of hospice and palliative care services. The chapter argues that definitions of palliative care are culturally and temporally dependent, exemplified by the changing terminology used in the United Kingdom. One of the challenges facing service deliverers is the necessity to work collaboratively across health and social care services, and statutory and voluntary sector organizational boundaries. The funding and organizational positioning of hospice and palliative care services are often contingent upon health care systems and resources. All roles require careful recruitment, dedicated training, and consistent support to provide effective contributions from volunteers. The chapter ends by providing a short description of three studies investigating the role of volunteers undertaken in the United Kingdom.


Campi Flegrei (CF) is an example of an active caldera containing densely populated settlements at very high risk of pyroclastic density currents (PDCs). We present here an innovative method for assessing background spatial PDC hazard in a caldera setting with probabilistic invasion maps conditional on the occurrence of an explosive event. The method encompasses the probabilistic assessment of potential vent opening positions, derived in the companion paper, combined with inferences about the spatial density distribution of PDC invasion areas from a simplified flow model, informed by reconstruction of deposits from eruptions in the last 15 ka. The flow model describes the PDC kinematics and accounts for main effects of topography on flow propagation. Structured expert elicitation is used to incorporate certain sources of epistemic uncertainty, and a Monte Carlo approach is adopted to produce a set of probabilistic hazard maps for the whole CF area. Our findings show that, in case of eruption, almost the entire caldera is exposed to invasion with a mean probability of at least 5%, with peaks greater than 50% in some central areas. Some areas outside the caldera are also exposed to this danger, with mean probabilities of invasion of the order of 5–10%. Our analysis suggests that these probability estimates have location‐specific uncertainties which can be substantial. The results prove to be robust with respect to alternative elicitation models and allow the influence on hazard mapping of different sources of uncertainty, and of theoretical and numerical assumptions, to be quantified.