Background and objective Radioiodine therapy (RAI) is one of the most common treatment solutions for Graves' disease (GD). However, many patients will develop hypothyroidism as early as 6 months after RAI. This study aimed to implement machine learning (ML) algorithms for the early prediction of post-RAI hypothyroidism. Methods Four hundred and seventy-one GD patients who underwent RAI between January 2016 and June 2019 were retrospectively recruited and randomly split into the training set (310 patients) and the validation set (161 patients). These patients were followed for 6 months after RAI. A set of 138 clinical and lab test features from the electronic medical record (EMR) were extracted, and multiple ML algorithms were conducted to identify the features associated with the occurrence of hypothyroidism 6 months after RAI. Results An integrated multivariate model containing patients' age, thyroid mass, 24-h radioactive iodine uptake, serum concentrations of aspartate aminotransferase, thyrotropin-receptor antibodies, thyroid microsomal antibodies, and blood neutrophil count demonstrated an area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) of 0.72 (95% CI: 0.61–0.85), an F1 score of 0.74, and an MCC score of 0.63 in the training set. The model also performed well in the validation set with an AUROC of 0.74 (95% CI: 0.65–0.83), an F1 score of 0.74, and a MCC of 0.63. A user-friendly nomogram was then established to facilitate the clinical utility. Conclusion The developed multivariate model based on EMR data could be a valuable tool for predicting post-RAI hypothyroidism, allowing them to be treated differently before the therapy. Further study is needed to validate the developed prognostic model at independent sites.


Methods for dynamic difficulty adjustment allow games to be tailored to particular players to maximize their engagement. However, current methods often only modify a limited set of game features such as the difficulty of the opponents, or the availability of resources. Other approaches, such as experience-driven Procedural Content Generation (PCG), can generate complete levels with desired properties such as levels that are neither too hard nor too easy, but require many iterations. This paper presents a method that can generate and search for complete levels with a specific target difficulty in only a few trials. This advance is enabled by through an Intelligent Trial-and-Error algorithm, originally developed to allow robots to adapt quickly. Our algorithm first creates a large variety of different levels that vary across predefined dimensions such as leniency or map coverage. The performance of an AI playing agent on these maps gives a proxy for how difficult the level would be for another AI agent (e.g. one that employs Monte Carlo Tree Search instead of Greedy Tree Search); using this information, a Bayesian Optimization procedure is deployed, updating the difficulty of the prior map to reflect the ability of the agent. The approach can reliably find levels with a specific target difficulty for a variety of planning agents in only a few trials, while maintaining an understanding of their skill landscape.


Extensive land clearing in many parts of the global tropics is a major threat to biodiversity, and strategies are urgently needed to reinstate forest. Tree planting is a commonly used strategy to rapidly restore forest to degraded landscapes. However, tree planting is expensive, and in most cases financial constraints prevent its use at a scale needed to address the ongoing legacy of land clearing. Here, we conduct a quantitative review of literature from the global tropics and evaluate outcomes of less intensive interventions (i.e. non‐planting) aimed at stimulating natural regeneration of forest. We focus specifically on overcoming barriers to native plant regeneration that predominate in the earliest stages of succession. Common interventions include varied strategies to suppress herbaceous vegetation (e.g. cutting or herbicide treatment), and measures to bolster propagule supply (e.g. direct seeding and artificial bird perches). There was an apparent trend among pair‐wise comparisons of effect sizes to suggest that combined interventions to simultaneously suppress herbaceous vegetation and increase propagule supply resulted in the most consistent outcomes in terms of promoting progress toward restoring forest structure. Despite an obvious demand for lower cost interventions, a paucity of information means that it is still premature to generalize outcomes of specific interventions and their overall cost relative to active tree planting. Nevertheless, we report an increase in research effort in this area, and suggest promising directions to accelerate progress that will improve capacity to select optimal, cost effective strategies that achieve long‐term restoration objectives with a particular level of certainty.


To the Editor.—Recent studies linking anticonvulsant drugs and congenital abnormalities1,2prompt this report of an apparently similar case in which the physical stigmas in the affected child seem to be accentuations of a genetic predisposition in the family. Report of a Case An 18-month-old girl was referred to us because of growth deficiency and several minor physical abnormalities. She was born to a 27-year-old white woman with generalized epilepsy. Throughout the pregnancy, the mother had taken diphenylhydantoin, 400 mg, and phenobarbital, 120 mg, daily. One seizure occurred in the fifth month of pregnancy. Breech presentation necessitated cesarian section in the 44th week of pregnancy. The infant's birth weight was 3,720 gm (8.5 lb) and length was 53.3 cm (21.0 in). Physical growth during infancy was slow; height, weight, and head circumference were all below the third percentile for her age. Her general health was good, but psychomotor development


The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of East Indian sandalwood oil ( Santalum album, Santalaceae) and alpha-santalol on physiological parameters as well as on mental and emotional conditions in healthy human subjects after transdermal absorption. In order to exclude any olfactory stimulation, the inhalation of the fragrances was prevented by breathing masks. Eight physiological parameters, i. e., blood oxygen saturation, blood pressure, breathing rate, eye-blink rate, pulse rate, skin conductance, skin temperature, and surface electromyogram were recorded. Subjective mental and emotional condition was assessed by means of rating scales. While alpha-santalol caused significant physiological changes which are interpreted in terms of a relaxing/sedative effect, sandalwood oil provoked physiological deactivation but behavioral activation. These findings are likely to represent an uncoupling of physiological and behavioral arousal processes by sandalwood oil.


Corn is the one of the most important crops in Serbia. Corn is grown on 1.200.000 hectares. It is susceptible to a number of ear and kernel rots, some of which are widely distributed and can cause significant damage in humid areas. Ear and kernel rots can reduce yield, quality and feed value of grain. Toxins produced by the fungi in corn can also have serious implications to the end use of the grain. Fungi belonging to the genus Fusarium are the most significant fungi which can cause corn ear and kernel rots. The aim of this paper is to test health of mercantile maize seed which belong to 3 different hybrids (PR 34N43, PR 36K67 and PR 37N01). Seed health testing was done using filter paper and nutritive media (PDA) method. The weather during vegetation period (April-October) was very variable. Total rainfall amount for Sombor for that period in Sombor area was 744 mm. Fungi from genera Fusarium, Penicillium, Aspergillus and Alternaria were isolated from tested corn seed by both methods. No significant differences were found between tested hybrids in the level of seed contamination. Two species from the genus Fusarium were found in the tested corn samples F. graminearum and F. moniliforme. These species are some of the most common on corn in Serbia. Tested hybrids which belong to different FAO maturity groups showed differences in susceptibility to ear and kernel rot. Although the observed percent of Fusarium species was from 5.6-9.7% there is no significant difference between yield of tested hybrids. But if the infection potential is present, during storage condition (if the conditions in the storage are not optimal) sever seed contamination could appear. So, the next step is monitoring of mycotoxins production of isolated species, in the first place the two Fusarium species and Penicillium and Aspergillus.


Colorectal cancer comprises of subpopulations of cells with distinct genotypes and phenotypes that harbor diverse genomic alterations even within the same tumour. Tumour
heterogeneity has an implication for biomarker discovery and cancer therapeutics, particularly in the era of targeted treatment. An understanding of tumour heterogeneity is
likely to increase with the use of primary cell lines directly from colorectal tumour biopsies and a correlation of the chemoresponses from each cell line to the genetic variation exhibited by each patients. Secondary cell lines purchased from foreign cell culture banks consist of homogeneous entities and may not reflect the diverse spectrum of tumour cells that exists in a population or within an individual. A protocol was designed to ensure
routine establishment of primary cell lines following failure in attempts of isolating contamination-free cells by using published methods. Cells were directly isolated from
tumour biopsies and cultured in optimized culture conditions. These cells were maintained in ultra-low passages to minimize the chances of their transformation from their original growth characteristics and resemble the primary tumours from which it was derived. Cells from each patient was characterized based on their heterogeneous morphologies and variation in tumour marker expressions. Isolated cells were tested for purity of its tumoral nature with cancer markers such as carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and C2 antibodies.
The main focus of this study was to analyze the events of drug resistance that has long been identified as a major reason for therapy failure in cancer patients and are thought to be the primary cause of cancer relapse. In order to identify the optimum treatment regimen for the
established cell lines, a variety of drug doses and drug combination strategies were analyzed by the Chou-Talalay median-effect principles using secondary cell lines. Cells
responded differentially to various drug combinations and monotherapy with synergy seen in specific combinations. The designated doses and combination arrangements were then
tested with the established primary cells. Interestingly, primary cells from each patient exhibited significant variation in their chemoresponses. The heterogeneity in drug response converged to focus the attention on identifying the genetic factors underlying the drug resistant variants in primary cancers. The mechanisms that promote or enable drug resistance were investigated with molecular techniques in which a panel of 88 genes were analyzed with real time PCR techniques. Critical factors promoting drug resistance were investigated and this mainly includes drug inactivation, drug target alteration, drug transportation, apoptosis, DNA damage repair and cell cycle. Relatively, chemoresistance as observed in this study was mainly enhanced by involvement of genes participating in repair of DNA damage which promotes cell survival. In this study, the heterogeneity observed within tumours and the relationship of this diversity to drug resistance was analyzed extensively. Studies using primary cancer cells established from each patient helped to increase the understanding of the root of the drug resistance complexities more convincingly than using homogeneous secondary clones. An understanding of the basic molecular heterogeneity of colorectal cancer is essential for the diagnosis and redesigning of targeted treatment for patients.


A finite element solution of the modified Reynolds equation using isoparametric, bilinear quadrilateral elements with an adaptive meshing strategy is presented. The modified hydrodynamic stiffness method (Smith, 1995) was used to obtain a coupled solution of the air bearing equation with the slider equilibrium equations. The vertex label based adaptive meshing algorithm of Cheng et al. (1999) was also implemented. The problem is initially solved with a regular quadrilateral FE mesh. The mesh adaptation (h-refinement) is based on the relative pressure gradients in the initial solution, and on the geometry of the slider. The refinement is implemented on an existing element, if preset criteria on the pressure gradient and/or slider geometry are exceeded.


Visual question answering (VQA) requires joint comprehension of images and natural language questions, where many questions can't be directly or clearly answered from visual content but require reasoning from structured human knowledge with confirmation from visual content. This paper proposes visual knowledge memory network (VKMN) to address this issue, which seamlessly incorporates structured human knowledge and deep visual features into memory networks in an end-to-end learning framework. Comparing to existing methods for leveraging external knowledge for supporting VQA, this paper stresses more on two missing mechanisms. First is the mechanism for integrating visual contents with knowledge facts. VKMN handles this issue by embedding knowledge triples (subject, relation, target) and deep visual features jointly into the visual knowledge features. Second is the mechanism for handling multiple knowledge facts expanding from question and answer pairs. VKMN stores joint embedding using key-value pair structure in the memory networks so that it is easy to handle multiple facts. Experiments show that the proposed method achieves promising results on both VQA v1.0 and v2.0 benchmarks, while outperforms state-of-the-art methods on the knowledge-reasoning related questions.


Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) is a warm salty water formed in one out of four main zones of dense water formation in the Mediterranean Sea. LIW spreads as a density current and first appears on a ϴ-S diagram as a sharp peak that then smoothens out, often leading to the so-called "scorpion-tail" image with a ϴ (S) maximum above (below) the expected core. Both maxima have always been considered, somewhat fuzzily (even by us), as LIW characteristics without having ever been analysed theoretically. We question neither the "scorpion-tail" image nor the "core-method" nor qualitative analyses of either LIW or other waters characterized by similar extrema. But data from the Strait of Gibraltar demonstrate that characterizing and/or delimiting LIW by these maxima gives LIW a much greater importance than it actually merits so all quantitative analyses of LIW musts be reconsidered. Calculations made as simple as possible to simulate a warm salty layer of intermediate water (IW) mixing with waters lying above and below suggest that these maxima i) can be understood only when all three waters are considered together, ii) can evolve in different ways, iii) generally tend to move from the core of the IW layer outwards, and hence iv) can neither characterize nor delimit the IW in any way. Actual simulations with more sophisticated parameterizations are obviously needed. In addition, we suggest that what has to date been called LIW in the western basin in fact represents all intermediate waters formed in all zones of dense water formation in the eastern basin, i.e. not only Levantine waters but also, in particular, Aegean/Cretan waters. To provide a logical counterpart to WIW (Western Intermediate Water), we therefore suggest that, from the Channel of Sicily downstream, LIW should be renamed Eastern Intermediate Water (EIW).


Abstract. Changes in the Greenland ice sheet (GIS) affect global sea level. Greenland stable water isotope (δ18O) records from ice cores offer information on past changes in the surface of the GIS. Here, we use the isotope-enabled Hadley Centre Coupled Model version 3 (HadCM3) climate model to simulate a set of last interglacial (LIG) idealised GIS surface elevation change scenarios focusing on GIS ice core sites. We investigate how δ18O depends on the magnitude and sign of GIS elevation change and evaluate how the response is altered by sea ice changes. We find that modifying GIS elevation induces changes in Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation, sea ice and precipitation patterns. These climate feedbacks lead to ice-core-averaged isotopic lapse rates of 0.49 ‰ (100 m)−1 for the lowered GIS states and 0.29 ‰ (100 m)−1 for the enlarged GIS states. This is lower than the spatially derived Greenland lapse rates of 0.62–0.72 ‰ (100 m)−1. These results thus suggest non-linearities in the isotope–elevation relationship and have consequences for the interpretation of past elevation and climate changes across Greenland. In particular, our results suggest that winter sea ice changes may significantly influence isotope–elevation gradients: winter sea ice effect can decrease (increase) modelled core-averaged isotopic lapse rate values by about −19 % (and +28 %) for the lowered (enlarged) GIS states, respectively. The largest influence of sea ice on δ18O changes is found in coastal regions like the Camp Century site.


The ESA HERA-JUVENTAS mission relies on 50–100 MHz dipole antennas mounted on a CubeSat. The mission requires an accurate verification of the 3D co-polar and cross-polar directivity, gain, and matching. The performance verification of low gain antennas installed on space platforms at frequencies below 400MHz is a challenging task. The use of spherical nearfield measurement technique is the most suitable and accurate approach for low gain antennas. However, a well-designed conventional anechoic chamber, for indoor testing, equipped with suitable absorbers at the desired test frequencies would be large and thus expensive. In this paper, the so-called synthetic probe array technique to suitably shape the probe pattern for minimum illumination of the chamber walls will be presented. Its applicability to spherical near field measurements in the existing HERTZ testing facility at ESA/ESTEC will be discussed. A comprehensive theoretical study has been performed using fullwave simulation of the chamber and the spacecraft. Moreover, scaled measurements considering a 10:1 scaled model of the final scenario are currently under investigation to better verify the performance of the proposed measurement technique. Preliminary results obtained from the simulation analysis and the scaled tests are reported in this paper.


Abstract We estimated the Galactic model parameters for a set of 36 high-latitude fields included in the currently available Data Release 5 (DR 5) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), to explore their possible variation with the Galactic longitude. The thick disc scaleheight moves from ∼550 pc at 120 < l < 150° to ∼720 pc at 250 < l < 290°, while the thin disc scaleheight is as large as ∼195 pc in the anticenter direction and ∼15% lower at |l| < 30°. Finally, the axis ratio (c/a) of the halo changes from a mean value of ∼0.55 in the two first quadrants of the Galaxy to ∼0.70 at 190 < l < 300°. For the halo, the reason for the dependence of the model parameters on the Galactic longitude arises from the well known asymmetric structure of this component. However, the variation of the model parameters of the thin and thick discs with Galactic longitude originates from the gravitational effect of the Galactic long bar. Moreover, the excess of stars in quadrant I (quadrant III) over quadrant IV (quadrant II) is in agreement with this scenario.


The approach of a quantum state to a cosmological singularity is studied through the evolution of its moments in a simple version of a Bianchi I model. In spite of the simplicity, the model exhibits several instructive and unexpected features of the moments. They are investigated here both analytically and numerically in an approximation in which anisotropy is assumed to vary slowly, while numerical methods are also used to analyze the case of a rapidly evolving anisotropy. Physical conclusions are drawn mainly regarding two questions. First, quantum uncertainty of anisotropies does not necessarily eliminate the existence of isotropic solutions, with potential implications for the interpretation of minisuperspace truncations as well as structure-formation scenarios in the early universe. Secondly, back-reaction of moments on basic expectation values is found to delay the approach to the classical singularity.


Abstract I studied year-round foraging behavior of 28 color-banded Eurasian Three-toed Woodpeckers (Picoides tridactylus alpinus) from 1995 to 1999 in Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany. My research focused on how foraging time was divided among various substrates and foraging techniques. Foraging behavior was recorded by instantaneous sampling during independent observation sessions (i.e. foraging bouts). A combination of tapping and pecking was the most important foraging technique used during breeding (>43%) and nonbreeding (>59%). Both mean and maximum foraging bouts (mean ± SD) lasted longer during nonbreeding periods (mean: 17.0 ± 3.7 min, maximum: 61.9 ± 30.2 min) than during breeding periods (4.3 ± 3.0 min, 15.5 ± 16.1 min). Sap-sucking was observed rarely during breeding. Males spent less time foraging on branches, whereas females spent less time in the lower third of trees on which they foraged. Males also manipulated foraging substrates more by pecking and digging (probing), whereas females did more climbing and position-changing on foraging trees. I concluded that Eurasian Threetoed Woodpeckers changed their foraging techniques according to seasonal changes in diet and that, during breeding, males used better foraging grounds than females. Le Comportement de Quête Alimentaire chez Picoides tridactylus alpinus en Relation avec le Sexe et la Saison en Allemagne


OBJECTIVES
Traditionally, healing after surgical endodontic retreatment (SER); i.e. apicectomy with or without a retrograde filling, is assessed in periapical radiographs (PR). Recently, the use of cone beam CT (CBCT) has increased within endodontics. Generally, CBCT detects more periapical lesions than PR, but basic research on the true nature of these lesions is missing. The objective was to assess the diagnostic validity of PR and CBCT for determining inflammation in SER cases that were re-operated (SER-R) due to unsuccessful healing, using histology of the periapical lesion as reference for inflammation.

METHODS
Records from 149 patients, receiving SER 2004-10, were screened. In total 108 patients (119 teeth) were recalled for clinical follow-up examination, PR and CBCT, of which 74 patients (83 teeth) participated. Three observers assessed PR and CBCT as "successful healing" or "unsuccessful healing" using Rud and Molven's criteria. SER-R was offered to all non-healed teeth with expected favourable prognosis for subsequent functional retention. During SER-R, biopsy was performed and histopathology verified whether or not inflammation was present.

RESULTS
All re-operated cases were assessed non-healed in CBCT while 11 of these were assessed successfully healed in PR. Nineteen biopsies were examined. Histopathologic diagnosis revealed 42% (teeth = 8) without periapical inflammation, 16% (teeth = 3) with mild inflammation and 42% (teeth = 8) with moderate to intense inflammation. A correct diagnosis was obtained in 58% with CBCT (true positives) and 63% with PR (true positives+true negatives).

CONCLUSIONS
Of the re-operated teeth, 42% had no periapical inflammatory lesion, and hence no benefit from SER-R. Not all lesions observed in CBCT represented periapical inflammatory lesions.


A 49‐year‐old woman was admitted with fatigue, dyspnoea, pretibial oedema and decreased daily urination. Seven years ago she was treated with doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine, alternating with mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine and prednisone and 80 Gy abdominal radiotherapy for Hodgkin's disease. Two years later, malignant hypertension was diagnosed. Angiotensin‐2 antagonist and p‐blocker treatment was given. After increased serum creatinine levels were determined, renal angiography was performed and total obstruction in the left renal artery and near total obstruction in the right side was observed. She was admitted to our clinic with oliguria, and acute renal failure was diagnosed. Balloon angioplasty and stent implantation was performed to the right renal artery. After a polyuric period, serum creatinine reduced to near normal levels. Angiotensin‐2 antagonist treatment worsened the course in this patient. Patients with resistant hypertension occurring years after abdominal radiotherapy should be evaluated for renal artery stenosis.


The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of selenium and vitamin E supplementation on some haematological parameters and red blood cell osmotic fragility in Wistar rats subjected to water immersion restraint stress (WRS) (n= 35). Male Wistar rats, weighing 200-220 g were divided in to five groups of seven rats each, viz: (i) passive control (non-stress rats), (ii) active control (WRS + distilled water), (iii) WRS + vitamin E, (iv) WRS + vitamin E + selenium, and (v) WRS + selenium. The WRS procedure lasted for 3.5 hours. Blood samples were collected through cardiac puncture for the investigation of some haematological parameters and red blood cell osmotic fragility. The results of the present study showed that there were no significant changes (P > 0.05) in PCV, Hb, RBC, WBC, MCV, MCH, MCHC, Lymphocytes and monocytes and there was a significant decrease(P > 0.05) in neutrophil count in response to WRS for 3.5 hours. Some of the haematological values (PCV, RBC, WBC, Hb, neutrophils and lymphocytes) showed significant increase (P < 0.001) in selenium and vitamin E pre-treated groups. The result of the erythrocyte osmotic fragility showed that 3.5 hours of WRS increased haemolysis in the rats. The percentage haemolysis was significantly highest in the active control group. Pre-treatment with selenium and vitamin E decreased the percentage haemolysis significantly. It was concluded that acute WRS exposure for 3.5 hours did not exert considerable effects on blood-forming organs, such that there was no inhibition of erythropoiesis and consequently, haemosynthesis.The MCV, MCH and MCHC remain normal because there was no significant destruction in RBC (size and shape) and decrease in haemoglobin content in the active controls and the decrease in neutrophil count was because neutrophils were involved in phagocytosis,during which some of the neutrophils have ruptured. The erythrocytes were susceptible to oxidative stress. Administration of selenium and vitamin E singly or in combination ameliorated WRS-induced changes of the abovestudied parameters. Keywords : Erythrocyte, Haemolysis, Neutrophil, Stress, Selenium, Vitamin E, Water immersion,


The contact resistance in a wire array z-pinch has a significant affect on both the level and uniformity of energy deposition in the wires. Typically wires are held taut against the electrodes by wire weights (-1-10 g depending on wire material and diameter). This can lead to contact resistance values of -90-99% of the load resistance. Previous techniques to reduce the contact resistance (i.e. soldering) do not scale to large wire number arrays (such as Z-Machine). UM contact resistance experiments used 13 micron diameter Al 5056 wires. Bench measurements of the load resistance for double-ended weighted contact (similar to the method used on the Z-Machine) gave values in the range of 100-3000 ohms per wire. The actual wire resistance was 6.5 ohms. A second set of measurements in which the z-pinch wire was clamped to the electrodes using an indium gasket showed a reduction in load resistance to -10 ohms. Using a silver gasket further reduced the load resistance to 7 ohms. This clamping technique reduced the contact resistance by 2-3 orders of magnitude. Additionally, the contact resistance for clamped contact is significantly less than the resistance of the wire itself. Experiments performed on a 20 kA, 100 kV, 150 ns risetime Marx bank showed that the energy deposition and uniformity of the plasma expansion profile was significantly affected by the contact resistance. An open pinhole camera was used to observe a time integrated image of the plasma emission, and dark-field laser Schlieren photos were used to monitor the expansion profile of the plasma. The cases with clamped contact had more intense wire-plasma emission and more uniform expansion profiles. The weighted cases exhibited distinct, bright emission regions at the electrodes, indicative of contact arcing. Additional experiments are being conducted using 11.5 micron diameter W wire. Three cases are being examined: baseline weighted case, clamped contact case, and weighted case with soft metal (In or Ag) electrode gaskets. Preliminary results show that the electrode material may have a significant impact on contact resistance.


: We present the case of a patient with no previous history of liver disease, who required urgent medical care due to dizziness and hypotension. A diagnosis of hemoperitoneum was made by means of ultrasound and fine needle aspiration. The hemoperitoneum source was the spontaneous rupture of a liver tumor whose CT axial scan appearance was suggestive of hepatocarcinoma. The hemorrhage was controlled using intraarterial selective embolization. The rupture of a hepatocarcinoma is a surgical emergency with high mortality. Its early detection using an adequate diagnostic sequence, allows the surgeon to establish a therapeutic procedure as soon possible. Selective intraarterial embolization with alcohol has proved to be an effective procedure in the management of this kind of hemorrhage with a minimum surgical preparation, and allows further surgical interventions. Nevertheless mortality is still high due to the severity of the clinical entity.


This study aimed to investigate the incentive/disincentive impacts of social grants on the proportion of land area cultivated by rural households. The study relied on a sample of 984 households from KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa. The results showed no association between social grants and proportion of land area cultivated by farmers. This has two implications. Firstly, it suggests that the disincentive hypothesis should not be accepted. Secondly, it implies that the potential complementarity between social grants and smallholder farming has not materialised. Given that social grants are now seen as strategies to promote rural livelihoods in South Africa, the study recommends that the objectives of social grants and smallholder farming be synchronised so that the potential complementarity between the two interventions may materialise. The study identified several other constraints that policy makers should focus on to increase the proportion of land area cultivated by smallholder farmers.


Riparian vegetation is important for stream functioning and as a major landscape feature. For many riparian plants, shallow groundwater is an important source of water, particularly in areas where rainfall is low, either annually or seasonally, and when extended dry conditions prevail for all or part of the year. The nature of tree water relationships is highly complex. Therefore, we used multiple lines of evidence to determine the water sources used by the dominant tree species Eucalyptus camaldulensis (river red gum), growing in riparian and floodplain areas with varying depth to groundwater and stream perenniality. Dendrometer bands were used to measure diel, seasonal, and annual patterns of tree water use and growth. Water stable isotopes (δ2H and δ18O) in plant xylem, soil water, and groundwater were measured to determine spatial and temporal patterns in plant water source use. Our results indicated riparian trees located on relatively shallow groundwater had greater growth rates, larger diel responses in stem diameter, and were less reactive to extended dry periods, than trees in areas of deep groundwater. These results were supported by isotope analysis that suggested all trees used groundwater when soil water stores were depleted at the end of the dry season, and this was most pronounced for trees with shallow groundwater. Trees may experience more frequent periods of water deficit stress and undergo reduced productivity in scenarios where water table accessibility is reduced, such as drawdown from groundwater pumping activities or periods of reduced rainfall recharge. The ability of trees to adapt to changing groundwater conditions may depend on the speed of change, the local hydrologic and soil conditions as well as the species involved. Our results suggest that E. camaldulesis growing at our study site is capable of utilizing groundwater even to depths >10 m, and stream perenniality is likely to be a useful indicator of riparian tree use of groundwater.


Objective: To document the characteristics and outcomes for patients with malignancies with or without diabetes at a tertiary referral hospital. Research Design and Methods: Emergency department and hospital discharge data between 1 Jan 2015 and 31 Dec 2017 were used to identify patients with a diagnosis of a malignancy and diabetes. Multivariate Cox-regression models were used to estimate the effect of diabetes on all-cause mortality. A truncated negative binomial regression model was used to assess the impact of diabetes on length of hospital inpatient stay. Prentice, Williams and Peterson Total Time (PWP-TT) models were used to assess the effect of diabetes on number of Emergency Department presentations and inpatient admissions. Results are presented as incidence-rate ratios (IRR) or hazard ratios (HR). These models were adjusted for age, gender, type of malignancy and Charlson comorbidities. Results: For 7,058 patients identified with malignancies, 1,230(17.4%) were also diagnosed with diabetes. During the three-year study period a diagnosis of diabetes was associated with an increased number of inpatient admissions (adjusted Hazard Ratio (adjHR): 1.14, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.25), increased number of emergency department presentations (adjHR: 1.19, 95% CI: 1.11, 1.28) and length of stay for patients with diabetes (adjIRR: 1.16, 95% C.I: 1.06, 1.28). A co-diagnosis of diabetes was also associated with a 48% increased risk of all-cause mortality (adjHR 1.48, 95% CI: 1.23-1.77). Conclusions: Patients with diabetes had significantly higher numbers of emergency department presentations, inpatient admissions, length of hospital stay and higher rates of all-cause mortality compared to cancer patients without diabetes. This adverse link between diabetes and health outcomes in patients with malignancies requires further exploration. Disclosure K.V. Kiburg: None. G. Ward: None. K.M. Steele: None. E.M. Mulrooney: None. M.M. Loh: None. S. McLachlan: None. V. Sundararajan: None. R. MacIsaac: Advisory Panel; Self; AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk Inc. Speaker9s Bureau; Self; AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk Inc. Other Relationship; Self; AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk Inc. Funding Australian Government Research Training Program (to K.V.K.)


This study has two clear objectives: (1) to bring the dynamic view on national institutional frames (national business system), (2) to show the strong role of the informal dimension of the national institutions in understanding the local adoption and institutional change. With the South Korean case, I examined the way in which the public has perceived the business and society relation over the structural transformation of the national business system and how corporate social engagement practices have reflected such a shared understanding of the business and society relation over the changes of the national business system. In fact, the South Korean business system has drastically transformed over the 80 decades, even though scholars mostly recognize the South Korean business system as the state-led market economy based on a close collaboration between a few business clans (chaebols) and the nation-state from the economic development period (1970s-1980s). Based on interviews with the formal and current CSR managers and consultants and major news articles between 1920 and 2013, I analysed how South Koreans have perceived and expected the role of the wealthy, business actors, mainly chaebols in the history of the Korean business system towards the neo-liberal market transformation. This study argues that that comparative CSR scholars need to consider the "spirit of CSR" more actively in order to understand the varieties of CSR, and more theoretically that the dynamic view of national institutional environments and its informal dimension is important to understand institutional change.


The Piranha Solution® is a complex and valuable integrated chemical supply inventory management system protected as a trade secret by its asset holder, the Confluence Corporation. The Piranha program is the lifeblood of the corporation's growth and success in the chemical supply industry. A common definition of trade secret is "any information you don't want your competitors to have," and this statement couldn't be truer for the much sought after Piranha Solution®. The advantage of a trade secret is the potential to keep unique details of an invention a secret forever, as opposed to alternative protections such as a patent, which require public disclosure. But in order to retain assets as trade secrets, the holding company must take "reasonable steps" to insure the security and secrecy of undisclosed, unique details. These steps for Intellectual property security inevitably include a computer and information system component, especially when the asset is digital, as is the case with the Piranha Solution®. In this case, while Confluence Corporation appropriately focuses on, and continuously monitors for, external threats to the Piranha Solution®, internal threats that may compromise the system are largely ignored. Failure to take proper precautions to protect their assets, a not uncommon business scenario, will ultimately be disastrous for the company. How to identify and avoid missing these important issues, and what reasonable steps may be taken to protect corporate intangible assets, is the focus of this case study based on actual events known to the authors.


Introduction The +AGIL Barcelona programme is a multicomponent care intervention for frail older adults (FOAs) living in the community. To improve the programme, it is essential to investigate the experience of all participants. Our objective was to explore the perspective of FOA and professionals about the barriers, facilitators, and improvement elements of the development of the +AGIL Barcelona programme. Qualitative descriptive approach. Were included FOA and professionals who participated in the +AGIL Barcelona programme. Methods Three focus groups and four interviews were conducted. These were analyzed following the qualitative method of content analysis. The criteria of scientific rigor of credibility, dependence, and transferability were ensured throughout the study. Results Three themes and seven sub-themes were developed: facilitators (positive experience and perceived benefits), barriers (self-perceived health status, digital divide, and continuity of the programme at home), and improvements elements (programme continuity and adaptation of technology). All the participants felt satisfied, highlighting aspects such as interpersonal relationships and social contact, face-to-face sessions guided by a physiotherapist, and the functional improvement achieved. Some of the difficulties were the self-perception of frailty, the need for technological support, and continuing the exercise programme at home. Conclusion The FOA who participated in the +AGIL Barcelona programme perceived direct benefits for their health and physical condition due to the development of self-confidence by being able to perform physical exercise despite their baseline condition, and the professionals experienced an improvement in the quality of care due to work in a multidisciplinary team.


We report on the recovery of fully integrated Pb(Nb, Zr, Ti)O3 ferroelectric capacitors damaged during forming gas (4% H2, balance N2) annealing. The capacitors were encapsulated using TiOx and SiO2 as interlevel dielectrics to prevent any loss of oxygen or lead. Hydrogen, however, diffused into the ferroelectric film leading to the loss of ferroelectricity. To recover the properties of the capacitor, the fully integrated structure was annealed in N2 ambient to drive the hydrogen out. Raman scattering experiments performed in the high frequency regime to detect the [OH−] stretching vibration mode confirmed the removal of hydrogen after annealing in N2. The ferroelectric properties, including polarization and resistivity of the capacitors, were restored to their initial values prior to damage. This shows that the process of hydrogen damage is reversible with the time to recovery being dependent on the amount of hydrogen in the forming gas.


Background A broad range of gemcitabine dosages have been used in dogs. Hypothesis/Objectives To determine maximally tolerated dose (MTD), dose‐limiting toxicity (DLT), and preliminary antitumor activity of intravenous administration of gemcitabine in dogs with advanced solid tumors. Animals Twenty‐two client‐owned dogs. Methods Dogs with advanced cancer were prospectively enrolled in an open‐label Phase 1 study of gemcitabine. Gemcitabine was administered as a 30‐minute intravenous bolus starting at 800 mg/m2, using escalation of 50 mg/m2 increments with 3 dogs per dose level. MTD was established based on the number of dogs experiencing DLT assessed after 1 cycle. Treatment continued until disease progression or unacceptable toxicosis. Additional dogs were enrolled at MTD to better characterize tolerability, and to assess the extent and duration of gemcitabine excretion. Results Twenty‐two dogs were treated at 4 dose levels, ranging from 800 to 950 mg/m2. Neutropenia was identified as DLT. MTD was 900 mg/m2. DLT consisting of grade 4 febrile neutropenia was observed at 950 mg/m2 in 2 dogs. There were no nonhematologic DLTs. Twenty dogs received multiple doses, and none had evidence of severe toxicosis from any of their subsequent treatments. At 900 mg/m2, 2 complete and 5 partial responses were observed in dogs with measurable tumors. The amount of gemcitabine excreted in urine decreased over time, and was undetectable after the first 24 hours. Conclusions and Clinical Importance The recommended dose of gemcitabine for future Phase 2 studies is weekly 900 mg/m2. In chemotherapy‐naïve dogs with advanced solid tumor this dose level merits further evaluation.


Power system state estimation has been introduced over four decades ago and since then has become an integral part of the day to day network operation. State estimators are implemented in almost every control center around the world and are used to continuously monitor the power system in a near real-time fashion. More specifically, the state estimation algorithm is used to obtain an estimate of the network state while acting as a filter for measurement errors by utilizing the redundant nature of the available measurement set. Over time, a large number of redundant measurement devices were installed throughout transmission networks, which makes it possible to estimate the state of a transmission system with a high degree of accuracy. However, this is not the case in distribution networks where only a very small number of real-time measurements are available. In absence of real-time measurements, pseudo-measurements are normally used in order to enable an application of the state estimation method. Pseudo-measurements are forecasted values for loads and/or generation connected at a specific point in the network which generally have large margins of error associated with them. This means that if a large number of pseudo-measurements are used to estimate a network state, the resulting state may be significantly different from the actual network state. This is the reason why state estimation has to this day not been widely implemented in distribution networks.
In recent years, however, the growing amount of renewable generation connected at the distribution level has resulted in an increased risk that network constraints are violated. In order to perform a security assessment or take required control actions, the network operator must obtain reliable information about the state of the distribution network. This has given rise to the need of implementing state estimation in distribution networks in order to obtain the required real-time information about the networks state.
Before the state estimation can be performed, it has to be determined if a unique estimate of the network state can be obtained from the available set of measurements. This is done by the observability analysis. However, traditional methods only determine if a state can be calculated and not if this result can provide practical information to the distribution network operator. Hence, a new probabilistic approach to observability is developed in order to overcome this limitation. The developed method assesses the network observability depending on the accuracy of the estimated network state and the proximity of the estimated parameters to their constraints under worst case consideration.
In case the uncertainty in an estimated state is too large to be practical, additional measurement devices have to be placed in order to improve the accuracy. However, due to economic constraints, only a small number of buses can be equipped with real-time measurements. This makes optimal meter placement an important tool for the implementation of state estimation in distribution networks. As part of this thesis a new meter placement method is described which can potentially reduce the number of required measurement devices compared to conventional meter placement methods while providing a practical level of state estimation accuracy.
The goal of this research is to develop new methods that support the application of state estimation in distribution networks in presence of large uncertainties in the state estimation inputs due to the lack of real-time measurements. For this purpose the focus of this thesis is on the accuracy of the state estimation. In particular the aspects of observability, uncertainty quantification, meter placement and the practical representation of state estimation results have been considered.


ABSTRACT Functional neuroimaging research suggests that status-based evaluations may not solely depend on the level of social status but also on the conferred status dimension. However, no reports to date have studied how status level and dimension shape early person evaluations. To explore early status-based person evaluations, event-related brain potential data were collected from 29 participants while they indicated the status level and dimension of faces that had been previously trained to be associated with one of four status types: high moral, low moral, high financial, or low financial. Analysis of the P300 amplitude (previously implicated in social evaluation) revealed an interaction of status level and status dimension such that enhanced P300 amplitudes were observed in response to targets of high financial and low moral status relative to targets of low financial and high moral status. Implications of these findings are discussed in the context of our current understanding of status-based evaluation and, more broadly, of the processes by which person knowledge may shape person perception and evaluation.


2H NMR spectra of native collagen of rat tail tendon doped by 2H2O were studied. It was shown that the fine structure of 2H NMR multicomponent spectra is related to the diffusion mobility of constituent water molecules and their partial ordering. A bimodality of the distribution of the H2O ordering parameter was revealed, which corresponds to the alternation of dense and loose regions in the supramolecular structure of collagen-type polypeptides. The lower values of the ordering parameter correspond to loose regions of the structure characterized by the cooperative dynamics of polypeptide chains and water molecules.


Microscopy of the beating heart in embryos provides key insights for the study of its development. However, achieving a sufficiently high framerate is difficult with conventional cameras. Here, we present a method to reconstruct an image sequence covering one heartbeat from images acquired over multiple cardiac cycles, with each image triggered at an arbitrary time, by sorting them according to their similarity. We formulate this task as a traveling salesman problem for which efficient solutions are available. We characterized our approach by evaluating its accuracy on synthetically generated data and sub-sampled high-speed movies of the beating heart in zebrafish larvae. We found that reconstructions are reliable when each phase produces a distinct image and when there are no abrupt cardiac motions, which amounts to collecting at least 100 images in a typical microscopy imaging scenario. We finally demonstrate that our method can be applied on data acquired with a fast confocal microscope, increasing its limited frame-rate by a factor 8.


The confluence of advancements in microelectronic components and vibrational energy harvesting has opened the possibility of remote sensor units powered solely from the motion of their hosts. There are numerous applications of such systems, including the development of modern wildlife tracking/data-logging devices. These 'bio-logging' devices are typically mass-constrained because they must be carried by an animal. Thus, they have historically traded scientific capability for operational longevity due to restrictions on battery size. Recently, the precipitous decrease in the power requirements of microelectronics has been accompanied by advancements in the area of piezoelectric vibrational energy harvesting. These energy harvesting devices are now capable of powering the type of microelectronic circuits used in bio-logging devices. In this paper we consider the feasibility of employing these vibrational energy harvesters on flying vertebrates for the purpose of powering a bio-logging device. We show that the excess energy available from birds and bats could be harvested without adversely affecting their overall energy budget. We then present acceleration measurements taken on flying birds in a flight tunnel to understand modulation of flapping frequency during steady flight. Finally, we use a recently developed method of estimating the maximum power output from a piezoelectric energy harvester to determine the amount of power that could be practically harvested from a flying bird. The results of this analysis show that the average power output of a piezoelectric energy harvester mounted to a bird or bat could produce more than enough power to run a bio-logging device. We compare the power harvesting capabilities to the energy requirements of an example system and conclude that vibrational energy harvesting on flying birds and bats is viable and warrants further study, including testing.


Eelgrass beds are productive and structurally complex habitats which broaden the array of organisms that can inhabit an area, and serve as nursery grounds for invertebrates and fish and as resting and feeding grounds for other organisms, including migrating seabirds. We examined lobster size distribution near eelgrass beds, while accompanying a local lobsterman as he checked his traps. These data revealed a relationship between lobster size and proximity to eelgrass beds, and between lobster size and proximity to shore. These results are helpful for understanding the importance of near-shore habitats in Frenchman Bay for a commercially targeted species at different life stages.


The article gives a method for the separation of Pa 2as without a carrier from thorium nitrate irradiated by slow neutrons. Pa m3 was extracted from a thorium nitrate solution by absorption on a precipitate of MnO z, amyl acetate extraction of the cupferron complex of protactinium with subsequent re-extraction by a citric acid solution and, finally, decomposition of the citric acid complex by oxidation with concentrated nitric acid. During this process satisfactory removal of c t-and-B-radiat ion was achieved. The separated radioisotope was identified by determination of its hal f l i fe . The method developed is important for obtaining the radioactive isotope Pa zss, without a carrier which can be used as an indicator for studying the chemistry of protactinium arid also for solving problems of the extraction of protactinium from naturally occurring raw material and the separation of Pa 2~3 from thorium during the preparation of U ~3.


Coordinated activity spanning anatomically distributed neuronal networks underpins cognition and mediates limbic–cortical interactions during learning, memory, and decision-making. We used CP55940, a potent agonist of brain cannabinoid receptors known to disrupt coordinated activity in hippocampus, to investigate the roles of network oscillations during hippocampal and medial prefrontal cortical (mPFC) interactions in rats. During quiet wakefulness and rest, CP55940 dose-dependently reduced 0.1–30 Hz local field potential power in CA1 of the hippocampus while concurrently decreasing 30–100 Hz power in mPFC; these contrasting population-level effects were paralleled by differential effects on underlying single-unit activity in the two structures. During decision-making phases of a spatial working memory task, CP5540-induced deficits in hippocampal theta and prefrontal gamma oscillations were observed alongside disrupted theta-frequency coherence between the two structures. These changes in coordinated limbic–cortical network activities correlated with (1) reduced accuracy of task performance, (2) impaired phase-locking of prefrontal single-unit spiking to the local gamma and hippocampal theta rhythms, and (3) impaired task-dependent activity in a subset of mPFC units. In addition to highlighting the importance of CA1–mPFC network oscillations for cognition, these results implicate disrupted theta-frequency coordination of CA1–mPFC activity in the cognitive deficits caused by exogenous activation of brain cannabinoid receptors.


The node localization problem in mobile sensor networks has received significant attention. Recently, particle filters adapted from robotics have produced good localization accuracies in conventional settings. In spite of these successes, state-of-the-art solutions suffer significantly when used in challenging indoor and mobile environments characterized by a high degree of radio signal irregularity. New solutions are needed to address these challenges. We propose a fuzzy logic-based approach for mobile node localization in challenging environments. Localization is formulated as a fuzzy multilateration problem. For sparse networks with few available anchors, we propose a fuzzy grid-prediction scheme. The fuzzy logic-based localization scheme is implemented in a simulator and compared to state-of-the-art solutions. Extensive simulation results demonstrate improvements in the localization accuracy from 20 to 40 percent when the radio irregularity is high. A hardware implementation running on Epic motes and transported by iRobot mobile hosts confirms simulation results and extends them to the real world.


The drainage pattern and the structure of the pulmonary veins have been described quantitatively in a series of fetal and child lungs after injection of the veins with a radio-opaque medium. The drainage pattern of the pre-acinar region is complete by half-way through gestation and corresponds with the growth of the pulmonary arteries. There is new growth of veins within the acinus during childhood. Four types of veins arising from five peripheral sites have been described. The change in dimensions with age have also been measured. A measurable muscle layer could not be found in the walls of the veins before birth though some muscle cells were present from 28 weeks of gestation. The thickness of the muscle coat in any vein was similar at birth and in a 3- and 10-year-old child and in all cases was less than in a pulmonary artery of the same size. The muscle cells were of smaller diameter in the veins than in the arteries. Along any venous pathway between a non-muscular and muscular structure was a region where part of the wall was muscular: these veins were termed partially muscular. Their distribution by size was similar at all ages.


The blood plasma testosterone content was determined by radioimmunological method in patients with hirsutism, premature sexual maturation, false male hermaphroditism, true hermaphroditism, mixed gonad dysgenesis, adrenogenital syndrome, and also in some mothers of patients suffering from intersexualism and in healthy persons. The testosterone concentration proved to depend on clinical manifestations in boys with hyper- and hypogonadism and in girls with adrenogenital syndrome. In intersexual conditions in the presence of mixed gonad dysgenesis the testosterone level was found to be intermediate between the normal values in men and women of the same age. By the testosterone level patients with false male hermaphroditism were divided into two groups: with absolute androgen insufficiency and with disturbed receptor testosterone sensitivity.


Study Design. Retrospective case series. Objective. The aim of this study was to determine the revision rates for all revision spinal deformity (SD) surgical procedures performed at a single center and to investigate the changes in measures of HRQL in these patients. Summary of Background Data. Reported revision rates for primary adult spinal fusion surgical procedures have been in the range of 9% to 45%, but to our knowledge, the revision rate after revision SD surgery has not been reported. The reported improvements in health-related quality of life measures after revision SD surgery have also been quite modest. Methods. Four hundred fifty-five consecutive adult revision SD surgical procedures (1995–2008) were identified and the records were reviewed to determine the reason for and timing to any additional operation(s). Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) Outcome scores were recorded at the first visit and at planned follow-up visits. Results. Ninety-four of 455 patients underwent further surgical procedures for a revision rate of 21%. Two-year follow-up was available for 74 (78%) of these patients (mean follow-up, 6.0 yr; range, 2.4–12.6; sex: F = 61, M = 13; mean age, 53 yr; range, 21–78). The most common causes of revision surgery were pseudarthrosis (N = 23, 31%), implant prominence/pain (N = 15, 20%), adjacent segment disease (N = 14, 19%), and infection (N = 10, 14%). Twenty-five (27%) patients underwent more than one revision procedure. SRS outcome scores were available for 50 (68%) patients, at an average follow-up of 4.9 years (range, 2–11.4). The mean improvements in the SRS outcome measures were as follows: pain, 0.74 (P < 0.001); self-image, 0.8 (P < 0.001); function, 0.5 (P < 0.001); satisfaction, 1.2 (P < 0.001); and mental health, 0.3 (P = 0.012). Conclusion. The rate of revision after revision SD surgery was 21%, most commonly due to pseudarthrosis, adjacent segment disease, infection, and implant prominence/pain. However, significant improvements in SRS outcome scores were still observed in those patients requiring additional revision procedures. Level of Evidence: 4


The aim of this study was to evaluate potential effects of DNA-coatings on calcium phosphate (CaP) nucleation from simulated body fluids (SBF) and subsequently the effects of DNA-coatings and SBF-immersed DNA coatings on the behavior of osteoblast-like cells. DNAcoatings demonstrated to enhance the nucleation and deposition of CaP from SBF compared to titanium controls. The behavior of osteoblast-like cells was affected on SBF-immersed DNAcoatings, showing an increased deposition of the extracellular matrix protein osteocalcin compared to titanium controls. These results indicate bone-bonding capacity of DNA-coatings, which needs to be confirmed using future animal experiments.


BACKGROUND
Microarray and microdissection techniques were being used for many applications to study the carcinogenesis of some human tumors. But seldom studies had hitherto combined these two techniques to study carcinogenesis mechanism of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). To identify a set of genes involved in the carcinogenesis and development of NPC, we used the microdissected homogeneous NPC tissue cells and the pure normal epithelium pillar cells to construct the whole human genome expression profiles.

METHODS
We preserved the tissue samples from nasopharynx of 18 patients (including 13 samples of NPC and 5 samples of normal or inflammatory mucous tissue samples from nasopharynx) in RNAlater Stabilization Reagent. The tissue samples were microdissected to harvest the homogeneous tissue cells, then total RNA was isolated from them. The sufficient antisense RNA (aRNA) was amplified from these total RNA. HG-U133.Plus.2.0 GeneChip was used to construct the human whole genome expression profiling of each sample. Differential patterns of expression of genes correlated with the carcinogenesis, classification and progression of NPC were identified with comparing the expression profiling data respectively in leave one out cross-validation analysis. Correlation between aRNA expression measured by the microarrays and semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (sqRT-PCR) were also ascertained, and found that hybridization results were validated in all of the 18 patients.

RESULTS
Differential patterns of expression of 127 genes correlated with the carcinogenesis (A P value less than 0.001 with the 2-fold differentiated expression between case group and control group) of the NPC were filtered. The top most up-regulated and down-regulated 8 genes by the way of permutation test were also selected and listed in the paper. Expression of genes E2F6 and TSPAN-1 was identified using aRNA by sqRT-PCR and showed that there was significant difference between the average value of case groups and that of control group respectively (t = 2.170, df = 16, P = 0.045 and t = -2.946, df = 16, P = 0.009).

CONCLUSIONS
We had identified some genes which could be the molecular marker during the carcinogenesis and the development of the NPC. The genes which selected from the different subgroups seemed to be implicated for the diagnosis,classification, and progression of NPC, and provided important insights into their underlying biology.


Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the major cause of end-stage renal failure and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality as compared to other causes of renal disease. Albuminuria is often the first clinical indicator of the presence of DN. However, albuminuria or proteinuria is a common symptom in patients with various renal disorders. Therefore, specific biomarkers for the diagnosis of DN are required. A primary hallmark of DN is the progressive damage and death of glomerular podocytes, resulting in the leaking of proteins into the urine. Urinary exosomes released by podocytes are microvesicles containing information of the originated cells. Podocyte-derived signal transduction factors (PDSTFs) are good candidates to assess podocyte injuries. The profile of PDSTFs in urinary exosomes from patients with DN is different from that from patients with minimal change nehrotic syndrome. In addition, PDSTFs molecules in exosomes were derived from primary murine podocytes under high glucose conditions. Among PDSTFs in urinary exosomes, Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) levels reflected damage of diabetic glomeruli in the patients. Urinary exosomal WT1 can predict the decline in eGFR for the following several years. In conclusion, urinary exosomal WT1 is a useful biomarker to improve risk stratification in patients with DN. J. Med. Invest. 65:208-215, August, 2018.


In the following paper we consider a problem of fault detection for a mobile robot. The robot which our work is related to, is based on a new type of the steering principle [1]. The crucial part of the steering system are axle position sensors. A failure of one of them might result in an interruption of operation and/or serious damages to hardware and environment elements. To avoid the risk of such events, a reliable fault detection system has to be implemented. Fault detection is facilitated by incorporating measurements from various sensors located on board of the robot (incremental encoders, absolute encoders, sonar, cameras, compass, GPS). In our work we consider the Bayesian approach (Kalman filter [2,3] and particle filters [4,5,6]) to create a diagnostic system of the robot. Due to the limited resources of the computing unit it is necessary to strongly optimize the efficiency of applied algorithms. In our work we plan to perform simulations to find the best suited algorithm for our vehicle. Accordingly, we build a numerical tool in MATLAB to simulate mobile robot navigation and fault diagnosis tasks. We also present the construction of our robot and explain how a reliable fault detection system is important for the proper functioning and safety of the mobile robot. We introduce the fault detection algorithms which we plan to apply in the described hardware solution. At the end, we summarize our work and provide an outlook on our future research plans.


Osteoporosis is reported to effect 44 million adults, of whom 80% are women. Exercise appears to influence the osteogenic response and can lead to higher values of Bone mineral density. A minimum research is done on bone mineral density using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in India. Weight bearing exercises seem to have a better effect than nonweight bearing exercises.
Aim: our aim of this retrospective cohort study is to confirm that weight bearing exercise is beneficial to bone mineral density than non weight bearing exercise.
Materials and Methods: A total of 50 healthy active women (n=50) doing weight bearing exercises like tennis playing and gym weight workouts for atleast one hour, for 5 days a week were taken. (Group A). A total of 50 healthy walkers with minimum walking of one hour for 5 days a week were taken (Group B). Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was done to assess the bone mineral density in all the participants. Bone mineral density (BMD) in gram per square centimeter of lumbar spine (L1-L4), surgical neck of right humerus and total body BMD was assessed with a hologic QDR-1000/W pencil-beam bone densitometer, using the spine scan mode. Statistical analysis was done using Statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS software, version 13.0). Analysis of covariance was used to determine whether there were significant differences between groups in bone mineral density, adusting height and weight.
Results: The Total body BMD in gm/cm2 in group A is 1.172+ 0.034 and the Total body BMD in gm/cm2 in group B is 1.078+0.053. (P value < 0.001) Lumbar spine BMD in gm/cm2 in Group A is 1.216+0.122 and the Lumbar spine BMD in gm/cm2 in Group B is 0.968+/-0.128. (P value


The shock is described by the Navier-Stokes equations of the electron and ion fluids, and coupled with Poisson's equation for the self-induced electric field. Profiles of the flow and electric variables in the weak or moderate shock front with or without current for different Debye lengths are presented. Comparison of profiles of flow and electric variables in the front for different heat flow modes is given.


Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a serious pathogen for both ruminants and humans. RVF outbreaks have a major impact on the agricultural and related sectors in affected areas with severe socio-economic consequences. Although the virus is confined to the African continent and the Arabian Peninsula, globalization, climate change and global prevalence of potential mosquito vectors constitute a significant risk for further spread to new areas. All these features explain the need for safe, effective and affordable vaccines for both endemic and yet unaffected areas. The aim of the work described in this thesis was to develop a RVF vaccine that optimally combines safety and efficacy. We report the first successful creation of RVFV replicon particles, referred to as nonspreading RVFV (NSR). NSR particles are able to infect new cells, resulting in autonomous genome replication. However, these particles lack the genes encoding surface glycoproteins, therefore no progeny particles can be produced. We demonstrate that a single vaccination with NSR provides full protection in mice and prevents clinical sings and significantly reduces viremia in lambs. Further improvement of NSR resulted in the development of NSR-Gn, containing the gene of one of the viral glycoproteins, Gn. Gn is the major target for neutralizing antibodies and its expression in NSR-Gn infected cells significantly improved immune responses, eliciting sterile protection in lambs. In addition to RVFV vaccine, we aimed to develop a vaccine vector platform suitable for mucosal administration. Many pathogens invade the body via mucosal surfaces. Therefore, vaccines that elicit protective immunity on mucosal surfaces are particularly valuable. As RVFV is very infectious via the respiratory route, we were especially interested in using NSR for respiratory application. As a model for respiratory infection, influenza was used. We developed NSR-HA, which contains the gene of influenza A virus hemagglutinin (HA), one of the major influenza A virus immunogens. A single intranasal vaccination of mice with NSR-HA completely prevented death and clinical signs induced by an influenza virus infection, revealing the potency of NSR as a vector platform suitable for administration via the respiratory mucosa. The efficacy of NSR as a viral vector vaccine for cancer immunotherapy was also studies. Our results in a mouse model show that NSR can reduce tumor growth and even eradicate tumors, suggesting that it is a promising vector for cancer immunotherapy. In our vaccination experiments we consistently observed a high efficaciousness of NSR-based vaccines. We were interested to unravel the molecular basis of the NSR-induced immune response. To that end we investigated the interaction between NSR and dendritic cells (DC). We observed that NSR-infected DCs undergo incomplete maturation, associated with a decrease in CD83, the most prominent marker for DC maturation. However, bystander DCs undergo complete maturation and upregulate CD83. Our results suggest that not only infected, but also bystander DCs play an important role in NSR-mediated immunity. Although we were unable to unravel the exact mechanism of the observed decrease of CD83 in NSR-infected cells, we established that it occurs at the level of protein translation.


3,5-Dimethyl-1H-pyrazole-1-carbodithioates are shown to be extremely versatile dithiocarbamate RAFT agents with wide-spread applicability. The cyanomethyl and benzyl dithiocarbamates offer very low dispersities (Đ < 1.1) for polymers based on more activated monomers [MAMs: methyl acrylate (MA), N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMA) and styrene (St)] and Đ < 1.3 in polymerization of vinyl acetate (VAc), a less activated monomer (LAM). The tertiary, 2-cyano-2-butyl dithiocarbamate, provides molar mass control and Đ < 1.5 in methyl methacrylate (MMA) polymerization. Lower dispersities can be obtained for MMA copolymers. End group fidelity was proved with the synthesis of block copolymers, poly(DMA)-block-poly(MA). With the ability to control polymerization of both MAMs and LAMs, the RAFT agents were also shown to be suitable for the synthesis of a poly(MAM)-block-poly(LAM), specifically poly(DMA)-block-poly(VAc). The RAFT agents are an appropriate replacement for trithiocarbonate RAFT agents in most circumstances and have the distinct advantage that the RAFT agents have low odour and the derived polymers do not develop odour on storage (i.e., no low molar mass thiols are generated).


The research presented in this chapter identifies sources of the irritation felt by internet users while browsing websites and Facebook. A qualitative approach was taken, including 40 individual interviews, enabled the authors to determine the irritating factors and user reactions when using different devices such as smartphones, computers and tablets to navigate websites and Facebook. The implications of this research will help marketers and web developers to reduce internet user irritation and better understand their behavior to better meet their expectations.


Income uncertainty in the rural economy is widely considered an important impediment to growth in poor countries. This paper uses a rich dataset on productivity, land use, and output for 17 different crops across 500,000 plots of land in 87 countries to study the impact of uncertainty in the agricultural sector. The analysis relies on historical variability in crop productivity driven by local climatic conditions to estimate the impact of uncertainty on farmers' land allocation. Applying a standard portfolio framework, we estimate that the incentive to diversify led to large losses in agricultural revenue. We adopt a spatial regression discontinuity approach that compares how national institutions affected agricultural outcomes near the borders of former British and French colonies in Africa. We find that farmers in former British colonies, which tended to adopt pro-private sector policies, adopted more advanced input technologies and achieved higher crop-specific returns. In contrast, farmers in former French colonies, which tended to devote more public resources to the agricultural sector, tolerated higher levels of uncertainty and adopted more specialized crop portfolios. These offsetting effects suggest that both a well-functioning market system along with public investments that reduce risk may be necessary to foster rural economic development.


Lieutenant Michael Lee Lanning went to Vietnam as an eager young patriot who was confident of surviving the war. After six months in-country, he was promoted at age 23 to company commander, and his sense of duty began to shift from his nation to preserving the lives of the men in Bravo Company. Lanning and his men faced an enemy who was patient, elusive, and firm in the belief that they could outlast the Americans. The young commander also confronted the prospect of sudden, violent death, bone-numbing weariness, and the stench of blood and decaying flesh. He would lose friends and would acquire a cynical contempt for all Vietnamese, both allies and enemies. ""Vietnam, 1969-1970"", like its predecessor, Lanning's ""The Only War We Had"", is taken from the journals the author kept during his tour of duty. He writes, ""I dusted off men with wounds that will disable them for the rest of their lives. I dusted off a dead man that was one of the best soldiers I ever have known. I am realizing the full burdens of being a company commander"".


Crit Care Med 2015 • Volume 43 • Number 12 (Suppl.) consensus panel. Candidates were defined as participants when they completed at least one of the questionnaires of any of the three Delphi consensus rounds. The authors gathered and classified the resulting items and determined whether elements should be included or excluded from the next round according to predetermined criteria. To generate descriptive statistics was used Excel 2011. Results: A total of 117 potential panelists were invited to participate in the consensus panel, twenty-five of which participated (twenty-three residents educators, twenty-four intensivists and eighteen researchers). Five community intensivists agreed to participate but did not return any of the Delphi questionnaires. The three consensus rounds were completed over a period of 3 mo. Panelists generated a total of 356 curricular contents, divided into twelve main chapters. 274 met the consensus predefined criteria for inclusion in the final draft of the curricula. The consensus was able to differentiate the main contents and additional contents for each chapter. Agreement among panelists on the items included was high. Conclusions: There is an increase in the number of training programs in critical care in Latin-America. Each one needs a curriculum according to their own institutional educational plan. The curriculum content described in this study provide an important basis for the development of a competency-based curriculum for teaching critical care medicine in the region.


Abstract. The northern long-eared myotis (Myotis septentrionalis), a federally threatened species, occurs in extreme northern, eastern, and southern Nebraska. These regions vary in climate due to geographic location, topography, and elevation. During a 1-week period in early July 2015, we surveyed bats across the state and observed striking variation in the reproductive status for M. septentrionalis. We examined whether or not growing degree days, an abiotic climatic factor used mainly for agricultural practices, was associated with this reproductive variation in a mammalian species. In early July, we captured only pregnant females in the Pine Ridge region of northwestern Nebraska, the region with the lowest number of growing degree days. In contrast, we captured both lactating females and flying young along the Republican River in south-central Nebraska near the border with Kansas, an area with a high, but intermediate number of growing degree days. Along the Missouri River, in extreme east-central Nebraska, along the border with Iowa, we documented lactating females with no evidence of volant young. This locality had the highest number of growing degree days. Phenotypic plasticity in timing of births for M. septentrionalis appears to be, in part, related to climatic differences across Nebraska, a relationship commonly observed for plants and invertebrates. Our study demonstrates that reproductive phenology can vary significantly across the distribution of a species and needs to be considered when making management decisions for imperiled species. Delayed reproduction in cooler regions of the species' range presents risks to reproductive female M. septentrionalis and their nonvolant offspring, even with current protective measures. In areas with short growing seasons, restrictions on the timing of tree-cutting should be expanded beyond 31 July in more northerly parts of the species' distribution, so as not to hinder reproductive success during the time when juvenile bats are unable to fly.


The main of the paper presents an efficient constant-time bilateral filter that produces a near-optimal performance tradeoff between approximate accuracy and computational complexity without any complicated parameter adjustment, called a compressive bilateral filter (CBLF). The constant-time means that the computational complexity is independent of its filter window size. Although many existing constant-time bilateral filters have been proposed step by step to pursue a more efficient performance tradeoff, they have less focused on the optimal tradeoff for their own frameworks. It is important to discuss this question because it can reveal whether or not a constant-time algorithm still has plenty room for improvements of performance tradeoff. This paper tackles the question from a viewpoint of compressibility and highlights the fact that state of-the-art algorithms have not yet touched the optimal tradeoff. The CBLF achieves a near optimal performance tradeoff by two key ideas: approximate Gaussian range kernel through Fourier analysis and period length optimization. Experiments demonstrate that the CBLF significantly outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of approximate accuracy, computational complexity, and usability.


For the purpose of solving the limitations such as shape and dimension for magnetic compact fabricated by conventional anisotropic forming under magnetic orienting field, the feasibility of a new magnetic forming process was studied. Ferrite powder mixed with UV resin was compacted in the die mold and followed by alignment under the magnetic field. Effects of viscosity of UV resin and forming condition on magnetic characteristics of the compact was investigated. Maximum degree of alignment for the ferrite powder reached to 0.826. It was predicted that the proposed method had make it possible to fabricate a high performance magnet having the anisotropic alignment of the magnetic powder. The UV resin is desirable to have low viscosity, good properties such as formability and configuration stability for the compact and also parting-ability between the metal mold and the compact.


After a successful first run at the LHC, and during the Long Shutdown (LS1) of the accelerator, the workload and data management sectors of the CMS Computing Model are entering into an operational review phase in order to concretely assess area of possible improvements and paths to exploit new promising technology trends. In particular, since the preparation activities for the LHC start, the Networks have constantly been of paramount importance for the execution of CMS workflows, exceeding the original expectations - as from the MONARC model - in terms of performance, stability and reliability. The low-latency transfers of PetaBytes of CMS data among dozens of WLCG Tiers worldwide using the PhEDEx dataset replication system is an example of the importance of reliable Networks. Another example is the exploitation of WAN data access over data federations in CMS. A new emerging area of work is the exploitation of Intelligent Network Services, including also bandwidth on demand concepts. In this paper, we will review the work done in CMS on this, and the next steps.


Objectives: Little is known about the specific prognosis of cancer among workers in different industrial sectors. The aim of this study is to demonstrate cancer survival inequality by industry sectors. Methods: Using multicenter inpatient data (1984 − 2017) and a regional cancer registry in Japan (1995–2018), we merged these two anonymized datasets. Based on standardized national classifications, cases were grouped according to the longest-held employment in primary, secondary, or tertiary industrial sectors. Data regarding smoking, alcohol consumption, and tumor staging at diagnosis were also extracted. We estimated the 5-year survival rates for common cancers using the Kaplan-Meier method to identify inequalities among industrial sectors. Cox proportional hazard model was used to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) of industry sectors. Results: A total of 13,234 cases were merged from two datasets. Among these, 8,794 cases were defined as common cancers (prostate, kidney, bladder, esophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas, colon, breast, and lung). Five-year survival was significantly (p = 0.025) shorter for primary industrial sector (43.1%) compared with secondary sector (54.5%) and tertiary sector (56.9%). The adjusted HR for secondary and tertiary sectors versus primary sector was 0.963 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.649–1.429). Bladder cancer in secondary and tertiary sectors showed a significantly higher survival rate than in the primary sector (p < 0.0001), but the HR of secondary and tertiary sectors was 0.049 (95% CI, 0.021–0.153). Conclusions: This study revealed the potential of industrial sector inequalities with regard to the prognosis of cancers in Japan.


Advances in technology have brought
great advances in our ability to impart
color to natural gemstones as well as to
create synthetics. Simultaneously,
technologies are also being developed to
distinguish natural from artificial colors
as well as natural from synthetic
materials. This article discusses some of
the work being done to enhance color in
gem stones today and some of the
techniques used by the laboratories at the
California Institute of Technology to
determine whether a color originates
naturally or in the laboratory. Dyed jade,
synthetic turquoise, heat-treated beryl
and zircon, irradiated spodumene, and
topaz that has been irradiated and heat
treated to produce a pleasing blue color
are some of the specific examples
included.


Venture financing (VF) is a critical catalyst for the growth and evolution of the converging mobile ecosystem. VF has helped to create and nurture many innovative companies that have fundamentally transformed the ecosystem. The objective of this study is to understand the structure of mobile VF using an ecosystem lens. Based on a triangulated dataset of 46,447 funding rounds for 21,299 companies by 8,049 informal and institutional funding entities from 2007-2012, and using a modified multidimensional scaling approach, we explore the structural properties and strategies of VF in the mobile ecosystem. Our analysis is complemented by large-scale network visualizations. The study contributes to our theoretic understanding of VF networks, differentiated by earlyand late-stage investments, in converging business ecosystems. The paper concludes with future research opportunities.


The emergence of blockchain may transform the way we work, operate and interact. Through the use of distributed ledger technology, blockchain challenges the fundamental of any business model built around middlemen and centralization, while ensuring anonymity, market confidence and trust. Depending on the manner they are structured, blockchains have the advantage of lowering entry barriers; transaction costs and information asymmetries. While the jury is not out yet as to the really disruptive features of the new technology, it is quite clear that blockchain has the traits necessary to alter the way sectors such as health, business and financial services or government services operate. For that to occur, a common vernacular would need to be created. Standardization can successfully offer such vernacular, which could constitute the foundations for enhancing market confidence around the new technology. Against this background, this paper offers an analysis of recent developments on standardizing blockchain at the international level. More specifically, it discusses the focus areas on which international standardization within the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) can be meaningful and indeed crucial if this technology is to benefit from rapid expansion. These notably include security, privacy and overall resilience.


Abstract
The action of natural selection in establishing barriers to gene flow between
populations, or reproductive isolation, is increasingly understood to be a primary driver
of speciation and thus biodiversity. 'Ecological speciation' is now supported by evidence
from numerous studies in a range of natural populations. However, experimental tests
of the role of divergent natural selection in the establishment of reproductive isolation
are still scant. To address this omission, the role of larval diet in imposing divergent
selection and causing ecological adaptation and reproductive isolation was tested.
These tests were conducted on the Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata,
Wiedemann) (medfly) model system, which has been relatively under-utilised in the
experimental study of speciation. Using manipulative experiments and experimental
evolution, the three major components of ecological speciation were examined. Firstly
a source of divergent selection was established through quantification of the
consequences of alteration in specific dietary nutrients during the development of
medfly larvae. Following this, similar selective pressures were used as the basis of
experimental evolution of medfly populations reared on divergent developmental diets.
Divergence between these populations was assayed at several time points during
evolution, in real time, using tests for sexual isolation. After 60 generations of
experimental evolution a form of reproductive isolation between populations had
evolved. The mechanism that may have led to the evolution of this isolation was also
explored, through further mating tests, and also the quantification of male courtship
behaviour. The genetic basis of the phenotypes associated with adaptation and sexual
isolation was explored using transcriptomic sequencing and differential expression
analysis of genes expressed in males from the two experimental regimes. A range of
candidate genes was identified as differentially expressed, including genes associated
with oxidative phosphorylation and chemosensation. Taken together, the results of this
research present a novel example of how divergent ecological selection pressure can
lead to the evolution of sexual isolation in experimental populations.


The renormalizable coloron model is the minimal extension of the standard model color sector, in which the color gauge group is enlarged to SU(3)_{1c} x SU(3)_{2c}. In this paper we discuss the constraints on this model derived from the requirements of vacuum stability, tree-level unitarity, electroweak precision measurements, and from LHC measurements of the properties of the observed Higgs-like scalar boson. The combination of these theoretical and experimental considerations strongly constrains the allowed parameter space. (Erratum appended, March 2014.)


Throat auroras have been suggested to be related to indentations on the subsolar magnetopause. However, the indentation generation process and the resulting ionospheric responses have remained unknown. An EISCAT Svalbard Radar experiment was designed to run with all‐sky cameras, which enabled us for the first time to observe the temporal and spatial evolution of flow reversals, Joule heating, and ion upflows associated with throat aurora. The high‐resolution data enabled us to discriminate that the flow bursts and Joule heating were concurrent and co‐located, but were always observed on the west side of the associated throat auroras, reflecting that the upward/downward field‐aligned currents associated with throat aurora are always to the east/west, respectively. These results are consistent with the geometry of Southwood (1987) flux transfer event model and provide strong evidence for throat aurora being associated with magnetopause reconnection events. The results also support a conceptual model of the throat aurora.


Variations in trichothecene patterns of 26 Fusarium sporotrichioides isolates from different plant and geographic origins showed no correlation with electrophoretic karyotype polymorphisms. When intact chromosomes were examined, interisolate karyotype differences were observed only in the mini-chromosome range. Further polymorphisms were revealed in Notl-digested samples. By summing the Notl fragments the average genome size of F. sporotrichioides was estimated to be 20.4 Mb. Mini-chromosomes shared common sequences with the larger ones; however, clones (RMS-1 and RMS-2) specific to these structures have also been found. These clones contained no coding region and no promising similarities were observed when they were compared to sequences held at GenBank. Mini-chromosomes in F. sporotrichioides constitute a mosaic composed of dispersed repeats and unique sequences. This mosaic structure was maintained in all noninterbreeding, genetically isolated strains examined.


A test statistic is proposed to perform the goodness-of-fit test in the unbinned maximum likelihood fit. Without using a detailed expression of the efficiency function, the test statistic is found to be strongly correlated with the maximum likelihood function if the efficiency function varies smoothly. We point out that the correlation coefficient can be estimated by the Monte Carlo technique. With the established method, two examples are given to illustrate the performance of the test statistic.


This analysis investigates the potential mechanism and the practical significance of the impacts of agricultural value chain development in a geographically challenging rural area of a developing country. We use data from a carefully designed primary survey administered in the hill and mountainous region in Western Nepal. Using the inverse probability weighted regression adjustment method, we show that linking small-scale producers with regional and local traders can help increase agricultural income. We unpack the potential mechanism of the impact pathway and show that the increase in agricultural income is a consequence of higher agricultural revenues, owing to a higher volume of sales at lower prices. We argue that value chain intervention in rural areas, where land is not fully exploited, can lead to acreage expansion or crop switching, which eventually results in higher supply at lower output prices. The positive impact on household income is practically significant in that it translated into improved food security, dietary diversity and household resilience. These findings are robust to various specifications. Targeted value chain interventions that strengthen and stabilize small-scale producers' access to markets can contribute to rural poverty reduction via an increase in agricultural income.


This article deals with the expression oi na+V realizing mild prohibitions in Cypriot Greek. Drawing on spoken corpus and experimental results, I propose that oi na+V simultaneously expresses two speech acts: (1) a prohibition against some act; (2) the assumption that this act is likely. In this way, the speaker appears to be adopting the hearer's perspective, advising him accordingly. The resulting account of oi na+V as a neg-raising construction motivated by positive face in contemporary Cypriot society is supported by prosodic and psycholinguistic evidence, and has implications for the contribution of prosody to constructional meaning, the relationship between arbitrariness and generativity in language, and the importance of face in the emergence of constructions.


One of the greatest challenges facing every society today is crime control and management. It could be as little as pick–pocketing, or human trafficking, or even as deadly as terrorism. As criminal's perfect ways of avoiding being detected, Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) must adopt innovative ways on crime prevention and control. This research applies Queuing Network (QN) model to evaluation the performance of LEAs on crime information management. The QN comprise two queuing theory models; single server (M/M/1) and multiple server (M/M/m) queuing models. To implement this model, crime data was collected from Eleme (2012) and Nsukka (2013) police stations with a table format to capture the timing such as case arrival time, service time (investigation and handling time) and termination time. The model was implemented using PHP programming language Excel application was used to plot some graphs to observe the system's behaviour. The case timing captured (input data) were used to calculate the queuing theory performance measures (model parameters). Results from the analysis shows how many cases were handled by how many staff members in a specified period of time. This model will make LEA's crime management system visible at different levels (local, state and federal) to both government, LEA's admins and general public. Government can assess the LEA's performance at any time. Use of this model will improve LEA's productivity and public security as well.

 Key words: Crime management, information system, law enforcement agency, performance evaluation, queueing network, single server queuing model, multiple server queueing model.


Artificial societies and virtual worlds are two areas of interest to modern social scientists that are distinctly separate in modern academic study, and are yet undeniably related. Artificial societies are multi-agent systems comprised of autonomous social agents, programmed with their own set of rules and behavior. While virtual worlds are occupied in large part by human controlled agents participating in a collective virtual experience and space. Within both types of virtual environments there can be found a scarcity of resources and intricate crossentity interaction. This often results in the development and evolution of complex economic and cultural structures. In addition, by examining the modern research and common history shared by each field, it is possible to compile a set of shared attributes. This work attempts to capitalize on these shared features and promote a new type of integrated analysis that holds potential for future development in both fields. The concrete implementation of these ideas takes form as a simple economic model containing meaningful computer and human interaction as well as a framework designed for future extensibility.


Purpose of review Several new targeted therapies with multikinase inhibitors targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), rearranged during transfection and v-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1 pathways have been tested in clinical trials for radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) and medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) in the past 10 years. Recent findings Results of the first phase III trial of VEGF-targeted therapy (sorafenib) in DTC were presented in June 2013, and two phase III trials with VEGF and rearranged during transfection-targeted therapies (vandetanib and cabozantinib) in MTC have led to approval by US Food and Drug Administration in the past 2 years. Whereas such therapies increase median progression-free survival compared to placebo, there is no therapy proven to improve overall survival yet. Significant potential adverse event risks associated with such therapies need to be recognized. Dissemination of knowledge about targeted therapies is critical for various medical specialists as patient care for thyroid cancers is best delivered in a multidisciplinary setting. Summary Successful development of targeted systemic therapies in DTC and MTC in the past 5 years is incredibly exciting in the field and patients with advanced DTC/MTC now have new standard-of-care therapy options.


This study tests for forward-looking moral hazard in the social insurance system by exploiting a 1991 reform in Sweden. The replacement rate was reduced for short absences but not for long absences, which introduced a potential future cost of returning to work. Using this exogenous variation in the replacement rate and controlling for dynamic selection, we find that the potential future cost of returning to work decreased the outflow from absence by 10 percent. This finding suggests that long-term sickness absentees are forward-looking, and highlights the importance of taking forward-looking behavior into account when designing and evaluating social insurance programs.