As robots enter the human environment, there are increasing needs for novice users to be able to program robots with ease. A successful robot programming system should be intuitive, interactive, and intention aware. Intuitiveness refers to the use of intuitive user interfaces such as speech and hand gestures. Interactivity refers to the system's ability to let the user interact preemptively with the robot to take its control at any given time. Intention awareness refers to the system's ability to recognize and adapt to user intent. This paper focuses on the intention awareness problem for interactive multi-modal robot programming system. In our framework, user intent takes on the form of a robot program, which in our context is a sequential set of commands with parameters. To solve the intention recognition and adaptation problem, the system converts robot programs into a set of Markov chains. The system can then deduce the most likely program the user intends to execute based on a given observation sequence. It then adapts this program based on additional interaction. The system is implemented on a mobile vacuum cleaning robot with a user who is wearing sensor gloves, inductive position sensors, and a microphone.


HYPOTHESIS
Multiple and/or bilateral liver metastases are not absolute contraindications to surgical resection.

DESIGN
Retrospective analysis.

SETTING
University department of surgery and transplantation.

PATIENTS AND INTERVENTION
A total of 245 curative liver resections for colorectal metastases were divided into 3 groups: M1, single lesions; M2, multiple unilobar; and M3, multiple bilobar.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Univariate and multivariate analysis using several prognostic factors was performed to distinguish variables affecting long-term survival.

RESULTS
Overall operative mortality was 0.8%. Overall 5-year survival was 34%. On multivariate analysis, only the percentage of hepatic involvement by the tumor significantly affected prognosis. By replacing this variable with the total tumor volume, this latter variable was the only independent predictor of survival. Patients with multiple metastases and total tumor volume less than 125 cm(3) had a significantly better outcome than patients with single nodules and total tumor volume more than 380 cm( 3). Operative mortality and morbidity were comparable among groups M1, M2, and M3. The 5-year survival was 41%, 17%, and 34%, respectively (group M1 vs M2, P =.05; group M1 vs M3 and group M2 vs M3, not significant). The 5-year survival was 41% and 23% in patients with single and multiple lesions, respectively and was 35% and 32% in patients with unilobar and bilobar lesions, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
A better outcome in patients with small single lesions was shown. In patients with multiple and/or bilateral metastases, an acceptable 5-year survival superior to 20% was obtained by surgical approach. The total volume of metastases, not number and location, seems to be the strongest predictor of survival.


Bill McKibben has written about climate change for general audiences for more than two decades and in recent years has become the most prominent American environmentalist on this issue. Through his writings and grassroots campaigns, McKibben has helped organize tens of thousands of rallies around the world to demand stronger, faster government action on climate change. In this interview, he describes founding 350.org to raise consciousness about climate change and explains why the organization has a number as its name. McKibben lays the blame for climate change—and for the lack of political action to mitigate it—squarely at the feet of a fossil fuel industry reluctant to part with its biggest subsidy: the privilege to dump its waste products into the atmosphere at no charge. He argues that educational efforts alone are not enough to address global warming and that organizing is the best thing people can do to help reduce climate change. He explains why the Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport oil from Canada's tar sands to refineries in the United States, became the focal point for a social movement that erupted in civil disobedience at the White House—and became a political football—in late 2011 and early 2012. McKibben shares his thoughts about the best ways to communicate with the public about climate change. He identifies cost, along with the risks apparent in places such as Fukushima, as impediments to an expansion of nuclear power and calls for a price on carbon as the quickest and surest way to reduce emissions. And he reflects on developments in China and Australia that could lead to progress on climate change, even in the absence of American leadership.


As they increasingly adopt digital infrastructure, public administrations worldwide are increasingly collecting, generating and managing data. Empirical researchers are, at the same time, collaborating more and more with administrations, accessing vast amounts of data, and setting new research agendas. These collaborations have taken place in low-income countries in particular, where administrative data can be a valuable substitute for scarce survey data. However, the transition to a full-fledged digital administration can be a long and difficult process, sharply contrasting the common leap-frog narrative. Based on observations made during a five-year research collaboration with the Senegalese tax administration, this qualitative case study discusses the main data management challenges the tax administration faces. Much progress has recently been made with the modernisation of the administration's digital capacity ,and adoption of e-filling and e-payment systems. However, there remains substantial scope for the administration to enhance data management and improve its efficiency in performing basic tasks, such as the identification of active taxpayers or the detection of various forms of non-compliance. In particular, there needs to be sustained investment in human resources specifically trained in data analysis. Recently progress has been made through creating – in collaboration with the researchers – a 'datalab' that now works to improve processes to collect, clean, merge and use data to improve revenue mobilisation.


Empirically characterized equation- and table-based cell models have been applied in static timing analysis for decades. These models have been extended to handle a variety of environmental and circuit phenomena over the years. This has given rise to a profusion of cell models that are used to verify circuit functionality and performance. The recent invention of a second-generation of current source models shows the promise of a unified electrical cell model that comprehensively addresses most of the effects that are perceived as accuracy limiters. In this paper, we describe these accuracy limiters and present comprehensive results for a particular current source model [11].


We introduce differentiable stacks and explain the relationship with Lie groupoids. Then we study $S^1$-bundles and $S^1$-gerbes over differentiable stacks. In particular, we establish the relationship between $S^1$-gerbes and groupoid $S^1$-central extensions. We define connections and curvings for groupoid $S^1$-central extensions extending the corresponding notions of Brylinski, Hitchin and Murray for
$S^1$-gerbes over manifolds. We develop a Chern-Weil theory of characteristic classes in this general setting by presenting a construction of Chern classes and Dixmier-Douady classes in terms of analogues of connections and curvatures. We also describe a prequantization result for both $S^1$-bundles and $S^1$-gerbes extending the well-known result of Weil and Kostant. In particular, we give an explicit construction of $S^1$-central extensions with prescribed curvature-like data.


Christians. such as Ali at-Taberi, or Jews, such as Isaac Israeli or the polymath Moses Maimonides. Similarly, the alternative title Arabic medicine takes no account of the Persian giants, Rhazes and Avicenna, or their Spanish successors including Avenzoar and Averroes. A concise and authoritative guide to this vast and complex subject has at last been provided by Dr Ullmann. The author, though primarily an Arabic philologist, shows considerable insight into medical traditions and practices in the Middle East. He portrays the ingenuity and descriptive abilities of the 'Arabs' who, while enshrining and embellishing the ancient medical masterpieces (including those of India), were disinclined to experiment and innovate. As a result, Arabic medicine stagnated and became fossilized during the very period when Western medicine was emerging from the doldrums of the Middle Ages. Arabic preeminence in systematic theory as opposed to empirical practice is, however, evident throughout this book. Moreover, the infectious nature of plague and many other communicable diseases was recognized several centuries before European physicians were receptive to such ideas. Dr Ullman's book though very modestly priced is well-produced and illustrated. It can be thoroughly recommended as an introduction to a fascinating and exotic field of study. S SELWYN Reader in Medical Microbiology Westminster Medical School


The Caribbean Water Study describes the operational and financial performance of selected water utilities in the Caribbean as reported by the utilities as well as secodary sources, the situation of non-revenue water (NRW) among these utilities, the financial impact of COVID-19 on the utilites, and the issue of their resilience to natural disasters. Benchmarking of the key performance indicators for water utilities in the Caribbean shows how utilities are performing in relation to their peers across time. NRW is seen to be one of the biggest challenges for water utilities in the Caribbean and one of the most direct ways to improve a utilitys efficiency, financial performance, and quality of service. In addition, reducing NRW contributes significantly to climate change adaptation. Regarding financial impact of COVID-19, the Study found that due to the large decreases in non-residential consumption, most utilities registered a fall in revenues and in average tariffs. The Study elucidated the fact that their small size and limited resources of water utilities make it is difficult for them to recover from the devastation of a storm on their own and post-disaster response, natural disaster preparedness, investments to increase resiliency, and access to funds are of critical importance.


Paclitaxel is an antineoplastic agent derived from the bark of the western yew, Taxus brevifolia, with a broad spectrum of activity. Because paclitaxel promotes microtubule assembly, neurotoxicity is one of its side effects. Clinical use of paclitaxel has led to peripheral neuropathy and this has been demonstrated to be dependent upon the dose administered, the duration of the infusion, and the schedule of administration. Vehicles in the drug formulation, for example Cremophor in Taxol, have been investigated for their potential to induce peripheral neuropathy. A variety of neuroprotective agents have been tested in animal and clinical studies to prevent paclitaxel neurotoxicity. Recently, novel paclitaxel formulations have been developed to minimize toxicities. This review focuses on recent advances in the etiology of paclitaxel-mediated peripheral neurotoxicity, and discusses current and ongoing strategies for amelioration of this side effect.


The avifauna of differently disturbed forest types of Kakamega Afrotropical forest were compared from December 2004 to May 2005. A total of 11 220 individual birds comprising of 129 bird species were recorded. Significant differences in abundance of birds among Psidium guajava, Bischoffia javanica, mixed indigenous, regeneration, Maesopsis eminii and primary forests was found. The Shannon index of bird diversity (H') varied from 1.31 in P. guajava to 1.56 in primary forest. There were no significant differences in the density of the forest bird category that the different forest types supported with 22 species occurring in all the forest types. There was no significant difference (F 0.05 (59), 110 = 1.15, p = 0.26) in the bird feeding guilds observed in the different forest types. The results indicate that disturbed and plantation forests supported a lower diversity and abundance of birds than primary, mixed indigenous and regeneration forests. Furthermore, the results indicate that both exotic and indigenous plantations can enhance bird diversity and abundance at sites where natural forest succession is slow or where the indigenous forest is being threatened as in Kakamega.


Thermochemical heat storage in salt hydrates is a promising concept to bridge the gap between supply and demand of solar thermal energy in the built environment. Using a suitable thermochemical material (TCM), a heat battery can be created to supply low-temperature thermal energy during colder time periods. The principle is based on a reversible hydration-dehydration reaction with water vapour. The TCM can be charged (dehydrated) at a temperature of 120°C by using solar thermal collectors. Conversely, the discharge (hydration) occurs at room temperature using a constant water vapour pressure of 12 mbar. Previous studies have indicated that potassium carbonate (K2CO3) is a good candidate to fulfil the role of TCM in built environment applications. To generate adequate power from a heat battery for hot tap water or space heating, the kinetics of the TCM need to be sufficiently fast. It is hypothesized that the kinetics of the material improve over multiple charge and discharge cycles due to crack formation and volume increase of the grains. The aim of this work is to evaluate the kinetics of 500-700 µm K2CO3 grains using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (TGA/DSC), and to quantify the improvement in kinetics over multiple charge and discharge cycles. The kinetics serve as input for an existing nucleation and growth model, simulating the fractional conversion at grain level. In the TGA/DSC experiments, the material was charged and discharged numerous times under a constant water vapour pressure of 12 mbar. The cycling temperature varies from room temperature to a maximum temperature of 120°C. The conversion time of each cycle was monitored. Additionally, using an optical microscope, cycling experiments of K2CO3 were performed in a micro climate chamber with the same conditions as in the TGA/DSC experiments. This allows tracking of the apparent surface area of the grains and the observation of crack formation for each cycle. The existing nucleation and growth model is enhanced by incorporating grain growth and crack formation observed from the optical experiments. Thermal characterization by means of TGA/DSC has indicated that indeed the kinetics of the material improve over multiple cycles. Typical conversion rates are increased by a factor 10 comparing the first and the 12th cycle. Preliminary optical microscope experiments show an increase of the apparent grain surface area of approximately 55%. Additionally, crack formation is observed over multiple hydration and dehydration cycles leading to increased inter-particle porosity, likely adding to the improved kinetics.


Based on the assumption that boys are more likely to tackle reading based on the visual modality, we assessed reading skills, visual short-term memory (VSTM), visual long-term memory for details (VLTM-D), and general non-verbal cognitive ability in primary school children. Reading was within the normal range both in accuracy and understanding. There was no reading performance gap in favour of girls, on the contrary, in this sample boys read better. An entire array of visual, non-verbal processes was associated directly or indirectly with reading in boys, whereas this pattern was not observed for the girls.


We have attempted to observe straining responses of an individual multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) by performing an in-situ tensile testing inside scanning electron microscope (SEM). The both ends of an individual MWNT was attached on the rigid support and the tip of the force sensor using electron beam and was elongated by a nano-manipulator. The nano-manipulator was automatically controlled by personal computer. Linear deformation and fracture behaviors of MWNT were successfully observed and its force-displacement curve was also measured from the bending stiffness and displacement of the force sensor and manipulator. The tensile properties of individual MWNT were evaluated from the tensile test results.


Constitutional thinness (CT) is a non-pathological state of underweight. The present study aimed to explore skeletal muscle energy storage in individuals with constitutional thinness and to further characterize muscle phenotype at baseline and in response to overfeeding. Thirty subjects with CT (15 females, 15 males) and 31 normal-weight control subjects (16 females, 15 males) participated in the study. Histological and enzymological analyses were performed on muscle biopsies before and after overfeeding. In skeletal muscle of CT participants compared to controls, it was observed a lower content in intramuscular triglycerides for type I (p<0.01, -17%) and type IIA (p<0.05, -14%) muscle fibers, a lower glycogen content for type I fibers (p<0.01, -6%) and type IIA fibers (p<0.05, -5%), a specific fiber type distribution, a marked muscle hypotrophy (p<0.001, -20%), a low capillary-to-fiber ratio (p<0.001, -19%), and a low citrate synthase activity (p<0.05, -18%). In response to overfeeding, CT participants increased their intramuscular triglycerides content in type I (p<0.01, +10%) and type IIA (p<0.01, +9%) muscle fibers. CT individuals seem to present an unusual muscle phenotype and different adaptations to overfeeding compared to normal-weight participants, suggesting a specific energy metabolism and muscle adaptations. NCT02004821 Novelty ●Low intramuscular triglycerides and glycogen content in skeletal muscle of constitutionally thin individuals ●Low oxidative capacity, low capillary supply, and fiber hypotrophy in skeletal muscle of constitutionally thin participants ●Increase in intramuscular triglycerides in constitutional thinness in response to overfeeding.


One of the promising new antitumor platinum complexes is a large-ring chelate complex [PtCl2(cis-1,4-DACH)] (DACH = diaminocyclohexane) (kiteplatin). Recently, new platinum(ii) derivatives of kiteplatin with pyrophosphate as a carrier ligand have been synthesized and tested on a panel of human cancer cell lines. These derivatives of kiteplatin were found to be more effective than clinically used anticancer platinum drugs. The design of kiteplatin pyrophosphate derivatives was based on the concept of pyrophosphate coordinated platinum complexes, phosphaplatins. Phosphaplatins have been shown to function without binding to DNA and hence DNA has been excluded as the target of phosphaplatins in contrast to conventional antitumor platinum drugs. Cytotoxicity, major cellular targets and DNA interactions of the new anticancer platinum drug were characterized by standard biochemical methods and methods of molecular and cellular biology. We demonstrate that, in contrast to what has been reported on closely related phosphaplatins, the derivatives of kiteplatin with the pyrophosphate carrier ligand are activated in the cellular environment. This activation, which yields species capable of platination of DNA, very likely comprises the hydrolytic release of the pyrophosphate ligand that could be enzymatically catalyzed. Collectively, these data provide convincing evidence that unexpectedly DNA is an important target for the biological activity of the kiteplatin pyrophosphate derivatives, although the overall mechanism of action might be different from those of conventional platinum drugs.


ABSTRACT
In present study, the hepatoprotective activity of ethanolic extracts of Sesamum indicum Linn. seeds were evaluated against carbon tetrachloride (CCL4) induced hepatic damage in rats. The extract at two different doses (400mg/kg and 700mg/kg) was administered orally once daily. The substantially elevated serum enzymatic level of Serum Glutamate Oxaloacetate Transaminase (SGOT), Serum Glutamate Pyurvate Transaminase (SGPT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Acid phosphatase (ACP), Total Protein, Albumin and Total Bilirubin were restored towards normalization significantly by the extract. The biochemical observations were supplemented with histopathological examination of rat liver sections. The results of this study strongly indicate the Sesamum indicum Linn. Seeds have potent hepatoprotective action against carbon tetrachloride induced hepatic damage in rats.


Prepared by the Earthquake Investigations Committee of the Technical Council of Lifeline Earthquake Engineering of ASCE. This TCLEE Monograph provides a record of lifeline infrastructure performance during the two most damaging U.S. earthquakes at the start of 21st century. This book presents information on current seismic practice, on the seismic resistance and vulnerability of different infrastructure, and on the current understanding of engineers who design roads, bridges, pipelines, and power systems. Topics on the San Simeon Earthquake include seismology and geotechnical issues; communications; dams; power systems; gas and liquid fuel; highways and bridges; airports and ports; railroads; water systems; wastewater systems; and emergency response. Topics on the Denali Earthquake include seismology and geotechnical issues; highway system; Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS); airports; water and wastewater; communications; railways; and electric power. This monograph will be useful to researchers, practicing engineers, and administrators interested in the repercussions of building lifeline infrastructure systems near earthquake faults, on seasonally frozen soils, on loose sands and alluvium, and in regions with complex or unknown seismicity.


Mass spectrometers can provide information about molecular composition and chemical structure. However, with complex mixtures, superpositions and even suppression of signals may occur. On the other hand, Chromatography is an ideal technique for separating complexes but is often insufficient for compound identification. Hence, coupling both techniques in order to eliminate the limitations of each technique makes perfect sense. In this contribution, a brief description of mass spectrometry coupled with chromatography in the gas and liquid phase will be discussed to explain the advantages of coupling the two methods. The ionization techniques are also reported and followed by application areas of these techniques. Finally, the recording and treatment of the results are reviewed.


We explore the possibility of using UV spectroscopy in combination with broad-band photometry
as diagnostic tools for understanding the shape of the initial mass function (IMF) in
unresolved stellar populations. Building on our previous work, we extend the Stochastically
Lighting Up Galaxies (SLUG) code to include a high-resolution UV spectral synthesizer and
equivalent width calculation capabilities. We first gain a qualitative understanding of how
UV spectral features behave as the parameters that define a star cluster in SLUG (mass, age,
extinction, and IMF slope α3) are changed. We then exploit Bayesian inference techniques
to recover the α3 values for clusters simulated with SLUG, using mock observations of these
clusters comprised of broad-band photometry and equivalent width measurements of a selection
of UV spectral features. We find some improvement when compared to attempts using
broad-band photometry alone (with the interquartile range of the α3 posterior PDF shrinking
by 32%), although we still do not yet fully break the known degeneracy between the cluster
mass and α3. Finally, we make predictions about how effective real observations will be by
quantifying our ability to constrain α3 as a function of limiting equivalent width. We find
that observations sensitive to a modest equivalent width of 9 ˚
A are sufficient to improve
the recovery of the IMF slope parameter by 32% (interquartile range of posterior PDF
median residuals), moving to 39% when we include all the significant spectral features in
the wavelength range 900 − 3000 ˚
A.


The availability of Next Generation Sequencing tools has uncovered an unexpected and highly complex universe of hidden microbial passengers that are transiently or permanently associated with their hosts, hereafter called symbionts. Under natural conditions, these symbionts are often tightly controlled to occur at low densities and/or are restricted to special tissues by intrinsic and extrinsic factors, such as their own replication capacity, nutrition, and stress, as well as host immune competence.

One of the main questions of current symbiosis research is, however, to what extent these microbial passengers affect host phenotypes such as fitness, fecundity, pathogen resistance, or even behavior. In this issue of PLOS Genetics, Luis Teixeira and colleagues [1] have, very elegantly, started to answer some of these essential questions in symbiosis research. The focus of their research is on intracellular bacteria belonging to the genus Wolbachia, one of the most intensively studied symbionts. Wolbachia are found in up to 70% of insect species and in many terrestrial arthropods, and are vertically transmitted with the egg from an infected female to her progeny. In order to enhance their spreading success throughout host populations, Wolbachia can manipulate host reproductive biology by acting as a reproductive parasite, enhancing fitness and fecundity of infected females, enabling them to outcompete uninfected females rapidly in nature [2].

But what happens to the infection as soon as the majority of individuals within a host population are already infected and the spreading of the bacteria comes to a stop? In some cases it has been shown that, in their evolutionary past, Wolbachia have changed their phenotype from reproductive parasitism to obligate mutualism, where the symbiont takes on essential host functions for, e.g., oogenesis, nutrition, or even mate recognition [3]–[5]. Which kind of extrinsic and/or intrinsic factors trigger phenotypic transitions, and what is their genetic basis? In a recent study it was shown that within only 20 years in nature, Wolbachia can transform from a costly reproductive parasite into a mutualist by enhancing fecundity of infected Drosophila simulans females [6].

One of the most puzzling observations, however, is the worldwide replacement during the 20th century of one ancestral Wolbachia strain named wMelCS with the closely related variant wMel in Drosophila melanogaster, the top genetic model system for studying insect host-symbiont interactions [7], [8]. Although neither Wolbachia strain causes any significant level of reproductive parasitism in its respective native host, either in the laboratory or in nature, both persist globally in D. melanogaster at high frequencies worldwide, suggesting they serve some host functions. Moreover, two independent studies have shown that both Wolbachia strains confer significant virus protection [9], [10]. Impressively, D. melanogaster Wolbachia also protects artificially transinfected mosquitos that do not naturally carry Wolbachia from pathogenic RNA viruses, such as Dengue and Chikungunya [11]. A third Wolbachia strain of D. melanogaster that provides even stronger virus resistance is wMelPop, a pathogenic Wolbachia variant that originally emerged after radiation mutagenesis in the laboratory. This virulent Wolbachia strain has recently become a major research focus because it overreplicates massively in somatic host tissues (it is named "popcorn" due to the popcorn-like appearance of infected cells in adult tissues) and hence significantly shortens the lifespan of its host [12]. After transferring wMelPop into the main vector of dengue fever Aedes aegypti, it was shown that the life-shortening effect of wMelPop is also manifest in this medically important insect system [13]. The combination of virus protection, life shortening, and the capacity of maternal spreading render D. melanogaster Wolbachia strains prime candidates for biologically sound insect pest control strategies. Besides their impressive applied capacities for arthropod-borne disease control, however, we currently lack understanding on the following main questions: what are the genotypic and phenotypic differences between the three strains, and why did the wMel strain replace wMelCS globally in the recent past? A better understanding of their genetic basis and their short-term cost–benefit dynamics will be pivotal for further Wolbachia-applied studies in heterologous pest systems.

To this end, Texeira and colleagues studied the molecular and phenotypic basis of short-term Wolbachia dynamics in D. melanogaster. First, they crossed the three Wolbachia variants wMelCS, wMel, and wMelPop into a common genetic fly background in order to exclude any nuclear background effects. Then they carefully assayed for their capacity to suppress viral infections of the Drosophila C virus and Flock house virus in the presence and absence of Wolbachia. They found that the ancestral wMelCS variants proliferate to higher densities and confer greater protection against the two RNA viruses than do flies infected with wMel variants. They also found that flies carrying the ancestral wMelCS infection, although more protected against viral infections, pay a price by living slightly shorter lives than wMel-infected flies (Figure 1). They therefore propose that the ancestral high-cost strain wMelCS (life-shortening due to high titer) has been replaced in nature recently by the less costly Wolbachia variant wMel, which still protects the host significantly from viral infections but replicates at lower densities with lower costs on longevity.

Figure 1

Evolutionary cost–benefit dynamics of Wolbachia in natural populations (below) and laboratory lines (above) of Drosophila melanogaster.

Finally, they trace the genetic basis for the transition from symbiosis to virulence by linking phenotype to genotype in the monophyletic wMelCS Wolbachia group. Through their thoughtful comparative analysis of mutualistic wMelCS-like versus pathogenic wMelPop genomes, they found that these two phenotypically distinct Wolbachia strains form a monophyletic group that mainly differ in only one genomic region: a 7-fold amplification of a 21-kb region in wMelPop encoding eight Wolbachia proteins. These data strongly imply that the selective amplification of one or more genes within this so-called "Octomom region" is quite likely responsible for the expression of the virulent Popcorn phenotype.

This impressive study opens numerous additional questions that will be highly relevant for symbiosis research but also for future applied aspects: Which of the eight candidate genes of the Octomom region of wMelPop are sufficient for triggering Wolbachia pathogenicity? What are the genetic bases for symbiont-directed viral host protection and its strength? And finally, what kind of phenotypic and genetic Wolbachia transitions can be expected to happen in novel host systems such as mosquitos in the near future under natural selection? Stay tuned! It is likely that we are pretty close to monitoring short-term evolutionary dynamics of host–symbiont interactions in real time.


In the post-genomic era, computational modeling, simulations and genomics play a critical role in the next revolution in cancer research. Computational biology is an interdisciplinary field that uses the techniques of computer science, applied mathematics, and statistics to address problems in biology. The supercomputer is widely used in computational biology. We have applied supercomputers in cancer prevention research and have made progress in the following areas: 1) Mapping protein interaction networks in cancer cells (e.g., to study protein kinase interactions with other protein kinases, transcription factors, or other proteins) 2) Computational screening of chemical libraries against target proteins, identification of available chemical libraries (NCI; natural compounds, etc.), crystal structures or homology screening 3) Reverse docking and screening of protein structures against a chemical to identify its molecular target(s) 4) Drug target discovery by supercomputer and in vitro and in vivo validation of computer-identified potential targets using: a) kinase assays b) site mutagenesis c) animal studies 5) Identifying key protein/DNA interactions 6) Modeling cancer promotion and progression in order to study cancer promotion, progression, and therapeutic effectiveness to predict success (i.e. predicting drug resistance) Citation Format: Zigang Dong. Computerized approaches to molecularly designed drugs and target identification for cancer prevention. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2012 Oct 16-19; Anaheim, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Prev Res 2012;5(11 Suppl):Abstract nr CN08-01.


The purpose of this study is to analyze the problem of management of natural-anthropogenic complexes of rural territories in the context of the post-non-classical type of scientific rationality at the philosophical and methodological levels. The problem of management of natural-anthropogenic complexes is considered and analyzed in the article at the philosophical level in the context of the humanistic interpretation of philosophical constructivism. At the methodological level, the management of natural-anthropogenic complexes of rural territories is considered in the basic paradigm "subject – metasubject", in which a natural-anthropogenic complex is presented in the form of a self-developing environment, an integrated study of which is possible only using an interdisciplinary approach.


We report a discrete dipole approximation approach to analyse the perturbations induced by silver nano-particles on the decay dynamics of a point-like emitter placed in their proximity. Due to the excitation of localized surface plasmons, metallic nano-particles behave like optical antennas and are able to convert localized fields into free-propagating optical radiation, and vice versa. Field localization and enhancement induce strong changes on the decay dynamics of dipoles located in the perturbed electromagnetic environment, and these can be faithfully quantified within the framework of classical electromagnetism in terms of total, radiative and non-radiative decay rates. The method is tested on benchmark cases, i.e., nanospheres and nano-shells, and it is then applied to analytically-unsolvable shapes such as sharp nano-cones and oxide-covered small nano-antennas. Numerical results reveal 105-order enhancements in the total decay rate of the dipole when located very near to the sharp tip, both with and without a thin Ag2O layer. Moreover, the counter-intuitive behaviour of the cone response in relation to the distance between the metal and the source of the radiation is discussed. Applications span from strong coupling studies to time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy.


Police efforts to fight drug gangs tend to lead to more violence and an increase in murders, according to a new international study.

The authors, writing in the International Journal of Drug Policy, admit they were surprised by their own findings.

Their hypothesis was that the results "would demonstrate an association between increased drug law enforcement expenditures or intensity and reduced levels of violence". But that's not what they showed. Instead, they report:

"From an evidence-based public policy perspective and based on several decades of available data, the existing scientific evidence suggests drug law enforcement contributes to gun violence and high homicide rates and that increasingly sophisticated methods of disrupting organisations involved in drug distribution could paradoxically increase violence."


In this paper a case study in which interactive digital storytelling was exploited for fostering empathy towards children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is presented. The research population consisted mainly by Kindergarten children. Based on the findings and the overall experience, even considering the design mistakes that occurred, this paper argues upon the deriving value of exploiting multimodal digital representations in the form of a story in order to cultivate empathy towards children with ASD and thus, facilitate social interaction and inclusion. This approach can be useful in mixed population classrooms, but in a wider educational context as well.


Non-hydrogenic impurities play a significant role in the performance of magnetically confined fusion devices, causing increased radiation and dilution of the Deuterium-Tritium fuel isotopes. Impurities are generated at the plasma wall interfaces as well as being deliberately introduced into the plasma in order to reduce heat loads to the vessel walls. The quantity of impurities reaching the core plasma is determined by the impurity source and the nature of transport in the plasma core and scrape-off layer. Direct measurements of impurity transport have been made by injecting carbon ions into the MAST tokamak using an electrical discharge between 2 carbon electrodes. The emission of the resultant carbon plumes was measured by 2 cameras operating at 75kHz − 100kHz mounted on the MAST vessel. The resultant transport of the carbon ions parallel to the background magnetic field was then compared against simulation using the DIVIMP-OSM-EIRENE code.


A 4.5 Gb/s optical transmission system has been developed for experimental use that is based on input and output bit rates of 139.264 Mb/s. To span the maximum regenerator spacing of 36 km, the system works at 1550 nm, using a single frequency DFB (distributed feedback) laser, standard monomode fiber, and ternary avalanche photodiode. Multiplexing and demultiplexing are effected in several steps: the frame structure of the first multiplexing level (565 Mb/s) can be maintained just by modifying the frame alignment word of one 565 Mb/s channel. Signal processing is done predominantly with GaAs-circuits; some Si ICs are used at the highest bit rate.<<ETX>>


A three-dimensional construction is presented that illus-trates conditions under which anisotropic interfaces will be fully wetted, partially wetted, or not wetted by a second phase. Recent experimental observations on the equili-brated morphologies of solid or fluid "wetting" phases along anisotropic interfaces and grain boundaries reveal features that are predicted—and, in some cases, required—by the construction. Theory distinguishes between cases where surfaces are smoothly curved and where there are facets, edges, and corners. In the latter case, the conven-tional comparison of the surface energy of the original sur-face with the sum of the surface energy of the two surfaces of the wetting layer leads to erroneous predictions. The correct predictions are obtained by comparing the Wulff shape of the original surface with a carefully defined "sum" of Wulff shapes of the surfaces of the wetting layer. Where orientations that are wetted join with those that are not, an abrupt change of orientation usually is present. Faceting on two hierarchical levels can occur. Microscopic morphology changes along macroscopically curved surfaces follow well-defined rules that are predicted by the theory. The anal-ogy between the thermodynamics of surface faceting and phase transformations allows the well-known concepts of phase equilibria to be used to understand the predicted structures.


Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is one of the various synthesis methods that have been employed for CNT growth. In particular, Ren et al reported that large areas of vertically aligned multi-wall carbon nanotubes could be grown using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). In the present study, we synthesized aligned CNT arrays using a direct current (dc) PECVD system. The synthesis of CNTs requires a metal catalyst layer, etchant gas, and a carbon source. In this study, the substrate consisted of Si wafers with 10, 30, and 50 nm Ni-sputtered film. Ammonia (NH3) and acetylene (C2H2) were used as the etchant gases and carbon source, respectively. NH3 pretreatment was processed using a flow rate of 180 sccm for 10 min. CNTs were grown on pretreated substrates at 30% C2H2:NH3 flow ratios for 10 min. Carbon nanotubes with diameters ranging from 60 to 80 nanometers and lengths of about 2.7 μm were obtained. Vertical alignment of the carbon nanotubes was observed by FE-SEM.


Abstract Recent decades have seen a major political shift in many nations, manifested in democratic regression, rise of populist non-liberal democracies, resurgence of extreme right, infractions against democratic watchdogs, and increasing nationalism and unilateralism. A central manifestation of this process is the active encroachment by governments on civil society, and particularly on its liberal elements. These manifestations allegedly emanate from resistance to the liberal world order and to threats from pressures imported by national NGOs, and are made possible by changing political opportunity structures. We explore the case of Israel, through an analysis of the New Israel Fund (NIF), as a particular yet demonstrative example of these dynamics. The manifestations of civil society encroachment in Israel include concerted and coordinated actions meant to weaken and delegitimize left-wing civil society actors and their supporters and donors, by Israel's right-wing governments and their NGO allies, through legislation and rhetorical assaults; attempts to curb international funding of human rights organizations; and differential treatment of civil society organizations according to political stance. Interviews with former and current leaders of the NIF show that the attacks have galvanized liberal civil society actors to counteract, and drove them from passive response to active and strategic engagement, professionalization of media work and program evaluation, adjustment of public relations and legal strategies, and even adjustment of programmatic choice, shifting focus to supporting the infrastructure of civil society and democracy. The discussion stresses pressures by international illiberal forces, alongside the backlash to liberal world society, as causes for encroachment, and highlights the less explored reactions of civil society actors to such encroachment.


This chapter considers the institutional environment in Russia, its potential impact upon governance practices, and the attitudes of Russian executives towards the alignment of governance processes relative to international standards. Focusing on corporate board directorship, the research addresses the extent that the harmonization of governance to international standards may assist boards of directors to improve their corporate development. Using a survey questionnaire, the authors explore perceptions of directors of public companies concerning the challenges of corporate governance development in the country. The study illustrates unanimity among the respondents about the reforms needed for international convergence of corporate governance standards. The results reveal that institutional alignment with good governance principles will foster strategic corporate development in the Russian economy. The study offers insights to policymakers in terms of enhancing legitimacy of corporate governance in the Russian context and provides a perspective for executives of foreign companies considering investment in the country.


Ba3(Ca1.18Nb1.82)O9-d (BCN18) powder was synthesized using a wet chemical method from mixtures of all water-soluble compounds including Ba, Ca and Nb-citrate. It has been found that NH4NO3 in the initial solutions plays an important role in controlling the enthalpy of low temperature combustion process as well as the gel decomposition temperature. Further steps include evaporating, drying and calcinating. The obtained gels were characterized by TG-DSC, and the powder was characterized with XRD, TEM and BET. The experimental results have indicated that the heating temperature was only 800°C for synthesizing the powder and the average particle size was only about 40-50 nm. Furthermore it was found that a pure BCN18 phase with complexperovskite structure was formed at 800°C, which was about 800°C lower than that of the traditional solid-reaction method. So it is more practical and more superior to the traditional solid-reaction method and the present wet-chemical method in alcohol salt system reported in literature.


This paper studies the decision of product diversity by firms on digital platforms, and the impact of the decisions on the performance of the firms. Specifically, we take the cinema as the unit of analysis, and study the influence of the diversity of movie scheduling on cinema performance in the context of O2O (online-to-offline) platforms. The results show that the diversity of movie scheduling has a significant negative impact on box office revenues and attendance. The ratio of consumers' adoption of O2O platforms significantly and negatively moderates the main effect. That is, the higher the online ratio is, the weaker the influence of movie-scheduling diversity on cinema performance. Implications of findings are discussed.


Ion-microprobe U–Pb zircon geochronology demonstrates that magmatic rocks that cut the Slishwood Division are early Ordovician in age and relate to the earliest stages of the Grampian Orogeny. These tonalite and granite intrusions yield ages of 474 ± 5 Ma, 472 ± 6 Ma, 471 ± 5 Ma and 467 ± 6 Ma. A Sm–Nd mineral isochron of 457 ± 36 Ma confirms an Ordovician age for one of the tonalite bodies and demonstrates that they were affected by Ordovician metamorphism whereas biotite Rb–Sr mineral ages from two of the tonalite bodies show that the Slishwood Division had cooled below c. 350 °C at 449 ± 7 Ma. The early orogenic tonalite and granite intrusions are mylonitized in structures that overthrust the Dalradian Supergroup onto the Slishwood Division during major nappe formation and, thus, date the onset of such deformation at or before 471 ± 5 Ma, the age of the youngest intrusion where such field relations can be demonstrated.


A multicentre, double-blind, between-patient study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of oxiracetam (800-mg tablets), in comparison with placebo, each given twice daily for 12 weeks to patients suffering from primary degenerative, multi-infarct or mixed forms of dementia. Efficacy was assessed by the Inventory of Psychic and Somatic Complaints in the Elderly (IPSC-E), administered at entry and after 4, 8 and 12 weeks of treatment, and by the Blessed Dementia Scale and the Newcastle Memory, Information and Concentration Scale (NMICS), administered at the beginning and at the end of the study. Three hundred and seven patients were enrolled, 18 of whom were excluded from the analysis because of violation of the protocol. Two hundred and eighty-nine patients were analyzed (145 m, 144 f, mean age 73 years) and 272 completed the study; 3 patients in each treatment group were withdrawn because of poor tolerability, 10 because of poor compliance and 1 patient because of the occurrence of a cerebral stroke. A significantly (p less than 0.01) different effect, in favor of oxiracetam, was observed in the three main efficacy criteria (i.e. IPSC-E, Blessed Dementia Scale and NMIC total scores), and confirmed by descriptive analyses carried out on some subitems of the scales used. Thirty-one patients on oxiracetam and 27 on placebo complained of a total of 35 and 32 minor unwanted effects, respectively. No clinically or statistically significant changes were observed on routine laboratory examinations.


The problems concerned with non-proportionality between the absorbance and the vapor density and its dependence on the vapor temperature, which are inherently encountered by vacuum-sealed quartz cell/atomic absorption spectrophotometry combination, were solved through model calculations in this study. Model calculations revealed that ''colligated analytical-curve'' is useful. Activities of Bi and In in the Bi-In liquid alloy were measured over the entire composition range at the temperature from 850 to 1050 K. An alloy was vacuum-sealed in a quartz cell and heated at the temperature of interest. The absorption for Bi 307 nm radiation from Bi lamp was measured for Bi atom vapor in the cell. By heating a pure metal as a standard and measuring the absorbance as a function of the temperature, a colligated analytical-curve for Bi atom vapor was constructed and used for conversion of the absorbance to the vapor density. Bi activity was determined as the ratio of the Bi atom vapor density over the alloy to that over a pure metal. The same procedure was applied to the In 304 nm radiation from In lamp and In activity was determined independently of Bi. Thermodynamic behavior of the Bi-In liquid alloy was optimized with a sub-regular solution model by taking into account activity data obtained in this study. The agreement between activities optimized in this study and those in the literature was fairly good. The model also well predicted the liquidus curve on the Bi side and the heat of mixing in Bi-In binary, both of which are comparable with the literature values. Finally it was concluded that by constructing colligated analytical-curves the vacuum-sealed quartz cell/atomic absorption spectrophotometer combination was established as a useful technique to measure the activities of elements in alloy systems.


In this work, we continue the analysis of a unified probabilistic approach and the corresponding stochastic multiparametric model of wave propagation above the terrain, including microcell, rural forested, mixed residential and urban, environments. Taking into account diffraction effects caused by the Earth's curvature, we extend this model to the radio links with ranges of more than 10 km covering rural macrocell communication and describe effects of interference caused by terrain curvature. We concentrate on path loss dependence in the frequency domain within the UHF/X-band propagation channels both for urban and rural areas and on link-budget design in such types of communication links. It is shown that the frequency dependence of loss and fading characteristics in terrestrial communication links depend significantly on terrain's topography, all features of obstructions, natural and man-made, as well as on the terminal antennas elevation with respect to obstruction surrounding. Then, based on the same stochastic approach, we give practical recommendations on how to design the link budget based on the concept of fast fading, shadowing effects, and average path loss within various terrestrial communication links and compare them with existing approximate prediction methods.


The objective of the study is to develop a Geographic Information System (GIS) model which integrates a lot of information and various types of data required for hydrographic and geomorphologic analyses, applicable in the sphere of hydrology and geomorphology. The case study will show how to use a GIS tool, create a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), using terrain information, contours line with height information attached and rivers, and at the end to obtain watershed boundaries and determine which basins have higher possibility of flooding by analysis of its shape. The raw data (primary database) will be obtained through vectorization from different maps used for analysing the geographic characteristics of the studied area. The paper focuses on prevention of potential disasters (floods), providing support in data collection and processing by transposing the real geographical problems in a computerassisted modelling.


We previously reported the purification, culture‐expansion, and osteogenic differentiation potential of mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs) derived from human bone marrow. As a first step to establishing the phenotypic characteristics of MPCs, we reported on the identification of unique cell surface proteins which were detected with monoclonal antibodies. In this study, the phenotypic characterization of human marrow‐derived MPCs is further established through the identification of a cytokine expression profile under standardized growth medium conditions and in the presence of regulators of the osteogenic and stromal cell lineages, dexamethasone and interleukin‐1α (IL‐1α), respectively. Constitutively expressed cytokines in this growth phase include G‐CSF, SCF, LIF, M‐CSF, IL‐6, and IL‐11, while GM‐CSF, IL‐3, TGF‐β2, and OSM were not detected in the growth medium. Exposure of cells in growth medium to dexamethasone resulted in a decrease in the expression of LIF, IL‐6, and IL‐11. These cytokines have been reported to exert influence on the differentiation of cells derived from the bone marrow stroma through target cell receptors that utilize gp130‐associated signal transduction pathways. Dexamethasone had no effect on the other cytokines expressed under growth medium conditions and was not observed to increase the expression of any of the cytokines measured in this study. In contrast, IL‐1α increased the expression of G‐CSF, M‐CSF, LIF, IL‐6, and IL‐11 and induced the expression of GM‐CSF. IL‐1α had no effect on SCF expression and was not observed to decrease the production of any of the cytokines assayed. These data indicate that MPCs exhibit a distinct cytokine expression profile. We interpret this cytokine profile to suggest that MPCs serve specific supportive functions in the microenvironment of bone marrow. MPCs provide inductive and regulatory information which are consistent with the ability to support hematopoiesis, and also supply autocrine, paracrine, and juxtacrine factors that influence the cells of the marrow microenvironment itself. In addition, the cytokine profiles expressed by MPCs, in response to dexamethasone and IL‐1α, identify specific cytokines whose levels of expression change as MPCs differentiate or modulate their phenotype during osteogenic or stromagenic lineage entrance/progression. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This paper demonstrates an electro-thermally tunable VCSEL array with an additional tuning electrode. The VCSEL array achieves continuous wavelength tuning of approximately 3 nm with a single-tuning-contact. The deviation in output power is within 1 dB. The power consumption for wavelength tuning is as low as 46 mW. Fast tuning response is expected in the proposed tunable VCSEL because of the small thermal capacity.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study is to find out association between scar thickness, assessed sonographically, and intraoperative findings (IOF).

STUDY DESIGN
Descriptive study.

PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Sharif Medical and Dental College, Lahore, from June 2016 to April 2017.

METHODOLOGY
A total of 70 pregnant patients were included in this study. Transabdominal ultrasound was done for scarred uteri. Sonographic findings were co-related with introperative findings. All the given data were entered on SPSS version 23. Age was expressed as mean ± SD. Parity, gestational age, and interval between cesarean sections were expressed as frequencies with percentages. Statistical analysis was done by using Chi-square test for categorical data for association between sonographic scar thickness and intraoperative findings. The statistical significance was set at p-value <0.05.

RESULTS
The age range of the patients was 20-36 years with a mean of 27.91 ±3.690 years. Gestational age at the time of cesarean section was between 27-40 weeks of gestation with a mean of 37 ±2.126 weeks. The interval from previous cesarean was 10 months at the minimum, and 6 years at the maximum with a mean of 2.29 ±1.0 months. Mean scar thickness was 2.5 mm. Association between scar thickness (<1-3 mm) and intaoperative findings of dehiscence and rupture showed a p-value of <0.001.

CONCLUSION
Sonographic assessment of a uterine scar has a practical application to determine the thickness of previous scar, and assess its integrity.


PURPOSE
To evaluate the use of impermeable silicone-covered Wallstents for transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt creation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt was created in 14 young swine (weight, 20-32 kg) by using impermeable silicone-covered Wallstents. In eight animals, the silicone covering extended from the portal vein to the inferior vena cava. In two swine, the silicone covering ended short of the inferior vena cava, in two it ended short of the portal vein wall, and in two it ended short at each end. Follow-up transhepatic portal venography was performed weekly for 6 weeks or until the shunt was occluded. Animals were then sacrificed for gross and histologic evaluation.

RESULTS
Only two of 14 shunts were patent after 3 weeks; both were stenosed with luminal narrowing of more than 50% in the middle of the shunt. By 6 weeks, all shunts were occluded. At histologic evaluation, a marked foreign-body reaction with superimposed thrombosis was demonstrated.

CONCLUSION
In comparison with uncovered Wallstents, impermeable silicone-covered Wallstents are associated with decreased patency at transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt creation. This is likely due to increased thrombogenicity and a foreign-body reaction.


Spin valves form a key building block in a wide range of spintronic concepts and devices from magnetoresistive read heads to spin-transfer-torque oscillators. We elucidate the dependence of the magnetic damping in the free layer on the angle its equilibrium magnetization makes with that in the fixed layer. The spin pumping-mediated damping is anisotropic and tensorial, with Gilbert- and Bloch-like terms. Our investigation reveals a mechanism for tuning the free layer damping in situ from negligible to a large value via the orientation of fixed layer magnetization, especially when the magnets are electrically insulating. Furthermore, we expect the Bloch contribution that emerges from the longitudinal spin accumulation in the nonmagnetic spacer to play an important role in a wide range of other phenomena in spin valves.


Many traditional model-based diagnosis is based on the assumption of abrupt faults. This assumption can lead to a wrong result when the faults are slowly changing. The diagnosis of slowly changing faults can be considered to be an open area in controlling complex system of large scale. The slowly changing faults are difficult to detect, extremely when interlacing with abrupt faults. The modeling of diagnosis in slowly changing faults is different with abrupt faults. A modeling method of slowly changing faults on hybrid system is proposed, based on Hybrid Input Output Automata and mixture bond graph. The effectiveness is proved by method testing on three-tank system. The testing results provide a basic model to faults discovering and isolating


Under the background of the quick development of lightweight, flexible, and wearable electronic devices in our society, a flexible and highly efficient energy management strategy is needed for their counterpart energy-storage systems. Among them, flexible electrochemical capacitors (ECs) have been considered as one of the most promising candidates because of their significant advantages in power and energy densities, and unique properties of being flexible, lightweight, low-cost, and environmentally friendly compared with current energy storage devices. In a common EC, carbon materials play an irreplaceable and principal role in its energy-storage performance. Up till now, most progress towards flexible ECs technologies has mostly benefited from the continuous development of carbon materials. As a result, in view of the dual remarkable highlights of ECs and carbon materials, a summary of recent research progress on carbon-based flexible EC electrode materials is presented in this review, including carbon fiber (CF, consisting of carbon microfiber-CMF and carbon nanofiber-CNF) networks, carbon nanotube (CNT) and graphene coatings, CNT and/or graphene papers (or films), and freestanding threedimensional (3D) flexible carbon-based macroscopic architectures. Furthermore, some promising carbon materials for great potential applications in flexible ECs are introduced. Finally, the trends and challenges in the development of carbon-based electrode materials for flexible ECs and their smart applications are analyzed.


"Fostering Reading Comprehension Skills in A1 Students" is a project carried out in a public school in Bogotá with a group of eleventh grade students. Reading comprehension is a key aspect for being successful in academic and professional fields. This project examines the use of intensive reading skills based on cross-curricular topics in order to help students improve their reading comprehension ability. Reading comprehension was analyzed using a mixed method approach. The qualitative analysis was done through students' surveys, teacher's journal, and the quantitative analysis through reading tests and students' artifacts. The analysis showed that students improved their reading comprehension ability especially in the kind of exercises like gap filling, multiple choice and true and false. Conversely, they struggle to find word definitions when there is not a specific context. Additionally they had difficulties answering open questions. Through the research it was identified the necessity of having a reading comprehension program in English during all secondary, beginning in basic secondary. It is not enough to have a strong process only in eleventh grade. Another effect of using intensive reading skills based on crosscurricular topics is that students gained confidence in their reading comprehension process. Moreover, the cross-curricular topics helped them to activate their prior knowledge as well as to infer the meaning of words in a specific context.


BACKGROUND
There is debate about the efficacy of screening and case detection for common mental health problems in general practice. There is enthusiasm for screening, but also conflicting evidence for its effectiveness and little research concerning implementation.

AIM
To explore the efficacy of screening and case-finding for high prevalence psychological disorders in routine general practice.

DESIGN OF STUDY
A cross-sectional survey (part of the MaGPie study).

SETTING
Lower North Island of New Zealand.

METHOD
Consecutive patients from a random sample of GPs were screened using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). A stratified random sample of patients was selected, based on GHQ strata, and invited to participate in an indepth interview to assess their psychological health. Seventy GPs (90% response) and 775 patients (68.5% response) were included in analyses. Patients' GHQ-12 scores were compared with GP assessment of patients' psychological health using a 5-point scale of severity, and with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI 1-month assessment).

RESULTS
Overall 17.5% (95% CI = 13.8 to 21.1) of patients reached the threshold for CIDI diagnosis. GPs identified at least some psychological symptoms in the past 12 months in 70.3% (95% CI = 58.2 to 82.3) of patients reaching the CIDI threshold for diagnosis. Case-finding with a 'perfect' screening instrument had the potential to identify only five new cases per 100. The sensitivity and specificity of the GHQ-12 suggest it is not an appropriate tool for case finding in a general practice setting.

CONCLUSION
The potential value of any screening and case-finding instrument in routine general practice must be considered in the context of current high rates of identification. Where continuity of care is a feature of usual management, case-finding is most efficient when focused on patients the GP has not seen in the past year.


Despite advances in drug treatment, outcomes in asthma remain unsatisfactory. Often overlooked in developing treatment strategies are important factors that affect outcomes in asthma: behavioral issues such as the low rate of patient adherence to the prescribed treatment regimen, inadequate physician-patient communication, and inconsistent implementation of evidence-based treatment guidelines. The low adherence rates among asthma patients may be improved by education programs that emphasize both the potentially serious risks of this disease and a team approach to treatment that includes patients and their families in developing a treatment plan. Interactive physician education programs have been shown to improve guideline implementation and physician communication skills. Indeed, effective physician-patient communication may be the key to improving guideline implementation and patient adherence, resulting in meaningful decreases in asthma-related morbidity and mortality.


In this paper we propose a new method for solving the Automatic Aircraft Recognition (AAR) problem from a sequence of images of an unknown observed aircraft. Our method exploits the knowledge extracted from a training image data set (a set of binary images of different aircrafts observed under three different poses) with the fusion of information of multiple features drawn from the image sequence using Dezert-Smarandache Theory (DSmT) coupled with Hidden Markov Models (HMM). The first step of the method consists for each image of the observed aircraft to compute both Hu's moment invariants (the first features vector) and the partial singular values of the outline of the aircraft (the second features vector). In the second step, we use a probabilistic neural network (PNN) based on the training image dataset to construct the conditional basic belief assignments (BBA's) of the unknown aircraft type within the set of a predefined possible target types given the features vectors and pose condition. The BBA's are then combined altogether by the Proportional Conflict Redistribution rule #5 (PCR5) of DSmT to get a global BBA about the target type under a given pose hypothesis. These sequential BBA's give initial recognition results that feed a HMM-based classifier for automatically recognizing the aircraft in a multiple poses context. The last part of this paper shows the effectiveness of this new Sequential Multiple-Features Automatic Target Recognition (SMF-ATR) method with realistic simulation results. This method is compliant with realtime processing requirement for advanced AAR systems.


: A working group of the Dutch Society for Dermatology and Venereology (NVDV), in collaboration with the Dutch Institute for Health Care Improvement (CBO), has written an evidence-based guideline for the treatment of vitiligo. A distinction is made between generalised or non-segmental vitiligo and localised, including segmental, vitiligo. In patients with generalised vitiligo phototherapy (especially narrow-band ultraviolet B) is the treatment of first choice while in localised vitiligo, this is surgery, particularly autologous skin transplantation (Thiersch grafting, the use of blister epidermis and cell suspensions). However, on the basis of the results of the treatments proposed in the guideline, the working group cannot advise dermatologists to propose a particular treatment to each vitiligo patient they see. On the other hand, the working group is of the opinion that, based on a proper medical examination and an assessment of the disease burden, well-considered advice--and in some cases therapy--should be given to every vitiligo patient who requests it. The benefit of the guideline is that it provides clarity to dermatologists, general practitioners and patients regarding the therapeutic possibilities and limitations.


The incidence of dengue worldwide is increasing rapidly. A better understanding of dengue transmission may help improve interventions against this major public health problem. The virus is mostly transmitted by vectors. There are, however, other modes of transmission, notably mother-to-child transmission or vertical transmission. We studied a prospective cohort of 54 women who had dengue while pregnant during the 2012-2013 epidemic in French Guiana to estimate the mother-to-child transmission rate and assess the clinical and biological presentation of neonatal dengue. The rate of vertical transmission was between 18.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 9.25-31.4) and 22.7% (95% CI: 11.5-37.8), depending on the calculation method used. Mother-to-child transmission occurred both in early and late pregnancy. There were 52 births, including three newborns who presented neonatal dengue with warning signs requiring platelet transfusion. This quantification of the mother-to-child transmission of dengue highlights three points: first, vertical transmission of dengue is not negligible; second, it is more frequent when maternal dengue occurs late during pregnancy near delivery; and third, reliable diagnostic tests must be used to allow the diagnosis of vertical transmission. Our findings indicate that if there is a known history of maternal dengue during pregnancy, or if there is fever during the 15 days before term, cord blood and placenta should be sampled after delivery and tested for the virus, and the newborn should be closely monitored during the postpartum period.


Lawmakers enact tax laws to raise revenue, redistribute resources, and change behavior. The ability of a tax law to serve its goals depends on how individuals respond to the tax law, and how individuals respond to the tax law can depend on how it interacts with other laws. This article unearths unrecognized connections between the operations of tax law on the one hand and the voluntary nature of public assistance programs on the other. Because households' decisions to enroll in public assistance programs depend on their disposable income, and higher taxes decrease disposable income, higher taxes render the benefits of public assistance more appealing to households. Low-income households not enrolled in public assistance programs can respond to an increase in taxes by taking up those programs. This article shows the importance of considering the interactions between tax law and public assistance, both by demonstrating the pitfalls that result if the interactions are not considered and by presenting several opportunities to increase take-up of public assistance if the interactions are exploited. In terms of pitfalls, this article shows that the interactions between tax law and public assistance programs can limit the ability of a tax law to raise revenue, redistribute resources from the rich to the poor, and change individuals' behavior. In doing so, it uncovers novel legal questions that arise from these complex interactions between tax law and public assistance, including some related to tax earmarking, fiscal federalism, and income tax withholding. In terms of opportunities, this article outlines policy proposals that take advantage of the interactions between tax law and public assistance programs identified in the paper. For example, to encourage take-up of public assistance, governments could earmark the revenue from taxes paid in part by low-income households for the funding of voluntary public assistance programs, publicize how public assistance is funded, and publicize that tax laws are set with the expectation that eligible households take up public assistance. Some eligible households that would otherwise not enroll in public assistance programs would enroll because they would feel as if they earned the benefits, and other households would enroll because they would feel that they would be paying more than their fair share in taxes if they do not enroll.


1. Myofascial and other pain 2. How trigger points start - the big and the small picture 3. Different trigger points characteristics 4. Maps and other ways of locating trigger points 5. 'Measuring the pain' 6. Finding trigger points by palpation 7. How to treat trigger points manually 8. Integrating trigger point application into massage 9. Non-manual trigger point deactivation methods


Analysis of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is emerging as a powerful tool for guiding targeted therapy and monitoring tumor evolution in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), particularly when fresh tissue biopsy is not available. This study compared the ability of four leading technology platforms to detect epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations (L858R, exon 19 deletion, T790M and G719X) in ctDNA from NSCLC patients. The platforms included two amplification refractory mutation systems (cobas-ARMS and ADx-ARMS), a droplet digital polymerase chain reaction platform (ddPCR) and a next-generation sequencing platform (Firefly NGS). Fifteen EGFR mutations across twenty NSCLC patients were identified. We observed superior sensitivity and specificity of cobas-ARMS, ddPCR and Firefly NGS platforms, while ADx-ARMS was only suitable for the qualitative detection of EGFR mutations with allele frequency higher than 1% in plasma samples. We observed high concordance between the plasma and tissue EGFR mutational profiles for three driver mutations that are known targets of the first generation EGFR-TKI therapy (L858R, E19-dels, and G719X). Discrepancies between plasma and tissue EGFR mutational profiling could be attributed to spatial and temporal tumor heterogeneity. This pilot study illustrates the promise of ctDNA analysis in the context of treatment evaluation and drug resistance detection, and results will be validated in follow-up studies. Citation Format: Ting Xu, Xiaozheng Kang, Xiaofang You, Dai Liang, Dequan Tian, Wanpu Yan, Yongbo Yang, Hongchao Xiong, Zhen Liang, Grace Q. Zhao, Shengrong Lin, Ke-Neng Chen, Guobing Xu. Cross-platform comparison of four leading technologies for detecting EGFR mutations in circulating tumor DNA from plasma of patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2742. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2742


The fisheries and some aspects of the biology of Oreochromis urolepsis of the Mtera Reservoir (Tanzania) were examined in August 2002. It was observed that there was no proper management of the reservoir\'s fisheries. Beach seine fishing dominated the fishery. Nearly all the O. urolepsis caught by this type of gear were juveniles. The number of fish caught by the beach seines was very high, some times up to 4,000 fish per haul. The beach seines also destroy the spawning sites for the tilapias. Mean total lengths of O. urolepsis caught in gillnets of legal mesh sizes (ranging from 88 mm and 114 mm), ranged between 22.0 cm and 27 cm. Their mean weights were between 236 g and 433 g. Most of the fish caught were sexually immature. Ninety three per cent of the fish from the 88 mm gillnets were immature, while only 28% of those caught in the 114 mm mesh nets were mature. The smallest mature female had a total length of 24.0 cm. O. urolepsis is a very fecund tilapiine species. A female weighing 450 g was found to contain about 3250 eggs. It was also found that the species is a phytoplankton feeder, taking in diatoms, green and blue green algae. Tanzania Journal of Science Vol. 30 (2) 2004: pp. 33-40


Significance of ECM as a regulator of vascular function has been hypothesized but not fully investigated. We assessed vessel stability and response to acute tissue stress in vivo in mice where type I collagen metabolism is altered due to presence of a knock-in mutation in the Col1a1 gene, e.g., Col 1(I)r/r mice. Our data revealed that plasma protein extravasation and vessel leakiness following acute stimulation of skin by topical exposure to mustard oil (MO) or intradermal injection of serotonin, histamine or VEGF-A, in Col 1(I)r/r mice was attenuated by 50% indicating that vessels resist acute responses due to maintenance of stability. We found that maintenance of vessel stability in Col 1(I)r/r mice was due to chronic activation of a metalloprotease (MP) in skin since treatment of Col 1(I)r/r mice with the MP inhibitor GM6001 restored acute vascular responses to mutant animals. We assessed vascular leakage in MMP-2, -8, -13 and -14-deficient mice and found that only in MMP14-deficient mice was vessel stability compromised as evidenced by their increased steady state level of plasma protein leakage. To reveal the molecular pathway being regulated by MMP14, we treated Col 1(I)r/r mice with neutralizing antibodies to TGFß or an ALK5 inhibitor and found that vascular responsiveness in Col 1(I)r/r mice was normalized to characteristic levels as observed in wt mice. The implications of these findings are that pharmacologic manipulation of type I collagen metabolism, MMP14 activity, or TGFß-induced signaling represents efficacious targets for regulating vascular stability and/or leakiness in vivo.


Abstract In this article, the effect of regular sport activities on the problem-solving approaches performed by high school students when they encountered said problem was analyzed. Six hundred male high school students participated in the study (Mage=15.45 years, age range: 14-17 years). The Problem-Solving Inventory (PSI) was used to evaluate students' problem-solving solutions. Student-athletes were selected from the students who took charge in school teams, exercised for 6 days a week, provided that this exercise did not exceed 1 h 30 min, and who also participated in competitions. Mann-Whitney U test, which is nonparametrictest, was used to examine two samples (athlete, & non-athlete) and Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis was used to make intergroup (branches of sport) examinations. According to the findings that were obtained, a significant difference was found among selfconfident approach values of athlete and non-athlete students (U=45.0, p=0.008). A significant difference was observed among assessor approach values of athlete and non-athlete students (U=46.2, p=0.033). The students who did sports regularly were more self-confident than those who did not do sports regularly and were of the same age when they encountered a problem, and student-athletes evaluated the phase of solving the problem and results that they obtained more carefully than those who did not do sport regularly and were of the same age. Student-athletes believed that they would solve the problem that they encountered. Further, student athletes preferred using a systematic method while solving a problem and making a decision more often than those who were not athletes and were of the same age.


The existence of life places strong constraints on the cosmological initial conditions and the laws of physics. Cosmologists have long been intrigued by the "unreasonable" bio-friendliness of the universe in this regard. The explanation of choice is now the so-called multiverse cosmological model, which emerges naturally by combining the inflationary universe scenario with string theory. However, in the absence of an efficient panspermia mechanism, the question of whether or not life is widespread in the universe is not addressed by cosmology. Rather, it hinges on whether biogenesis is dominated by chance, or some elusive "life principle". One way to test the fashionable, but as-yet unjustified, claim that life arises readily on earth-like planets is to seek evidence for multiple genesis events on Earth. I offer some proposals for experimental test.


In order to meet the demand on the miniaturization and manufacturing cost reduction of the multilayer ceramic capacitors we have developed a nano-BaTiO3-based non-reducible dielectric material through a soft chemical route. The particle size has been decreased down to the level of 30nm and the dielectric medium could be co-fired with Ni-electrodes under a N2+H2 reducing atmosphere. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and volume shrinkage have been employed to detect the sintering behavior and microstructure evolution including grain growth, pore formation and body densification. Dielectric measurements showed, after a sintering process at 1200°C for 2h, the dielectric constant was 8800, the dissipation factor was less than 2%, the insulation resistance was about 12~13exp Ω.cm, and the temperature coefficients of capacitance were less than 22% and -82% at -30°C and 85°C respectively. On the basis of the results it is anticipated that the material could be used for the Ni-MLCC with thin dielectric layers with a Y5V specification in the Electron Industries Association standard.


Materials are the heart of engineering, which can be defined as the creative and rational use of materials for practical purposes. Materials have had an essential role in the development of civil engineering: from the beginning of human evolution, man has used many different materials to build houses, bridges, roads and countless other structures to make his life easier. Ancient populations used the raw materials at their disposal, such as stone, clay and timber. Over the centuries, the search for new materials became increasingly important to respond to changing human needs, and men learned how to use clay to form artificial stones, cements and concretes, for instance. While hands-on familiarity rooted in tradition and crafting expertise initially drove these human activities, in modern times the need for a scientific understanding of materials prompted the birth of the material science discipline. Material science studies the composition, behavior and properties of materials to solve problems associated with their use. Engineering and material science work together to create functional, durable and beautiful structures.
Among the materials used in civil engineering constructions, wood and cement have had the most important role over the centuries and they are still the main components of our infrastructures.
Timber was used as a building material even by primitive man, and a few ancient temples, palaces and bridges built of wood can still be seen today. In the 20th century, although materials such as concrete had become competitive, wood retained its significant role in building. The main problem with the use of wood as a construction material concerns its possibly limited lifetime. Wood is characterized by a limited resistance to moisture and fire, the two elements responsible for the destruction of most wooden buildings in the past.
Cement, and consequently concrete, is the most often used material today. The term "cement" is now used to mean a modern binder, the so-called Portland cement, patented in England in 1824. Similar binding materials were already being used from very early on ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Modern cement formulations have changed a great deal and can be adapted to their intended use and the surrounding environment.


Arithmetic operation and arithmetic expression evaluation are basic operations of a computing model. Based on the rules with priority, this paper discusses arithmetic operation and arithmetic expression evaluation in transition P system. We present the rules of arithmetic operation and the arithmetic of constructing arithmetic expression evaluation's membrane structure based on the arithmetic operation rules. In the arithmetic operation rules, we use some specifically symbols to make rules applied in a maximally parallel manner, and also assure synchronization need during the rules application.


To a large extent past scholarship has been absorbed with
 textual, source-critical, and redactional issues. Each of the major approaches
 surveyed attempts to deal with the formidable problems presented by the text.
 Inasmuch as an effort has been made to understand the genealogy historically,
 most of that effort has been expended on recovering the early history of Judah
 and its growth during the monarchy. Because genealogies are essentially
 histories of generations, it is only natural for scholars to want to plumb the
 depths of these records as one means to reconstruct the past. But whatever
 traditions may have been available to the authors, one should inquire further
 about what functions the genealogy may have fulfilled in the late Persian or
 early Hellenistic period, the time in which the authors wrote. Genealogies in
 the ancient Mediterranean world were caught up with fundamental issues of
 self-definition, identity, territory, and relationships. They were composed
 mainly to address claims about social status, kinship ties, and territorial
 affiliations and not to satisfy idle curiosities about the distant past. In
 most, albeit not all, cases lineages "establish and validate living
 relationships." Given that the postexilic Judah constructed by modern
 scholarship is not known for having a diverse social and ethnic makeup, pursuing
 the heterogeneity within the Judahite genealogy holds much promise.


ABSTRACT Energy drink consumption by athletes has become increasingly popular. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of phantom and dragon energy drinks on female athlete students. For this purpose, twelve female athlete students of Tehran University (age 22±0.63 years, height 162.1±5.8 cm, weight 56.91±6.79 kg) volunteered to participate in this study and performed three sessions of a Bruce treadmill test with 4-day intervals. In each session, in a double-blind, randomized and counterbalanced design, 6 ml/kg/bw of phantom, dragon or placebo was consumed 40 minutes before the exercise test. Results showed that dragon and phantom consumption resulted in a significant difference between VO 2max, time of exhaustion and perceived exertion in the posttest (P 0.05). Dragon significantly increased HRmax when compared to phantom and placebo (P< 0.05). In conclusion, the acute consumption of phantom and dragon drinks probably has ergogenic effects on some cardiovascular factors.


California has a lot to lose if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is repealed. The state made significant investments in implementing the law successfully, and under the ACA cut the number of uninsured residents in half, from 6.5 million in 2013 to 3.3 million in 2015—the largest decline in the uninsured rate of any state.1 The two major reasons for this drop in uninsurance were the expansion of Medicaid and the provision of financial assistance for purchasing coverage through the state health insurance marketplace, Covered California. As a result of these policies, California experienced a significant reduction in health coverage disparities: the biggest drops in the uninsurance rate were among those least likely to have coverage before the ACA, namely those with the lowest income, young adults, part-time workers, and Latinos.2 Repealing the ACA threatens not only to leave millions without health insurance, but also to undo the progress California has made in reducing inequality of health insurance access.


"Poverty and extreme poverty have been decreasing significantly in Brazil. Between 2004 and 2013, poverty decreased from 20 per cent to just over 9 per cent of the population, while extreme poverty fell from around 7 per cent to 4 per cent in the same period. A considerable part of this decrease was due to the expansion of the labour market and significant increases in transfers to the poor, both by social security and through the Bolsa Familia programme. Unfortunately, this progress has stagnated. Between 2012 and 2013, extreme poverty increased slightly, and poverty remained stable. The labour market is deteriorating rapidly, and the fiscal scenario has gone from being relatively favourable to quite concerning. Data indicate that the two driving forces behind the reduction in poverty rates?the labour market and transfers to the poor?are unable to keep the same pace they had in the previous decade." (...)


Organic light-emitting-diode (OLED) materials have exhibited a wide range of applications. However, further development and commercialization of OLEDs requires higher-quality OLED materials, including high thermal stability associated with the glass transition temperature (Tg) and decomposition temperature (Td). Experimental determinations of the two important properties genernally involve a time-consuming and laborious process. Thus, it is highly desired to develop a quick and accurate prediction tool. Motivated by the changelle, we explored machine learning based framework by constructing new dataset with more than one thousand samples collected from a wide range of literaturesm, throngh which ensemble learning models were explored. Models trained with the LightGBM algorithm exhibit the best prediction performance, where the values of MAE, RMSE, and R2 are 17.15 K, 24.63 K, and 0.77 for Tg prediction, 24.91 K, 33.88 K, and 0.78 for Td prediction. The prediction performance and the generalization of the machine learning models are further tested by out-of-sample dataset, also exhibiting satisfactory results. Experimental verification further demonstrates the reliability and the practical potential of the ML-based model. In order to extend the practice application of the ML-based models, an online prediction platform was constructed, including the optimal predition models and all the thermal stability data under study, which are freely available at http://oledtppxmpugroup.com. We expect that they will become a useful tool for experimental investigations on Tg and Td, in turn accelerating the design of the OLED materials with high performance.


To research the creep behavior of salt rock, the uniaxial and triaxial creep experiments were carried out under different deviatoric stresses and same confining pressure or different confining pressures and same deviatoric stress. The experiment results showed that the analysis on the creep damage of salt rock should consider the influence of confining pressure and deviatoric stress. By introducing the damage variable to the Norton Power law of salt rock, a new constitutive law of salt rock was presented. The damage equivalent stress was the function of the confining pressure and the deviatoric stress in the new constitutive law. The constitutive law can embody the steady creep and accelerative creep of salt rock, in which the parameters are obtained by simulating the experimental data of salt rock in some salt mine. The theoretic results are in good agreement with the experimental results. The new constitutive law was embedded in the three dimension numerical codes. The natural gas storage in the salt mine was analyzed by the new constitutive law. The evolvement law of damage bound and the displacement law around the natural gas storage were studied under the minimal natural gas storage pressure. The continuous operating time of the natural gas storage was also analyzed under the pressure. The research conclusions are expected to be applied in the natural gas storage projects in salt rock layer.


OBJECTIVE
External ventricular drains (EVDs) are commonly used in the neurosurgical population. However, very few pediatric neurosurgery studies are available regarding EVD-associated infection rates with antibiotic-impregnated EVD catheters. The authors previously published a large pediatric cohort study analyzing nonantibiotic-impregnated EVD catheters and risk factors associated with infections. In this study, they aimed to analyze the EVD-associated infection rate after implementation of antibiotic-impregnated EVD catheters.

METHODS
A retrospective observational cohort of pediatric patients (younger than 18 years of age) who underwent a burr hole for antibiotic-impregnated EVD placement and who were admitted to a quaternary care ICU between January 2011 and January 2019 were reviewed. The ventriculostomy-associated infection rate in patients with antibiotic-impregnated EVD catheters was compared to the authors' historical control of patients with nonantibiotic-impregnated EVD catheters.

RESULTS
Two hundred twenty-nine patients with antibiotic-impregnated EVD catheters were identified. Neurological diagnostic categories included externalization of an existing shunt (externalized shunt) in 34 patients (14.9%); brain tumor (tumor) in 77 patients (33.6%); intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) in 27 patients (11.8%); traumatic brain injury (TBI) in 6 patients (2.6%); and 85 patients (37.1%) were captured in an "other" category. Two of 229 patients (0.9% of all patients) had CSF infections associated with EVD management, totaling an infection rate of 0.99 per 1000 catheter days. This is a significantly lower infection rate than was reported in the authors' previously published analysis of the use of nonantibiotic-impregnated EVD catheters (0.9% vs 6%, p = 0.00128).

CONCLUSIONS
In their large pediatric cohort, the authors demonstrated a significant decline in ventriculostomy-associated CSF infection rate after implementation of antibiotic-impregnated EVD catheters at their institution.


Context: Falls cause significant morbidity and mortality, constituting 38.9% of trauma visits to the emergency department (ED) in Lebanon. Elderly have increased risk of falls due to co-morbidities. Injury-related deaths are most common in developing countries, and few studies have examined falls internationally. Aims: Describe characteristics, injury patterns, and outcomes of elderly treated for fall injuries at a tertiary care center in Lebanon. Settings and Design: Retrospective observational chart review of elderly presenting after a fall to the ED. Subjects and Methods: Retrospective observational study of elderly (≥65 years) patients who presented to the ED at a tertiary care center in Lebanon with the chief complaint of "fall" over a 6-year period. Statistical Analysis Used: Descriptive analysis. Results: Two hundred and thirty-five patients were included; mean age was 78.1 (±7.2) years with female predominance (60.5%). Falls occurred at home (99.2%) and from ground level (96.4%). Patients presented by private transport (85.8%). The initial impact was to the head in 31.2% of patients with 47.8% on antiplatelet/anticoagulation therapy. Imaging includes extremity X-ray (46.6%) and head/cervical spine computed tomography (39.5%). Dispositions included home (58.9%), regular floor (23.3%), operating room (7.9%), and intensive care unit (5.9%). Pelvic/hip repair was the most common surgical procedure. Most injuries were nonlife-threatening. Overall mortality was 2%. Conclusions: Falls have a high impact on the elderly population in Lebanon, with most occurring at home, resulting in pelvic/hip injuries and a mortality of 2%. There is a need to implement multifaceted fall prevention programs to mitigate such injuries and improve patient safety and outcomes.


Globalization is a borderless world with "competition" as a key word. Globalization means opportunities as well as a source of threats. Specific advantages derived from operating in a global market seem to be exploitable only by large organization, unless small business can find the suitable strategy allowing them to cope with global market opportunities without suffering from limited competencies and capabilities. In globalization, there are high market and product competitiveness and also opportunity to grow for small business. Small Businesses should have a specific strategy that are implemented based on the entrepreneurs' competencies, capabilities and products or service competitiveness strategies in order to compete in the global market. Small businesses in Indonesia suffer from some weaknesses: (1) Internal factors as follows: weak in entrepreneurship spirit; Unprofessional employees; low in creative ideas and innovative products; weak in mental sustainability in competitive condition; limited business networking particularly in global market; unskilled and no experiences employee in global market practices; and less capital resources networking. (2) External factors as follows: minimal conducive business environment; shortage in business training for small business actors by government; less government support such as business information center and infra structure for business transportation and communication facilities; limited marketing channel; and limited in global market information. The objective of this article is to provide recommendation in the form of strategy to improve the competencies and capabilities of small business actors (entrepreneurs and employees) in competition strategy in global market competition. Method used in this article is by literature review.In order to survive and to take advantages of opportunities in the global market, the small business must improve their business competencies, capabilities and product competitiveness as well. (1) Owners and Employees of small business should build the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation by empowering their capacity building. (2) The entrepreneurs should create relevant and competitive strategies in the market to become a driving force in order to improve their business competencies and capabilities in global market competition.(3) The entrepreneurs should develop a center of alliances strategies for global market. Therefore, by improving the business competencies and capabilities then they will encourage the creation of product or service competitiveness in global market. (4) The role of government with a conducive business environment created by government is considered as supporting factors to encourage the various efforts made by small business employees to improve their competitiveness locally and globally.


This article outlines the theoretical problematique and some empirical knowledge regarding the impacts of global environmental change on the nation state; thereby it also introduces this special issue of Global Environmental Politics. We argue that global environmental change decreases the capacity of nation states to fulfill their definitional functions without the cooperation of other states. The added stress due to environmental change also increases the demand for adaptive capacities of nation states, which further diminishes their resources to fulfill other core functions. Based on an overview of the complex interplay between global environmental change and the nation state, we focus on the various ways in which the nation state may mitigate, or adapt to, the impacts of global environmental change, including horizontal diffusionism and vertical institutionalism. In summarizing the other contributions to this special issue, we further argue that a reconsideration of key theoretical concepts such as sovereignty, agency, and multilevel governance is required in order to improve our understanding of the complexities of global environmental governance.