Background:  Weight loss as a result of cancer and treatment is commonly associated with a poor prognosis (Nitenberg & Raynard, 2000). This weight change can also impact on tolerance to chemotherapy with greater risk of toxicities (Tian et al., 2007) and many chemotherapy side effects have significant nutritional implications. However, there is a paucity of research on the incidence of malnutrition in outpatients with cancer. This study aimed to assess the risk of malnutrition, and ascertain the prevalence of symptoms that could potentially impact on nutritional status in the oncology outpatient setting.

Methods:  Patients attending medical oncology outpatients at any stage of the treatment pathway were recruited at a London NHS Trust. All adult patients (228) who were receiving chemotherapy, hormonal therapy or symptom control were invited to participate. Patients receiving radiotherapy were excluded due to the different side effect profile. Nutrition risk was determined using the Trust Validated Nutrition Screening Tool (NST), which incorporated questions on unintentional weight loss and appetite reduction in the previous 3–6 months, height, usual and current weight and body mass index (BMI). All participants were asked to complete a short questionnaire to ascertain information on current symptoms. Ethical approval was not required as this work was deemed part of service evaluation.

Results:  Two hundred and seven patients participated; the mean age was 58 years (115 male, 92 female). Using the NST score the incidences of risk of malnutrition for the cancer types were upper gastrointestinal 83% (24/29), lung/mesothelioma 76% (31/41), gynaecological 73% (20/27), breast 60% (27/45), colorectal 50% (17/34) and urological 45% (15/31). The mean (SD) body mass index was 5.7 kg m−2; 15.0–65.4 kg m−2. The mean (SD) weight loss in the previous 3–6 months for all tumour types was 12.9%, with a wide range of a weight loss of 49.4% to a weight gain of 44%. The prevalence of symptoms that may potentially have impacted on nutritional status are shown in Table 1.

Table 1.   Percentage of patients reporting symptoms with the potential to impact on nutritional status Incidence (%) Symptoms with the potential to impact on nutritional status
80–100 Fatigue, Anxiety
60–79 Early satiety, reduced appetite, pain, shortness of breath
40–59 Dry mouth, taste changes, constipation, weight loss, diarrhoea, nausea, increased appetite
<40 Sore mouth, weight gain, vomiting, heartburn, dysphagia

Discussion:  This study demonstrated that routine nutritional screening, as recommended by NICE (2006), is vital in medical oncology outpatients. It highlighted the need for dedicated dietetic time in the oncology outpatient setting to provide nutritional assessment and dietetic intervention as appropriate. This is additionally pertinent in light of the highlighted incidence of symptoms, many of which can further impact on nutritional status, which if left to further decline, is likely to impact of treatment tolerance and outcome.

Conclusion:  Medical oncology outpatients are at risk of malnutrition and dietetic involvement is essential to prevent the development of further nutrition related problems during treatment. A further study is planned using this study design in clinical oncology outpatients in order to ascertain the similarities and differences in malnutrition risk and symptom prevalence in those patients undergoing radiotherapy.

References  National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE). (2006) Nutrition support in adults. Clinical guideline 32. National Institute of Clinical Excellence.

Nitenberg, G. & Raynard, B. (2000) Nutritional support of the cancer patient: issues and dilemmas. Crit. Rev. Oncol. Hematol. 34, 137–168.

Tian, J., Chen, Z., & Hang, L. (2007)Effects of nutritional and psychological status in gastrointestinal cancer patients on tolerance of treatment. World J. Gastroenterol. 13, 4136–4140.


Experiments were performed that test the kinematic breaking criterion, which states that the horizontal fluid particle velocity at the surface of a crest exceeds the local phase speed of the crest prior to breaking. Three different definitions of phase speed are used to calculate phase velocities of the wave crests from detailed surface elevation measurements. The first definition, based on the equivalent linear wave, is constant over the wavelength of the wave. The second, based on partial Hilbert transforms of the surface elevation data, is local in space and time giving instantaneous values at all space and time measurements. The third, based on the speed of the position of the crest maximum, is local in time but not in space. Particle image velocimetry is used to obtain horizontal components of fluid particle velocity at the surface of crests of breaking and nonbreaking waves produced in a wave flume using the chirp-pulse focusing technique. The ratios of these fluid particle speeds to crest phase speeds are calculated and are consistently less than unity. The speed ratio for the rounded crest of a plunging breaker is at most 0.81, implying that the kinematic breaking criterion is far from satisfied. The ratio for the more sharply pointed crest of a spilling breaker is at most 0.95, implying that the kinematic breaking criterion is closer to being satisfied. Thus, for the breaking waves in this study the kinematic breaking criterion is not satisfied for any of the three definitions of phase speed and so it cannot be regarded as a universal predictor of wave breaking.


Nitrofurantoin bearing microspheres of wax were prepared by wax emulsification and congealing techniques. The effects of emulsifier concentration and stirring rate on drug release and other physical parameters of microspheres were studied. Based on in vitro release and urinary excretion data nitrofurantoin wax microspheres appeared to have sustained drug release profile. Bees wax and hard paraffin have been used in the preparation of matrix embedded sustained release formulations of drugs. In the present investigation NFT (nitrofurantoin) was embedded in spherical monoliths of wax prepared by emulsification of wax its subsequent congealing. The variables studied were : stirring rate, emulsifier concentration and drug loading. The effects of these variables on particle size, shape and degree of drug embedding were also studied. The formulation with desirable release rate was selected. The in vivo performance of NFT-wax microspheres was evaluated using urinary excretion profile obtained on dogs.


The analysis and verification of security protocols is an important field in the security of computer nowadays. Model checking technique to the analysis of security protocols has proved remarkably successful, which involves three parts: modeling of system behaviors, description of system properties and system verification. Modeling of system behaviors is a highly challenging task because of its complexity, especially modeling of intruder capability. A general method is proposed to construct a Promela model of the cryptographic protocol, and make use of this way to model the Helsinki protocol. The Promela model of Helsinki protocol is automatically verified by model checker Spin and an attack to Helsinki protocol has successfully been found. Experimental result shows the verification validity via message sequence chart. The general method may become a good guideline for verifying similar cryptographic protocols


The electronic trading system Xetra of the German Security Exchange provides a unique data source on the equity trades of 756 professional traders located in 23 different cities and eight European countries. We explore informational asymmetries across the trader population: Traders located outside Germany in non-German-speaking cities show lower proprietary trading profit. Their underperformance is not only statistically significant, it is also of economically significant magnitude and occurs for the 11 largest German blue-chip stocks. We also examine whether a trader location in Frankfurt as the financial center, or local proximity of the trader to the corporate headquarters of the traded stock, or affiliation with a large financial institution results in superior trading performance. The data provide no evidence for a financial center advantage or of increasing institutional scale economies in proprietary trading. However, we find evidence for an information advantage due to corporate headquarters proximity for high-frequency (intraday) trading. Copyright The American Finance Association 2001.


Abhishiktananda described himself as a "Hindu-Christian monk", and spent much of his life blurring the religious boundaries between being Hindu and being Christian. There are many others like him who have claimed or been assigned religious identities which might seem paradoxical. In contemporary theological speak, they can be seen as having a 'double religious identity'; that is, they are believed to be engaging with both simultaneously. Indeed a 'theology of double religious identity' tends to attribute this to cultural norms, family ties, syncretism or even a consumerist approach, and has explored it mostly through Buddhist-Christian examples. Whilst a few references have been made to 'Hindu-Christian identity', this thesis has chosen to widen the demographic and draw on a set of case studies solely located within the interfaith sphere of Hindu-Christian dialogue (These include Robert de Nobili, Abhishiktananda and Brahmabandhab Upadhyay). By exploring it outside of the Buddhist-Christian paradigm, this thesis hopes to aid a better theological understanding of double religious identity, by examining both how and why such identities occur.

The shift into Hindu-Christian dialogue uncovers further reasons as to why double religious identity might arise, which includes aesthetics, politics, theology and inculturation. Inculturation is a means of mission and dialogue which involves suitably adapting another religious culture to ground the Church in a different context. This use of religious symbolism has led, at times, to perceptions of its practitioners as both Hindu and Christian. Indeed, this thesis concludes that perception plays a large role in the designation and understanding of people's double religious identities. It hopes that this research will aid further interest in the interactions between religious identities, particularly within Hindu-Christian dialogue. By taking a broader approach to what constitutes and influences a person's religious identity, such identities as 'Hindu-Christian' can be better understood.


Introduction: Today in many countries, there is a clear trend to a growing number of major diseases of the oral cavity, due to the poor state of the environment, unbalanced diet, and concomitant chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Topical problem of modern medicine and pharmacy is optimization of pharmacotherapy of inflammatory periodontal diseases. The aim of the study was to establish optimal combination of new gel for the treatment of periodontal disease. Materials and Methods: The experimental studies were conducted on white male rats. Research of membrane protective activity was carried out on the standard model of spontaneous hemolysis of erythrocytes by Jager. The research of antimicrobial activity was carried out by method of diffusion in agar. Research of Parodont-protective effect was carried out on the model protamine periodontitis. Results and Discussions: Extract of Aloe has powerful membrane protective effect in different doses. The study in vitro showed the high sensitivity of thick oak bark extract in the form of a gel to the cultures of Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, and Candida аlbicans that allows to recommend it for the treatment of inflammatory diseases of the mouth. Conclusions: According to the results of screening studies, optimal composition of gel that contains Аloe arborescens and cortex Quercus were selected for the treatment of parodontal diseases. Parodont-protective activity of gel is confirmed on the protamine periodontitis model, the ability to decrease the clinical symptoms, namely, hyperemia, edema and necrotic erosive changes of the gums and mucous membranes of the mouth.


Patulin is a mycotoxin produced by Penicillium expansum and a common contaminant of pome fruits and their derived products worldwide. It is considered to be mutagenic, genotoxic, immunotoxic, teratogenic and cytotoxic, and the development of strategies to reduce this contamination is an active field of research. We previously reported that Sporobolomyces sp. is able to degrade patulin and convert it into the breakdown products desoxypatulinic acid and ascladiol, both of which were found to be less toxic than patulin. The specific aim of this study was the evaluation of the triggering of the mechanisms involved in patulin resistance and degradation by Sporobolomyces sp. Cells pre-incubated in the presence of a low patulin concentration showed a higher resistance to patulin toxicity and a faster kinetics of degradation. Similarly, patulin degradation was faster when crude intracellular protein extracts of Sporobolomyces sp. were prepared from cells pre-treated with the mycotoxin, indicating the induction of the mechanisms involved in the resistance and degradation of the mycotoxin by Sporobolomyces sp. This study contributes to the understanding of the mechanisms of patulin resistance and degradation by Sporobolomyces sp., which is an essential prerequisite for developing an industrial approach aiming at the production of patulin-free products.


Fourteen sheep fetuses in the third trimester of gestation were surgically prepared with intravascular catheters and five were nephrectomized. All experiments were done on unanaesthetized fetuses in utero, 3 to 9 days after surgery. Mean arterial blood pressure was recorded while fetal blood volume was changed by injection or withdrawal of blood, or infusion of Ringer's or dextran solutions. Fetal arterial blood gases and pH changed little during the experiments and were shown not to have affected the results. Arterial blood pressure was strongly influenced by changes in fetal blood volume and was also found to depend on haematocrit. There were no detectable differences between the responses of normal and nephrectomized fetuses or between normal fetuses and fetuses treated with hexamethonium. In all preparations central venous pressure depended on blood volume. Heart rate did not depend on blood volume in normal fetuses, but an increase in heart rate with an increase in blood volume was seen after hexamethonium. The open loop gain of baroceptor control of arterial blood pressure could not be proved to differ significantly from zero. Venoconstrictor responses and heart rate responses of reflex origin did not occur when arterial blood pressure was changed. The absence of detectable baroceptor control appears to explain the great sensitivity of arterial blood pressure to blood volume in the unanaesthetized fetal lamb.


We have characterized a new member (U19) of a group of mammalian small nuclear RNAs that are not precipitable with antibodies against fibrillarin, a conserved nucleolar protein associated with most of the small nucleolar RNAs characterized to date. Human U19 RNA is 200 nucleotides long and possesses 5'-monophosphate and 3'-hydroxyl termini. It lacks functional boxes C and D, sequence motifs required for fibrillarin binding in many other snoRNAs. Human and mouse RNA are 86% homologous and can be folded into similar secondary structures, a finding supported by the results of nuclease probing of the RNA. In the human genome, U19 RNA is encoded in the intron of an as yet not fully characterized gene and could be faithfully processed from a longer precursor RNA in HeLa cell extracts. During fractionation of HeLa cell nucleolar extracts on glycerol gradients, U19 RNA was associated with higher-order structures of approximately 65S, cosedimenting with complexes containing 7-2/MRP RNA, a conserved nucleolar RNA shown to be involved in 5.8S rRNA processing in yeast cells.


South Africa is at the southern fringe of sub-Saharan African countries which persist in

experiencing malaria transmission. The purpose of the study is to analyse the geographical

and temporal patterns of malaria transmission from 2000 to 2011 using Bayesian geostatistical

modelling in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Hereafter, develop malaria case

data-driven spatio-temporal models to assess malaria transmission in Limpopo Province.

Malaria case data was acquired from the South African Medical Research Council (MRC).

Population data was acquired from AfriPopo; and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index

(NDVI), Land Surface Temperature (LST) and Land Cover data were acquired from

MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS). Rainfall, Altitude and distance

to water bodies' data were acquired from African Data Dissemination Service (ADDS),

United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Environmental Systems Research Institute

(ESRI), respectively. Bayesian spatio-temporal incidence models were formulated for Gibbs

variable selection and models were fitted using the best set of environmental factors. Modelbased

predictions were obtained over a regular grid of 1 x 1km. spatial resolution covering

the entire province and expressed as rates of per 1 000 inhabitants for the year 2010. To

assess the performance of the predicted malaria incidence risk maps, the predictions and field

observations were compared.

The best set of environmental factors selected by variable selection was Altitude and the night

temperature of two months before the case was reported. The environmental factors were then

used for model fitting and all of the covariates were important on malaria risk. Predictions

were done using all the environmental factors. The predictions showed that Vhembe and

Mopani district municipalities have high malaria transmission as compared to other district

municipalities in Limpopo Province. Assessment of predictive performance showed scatter

plots with the coefficient of determination ( R² ). The values representing the statistical

correlation represented by the coefficient of determination ( R² ) were 0.9798 (January),

0.8736 (February), 0.8152 (March), 0.8861 (April), 0.9949 (May), 0.3838 (June), 0.7794

(July), 0.9235 (September), 0.8966 (October), 0.9834 (November) and 0.8958 (December).

August had two values reported and predicted which resulted in R² of 1. The numbers of the

The produced malaria incidence maps can possibly be considered as one of the baselines for future malaria control programmes. The results highlighted the risk factors of malaria in Limpopo Province which are the most important characteristics of malaria transmission.


Dr. R. M. C. Eagar drew attention to the small values of some of the variables in the investigated sediment. He thought relative magnitude should be emphasized when, for instance, the author's results showing a correlation of detrital quartz with carbon, reflecting carbonaceous matter, were compared with the seemingly different results in general of workers on lake sediments today and with such results as had been obtained from previous work on the palaeoecology of Carboniferous non-marine sediments. To make only the latter comparison, in the Anthraconaia pulchella band the carbon content ranged from about 0.3 to 3 per cent and varied with the detrital quartz ; whereas in the speaker's study of a non-marine shell band above the Sand Rock Mine of the Namurian (1952, p. 359, table iv) the minimum and maximum values of the carbon content were respectively more than twice to four times greater, and there was no observable correlation between the carbon and detrital quartz. Furthermore, in a second study of a non-marine band above the Pot Clay Coal–Six Inch Mine (1953b, p. 178, table 3) the minimum and maximum values of the carbon content were respectively sixteen and nine times greater than the authors' values for the A. pulchella band, and in this case the carbon and detrital quartz appeared to bear an inverse relationship. The latter relationship was also implied in the speaker's studies of beds above the Soft Bed-Bassy Mine, where volume percentages of quartz also reached considerably greater proportions than in


Turkey is moving westward relative to Eurasia, thereby accommodating the collision between Arabia and Eurasia. This motion is mostly taken up by strike‐slip deformation along the North and East Anatolian Faults. The Sea of Marmara lies over the direct westward continuation of the North Anatolian Fault zone. Just east of the Sea of Marmara, the North Anatolian Fault splits into three strands, two of which continue into the sea. While the locations of the faults are well constrained on land, it has not yet been determined how the deformation is transferred across the Sea of Marmara, onto the faults on the west coast of Turkey. We present results from a seismic reflection survey undertaken to map the faults as they continue through the three deep Marmara Sea basins of Çlnarclk, Central Marmara and Tekirdag, in order to determine how the deformation is distributed across the Sea of Marmara, and how it is taken up on the western side of the sea. The data show active dipping faults with associated tilting of sedimentary layers, connecting the North Anatolian Fault to strike‐slip faults that cut the Biga and Gallipoli Peninsulas.


Abstract Melittin and its site‐specific mutants differentially delay the slow‐decaying component of the photocycle intermediate M412 of bacteriorhodopsin in the purple membrane and the acetylated purple membrane whose several lysine residues are modified. This effect is attributed to the interaction of the total positive charges of melittin or its mutants with the total negative charges of bacteriorhodopsin. The effects of melittin and its mutants on the Triton X‐100–solubilized bacteriorhodopsin monomers are somewhat complicated but are associated with their charges. These results show that there is electrostatic interaction between bacteriorhodopsin and melittin and that both N‐and C‐termini of melittin function as sites of the interaction, with Arg 22 and Arg 24 making a prominent contribution to the effective surface charge of melittin. Melittin, at certain concentrations, partially restores the decreased photoactivity of the bacteriorhodopsin monomers trapped in the Triton‐lipid‐protein mixed micelles, which suggests that melittin may compete with Triton X‐100 for the binding sites on the bacteriorhodopsin monomers. Other kinds of interactions between bacteriorhodopsin and melittin are also indicated. The possible states of melittin in membranes are discussed.


To provide better customer service, NCJRS has made this Federally-funded grant final report available electronically in addition to traditional paper copies. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. vii Abstract Despite the increasing number of high-risk sex offenders (HRSOs) who are being placed on electronic monitoring programs, little is known about how effective these programs are in increasing offender compliance and in reducing recidivism. The purpose of this evaluation is to determine the effectiveness of the global positioning system (GPS) monitoring of HRSOs who are released onto parole. This study integrates outcome, cost, and process evaluation components. The outcome component assesses the impact of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's GPS supervision program by employing a nonequivalent-group quasi-experimental design with a multilevel survival model. We also use a propensity score matching procedure to account for the differences between the treatment and comparison groups. The study population is drawn from all HRSOs who were released from prison between January 2006 and March 2009 and residing in the state of California. The final sample includes 516 subjects equally divided between the treatment and control groups. The treatment group consists of HRSOs who were placed on GPS monitoring. The control group is made up of similar offenders who were not placed on the GPS system during the study period. The resulting sample shows no significant differences between the groups on any of the propensity score matching variables. The effectiveness of the program is assessed using an intent-to-treat (known as ITT) approach. The two main outcomes of interest are compliance and recidivism. Compliance is measured through violations of parole. Recidivism is assessed in a variety of ways, including 1) rearrest, 2) reconviction, and 3) return to prison custody. Each outcome is assessed with a survival analysis of time-to-event recidivism data, using a Cox proportional hazards model. In addition, we use frailty modeling to account for the clustering of parole agents within parole districts. The findings indicate, despite the baseline similarities, a clear pattern of divergence in outcomes during the 1-year study period. The subjects in the GPS group demonstrate significantly better outcomes for both compliance and recidivism. In terms of compliance, the multivariate model shows that the hazard ratio of a sex-related violation is nearly three times as great for the subjects who received traditional parole …


The paper is concerned with certain peculiar relationships between tumor and body in 150 endometrial carcinoma patients of 45 years or younger. Metabolic and generative disorders were detected in 70%. Such disturbances as chronic anovulation (80%). infertility and/or ovarian polycystosis (32%) were identified. They developed prior to neoplastic alterations had taken place and promoted various hyperplastic processes in the endometrium which are generally detectable in 70%. The most frequent localization of endometrial carcinoma was tubular angle area (76.9%). Lack of symptoms in some patients was due to the absence of morphological evidence on invasion into myometrial stroma (68.7%). We identified typical predisposition to endometrial carcinoma as well as an optimal sequence of cytological, ultrasound, endoscopic and morphological procedures which might help detect the disease in younger women at an early stage.


This paper analyzes how endogenous imperfect exchange rate pass-through a¤ects in‡ation targeting optimal monetary policies in a New Keynesian small open economy. The paper shows that an inverse relation exists between the passthrough and the insulation of the economy from foreign and monetary policy shocks, and that imperfect pass-through tends to decrease the variability of the terms of trade. Furthermore, with CPI in‡ation targeting, in the short run, delayed pass-through constrains monetary policy more than incomplete passthrough and interest rate smoothing ampli…es this e¤ect. When the pass-through decreases, the variability in economic activity tends to raise and the trade-o¤ between the stabilization of CPI in‡ation and output worsens in direct relation to how strictly the central bank is targeting CPI in‡ation. In contrast, with domestic in‡ation targeting, optimal monetary policy is not constrained and opposite results occur. Consequently, imperfect pass-through favors the choice of domestic to CPI in‡ation targeting. JEL Classi…cation: E52, E58, F41.


SINCE the introduction of liver therapy by Minot and Murphy in 1926, the treatment of pernicious anemia has undergone many alterations simplifying procedures for both patient and physician. Oral administration of whole liver has been discarded because of the expense and the unpalatability of this material in sufficient quantity to be effective. Ingestion of liver extract, dessicated defatted hog stomach, liver-stomach concentrate, proteolyzed liver preparations, normal gastric juice, and vitamin B12substances, as well as sublingual administration of vitamin B12have not proved satisfactory for complete therapy of pernicious anemia. While folic acid corrects the hematologic disturbance, it does not favorably influence the neurological complications. The administration of massive doses of vitamin B12by mouth produces adequate response in patients with Addisonian anemia,* but this mode of treatment is costly. Recent reports on the effectiveness of reaction products of vitamin B12and intrinsic factor in oral therapy are encouraging although


Plants produce and store many products of secondary metabolism that are released into the environment and can influence direct or indirectly on nearby organisms. Thus, this study investigated the allelopathic potential of extracted soil solution from an area with cover crops according to germination and early development of beggartick. Soil solution was extracted in an area where black oats, turnip and hairy vetch were grown. The concentrated solution was tested in sand substrate while the dilutions were tested in 100; 200; 300 and 400 ml L-1 germitest paper substrate, plus the control treatment on beggartick. Germination was tested for 10 days and the early development for 20 days. Twenty seeds or seedlings were distributed in gerbox, with three replications and the experimental design was completely randomized (CRD). Soil solution showed considerable changes on beggartick germination only in the last collections, mainly with extracted solution in an area cropped with turnip and hairy vetch. The results, in this case, were more significant when germitest was used than with sand substrate. Therefore, it is recommended these cover crops in crop rotation, aiming to reduce beggartick infestation in a long term.

 Key words: Allelopathy, Weeds, crop rotation, secondary metabolites.


Pain assessment is a very crucial aspect of medical diagnosis as it is symptomatic of many medical conditions. In cases where a patient is unable to self-report pain, pain assessment is done by a clinician via observation of behavioural changes and vital signs. However, this method is highly subjective and discontinuous in time. In order to introduce an objective measure to clinical pain assessment and support real-time pain monitoring, automatic pain recognition models have been proposed but the performance of these models is still limited by the imbalanced and small sample pain data available for training. In addition, there is currently a dearth of information on the usability and impact of such tools in clinical settings. This thesis aims to develop novel computer vision and machine learning techniques that can achieve good pain estimation on small and sparse pain datasets and also explore the applicability of automated pain assessment tools to clinical settings.

Regarding the problem of insufficient data for automatic pain recognition, this thesis presents and describes the collection of a geographically diverse multimodal newborn and infant pain dataset containing over 200 participant videos with framewise pain intensity annotations. Furthermore, to address the problem of learning from small pain data with sparse representation for higher pain levels, two novel methods of learning discriminative pain features for pain intensity estimation are proposed - a Hybrid Deep-learned and Hand-crafted (HDH) feature framework and a Cumulative Attribute (CA) learning framework. Evaluation of the HDH feature model on the UNBC McMaster pain dataset yielded state-of-the-art performance with an RMSE of 0.99 and a Pearson Correlation of 0.67. Similarly, an analysis of the CA learning framework revealed that models trained on the CA features consistently outperformed those trained on the corresponding low-level features and the performance improvement was due to the CA feature's ability to make better predictions for sparse higher pain classes. Additional evaluation on the newborn pain data resulted in a performance comparable to human error.

As a step towards investigating the suitability of computer-assisted pain assessment tools in clinical contexts, a user study was conducted with clinicians from a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Using the aforementioned models as early prototypes, qualitative and quantitative methods were employed to gauge acceptance and identify usability design issues. Findings from the study generated useful NICU environment-specific and context design issues which researchers should consider when developing video-based pain assessment tools.

Preliminary experimental results from the proposed models, as well as the insights garnered from the stakeholder survey, could potentially lead to improved clinical pain management. Likewise, the dataset presented would promote research in automatic newborn pain assessment and serve as a benchmarking platform for future methods.


Advances in data collection techniques and need for automation triggered in proliferation of a huge amount of data. This exponential increase in the collection of
personal information has for some time represented a serious threat to privacy. With the advancement of technologies for data storage, data mining, machine learning, social networking and cloud computing, the problem is further fueled. Privacy is a fundamental
right of every human being and needs to be preserved. As a counterbalance to the socio-technical transformations, most nations have both general policies on preserving
privacy and specic legislation to control access to and use of data. Privacy preserving data publishing is the ability to control the dissemination and use of one's personal
information.
Mere publishing (or sharing) of original data in raw form results in identity disclosure with linkage attacks. To overcome linkage attacks, the techniques of statistical disclosure control are employed. One such approach is k-anonymity that reduce data across a set of key variables to a set of classes. In a k-anonymized dataset each record is indistinguishable from at least k-1 others, meaning that an attacker cannot link the data records to population units with certainty thus reducing the probability of disclosure. Algorithms that have been proposed to enforce k-anonymity are Samarati's algorithm and Sweeney's
Datafly algorithm. Both of these algorithms adhere to full domain generalization with global recording. These methods have a tradeo between utility, computing time and
information loss. A good privacy preserving technique should ensure a balance of utility and privacy, giving good performance and level of uncertainty. In this thesis, we propose an improved greedy heuristic that maintains a balance between utility, privacy, computing
time and information loss.
Given a dataset and k, constructing the dataset to k-anonymous dataset can be done by the above-mentioned schemes. One of the challenges is to nd the best value of k,
when the dataset is provided. In this thesis, a scheme has been proposed to achieve the best value of k for a given dataset.
The k-anonymity scheme suers from homogeneity attack. As a result, the l-diverse scheme was developed. It states that the diversity of domain values of the dataset in an equivalence class should be l. The l-diversity scheme suers from background knowledge attack. To address this problem, t-closeness scheme was proposed. The t-closeness principle states that the distribution of records in an equivalence class and the distribution of records in the table should not exceed more than t. The drawback with this scheme is that, the distance metric deployed in constructing a table, satisfying t-closeness, does not follow the distance characteristics. In this thesis, we have deployed
an alternative distance metric namely, Hellinger metric, for constructing a t-closeness table. The t-closeness scheme with this alternative distance metric performed better with respect to the discernability metric and computing time.
The k-anonymity, l-diversity and t-closeness schemes can be used to anonymize the dataset before publishing (releasing or sharing). This is generally in a static environment.
There are also data that need to be published in a dynamic environment. One such example is a social network. Anonymizing social networks poses great challenges.
Solutions suggested till date do not consider utility of the data while anonymizing. In this thesis, we propose a novel scheme to anonymize the users depending on their importance and take utility into consideration. Importance of a node was decided by the centrality
and prestige measures. Hence, the utility and privacy of the users are balanced.


Project documentation, minutes of meetings, emergency plans, and inspection reports are all examples of records, recorded information. There is a changeover from paper-based records to electronic records in many organizations and these organizations often implement information systems managing electronic records that only take archival requirements into consideration to some extent, if at all. This is a problem that makes preservation of electronic records difficult. The aim of this paper is to describe the characteristics of records, based on a study of empirical data and archival theory. It is essential to identify and understand the characteristics of a record in order to manage and preserve records in computerised systems. Knowledge of what characteristics a record has is one way to make it possible to formalize records. Formalization at different levels is needed for computerized management of records. This paper is based on a qualitative case study performed at four different organizations in Sweden. Empirical data was collected from multiple sources within each organization and resulted in five groups of characteristics with several sublevels. The empirical data were compared with recordkeeping and archival theory. Based on this study the essential characteristics of records were identified as context, form, organization, structure and version/copy.


In vitro evidence indicates that (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) suppress T-cell activation in part by displacing proteins from lipid rafts, specialized regions within the plasma membrane that play an important role in T-cell signal transduction. However, the ability of (n-3) PUFA to influence membrane microdomains in vivo has not been examined to date. Therefore, we compared the effect of dietary (n-3) PUFA on raft (liquid ordered) vs. soluble (liquid disordered) microdomain phospholipid composition in mouse T cells. Mice were fed diets containing either 5 g/100 g corn oil (control) or 4 g/100 g fish oil [contains (n-3) PUFA] + 1 g/100 g corn oil for 14 d. Splenic T-cell lipid rafts were isolated by density gradient centrifugation. Raft sphingomyelin content (mol/100 mol) was decreased (P < 0.05) in T cells isolated from (n-3) PUFA-fed mice. Dietary (n-3) PUFA were selectively incorporated into T-cell raft and soluble membrane phospholipids. Phosphatidylserine and glycerophosphoethanolamine, which are highly localized to the inner cytoplasmic leaflet, were enriched to a greater extent with unsaturated fatty acids compared with sphingomyelin, phosphatidylinositol and glycerophosphocholine. These data indicate for the first time that dietary (n-3) PUFA differentially modulate T-cell raft and soluble membrane phospholipid and fatty acyl composition.


This study examined the efficient refuge policies for Bt cotton for three cotton growing regions in India. This was accomplished by developing a single-pest, dual-toxin biological model simulating bollworm resistance to the Bt toxin and synthetic pyrethroids, followed by formulating profit functions for Bt and non-Bt cotton for a representative producer in each region. Profits received in subsequent periods were considered in the regulatory model in order to choose a refuge constraint (static problem) or a sequence of refuge policies (dynamic problem) for each region that maximize discounted profits received over 15 years, subject to various economic and biological constraints. Dynamic solutions for the regulatory problem were derived for each region using the Bellman equation. Results suggested that South Indian farmers do not need to grow a refuge, but farmers in the North and Central regions do. Results also suggested that planting sprayed refugia might be more profitable than planting unsprayed refugia. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the refuge requirements were sensitive to the initial Bt resistance level, relative proportion of CBWs in natural refuges, and proportions of heterozygous and homozygous fitnesses in all of the three regions. Moreover, static refugia were found more profitable as compared to dynamic refugia in the North and Central regions.


Network Function Virtualization (NFV) is known for its ability to reduce deployment costs and improve the flexibility and scalability of network functions. Due to processing capacity limitations, the infrastructure provider may need to instantiate multiple instances of the same network function. However, most of network functions are stateful, meaning that the instances of the same function need to keep a common state and hence the need for synchronization among them. In this paper, we address this problem with the goal of identifying the optimal synchronization pattern between the instances in order to minimize the synchronization costs and delay. We propose a novel network function named Synchronization Function able to carry out data collection and further minimize these costs. We first mathematically model this problem as an integer linear program that finds the optimal synchronization pattern and the optimal placement and number of synchronization functions that minimize synchronization costs and ensure a bounded synchronization delay. We also put forward three greedy algorithms to cope with large‐scale scenarios of the problem, and we explore the possibility to migrate network function instances to further reduce costs. Extensive simulations show that the proposed algorithms efficiently find near‐optimal solutions with minimal computation time and provide better results compared to existing solutions.


Isolated spontaneous superior mesenteric artery (SMA) dissection is rare, and difficult to diagnose due to nonspecific signs and symptoms. The clinic presentations include abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. The incidence appears to be increasing, possibly as a result of the widespread use of computed tomography angiography (CTA) imaging for abdominal pain. There is no consensus regarding the best treatment of spontaneous isolated dissection of the SMA. Herein, we present 2 cases in which isolated superior mesenteric dissection was diagnosed by CTA. The first case received conservative treatment, and the other case received endovascular therapy. Both patients had good long-term clinical results.


The Transport Sector Investments Project, will finance improvements in services delivery, in coordination with transport modes, and integrated transport policies, to enhance the socioeconomic effectiveness of investments. Construction of new bus storage depots will be financed, both located away from town, along the route to the new fishing port of Sfax (v. 1), and outside El Bokri (v. 2), in the industrial area along the route connecting Tunis, and Bizerte, to be managed by SORETRAS, and the Societe Nationale des Transports (SNT), respectively. The new locations will improve the towns' high levels of pollution resulting from the current depots' gas emissions, lubricants, and oil spills. Cconstruction, and extension of the hangar, and repair shops at Sousse (v. 3) will be managed by the Societe de Transport du Sahel (STS). Mitigation measures stipulate: sewerage disposal shall follow sanitary regulations, disposed of at local sewerage networks, and at septic tanks installed at El Bokri, and in accordance with water supply regulations; rainfall effluents shall be connected to the external network for final disposal into the sea; and, wastewaters from vehicle maintenance, shall be treated, and disposed of in accordance with water authorities' regulations; lubricants, and oil spills shall be treated with sand filters, for further recycling at the Menzel Bourgiba station in Bizerte, while metallic wastes shall be recycled. Native vegetation, and tree planting will improve air quality levels.


This thesis characterises and addresses problems and issues associated with the design of intuitive user interfaces for timbral control. The usability of a range of synthesis methods and representative implementations of these methods is assessed, and three interface architectures - fixed architecture, architecture specification and direct specification - are identified. The characteristics of each of these architectures, as well as problems of usability inherent to each of them are discussed; it is argued that none of them provide intuitive tools for the manipulation and control of timbre.
The study examines the nature of timbre and the notion of timbre space; different kinds of timbre space are considered and criteria are proposed for the selection of suitable timbre spaces as vehicles for synthesis.
A number of listening tests, designed to demonstrate the feasibility of subsequent work, were devised and carried out; the results of these tests provide evidence that, where Euclidean distances between sounds located in a given timbre space are reflected in perceptual distances, the ability of subjects to detect relative distances in different parts of the space varies with the perceptual granularity of the space.
Three contrasting timbre spaces conforming to the proposed criteria for use in synthesis are constructed; the purpose of these spaces is to provide an environment for a novel user interaction approach for timbral design which incorporates a search strategy based on weighted centroid localization. Two prototypes which exemplify the proposed approach in alternative ways are designed, implemented and tested with potential users in order to validate the approach; a third contrasting prototype which represents a simple contrasting alternative is tested for purposes of comparison. The results of these tests are evaluated and discussed, and areas of further work identified.


In his address Daithi set out the rationale for the conference, he introduced the concept of a community drugs problem and spoke about how communities have responded to these problems with imagination and resilience.

What is a Community Drugs Problem?
Drug use is first and foremost a problem for the individual drug user. A community drug problem emerges when a) a significant number of problem drug users are concentrated in a particular area and b) the community does not have adequate resources to deal with the problem. There are a number of key indicators of a community drug problem:

• Availability & range of drug use (poly drug use) including alcohol
• Visibility
• Familiarity/normality
• Social nuisance/community spaces
• Community safety
• Community pride/image/social networks
• Lack of resources to respond

The problems of individual addiction is compounded in communities by public drug dealing, by the ease in which drugs are available, by the normalisation of drug use, by a lack of access to services, by intimidation on a nerve shattering level and by inadequate public services. Play grounds, parks and recreational areas are taken over by the drugs trade. Parks, streets and services become no go areas. High levels of unemployment, lower levels of secondary school completion & a high concentration of social housing can leave communities inadequately resourced to deal with these problems. All these brush strokes paint a picture of a community drug problem that is very familiar to the communities we work with.

What are the solutions?
The introduction of the Local Drug Task Force Handbook penned by Minister Chris Flood states that ..."the LDTF's were set up to ensure a fully integrated response to the drug problem in the worst hit areas which takes account of specific needs of those areas. Of equal importance, the Task Force process allows local communities - the people most affected by the problem - to work with the State Agencies and voluntary organisations in designing and delivering that response."

The responses we develop to tackle community drugs problems must be holistic, integrated and partnership based. We must not lose sight of the vision that saw the establishment of LDTF's. The responses need to be local, they need to be community based, they need to involve the people most affected by the problem in finding solutions that work for their communities, and they need to be adequately resourced.

The responses developed over the last 15 years are some of the most imaginative and unique even on a global level. Following the Rabbitte Report an innovative new way of doing business was piloted, a Minister was appointed to take responsibility for the National Drug Strategy, Local Drug Task Forces were set up in areas of most need, a National Drugs Strategy Team was set up, and eventually Regional Drug Task Forces were established. The core of all these approaches was partnership. This partnership approach is now under attack and by extension the community response to the drug crisis is under attack. We must not let this happen.

We must agree the responses are worth defending. Then we must agree we will defend them. Once we have agreed on that then we must support each other in defending them. We need to work together to support each other during the difficult times. We need to build solidarity between each other, across projects, across communities and across the island. We need the Minster with responsibility for the Drug Strategy to defend the responses we have worked so hard to put in place. Today's conference will allow all of us an opportunity to learn from each other and to provide the necessary support to not only defend the response to a community drug problem to actually build on these responses.


An important monograph on the complete work thus far of Alber Elbaz for Lanvin-one of fashion's most transformative designers working today, who employs mise-en-scenes as a principal way of staging his work. Under the helm of present design director Alber Elbaz, Lanvin is now one of the powerhouses of Paris fashion, and his respectful nod to the origins and founding aesthetic of Lanvin is tempered by an unrivalled, transformative energy that has created a new, youthful audience for the house. One of the pillars of Elbaz's work, apart from staging dynamic runway presentations, is a unique way of presenting his designs in the windows of their flagship stores, most notably in the boutique on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore. These mise-en-scenes, which change every month, are well regarded as elaborate spectacles unique even in fashion. Seducing passersby into his very distinctive brand of street theatre and occasionally employing prominent artists of the day, Elbaz's windows are above all about the clothes, and his designs are given pride of place in a variety of elegant and often playful episodes. The book showcases the fashion and spirit of Lanvin with nearly two hundred compositions, from those shown at their boutiques to one-offs at the Crillon, and as far afield as Art Basel in Miami, as well as unpublished renderings of concepts hand-drawn by Elbaz.


Objectives: To find out the effects of noise stress on variations in number of ovarian follicles in mice. Study Design: Randomized control trial, laboratory based. Place and Duration of Study: Anatomy department, Army Medical College Rawalpindi, it was conducted from April to May 2014. Material and Method: 20 adult mice (BALBc strain) female weighing 25-27 grams were taken for this study on day first of their estrous cycle. Two groups comprising of 10 rats each were made. Control group was given name tag of group A and was kept in animal house under normal heathy environment for one month. Noise stress of 100 decibels for 06 hours per day for one month was given to experimental group B. Mice were dissected after 1 month. Mice right ovaries were examined for size, shape, color and weight. The specimen were processed and embedded. Hematoxyline and Eosin stained slides were prepared for histological study. Follicular count (primary, secondary and tertiary follicles) was done and noted. For statistical analysis SPSS 20 was used. The tests applied was independent sample's t test for descriptive statistics. Results: There was a significant decrease in primary, secondary/antral and graafian follicular count in the ovary of Group B (Experimental). Conclusion: The noise stress prominently affected the follicular count in ovaries of noise stress treated group.


Abstract:Walter Scott's novels, including Ivanhoe, The Talisman, and The Betrothed, were first introduced to the Chinese through the translation of Lin Shu (1852–1924) in the early twentieth century. However, equally important, it was Mao Dun (1896–1981), a novelist and literary critic, who first systematically brought Scott's works to Chinese readers. In 'A Critical Biography of Walter Scott' (1924), Mao Dun not only conducted a critical study of Scott's life but also offered close analyses of a selection of twenty-five key Waverley Novels and poems. This critical essay was completed before most of the Chinese translations of the Waverley Novels were available to the Chinese, and they were products of the May Fourth Movement which called for the creation of a new Chinese culture based on Western standards. Mao Dun's work was not simply an attempt to satisfy a personal whim; it was a major project aiming to connect the Chinese to mainstream European literature. This article, an examination of Mao Dun's critical work on Scott, intends to answer questions, including: how was Scott, as a writer of historical fiction, introduced to his Chinese readers? And what was the influence of Scott on Mao Dun's own fictional writing? By answering these questions, this article hopes to clarify the ways in which Scott was brought to China. Furthermore, it will also show that Mao Dun's criticism of Scott has left Chinese readers with a partial and distorted view of a major world writer.


To elucidate the role of NK1.1+ T cells in the antitumor immune response, we established cloned NK1.1+ T cell lines from tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) of B16 melanoma, and examined their mode of action in generating antitumor effector T cells both in vitro and in vivo. An NK1.1+ T cell clone (TM4.2) was phenotypically CD3+ TCR-alphabeta+ CD4- CD8- NK1.1+, and CD28+. The TM4.2 cells suppressed the in vitro generation of anti-B16 melanoma CTLs, but not the effector function of CTLs. The results using a transwell membrane suggested that their suppressive activity was mediated by both soluble factors and a direct cell to cell interaction. As for the soluble factors, the suppressive activity of the culture supernatant of TM4.2 cells was neutralized by anti-TGF-beta mAb, and the TM4.2 cells actually produced a considerable amount of TGF-beta. On the other hand, the TM4.2 cells showed a high level of cytolytic activity against B cell blasts and CD80-transfected P815, and such cytolytic activity was reduced by the addition of anti-CD80 mAb. In addition, NK1.1+ T cells in the freshly isolated TIL were revealed to express CD28. Furthermore, the TM4.2 cells suppressed the in vitro generation of anti-allo CTLs irrespective of the MHC haplotype. Finally, the TM4.2 cells suppressed the in vivo antitumor immune response. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that NK1.1+ T cells in TIL show immunosuppressive activity in the antitumor immune response through the production of TGF-beta and the preferential cytolysis of B7-expressing cells.


Abstract One of the two RBMK-1500 reactor units of the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania was shut down at the end of 2004 and is currently under decommissioning. The knowledge of radioactive inventory of irradiated materials is very important in the planning of the decommissioning activities and is essential for predicting the radiological impact to personnel during dismantling and management of these materials. The generated radionuclides and their radioactivities in the shield and support plates of the Ignalina Unit 1 RBMK-1500 reactor were modeled in this paper. The reactor shield and support plates, which are made of steel, become radioactive because of intensive neutron irradiation, as they are located close to the bottom and the top of the reactor active core. The assessment of radioactivity levels in shield and support plates was performed using the computer code ORIGEN-S. The list of radionuclides, their radioactivity levels, and the radioactivity dependence on the initial impurity content and cooling time were assessed in this paper. It was found that 3H, 14C, 36Cl, 55Fe, 60Co, 59Ni, and 63Ni are the main contributors to the radioactivity of the shield and support plates.


The dynamics of liquid vortices generated by rotating a flat disc near the bottom of a cylindrical tank is investigated experimentally. Several former investigations have found that the main parameters affecting the flow behaviour are incorporated in two non-dimensional numbers: Reynold's number and the aspect ratio. Despite some evidence of the important role of fluid viscosity on the polygonal pattern instability behaviour observed within the hollow vortex core, a systematic study has not yet been carried out. This thesis examines the role of viscosity in the development, evolution, wave speed propagation and the overall transition of vortex core instabilities. The data analysis was performed using the digital image processing technique. Increasing the viscosity of the fluid by mixing glycerol with tap water at room temperature, was found to significantly decrease the polygonal patterns' limits of endurance and distort their geometry until all mode shapes were eventually destroyed and never recognized, beginning with high mode shapes progressively until the lower polygonal patterns are reached. Increasing the fluid viscosity to 22 times that of water resulted into an up to 25% augmentation of the maximum polygonal pattern speed. In all cases, the pattern speed ( f p ) was found to be almost 1/3 the disc speed (f d ), which confirms the pure water results obtained by Vatistas et al. (2008). The effect of varying the viscosity on the transitional processes between subsequent polygonal patterns is also addressed in this thesis. Alike to the case of pure water, the transition between polygonal patterns is found to occur in two stages: a quasi-periodic phase followed by frequency locking.


The present contribution addresses the aero-thermal experimental and computational study of a trapezoidal cross-section model simulating a trailing edge cooling cavity with one rib-roughened wall. The flow is fed through tilted slots on one side wall and exits through straight slots on the opposite side wall. The flow field aerodynamics is investigated in part I of the paper. The reference Reynolds number is defined at the entrance of the test section and set at 67500 for all the experiments. A qualitative flow model is deduced from surface-streamline flow visualizations. Two-dimensional Particle Image Velocimetry measurements are performed in several planes around mid-span of the channel and recombined to visualize and quantify three-dimensional flow features. The jets issued from the tilted slots are characterized and the jet-rib interaction is analyzed. Attention is drawn to the motion of the flow deflected by the rib-roughened wall and impinging on the opposite smooth wall. The experimental results are compared with the numerical predictions obtained from the finite volume, RANS solver CEDRE.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


A new type of AC PDP (alternating current plasma display panel) cell with a five-electrode structure is developed to improve the luminous efficiency of AC PDP. The discharge efficiency of this new cell structure is investigated by a 2D fluid simulation. Continuity equations and flux density equations for charged particles and excited atoms, energy balance equation for electrons are included in the model. The discharge gas is He+5%Xe. The reactions of ionization, excitation, recombination, and radiation are taken into account. The vacuum ultraviolet radiation efficiency of the five-electrode cell structure is about 20% higher than that of a conventional three-electrode cell structure.


Topological aspects represent currently a boosting area in condensed matter physics. Yet there are very few suggestions for technical applications of topological phenomena. Still, the most important is the calibration of resistance standards by means of the integer quantum Hall effect. We propose modifications of samples displaying the integer quantum Hall effect which render the tunability of the Fermi velocity possible by external control parameters such as gate voltages. In this way, so far unexplored possibilities arise to realize devices such as tunable delay lines and interferometers.


Exosomes, nanosized membrane-bound vesicles released by cells, play roles in cell signaling, immunology, virology, and oncology. Their study, however, has been hampered by difficulty in isolation and quantification due to their size and the complexity of biological samples. Conventional approaches to improved isolation require specialized equipment and extensive sample preparation time. Therefore, isolation and detection methods of exosomes will benefit biological and clinical studies. Here, we report a microfluidic platform for inline exosome isolation and fluorescent detection using inertial manipulation of antibody-coated exosome capture beads from biological fluids.


Under the concentrated loads, the crack evolutions of reinforced concrete experimental beams (RCEB) with three different aggregate sizes are studied. Using fractal theory, the generation, development and distribution of the cracks on the RCEB are analyzed. The results show that the cracks on the RCEB have fractal characteristics obviously. By studying the fractal dimension of the cracks, the aggregate sizes have significant effect to the cracks on the RCEB. The relationships of the fractal dimensions of the crack evolution in loading processing and loads meet the power function laws. The researching results of this paper provide a new theoretical basis for selecting the appropriate aggregate size to improve the strength of reinforced concrete beams.


Sensitivity to logical contradiction, as manifested by surprise reaction to the Jastrow illusion, was investigated in nonretarded children, EMR children equaled for CA, and EMR children equated for MA. Each subject was asked to select the "big" ring segment; then the position was reversed and the subject was asked to identify the "little" segment. The lower segment in this illusion always appears to be larger. Changing position results in what was previously identified as big by the subject now appearing to be little. MA-matched peers (nonretarded and EMR children) performed at a similar level on the task and at a significantly higher level than EMR children equated with the nonretarded children for CA. These results indicated that sensitivity to logical contradiction is more fundamentally related to MA than to CA in EMR children when their performance is compared to that of nonretarded children.


Hydraulic stimulation has been a key technique in enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and the recovery of unconventional hydrocarbon resources to artificially generate fractures in a rock formation. Previous experimental studies present that the pattern and aperture of generated fractures vary as the fracking pressure propagation. The recent development of three-dimensional X-ray computed tomography allows visualizing the fractures for further analysing the morphological features of fractures. However, the generated fracture consists of a few pixels (e.g., 1-3 pixels) so that the accurate and quantitative extract of micro-fracture is highly challenging. Also, the high-frequency noise around the fracture and the weak contrast across the fracture makes the application of conventional segmentation methods limited. In this study, we adopted an encoder-decoder network with a convolutional neural network (CNN) based on deep learning method for the fast and precise detection of micro-fractures. The conventional image processing methods fail to extract the continuous fractures and overestimate the fracture thickness and aperture values while the CNN-based approach successfully detects the barely seen fractures. The reconstruction of the 3D fracture surface and quantitative roughness analysis of fracture surfaces extracted by different methods enables comparison of sensitivity (or robustness) to noise between each method.


Importance of the field: The focal adhesion tyrosine kinases FAK and Pyk2 are uniquely situated to act as critical mediators for the activation of signaling pathways that regulate cell migration, proliferation and survival. By coordinating adhesion and cytoskeletal dynamics with survival and growth signaling, FAK and Pyk2 represent molecular therapeutic targets in cancer as malignant cells often exhibit defects in these processes. Areas covered in this review: This review examines the structure and function of the focal adhesion kinase Pyk2 and intends to provide a rationale for the employment of modulating strategies that include both catalytic and extra-catalytic approaches that have been developed in the last 3 – 5 years. What the reader will gain: Targeting tyrosine kinases in oncology has focused on the ATP binding pocket as means to inhibit catalytic activity and downregulate pathways involved in tumor invasion. This review discusses the available catalytic inhibitors and compares them to the alternative approach of targeting protein–protein interactions that regulate kinase activity. Take home message: Development of specific catalytic inhibitors of the focal adhesion kinases has improved but significant challenges remain. Thus, approaches that inhibit the effector function of Pyk2 by targeting regulatory modules can increase specificity and will be a welcome asset to the therapeutic arena.


Modelling is widely used in traditional engineering. Models also serve as the foundation of theoretical computer science—from computational models to formal languages. However, even though software designers use formal systems of software, a dominant modelling methodology—model-driven development (MDD)—has not yet penetrated into the industry. This can be attributed to the practitioners' flawed understanding of the benefits of MDD, the practitioners' programming-centric mindset, and current complex and expensive tools. Thus, this project aims at providing education and simple tools for the public to appreciate MDD. The product of this project is Urml, which is an educational toolkit for utilizing MDD to develop models for reactive systems. There are four steps in using this toolkit: first, one specifies the metamodel that serves as the language to build models; secondly, one builds a model for reactive systems using the language that one has built; thirdly, one analyzes the model for correctness and consistency; and fourthly, one executes the model for testing through a custom-made interpreter. These four steps—(1) language design, (2) model building, (3) model analysis, and (4) model execution—serve as the pillar of MDD and thus provide students a comprehensive overview of what MDD entails. This toolkit is complemented with identifications of extensions and customizations suitable as student projects in a graduate course in MDD.


Using an rf magnetron reactive sputtering technique thin films (<~ 1 mu-m) of amorphous silicon suboxides (a-SiOx, 0 < x < 2) have been deposited. The substrate temperature during deposition remained below 100oC. The films appear rather homogenous in composition (O/Si ratio), with an incorporated fraction of hydrogen and argon atoms of about 2-5 at.%. Taking into account the incorporated argon atoms no large (empty) void fraction has been detected. The films appear composed of Si-Si4-nOn (n= 0,...,4) building blocks, with an occurrence of the five individual building blocks in the different compounds generally in agreement with the statistical distribution of randomly dispersed O atoms in a bridging con- figuration between Si atoms. Furthermore, a large density of neutral paramagnetic defects (~ 1021 cm) has been observed. These defects are predominantly associated with silicon dangling bonds (DBs) in a silicon rich environment ( Si-Si3), although in the as deposited compounds with higher O/Si ratio x also Si DBs in more oxygenated environments ( Si-Si2O, Si-SiO2) are observed.
 Simultaneously, the electrical conductivity of the films indicates a dominant variable range hopping (vrh) mechanism in the compounds, at least up to room temperature. This conduction mechanism is described by a charge transport via thermally assisted tunneling events through localized (defect) states. Since the host network of the defect states in our SiOx films appears rather homogeneous on both macroscopic (mu-m) and microscopic (nm) scale the localized hopping states are expected to be more or less randomly distributed throughout the material. The energy distribution of the corresponding hopping sites is expected to extend over several tenths of an eV, as indicated by measurements on the conductivity around room temperature and supported by a theoretical Density Of States (DOS) model based on a defect-poole model.
 As a result the vrh conduction process in these SiOx films is adequately described by a system of localized states, randomly distributed in both space and energy. Analytically, it is possible to express the conductivity in such a system qualitatively in terms of the density and localization of the states around the position of the chemical potential. The conductivity appears to depend on the external parameters temperature (T) and electric field (F) and is described differently in different regimes of T and F. In this thesis a more quantitative description of the vrh process is derived numerically using percolation theory. To this purpose calculations on the percolation threshold of the site-to-site impedance in a system of randomly distributed hopping sites were performed. The results appear in qualitative agreement with the analytically derived results. Moreover, the calculations result in a clear quantified description of 1. the temperature dependence of the vrh conduction at low field strengths and 2. the field dependence of the conduction at low field strengths and/or low temperatures. Furthermore, a numerical study on the vrh conduction in a system of non-uniform localized states shows that the conductivity is effectively dominated by the charge transport through a subset of more weakly localized states.
 Measurements on the temperature and field dependence of the electrical conductivity in the deposited SiOx films appear in good agreement with the theoretical vrh models. Furthermore, quantitative information on the density and localization of the electronic states dominating the macroscopic charge transport is obtained by fitting the measured data with the numerically derived relations. The observed differences in resistivity of the investigated SiOx films appear well explained by a stronger localization of the hopping sites in the more oxygenated environments. Furthermore, it appears that only a small fraction of the neutral paramagnetic states, viz. the more weakly localized states, contributes significantly to the macroscopic charge transport in the vrh conduction process. Both observations are supported by measurements on annealed samples, showing a preferential annihilation of paramagnetic spins in the more oxygenated environments


It has been argued that networking by owner-managers of small businesses will enhance business performance. Yet to define and demonstrate the presence of networking activity is suffused with methodological difficulties. In this paper the authors attempt to disentangle some of these difficulties. The paper draws on quantifiable data from 104 owner-managers and qualitative data from 34 critical incident interviews from a study of microbusinesses to assess the nature and extent of networking activity. The paper shows: a high proportion of owner-managers use their trading contacts as sources of useful additional information; they use 'weak ties' for purposes such as recruitment; a sparse use of institutional networks; an association between networking activity and business performance, although it seems that this must be qualified by sectoral differences; an association between type of owner-manager on a scale of entrepreneurship and networking activity. The policy implications of this paper suggest that economic development agencies continue to have problems reaching out to the microbusiness. This paper recommends that such agencies might use a tool to differentiate more finely amongst the microbusiness population.


Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are a diverse family of cells that play critical roles in mucosal immunity. One subset of the ILC family, Group 3 ILCs (ILC3s), has been shown to aid in gut homeostasis through the production of IL-22. IL-22 promotes gut homeostasis through its functional effect on the epithelial barrier. When gut epithelial barrier integrity is compromised, such as in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), microbes from the gut lumen translocate into the lamina propria, inducing a multitude of potentially pathogenic immune responses. In murine models of bacterial infection, there is evidence that bacteria can induce pro-inflammatory IFNγ production in ILC3s. However, the impact of diverse translocating bacteria, particularly commensal bacteria, in dictating IFNγ versus IL-22 production by human gut ILC3s remains unclear. Here, we utilized an in vitro human lamina propria mononuclear cell (LPMC) model to evaluate ILC3 cytokine production in response to a panel of enteric Gram-positive and Gram-negative commensal and pathogenic bacteria and determined potential mechanisms by which these cytokine responses were induced. The percentages of IL-22-producing ILC3s, but not IFNγ-producing ILC3s, were significantly increased after LPMC exposure to both Gram-positive and Gram-negative commensal or pathogenic bacterial stimuli. Stimulation of IL-22 production from ILC3s was not through direct recognition of bacterial antigen by ILC3s, but rather required the help of accessory cells within the LPMC population. CD11c+ myeloid dendritic cells generated IL-23 and IL-1β in response to enteric bacteria and contributed to ILC3 production of IL-22. Furthermore, ligation of the natural cytotoxicity receptor NKp44 on ILC3s in response to bacteria stimulation also significantly increased the percentage of IL-22-producing ILC3s. Overall, these data demonstrate that human gut microbiota, including commensal bacteria, indirectly modulate colonic ILC3 function to induce IL-22, but additional signals are likely required to induce IFNγ production by colonic ILC3s in the setting of inflammation and microbial translocation.


Abstract. Marine leisure sports activities such as sea fishing, skin scuba diving and yacht sailing are affected by sea conditions such as waves and tides, and weather conditions, as well as by marine traffic. Timely provision of such high accuracy maritime information is very important because that affects the safety of people engaged in leisure activities. Safety information for marine leisure activities includes obstacle information such as the position of other ships and sea reefs and rocks in the vicinity, weather conditions. If marine leisure activists can identify and use various safety-related information around them, it will be a great help to carry out safe marine leisure activities. The geographic visualization environment provides users with the ability to intuitively and easily convey complex information. Therefore, mobile location-based services based on geographical visualization utilizing complex maritime safety information have the advantage of effectively providing the information necessary for people engaged in safe marine leisure activities.In this study, we developed a location-based mobile application based on geographic visualization that support safe marine leisure activities by integrating ship navigation information, marine chart(map), and ocean weather information. The mobile geographical visualization service has a function to effectively integrate various type of data related to marine safety and transmit the fused information to users in order to support safe leisure activities. First, location of ships around the user's location is transmitted from AIS server and displayed on the map. Since the ship type, speed, and direction information are displayed on the map, the user can check the position of the ships operating in the vicinity. Second, since the ocean weather information such as wave, current, temperature, wind speed is received from the server and displayed on the map, the safety can be grasped by using the ocean condition and weather information in real time. The integrated marine safety information is visualized in mobile devicess in two ways. The first method is in which graphs, icons, and images are displayed on a two-dimensional marine chart(map). The second scheme utilizes a location based Augmented Reality(AR) technique. If the user directs the camera of the mobile device to a certain direction or point, safety information of the point can be expressed on the device. For example, when the user directs the camera of the mobile phone to a ship in the vicinity, information on the speed, moving direction, and type of the ship can be displayed on the mobile phone.The contributions of this study are as follows. First, we proposed a novel method to visualize various location-based maritime safety information on mobile devices. Map information of marine charts, weather information expressed in graphic format, and vessel information represented by icons are effectively fused and visualized on the limited display of mobile devices. Second, information transmission channel is diversified by integrating marine safety information by 2D maps and location based AR. The user can utilize either of the 2D maps or 3D AR by the purpose and the kind of the safety information. To build an environment that can consistently convey the same marine safety information in 2D maps and 3D AR remains as a challenge to extend the application of this study for the future.


Abstract Aims: Micro RNAs (miRNAs) are small, single-strand RNAs, playing an important role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. The placenta is considered to play a key role in pathogenesis of preeclampsia. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate deregulation of miRNAs in placentas with preeclampsia using formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues. Methods: Expression levels of 162 miRNAs were measured in FFPE placental tissues (5 with severe preeclampsia, 5 from a control group) using a quantitative qPCR based technique. Results: Six miRNAs were more than 2-fold over-expressed in severe preeclampsia: let-7b, miRNA-302*, miRNA-104, miRNA-128a, miRNA-182* and miRNA-133b. Gene ontology analyses were performed using the algorithms "TargetScanS", "microRNA", and "PicTar". Conclusions: Two of the up-regulated miRNAs (miRNA-182* and miRNA-133b) are putative regulators of the transcript variants 1 and 2 of the BCL2-like gene, which controls apoptosis. miRNA-182* is also a probable angiogenesis regulator via angiogenin and VEGF-B. Apoptosis and angiogenesis are major mechanisms presumed to be involved in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Moreover, usability of qPCR technique based miRNA profiling for FFPE tissues was proofed. Hence FFPE tissue is the most widely used material for retrospective clinical studies, this method has a great property for future investigations in placenta research.


Introduction Transvaginal cervical cerclage (TVCC) is a common operation in pregnancy requiring an anaesthetic. Regional anaesthesia (RA) aims for T10 sensory blockade.1 No data exists to guide the type of anaesthesia or intrathecal dose of local anaesthesia (IDLA) that should be employed for TVCC.2 Aim To determine the type of anaesthesia given for TVCC and the IDLA used for RA. Method Ethical approval waived. Case notes of women having TVCC during pregnancy (January 2005–December 2012) were identified using the Obstetric Anaesthesia database and cross-referenced with the Preterm Birth clinic database. Analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel. Results In 165 women both general anaesthesia (n = 26, 16%) and RA (n = 139, 84%) were given at a mean gestational age of 16.6 weeks (range 9–23.6weeks). Of the RA group 95.7% were spinals, of which 5 women required a second anaesthetic procedure. There were no major anaesthetic complications and in all women TVCC was achieved successfully. Of the women receiving intrathecal anaesthesia 67.4% (93/138) documented IDLA. Hyperbaric bupivacaine 0.5% was used in all cases (mean dose 10.9mg, 6.5–15 mg). Both sensory block and IDLA was documented in 58% of intrathecal anaesthesia cases (54/93). The sensory block ranged from height T2–T12 and was not associated with IDLA, gestational age or body mass index at booking. Opiates were used in 73/93 women (78.5%), the most common being fentanyl (94%) with a mean dose of 20 mcg. Conclusion In this series TVCC was performed safely under both general and RA. There is a wide variation in IDLA and sensory block. References Chestnut P, Wong T. (2009) Chestnut's Obstetric Anesthesia: Principles and Practice, 4th Edition, Philadelphia: Elsevier Cervical Cerclage, Green-top Guideline No 60, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, May 2011


This paper deals with the study of the influence of fiber/matrix interface on the fatigue behavior of unidirectional carbon/epoxy composites. These materials are based on a T300/DGEBA/DDM system and the sizing nature, fiber oxidation, and degree of cure are varied independently. The interfacial properties were evaluated by the microdebonding test. The results show the good adhesion developed in our systems. The epoxy specific sizing increases the interfacial strength and the lack of oxidation treatment slightly decreases it. In three-point bending, the failures of the composites all appear on the compressive side, due to undesirable fiber kinking phenomena. To overcome these difficulties, which are linked to the compressive effects of the loading nose, a compression bending test was adapted to perform monotonic as well as fatigue tests. Under this configuration, progressive failure initiates on the tensile side and slowly propagates through the thickness of the sample. The Wohler's curves can be plotted with moderate scattering. They are very flat, in comparison to the GFRP curves, and thus show the excellent fatigue behavior of these materials. The effect of the interface on both the monotonic and cyclic behaviors is clearly pointed out. The lack of fiber oxidation increases the monotonic properties without changing the fatigue resistance significantly. On the other hand, a slight matrix under-cure leads to a better intrinsic fatigue resistance but to smaller properties-to-failure. The analysis of both monotonic and cyclic properties reveals the existence of different optima depending on the interfacial properties. The "best" interface does not exist; it is a function of both the fiber/matrix system properties and the mechanical performance studied.


This thesis is a study of the place of 'party' and different ways of understanding this phenomenon in eighteenth-century British political discourse, especially between 1714 and 1765. Party is one of the most basic concepts of politics. If we are looking for party in any form, the idea of partisan division may be at least as old as the earliest societies where there was competition for office. But what did 'party' mean in the eighteenth century? While ancient factions usually denoted interest groups representing different orders in the state, party in the eighteenth century had a range of meanings, some general and others more specific. Broadly speaking, it could either mean a parliamentary constellation vying for power, or carry the more sinister connotation of civil war-like division, with roots in the Reformation and its aftermath. In spite of the fact that the emphasis was on principles and beliefs rather than organisation in both cases, modern historians have tended to focus on the latter. The party debate was considered by political writers at the time to be profoundly important, and political life in the period simply cannot be understood without reference to party. Although 'party spirit' waxed and waned, 'party' was consistently a key word in political debate. By concentrating on the writings of Rapin, Bolingbroke, David Hume, John Brown, and Edmund Burke, in the context of political developments, this thesis presents the first sustained examination of the idea of party in eighteenth-century Britain. It demonstrates that attitudes towards party were more diverse, penetrating and balanced than previous research has managed to capture.


Automatic speech recognition, a process of converting speech signals to text, has improved a great deal in the past decade thanks to the deep learning based systems. With the latest transformer based models, the recognition accuracy measured as word-error-rate (WER), is even below the human annotator error (4%). However, most of these advanced models run on big servers with large amounts of memory, CPU/GPU resources and have huge carbon footprint. This server based architecture of ASR is not viable in the long run given the inherent lack of privacy for user data, reliability and latency issues of the network connection. On the other hand, on-device ASR (meaning, speech to text conversion on the edge device itself) solutions will fix deep-rooted privacy issues while at same time being more reliable and performant by avoiding network connectivity to the back-end server. On-device ASR can also lead to a more sustainable solution by considering the energy vs. accuracy trade-off and choosing right model for specific use cases/applications of the product. Hence, in this paper we evaluate energy-accuracy trade-off of ASR with a typical transformer based speech recognition model on an edge device. We have run evaluations on Raspberry Pi with an off-the-shelf USB meter for measuring energy consumption. We conclude that, in the case of CPU based ASR inference, the energy consumption grows exponentially as the word error rate improves linearly. Additionally, based on our experiment we deduce that, with PyTorch mobile optimization and quantization, the typical transformer based ASR on edge performs reasonably well in terms of accuracy and latency and comes close to the accuracy of server based inference.


It is a challenge to promote aqueous-phase precise conversion of renewable lignin to valuable chemical building blocks via engineering transition metal catalysts. Motivated by the water effect in promoting catalytic activity, a Ni/Nb2O5 catalyst assembled from plenty of Nb2O5 nanoplates enabled efficient selective hydrodeoxygenation of lignin-derived phenols to alcohols in the aqueous phase. Taking advantage of hierarchical plate features, the interactions between Ni and Nb2O5 plates were enhanced, with the generation of additional interfacial Ni–NbOx sites. The presence of water significantly enhanced the selective hydrodeoxygenation performance by promoting hydrogenation and hydrolysis, and retarding the dehydration process. Through this strategy, the overall yields of alcohols for lignin oil upgrading reached 73.5 wt% in water at 220 °C.


The small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Hungarian agri-food sector play determining role. The innovation capacity (efforts, activities and results) however of the individual SMEs is very limited. Food production (including SMEs) has to fulfil food safety requirements in a rapidly increasing extent, which implies a continuous innovation and development process from all market players. In Hungary the agri-food chain had to face a suddenly increased competition especially after the EU enlargement. Based on survey data this paper examines the efforts, activities and results in knowledge acquisition, utilisation, coordination and transfer in the Central Hungarian food SMEs. We have found (using ordered logistic regression) that R&D expenditures, achieved innovations, export/import orientation as well as the networking activity of the SMEs play significant role in market development.


We use the one-dimensional object-oriented particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision code oopd1 to explore the spatio-temporal evolution of the electron heating mechanism in a capacitively coupled oxygen discharge in the pressure range 10 – 200 mTorr. The electron heating is most significant in the sheath vicinity during the sheath expansion phase. We explore how including and excluding detachment by the singlet metastable states O2(a1 Δg) and O2(b1Σ+g) influences the heating mechanism, the effective electron temperature and electronegativity, in the oxygen discharge. We demonstrate that the detachment processes have a significant influence on the discharge properties, in particular for the higher pressures. At 10 mTorr the time averaged electron heating shows mainly ohmic heating in the plasma bulk (the electronegative core) and at higher pressures there is no ohmic heating in the plasma bulk, that is electron heating in the sheath regions dominates.


Aluminium is one of the main soil components. Usually it is a part of non-toxic aluminosilicates but in low pH values its mobility is higher and - especially in monomeric form is toxic for plants. Selenium is an essential element necessary for animals and humans. Its compounds have anticancer and anti mutagenic charac- ter. However, its high uptake from environment, e.g. with food or water could lead to various diseases including embryonic deformity, decreased hatchling survival and death to aquatic organisms. Soil contamination with alu- minium leads to disturbances in plant growth as a result of low calcium and magnesium uptake. High concentra- tions of selenium lead to its accumulation in plant tissues what is the beginning of selenium fate in food chain. In this work a cultivated layer of soils located near five industry plants in the town of Opole (southern Poland) were investigated. Aluminium and selenium content in soils is an effect of two factors: its natural occurrence in rocks (natural content) and human activity - especially chemicals from agriculture, industrial and transport pollutants. Aluminium was determined in the range of 3440 to 14804 mg/kg d.w. Obtained results of selenium concentration covered the range from 27.1 to 958.1 μg/kg d.w. These results are slightly higher than concentra- tions noted in natural or non-polluted soils, but still low. These amounts of selenium could have more positive than negative effects. Aluminium and selenium concentrations were discussed concurrently with base soils parameters, such as pH, EC and granulometric fractions composition.


Dr GRAHAM MOON (School of Social and Historical Studies, Portsmouth Polytechnic, Portsmouth PO1 3AS) writes: Dr Norman D Noah (16 May, p 1270) rightly draws attention to the comparatively limited information available on compulsory childhood immunisation and its impact in eastern European countries. He specifically mentions Czechoslovakia, a country which I recently visited as a medical geographer with a specific interest in vaccination uptake and the epidemiology of infectious disease. In Czechoslovakia virtual eradication ofmeasles seems to have been attained by a combination of compulsory childhood immunisation and the measures which Dr Noah commends: administrative methods, health education, and service delivery. Though immunisation against measles has been compulsory since 1%9, the law has been supplemented by comprehensive certification and recall systems, health education material stating that parents have a social duty to ensure the immunisation of children, and an extensive network ofpaediatricians with a specific responsibility for the immunisation of children within defined geographical areas. Interestingly, Dr Noah alludes to the paper by Selda,' noting the reduction of measles cases to 25 in 1982. Since 1982 there has been a slight perturbation in the downward trend ofmeasles notification. In 1983 there were 31 cases (0-2/100000 compared with 235/100000 in Britain) and in 1985, 33 cases. By contrast, in 1984 there were 2968 cases (19-3/ 100000), of which 1637 were in western Slovakia. Circumstantial evidence suggests that imported cases were an influence in this outbreak and older age groups figured more extensively than expected among those affected. Though the effect of this localised outbreak is absent from the figures in 1985, it does suggest that optimism about the eradication ofmeasles in Czechoslovakia cannot yet be confirmed.


Crop reflectance sensors have been used to assess nitrogen (N) status in many crops. The SPAD chlorophyll meter and the GreenSeeker® sensor have been studied extensively to determine their ability to detect crop N status and predict crop N requirement. Mepiquat chloride (MC) is routinely used in cotton to manage vegetative growth. Pigment concentration often increases following application of MC and could confound results from GreenSeeker readings used to adjust N application. A field experiment was conducted in Georgia and North Carolina to determine the effect of MC on SPAD meter and GreenSeeker sensor readings. Treatments consisted of a factorial arrangement of multiple N and MC rates. Nitrogen was applied at the initial appearance of squares followed by MC application 14 to 21 d later. SPAD meter and GreenSeeker sensor readings were taken for 10 consecutive weeks beginning immediately before N application. The SPAD meter proved to be sensitive to MC and N, but was not associated with lint yield. The GreenSeeker sensor was sensitive to N, but not sensitive to MC. Furthermore, normalized difference vegetative index and lint yield responded similarly to N, suggesting that GreenSeeker might be a useful tool in assessing plant N status and predicting crop N requirement.


Objective The association between cigarette smoking and the risk of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) remains a matter for debate. Additionally, the effect of the change of smokers' demographics on the risk of development of SLE over time has not been formally addressed. We aimed to examine the association between cigarette smoking and the risk of SLE by performing an updated metaanalysis. Methods A literature search using keywords including "lupus," "smoking," "cigarette," "environmental," "autoimmune," and "connective tissue disease" was performed in computerized databases to identify studies addressing the relationship between cigarette smoking and SLE occurrence. A Bayesian metaanalysis was conducted by computing the log-OR between current and never smokers, and between former and never smokers. The average log-OR (subsequently converted to OR) and their corresponding 95% credible intervals (CrI) were calculated. The effect of publication time, sex, and age of patients with SLE on the effect sizes was examined by multivariate metaregression. Results Data aggregation of 12 eligible studies comprising 3234 individuals who developed SLE and 288,336 control subjects revealed a significant association between SLE occurrence and current smoking status (OR 1.54, 95% CrI 1.06–2.25), while only a non-significant trend was demonstrated between SLE occurrence and former smoking status (OR 1.39, 95% CrI 0.95–2.08). Publication time, sex, and the mean age of patients with SLE did not explain the heterogeneity of the effect sizes. Conclusion Current smoking status is associated with risk of SLE. Sex and age of patients with SLE had no significant effect on the risk of SLE over time.


We used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Northern analysis to examine the effect of Trichinella spiralis infection on mRNA expression of sodium pump isoforms in rat intestine. 28S RNA was coamplified as an internal standard, and the abundance of the isoformic mRNA was expressed relative to 28S RNA. As assessed by PCR and Northern analysis, the alpha 1- and beta 1-subunits were expressed in the jejunum and ileum of noninfected control rats. However, in the jejunum the levels were suppressed after 24 h of infection. The suppression became maximal by day 6 and was reversed to normal by day 23 postinfection (PI). In contrast, no suppression was observed in the noninflamed ileum of infected rats. Further analysis revealed that alpha 1-mRNA was suppressed in jejunal mucosa by 89% and in longitudinal muscle-myenteric plexus by 62% but was not suppressed in circular muscle. Western blot analysis revealed a 61% decrease in the alpha 1-subunit protein in the mucosa and a 62% decrease in longitudinal muscle, whereas there was no change in the alpha 1-protein in circular muscle on day 6 PI. In contrast, marked (89%) suppression of beta 1-mRNA was observed only in the mucosa; there was no change in either circular or longitudinal muscle on day 6 PI. These results indicate that T. spiralis infection in the rat is accompanied by a significant decrease in the alpha 1-subunit of the sodium pump in longitudinal muscle. This reduction could result from altered regulation involving pretranslational changes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Improved access by disadvantaged smallholders and other poor people to lucrative agri-food value chains remains one of the most promising options for reducing rural poverty at scale. There is general agreement that the private sector plays a critical role in building value chains with the rural poor; however, debate in EDM and elsewhere has said little about the conditions under which the private sector is willing and able to lead the way in building inclusive value chains. This crossfire brings together two experts, John Belt of the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) and Jonathan Hellin of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), to debate the following proposition: Value chains are more likely to include and substantially benefit large numbers of poor producers, and to continue to do so, if they are initiated, financed and managed by private for-profit businesses rather than by donors or NGOs.