This is a new and ground-breaking study of the nature and origins of the earliest material in the book of Proverbs, drawing on evidence from Israel and neighbouring countries in the ancient Near East. This literature has widely been believed to have originated as pedagogical material, designed for the education of future administrators in the royal bureaucracy from the time of Solomon. That belief has played an important part not only in the interpretation of the texts, but in reconstructions of Israelite society and history. In this book, Dr Weeks challenges this view, arguing that it is largely founded on assumptions which are now widely discredited, and he sets out to re-evaluate the evidence in the light of more recent research. Dr Weeks's conclusions will have important implications for the future study of this material, and for our understanding of ancient Israel's society and history.


In this paper, the feasibility of preparing activated carbon from corncob furfural residue with ZnCl2 by microwave irradiation was studied. The effect of the ratio by weight of ZnCl2 to corncob furfural residue, ZnCl2 solution soaking time, microwave irradiation time and the pH value of ZnCl2 solution on the quality of activated carbon was investigated. On the condition that the microwave power is 800 W and ZnCl2 solution mass concentration is 50%, the best technological parameter on preparing activated carbon with ZnCl2 by microwave irradiation is obtained: at the ratio of 3.5:1 by weight of ZnCl2 to corncob furfural residue, microwave irradiation time is 20 min, ZnCl2 solution soaking time is 12 h, the pH value of ZnCl2 solution is 2, the activated carbon yield reached 33.1% and the decolorizing capacity for methylene blue is 202.5 mg/g, the product is used in treating Cr6+ solution(pH value 4.0, concentration 50 mg/L), its adsorption capacity of Cr6+ is 7.583 mg/g.


The paper presents a discussion about cinema and education and the use of cinema as a pedagogical resource in mathematics' teaching. Therefore, the first step was to identify the state of art of research in cinema and education through a systematic review of the literature on cinema, education, and mathematics education as well as the results obtained from experiences regarding cinema as a resource and language that are part of mathematics classrooms. The second step was the selection of some movies and the analyze of them to be used as pedagogical resource in class. A thematic analysis was developed with the following films: Hidden Figures (2016), A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Good Will Hunting (1997) through a decoupage of selected scenes throughout the filmic text. As results, we show that there is much to be explored and densified about cinema and education, in special math education.


The work described in this thesis identifies the structural polypeptide profile of human astrovirus type 1, grown in tissue culture in the presence of trypsin. Four major polypeptides were observed, of molecular weights: 34,000, 33.000, 26,500 and 6-8,000. A fifth of molecular weight 37,000 observed when the virus is prepared by PEG precipitation is considered to represent a precursor polypeptide. Of the four structural polypeptides, designated VP1, VP2, VP3 and VP4 respectively, VP1 and VP2 were found to be immunologically reactive with anti-astrovirus type 1 polyclonal antiserum.

Astrovirus type 1 particles were found to have a buoyant density of 1.33-1.34 gm/ral in caesium chloride and a genome approximately 7,200 bases in length, corresponding to a molecular weight of 2.43 x 10° which is assumed to be RNA.

This data suggests a relationship between astroviruses and picornaviruses, most especially the enterovirus subgroup, which have similar structural polypeptide and physico-chemical properties to those described above. However, the use of trypsin for the propagation of astrovirus in tissue culture means that further analysis of the structural polypeptides is required to determine whether those observed in this analysis represent four individual proteins, similar to the profile of picornaviruses, or whether some are cleavage products of the larger proteins due to the action of trypsin.

The 3' terminal sequence of the astrovirus genome has been cloned and sequenced. It was found to have a poly (A) tail, stop codons in all three reading frames within the last 95 nucleotides and no polyadenylation signals. Several other astrovirus specific clones were obtained, but there is no suggestion as to which regions of the genome these represent. Comparisons between the astrovirus specific clones and the microgenie sequence databank has shown no significant homologies. The highest homology obtained for the 3' terminal sequence when compared to those of other picornaviruses was 47Z with coxsackie A21, this is not taken to confirm a relationship between the viruses.

Assay systems were developed for astrovirus during the course of this study. An immunofluorescent end point titration, using type specific antisera, allowed the determination of the infectivity of a virus stock within 48 hours of infection. An immuno dot blot system was developed to assay for amounts of virus protein in samples, such as gradient fractions, and was used to determine the peak banding of virus in sucrose


In this paper we address the problem of content-based image retrieval using queries on shape and topology. We focus on the particularities of image databases encountered in typical topographic applications, and present the development of a spatial data management system that enables such queries. The query uses as input user-provided sketches of the shape and spatial configuration of the object (or objects) which should appear in the images to be retrieved. The objective of the search is to retrieve images that contain a configuration of objects sufficiently similar to the one specified in the query. Our novel approach introduces the design of a structured feature library that is linked to an integrated image database in addition to the development of the necessary matching tools. We discuss our overall strategy and focus on the use of the feature library to support our queries.


Purpose of the Study
To determine the prevalence and extent of successful aging (SA) when various suggestions proposed in the previous literature for improving models of SA are incorporated into one holistic operational definition. These suggestions include defining and measuring SA as a developmental process, including subjective indicators alongside more objective ones, and expressing SA on a continuum.

Design and Methods
Data were used from 2,241 respondents in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, a multidisciplinary study in a nationally representative sample of older adults in the Netherlands. Latent class growth analysis was used to identify successful 16-year trajectories within nine indicators of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social functioning. SA was quantified as the number of indicators in which individual respondents showed successful trajectories (range 0-9).

Results
Successful trajectories were characterized by stability, limited decline, or even improvement of functioning over time. Of the respondents, 39.6% of men and 29.3% of women were successful in at least seven indicators; 7% of men and 11% of women were successful in less than three indicators. Proportions of successful respondents were largest in life satisfaction (>85%) and smallest in social activity (<25%). Correlations of success between separate indicators were low to moderate (range r = .02-.37).

Implications
Many older adults age relatively successfully, but the character of successful functioning over time varies between indicators, and the combinations of successful indicators vary between individuals.


This paper presents an original and effective application of support vector clustering (SVC) to electrical load pattern classification. The proposed SVC-based approach combines the calculation of the support vectors, carried out by using a classical procedure adopting a Gaussian kernel, with a specifically developed deterministic algorithm to form the clusters. This algorithm exploits the meaningful location of the bounded support vectors (BSVs) to define the outliers, identifying the clusters in function of the distance of the non-BSVs to the BSVs. Its implementation is less computationally intensive than other existing approaches and the cluster formation is driven by a single user-defined threshold. Extended comparison to other clustering methods is included to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach in grouping multidimensional load pattern data into non-overlapping clusters. This effectiveness is confirmed by the calculation of various cluster validity indicators. In particular, the most successful tasks are the identification of the outliers and the more effective formation of small numbers of clusters with respect to other methods.


Introduction: Around 1200 cases of mortality due to drowning occur in Iran annually which is considered as a serious problem. In Northern provinces of Guilan and Mazandaran it stands as the second cause of deaths.Objectives: In this study we evaluated the mortality rates of Drowning in Rasht city which is located near the Caspian Sea as a famous Tourist destination.Materials and Methods: This Cross-Sectional Descriptive study was performed on the files belonging to drowning victims whose bodies were autopsied in the Central Forensic Office of Guilan Province from 1388 to 1391. Checklists were filled considering demographic data, date, location of the accident, etc for the cases and were analyzed.Results: A total number of 144 cases were enrolled in the study. Males were the majority of cases (90.3%). The average of age was 27.58±13.13 years old and the summer, Mordad and Friday were the season (59%), month (24.3%) and Day (21.5%) respectively with highest mortality rates. Bandare Anzali was the city with most death cases (23.9%). Most of the victims didn't know how to swim (74.5%).Conclusion: Drowning is a preventable event and swimming education in schools seems mandatory and beneficial for the youth.


Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a form of acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure that is characterised by non-cardiogenic pulmonary oedema which occurs as a consequence of the breakdown of the alveolar–capillary unit.1 ARDS impacts more than 10% of all intensive care unit admissions, and pneumonia is the most common risk factor for ARDS.2 Current standard of care aims to minimise iatrogenic lung injury from mechanical ventilation,3 4 while clinical trials of pharmacological therapies that have targeted the underlying mechanisms driving the development of ARDS have failed to show benefit.5

Beyond pharmacological therapies, much interest in this field has focused on mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) as a potential therapeutic option for ARDS.6 In the latest development towards a cell-based therapy for ARDS, Park et al  report the use of an human ex vivo lung perfusion model of ARDS to investigate MSC-derived microvesicles (MVs) as a therapy for ARDS.7 MSCs are pluripotent cells that can be extracted from various sources including bone marrow, adipose tissue and umbilical cord. In ARDS they may represent an attractive therapy because of a broad range of potentially beneficial effects, including anti-inflammatory, pro-reparative and antimicrobial effects.8–10 Excessive host inflammation contributes to alveolar epithelial and capillary endothelial damage, and in this setting MSCs have immunomodulatory effects via the secretion of several anti-inflammatory compounds including Interleukin (IL) 10 and IL1 receptor antagonist. Loss of alveolar fluid clearance (AFC) in patients with ARDS contributes to alveolar flooding and is associated with increased hospital mortality.11 The delivery of MSCs to injured lungs restored AFC in a human ex vivo model of lung injury. This effect was in-part mediated by the secretion of keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), one of several soluble growth factors produced by MSCs.12 Approximately …


A contact-lens technique was used to record eye movements made by two subjects attempting to maintain fixation at the center of concentric round targets of several sizes (1.9′–87.2′ diam) and luminances (2.8, 7.8, and 21.5 mL). Fixation of red, blue, and white 1.9′-diam targets was also examined. Analysis-of-variance designs were employed to remove variability arising from sources other than these stimulus variables. Statistically reliable differences in mean fixation position were found with targets of different size, luminance, and color. The largest difference observed was less than 4′ and under most conditions was less than 2′. The bivariate dispersion of the eye about its mean position varied in a complex manner with the size and luminance of the target object. No statistically reliable effects of stimulus variables were found on drifts. Saccade frequency was considerably reduced with the largest targets. Results are discussed in terms of a "fixed error-signal system" for the control of eye position.


It is often said that a good book is a mirror, reflecting the image of the author. If this is so, Professor Court and his collaborators appear, in this book aimed at medical students and family practitioners, as wise and warm physicians, who have had a great deal of experience in the clinical care of children. This is not a textbook of pediatrics but a discussion of common problems met in the medical care of children. Most illnesses are discussed in this book by starting from the symptom rather than the etiologic point of view. Thus "Vomiting Babies" (chapter 4) ranges from feeding mismanagement through subdural hematomata. American physicians will find most useful those chapters dealing with everyday questions (such as crying babies and nursing the sick child at home), Family Infections, Chesty Children, and Developmental Problems, for those are subjects rarely covered in this fashion in standard textbooks. The


ABSTRACT Objective: To quantify and compare direct costs, utilization, and the rate of comorbidities in a sample of patients with fibromyalgia (FM), a poorly understood illness associated with chronic widespread pain that is commonly treated by rheumatologists, to patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a well studied rheumatologic illness associated with inflammatory joint pain. Patients with both illnesses were isolated and reported as a third group. A secondary analysis of work loss was performed for an employed subset of these patients. Research design and methods: Retrospective cohort analysis of Thomson Reuters MarketScan administrative healthcare claims and employer-collected absence and disability data for adult patients with a diagnosis of FM (ICD-9-CM 729.1) and/or RA (ICD-9-CM 714.0x,–714.3x) on at least one inpatient or two outpatient claims during 2001–2004. Main outcome measures: The 12-month healthcare utilization, expenditures, and rates of comorbidities were quantified for all study-eligible patients; absence and short-term disability days and costs were quantified for an employed subset. Results: The sample included 14 034 FM, 7965 RA, and 331 FM + RA patients. Patients with FM had a higher prevalence of several comorbidities and greater emergency department (ED) utilization than those with RA. Mean annual expenditures for FM patients were $10 911 (SD = $16 075). RA patient annual expenditures were similar to FM: $10 716 (SD = $16 860). Annual expenditures were almost double in patients with FM+RA ($19 395, SD = $25 440). A greater proportion of patients with FM had any short-term disability days than those with RA (20 vs. 15%); and a greater proportion of patients with RA had any absence days (65 vs. 80%). Mean costs for absence from work and short-term disability in the FM and RA groups were substantial and similar. The FM+RA group was of insufficient sample size to report on work loss. Limitations: The availability of newer and more expensive FDA-approved medications since 2004 is not reflected in our findings. This analysis was restricted to commercially insured patients and therefore may not be generalizable to the entire U.S. population. Conclusions: The burden of illness in FM is substantial and comparable to RA. Patients with FM incurred direct costs approximately equal to RA patients. Patients with FM had more ED, physician, and physical therapy visits than RA patients. Patients in both groups had several comorbidities. Patients with FM+RA incurred direct costs almost double those of the patients with either diagnosis alone. FM and RA patients incurred similar overall absence and short-term disability costs.


ABSTRACT The acquisition of iron is an essential component in the pathogenesis of Yersinia pestis, the agent of bubonic and pneumonic plague. A cosmid library derived from the genomic DNA ofY. pestis KIM6+ was used for transduction of anEscherichia coli mutant (SAB11) defective in the biosynthesis of the siderophore enterobactin. Recombinant plasmids which had a common 13-kb BamHI fragment were isolated from SAB11 transductants in which growth but not enterobactin synthesis was restored on media containing the iron chelator EDDA [ethylenediamine-di(o-hydroxyphenyl acetic acid)]. Subcloning and transposon mutagenesis revealed a 5.6-kb region, designated yfe, essential for SAB11 growth stimulation. In vitro transcription-translation analysis identified polypeptides of 18, 29.5, 32, and 33 kDa encoded by the yfe locus. Sequence analysis shows this locus to be comprised of five genes in two separate operons which have potential Fur-binding sequences in both promoters. A putative polycistronic operon, yfeABCD, is Fur regulated and responds to iron and manganese. A functional Fur protein is required for the observed manganese repression of this operon. This operon encodes polypeptides which have strong similarity to the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) family of transporters and include a periplasmic binding protein (YfeA), an ATP-binding protein (YfeB), and two integral membrane proteins (YfeC and -D), which likely function in the acquisition of inorganic iron and possibly other ions. The ∼21-kDa protein encoded by the separately transcribedyfeE gene may be located in the cell envelope, since ayfeE::TnphoA fusion is PhoA+. Mutations in this gene abrogate growth of SAB11 on iron-chelated media.


Wetlands quality and spatial distribution are being threatened by anthropogenic drivers in addition to the emerging threats of climate change. In this study, selected heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) in soils from Lagos lagoon wetlands were investigated to assess spatial distribution, ecological and health risks. The data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using GraphPad 7.0 and SPSS 22.0. Spatial distribution mapping of heavy metals was performed using ArcGIS10.0 (ESRI, Redlands, CA, USA) with Kriging interpolation. Results showed that heavy metals in the soil varied significantly (p<0.05). The contamination factors (CF) were generally low with the values for Cr, Ni, Cu, and Zn very low (<1). The CF values for some of the sampling points showed that the soils are generally moderately contaminated by Pb, Cd and Cu. The modified degree of contamination of Pb (2.35) indicates a moderate degree of contamination while that of Cd (12.60) indicates a high degree of contamination of these wetland soils. The potential ecological risk index (RI) of Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu and Zn were 70.40, 2264.40, 0.68, 1.55, 13.65, and 2.29, respectively. The RI for Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu and Zn were less than 100, hence, low, while the RI value of Cd was a very high risk (RI ≥ 400). Soils from this wetland's areas show serious significant potential ecological risk due to Cd. Additionally, children were more susceptible to the potential health risk irrespective of the carcinogenic or non – carcinogenic risk. There were no significant carcinogenic and non – carcinogenic risks for adults and children. This wetland assessment provided important information for policymaking to reduce the potential effects of soil contamination on humans and the eco-environment.


The H2 conversion and CO inhibition reactivity of nine [FeFe]-hydrogenase constructs with semi-artificial cofactors was studied by in situ and time-resolved infrared spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, and theoretical methods. Impaired hydrogen turnover and proton transfer as well as characteristic CO inhibition/ reactivation kinetics are assigned to varying degrees of hydrogen-bonding interactions at the active site. We show that the probability to adopt catalytic intermediates is modulated by intramolecular and protein-cofactor interactions that govern structural dynamics at the active site of [FeFe]-hydrogenases.


Connection between migraine and patent foramen ovale (PFO) may be defined as a "tower of Babel" or a "vexata quaestio." Indeed, there is still conflicting evidence as to the causal relationship of PFO in migraine with aura. The PFO is a kind of oblique fissure between the right and the left atrium, formed by the overlap of the septum primum and the septum secundum, guiding right-to-left shunt during fetal life that bypass the lungs. When the baby starts to breathe, the lungs expand and there is a reduction in pulmonary pressure, leading to closure of the shunt in most cases. However, it does not close in about 30% of cases, becoming a potential source of paradoxical embolism (1). Migraine is a disabling condition characterized by recurrent episodes of throbbing headache associated with neuro-vegetative symptoms, including nausea and vomiting, photophobia, and phonophobia, which can also be preceded by transient focal neurological symptoms, like visual or sensory/motor aura. Recently, PFO and its closure have aroused great interest, not only in interventional cardiology, but also in neurology. The frequency of PFO in the population has been reported as 15–35% (1). The life-time prevalence of migraine ranges from 11% in males to 20% in females, with an average of 16% (2). As PFO and migraine are common conditions, their co-occurrence might be coincidental. However, the prevalence of right-to-left shunt has been documented to be significantly (at least twofold) higher in patients suffering from migraine with aura than in healthy controls. This suggests that right-to-left shunt may play a role both in the physiopathology of migraine aura and the increased risk of stroke in migraineurs. PFO accounts for 95% of all right-to-left shunts (3). It has been postulated that a right-to-left shunt may have a causal relationship in migraine attacks with aura. Microembolic paradox phenomena, or serotoninergic metabolites from the venous system, normally inactivated by the pulmonary circulation, may trigger migraine attacks through the induction of cortical spreading depression, owing to the right-to-left shunt (4). The connection between the right-to-left shunt and migraine could also be explained by the presence of transient hypoxic episodes, caused by the blood shunting through the PFO, determining micro-infarctions resulting in migraine attacks (5). However, these hypotheses have many shortcomings and do not explain the PFO-migraine nexus, as reported by Gupta (6) and Sathasivam (7). As a rule, embolic events show an unpredictable hemispheric distribution (6), while migraine pain is typically lateralized, often periodic and predictable, like menstrual migraine. Moreover, unlike PFO, migraine is not manifested at birth. Although migraineurs often have episodes of remission and exacerbation, PFO is not only life-long, but also tends to increase in size with age (1), whilst migraine decreases with aging. These considerations are at odds with a possible link between migraine and PFO. All of which contrary to what one might expect if a PFO was a causal factor in migraine. Indeed, in the presence of a connection one might well expect migraine not to be lateralized, to be evident at birth and to worsen with age. Patients suffering from migraine frequently show white matter lesions on MRI which may be correlated to hypothetical paradoxical micro-embolisms able to lead to micro-infarctions. However, it has been documented that the right-to-left shunt does not increase the burden of white matter lesions (8), again against the migraine/PFO nexus. The percutaneous closure of septal defects with a left-to-right shunt has been associated with improvement of migraine (9). Several studies have been carried out to determine whether closure of the PFO defect is able to affect migraine frequency when the shunting is predominantly right-to-left (10), even if data from epidemiological studies on the relationship between PFO and migraine are controversial. Although non-randomized studies have documented that migraine attack frequency decreases after percutaneous closure of the right to left shunt, to date, the only randomized study (11) carried out on this (migraine intervention with STARFlex® technology) did not confirm these results. Indeed, the primary end-point of cessation of migraine at 6 months post-treatment with percutaneous closure showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups (in intervention and control groups). Migraine/PFO nexus might well represent only the result of a common genetic substratum that, on the one hand, could lead to a predisposition to migraine and, on the other, to endocardiac alteration with persistence of the foramen ovale. A recent report documented that the occurrence of atrial shunts was consistent with autosomal dominant inheritance in some families with aura migraine (12). Even if serendipity does play a role in medicine advances, interpretation may be misleading in the absence of a logically theoretical basis. Despite the theoretical possibility of PFO being at the root of migraine, there is scant basic scientific and clinical evidence to support such a theory. Moreover, the risks involved in PFO closure must not be underestimated. Literature reports that up to 8% of surgical procedures may require transcatheter interventions to manage complications (13). Serious complications, such as the formation of thrombus on the implant device, thromboembolism related to the implant device, cardiac perforation, infective endocarditis, or cardiac arrhythmias have also been reported (13). Therefore, it may be concluded that, currently, PFO closure is not a recommended routine procedure to prevent migraine. Not only is the pathophysiological relevance of this procedure in migraine treatment debatable, but its efficacy has also been inconclusively proven. Moreover, the complications of this procedure may be serious and significant in comparison to the non-life threatening nature of migraine. Further research on PFO in migraine is clearly required before we may consider changing opinion on the aforementioned conclusions. Therefore, RCTs cannot supplant or substitute good clinical sense or justify serendipity. Nevertheless, the speculative links between migraine and PFO continue to intrigue the medical/research community. The best lesson to be learnt from the history of medicine might be that physicians' enthusiasm should be mitigated by the test of evidence. Let us then strive to improve scientific knowledge before changing clinical practice.


Whether or not deflationism is compatible with truth-conditional theories of meaning has often been discussed in very broad terms. This paper only focuses on Davidsonian semantics and Brandom's anaphoric deflationism and defends the claim that these are perfectly compatible. Critics of this view have voiced several objections, the most prominent of which claims that it involves an unacceptable form of circularity. The paper discusses how this general objection applies to the case of anaphoric deflationism and Davidsonian semantics and evaluates different ways of responding to it (Williams 1999, Horisk 2008 and Lance 1997). Then, three further objections to the compatibility of these theories are assessed and eventually dismissed (Horisk 2007, Patterson 2005 and Collins 2002). It is shown how these considerations shed light on core issues of the debate.


This study is a public relations inquiry that aims to describe the use of social media by govern-ment public relations to bridge the digital divide that affects people with social welfare prob-lems. The research, unlike most public relations studies that by and large, focus on organiza-tional image, reputation, communication crisis, and transparency, uses the digital divide per-spective. The research uses Grunig and Hunt Public Relations model and Melvin De Fleur com-munication model perspectives to examine the communication processes that occur through government public relations social media. The research uses a qualitative descriptive approach to assess the communication conducted by informants. The results showed that government pub-lic relations communication through social media has not been fully able to bridge the digital divide, especially in rural areas. The digital divide creates three relates problems that affect the effectiveness of government communication with people that experience social welfare problem. Firstly, pattern of communication involves opinion leaders. Secondly, most feedback occurs in-directly while ideally, it should be direct. Thirdly, the flow of information takes place in either one or two steps, in contrast with the ideal, which should be in one step.


1 National University of Phisycal Education and Sports, Str. Constantin Noica, Nr. 140, Sector 6, C.P. 060057, Bucureşti, România, email@example.com Abstract: Disorders of the osteo-musculo-articular system represents one of the most frequent pathological manifestations, both in terms of morbidity and economical costs. Therefore it is necessary an assessment of level of physical development and health status, based on medical examinations of physical balance in children from school communities. For this purpose, the initial evaluation of children by physiotherapists, through various tests and measurements specific for physical therapy, has a fundamental role in order to detect those with deficiencies (Lafond et al., 2007). The appreciations are made in conjunction with the data collected from medical records, and with the information about social and family context of respective subjects. The purpose of the study is to draw attention to the incidence of spinal postural impairments, within the same age group, and to its possible consequences for the adolescence and adulthood. In the context of medical recovery, physiotherapy plays a vital role in restoring the functionality potential of people with different conditions of incapacity. The study was carried out during the time of children's evaluation at the beginning of the 2019 school year. The research included 75 children aged 11-14 from Special Middle School No. 3 in Bucharest. The methods used are: method of bibliographic study, observation, method of evalution, and recording of data and graphical presentation. From the 75 children evaluated, 70.67% had static vertebral disorders. The author consider that the school population is currently at risk of spinal disorders associated with sedentarism and abnormal body postures in both static and dynamic activities.


Recent trends like increasing operating frequencies, larger die sizes and demand for greater portability make power reduction a hard taskmaster. It is acknowledged that the greatest returns come from optimization at the architectural and technology level. We present, for the first time, residue architectures that reduce the power by more than 70% without changes in technology. This reduction is achieved without sacrificing performance and with minimal sacrifice in area (less than 60%). The key to such low power solutions is trading-off the speed gained by parallelism for lower power. Existing proposals that achieve similar trade-offs demand an area increase of more than a factor of two and also increased control complexity. Other benefits of using residue arithmetic for low power is the significant reduction in peak current and increased design locality. The role of the number of computations per forward (or reverse) conversion in determining the power characteristics of the system are also analyzed and explained. The effectiveness of the methodology is illustrated using a system that extracts a 256-point FFT of the input signal.


ABSTRACT Upper Jurassic Fulmar Formation shelf sandstones of the high-temperature, high-pressure Franklin and Elgin Fields (South Central Graben, North Sea) contain abundant disseminated and concretionary ankerite. In contrast, most Jurassic North Sea reservoirs contain only minor amounts of dispersed ankerite. Disseminated ankerite cement in the Franklin and Elgin Fields has a fairly uniform isotopic composition (18O -10 to -12.5o/oo PDB, 13C -3 to -5o/oo PDB). Ankerite concretions have 18O values similar to disseminated cements but a wider range of 13C values (+1 to -5.5o/oo PDB). They also have highly variable intergranular volumes, which (together with the 13C data) are interpreted as a combination of pore-filling cementation and in situ replacement of comminuted bioclastic debris by ankerite. Fluid-inclusion, 18O, and paragenetic evidence suggests that ankerite formed during deep burial (c. 3.5 to 4.5 km, 140-170°C), after the onset of overpressuring, but before hydrocarbon emplacement in the reservoirs. The regionally consistent 18O data suggest that ankerite formed via a temperature-influenced mechanism, and the relatively uniform 13C cement value indicates that organic matter and marine bioclastic carbonate contributed to the dissolved carbon reservoir in constant proportion. This can be explained by calcite dissolution in response to pH decrease during thermal breakdown of organic acids. Such acids were derived from adjacent mudrocks undergoing hydrocarbon maturation and clay-mineral transformations, and are likely to have been transported in pore fluids with Mg2+ and Fe2+. The presence of these cations in solution upon thermal decarboxylation is inferred to have stabilized ankerite at the expense of calcite. A relative paucity of ankerite in other Fulmar Formation reservoirs may reflect different sedimentological compositions (less bioclastic debris) and/or lower burial temperatures (less advanced decarboxylation).


The ability of disseminated cancer cells to evade the immune response is a critical step for efficient metastatic progression. Protection against an immune attack is often provided by the tumour microenvironment that suppresses and/or excludes cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive metastatic disease with unmet needs, yet the immuno-protective role of the metastatic tumour microenvironment in pancreatic cancer is not completely understood. In this study we find that macrophage-derived granulin contributes to cytotoxic CD8+ T cell exclusion in metastatic livers. Mechanistically, we find that granulin expression by macrophages is induced in response to colony stimulating factor-1. Genetic depletion of granulin reduces the formation a fibrotic stroma, thereby allowing T cell entry at the metastatic site. While metastatic PDAC tumours are largely resistant to anti-PD-1 therapy, blockade of PD-1 in granulin depleted tumours restored the anti-tumour immune defence and dramatically decreased metastatic tumour burden. These findings suggest that targeting granulin may serve as a potential therapeutic strategy to restore CD8+ T cell infiltration in metastatic PDAC, thereby converting PDAC metastatic tumours, which are refractory to immune checkpoint inhibitors, into tumours that respond to immune checkpoint inhibition therapies.


Salinity is a common problem in arid and semi-arid regions, causing great damage to crop yields, and management strategies that reduce the effects of salt stress on plants are necessary. So, the aim of this study was to evaluate the interaction between salinity, nitrogen and phosphorus on water relations, gas exchange and chloroplastidic pigments of the West Indian cherry in the vegetative/reproductive phase transition. The cultivation was carried out in a greenhouse, in lysimeters filled with an Entisol of low phosphorus content. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design, arranged in a factorial scheme with two factors, being five levels of electrical conductivity of irrigation water (ECw)(0.6, 1.4, 2.2, 3.0 and 3.8 dS m-1) and four P:N rates (100:100, 140:100, 100:140 and 140:140% of recommendation) with three replications and one plant per plot. The analysis of results indicated that the seedlings of West Indian cherry cultivar BRS 366-Jaburu, grafted on the Criolo rootstock from the EMBRAPA Agroindústria Tropical in Pacajus-CE were used. Irrigation with saline water of up to 3.8 dS m-1 does not affect the water status of the West Indian cherry. Increased salinity of irrigation water reduces gaseous exchange activity and increases the percentage of leaf cell damage in the West Indian cherry. The 40% increase over recommended level in nitrogen supply increases the synthesis of chlorophyll b and carotenoids in the West Indian cherry, when irrigated with saline water of up to 2.2 dS m-1.


Hercynian Bohoro pluton extending SE-NW along the northern margin of Yili Block develop in a wide area of morethan 2000km2. It is predominantly composed of dark gabbroid diorite, light-coloured biotite granite and pink biotite K-granite. U-Pb La-ICP-MS dating on zircons yields 301 +/- 7Ma for gabbroid diorite, 294 +/- 7Ma to 285 +/- Ma for light-coloured biotite granite and 280 +/- 5 Ma to 266 +/- 6Ma for biotite K-granite, respectively. Geochemical analyses suggest that the Borohoro plutons are mainly subaluminous I-type granite with minor aluminous S-type granite. They have higher components of LREE than HREE, and dissimilar REE distribution patterns of granitoids from two sections indicate that they were probably derived from different magma sources, further isotopic study is in urgent need. These granites are rich in K, Rb, Th and Ba, and depleted in Nb, Ta, Zr and Hf with respect to Ocean Ridge Granite. Trace element discriminations suggest that these granitic rocks formed in a subduction-related volcanic arc setting. Comparing to the previous results, this study proposes that the Borohoro plutons were resulted from south-directed subductionary orogeny of an oceanic basin in the North Tianshan, the convergent process was completed in Middle Permian, and was followed by intra-continental orogeny and subsequent extension in Late Permian.


Dual citizenship is now tolerated under U.S. law and practice. As the granting of dual nationality by sending countries has spread, however, the relationship between dual citizenship and immigrant integration has emerged as an issue of debate. This paper explores whether or not recognition of dual nationality by sending countries positively a⁄ects the U.S. naturalization rate of immigrants from those countries. The empirical analysis draws on data from the 1990 and 2000 U.S. Censuses and examines immigrants from the countries of Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Mexico, all of which changed their laws to permit dual citizenship in the 1990s. A utility maximizing framework predicts that, everything else being equal, immigrants coming from a country that has recently allowed dual citizenship should be more likely to naturalize because of the decrease in a major cost of naturalization, speci(cid:133)cally the need to forfeit rights in the country of origin. The analysis shows that older cohorts of immigrants from (cid:133)ve of the six Latin American countries that have changed the law averaged higher naturalization rates in 2000 compared to other countries. Evidence for more recent immigrants is mixed and appears to be related to the rate of illegal immigration by the origin country.


The study of Gene Expression Profiling (GEP) of cells and tissue has become a major tool for discovery in medicine. In GEP, Gene Expression Microarray (GEM) data categorization is a difficult task because of its tremendous quantity of attributes (features) and also the limited size of sample. Feature Selection (FS) was explored to reduce the data dimensionality while maintaining the classifier accuracy. Recently, Swallow Swarm Optimization with Score-Based Criteria Fusion (Optimized SCF) wrapper FS approach has been suggested for predicting the tumors with better efficiency. However, relying upon simple statistical analyses or a unified FS might not increase prediction accuracy. Following the idea behind Ensemble FS (EFS), multiple algorithms are considered in this paper for increasing the robustness of classification. To give a contribution to the field, this Hybrid EFS (HEFS) system is introduced which encompasses different kinds of selection algorithms such as filter by Score-Based Criteria Fusion (SCF) and embedded method by Fuzzy Elephant Herding Optimization (FEHO) and Support Vector Machinet (SVM-t). The outcomes from those approaches are aggregated via the Weighted Majority Voting (WMV). WMV is a popular and robust strategy to aggregate different algorithms, where each result according to their classification accuracy. The outcome of EFS is an attribute subgroup obtained by concatenating the results of different approaches on various data. It could improve the efficiency of the classifiers such as K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Recursive Neural Networks (RNN), and validate its superiority with four different datasets. Experimental results verify that the HEFS method shows improved results regarding precision, recall, accuracy and Area Under Curve (AUC) when compared to conventional FS methods.


Organization is not an easy task to handle especially when distance is involved. GDOs are the organizational structures derived from traditional organizing approach. Researchers and practitioners face problems in organizing GDOs due to geographical dispersion and other characteristics. These characteristics of GDOs like geographical dispersion, cultural diversity and crossing boundaries have to be managed in the forms and models of GDOs. This can be achieved by categorizing different forms of GDOs into different classes and then classifying GDO models based on characteristics which are discovered in this study. The approach selected to perform this study is through literature survey. Books and articles have been consulted and discussions took place with Supervisor for making strong theoretical background and for the formulation of this study. Geographical dispersion, ICT advancements, cultural diversity and crossing boundaries are the key characteristics which affect the organization of different GDO forms and models. In the forms of GDO which are; outsourcing, VO and alliances there is little uniformity in their classification. Researchers have classified various models of these GDO forms in different ways which makes it difficult to choose criteria for classification. Due to different criteria selected by various scholars, there is variability within those classifications which makes it difficult to reach to one conclusion. The classification criteria selected in this study is based on characteristics like; resource utilization, network, control, resource dependency and others which make it possible to unite these forms of GDO at one platform and classify their models based on these criteria. Categories are developed and classification is performed which will provide aid in further study related to the classification and organization of GDOs.


The results of anemia correction by recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) therapy with regard to cardiac function and left ventricular hypertrophy in dialysis patients are controversially discussed. The aim of the study was to assess the effects of therapy rHuEPO on cardiac morphology and function in dialysis patients. We studied 11 clinically stable hemodialysis patients with severe renal anemia (hematocrit <27%) and increased left ventricular mass index (LVMi) with no history of coronary or valvular heart disease, systemic disease, severe hyperparathyroidism, hypertension stage 2 or higher, transfusion-dependent anemia, and concurrent rHuEPO treatment. The patients were treated with rHuEPO administered subcutaneously once or twice weekly at a mean dose of 80 ± 31 IU/kg week until the hematocrit was >30% and underwent a complete Doppler echocardiographic study at baseline and at follow-up (after 12.2 ± 2.9 months). At follow-up, ejection fraction and fractional shortening significantly increased from 62.7 ± 13.8 to 67.8 ± 9.7% (p < 0.05) and from 35.5 ± 9.8 to 39.4 ± 7.1% (p < 0.05), respectively, whereas mean velocity of circumferential fiber shortening demonstrated a trend towards amelioration from 1.18 ± 0.23 to 1.27 ± 0.27 circ/s (n.s.). LVMi and morphological data remained unchanged throughout the study. Nevertheless, LVMi changes showed two different behaviors with respect to baseline values: in 6 patients with higher baseline values, LVMi decreased from 229 ± 36 to 191 ± 45 g/m2 (p < 0.05), while it worsened in 5 patients with less marked LVMi, increasing from 141 ± 32 to 186 ± 40 g/m2 (p < 0.05). Our data demonstrate that partial correction of renal anemia with rHuEPO therapy seems to improve cardiac performance and to induce a regression of left ventricular hypertrophy, particularly in patients with greater baseline hypertrophy, ultimately confirming the multifactorial pathogenesis of left ventricular hypertrophy.


ABSTRACT Settler colonial theory has made a hugely significant contribution to the theorisation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but there is a danger that its application to the specific practice of security coordination could simply render the practice as an instrument of settler colonial rule. In this article, we would like to propose the important qualification that Coordination is, in practice, deeply conflicted and subject to multiple internal pressures, which extend from elites to public opinion. In accepting that Coordination can be appropriately viewed through a settler colonial lens, we would like to argue that it can also be viewed from 'below', and as an object of domestic political struggle that is implicated in legitimisation processes. Coordination is therefore simultaneously renounced and retained as part of the survival strategy of assorted elite groups. In order to demonstrate this, we reference Elite theory, interviews and online materials. Moreover, internal Palestinian divides suggest that opposition is more incomplete, partial and reactive within the neoliberal and settler colonial context.


The increased incidence of morphologically peculiar galaxies at faint magnitudes in the optical could be attributable either to "morphological k-corrections" (the change in appearance when viewing high-z objects at shorter rest-frame wavelengths), or an increase in the incidence of truly irregular systems with redshift. The deep, high-resolution GTO-NICMOS near-IR imaging of a portion of the northern Hubble Deep Field has been combined with the WFPC2 data and photometric redshift estimates to study the redshift evolution of morphology, comparing galaxy appearance at the same rest-wavelengths (Bunker, Spinrad & Thompson 1999). It appears that morphological k-corrections are only significant in a minority of cases, and that once these are accounted for, evolution is still demanded - galaxies were smaller and more irregular in the past, with some of the peculiarities probably merger-related. This multi-waveband data set also enables a study of the spatially-resolved stellar populations in distant galaxies. A near-infrared analysis of some of the brighter spirals shows more pronounced barred structure than in the optical, indicating that the apparent decline in barred spirals at faint magnitudes in the optical HDF may be due to band-shifting effects at the higher redshifts, rather than intrinsic evolution.


Health system reform experienced in Canada since the 1990s profoundly affected health-care workplaces and workers' attitudes. In this paper we examine associations between deteriorated external work environment, heavy workload and nurses' job satisfaction and turnover intention. Data are from our 2002 survey responses of 1,396 nurses employed in three teaching hospitals in southern Ontario. Data are analyzed first for all nurses and then separately for full-time, part-time, and casual nurses. External work environment refers to nurses' perceptions of important decisions being made outside the hospital, limited resources, and budget cuts. Results show that when nurses perceive a deteriorated external work environment and consider their workload to be heavy, they also report low job satisfaction. Low job satisfaction and heavy workload, in turn, are associated with nurses' turnover intention. However, when nurses perceive a deteriorated external work environment they are more inclined to stay. When data are examined separately for each employment status group, the effect of external work environment and workload are different on turnover intentions for fulltime, part-time, and casual nurses. We suggest managers and policymakers pay attention to the impact of deteriorated external work environment and heavy workload in developing strategies for nurses' job satisfaction and retention. More importantly, the different impact of these factors according to employment contracts should be considered in developing human resources policies for nurses' job satisfaction and retention.


In recent years, more precisely from 1989 on, which was considered by a lot of experts the beginning of the second stage of globalization, nation branding campaigns have started to be launched in more and more countries in order to help developing nations image and reputation and to provide a competitive edge on economic, social and even political areas. Simon Anholt and Wally Olins are the two authors who studied the most nation branding phenomenon and came up with theories which were applied often by professionals when elaborating nation branding campaigns for different states. Nadia Kaneva, Keith Dinnie, Melissa Aronczyk, Luminita Nicolescu and Alina Dolea have also focused their researches on this theme and manage to contribute with new and interesting ideas to the field. This paper provides insight into the most important nation branding campaigns made by Romania starting from 1989 until present. Through a comparative analysis of those campaigns the paper tries to identify which was their impact on Romania's image or reputation. How was Romania perceived (from the image perspective) before 1989 at international level? Did the image change after 1989? And what was the impact of the most important branding nation campaigns implemented after 1989 in the image of Romania and implicit in economy? These are the main questions this paper tries to answer. At the same time, the study also explores briefly the concept of globalization, nation branding, national image and national reputation. The conclusions of the paper will provide in the end a general background of all studied nation branding campaigns which will include the similarities and differences between them, but also both strong and weak points. Its aim is to contribute, among other existing papers, as a starting point for researchers or professionals who want to elaborate nation branding strategies for Romania or other countries.


Evaporator superheat control is an important aspect of the operation of refrigeration and air conditioning systems; since the majority of cooling in these systems occurs through evaporation of two-phase refrigerant, the energy efficiency is improved by reducing the amount of superheat present. However, allowing refrigerant to leave the evaporator without completely vaporizing risks catastrophic damage to the compressor, so superior control is required at low superheat levels. One of the most significant challenges present in this control problem is the presence of significant nonlinearities in the response from the control input, e.g. expansion valve position, to evaporator superheat. This paper reveals how a particular control architecture inherently compensates for both the static and dynamic nonlinearities that dominate the valve-to-superheat transient response. Furthermore, the control implementation only requires temperature measurements, which are frequently available in ordinary HVAC systems. Modeling and experimental results confirm the reduction of nonlinearities using the proposed approach, and the authors discuss the effect of actuator limitations on the nonlinearity compensation.


Latin Grammarians on the Latin Accent offers a fresh perspective on a long-standing debate about the value of Latin grammarians writing about the Latin accent: should the information they give us be taken seriously, or should much of it should be dismissed as copied mindlessly from Greek sources? This book focuses on understanding the Latin grammarians on their own terms: what do they actually say about accents, and what do they mean by it? Careful examination of Greek and Latin grammatical texts leads to a better understanding of the workings of Greek grammatical theory on prosody, and of its interpretation in the Latin grammatical tradition. It emerges that Latin grammarians took over from Greek grammarians a system of grammatical description that operated on two levels: an abstract level that we are not supposed to be able to hear, and the concrete level of audible speech. The two levels are linked by a system of rules. Some points of Greek thought on prosody were taken over onto the abstract level and not intended as statements about the actual sound of Latin, while other points were so intended. This book largely sets aside the question whether the Latin grammarians tell us the truth about the Latin accent, focusing instead on understanding what they actually say. But it begins to offer some answers for those wishing to know when to 'believe' Latin grammarians in the traditional sense, by showing which of their statements are intended—and which are not intended—as statements about the actual sound of Latin.


We analyze the time-dependent formation of the spectral function of an Anderson impurity model in the Kondo regime within a numerically exact real-time quantum Monte Carlo framework. At steady state, splitting of the Kondo peak occurs with nontrivial dependence on voltage and temperature, and with little effect on the location or intensity of high-energy features. Examining the transient development of the Kondo peak after a quench from an initially uncorrelated state reveals a two-stage process where the initial formation of a single central Kondo peak is followed by splitting. We analyze the time dependence of splitting in detail and demonstrate a strong dependence of its characteristic timescale on the voltage. We expect both the steady state and the transient phenomenon to be experimentally observable.


RATIONALE
Time series studies have reported associations between ozone and daily deaths. Only one cohort study has reported the effect of long-term exposures on deaths, and little is known about effects of chronic ozone exposure on survival in susceptible populations.

OBJECTIVES
We investigated whether ozone was associated with survival in four cohorts of persons with specific diseases in 105 United States cities, treating ozone as a time varying exposure.

METHODS
We used Medicare data (1985–2006), and constructed cohorts of persons hospitalized with chronic conditions that might predispose to ozone effects: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, congestive heart failure, and myocardial infarction. Yearly warm-season average ozone was merged to the individual follow-up in each city. We applied Cox proportional hazard model for each cohort within each city, adjusting for individual risk factors, temperature, and city-specific long-term trends.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
We found significant associations with a hazard ratio for mortality of 1.06 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03–1.08) per 5-ppb increase in summer average ozone for persons with congestive heart failure; of 1.09 (95% CI, 1.06–1.12) with myocardial infarction; of 1.07 (95% CI, 1.04–1.09) with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; and of 1.07 (95% CI, 1.05–1.10) for diabetics.We also found that the effect varied by region, but that this was mostly explained by mean temperature, which is likely a surrogate of air conditioning use, and hence exposure.

CONCLUSIONS
This is the first study that follows persons with specific chronic conditions, and shows that long-term ozone exposure is associated with increased risk of death in these groups.


Examining what the author calls 'small-screen panoramas', a set of software-based digital panorama services that provide the production and navigation of panoramic photographs available for users' experience on small-screen devices (laptops, mobile phones, tablet PCs), this article argues that the panoramas' algorithmic view and movement signal an emerging visual regime that remediates the scale and mobility of their pre-digital predecessors. Digital compositing technique reinstates the sensory and epistemological conditions of the panoramic, 'tourist' gaze of modernity as it combines discrete pictures of a location into a 360-degree seamless visual field that proffers an immersive form of spectatorship. At the same time, however, the applications undermine the visual field and spectatorship of the traditional panorama as their technological features activate the embodied, material, and contingent aspects of mobile media spectatorship: the portability of laptops and mobile phones and the applications' algorithmic streamlining of 2D photographs. These examples, the author claims, demonstrate that, despite the applications' efforts to create seamless virtual 3D images, they lead to the paradoxical coexistence of the animated and the static, of the immersive and the miniaturized, and the embodied and the disembodied.


A cellulose-based flexible double-cross-linked hydrogel with hierarchical porosity (max. 80%) was obtained by a facile solution-phase method by using polydopamine (PDA) as a crosslinker between cellulose and polyacrylamide (PAM). The investigation on the ratio of dopamine/acrylamide (DA/AM) reveals that the π–π stacking of the catechol groups in PDA and the abundant hydrogen bonds distributed in the gel network exert key effects on the hydrogels' mechanical properties. At the premium ratio of 0.4 (C4-DM-40), the mechanical and self-healing properties of the hydrogel are superior to those of other hydrogels. Fe3+-functionalizing endows the hydrogel with enhanced conductivity and sensitivity, as evidenced by the 3-fold increase in resistance variation (ΔR/R0) in a finger-bending monitoring test. An electric double layer supercapacitor using the KOH-saturated C4-DM-40 aerogel membrane as a polymer electrolyte presents high capacitance of 172 F g−1 at 1.0 A g−1 and long cycling life of 10 000 cycles with 84.7% capacitance retention due to electrolyte retention of 548.6%. Remarkably, an integrated micro-supercapacitor is fabricated by directly depositing activated carbon materials onto the C4-DM-40 hydrogel membrane. The device shows areal capacitance of 275.8 mF cm−2 and volumetric capacitance of 394.1 F cm−3 at 10 mV s−1. These findings suggest that the multi-functional cellulose-based hydrogels reported in this study display various potentials for practical applications not only in human health monitoring but also in portable and energy-storage devices.


Structure determination of materials in their crystalline phase aids in the understanding and design of their functions. X-ray diffraction (XRD) is the most efficient and widely used method for this purpose. The two main XRD methods are single-crystal XRD (SCXRD) and powder XRD (PXRD). SCXRD is the best choice when a single crystal of sufficient size is available. The required crystal size is getting progressively smaller because of the increasing quality/intensity of radiation sources. However, often only small microcrystals unsuitable for SCXRD will grow. In such cases, PXRD is used. Its resolution has been increased by using synchrotron radiation, allowing structure determination of unknown substances. However, peak overlap is inevitable in PXRD because the 3D crystallographic information is compressed into 1D, which limits the use of PXRD. One solution to this problem is to "decompress" 1D information into 2D or even 3D. In this overview, we show that the magnetic orientation of microcrystals offers such a solution. If microcrystals are aligned uniaxially, they can diffract X-rays in the same manner as a fiber sample, and if they are aligned biaxially, they can diffract X-rays in the same manner as a large single crystal. The target materials are non-magnetic (dia- and paramagnetic) materials that respond weakly to applied magnetic fields. We describe the underlying principle of magnetic orientation, the preparation of biaxially oriented microcrystal samples, and their structure determination. We emphasize that even uniaxial orientation is of great value to extract accurate information about unit cell parameters and space group from powder samples, facilitating the subsequent PXRD analysis.


ABSTRACT Since the discovery of microRNA (miRNA)-guided processing, a new type of RNA silencing, the possibility that such a mechanism could play a role in virus defense has been proposed. In this work, we have analyzed whether Plum pox virus (PPV) chimeras bearing miRNA target sequences (miR171, miR167, and miR159), which have been reported to be functional in Arabidopsis, were affected by miRNA function in three different host plants. Some of these PPV chimeras had clearly impaired infectivity compared with those carrying nonfunctional miRNA target sequences. The behaviors of PPV chimeras were similar but not identical in all the plants tested, and the deleterious effect on virus infectivity depended on the miRNA sequence cloned and on the site of insertion in the viral genome. The effect of the miRNA target sequence was drastically alleviated in transgenic plants expressing the silencing suppressor P1/HCPro. Furthermore, we show that virus chimeras readily escape RNA silencing interference through mutations within the miRNA target sequence, which mainly affected nucleotides matching the 5′-terminal region of the miRNA.


Background: Nutritional support is important in intensive care for critically ill patients in an effort to decrease the mortality and morbidity. This study was conducted to evaluate the propriety of nutritional support and to understand the effect of a nutrition consultationin critically ill patients to assess and analyze nutritional status. Methods: Between January and December 2006, patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) ≥ 7 days and between 20 and 80 years of age were included. Patients transferred to another hospital, patients discharged against medicine advice, and patients with unknown weight were excluded. Two hundred sixty-two patients were enrolled. The demographic data of patients and the state of nutritional support were reviewed by medical records. Results: Two hundred sixty-two patients stayed in the ICU a mean of 16.0 ± 9.8 days and received nutrition support for 11.0 ± 8.4 days. Except 15 patients who did not receivenutritional support, the mean daily calculated caloric requirement of 247 patients was 1,406.2 ± 253.8 kcal, the mean daily delivered caloric amount was 899.5 ± 338.7 kcal, and the total delivered/required caloric ratio was 66.4 ± 28.1%. The total delivered/required caloric ratio of the patients who received a nutritional consultation and the patients who did not receive nutritional consultation were 72.6 ± 25.8% and 55.9 ± 33.3%. Conclusions: In this study, we identified that critically ill patients received insufficient nutritional support. We recommend continuous monitoring and management for nutritional support by systematic administration of nutritional support teams.


Research on the ecology and evolution of viruses is often hampered by the limitation of sequence information to short parts of the genomes or single genomes derived from cultures. In this study, we use hybrid sequence capture enrichment in combination with high-throughput sequencing to provide efficient access to full genomes of European hantaviruses from rodent samples obtained in the field. We applied this methodology to Tula (TULV) and Puumala (PUUV) orthohantaviruses for which analyses from natural host samples are typically restricted to partial sequences of their tri-segmented RNA genome. We assembled a total of ten novel hantavirus genomes de novo with very high coverage (on average >99%) and sequencing depth (average >247×). A comparison with partial Sanger sequences indicated an accuracy of >99.9% for the assemblies. An analysis of two common vole (Microtus arvalis) samples infected with two TULV strains each allowed for the de novo assembly of all four TULV genomes. Combining the novel sequences with all available TULV and PUUV genomes revealed very similar patterns of sequence diversity along the genomes, except for remarkably higher diversity in the non-coding region of the S-segment in PUUV. The genomic distribution of polymorphisms in the coding sequence was similar between the species, but differed between the segments with the highest sequence divergence of 0.274 for the M-segment, 0.265 for the S-segment, and 0.248 for the L-segment (overall 0.258). Phylogenetic analyses showed the clustering of genome sequences consistent with their geographic distribution within each species. Genome-wide data yielded extremely high node support values, despite the impact of strong mutational saturation that is expected for hantavirus sequences obtained over large spatial distances. We conclude that genome sequencing based on capture enrichment protocols provides an efficient means for ecological and evolutionary investigations of hantaviruses at an unprecedented completeness and depth.


Abstract : The Department of Defense calls for long-range forecasts to aid in the planning of operations. The goal of this research was to explore the feasibility of predicting, one month in advance, the total monthly cloud cover over the country of Afghanistan. In an attempt to reach this goal, the following objectives were achieved: (1) climatological synoptic study of Afghanistan; (2) survey of Real Time Nephanalysis, outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), and surface observational data; (3) examination of teleconnection indices and sea surface temperatures; (4) standard statistical analysis for prediction; and (5) classification tree analysis (CART), In addition, due to current world events, CART analysis was also applied over the country of Iraq (see Appendix C). Data were examined using standard statistical regression techniques, including linear and multiple linear regression, and then CART analysis was used for exploring possible concealed predictive structures. Standard statistics showed a strong negative correlation between monthly average OLR and surface observational total cloud cover from the fall through spring months. However, linear regression revealed very weak relationships between the predictor and predictand variables. As well, CART results contained misclassification rates that exceeded established thresholds for operational use. Further studies using CART for atmospheric science applications should be pursued.


In this paper we employ risk theory to examine key social processes that have been unfolding in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the outbreak of the second Intifada. Using the Palestinian health services as a case study, we argue that the system of securities in the Occupied Territories has collapsed and that endemic uncertainty currently informs Palestinian society. This, in turn, has led to a radical transformation of the very rationality of risk society, which is being supplanted by a different rationality more susceptible to the Hamas. We accordingly claim that risk theory helps explain Hamas's ascendancy. Simultaneously, we argue that the destruction of Palestinian risk society actually exposes a social process that has been neglected in the risk literature. While risk scholars emphasize the impossibility of calculating certain risks due to global processes, our case study suggests that an increasing number of local processes are also making it impossible to calculate risks. Whereas global processes are more or less indiscriminate regarding the populations they affect, we maintain that local processes that produce uncertainty are created and used to "target" particular populations. Whereas historically their has been an intentional attempt to make risk calculable in order to advance political objectives, our case study suggests that currently risks are intentionally being rendered incalculable in order to advance new objectives, not least of which are the restriction of political action and the dramatic curtailment of the public domain.


Ferrite formation during austenite decomposition in carbon-manganese steel is studied during slow continuous cooling by three-dimensional x-ray diffraction microscopy at a synchrotron source. The ferrite fraction and nucleation rate are measured simultaneously and independently in real time in the bulk of the specimen. Thermodynamic calculations involving both ortho- and paraequilibrium have been performed to determine the driving force for nucleation. From the experiments and thermodynamic calculations the activation energies are estimated for nucleation and the transfer of iron atoms across the interface of the cluster during ferrite nucleation in steel.


Numerous studies have been done in the area of nurse scheduling, since this is a complex area with a lot of aspects that has to be taken into account. An interesting but little studied subject is how the requirements for the scheduling affect the possibility to construct a feasible schedule, or how the requirements affect the quality of the schedule. Of special interest is the effect of the composition of the workforce and of the change in scheduling rules. What is missing is results showing which composition and changes that are possible, and if so what is needed to be able to follow through with them.The changes tested in our simulation study are changes that is up for discussion at many wards in Sweden today, with topics such as split shifts and high part-time work percentages within the staff. In order to simulate various scheduling requirements and changes, an integer linear model for creating nurse schedules is developed. The results provide some insight into the dependence between scheduling requirements and the resulting schedules. In particular our simulation results indicate that there is an inherent conflict between high part-time work percentages and split or long work shifts. Our results can be used as a basis for future research on these topics in the area of nurse scheduling.


This volume breaks new ground in the study of landscapes, both rural and urban. The innovative notion of this landscape collection is rupture. The book explores the ways in which societal, economic and cultural changes are transforming the meanings and understandings of landscapes. The text explores both how landscapes are contesting changes in society and, changing society. The volume combines empirically fine-grained accounts of landscape rupture, from different parts of the world, with a sustained effort to explore, rethink and analytically extend the concept of rupture itself. In order to move landscape study beyond its Eurocentric focus, the text juxtaposes accounts of socio-cultural change within the West with conceptual as well as empirical material from outside of Europe. The case studies explored in the volume are drawn from Europe, Asia and the Americas. Under the joint heading of landscape rupture, the chapters explore a timely and impressively diverse range of current global issues: from species extinction and industrial pollution, to ethnic and sectarian violence, religious conflict and the management of colonial or military legacies in a postcolonial age. The book combines fresh empirical data with innovative theoretical approaches to open understanding of landscape as a dynamic, living entity subject to abrupt change and unpredictable disruptions. Through this dual reflection the volume is able to provide a powerful demonstration of the possibilities that are available for human action, social change and material landscape to combine


The hydrolysis and condensation (aging) dynamics of aqueous solutions of (3-glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (GPS), vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTS), and (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APS) and their penetrability into the cell walls of European spruce (Picea abies) wood were studied to investigate the feasibility of using silanes as a cell wall modifying agent for wood and other lignocellulosic materials. The size distribution of silane particles in aqueous solution was determined using a dynamic light scattering apparatus and increased with the aging time, but at different rates depending on the silane monomer. With increasing aging time, the treated wood exhibited decreased cell wall bulking (swelling), and the water vapour sorption behaviour was less affected by treatments when compared with unmodified wood; SEM-EDX analysis revealed that there was a reduced amount of silane in the cell walls with increased aging time. These findings demonstrate the reduced accessibility of silane to cell walls following aging.


The system described by King et al. is the standard method for the classification of thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Although it is widely used and referenced, its reliability and reproducibility among scoliosis surgeons are unknown. We used a scoliosis case-presentation format to examine the interobserver and intraobserver reliability of the classification of thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis with the system of King et al. Eight active, current members of the Scoliosis Research Society reviewed twenty-seven full-length radiographs that had been made before operative correction of the scoliotic deformity. On the basis of these images, which included posteroanterior and lateral radiographs made with the patient standing as well as right and left forced-side-bending radiographs made with the patient supine, the reviewers assigned a type to each curve according to the classification system of King et al. Kappa coefficients were used to test statistical reliability. The mean interobserver reliability of the classification was only 64 per cent (range, 54 to 77 per cent) when the responses of seven of the reviewers were compared with those of one of the originators of the classification. The mean kappa coefficient was 0.49 (range, 0.27 to 0.73), which indicates poor reliability. When each reviewer's responses were compared with those of the other reviewers, the reliability was similarly poor (interobserver reliability, 55 per cent [range, 33 to 81 per cent] and mean kappa coefficient, 0.40 [range, 0.21 to 0.63]). Intraobserver reliability was evaluated in a trial in which five reviewers in a group setting were shown the same radiographs in a different order at two different viewings. Comparison of the results at the two viewings revealed a mean intraobserver reliability of 69 per cent (range, 56 to 85 per cent) and a mean kappa coefficient of 0.62 (range, 0.34 to 0.95), which indicates fair reliability. The current method of classification of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis does not appear to have sufficient intraobserver or interobserver reliability among scoliosis surgeons to portray curve types accurately. Thus, it may not help to guide treatment with use of modern spinal fixation methods.


In this study, the structures of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with p-n quantum barriers in various positions were proposed to investigate the efficiency droop behavior for blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The simulated electric field diagrams showed that the quantum well (QW) sandwiched by the p-n quantum barriers had a less electric field than the other QWs due to the original polarization-related electric field was partially balanced off by the built-in electric field of the p-n quantum barriers. In addition, the simulation results demonstrated that by selecting suitable position of p-n quantum barriers, the distribution of carriers could be effectively improved; hence the droop behavior could also be suppressed.


The trasilol injection and warming of rats were investigated for their influence on activities of proteinase and alpha-1-proteinase inhibitor (alpha-1PT) after two-hour- and a week-long cold stress. The one-hour return to normal temperature is the most effective method of proteinase-antiproteinase correction after two-hour cold stress. Nevertheless, the return of rats to the normal temperature even for 24 hours after a week cold stress is not enough for the proteinase and alpha-1-PI balancing normalization. The trasilol injection is a more effective method in the last case.


This paper argues that the cross-linguistic distinction between two classes of gerundial periphrases, such as proposed in Laca (2004a), can be extended to Romanian. That is, according to the level at which the finite verb is merged into the structure, we have one class with the finite verb merged directly in the functional domain, under Aspect; and the second class with the finite verb inserted at the lexical level, as the head of the VP, functioning as an eventuality modifier for the gerund. The first class is represented by structures with the auxiliary a fi 'to be' the second class, by configurations with the aspectualizers a sta 'to stay' a se afla 'to be situated' and a umbla 'to walk'. The diachronic analysis proposed in this paper argues that these three aspectualizers undergo different stages of grammaticalization, although they do not reach the auxiliary status. The loss of the locative argument and the possibility of extraction from the gerundial VP are used as arguments that the verbs a sta, a se afla and a umbla have undergone structural changes when used as aspectualizers


Transport of heat and hypersound with gigahertz (GHz) to terahertz (THz) phonons is crucial for heat management in electronics, mediating signal processing with microwave radiation, thermoelectrics, and various types of sensors based on nanomechanical resonators. Efficient control of heat and sound transport requires new materials, novel experimental techniques, and a detailed knowledge of the interaction of phonons with other elementary excitations. Wave-like heat transport, also known as second sound, has recently attracted renewed attention since it provides several opportunities for overcoming some of the limitations imposed by diffusive transport (Fourier's regime). The frequency-domain detection of GHz-to-THz phonons can be carried out in a remote, non-destructive, and all-optical manner. The ongoing development of nanodevices and metamaterials made of low-dimensional nanostructures will require spatially resolved, time-resolved, and anisotropic measurements of phonon-related properties. These tasks can be accomplished with Brillouin light scattering (BLS) and various newly developed variants of this method, such as pumped-BLS. In the near future, pumped-BLS is expected to become useful for characterizing GHz topological nanophononics. Finally, second-sound phenomena can be observed with all-optical methods like frequency-domain thermoreflectance.


Microelectronic devices require packaging for mechanical protection and electrical interconnections. Reliability challenges in microelectronics packaging are becoming more severe, as applications demand smaller package sizes and operation in harsher environments, such as in automotive applications. At the same time, manufacturers are seeking to reduce production costs by using new materials, for example in wire bonding by replacing costly gold wire with more economical copper. Because microelectronic devices are expected to function reliably for years or even decades, depending on the application, reliability testing is commonly accelerated, e.g. by using elevated temperature and/or humidity. Even so, testing is often time consuming, requiring weeks or months for product qualification. Furthermore, although standard test conditions exist, little guidance is available in the literature to indicate how long products passing these tests will survive in operation. Non-destructive testing methods provide a great deal of information regarding product degradation and reliability. With proper statistical analysis, strong conclusions can be made about device reliability with relatively short test durations, since testing need not continue until all samples fail. However, data analysis techniques used in the electronics packaging literature are often limited, with statistical analyses and confidence bounds rarely presented. Analysis of incomplete or censored data requires specialized techniques from the field of survival analysis. The contributions of this thesis can be divided in two topics. The first topic is the equipment and techniques used to obtain new reliability results, including a method for temperature calibration of the miniature ovens used, a modification of those ovens for use as environmental chambers with humidity control, and procedures for optimization of wire bonding processes. Second, statistical techniques for analysis of reliability data are demonstrated, using accelerated failure time models to analyze resistance data from copper wire bonds in high temperature storage testing. In doing so, new information was provided to answer an important open question in the field of copper wire bonding, namely, the maximum temperature at which one can expect copper wire bonds on aluminum metallization to perform reliably. In particular, ball bonds made from 25 μm diameter palladium-coated copper wire are estimated to be highly reliable up to at least 167 ◦C in a clean environment without encapsulation, with failure rate of only 1 ppm after 12000 h. PCC wires were more reliable than bare Cu wires when unencapsulated or when encapsulated in silicone. Conversely, bare Cu was more reliable than PCC when encapsulated in epoxy. The best-performing encapsulated bonds tested were bare Cu wire with a highly heat tolerant epoxy, which are estimated to survive 12000 h with 1 ppm failure probability at 159 ◦C.


Background Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) is a common consequence of stroke, leading to reduced quality of life and increased care needs. However, rehabilitation services for this condition in Ireland are very limited. The aim was to apply estimates of PSCI incidence to the Irish population and project the number with PSCI in the population in 2025. Methods We developed a deterministic Markov model to estimate future incidence of PSCI in the population aged 40–89 years living in Ireland up to 2025. Population data, estimates and projections to 2025 were obtained from the Irish Central Statistics Office. Data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing were used to estimate age and sex specific stroke prevalence in 2014. Age and sex specific stroke incidence was estimated using 2015 public hospital discharge data (n=6,155). Transition probabilities across six health states defined by cognitive impairment, physical disability, dementia and death were estimated using data from stroke survivors in the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing (n=490) (2002–2011). Published data from the South London Stroke Register were used to estimate annual stroke recurrence. Results The Irish population aged 40–89 years in 2015–2025 (n=2.7m) is projected to have a cumulative incidence of stroke of approximately 2.3% by 2025 (n=63,100). Of these incident strokes, approximately 22.5% are estimated to have died due to stroke (n=14,200), and 23.8% to have died of another cause (n=15,000) by 2025. Of the survivors in 2025 (n=30600), approximately 50.9% are predicted to have cognitive impairment without dementia (n=15500), and 19.4% to have dementia (n=5900). The total number of stroke survivors is projected to increase from 26700 in 2015 to 41400 in 2025, equivalent to a 55% increase in numbers, and the number with post-stroke dementia is projected to more than double from 3900 in 2015 to 8700 in 2025. Discussion In 2025, over two thirds of Irish people who have survived a stroke in the preceding 10 years will have cognitive impairment. The number of people with post-stroke dementia is set to double between 2015 and 2025. The model is limited by its deterministic nature, and the assumption that age-specific disease incidence will remain stable. The model will be further developed to include a probabilistic sensitivity analysis, to model alternative scenarios for trends in disease incidence, and to extend the projections to 2035. The model will also be used in an economic evaluation of alternative strategies for stroke management, including cognitive rehabilitation.


Human and machine cooperation has been developed for a long time to improve the productivity and because of advantages of the machine work, machine will play a more and more important role in the industrial production. To some extent, machine has already changed the world. This master thesis project was to use several robots build an automatic inspection line to inspect the wheel hub using the thermography with induction method. Three different methods are created in robot studio and the method with rotation tool was implemented as a demonstrator at PTC (production technology center).Compare the methods with each other and consider the limitations and productivity, the method with the rotation tool is the best choice for the company. The automation line includes several robots. In another words, the designed automation line can be considered to be several robot cells. Most sensors and calibration methods are set up due to the rules to build a robot cell. All signal analysis and processing are solved in the robot studio during the simulation process. Some needed robot cell components, equipment and different tools are used from the standard ABB robot studio library. Several special tools and equipment are designed and modelled in the NX and then converted to robot studio.


The human antibody ustekinumab targets the common p40 subunit between both pro-inflammatory interleukin-12 (IL-12) and interleukin-23 (IL-23) that upregulate T cell differentiation towards T helper 1 (TH1) and T helper 17 (TH17) respectively. The blockade of the IL12-IL23 pathway has been shown to be an effective therapeutic option for Inflammatory Bowel Disease treatment, however a recent epidemiological study has reported a potential cardiovascular risk association for ustekinumab treatment in patients at high cardiovascular risk specifically1. We use mendelian randomization (MR) to assess the reliability of this finding.

 MR uses genetic variation to examine the causal effect of a risk factor (exposure) on a disease (outcome). The basis of MR relies on the use of genetic variants as instrumental variables (IVs) that are reliably related to the risk factor and that are not susceptible of reverse causation and confounding2. We use genetic variants (SNPs) detected in eQTL studies that affect gene expression levels as proxies for the IL12-IL23 pathway genes in order to simulate the biological effect of ustekinumab. A cardiovascular trait-composition composed of different groups of outcomes (acute coronary syndrome, transient ischaemic attack, unstable angina and ischemic stroke) was created to investigate further the possible association of ustekinumab with triggering cardiovascular events.

 Using top cis-eQTLs from the eQTLGen consortium and the Database of Immune Cell Expression (DICE) as IVs for the IL12-IL23 pathway genes, we observed non-significant associations after multiple testing correction for any of the cardiovascular traits. However, we observed a significant positive causal effect for IL12Rβ1 gene in acute coronary syndrome when using IVs from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project. An observation that was also obtained in a meta-analysis specifically for acute coronary syndrome. In addition, we run MR with multiple SNPs associated with IL12-IL23 genes and we did obtain similar results for IL12Rβ1 and acute coronary syndrome.

 Our results suggest that the blockade of the IL12-IL23 pathway with ustekinumab might reduce cardiovascular risk and provide a cardioprotective effect based on the results obtained for acute coronary syndrome. As these results are not in line with previous observational studies1, further investigations are needed to clarify the biological mechanism that may account for these discrepancies.
 1. Poizeau et al. JAMA Dermatol (2020).
 2. Sanderson et al. Nat Rev (2022).


Connected component processing is a method used for segmenting an image into regions by means of grouping connected pixels of similar value. To do this, the current pixel value is compared to other connected pixel values, typically four or eight other values. Multiple read cycles would be required if these values are stored in a single bank memory. This paper presents an application of multiple-bank memory for an efficient connected components labelling. This approach has four other advantages: (1) it enables a more efficient single-pass processing of the connected components, (2) it reduces the number of clock cycles required to process each pass by enabling the architecture to process one pixel per clock cycle and when compared to the classical union-find method, (3) it reduces memory usage by eliminating the need to store temporary labels and equivalences and (4) it allows for continuous sequential labels without omitting any intermediate values.


Title Process analytical technology (PAT) needs and applications in the bioprocess industry Review Abstract Process analytical technologies have been applied to manufacturing processes (pulp and paper, chemical and petroleum) for decades. Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has, however, redefined the phrase and implemented it into an initiative focusing on improving several aspects of the pharmaceutical industry. The European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA), has also been active and formed a PAT team in 2003. The PAT initiative was initially intended for traditional pharmaceutical manufacturers, but the FDA's PAT guidance now clearly states that it applies to all manufacturers of human and veterinary drug products, as well as biologics regulated by the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) and the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM). Basically, PAT involves a fundamental shift from testing the quality of the finished drug product, to building quality into products by testing at several intermediate steps. It specifically requires that quantifiable, causal, and predictive relationships be established amongst raw materials, the manufacturing process, and final product quality. It is believed that PAT may not bring dramatic changes overnight, but years from now, it may be seen as an initiative that helped foster a period of innovation, efficiency, and expansion for the biopharmaceutical industry. In this report, the impact and potential effects of PAT on the biotechnological production of pharmaceuticals is assessed. Hence, we define BioPAT as process analytical technologies applied throughout development, scale-up and commercial scale bioprocess-based production of drug substances. In this report, we will focus on what PAT means in practice for the biotechnological manufacture of pharmaceuticals. Besides a regulatory examination, the monitoring methods and technologies available are thoroughly surveyed. These facts are then reflected against the needs for monitoring in bioprocess-based pharmaceutical production. Process analytical technologies have been applied to manufacturing processes (pulp and paper, chemicals and petroleum) for decades. Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has, however, redefined the phrase and implemented it into an initiative focusing on improving several aspects of the pharmaceutical industry. The first document in support of this action, the process analytical technology (PAT) initiative, was launched by the FDA in 2002, followed up by the PAT guidance in September, 2004. The FDA's European counterpart, the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA), has also been active and formed a PAT team in 2003. The PAT …


OBJECTIVE
We assess the impact of a community-based intervention program for boys 6-11 years old at-risk of antisocial behaviour, and compare changes in behaviour and competence pre-post for intervention and wait-list comparison group.

METHOD
Interested parents called for enrolment. Inclusion required police contact and/or clinical scores (T>69) on Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) or Teacher Report Form (TRF), no developmental delay and English speaking. The program included two core 12-week groups (children's, parents') and optional additional services. Twelve sessions (February 2002-December 2005) provide pre-post intervention data, boys waiting at least 6 months formed a comparison group (starting April 2005). Outcomes included CBCL and TRF behaviour scales (rule-breaking, aggression, conduct, total problems) and competence. Repeated measures analysis of variance was done.

RESULTS
Pre-post outcome comparisons indicated improvements among all boys, with significant differences favouring intervention boys on CBCL behaviour scales, but not TRF outcomes. Effect sizes were small to medium. Persisting high post-behaviour levels, unmeasured variation in additional services, and other design and sampling issues are noted.

CONCLUSIONS
More rigorously designed program evaluation is required.


The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted educators, both personally and professionally. However, very little is known about the extent of these impacts among educators' serving children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The present study surveyed 230 educators (teachers, staff, and administrators) to assess their wellbeing, concerns during the pandemic, and perceived importance of various COVID-19 school mitigation strategies. Data were gathered May/June of 2021 from two separate school districts, one in the Midwest and the other in the Mid-Atlantic, serving children with IDD. Nearly half of all survey respondents reported poor wellbeing. Almost all educators reported health of themselves, students, and family members was their greatest concern when compared to pandemic-related disruption of their duties or benefits (e.g., not having enough sick time). Most educators felt disinfecting routines, vaccinations, and daily health checks were the most helpful in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in schools, while in-school mask mandates and weekly testing of students and staff were perceived as less helpful. Our findings suggest that efforts are needed to support the wellbeing of educators during these challenging times. When pandemic-related policies and procedures are decided by administrators, our data suggest educators will review decisions within the framework of health and safety of themselves, their students, and families. Understanding this framework may be particularly valuable when considering implementation of COVID-19 policies, like masking and COVID-19 testing, that are less preferred.


Background: The oral disease burden in Nigerian rural areas is considered high with limited dental services. Normative need assessment to facilitate oral health promotion and interventional activities is essential. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the dental service utilization and trends of patents attending a rural outreach dental clinic.Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using data from clinical records of patients seen over a period of 54 months at a rural outreach dental clinic of comprehensive health center, Udo, Edo State, and were analyzed for descriptive variables with Chi-square test and P value set at ≤0.05 significance. Results: One hundred and sixty four (164) patients [males = 74 (45.1%), females = 90 (54.9%)] were seen with a mean age of 36.15 ± 18.05 years. The major reason for clinic visit was due to dental caries (sequelae) and condition representing 43.3% and 34.8%, respectively. Extractions (41.5%) and scaling and polishing (S and P) (21.3%) accounted for the most frequently provided treatment. Almost 20% patients did not receive any form of treatment. Conclusion: The study revealed a low health seeking behavior, low utilization of dental services among the rural dwellers and need for oral health awareness, periodic screening, and preventive approach in the rural population through more frequent outreach visits of dental personnel resident in the community.


We describe a system that enables us to perform exploratory empirical experiments with graph visualization techniques by incorporating them into games that can be played on an internet site, the Graph Games Website (http://www.cs.kent.ac.uk/projects/graphmotion/). We present a general discussion of games as a test-bed for empirical experiments in graph comprehension, and explain why they might, in particular, provide a useful way to do exploratory experiments. We then discuss the requirements for games that can be used and describe some individual games including those we have tried on our own site. The main part of the paper describes our own experiment in setting up a graph-gaming site where we have carried out tests on the benefits of different graph visualizations. We discuss the design of the site, describe its underlying architecture and present a promising initial trial on movement in graph visualization that gathered the results from over 70,000 played games. We then present some statistical conclusions that can be drawn from the resulting data. Finally, we summarize the lessons that have been learned and discuss ideas for future work.