The use of electronic measurement of blood pressure and, in particular, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring offers the opportunity to determine which patients with apparent hypertension have truly sustained elevation of their blood pressure levels. Given the high prevalence of hypertension and the even larger number of individuals who appear to be hypertensive but may not be so, it is difficult to deliver ambulatory blood pressure monitoring to all individuals who might benefit from it.In Edinburgh, Scotland, we have piloted a system of direct access ambulatory blood pressure monitoring whereby physicians in primary care can request of the hospital service, an ambulatory monitor on their patient without the patients attending a formal hospital clinic. In the 7 years since the service was first instituted, almost 6,000 monitors have been performed with referrals running at approximately 100 per month in recent times. The present study was set up to assess the impact of the ambulatory monitor result on clinical decision making in primary care. The referral form invited primary care physicians to indicate their planned management if an ambulatory monitor had not been available and we thereafter audited patient records to determine what ultimately happened following the advice given on the basis of the ambulatory monitoring record.A random sample of results was obtained on untreated patients and approximately 500 were analysed.It was clear that if the advice to the primary care physician based upon the ABPM was not to treat, that this was largely followed with some 94% of patients not receiving treatment within 3 months of the monitor. If, however, the advice given was to start treatment, this was less reliably followed and in only 76% of patients treatment was started within 3 months. At the time of the audit this figure had increased to 82%.Primary care physicians had indicated that they would have treated 60% of the individuals referred and in reality only treated 40%.The potential saving in drug costs from the reduction by 20% of those treated would have significant impact on health care budgets.


Owing to the rapid increase in acute leukemia patients, the detection of Pax-5a, which is a tumor marker, is very important for the early diagnosis of patients. Therefore, by combining the selective digestion function of lambda exonuclease and the hybridization chain reaction (HCR) enzyme-free amplification system, we design a biosensor to detect the Pax-5a gene with high sensitivity. Lambda exonuclease can cleave the blunt end formed by the hairpin probe and the Pax-5a gene, which exposes the nucleic acid sequence that can initiate the HCR. When the HCR is triggered, the fluorophore and quencher on H1 and H2 move away from each other, so that the fluorescence signal of the quenched fluorophore can be recovered. Under optimal experimental conditions, a good linear relationship was established between the fluorescence intensity and the logarithm of the target concentration, and the limit of detection (LOD) of Pax-5a was calculated to be 7.6 pM. In addition, the biosensor can not only discriminate the base mismatch sequences of the Pax-5a gene, but also be suitable for target detection in complex human serum samples. Therefore, this biosensor, with the advantages of simple operation, high sensitivity, and good selectivity, has a good application prospect and guiding role in the diagnosis of acute B lymphocytic leukemia and the design of biosensors.


This article reports on the views of 92 social workers about their practice in adult protection in England and Wales as part of a wider study of adult protection working and regulation that took place between 2004‐2007 in 26 sample local authorities. The article explores social workers' reported experiences of partnership or multiagency working and how this, along with overarching regulatory frameworks, affected their practice within and across agencies. Among findings from the study were that social workers considered that sharing information and responsibilities led to positive outcomes for service users and that the incorporation of different agency perspectives supplemented sharing of best practice.


In this paper, temperature change properties on the 210kW-class Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (IPMSM) are performed with the cooling performance of a water cooling device through the thermal characteristic analysis of the IPMSM considering a real driving pattern of urban railway vehicles. First, the thermal analysis modeling of 210kW-class IPMSM, which is an alternative to the conventional induction motor, and its water cooling device is conducted. Next, the thermal characteristic analysis of the IPMSM considering a real driving pattern of urban railway vehicles is performed using 2-Dimensional FEM tool. Finally, the calculated characteristic results are analyzed. Consequently, it is confirmed that the internal temperature of the 210kW-class IPMSM may be lowered to about 42~52% by maintaining the coolant flow rate of the water cooling device (Cross sectional shape of the pipe has 220mm width and 10mm height) for 0.2kg/s level.


The Islamic financial industry is flourishing at a fast speed in Pakistan. It right now possesses a portion of over 8% of the nation's complete financial area. As Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a creating financial system, every area should add up to its monetary growth. The monetary area additionally adds to Pakistan's monetary development, which incorporates customary banking area and Islamic banks. At constant, there are five full obligation of Islamic terminology banks working in Pakistan, alongside other regular banks that give Islamic financial administrations. This review expects to look at the job of the Islamic financial area in Pakistan's monetary development. For this reason, the monetary information of the 5 Islamic banks were taken from their fiscal summaries from the second from last quarter of 2006 to the final quarter of 2011 and the country's genuine GDP information from the wellspring of the State Bank of Pakistan. Different factual apparatuses have been utilized to inspect the effect and job of the Islamic financial area on the country's monetary development. though the monetary execution of the Islamic financial area decidedly affects financial growth, as Islamic lending attractions in greatest of finance clients because of faith; while the benefit of the Islamic pecuniary area has following to no effect in bright of the fact that Islamic Al banks are new to the realm and experience issues creating a gain for their buyers, as in Sharia law. that the resource nature of Islamic banks agrees with the resource nature of conventional banks and autonomously affects Pakistan's monetary development. The general outcomes show that if there should be an occurrence of minor changes in the economic design of the Islamic monetary industry and by expanding the monetary productivity of this industry, it can imagine a substantial part in the monetary development of Pakistan.


A focused Ga þ ion beam (30 keV and 187 pA) have been irradiated at doses of 8:92 � 10 16 –2:68 � 10 18 ions/cm 2 in (001) plane of a single-crystalline Ni and an amorphous Ni75B15Si10 alloy and their surface evolution was investigated by atomic force microscopy. The rootmean-square (rms) roughness increased with increasing ion dose and the transition of surface morphology from dot structure to ripple structure occurred during FIB machining in the single-crystalline Ni. However, the amorphous Ni75B15Si10 alloy showed no such transition of surface morphology and held the rms roughness almost constant in an ion dose range more than about 1 � 10 17 ions/cm 2 . Therefore, it is suggested that surface diffusion, which is the primary smoothing mechanism for crystalline surfaces, plays an important role in smoothening during FIB machining when the ion dose is low, while viscous flow, which is dominant for amorphous surfaces, contributes to smoothening when the ion dose is large.


Although there is a broad knowledge of Cretaceous climate on a global scale, quantitative climate estimates for terrestrial localities are limited. One source of terrestrial palaeoproxies is foliar physiognomy. The use of foliar physiognomy to explore Cretaceous assemblages has been limited, and some of its potential sources of error have not been fully explored. Although museum collections house a wealth of material, collection bias toward particular taxa or preservation qualities of specimens further magnifies existing taphonomic bias to cold temperatures. As a result, specific collection for foliar physiognomy can be necessary. Here, we conduct three foliar physiognomic analyses on the early Late Cretaceous Lark Quarry flora and assess the results in the context of other proxies from the same formation. Our results suggest that the climate at the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary in central western Queensland was warm and had high precipitation (leaf-area analysis: 1321 mm + 413 mm – 315 mm mean annual precipitation; leaf-margin analysis: 16.4°C mean annual temperature, 5.3°C binomial sample error; climate leaf-analysis multivariate program: 16 ± 2°C for mean annual temperature, 9-month growth season, 1073 ± 483 mm growth-season precipitation). Our analysis also gave higher mean annual temperature estimates than did a previous analysis by climate leaf-analysis multivariate program, based on museum collections for the Winton Formation.


Nowadays, The competition among private universities especially in Central Java is getting tougher. Each higher education tries to achieve their goal which is generally to attract students' interest which will influence the higher student intake in each academic year. This study tried to investigate the creative innovation created by the private university to attract students' interest which will give influence in students intake. This study employed interview and literature study for data collections. The data were then analyzed qualitatively to answer the posed research questions. This study involved 8 private universities in Central Java. The result of this study showed that the public relations role in private university is as communication technician, expert prescriber, communication facilitator and also as problem solver facilitator. Besides that, the public relations practitioners in private university have tried to create innovation program for attracting students' interest. This innovation gave positive impact on the intake of the private university at least 5 % - 20%.


The purpose of this study has been to identify the most common errors made by examiners during administration and scoring of the WISC-III. Five hundred test protocols from previous researches were analyzed. The results showed an average of 5.11 errors per protocols, while the larger percentage of errors has been verified in the scoring. During administration, the most common error was Failure to Query responses. Regarding subtests, the largest number of errors of administration and scoring was observed in Vocabulary (29.19%), Comprehension (25.9%) and Similarities (17.78%), thus corroborating literary findings, which suggest out these as the hardest subtests to score.


A reconfigurable analog-to-digital converter (ADC) has been proposed for a mobile terminal. This architecture scales the digital word length (bits) by automatically monitoring desired power and adjacent channel interference power. This leads to power consumption savings, depending on the number of bits used. The architecture can scale between a minimum of 4 bits and maximum of 16 bits. The new reconfigurable ADC was applied to Time-Division-Duplex (TDD) mode of UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) system and results show that this reconfigurable ADC can save up 75 % of the power consumption when compared with the power consumption of a standard 16-bit analog-to-digital converter.


In an effort to identify the quality factors perceived to be most important in relation to the use of Web sites, a survey was undertaken. The questionnaire utilized was based on the SERVQUAL instrument that identifies five quality dimensions in service environments. The results indicate that the quality dimensions found applicable in the service sector are also applicable to Web sites. The items that have been identified as most important in relation to the quality of Web sites are tangibles (the appearance of the Web site, navigation, search options, and structure), reliability (the ability to judge the trustworthiness of the offered service and the organization performing the service), responsiveness (the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service), assurance (the ability of the Web site to convey trust and confidence in the organisation behind it with respect to security and privacy), and empathy (the provision of caring, individualized attention to customers, including user recognition and customization).


Mind-body interaction and its manifestations at the brain level have been studied extensively in the field of consciousness research. Faradarmani Consciousness Field was founded and introduced by Mohammad Ali Taheri and is a method of connecting with the Cosmic Consciousness Network (CCN) through the human mind and the brain has a detective role in this process. As a result of this connection, the scanning process of the state of a being, e.g., the health status of the cells and consequently organs, is performed. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of the Faradarmani Consciousness Field connection on electroencephalogram (EEG) features as an important biomarker of brain functioning. The results showed that there was a significant increase in the gamma2 frequency band (35-40 Hz) power in the frontal lobe in the medial frontal gyrus (BA6) and paracentral lobule (BA31) of the brain during the task condition compared to the rest condition in a Faradarmangar population. Considering the cortical electrical activity of Faradar-mangar's brain during the Faradarmani Consciousness Field Connection, characterizing the increase in the power of gamma wave and the activity of the areas affecting memory, attention, perception, and default mode network intrinsic activity. This manifestation distinguishes Faradarmani Consciousness Field connection from other known methods dealing with the mind-body interaction criterion, mainly different types of mediation.


Library and Information Science (LIS) education is very different now from how we used to know it. Currently, reassessing student assessment has been at the heart of several experiments to do away with over-emphasis on retention, reproduction, and memorization. This article highlights both sides of the debate—traditional versus e-assessments—and answers critical questions about the controversial topic. The research draws on a viewpoint approach with dependence on the author's opinion and interpretation of the literature review in the pro-con discussion where both sides of a controversial traditional versus digital assessment topic are presented. We should not shy away from confronting uncomfortable truths. Assessment involves humanizing, power negotiation, empowerment, entitlement, persuasion, substitution, and student care. We require a multifaceted effort to seize the moment of COVID-19 to improve assessment by blending traditional and electronic forms. The originality is the enrichment and domestication of LIS education in a more nuanced discussion and evaluation of changes in student assessment brought on by the shift to online education during the pandemic. The conclusion indicates the need to meld traditional and innovative modes of assessment, which should be an ongoing part of any successful educational program modeled on context-specific needs.


Infectious diseases, now especially African swine fever (ASF), represent a major challenge for swine production in Central and Eastern Europe. In the absence of other methods, biosecurity plays the most important role in control of infectious diseases in swine population. Among biosecurity methods, disinfection proved to be one of the most effective and economically viable tools. Nanotechnology is an important, rapidly evolving multidisciplinary field. Achievements of nanotechnology are being used in many areas of science, such as biology, chemistry, physics, etc. Nanoproducts have been widely adopted for practical use in everyday life. For example, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), thanks to their intrinsic antipathogenic properties and their ability to inactivate bacteria, viruses and fungi either photothermally or by photo catalysis (induced reactive oxygen generation), can offer methods alternative to classical disinfection protocols. It has been proved, both under laboratory conditions and in field veterinary practice, that AgNPs are very useful and efficient as a disinfectant of farm facilities.


Improving agricultural outcomes is an important means of addressing global poverty. The uncertainty of climate variability has a large influence over agricultural productivity. It can produce extreme climatic events such as floods or droughts that can significantly damage crop yields resulting in loss of livelihood and food security for small-scale farmers around the world. Additionally, farmers make farming decisions that reduce the risk of negative impacts resulting from climatic extremes but at the expense of increased yields and profits in advantageous climatic conditions. Seasonal forecast information (SFI) is one tool that can be used to address this issue by reducing the uncertainty of future climatic conditions. Many small-scale farmers, however, do not fully utilize such information when it is available. Research suggests that the effective use of SFI exists in a knowledge-action system where deficiencies in its various components may inhibit forecast use. These components include forecast dissemination, demand, acceptance (including salience, credibility, and legitimacy), understanding, and action capacity. This study examines these components and how they relate to the use (or nonuse) of monsoon forecast information in Bundelkhand, India, through the use of a ground-level questionnaire. Overall, it finds significant associations between dissemination, salience, and action capacity with the use of monsoon forecast information. The findings suggest that these issues need to be addressed in order to increase forecast usage in the study area.


CS02-03 Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), the most common epithelial malignancy arising in the upper aerodigestive tract, is an important public health problem HNSCC is clearly associated with the widely accepted risk factors of tobacco smoking and alcohol use and is the result of a multiyear, multipath disease process of progressive genetic and associated tissue damage. A brief historical perspective on intervention trials of active agents points out two areas of focus: reversal of premalignant lesions and prevention of second primary tumors (SPTs). Retinoids have an established efficacy in reversing early premalignant lesions but are associated with mucocutaneous toxicity. After Hong et al. demonstrated in their 1986 randomized trial that high-dose 13-cRA for three months had a 67% response rate versus 10% for placebo (P = 0.002), several other trials confirmed retinoid and vitamin A activity in oral premalignant lesions. Building on the single-agent retinoid experience showing that one retinoid is not sufficient to reverse moderately and severely dysplastic lesions (which are more prone to transform than are hyperplastic lesions), a combination of interferon-α, α-tocopherol, and 13-cRA was evaluated. This combination was active in preventing the progression of laryngeal lesions, leading to a study in laryngeal lesions that revealed persistent genetic abnormalities despite response. However, the realizations that carcinogenesis is multifocal and multiclonal, even within the same lesion, that not all IEN progresses to cancer or can be readily detected and measured, and that no specific drug can target all genetic changes have made it increasingly clear more precise definitions of risk ( versus risk defined by histologic IEN only) are necessary in order to proceed with rational chemoprevention trials with novel chemopreventive agents. LOH studies of specific loci in the genome harboring tumor suppressor genes have pointed out the power of LOH at these loci as predictors of oral cancer development. Specifically, LOH at 3p and 9p is not only frequent but also a predictor of progression to invasive cancer and of a second oral malignancy at previously treated oral cancer sites. Moreover, the concept of field cancerization has been genetically confirmed by LOH findings showing the clonal relationship of transformed cells in large areas of mucosa. Microsatellite analysis at the 9p, 3p, 17p, 8p, 13q, and 18q chromosomal regions and mutation analysis for p53 have shown that genetically altered mucosa remains after treatment in a significant proportion of HNSCC patients, a finding with potentially significant clinical implications. Retinoid prevention studies have highlighted the predictive power of polymorphisms of the cyclin D1 gene, which is often used as a marker of resistance and a predictor of shorter time cancer development. Retinoid-dependent cyclin D1 proteolysis has been suggested as a candidate intermediate marker for effective retinoid chemoprevention. EGFR overexpression occurs frequently in HNSCC, is a poor prognostic factor, and is detected early during head and neck carcinogenesis, constituting a potential target. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that COX-2 has a significant role in head and neck carcinogenesis; recent findings suggest that COX-2 is overexpressed in the oral mucosa of active smokers through tobacco-smoke stimulated EGFR tyrosine kinase activity. Current prevention studies in the settings of oral IEN and SPT prevention involve intervention targeted toward p53 abnormalities, as well selective COX-2 and EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors and the epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) component of green tea. SPTs in curatively treated patients occur with an annual rate ranging from 1.2% to 4.7% in retrospective studies and from 4% to 7% in prospective studies. Initial studies in this setting suggested the potential effect of high-dose retinoids. SPTs developed in significantly fewer 13-cRA-treated patients (4%) than in patients receiving placebo (24%) (P = 0.005). Although the overall annual decrease in SPTs has lessened over time since the one-year intervention was completed, the reduction has persisted for the subset of SPTs within the high-risk tobacco-exposed field of the head and neck, lung, and esophagus. These results have not been confirmed by studies with different retinoids such as etretinate and retinyl palmitate (with N -acetylcysteine) within the EUROSCAN trial or in the NCI C91-002 trial, where patients were prospectively randomized to low-dose 13-cRA for three years versus placebo. Retinoid-associated toxicity and the need for long-term targeted prevention strongly point to the need for developing other classes of agents. Defining risk models is a critically important area of head and neck cancer prevention. At least for trials planned in the near future, information such as LOH at critical loci should be included in trial screening or stratification criteria, along with more standard criteria such as the presence of a preneoplastic lesion or prior cancer. New studies should integrate exploratory analyses of both risk markers, ideally target-specific, and pharmacodynamic markers of efficacy and/or resistance to the intervention and integrate novel technology to construct molecularly based risk models.


Purpose. To establish the feasibility of refining deep open-pit mines below the boundary of the use of combined motor-conveyor transport with an increased slope angles of the pit walls using the developed transport unit for reloading rocks to overlying horizons during the reactivation of pillars under transport berms. Methodology. Preparation of a digital block model of the deposit, the elaboration of 3D geomechanical models for the dynamics of mining, 2D and 3D numerical simulation of the rock stress-strain state of the outcrops of opencast workings, mathematical modeling of stepwise ore reserves and mining schedule, patent research and feasibility study. Findings. It is advisable to carry out mining in terms of the marginal rock state with an increase in the slope of the pit sides below the limit of application of the cyclic and continuous method in ultra-deep open pits. Such design of pit sides is achieved when benches are mined from top to bottom within the boundaries of steeply inclined layers with the use of inter-bench loaders of the developed designed in the completion zone. Provisions for the selection and feasibility of using the loader in the deep zone are formulated based on demarcation of application zones of cyclic (road transport) and cyclic-flow (combined road-conveyor transport) technologies. Originality. Schematization of the mining operation was performed based on the calculated values of safety factor of sides, which allows increasing the slope angles of the pit walls of even ultra-deep open pits in the completion zone. It was found that with deepening of mining, the zones of potential sliding move away from the loose overburden to lower ore benches closer to the final depth of the Kacharsky open pit (760 m), but the safety factor corresponds to the required value according to the design standards. Practical value. An increase in the slope of the pit walls in the completion zone can be achieved using the developed loading installation, the main difference of which is that it can be moved without dismantling under conditions of reactivation of transport pillars (with an increase in lifting height by 1.54.5 times compared to the known equipment).


We report the first detection of X-ray emission from the Quintuplet star cluster and compare its X-ray emission to that of the Arches star cluster. Four point sources are significantly detected near the core of the Quintuplet cluster with a total absorption-corrected luminosity of ~1 × 1033 ergs s-1. Diffuse, thermal emission is also detected near the core of the Quintuplet cluster with an absorption-corrected luminosity of ~1 × 1034 ergs s-1. We analyze the diffuse and pointlike emission from the Arches and Quintuplet clusters and discuss the possibility that they are host to cluster wind outflows. We also present the results of our search for X-ray emission from candidate star clusters in the Galactic center (GC) region. We use extinction estimated by near-IR colors and X-ray spectral fits, as well as other IR properties, to determine if the candidate clusters are new GC star clusters. We find that three of the six candidate clusters toward the GC are likely foreground clusters, two of the candidate clusters are not detected in the X-ray data but have near-IR extinctions consistent with a GC location, and one of the candidate clusters has X-ray and near-IR extinctions consistent with being in the GC. The X-ray and IR emission from the candidate clusters is compared to the known massive GC star clusters.


Clinical decision-support ( CDS) applications are difficult share among health care institutions because such applications require patient-specific data, and the electronic representation of clinical data varies widely across institutions. Our technology facilitates the sharing of CDS applications by provMing a standard abstract database schema of clinical information and a means to automatically translate queries that are formulated with respect to the standard schema to equivalent queries that are valid with respect to arbitrary relational representations. We briefly describe our technology, discuss the inadequacies of extant methods that address the same problem, and present a set of formal evaluation criteria by which our technology can be shown superior to these methods. The evaluation criteria are applied in a formal controlled experiment we have designed based on the clinical ICU data set.


De facto states in the South Caucasus are supported by a patron: Russia in the case of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Armenia in the case of Nagorno Karabakh. In spite of the contested international status of these territories, assistance to de facto states is often fully formalised, and relevant details are included in budget laws as well as documents issued by pension funds. This article presents relevant data and sources, and highlights the importance of taking them in consideration to inform analyses on the political economy of these territories, as well as to develop policies of engagement.


Over the past decades, visual design has evolved from solely being a mean of form and function, to acting as a mean of communication and problem solving. This shift in paradigm is reflecting on the purpose of the practice; from designing things to designing interpretations. Instead of exploring change as a problem, this research explores change as a statement. However, the constantly reshaping professional role; in terms of identity, position, purpose and practice, is identified as an issue. The problem statement is studied by looking at the various forms of the T-shape model as a visual metaphor of the changing role. The research explores the existing models and suggest that the role should be dynamic to the changing environment of today – similar to the way the products of design are dynamic to a digital environment. The result forms a bricolage of knowledge which is incorporated into an improved model. Throughout the thesis, the T reshapes into a human-shaped person, a model introduced as a reaction to the stated problem. The outcome of the research is twofold; (1) a proposed visual and theoretical improvement of the existing models, and (2) an entry to the critical debate of the field.


Traditional engineeringmodels for addressing fatigue issues are based on empirical relations between the necessary number of cycles for fatigue failures $N_f$ and either, the nominal stress $\sigma_{an}$ or the local strain $\epsilon_a$ amplitudes. The aim of the present paper is to highlight the advantages of the local strain-based approach $\epsilon N$ for fatigue assessment of notched components over the more traditional stress-based approach $\sigma N$. Since a closed form solution for the ratio between fatigue life predictions among the two methods does not exist, we have considered a hypothetical case study that included variables such as the applied stress, the stress concentration factor and the structural material, and numerically calculated the expected fatigue life according to each approach. In order to highlight the differences related with the stress-strain analysis, the applied nominal stresses (uniaxial) were limited to the elastic region where both methods use approximately the same fatigue strength curve. Additionally a unique and equal function for accounting for themean stress effects was incorporated in both approaches. Fatigue life predictions are expressed in universal graphs of normalized stress versus the $N_f-ratio$, the latter parameter defined as the quotient between the $N_f$ predictions according to the $\sigma N$ and $\epsilon N$ approaches, considering the average values for a group of sixty structural steels at each load level. The results confirm that fatigue life predictions under the traditional stress based approach are conservative when compared to the strain based approach for all the possible scenarios described by the variables involved.


Ever increasing fuel prices and environmental concerns are forcing commercial vessel operators and designers to re-assess current vessel designs with an emphasis on their propulsion systems. The most important parameter determining propulsive efficiency is the diameter of propeller. Many investigations have been carried out to adapt a large and slow turning propeller known as one of the most robust and effective way of achieving high efficiency in ship propulsion system. However, for the same vessel a further increase of propeller diameter would require the modification of the aft end while still paying attention to the hull clearance to prevent excessive propeller excited vibrations. In order to take the advantage of this approach small workboats (e.g. tug boats, fishing vessels etc.) operate in service with a significant increase of aft draught and hence resulting "inclined keel" configuration can be observed. Although it is not unusual to see large vessels sometimes to operate with stern trim to improve their operational performance and fuel efficiency, it is rare to see a such vessel purposely built with an inclined keel feature to fit a large diameter propeller for power saving. This paper investigates the application of the inclined keel configuration to a 3600TEU container vessel with the aim of fitting an 11% larger diameter propeller (and hence resulting 17.5% lower rpm) to gain further power saving over the similar size basis container ship with conventional "level keel" configuration.


This paper applies insights from economic theory to explain recent housing price patterns in California's two largest metropolitan areas. We pay particular attention to the role of migration between metropolitan areas in explaining overall housing price dynamics for a given metropolitan area, and we show how household mobility within a metropolitan area tends to attenuate price pressures in the most supply-constrained places. In reviewing various models' ability to explain California's house price patterns, we also provide some historical perspective on California's urban structure, population growth, and housing price trends.


The new multislice computed tomography (CT) machines require some new methods of shielding calculation, which need to be analysed. NCRP Report No. 147 proposes three shielding calculation methods based on the following dosimetric parameters: weighted CT dose index for the peripheral axis (CTDIw, per), dose–length product (DLP) and isodose maps. A survey of these three methods has been carried out. For this analysis, we have used measured values of the dosimetric quantities involved and also those provided by the manufacturer, making a comparison between the results obtained. The barrier thicknesses when setting up two different multislice CT instruments, a Philips Brilliance 16 or a Philips Brilliance 64, in the same room, are also compared. Shielding calculation from isodose maps provides more reliable results than the other two methods, since it is the only method that takes the actual scattered radiation distribution into account. It is concluded therefore that the most suitable method for calculating the barrier thicknesses of the CT facility is the one based on isodose maps. This study also shows that for different multislice CT machines the barrier thicknesses do not necessarily become bigger as the number of slices increases, because of the great dependence on technique used in CT protocols for different anatomical regions.


Stochastic variations are frequently encountered in diverse number of processes. A capped rate stochastic process could be described as bounded by some limit and thorough delineation of the various factors affecting the growth of fish larvae is highly essential, the stochastic process viz the Ito lemma has been inundated. Fluctuations or randomness are encountered in a number of practical applications in biology, physical sciences, atmospheric science and oceanography, finance, etc, which are driven by various processes such as the Wiener diffusion path, Poisson or Compound process, etc. In an earlier discussion an expression has been derived for the mass of an individual fish larvae, as an extension we deduced a mimic SDE expression potentially useful for delineation of asset stock price and volatility. Keywords– Asset Stock Price, Stochastic Process and Ito Lemma


Abstract : Surveys of both District and non-Corps DMRP audiences were conducted in order to evaluate the effectiveness of current information dissemination by the Program. These surveys also provided the basis for defining the requirements of an integrated DMRP technology transfer system specifically adapted to the needs of the District audience. Awareness of the DMRP among District personnel under recall assist conditions is about 86%, but actual knowledge of the technical structure of the Program is far less common. Only a minority of the District personnel is inclined to optional job related reading, so that the DMRP reports are not optimal as information transfer media. Furthermore, the Program is perceived as generically oriented and the applicability of its outputs to specific projects is often not obvious. The study findings clearly indicate the need for a DMRP information transfer system which will: (a) facilitate the correlation of applicable Program-generated information to project requirements and (b) present this information in a systematic and topically organized format. (Author)


The system studied in this work is based on a Gadolinia-doped Ceria (GDC) matrix and a Nickel oxide cermet as the anode material where both layers are RF plasma deposited. The challenge lies in the optimization of the anode deposition parameters to obtain a controlled porosity thick layer and to process the electrolyte material in such a way as to completely eliminate both open and closed porosity in the relatively thin deposit. The starting materials were nitrate based solutions, prepared so as to obtain final anode spray deposits of NiO-GDC (35%Wt) with the aimed for electrolyte composition of Gd0.2Ce0.8O1.90. In order to optimize these anode deposits, the plasma power, the "stand off" distance, the concentration of the salts solution, as well as substrate cooling, were studied. Similar parameters were also studied for the electrolyte deposition process but, in order to assure attaining high deposit density, the supersonic RF torch nozzle was used for the spray processing. The interactions between all of these parameters and their influence on the deposition process, for both the anode and the electrolyte layers, is examined and discussed.


Purpose
Supply chain resilience (SCR) has recently become an important issue for organizations all around the world. In order to decrease the risk of failures, managers and decision makers are constantly looking for practices to enhance SCR. The purpose of this paper is to propose a research model that mainly focuses on the effect of information sharing (IS) to enhance SCR.

Design/methodology/approach
Survey method is used in this research. Data were collected from the supply chain, procurement, executive and IT managers of 82 of Tehran's stock exchange production companies. Structural equation modeling with SmartPLS3 software is used to analyze the collected data.

Findings
Research results show that IS significantly enhances SCR.

Research limitations/implications
Data were collected at one point in time, and therefore a longitudinal study can further investigate the results of this study. The research was carried out in production companies in Iran. Future research can examine the research model in other industry sectors, e.g. services, in other countries to validate the accuracy of the findings.

Practical implications
The findings of this research should help managers, and decision makers create more resilient supply chains for their own and partners' organizations.

Originality/value
The research model provides insightful results regarding the significance of IS in the SCR context.


BACKGROUND
Ill health associated with household air pollution (HAP) is increasingly recognized as a public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa. To date, attempts to reduce HAP have focussed on smoke from cooking fires and have ignored traditional cultural practices which generate purposely produced smoke (PPS). This study aimed to investigate PPS prevalence, reasons for use and safety perceptions.

METHODS
The study was conducted in Wollo, Ethiopia, and used a mixed methods approach of quantitative surveys (analysed descriptively) and qualitative interviews with householders and healthcare workers (analysed thematically).

RESULTS
PPS use was reported by 99% of survey respondents and it was considered a fundamental part of life. Although reasons for use included housekeeping, culture/religion and well-being, coffee ceremony was most commonly cited (44% of respondents). Both householders and healthcare workers appeared to assume PPS is safe, except for people with certain underlying conditions. Healthcare workers felt the lack of evidence of harm from PPS meant there was no justification for intervention.

CONCLUSION
This study, the first in-depth study of PPS, has shown its use to be widespread, with many perceived benefits and thus a very important part of local culture in this sample Ethiopian community. Consequently, any public health interventions aimed at reducing HAP in this setting need to consider PPS.


Advances in indirect esthetic materials in recent years have provided the dental profession higher levels of strength and esthetics than ever before with products like lithium disilicate and zirconium oxide. Providing excellent fit and versatile performance, and because there is no porcelain to delaminate, chip, or fracture, monolithic zirconia crowns have the potential to outperform other layered restorations such as porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM). This review of monolithic zirconia highlights a clinical case in which all-zirconia restorations were combined with CAD/CAM technology for a successful esthetic restorative outcome.


ABSTRACT To the Editor.— Dr John Havard, secretary of the British Medical Association, has drawn attention to the need for national medical associations to support their individual members in combating what seems to be a global epidemic of torture.1 The Collegio Medico de Chile has recently had the courage to suspend two doctors for their involvement in torture. The Uruguayan Medical Association has withdrawn from the World Medical Association to protest its apparent lack of leadership in dealing with this appalling problem.As a physician who lives in America but travels to many countries, I would like to draw attention to the efforts of national medical associations (sometimes made at considerable personal risk to the officers of those associations) to deny doctors involved in torture the collective support of their profession. I hope the American Medical Association will take explicit action to support the Chilean and Uruguayan associations.


Haemoglobin (Hb), free erythrocyte porphyrins (FEPs), protoporphyrin and haem contents as well as delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-dehydrase activity were estimated in blood samples from patients with chronic renal failure (CRF), from those with renal transplantation, and from healthy control subjects. In CRF patients a highly elevated FEPs level and a significantly increased protoporphyrin concentration were found. A well-defined decrease was observed in the mean value of ALA-dehydrase activity, Hb and haem contents when compared to the control values. However, in patients with renal transplantation significant decreases were observed in Hb and haem concentrations while the ALA-dehydrase activity and the FEPs and protoporphyrin concentrations were approximately at the control levels.


We describe the self-organization of PCBM and a cyanine dye on chemically patterned surfaces during spin coating from solution. On homogeneous surfaces, a transient bilayer forms, which in a later stage decomposes into PCBM droplets in a matrix of the cyanine dye. On the patterned surface also a PCBM droplet phase develops, but the final film structure is greatly determined by contact line pinning of the PCBM domains to the substrate pattern. Three characteristic morphology regimes separated by wetting transitions were observed for different ratios between the natural domain dimensions and the underlying pattern periodicity. We demonstrate that contact line pinning can be an important means to control the film morphology in systems where films are coated from solution. This process can be exploited as a general and versatile method for patterning small semiconducting molecules into 1D and 2D photonic crystals.


The assumptions made in the coulomb wedge analysis, upon which most conventional retaining wall analyses are based, are too limiting and do not accurately model most real situations. As a result the depth of tension crack, z(sub)o, is grossly over estimated for all but a handful of wall/ backfill/ foundation geometries. The finite element (fe) method is capable of allowing for most of the significant variables, including soil and wall stiffness, interface shear and construction sequence, and fe analyses should give more realistic estimates of z(sub)o and pressure distributions. Insufficient analyses have been performed to allow formulation of general design rules as yet, but in many cases the crack depth should be between zero and half its cp no 2 value.


In Reply. —Ms Johns is correct in noting the importance of financial incentives in both capitated practice and fee-for-service. It is also likely that, as managed care organizations transfer greater risk to physicians as an alternative to more intrusive controls, and as physicians' incomes are at stake, physicians' advocacy for patients will be less vigorous. It remains unclear how much risk reasonably can be transferred to physicians without jeopardizing the quality of patient care. Contextual factors, such as how widely risk is shared among groups of physicians and the integrity of the quality-assurance mechanisms in place, may exaggerate or moderate the risk of particular financial incentives. The goal is to identify incentives that motivate thoughtfulness and judiciousness without encouraging denial of needed services. Since need can be ambiguous, the usefulness of practice guidelines and evidence-based practice is evident. It is noteworthy that increasing numbers of managed care organizations now adjust physician


Abstract Villages were once viewed as the base of individual and clan-centered human life. Against the waves of modernization and globalization, however, village culture has withered, gradually lost its original cultural sprit, and become a cultural desert. With the central government pursuing its "three rurals" campaign, developing agriculture and advancing new village-building, people across all sectors of society have paid increasing attention to the lag in culture-building in China's villages. The Qu Yuan Village Library is the result of volunteer activities associated with the new focus on villages. This article takes the library as its example. This analysis of its formation, operations and challenges affords us a unique view into village-level volunteerism. The piece demonstrates how much village-level culture-building depends on the participation of elites from outside villages who donate much like "donating blood" or "giving alms". Though these elites, rich in social resources and volunteer spirit, may be able to increase provision of cultural public goods in the short-run, because they lack long-term mechanisms for resource mobilization and sustained local participation, their efforts often result in "voluntary failure". Resolving this issue will require "multi-centric" entities such as governments, markets and volunteer organizations to coordinate in order to ensure full expression of their functions.


Aims: The effects of commercial logging on tree species diversity in the Tekai Tembeling Forest Reserve (TTFR), Jerantut, Pahang is unknown. This article is focus on inventory of two forest plots having one ha area of each. Study Design: This study based on inventory conducted within the forest area. Place and Duration of Study: Tekai Tembeling Forest Reserve (TTFR), Pahang, Malaysia between 2008 and 2010. Methodology: 100 quadrats of 10mx10m were established in each plot. Hundred percent inventory was applied to collect the data which were analyzed using Ecological Methodology Software to calculate species diversity, richness and composition. Accordingly, species richness, species composition, evenness and species dominance were compared between two plots. Results: Altogether 34226 individuals were found in both plots which were belonging to 950 species under 321 genera and 107 plant families. Remarkably, 700 species were found in plot 2 while it was only 520 in plot 1. However, plot 1 comprised more stems than plot 2. The importance value index (IVI) value was found to be highest for Shorea curtisii among species group in plot 1 but in case of plot 2 it was highest for Knema hookeriana. So it can be concluded that these species were dominant species. In this study, individuals was all of the plants collected during inventory including trees, shrub, climbers, palm and so on while stand density only represent the number of plant with dbh at least 5cm. Total stand density and basal area were 1310 plants ha-1 and 27.52 m2 ha-1 respectively in plot 1 while they were 316 plants ha-1 and 9.50m2 ha-1 respectively in plot 2. Notably, Euphorbiaceae was the most diverse which was followed by Dipterocarpaceae plant family in both plots. Conclusions: Species diversity in Plot 2 was more diverse compared to Plot 1. However Plot 1 was more dense than Plot 2 with 18752 individual trees compared to 15459 in Plot 2.


Abstract The neoglycolipid (NeoGL) N-acetyl-1-deoxy-1-phosphatidylethanolamino lacto-N-tetraositol [Lc4Ose-PtdEtn(NAc)] and the radioactivly labeled analog [Lc4Ose-PtdEtn(N[14C]Ac)] were synthesized by coupling the corresponding oligosaccharide to phosphatidylethanolamine (dihexadecyl) via reductive amination and subsequent N-acetylation with unlabeled and [14C]acetic acid anhydride, respectively. Lc4Ose-PtdEtn(N[14C]Ac) was then incubated with homogenates of rat small intestine epithelial cells (IEC-6) at pH 4. The reaction products were shown to be the degradation products formed by glycosidases by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB MS). On the other hand, incubation of Lc4Ose-PtdEtn(NAc) with IEC-6 cell homogenates in sialyltransferase assays yielded the corresponding sialylated product. When Lc4Ose-PtdEtn(N[14C]Ac) was fed to IEC-6 cells as BSA complex, up to 5% of the NeoGL administered were taken up by the cells. After extraction of the NeoGL and separation by thin layer chromatography (TLC) the catabolic products Lc3Ose-PtdEtn(N[14C]Ac), Lac-PtdEtn(N[14C]Ac), and Glc-PtdEtn(N[14C]Ac), as well as the main anabolic product NeuGc-Lc4Ose-PtdEtn(N[14C]Ac) could be identified by FAB MS. These results demonstrate that PtdEtn-derived NeoGL can be used as probes for studies on the metabolism of specific oligosaccharide structures in cell culture.


The systematic study, critical assessment of theoretical provisions and current practice of accounting organization of costs for human capital of the service enterprise, improvement of accounting mechanisms for the use of personal human assets and human capital of the enterprise are provided in the article. It is proved that the need to reflect human capital in accounting is due to the following factors: human capital is considered an integral part of national wealth; determining the main role of human knowledge, abilities, qualifications, and education in the process of social production; change of attitude to a person that is the appreciation of its creative potential and intellectual abilities. Characteristic definitions of human capital in aspects of different spheres of its functioning are analyzed. Peculiarities of normative and legal regulation of human capital as an intangible asset under SSAP and IFRS and identification of contradictions in accounting of personnel costs under the current accounting system are considered. The peculiarities of the organization of primary accounting of human capital at the enterprises of the service sphere are considered. It has been proposed to record information on the costs for human capital in terms of the processes of its formation, use, and development in the Employee Data Card (standard form P-2) by introducing an additional Section VI "Costs per employee." The financial statements of analytics have been improved to Form No.1 of the Balance Sheet (Statement of Financial Condition) by introducing analytics in the first section of liabilities in the item "Additional capital" of information on human capital of the enterprise, which will generate financial statements for full disclosure to stakeholders, especially investors. Suggestions are given for the prospects of further development: research of accounting of costs for personnel of the enterprise depending on the life cycles of personnel and the enterprise, development of theoretical and methodological bases of corporate social reports on human capital, improvement of personnel value assessment methods (especially residual and liquidation value).


Flood is one of the natural disasters that affect societies around the world. Every year, flood claims hundreds of human lives and causes damage to the global economy and environment. Consequently, the identification of flood-vulnerable areas is important for comprehensive flood risk management. This study aims to delineate flood hazard areas in Itang District of Gambella Region, Ethiopia, applying the Gumbel probability distribution and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Distribution models applied in the study involve the generalized extreme value, Gumbel, Log-Normal, and Log Pearson type III. The Gumbel distribution provides the best fit according to the extreme value analyses. After obtaining discharge level through the method, the region's flood inundation area was mapped at 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100-year recurrence intervals. The developed methodology processes six parameters, namely, slope, elevation, land-use/land-cover, rainfall, discharge, and soil. Each criterion was evaluated with the aid of AHP and mapped by GIS. Data were assorted into five suitability classes, viz., very high, high, moderate, low, and very low flooding areas, representing 29.7%, 27.8%, 18.5%, 12.7%, and 11.4%, respectively. The outcome is extremely useful for evacuation planning, damage assessment, and losses estimation, thereby minimizing the natural disaster's effect in the study area.


This book addresses one of the greatest challenges of post-modern democracy: how to bridge the perceived gap between citizens and democratic institutions. It examines internet-mediated multi-stakeholder processes of international and regional organisations - the European Union and United Nations - which aim to democratise decision-making processes in an attempt to counter criticisms of a 'democratic deficit'. The book evaluates two multi-stakeholder consultation processes where the internet played an important mediating role. It critically evaluates multi-stakeholderism as well as the potentials and constraints of the internet in terms of mediating or facilitating such consultation processes at international and regional levels of governance. It also addresses the perceived impact of civil society organisations on decision-making processes beyond the nation-state and, in turn, the impact of such participatory experiments on civil society itself.


This study is a contribution to a best knowledge of mycosis in Burkina Faso where the data concerning these diseases are very old. It has been focused on the clinical and mycological features of the dermoskeloton mycosis through the consultations at the two offices of dermatology in the city of Ouagadougou. From April to October, 1990, 216 patients have been taken census of, and they have shown 265 lesions among which 143 mycosis of the skinfolds (54 p. cent), 45 onychomycosis (17 p. cent), 29 palmoplantar mycosis (11 p. cent), 24 mycosis of the glabrous skin (9 p. cent) and 24 mycosis of the scalp (9 p. cent). From these 265 lesions we have isolated 156 strains of dermatophytes and 108 strains of candida. The species which have been seen more frequently are Candida albicans (30 p. cent), Trichophyton rubrum (19 p. cent), Trichophyton soudanense (13 p. cent) and Trichophyton tonsurans (8 p. cent). This study has enabled the identification of some clinical features and some responsible agents of the dermatoskeloton mycosis in Ouagadougou. It will lay the foundation for further specific studies in the country.


A 69 year-old male was admitted to our clinic with the chief complaint of hoarseness and difficulty in swallowing. These symptoms occurred about 5 months after penetrating neck injury. Neurological examination revealed right ninth to twelfth cranial nerves palsy and Horner's syndrome. Plain skull X-P demonstrated two broken pieces of glass below the right mastoid processus. The right carotid angiogram showed a 45 x 25 mm aneurysm originated from the right internal carotid artery just below the carotid canal. As the first operation, gradual occlusion of right internal carotid artery combined with the right STA-MCA anastomosis was performed. But two days after complete occlusion, left hemiparesis and pseudobulbar palsy appeared. Two months after such episode, aneurysm and the pieces of glass were removed. He discharged on foot with the improvement of the symptoms of lower cranial nerves. Villaret's syndrome caused by the traumatic aneurysm of extracranial internal carotid artery is rare. This case seems to be the first report in Japan.


A growing share of emerging markets (EMs) uses hybrid versions of inflation targeting that differ from the IT regimes of the OECD countries. Real exchange rate and international reserve changes affect the policy interest rates in commodity countries, aiming to stabilize their real exchange rate in the presence of volatile terms of trade and heightened exposure to capital inflow/outflow shocks. Inflation targeting works well with independent central banks, yet fiscal dominance concerns may hinder the efficacy and independency of central banks. This suggests experimenting with the integration of monetary rules and fiscal rules, possibly linking these rules with the operations of buffers like international reserves and sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). The global financial crisis validated the benefits of countercyclical management of international reserves and SWFs in reducing the volatility of real exchange rates. Macroprudential policies may complement or even substitute buffer policies by reducing a country's balance sheet exposure to foreign currency debt, mitigating the risk of costly sudden stops and capital flight. A growing share of EMs is experiencing exposure to new financial technologies (fintech), providing cheaper and faster financial services and extending financial coverage to previously under-served populations. Deeper fintech diffusion may redirect financial intermediation from regulated banks to emerging fintech shadow banks, some of which may have a global reach. These developments, and the diffusion of cryptocurrencies promising anonymized payment systems, may hinder the effectiveness of monetary policy and eventually induce greater financial instability. States may encourage the diffusion of efficient financial intermediation in ways that benefit users while restricting the use of anonymized exchange and global monies to reduce the threat of a shrinking tax base and to maintain financial stability.


We examine empirically how different information types and information channels affect both the intention and the decision to adopt photovoltaic (PV) technology as affected by adoption stage. Analyzing data on a large European utility's current and potential clients reveals how the effects of various drivers of adoption can change across phases of the adoption process. Our results challenge the common wisdom that information necessarily and homogeneously supports innovation adoption; instead, they strongly support the hypothesis that information types and channels have distinct effects on adoption rates. These results also highlight that, throughout the adoption process, the value of information changes. In addition, we clarify the effects of economic incentives on both the intention to adopt PV technology and actual adoption behavior. Our findings have critical implications for policy makers and for any technology manufacturing company that must optimize its marketing strategy and distribution channels to promote renewable energy systems.


Seizures can influence cardiac autonomic function and cause abnormalities in the electrocardiogram (EKG). A case of stereotypical bigeminy during left temporal lobe seizures recorded in the epilepsy monitoring unit is presented. The mechanism is likely due to spread of the ictal discharge to primary visceromotor regions in the left insula (Island of Reil). This case illustrates the potential influence of ictal brain activity on cardiac electrophysiology.


Physiological concentrations of calcium in serum antagonize the activities of colistin, polymyxin B, and gentamicin against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Studies were carried out to determine whether tobramycin, a new aminoglycoside antibiotic, is also antagonized by calcium. The activity of tobramycin in vitro was shown to be antagonized by human serum and by physiological concentrations of calcium. The addition of human serum in broth-dilution tests produced a fourfold rise in the minimal inhibitory concentrations of tobramycin for five strains of Pseudomonas. In disc diffusion tests, the addition of calcium to the agar significantly decreased the size of inhibition zones, and the addition of a chelating agent to the agar increased the zone sizes. In a limited comparative study, tobramycin and gentamicin were tested against both light and heavy bacterial inocula of two strains of Pseudomonas. Tobramycin appeared to be antagonized less by serum than was gentamicin at equal antibiotic concentrations.


This paper investigates the learning and the production of theoretical thinking in International Relations (IR) undergraduate courses in Brazil. We argue that students' inability to read and write academic texts is related to metacognitive issues and theoretical choices taken in academic se ings. This hypothesis is grounded both in the context of Brazilian educational system, which emphasizes conceptualization rather than analytical thinking, and the predominance of traditional positivist approaches, which are unrelated to the context of developing countries like Brazil. The theoretical basis of this article comprehends principles from critical pedagogy and cognitive sciences, focusing on four metatextual language functions: report, summarize, analyze and theorize (NEVES, 2015). In order to describe students' production, a diagnostic questionnaire about a coursebook chapter was proposed to 35 students a ending the course "IR Theory I". The answers for four of the questions show that lack of autonomous thinking in the discipline is refl ected in students' understanding expressed through perfunctory writing. Consequently, the possibility of students becoming active subjects in both understanding and transformation of international politics is denied. In terms of reading and writing, metacognitive refl ections must be included not only in language teaching, but also in theoretical courses, especially when dealing with academic texts.


Succulent, perennial herb or subshrub. Stem prostrate, spreading or erect, suffruticose toward the base, densely verrucose and papillate, many leaved. Leaves fleshy, opposite, linear–elliptic, narrowly spathulate or oblanceolate, to 25 mm long and 5 mm broad, densely verrucose, in rounded, entire at the margin, attenuate to narrowly cuneate at the base; petioles short, inflated and scarious toward the base, clasping the stem. Flowers solitary in axils, sessile or pedicellate, 68 mm long, densely verrucose; pedicels to 2 mm long; bracts the apex paired at the base of pedicels, triangular, often with irregularly toothed margin,1-2.5 mm long and 2.5-3.5 mm wide. Sepals 5, fused below to a short tube, lobes erect to spreading, imbricate, unequal, cucullate, ovate-triangular, 4.5-6 mm long, 2.5-3.5 mm wide, margins hyaline, dorsal surface densely verrucose and papillose; subapical dorsal mucron obvious, ca.1 mm long; stamens numerous, filaments fused at base, adnate to the calyx tube; carpels 3; styles 3 and 3-4 mm long; ovary conic to ovoid–cylindric, glabrous; locules 3. Capsules membranous with longitudinal nerves, to ca.5 mm long, the circumcissile perforation in the lower fourth of the


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact and interrelation between positive psychological capital and occupational burnout among faculty associates of technical and professional training institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 282 faculty members from 17 technical institutions were selected from the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Results were drawn using bivariate correlation and linear regression on the data that were collected through adopted questionnaire.

Findings

Results of the study revealed that occupational burnout is significantly related to the performance of the faculty of technical institutes and that psychological capital moderates this relationship.

Practical implications

Conclusions from this research suggested that the personality trait of a psychological capital is an essential determinant of job burnout and performance among faculty members; therefore, it must be considered as an essential part of the selection criteria and job-assessment process. This is important, since psychological capital reduces the detrimental impact of occupational burnout on performance outcomes. Further the faculty members with higher psychological capital should be retained to create positive work environment which can be an inspiration for others.

Originality/value

The research provides important information about the impact of personality traits upon the performance of a faculty member who joins an educational institution coming from an industrial environment. Although having similar technological skills required for the position, still the effects of a new environment can cause performance issues, the research insisted that positive personality traits like psychological capital can help in gaining required confidence to perform in a changed environment.


Background Faster identification of bacterial isolates from blood cultures can enable earlier clinical intervention for patients with sepsis. We evaluated the clinical impact of direct identification of micro-organisms from positive blood cultures using MALDI-ToF. Method Positive blood cultures with organisms seen on Gram stain were included over a four week period. For each patient case, comparison was made between the clinical advice given on day one with only a Gram stain result, and the follow up advice given on day two with the benefit of organism identification. Culture results were then compared with direct MALDI-ToF identification. Results For 73 of 115 cases (63.5%), direct organism identification was obtained by MALDI-ToF. Of those 73, 70 (95.5%) had a result concordant with that of the plate culture. In 28 of the 115 cases (24.3%) direct MALDI-ToF identification on day one would have had a clear clinical benefit. In 11 cases it would have helped to identify the potential source of bacteraemia. In 11 cases it would have indicated a different antibiotic regimen on day one, with five patients receiving appropriate antibiotics 24 hours earlier. For 14 cases the blood culture isolate could have been designated as unlikely to be clinically significant. Conclusion We have demonstrated that organism identification on day one of blood culture positivity can have a direct clinical impact. Faster identification using MALDI-ToF assists the clinician in assessing the significance of a blood culture isolate on day one. It can allow earlier appropriate choice of antimicrobial agent, even in the absence of susceptibility testing, and help narrow down the potential source of infection providing a focus for further investigation in a more timely way than conventional techniques alone.


CONTEXT
In 1997, Congress authorized the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to grant 6-month extensions of marketing rights through the Pediatric Exclusivity Program if industry sponsors complete FDA-requested pediatric trials. The program has been praised for creating incentives for studies in children and has been criticized as a "windfall" to the innovator drug industry. This critique has been a substantial part of congressional debate on the program, which is due to expire in 2007.

OBJECTIVE
To quantify the economic return to industry for completing pediatric exclusivity trials.

DESIGN AND SETTING
A cohort study of programs conducted for pediatric exclusivity. Nine drugs that were granted pediatric exclusivity were selected. From the final study reports submitted to the FDA (2002-2004), key elements of the clinical trial design and study operations were obtained, and the cost of performing each study was estimated and converted into estimates of after-tax cash outflows. Three-year market sales were obtained and converted into estimates of after-tax cash inflows based on 6 months of additional market protection. Net economic return (cash inflows minus outflows) and net return-to-costs ratio (net economic return divided by cash outflows) for each product were then calculated.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Net economic return and net return-to-cost ratio.

RESULTS
The indications studied reflect a broad representation of the program: asthma, tumors, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, hypertension, depression/generalized anxiety disorder, diabetes mellitus, gastroesophageal reflux, bacterial infection, and bone mineralization. The distribution of net economic return for 6 months of exclusivity varied substantially among products (net economic return ranged from -$8.9 million to $507.9 million and net return-to-cost ratio ranged from -0.68 to 73.63).

CONCLUSIONS
The economic return for pediatric exclusivity is variable. As an incentive to complete much-needed clinical trials in children, pediatric exclusivity can generate lucrative returns or produce more modest returns on investment.


The production of [ital J]/[psi] by [ital p]-nucleus and [pi]-nucleus reactions is investigated using the optical model. It is found that the [psi]-nucleon absorption cross section is energy independent, practically the same as for [pi][sup [minus]] and [ital K][sup 0] production, and the average [bar [sigma]][sub abs]=12.7[plus minus]5.1 mb leads to a mean free path [bar [lambda]]=5.2[plus minus]2.0 fm.


Lateral organization of biological membranes is frequently studied using fluorescence microscopy. One of the most widely used probes for these studies is 2-dimethylamino-6-lauroylnaphthalene (laurdan). The fluorescence of this probe is sensitive to the environment polarity, and thus laurdan reports the local penetration of water when inserted in membranes. Unfortunately, this probe can only be used under two-photon excitation due to its low photostability. This is a very important limitation, because there are not too many laboratories with capability for two-photon microscopy. In this work, we explored the performance of 6-dodecanoyl-2-[N-methyl-N-(carboxymethyl)amino]naphthalene (C-laurdan), a carboxyl-modified version of laurdan, for imaging biological membranes using a conventional confocal microscopy setup. We acquired generalized polarization (GP) images of C-laurdan inserted in giant unillamelar vesicles composed of binary mixtures of lipids and verified that the probe allows observing the coexistence of different phases. We also tested the performance of the probe for measurement with living cells and registered GP images of melanophore cells labeled with C-laurdan in which we could observe highly ordered regions such as filopodia. These findings show that C-laurdan can be successfully employed for studies of membrane lateral organization using a conventional confocal microscope and can open the possibility of studying a wide variety of membrane-related processes.


Fouling of heat exchangers in crude preheat trains is a major refinery operations business factor. It is realised that fouling cannot be completely eliminated, but considerable economic and environmental benefits are available with the proper application of improved technology in both the equipment and software asset management tools areas. This paper presents a technology update of refinery applications of a heat exchanger network analysis software to identify optimal crude preheat train cleaning. INTRODUCTION At today's high energy prices, there are significant incentives for a long term strategy to combat fouling problems. The best strategy is a multi-disciplined approach that will include a combination of: detection of fouling through monitoring, prevention through design and modification of crude or surface properties, and mitigation through optimized cleaning. Measures to reduce or prevent fouling include changes in crude scheduling, logistics, slop management, improved desalter operation, and replacing selected hardware by more fouling resistant designs. To detect fouling and devise optimum cleaning schedules we need tools that can work efficiently with available operating data and come to the proper conclusions. MONITORING SOFTWARE NEEDS With hindsight, many operators believe that a large part of the losses due to heat exchanger fouling are avoidable. This has led to the development of specific software to identify interactions between the heat exchangers in a train and to monitor the total heat duty and the associated influence on economic and environmental factors which include capacity impact, energy consumption, and CO2 production. Such software can calculate the benefits of cleaning one or more exchangers and the best time to clean a particular exchanger. Additionally, it should be able to compare practical cleanout strategies to the calculated optimal strategy. The accuracy of the calculations can be improved and significant savings achieved if fouling trends can be predicted. The optimum runtime for a single heat exchanger can be determined relatively easily by balancing efficiency and margin losses due to fouling against the cost of cleaning. However, determining an optimal cleanout strategy for a train of heat exchangers is complex. In practice, the operation of integrated heat exchanger networks allows manipulation of heat duties in order to mitigate the effects of low levels of fouling. Moreover, some exchangers are controlled to transfer fixed duties. These effects need to be considered in any realistic assessment of optimum cleanout advice. HEAT-For-Networks (HEAT4N) SOFTWARE HEAT4N is a flowsheet based software tool that has been developed to monitor the fouling tendency and also to assess the need for cleanout maintenance of individual heat exchangers within complex trains. Ordinarily instrumentation limitations can make it difficult or impossible to estimate missing intermediate temperatures and flow splits. HEAT4N software overcomes this problem using state-of-the-art statistical techniques. Since its introduction in 2003, HEAT4N has been applied at several refineries, which are also actively using the tool to monitor fouling, to predict the effect of different cleanout cycles, and to make decisions on replacing heat exchangers. Applications of HEAT4N currently focus on petrochemical sites and in particular crude preheat trains, where optimal cleaning strategy is very dependent on determining how heat recovery can be manipulated on-the-run, in order to minimise the impacts of fouling on the profitability of the running unit. The program GUI (Fig. 1) has many advanced features -different material streams can be shown by using different colours, temperature and flow tags are shown, and daily or long-term averaged data can be used. ECI Symposium Series, Volume RP5: Proceedings of 7th International Conference on Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning Challenges and Opportunities, Editors Hans Müller-Steinhagen, M. Reza Malayeri, and A. Paul Watkinson, Engineering Conferences International, Tomar, Portugal, July 1 6, 2007 Produced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2016 Figure 1 HEAT4N Graphical User Interface HEAT4N ANALYSIS A HEAT4N analysis starts with the development of a configuration model from the process flow schemes. In the data pre-processing phase, flow and temperature data are cleaned (i.e. outliers and non-physical values are removed) and reconciled using statistical methods. After these steps information about wrongly calibrated or broken instruments is presented. The reconciled data are then used to calculate the overall heat transfer coefficient (OHTC) and heat duty for every heat exchanger in the train. The calculated OHTC's can then be used to fit a fouling model, as can be seen in Fig. 2. The different estimated trends are used to determine an average fouling model which is then used to predict future fouling trends. 44 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning VII [2007], Vol. RP5, Article 8 http://dc.engconfintl.org/heatexchanger2007/8 Figure 2 Trends are fitted through the daily calculated OHTC's The estimated models, together with cost parameters are used by the tool to determine an optimal clean-out scheme. The results are shown in tabular format, as in Table 1. The effects of the optimal schedule on the temperatures and heat duties everywhere in the train are also calculated and displayed in tables or in plots. Table 1 shows an optimal cleaning advice and regret costs generated for each heat exchanger in a train. The first column contains the heat exchanger name. The second column is the average "efficiency" of the heat exchanger, with which problem heat exchangers can be recognized. The third column contains the advised optimal cleanout period, so the advice for HX1 is to clean after 0.8 years. The fourth column is the average overall cost containing the efficiency loss and cleanout costs over the prediction time (in this example the throughput and product quality loss costs are not taken into account, although these may be significant). The last column contains the cumulative regret costs, related to postponing the advised cleaning actions by one year. It can be seen in this column that postponing the clean-out action for one year for some heat exchangers doesn't influence the average overall costs of the train. For example the advice for HX2 is to clean it after 4.4 years, which means in this case no cleaning is necessary during the prediction period, so the regret costs are nil. However, for HX3 the regret costs are


The present research aims to investigate changes in Chinese English-major students' motivation and the correlation between their motivations and strategies. Through a questionnaire survey of 263 BA students in different academic years, it was found that out of seven different motivations, learning situation motivation shows the greatest difference; moreover, students' motivation increases with the advancement of academic years. In addition, there are significant differences in strategy use by differently motivated students; cognitive strategy is positively and highly correlated with interest motivation while metacognitive strategy is negatively correlated with context motivation.


For centuries, open surgery was the usual way of performing an operation on a patient. Usually large incisions were required, thus this technique was traumatic for the patient and resulted in large scars and long and expensive recovery time. One paradigmatic example is cardiac surgery, where for an open surgery procedure a sternotomy is required, where the surgeon has to open with a saw the patient's sternum to access the heart and create an adequate workspace. Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has revolutionized the way surgeries are performed in the last few decades. Here endoscopes and specialized instruments that fit in natural openings in the body or through keyhole incisions (typically 5-12 mm in diameter) are used and meet the patients demand for smaller incisions and shorter recovery times.


Background: The aim of the study is to investigate the contributions of normative beliefs (NB) and self-determination (awareness of self and perceived choice) (SD) on Slovak university students' alcohol use (AU). Methods: The data were collected online from 814 university students (75.22% females; M=19.61; SD=1.42), who filled in the AUDIT-C, items of NB and self-determination scale. T-tests and linear regression were used for data analysis. Findings: Gender differences were found in AU. Males had a higher level of AU. Further analyses were conducted separately by gender. Linear models were statistically significant and explained 14.1% and 14.3% of the variance in males' and females' AU respectively. A higher level of AU was associated with (1) a higher level of NB for males and females and (2) lower awareness for males. Discussion: The findings showed gender differences in the contribution of variables to AU. The results are relevant for improving intervention effectiveness by focusing on (1) the development of awareness of self (it is a precursor of additional competences which closely relate to AU) and (2) correcting normative beliefs regarding the prevalence of AU.


The aim of this paper is to show that introspective beliefs about one's own current visual experiences are not immediate in the sense that what justifies them does not include other beliefs that the subject in question might possess. The argument will take the following course. First, the author explains the notions of immediacy and truth-sufficiency as they are used here. Second, the author suggests a test to determine whether a given belief lacks immediacy. Third, the author applies this test to a standard case of formation of an introspective belief about one's own current visual experiences and concludes that the belief in question is neither immediate nor truth-sufficient. Fourth, the author rebuts several objections that might be raised against the argument.


BACKGROUND
While microbiome and host regulation contribute independently to many disease states, it is unclear how circumcision in pediatric population influences subsequent changes in penile microbiome.

OBJECTIVE
Our study aims to analyze jointly paired taxonomic profiles and assess pathways implicated in inflammation, barrier protection, and energy metabolism.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
We analyzed 11 paired samples, periurethral collection, before and after circumcision, to generate microbiome and mycobiome profiling. Sample preparation of 16S ribosomal RNA and internal transcribed spacer sequencing was adapted from the methods developed by the National Institutes of Health Human Microbiome Project.

OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
We obtained the predictive functional attributes of the microbial communities between samples using Silva-Tax4Fun and the Greengenes-Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt) approach. The predictive functioning of the microbial communities was determined by linearly combining the normalized taxonomic abundances into the precomputed association matrix of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes orthology reference profiles.

RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS
Several notable microbiome and mycobiome compositional differences were observed between pre- and postcircumcision patients. Pairwise comparisons across taxa revealed a significant decrease (p < 0.05, false discovery rate corrected) of microbiome organisms (Clostridiales, Bacteroidales, and Campylobacterales) and mycobiome (Saccharomycetales and Pleosporales) following circumcision. A total of 14 pathways were found to differ in abundance between the pre- and postcircumcision groups (p < 0.005, false discovery rate <0.1 and linear discriminant analysis score >3; five enriched and nine depleted). The pathways reduced after circumcision were mostly involved with amino acid and glucose metabolism, while pathways prior to circumcision were enriched in genetic information processing and transcription processes. As expected, enrichment in methyl-accepting chemotaxis protein, an integral membrane protein involved in directed motility of microbes to chemical cues and environment, occurred prior to circumcision, while the filamentous hemagglutinin pathway (a strong immunogenic protein) was depleted after circumcision CONCLUSIONS: Our results offer greater insight into the host-microbiota relationship of penile circumcision and may serve to lay the groundwork for future studies focused on drivers of inflammation, infection, and oncogenesis.

PATIENT SUMMARY
Our study showed a significant reduction in bacteria and fungi after circumcision, particularly anaerobic bacteria, which are known to be potential inducers of inflammation and cancer. This is the first study of its kind showing the changes in microbiome after circumcision, and some of the changes that occur in healthy infants after circumcision that may explain the differences in cancer and inflammatory disorders in adulthood.


One hundred fifty-seven patients who underwent hip replacement surgery were studied by the 125 I-fibrinogen leg scan technique. This method sensitively detects silent venous thrombosis and very small thrombi. By comparison with phlebograms, the isotope technique is somewhat oversensitive in that 26% of 46 phlebograms (12) showed no thrombi, but specificity was good in that on the basis of six other phlebograms, obtained because of persistent physical findings, the isotope leg scan was never "falsely normal." A two-phase drug trial failed to demonstrate an alternative treatment significantly better than warfarin sodium, but did indicate that wound hematoma occurring in patients given heparin sodium subcutaneously in the dosage used constitutes a real drawback for this therapy after orthopedic surgery.


Domestic violence continues to be a serious problem for women in the United States. As a result, the battered women's movement has been tireless in campaigning for greater awareness of the issue, tougher penalties against offenders, and public vigilance against potential batterers, including fathers from dissolving families. In reaction to this stance, a small but vocal countermovement composed of activists in the fathers' rights movement has argued that the BWM is guilty of what I term enemy boundary creep, a perception whereby these men maintain that they have been inappropriately targeted. Using 40 in-depth interviews with fathers' rights activists located across the country, this article details the narrative that these men have composed as to why the BWM is expanding the scope of its enemies, the tactics that the BWM is using in this campaign, and the insidious effects that these efforts are having on fathers across the country. This narrative formulates a boundary-push back response. This analysis thus articulates how an unlikely countermovement can use the accusation of enemy boundary creep by its social movement opponents in an effort to shift the political discourse on a significant public problem.


Aqueous two phase extraction (ATPE) was applied in the extraction of an allelochemical, solasodine, from an invasive plant, Solanum mauritianum. Central composite design was performed which included numerical parameters such as time and mass of plant powder. The categorical factors included the type of salt used in aiding extraction such as the chaotrope (NaCl) and kosmotrope (Na2CO3). Fitting the central composite design response surface model to the experimental data generated a quadratic model with a good fit (R2 = 0.925). The linear effect of mass of plant powder was a statistically significant (p < 0.05) parameter for solasodine extraction. The optimized conditions for the extraction of solasodine in the presence of NaCl or Na2CO3 were time: 10 min and mass of plant powder: 1.2 g. Corresponding to these conditions, the maximal mean extraction based on multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) transition of solasodine (m/z 414 → 396) on the UHPLC-qTOF-MS was 233.65 mg kg-1 and 413.50 mg kg-1 for NaCl and Na2CO3, respectively. The greater extraction ability of the kosmotrope was due to the higher negative charge density of the carbonate ion during salting-out. Furthermore, the synergistic effect of mass of plant powder and salting-out was shown to enhance extraction of solasodine compared to the chaotrope. The kosmotrope assisted solasodine ATPE extracts from Solanum mauritianum, can potentially be applied as antipathogenic agents in medicine while simultaneously limiting the allelopathic impact of Solanum mauritianum.


Glycerol Therapy of Experimental Cerebral Microembolism • Glycerol was administered to control rats and to animals with experimental cerebral microembolism as a single intravenous injection (1 gm per kilogram), a single one-hour intravenous infusion (1.5 gm per kilogram), daily one-hour intravenous infusions (1 gm per kilogram), or in multiple oral doses (1 gm per kilogram per four hours). There were no effects of glycerol on the mortality, brain edema or increased brain sodium concentration and Seselenate space due to cerebral microembolism. Brain water was not reduced in the hemispheres contralateral to embolization or in glycerol-treated controls. The results suggest that glycerol, at the dose levels reported to be beneficial in human cerebral infarction, is ineffective for cerebral dehydration. Additional


The harmonic potential field (HPF) approach to motion planning is shown to provide an efficient and provably-correct basis for building intelligent, context-sensitive, and goal-oriented controllers. In the paper by the author (2006) a novel type of dampening forces called: nonlinear, anisotropic, dampening forces (NADFs) are used to convert the guidance signal from an HPF into a navigation control signal with verifiable capabilities. This work provides two extensions of the NADF approach. The first is a blind, iterative procedure that can totally cancel the steady state error. The other extension is concerned with the nonholonomic case. Theoretical developments and simulation results are provided.


Accurate detection of extracellular chemical gradients is essential for many cellular behaviors. Gradient sensing is challenging for small cells, which experience little difference in ligand concentrations on the up-gradient and down-gradient sides of the cell. Nevertheless, the tiny cells of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae reliably decode gradients of extracellular pheromones to find their mates. By imaging the behavior of polarity factors and pheromone receptors during mating encounters, we found that gradient decoding involves two steps. First, cells bias orientation of initial polarity up-gradient, even though they have unevenly distributed receptors. To achieve this, they measure the local fraction of occupied receptors, rather than absolute number. However, this process is error-prone, and subsequent exploratory behavior of the polarity factors corrects initial errors via communication between mating partners. The mobile polarity sites convert the difficult problem of spatial gradient decoding into the easier one of sensing temporal changes in local pheromone levels.


Abstract The Front Ranges sub-province of the Rocky Mountains along Bow River Valley is bounded on the east and west respectively by the McConnell and Castle Mountain thrust faults. It comprises, from east to west, the Fairholme, the Cascade-Rundle, the Norquay-Sulphur-Goat, the Sawback-Bourgeau, and the Pilot-Fatigue Ranges. Excepting the latter, each range is underlain by a major thrust fault; the Pilot-Fatigue Range is closely tied to the Sawback-Bourgeau Range, the two being separated by the Brewster Creek syncline, and the Fatigue thrust fault which has variable but not excessive stratigraphic throw. Topographically the two ranges are distinct. The stratigraphic section includes the Middle and Upper Cambrian, Lower Ordovician, Upper Devonian, Mississippian, Permian, Triassic, and Jurassic. Pre-Devonian rocks are exposed on all ranges except the Norquay-Sulphur-Goat Range; there the Devonian Fairholme group forms the hanging wall of the Sulphur fault, and the foot wall rocks are overturned quartzites of the Rocky Mountain group and not the hitherto reported Ordovician Mt. Wilson quartzite. Middle and Upper Cambrian formations on the Rundle and Sawback Ranges have previously been described; the author recognizes five mappable Upper Cambrian rock units in the Sawback-Bourgeau Range and refers to them by letters A, B, C, D, and E, abeyant to future unravelling of Upper Cambrian statigraphy and nomenclature in Main Ranges type sections. Upper Devonian formations increase in thickness westward. The Fairholme group is in carbonate facies in the Cascade-Rundle Range, the Norquay-Sulphur Range, the Sawback Range and the north end of the Bourgeau Range. South of Mt. Allenby the Fairholme group becomes shaly and the Alexo formation loses a thick middle carbonate member to become a uniform succession of quartzitic siltstones and silty dolomites. A similar succession occurs in the Pilot-Fatigue Range. The Alexo formation thickens to 400 feet in the west and is composed of dolomite, fine quartzites, and silty dolomites. The Palliser formation thickens to 1,850 feet in the westernmost Front Range. Mississipppian rocks thicken westward; the Exshaw formation may reach 70 feet. The lower Banff formation contains much black shale and chert. Permian and Triassic rocks are present on back slopes of all ranges except the Pilot-Fatigue Range. Jurassic rocks occur in the upper Spray River Valley on the lower back slope of Goat Range.


As the fifth-generation (5G) and beyond (5G+/6G) networks move forward, and a wide variety of new advanced Internet of Things (IoT) applications are offered, effective methodologies for discovering time-relevant information, services, and resources are being demanded. To this end, computing-, storage-, and battery-constrained IoT devices are progressively augmented via digital twins (DTs) hosted on edge servers. According to recent research results, a further feature these devices may acquire is social behavior; this latter offers enormous possibilities for fast and trustworthy service discovery, although it requires new orchestration policies of DTs at the network edge. This work addresses the dynamic placement of DTs with social capabilities [social digital twins (SDTs)] at the edge, by providing an optimal solution under IoT device mobility and by accounting for edge network deployment specifics, types of devices, and their social peculiarities. The optimization problem is formulated as a particular case of the quadratic assignment problem (QAP); also, an approximation algorithm is proposed and two relaxation techniques are applied to reduce computation complexity. Results show that the proposed placement policy ensures a latency among SDTs up to 1.4 times lower than the one obtainable with a traditional proximity-based only placement while still guaranteeing appropriate proximity between physical devices and their virtual counterparts. Moreover, the proposed heuristic closely approximates the optimal solution while guaranteeing the lowest computational time.


Echography was used to study 28 parameters reflecting the structure and function of the left ventricle in 148 patients suffering from stages I and II arterial hypertension. A close correlation was established between arterial hypertension standing and the thickness of the interventricular septum in the systole and diastole (r = 0.71) and the thickness of the posterior wall of the left ventricle in the systole (r = 0.80). The correlation is significant for the muscular mass of the left ventricle, index of the muscular mass of the left ventricle and the telediastolic size of the free wall of the left ventricle. Arterial hypertension standing is not in a good agreement with the size and volumes of the left ventricle. As poorly controlled and noncontrolled hypertension persists the concentric type hypertrophy of the left ventricle progresses without any material alterations in regional contractile function.


An orally bioavailable dual kinase inhibitor of c-Met (hepatocyte growth factor receptor) and VEGFR-2 (vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2) tyrosine kinases with potential antineoplastic activity. c-Met/VEGFR kinase inhibitor E7050 binds to and inhibits the activities of both c-Met and VEGFR-2, which may inhibit tumor cell growth and survival of tumor cells that overexpress these receptor tyrosine kinases. c-Met and VEGFR-2 are upregulated in a variety of tumor cell types and play important roles in tumor cell growth, migration and angiogenesis. Qeios · Definition, February 7, 2020


: The advent of autonomous driving and advanced driver assistance systems necessitates continuous develop-ments in computer vision for 3D scene understanding. Self-supervised monocular depth estimation, a method for pixel-wise distance estimation of objects from a single camera without the use of ground truth labels, is an important task in 3D scene understanding. However, existing methods for this task are limited to convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures. In contrast with CNNs that use localized linear operations and lose feature resolution across the layers, vision transformers process at constant resolution with a global receptive field at every stage. While recent works have compared transformers against their CNN counterparts for tasks such as image classification, no study exists that investigates the impact of using transformers for self-supervised monocular depth estimation. Here, we first demonstrate how to adapt vision transformers for self-supervised monocular depth estimation. Thereafter, we compare the transformer and CNN-based architectures for their performance on KITTI depth prediction benchmarks, as well as their robustness to natural corruptions and adversarial attacks, including when the camera intrinsics are unknown. Our study demonstrates how transformer-based architecture, though lower in run-time efficiency, achieves comparable performance while being more robust and generalizable.