The aim of this work was to study the pros and cons of using the laser exposure of thick film screen emulsions (thicknesses 5 - 30 micrometers ) with a mesh count of 200 - 400. A focused Ar+ laser, emitting wavelengths in the UV (351 and 365 nm), was utilized in the exposure of commercial negative diazotype emulsions. A special visible sensitized orthochromatic thick film emulsion was used at a wavelength of 488 nm. The Ar+ laser beam was focused using an objective with a focal length of 28 mm (UV, apochromatic, NA equals 0.32, spot size 1 micrometers ) and 20 mm (visible, NA equals 0.42, spot size 6 micrometers ). The laser beam was raster scanned with an alignment accuracy of 1 micrometers and unit step of 80 nm and was modulated above the thick film screen.


With the improvement of people's quality of life, the demand for three-dimensional (3D) video has gradually grown in recent years. However, there are many challenges to providing high-definition and high-fidelity 3D video. One of the most difficult challenges for users to provide 3D video is a large amount of energy lost during 3D video transmission. In this study, the authors present a 3D resource allocation system architecture, which can effectively alleviate the problem of large transmission energy loss. They propose that multiple users in a small cell can share video resources in the downlink from the cloud to the client. In the cloud processing, multiple users can share part of the cloud computing work cycle. In the downlink, multiple users can share part of video resources. They presume that some share output bits can be multicast to overall users, and the other bits can be sent to every user in unicast. They model this and derive the simulation results. The simulation results show that the resource allocation scheme in this study achieves greater energy savings under certain conditions than the traditional case without sharing the resource.


A family R of binary relations on a set X will be called a relator on X, and the ordered pair X (R) = (X , R) will be called a relator space. Each generalized topology T on X can be easily derived from the family RT of all Pervin's preorder relations R V = V 2 ∪ V c× X with V ∈ T . For a subset A of the relator space X (R) , we may briefly define A− = clR (A) = ⋂ { R−1 [ A ] : R ∈ R } , A◦ = intR (A) = clR (Ac)c and A† = resR (A) = clR (A) \ A . Now, we may also naturally define TR = { A ⊆ X : A ⊆ A◦ } , DR = { A ⊆ X : A− = X } and NR = {A ⊆ X : A−◦ = ∅ } . Moreover, following some basic definitions in topological spaces, a subset A of the relator space X (R) may, for instance, be naturally called topologically (1) regular open if A = A−◦ ; (2) preopen if A ⊆ A−◦ ; (3) semi-open if A ⊆ A◦− ; (4) α–open if A ⊆ A◦−◦ ; (5) β–open if A ⊆ A−◦− ; (6) quasi-open if there exists V ∈ TR such that V ⊆ A ⊆ V − ; (7) pseudo-open if there exists V ∈ TR such that A ⊆ V ⊆ A− . And, the family of all such subsets A of X (R) may, for instance, be naturally denoted by T κ R with κ = r, p, s, α, β, q and ps , respectively. Here, we shall mainly be interested in the relationships and characterizations of the families T κ R . For instance, we shall prove the following assertions : (1) If R is topological, then T s R = T q R . Moreover, A ∈ T s R if and only if A = V ∪ B for some V ∈ TR and B ⊆ V †. (2) If R is topological, then T p R = T ps R . Moreover, if in addition R is topologically filtered, then A ∈ T p R if and only if A = V ∩ B for some V ∈ TR and B ∈ DR ; (3) If R is topological, then T α R = T s R ∩ T p R . Moreover, if in addition R is topologically filtered, then A ∈ T α R if and only if A = V \ B for some V ∈ TR and B ∈ NR . Set-theoretic properties and some proximal and paratopological counterparts of the families T κ R will be investigated in some subsequent papers.


Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a promising imaging technology which can provide subsurface imaging of biological tissues (Huang et al., 1991). OCT images are similar to the ultrasound images, but with significantly higher resolution (5-10 times) than the clinical ultrasound. OCT enables imaging of tissue microstructure with micron-level resolution, approaching that of standard excisional biopsy and histopathology, except that imaging can be performed in real time without the removal of a tissue specimen. The optical configuration of OCT is the same as that of a low coherence interferometer (LCI). Low-coherence interferometry is a type of optical interferometry based on low-coherent light sources (Mandel & Wolf, 1995). This technique is capable of measuring depth-resolved (axial, z) tissue structure, birefringence, flow (Doppler shift), and spectra at a micrometer-level resolution by precisely measuring the amplitude and the relative phase of reflected or backscattered light. Optical interferometer has been invented for 120 years. But most of the time, it was just laboratory equipments for physics research until 1970s. In the early 1980s the emergence of high brightness semiconductor broadband light sources and single mode optical fibers stimulated the development of LCI. The availability of superluminescent diodes (SLD) made low-coherence reflectometry practical in a fiber-optic system (Wang et al., 1982). SLD could be used in LCI to achieve a distance resolution of about 10 μm. Another innovation was the development of fiber optic devices such as couplers which are important in the development of fiber optic based designs. These technological developments are the prerequisites of current OCT system used for noninvasive optical imaging of living tissues


Item consists of one audio cassette featuring an interview with Br. Christian at Genesee Abbey (Piffard, New York) about Henri Nouwen on April 15, 1998.


Excerpt In the period from January 1, 1929, to December 31, 1944, 180 cases of endemic (murine) typhus fever were observed in the Charity Hospital of Louisiana at New Orleans. Although several of t...


Abstract The reaction of thiophene-2-carbonyl isothiocyanate with phenylhydrazine gave 1-phenyl-5-(thien-2-yl)-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol which was transformed by follow-up reactions into derivatives substituted in the 3-position by 1,2,4-oxadiazole and 1,2,4-thiadiazole moieties via thioethers linkages. The antitumor activity of the products against two human tumor cell lines, namely hepatocellular carcinoma HePG-2 and mammary gland breast cancer MCF-7 as well as the antimicrobial activity of some of these compounds was evaluated. Graphical Abstract


The rotation of polarised light which occurs in a twisted anisotropic medium is exploited to produce very high circular birefringence in single-mode optical fibres. Beat lengths of less than 5 mm have already been achieved in some preliminary experiments.


AbstractThe Atlantic and Pacific storm tracks in the Northern Hemisphere are characterized by a downstream poleward deflection, which has important consequences for the distribution of heat, wind, and precipitation in the midlatitudes. In this study, the spatial structure of the storm tracks is examined by tracking transient cyclones in an idealized GCM with a localized ocean heat flux. The localized atmospheric response is decomposed in terms of a time- and zonal-mean background flow, a stationary wave, and a transient eddy field. The Lagrangian tracks are used to construct cyclone composites and perform a spatially varying PV budget. Three distinct mechanisms that contribute to the poleward tilt emerge: transient nonlinear advection, latent heat release, and stationary advection. The downstream evolution of the PV composites shows the different role played by the stationary wave in each region. In the region where the tilt is maximized, all three mechanisms contribute to the poleward propagation of the ...


The aim of this study was examine the effects exercise training into prevent the hepatic steatosis induced by a high fructose intake in rats from weaning to adulthood.


Purpose: Exposure to ionizing radiation results in phosphorylation of histone H2AX (γH2AX) at sites of DNA double‐strand breaks. To determine the relationship between γH2AX formation and radiosensitivity, the rate of formation and loss of γH2AX were examined in several cultured cell lines following exposure to 250 kV X‐rays. Materials and methods: Flow and image cytometry were both performed using a mouse monoclonal antibody against γH2AX. Immunoblotting was used to confirm cell line‐dependent differences in antibody staining. Cell lines examined included V79 and CHO‐K1 hamster cells, the human tumour cell lines SiHa, WiDr, DU145, WIL‐2NS, HT144, HCC1937 and U87, and the normal cell strain HFL1. Radiosensitivity was measured using a standard clonogenic assay. Results: Using flow cytometry, γH2AX formation was detected 1 h after doses as low as 20 cGy. Peak levels of γH2AX were observed within 15–30 min after irradiation and both the rate of radiation‐induced γH2AX formation and loss were cell type dependent. Maximum levels of γH2AX formation were lower for HT144 cells mutant for the ataxia telangiectasia gene. Half‐times of loss after irradiation ranged from 1.6 to 7.2 h and were associated with a decrease in the total number of foci per cell. The half‐time of loss of γH2AX was correlated with clonogenic survival for 10 cell lines (r2=0.66). Conclusions: γH2AX can be detected with excellent sensitivity using both flow and image analysis. The rate of γH2AX loss may be an important factor in the response of cells to ionizing radiation, with more rapid loss and less retention associated with more radioresistant cell lines.


Since the 1980s, many states have argued in various international forums that the use of nuclear weapons is prohibited by article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to life. Thousands of individuals have also asserted, in communications submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), that article 6 prohibits the possession, testing and deployment of nuclear weapons, and many of them have seen human rights law as a potentially powerful tool with which to challenge the status quo and advance nuclear disarmament. On a few notable occasions, peak international political and judicial bodies have declared nuclear weapons to be incompatible with the right to life, but such pronouncements have arguably had little effect on state behaviour. Some states, especially those with nuclear weapons, still stridently reject the notion that human rights law has any bearing on the legality of nuclear weapons. What role, then, might this important and evolving branch of international law play in bringing about a world free of nuclear weapons? This article examines the scope of the right to life under the ICCPR, with a focus on how the HRC has interpreted article 6 in its general comments and applied it in communications brought by individuals. The article proposes that the Committee develop a more liberal approach in determining whether an author satisfies the 'victim' requirement under the First Optional Protocol, as this would better reflect its stated position that the right to life 'should not be interpreted narrowly'. It argues that, in situations of armed conflict, the application of article 6 should be determined not only with reference to the rules of international humanitarian law, but also in light of the object and purpose of the ICCPR itself, a treaty whose operation does not cease in wartime. Finally, it assesses whether any state party to the ICCPR is, at present, in breach of its obligations under article 6 owing to its possession or deployment of nuclear weapons, and looks at the significance of such violations for the future of the disarmament movement and human rights law.


Steel industry plays a critical role in climate change and hot rolling is a significant link in its technological chain. Further rationalisations in steel manufacture are important bearing in mind its strategic role and volume of consumed resources (e.g. ~ 90 t of fresh water for 1 t of a product). Thus it is important to control the tool (roll) performance and optimise roll pass design (RPD) in-cluding the selection of materials. RPD is a principal factor delimiting the process efficiency, prod-uct quality and the resource consumption. New avenues for improving RPD are to be found by ex-tracting knowledge buried in the vast of industrial and published data bases. Basic idea is that im-provements in RPD can be identified by propitious mathematical translations that enhance analyses of rolling series. Examples of analytical functions are introduced along with their use in RPD. Fur-thermore, a variety of methods for testing and comparing roll materials, used to complement and validate RPD is discussed. Along with reviewing some critical aspects of presented methods a lack of information about simulating the potential consequences of hot impact damage of rolls is ad-dressed. A concept and a prototype of such a method are presented including the results of pilot tests conducted to evaluate this approach.


A detailed review of WorkCover Western Australia data for the Construction Industry from 2003 to 2013 shows that manual tasks continue to produce high numbers of serious incidents resulting in serious injury for construction workers. Even with the concerted efforts towards "Zero Harm" during this time, this alarming trend continues. The review highlights the size of the permanent damage problem within Australian workplaces and the nature of the problem associated with Western Australian construction. The analysis of the data then provides hypotheses as to why this problem is not being effectively managed in construction workplaces. These hypotheses involve metrics influencing management focus, the egocentric approach, the quality of information provided and the cumulative effect of manual task damage. Further research should be conducted over time to test these hypotheses through the implementation of effective controls for manual tasks within the construction industry.


Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems offer a structured approach for the collection, storage, retrieval and analysis of patient health data. However, this very emphasis on structure has led to systems that do not fully capture the rich insights present in the narratives that clinicians create and use to document patient 'stories'. We propose a solution of visually representing patient health data centered around the medical problem faced by the patient and augmented by interactivity. We focus on how patients' medical data could be represented such that it facilitates the discovery of insights and understanding of the patient's case that narratives bring to clinicians.


This article presents an efficient methodology for the calibration of a numerical model of a Sgnss freight railway wagon based on experimental modal parameters, namely natural frequencies and mode shapes. Dynamic tests were performed for two distinct static loading configurations, tare weight and current operational overload, under demanding test conditions, particularly during an unloading operation of the train and without disturbing its tight operational schedule. These conditions impose restrictions to the tests, especially regarding the test duration, sensor positioning and system excitation. The experimental setups involve the use of several high-sensitivity accelerometers strategically distributed along with the vehicle platform and bogies in the vertical direction. The modal identification was performed with the application of the enhanced frequency-domain decomposition (EFDD) method, allowing the estimation of 10 natural frequencies and mode shapes associated with structural movements of the wagon platform, which in some cases are coupled with rigid body movements. A detailed 3D FE model of the freight wagon was developed including the platform, bogies, wheelsets, primary suspensions and wheel–rail interface. The model calibration was performed sequentially, first with the unloaded wagon model and then with the loaded wagon model, resorting to an iterative method based on a genetic algorithm. The calibration process allowed the obtainment of the optimal values of eight numerical parameters, including a double estimation of the vertical stiffness of the primary suspensions under the unloaded and loaded static configurations. The results demonstrate that the primary suspensions present an elastic/almost elastic behaviour. The comparison of experimental and numerical responses before and after calibration revealed significant improvements in the numerical models and a very good correlation between the experimental and numerical responses after calibration.


The only way to reverse the degradation of Sri Lanka's economy and polity is to acknowledge that the war is over and take the appropriate measures: release all the Vanni IDPs immediately, slash…


The invention discloses an array substrate and a preparation method thereof. The array substrate comprises a substrate, a buffer layer, a semiconductor pattern layer, a first grid electrode insulation layer, a second grid electrode insulation layer, a first conductive pattern layer, an interlayer insulation layer and a second conductive pattern layer, wherein the substrate comprises a thin-film transistor region and a capacitor region; the buffer layer is formed on the substrate; the semiconductor pattern layer is formed on the buffer layer and comprises a source and drain electrode region and a first electrode; the first grid electrode insulation layer is formed on the semiconductor pattern layer and correspondingly covers regions, except the first electrode, of the thin-film transistor region and the capacitor region; the second grid electrode insulation layer is formed on the first grid electrode insulation layer; the first conductive pattern layer is formed on the second grid electrode insulation layer and comprises a grid electrode and a second electrode; the interlayer insulation layer is formed on the first conductive pattern layer; the second conductive pattern layer is formed on the interlayer insulation layer and comprises a source electrode and a drain electrode which are coupled with the source and drain electrode region as well as a third electrode. With the adoption of the array substrate and the preparation method thereof, the capacitance of a capacitor is increased, film layer structures of the regions except the capacitor region are not changed, the signal line load is effectively decreased, and meanwhile, short-circuit risks of upper and lower film layers of the grid electrode insulation layers are reduced.


Photograph of Queens Wharf, Wellington, taken in 1925. View includes coastal steamers; Harbour Board sheds 1 and 5; and a shed that later housed the Dockside restaurant. Photographer unidentified.
Source of title - Title supplied by Library
Source of descriptive information - Notes on print, including a note from Photographic Archive Librarian Walter Cook which reads: "right hand background - Hope Gibbons Building Dixon str. Under Construction. Built 1924-25."
Quantity: 1 b&w original photographic print(s).
Physical Description: Silver gelatin print, 14.5 x 10.1 cm


One major motivation for nominalism, at least according to Hartry Field, is the desirability of intrinsic explanations: explanations that don't invoke objects that are causally irrelevant to the phenomena being explained. There is something right about the search for such explanations. But that search must be carefully implemented. Nothing is gained if, to avoid a certain class of objects, one only introduces other objects and relations that are just as nominalistically questionable. We will argue that this is the case for two alleged nominalist views: Field's fictionalism ([1980], [1989a]), and Frank Arntzenius and Cian Dorr's geometricalism (Arntzenius and Dorr [2012]). Central to our competing approach to nominalism is a distinction between terms that refer to objects and ones that instead code empirical phenomena while being referentially empty. We next contrast our approach to nominalism, which uses this term-grained distinction between coding and referring, with approaches (to nominalism) that instead attempt to make a sentence-grained distinction between mathematical and non-mathematical content. We show the latter approach (derived from the work of Kitcher, Maddy, and Sober) fails to be responsive to objections raised by van Fraassen. In the end, only one last approach to nominalism is left standing. 1 Introduction 2 Troubles for Mathematical Fictionalism   2.1 A distinction   2.2 Field's programme   2.3 Parts of nominalistically acceptable entities are nominalistically acceptable   2.4 Structural assumptions: How far can these be pushed?   2.5 Cases of indispensable theories where the mathematical posits are known not to be real   2.6 How does science distinguish between the indispensable structural presuppositions taken to be real and those that aren't?   2.7 Do physicists distinguish between mathematical posits and non-mathematical posits?   2.8 Mathematical coding versus genuine metaphysics. Case study: Fields   2.9 The upshot 3 Troubles for Topologism 4 Contrasts: Kitcher, Maddy, Sober, and van Fraassen   4.1 Sober's approach   4.2 Maddy's approach   4.3 Kitcher's approach   4.4 Where do we go from here?   4.5 Van Fraassen's objection to Maddy's approach to ontological commitment 5 Conclusion 1 Introduction 2 Troubles for Mathematical Fictionalism   2.1 A distinction   2.2 Field's programme   2.3 Parts of nominalistically acceptable entities are nominalistically acceptable   2.4 Structural assumptions: How far can these be pushed?   2.5 Cases of indispensable theories where the mathematical posits are known not to be real   2.6 How does science distinguish between the indispensable structural presuppositions taken to be real and those that aren't?   2.7 Do physicists distinguish between mathematical posits and non-mathematical posits?   2.8 Mathematical coding versus genuine metaphysics. Case study: Fields   2.9 The upshot   2.1 A distinction   2.2 Field's programme   2.3 Parts of nominalistically acceptable entities are nominalistically acceptable   2.4 Structural assumptions: How far can these be pushed?   2.5 Cases of indispensable theories where the mathematical posits are known not to be real   2.6 How does science distinguish between the indispensable structural presuppositions taken to be real and those that aren't?   2.7 Do physicists distinguish between mathematical posits and non-mathematical posits?   2.8 Mathematical coding versus genuine metaphysics. Case study: Fields   2.9 The upshot 3 Troubles for Topologism 4 Contrasts: Kitcher, Maddy, Sober, and van Fraassen   4.1 Sober's approach   4.2 Maddy's approach   4.3 Kitcher's approach   4.4 Where do we go from here?   4.5 Van Fraassen's objection to Maddy's approach to ontological commitment   4.1 Sober's approach   4.2 Maddy's approach   4.3 Kitcher's approach   4.4 Where do we go from here?   4.5 Van Fraassen's objection to Maddy's approach to ontological commitment 5 Conclusion


The leaves of Tribulus terrestris(zygophyllaceae) are used traditionally in the folklore for the treatment of various kinds of wounds. The present study was undertaken to verify the effect of the leaves of T. terrestris on experimentally induced excision wound, incision wound and burn wound models in rats. Aloe vera was used as standard wound healing agent. A formulation of aqueous leaves extract in carbopol at 2.5% and 5% concentrations were prepared and applied to the wounds. In the excision and burn wound models, the animal showed significant reduction in period of epithelization and wound contraction (50%). In the incision wound model a significant increase in the breaking strength was observed. The results suggest that T. terrestris aqueous leaves extract applied topically possess wound healing activity.


Several studies have reported successful atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation with the help of intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) using different techniques in patients with dextrocardia with situs inversus (1-3). However, ICE may not always be available, as that observed in the present study. We successfully performed AF and atrial flutter (Afl) ablation in our patient using a 180° mirror image and performed catheter manipulations in the opposite manner as that of usual maneuvers. To the best our knowledge, this is the first report that presents both AF and Afl ablations in the same session in a patient with dextrocardia with situs inversus.


According to recent reports [1]-[3], FPGAs have increasingly become the prime targets for carrying out extremely sophisticated cyber-attacks. Reconfigurability, a core feature of FPGAs, which allow modular designs to be mapped, consequently makes them vulnerable, since it allows intruders to gain control of the hardware during run-time for Trojan insertion. In most cases, the attackers start with reverse engineering a reference hardware design before Trojan insertion. In this paper, we turn the tables and utilize bitstream reverse engineering for Trojan detection. Our approach is bottom-up: it starts with bitstream inspection, FPGA component identification from the layout and follows up with identification of malicious configurations. Due to this bottom-up approach, any stealthy malicious circuit can be detected, which is very hard to do through conventional design analysis methods [16] . We leverage open-source tools, publicly available datasets and vendor provided tools. The method is generic and can be applied to a wide range of FPGAs. An example of Trojan detection is shown for Xilinx Virtex5 VLX50T FPGA. Once the reference database is created, the Trojan detection is very fast, takes less than a minute on a general-purpose Intel Core i5 processor-based computer. The proposed Trojan detection approach is, to the best of our knowledge during publication, the only open-source, software-based, low-cost alternative to time consuming design re-construction and analysis based approaches. It can be applied at the customer end without requiring any hardware alteration/IP updates from FPGA vendors.


Introduction and objective: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a set of neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by social and communication deficits and repetitive and restrictive behaviors. ASD is one of the highest incident and most debilitating of the childhood disorders. A set of problem behaviors related to ASD are restricted food intake and ritualized eating. Feeding problems of children with ASD are frequent and can have serious consequences. The objective of this article is Nutrition in Children with Autism.

Methods: Science Direct, Pubmed, Cochrane, CINAHL, Embase, scopus, (1990 through 2013) were searched for English-language studies using a list of keywords. The books about medicine and speech therapy and psychology were studied too.

Results: The common physical symptoms of children with autism often include diarrhea, constipation, bloating and GI pain, frequent infections, sleeping challenges and inflammation/pain. For many, food intolerances, imbalanced biochemistry and digestive problems are at the core of these symptoms. These weaknesses in physiological functioning can be directly tied to biochemical processes that are affected by diet—the absence of requisite nutrients and/or the presence of offending substances. For many children, altering food choices and adding supplementation affects these processes, promotes healing and can improve autism symptoms. The bodies of children with autism are unique and require specific care, including enzymes for digestion, medical treatment for yeast infections, attention to digestive issues, special dietary requirements, nutrient and fatty acid supplementation, behavioral therapy and more. Gluten, casein, soy, corn and eggs are common offenders. The exact foods to remove will depend on the individual; however, gluten- and casein-free diets are among the most popular and effective.

Conclusion: Sugar and refined oils also contribute to inflammation. Removing the offending foods that contribute to inflammation, trigger immune response (food sensitivities) and increase toxicity, and adding foods and supplements that support a healthy ecosystem and provide needed nutrients can ease symptoms. In this review, the benefits of autism-specific diets and why they should be considered when implementing the treatment plan for ASD are discussed.


Objective To observe the clinical results of anterior decompression and fixation for the treatment of thoracolumbar vertebral burst fractures.Methods Twenty-eight cases with thoracolumbar vertebral burst fractures were treatd surgically. The surgical procedures were anterior decompression , interbody fusion with autograft (or Titanium mesh cage) and anterior fixation utilizing Kaneda or Profile system, through retroperitoneal or/and transthoracic approach.There were 3 cases of two-level decompression, interbody fusion and fixation. In 3 cases with server post-column damages, posterior decompression and fixation were done before anterior ones.Results The patients were followed up from 6 months to 7 years , all cases achieved satisfactory reduction , decompression and heights of the vertebrae recovered for 95% averagely. The average correction of Cobb angle was from 21°preoperatively to 4°postoperatively. The improvement of Frankel neurological classification were 13 cases for 1 grade , 15 cases for 2 grades , 5 cases for 3 grades , and there were 5 cases with complete paralegia got no change. All cases achieved solid fusion in 4 months averagely . There weren't any complications in this group of patients.Conclusion Anterior decompression and interbody fusion with anterior fixation system is one of the most valuable messures for treatment of thoracolumbar vertebral burst fractures. It brings about thorough decompression , quick bone fusion , reliable fixation and stable firmness.


The attached comments indicate obvious scientific merits of your study but also point to some current weaknesses that should be addressed during major revisions. As you will see, the demands expressed from the referees vary significantly. I thus urge you to focus on the most critical experimentation that, as far as I can see center around better support for the functional and crucial contribution of miR-9 in this process (as mentioned by all refs), thorough documentation of the elicited angiogenic effects (ref#2 point 1, ref#1 point 5) and necessary corroboration of the MVtransfer/uptake (to address ref#1 point 6, first part of point1; ref#2 point2 and ref#3 point 1). Addressing particularly these remarks should improve the paper to the level that should convince these scientists from the general significance of your findings. Please do not hesitate to get in touch in case of further questions (preferably via E-mail) and inform us on the progress to offer more time for necessary experimentation. I hope that specifying our demands facilitates rather efficient proceedings and look forward to receive your appropriately revised dataset.


To report on the development of an early intervention service in Modena, Italy, with information relevant to the first 4 years of implementation.


On August 5, 2004, the United States signed the U.S- Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) with five Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua) and the Dominican Republic. DR-CAFTA could have a significant effect on U.S. relations with the region, primarily by establishing a permanent and reciprocal trade preference arrangement among the signatory countries. DR-CAFTA must now be ratified by each country's legislature and approved by the U.S. Congress before taking effect.


PurposeAs the human race moved from the Paleolithic to the current phases of the Neolithic period, the learning process developed from inscriptions on stones to clay tablets, from papyrus to papers and, ultimately, to digital technology. From ancient times to the present, public libraries have become open universities that are more democratic in the provision of educational and information services and the preservation of cultural heritage, regardless of gender and belief. This study attempts to understand reading trends and the use of citizens' resources in public libraries in the age of technology as an open university.Design/methodology/approachThe data for this study on regular visitors, permanent library members, and information on the library inventory was collected from each public library administration through personal visits and interviews. In addition, data on regional population and literacy rates were collected from the Government of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Bureau of Statistics. The authors used descriptive statistics to analyze data for comparative studies.FindingsThe results show that daily visitors, regular library members and their use of library resources are decreasing compared to the literacy rate in each district. It was also concluded that, due to a lack of education and training in the area of information and digital literacy, the accessed database resources are not used properly. Moreover, each densely populated district relies on a single public library to meet general education and information needs.Practical implicationsThe results of this study will help the government expand the network of public libraries at the union council level with competent working staff to increase general motivation to improve reading and resource usage trends. Given the current literacy and population growth in each district, the law on the public library can also be amended and implemented to support the existing library system better and create more libraries in the public interest.Originality/valueThis study was conducted for the first time to determine the current state of public libraries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and to help public library authorities improve their existing public library service status based on the results.


Objective: To determine the effectiveness of six month treatment with Methotrexate in a dose range of 5-15 md once weekly in 103 patients with active Rheumatoid Arthritis


Adaptive sampling near a limit state is quite important for metamodeling-based reliability analysis of structure involving implicit limit state function. Active learning based on the posterior mean and standard deviation provided by a chosen metamodel is widely used for such adaptive sampling. Most of the studies on active learning-based reliability estimation methods use the Kriging approach as the approach provides prediction along with its variance. Like the Kriging approach, sparse Bayesian learning-based regression also provides posterior mean and standard deviation. Due to the sparsity involved in learning, it is expected to be computationally faster than the Kriging approach. Motivated by this, active learning enhanced adaptive sampling-based sparse Bayesian regression is explored in the present study for reliability analysis. In doing so, polynomial basis functions which do not involve any free parameter are chosen for the sparse Bayesian regression to avoid computationally expensive parameter tuning. The convergence of the proposed approach is attained based on the stabilization of ten consecutive failure estimates. The effectiveness of the proposed adaptive sparse Bayesian regression approach is illustrated numerically with five examples.


The mobile and wireless networks used extensively by Internet of Things devices, are becoming more popular for data transfer between Cyber-Physical Systems. These are accessed through mobile applications installed on mobile devices, with various operating systems. The paper is presenting a Cyber Physical Systems Oriented platform for mobile transactions, with applications in remote services access. The data communication is performed with the support of 3G/4G or wireless networks. The platform is designed based on Service Oriented Architecture, which ensures the distribution of IT resources in an integrated environment, organized on principles of information access and processing efficiency. The client application is accessing the service, through the functionality exposed by platform's interfaces. The transaction tools are provided through a web service.


The potential impacts and responses of sea-level rise on the coastline of Senegal are analyzed with an emphasis on regional distribution. Impacts include loss of land and the economic value of structures. The cost of traditional responses (i.e., seawall construction and beach nourishment) is estimated and other responses (i.e. coastal management and retreat) are considered. A one-meter rise in sea level could permanently flood over 6,000 km 2 of land, most of which is wetlands.


The social process of individualization of modern societies and the associated moral individualism are, in the context of moral and social philosophy, the subject of controversial and even contradictory interpretations. In particular, liberal and postmodern approaches appreciate individualization as a process of increasing the autonomy of the individual, weakening of power and ideological pressures and pluralization of the society [1]. Individualization is perceived as an emancipatory process that overcomes all forms of dominion that in some way restrain a man. Conservative, communitarian, and approaches based on the critical theory of society are in principle more cautious and skeptical in the interpretation and evaluation of individualization. They try to point out that the development of modern societies overcomes the traditional forms of dominion, but at the same time it can lead to the emergence of new forms. Contradiction of these interpretations can also be illustrated on the theories of Charles Taylor and Christopher Lasch. While Taylor, in connection with individualization and self-realization, talks about the culture and ethics of authenticity as about "something relatively new and peculiar to modern culture" [2, p. 25], Lasch on the contrary, sees the culture of narcissism, "the culture of competitive individualism, which in its decadence has carried the logic of individualism to the extreme of a war of all against all, the pursuit of happiness to the dead end of a narcissistic preoccupation with the self" [3, p. xv]. One of the key issues that arises in these interpretations is the question of how the profound structural changes within modern society are reflected in its moral life forms and individual biographies. The aim of this paper is to examine the critical thesis formulated in this context by Axel Honneth according to which "the claims to individual self-realization which have rapidly multiplied, beginning with the historically unique concatenation of entirely disparate processes of individualization in the Western societies of thirty or forty years ago, have so definitely become a feature of the institutionalized expectations inherent in social reproduction that the particular goals of such claims are lost and they are transmuted into a support of the system's legitimacy /.../ the processes which once promised an increase of qualitative freedom are henceforth altered into an ideology of de-institutionalization" [4, p. 467]. The intention is to build on Honneth argumentation and to develop it, partly to concretize it and extend it to other context.


Purpose The objective of this study was to develop and validate a questionnaire, through a Delphi consensus, to be used by allergists in their routine clinical practice to assess the preferences of patients starting allergen immunotherapy (AIT) treatment using an objective approach. Patients and Methods A Delphi consensus-driven process was used. The scientific committee, composed of 15 allergists, led the study and participated in the preparation of the questionnaire. Two-hundred panelists from different Spanish regions were invited to complete a 16-item questionnaire on a nine-point Likert scale covering six topic blocks. Consensus was achieved if ≥66.6% of panelists reached agreement or disagreement. Results Of the 200 experts invited to participate in the Delphi process, a total of 195 (97.5%) answered the questionnaire. The panel experts reached a consensus on "agreement" on a total of 12 of the 16 (75.0%) items, covering a total of six categories: (a) patient knowledge (2 questions), (b) barriers to patient adherence (3 questions), (c) patient behavior (4 questions), (d) future actions (3 questions), (e) treatment costs (2 questions), and (f) final patient preferences (2 questions). Conclusion This Delphi consensus study validated a set of twelve recommended questions for patients objectively assessing their preferences and suitability for the most common AIT options available. The questionnaire intends to assist allergists in making an objective, unconditioned decision regarding the best AIT option for each patient, after informing them about the different routes.


Human capital is considered the most important resource in any organization. However, most companies are concerned with external customer satisfaction, without devoting much attention to the satisfaction of their employees. Indisputably, employee satisfaction is fundamental and determines the success or failure of what the customer experiences. Technological developments have changed our lives and habits, and even the way we relate to others, so the online increasingly influences the offline. The purpose of this manuscript was to examine the relationship between the Digital Communication of companies and their Employer Branding, with a special focus on the close relationship that employees feel with the company. To perform this analysis, a case study was carried out using a qualitative approach. Interviews with seven managers from three different companies, two of whom are responsible for the Digital Communication of their organizations, were performed. With the analysis of the data obtained, it is concluded that the Employer Branding perceived by the employees is of a positive image of the company, but they do not feel emotionally more connected with the organization through the Digital Communication practiced by it. With this study, it is expected that organizations recognize the importance that an online presence has in the image of their brand as a whole, and that it is important to invest in Digital Communication, but it has to be performed with an action plan to achieve the objectives intended. From an interdisciplinary perspective, the manuscript presents insights for marketing (digital marketing and employer branding) and for socially responsible behavior by organizations (in a Portuguese context).


A new experimental set-up for a simultaneous measurement of neutron induced capture and fission cross sections was designed, assembled and optimized. The measurements will be performed at GEel LINear Accelerator (GELINA) neutron time- of-flight facility in Belgium, where neutron cross sections can be measured over a wide energy range with high energy resolution. The fission events detector consists of a dedicated multi-plate high efficiency fission ionization chamber (IC). The -rays produced in capture reaction are detected by an efficient array of C6D6 scintillators. Fission -rays events are distinguished from capture events by the anticoincidence signals from the IC and the C6D6 detectors. For the undetected fission events a correction has to be applied with respect to the efficiency of the IC that should be high and known with a high precision. Another important issue is the good separation between fission-fragment (FF) and the high alpha pile-up. The performances of the IC during test experiments are presented, focusing in particular on the detection efficiency.


Most business simulations are lengthy affairs, often lasting through a semester. In contrast, this session involves six rapid simulation games dealing with the themes of multiculturalism and globalization. The primary purpose of the session is to introduce participants to the motivational and instructional effectiveness of simulations that last for brief periods of time-but provide rich experiences that can benefit from lengthy debriefing. The session will involve the actual play of six swift simulations, and model facilitation techniques suited for rapid experiential actinides. Participants should be able to borrow and apply all of the six swift simulations in a variety of training and team-building situations


By means of running state and energy consumption analysis of"2 in 1"emission control sys- tem for coke oven charging and pushing,the calculating basis for system selection and optimum energy- saving running mode were given.The application of"2 in 1"emission control system for coke oven charging and pushing is limited by the operating time of each oven chamber,in case that coke oven has many ovens,it is not better to use.In another hand,when selecting"2 in 1"emission control system for coke oven charging and pushing,the factors such as investment,running expense and safety running should be also taken into account.


(57) ABSTRACT A non-volatile memory (NVM) apparatus and an operation method thereof are provided. A mapping table in a main memory is divided into a plurality of Sub-mapping tables according to logical address groups. When an access com mand of a host is processed by the NVM apparatus, at least one corresponding Sub-mapping table is selected from the Sub-mapping tables according to a logical address of the access command. If the at least one corresponding Sub-map ping table is required to be rebuilt, then the at least one corresponding Sub-mapping table is rebuilt, and the logical address of the access command is converter for accessing the NVM apparatus according to the at least one corresponding sub-mapping table which has been rebuilt.


The synthesis and structure of the 1D cobalt (II) complex, [Co(L)2(dca)2] (1) (dca = dicyanamide, C2N3–, L = 4‐picolyl choride) is reported. Complex 1 crystallized in triclinic system, space group P ‐1, with cell dimensions of a = 7.291(2) Å, b = 7.481(2) Å, c = 9.007(3) Å, α =104.444(4)°, β = 96.971(4)°, γ =102.618(4)°, V = 456.1(2) Å3, Z = 1, Dc = 1.624 Mg/m3. In complex 1, Co (II) is 6‐coordinated by N atoms of four dca ligands and two L ligands. The centrosymmetric CoN6 chromophore is an axially elongated octahedron that has Co‐N distances ranging from 2.122(3) to 2.154(3) Å. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


In this paper we show that every (reasonable) TETRIS configuration can be constructed from an initially empty game board using a suitable sequence of pieces. On game boards of even width a simple parity condition has to be fulfilled. The paper provides an explicit construction. This problem is connected to the NP-completeness of certain TETRIS related decision problems.


Devoted to both parents ( birrul wālidain ) is a noble practice which is demanded by religion where it is ordered by God as contained in the Koran and Hadith. Those who are devoted to both parents has been promised by God will get peace of life not only in the world but also in the hereafter and he was rewarded by heaven. In determining the quality of the hadith which will be examined from the narrator's side which will determine whether a hadith can be used as evidence or not, i'tibar activities will be carried out. But before the i'tibar activity is carried out, the Takhrij Hadith activity is first carried out as a first step of research for the Hadith to be examined, then all the hadiths are recorded and collected for later activities of i'tibar and tarjamah ar-ruwah. By doing i'tibar sanad and tarjamah ar-ruwah, it will be clearly seen all the paths of the hadith that were studied, as well as the names of the narrators (biographies), the transmission method used by each narrator concerned, and the credibility of the narrators. Through the use of i'tibar, it is also known that the status of the hadith is entirely seen from the presence or absence of supporters in the form of narrators who have the status of mutabi or shaheed.


The 1990s and 2000s have witnessed a spurt of energetic institution-building in the developing world, as regulatory agencies emerge to take over the role of the executive in key sectors. This rise of the regulatory state of the south is barely noticed both by scholars of regulation and of development, let alone adequately documented and theorized. Yet the consequences for the role of the state and modalities of governance in the south are substantial, as politically charged decisions are handed over to formally technocratic agencies, creating new arenas and forms of contestation over the gains and losses from development decisions. Moreover, this shift in the developing world comes at a time when the regulatory state in the north is under considerable stress from the global financial crisis. Understanding the regulatory state of the south, and particularly forms of accommodation to political pressures, could stimulate a broader conversation around the role of the regulatory state in both north and south. This volume seeks to provoke such a discussion by empirically exploring the emergence of regulatory agencies of a range of developing countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The cases focus on telecommunications, electricity, and water: sectors that have often been at the frontlines of this transition. The central question for the volume is: Are there distinctive features of the regulatory state of the South, shaped by the political-economic context of the global south in the last two decades? To assist in exploring this question, the volume includes brief commentaries on the case studies from a range of disciplines: development economics, law and regulation, development sociology, and comparative politics. Collectively, the volume seeks to shape the contours of a productive inter-disciplinary conversation on the emergence of a significant empirical phenomenon - the rise of regulatory agencies in the developing world - with implications both for the study of regulation and the study of development. Contributors to this volume - Ahmed Badran, Research Fellow, Aston Centre for Critical Infrastructure and Services, Aston University Nai Rui Chng, Affiliate Research Fellow in Human Rights, University of Glasgow Megan Donaldson, Institute Fellow, New York University School of Law Michael Dowdle, Visiting Associate Professor with National University of Singapore Faculty of Law Kathryn Hochstetler, CIGI Chair of Governance in the Americas, Balsillie School of International Affairs, and Professor of Political Science, University of Waterloo Kanishka Jayasuriya, Professor of International Politics and Director of the Indo-Pacific Governance Research Centre (IPGRC), University of Adelaide Jacint Jordana, professor of Political Science and Public Administration, Universitat Pompeu Fabra Benedict Kingsbury, Murray and Ida Becker Professor of Law, New York University School of Law Piyush Joshi, Partner, Clarus Law Associates, New Delhi David Levi-Faur, Associate Professor of Political Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Roselyn Hsueh, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Temple University Maria Victoria Murillo, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University Alison Post, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley Mariana Moto Prado, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto Lant Pritchett, Professor of the Practice of International Development, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Arun Thiruvengadam, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore Rene Uruena, Assistant Professor and Director, International Law Program, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota


A model for the condensation of a population of cloud droplets in a homogeneous turbulent flow is presented. The model consists of a set of Langevin (stochastic) equations for the droplet area, supersaturation, and temperature surrounding the droplets. These equations yield corresponding ordinary differential equations for various moments and correlations, and can be integrated exactly. The statistics predicted by the model, for instance the droplet area-supersaturation correlation, reproduce well those from available DNS of condensation in forced homogeneous turbulence. The application of the model as a closure for subgrid microphysics in LES of clouds is discussed.


Landslides are common natural disasters around the globe. Understanding the accurate spatial distribution of landslides is essential for landslide analysis, prediction, and hazard mitigation. So far, many techniques have been used for landslide mapping to establish landslide inventories. However, these techniques either have a low automation level (e.g., visual interpretation-based methods) or a low generalization ability (e.g., pixel-based or object-based approaches); and improvements are required for landslide mapping. Therefore, we have developed an interactive, user-friendly web portal for landslide labeling. The web portal takes multi-temporal satellite images as inputs. A deep learning model will first detect landslide-suspicious areas in the image and present results to users for validation. Users can then review and annotate these machine-labeled landslides through a user-friendly interface. Users’ editions on landslide annotation will further improve the accuracy of the deep learning model. Two landslide-affected regions in Washington were selected to test the capability of our web portal for landslide mapping. The detected landslides were validated by expert labelers. The results indicated that our annotation tool was able to produce landslide maps with high precision, a high rate of annotation, and reduced human efforts.


We describe all endomorphisms of a free dimonoid of rank 1 and construct a semigroup which is isomorphic to the endomorphism semigroup of this free dimonoid. Also, we give an abstract characteristic for the endomorphism semigroup of a free dimonoid of rank 1. Mathematics subject classification: 08A05.


Background: Objective of current study was to determine association between iron deficiency anaemia and hypocalcemia in children with febrile seizures. Methods: In this case control study 100 cases and 100 controls with and without seizures were taken, respectively. Iron and calcium deficiency determined in both groups and comparison made individually and additively. Results: Mean hemoglobin of cases and controls was 9.14 gm% and 9.54 gm% respectively. With a P value of 0.003, being statistically significant, low hemoglobin was seen more in cases than controls. Mean value of serum ferritin in cases being 42.11 microgram/dl is statistically significant with a P value of 0.01 i.e., low serum ferritin seen in cases. Whereas mean value of serum calcium was 9.5 mg% which is statistically insignificant. Additively too iron deficiency and calcium deficiency were not associated with febrile seizures. Conclusions: There is a positive association between iron deficiency anaemia and febrile seizures, hence it should be excluded. Whereas calcium deficiency and both iron and calcium deficiency are not associated with febrile seizures.


The increase of thermo-physical properties of masonry made of ceramic burnt products is possible through the use of heat-efficient ceramics and, in particular, porous building tiles. The use of combustible additives or foaming technology is related to increased energy costs and difficulties in obtaining products with uniformly distributed porosity.The analysis of the state of the technology of ceramic materials made it possible to formulate a research hypothesis according to which the use of a porous non-combustible additive in the composition of ceramic masses, on the one hand, will make it possible to obtain materials with a lower density compared to traditional ceramic products, and, on the other hand, will allow the use of hard mixtures with reduced water content, and therefore significantly save the cost of drying products, while increasing the uniformity of the porous ceramic crock.The purpose of the research was to develop recipes for ceramic porous products and to develop modes of their burning. The use of crushed foam glass as a lightweight non-burning and exhausting additive, on the one hand, made it possible to use tough ceramic mixtures (with a water content not exceeding 18%), and, on the other hand, to use more rigid and shorter drying modes, which also reduced the energy and material consumption of the technology.The most energy-intensive burning process was optimized by the methods of mathematical planning and processing of experimental results. The average density of crushed foam glass (140–150 kg/m3), optimal for the burnt product, was established, and also, as a result of analytical optimization and interpretation of the experimental results, dependencies that allow choosing parameters and evaluating product properties depending on foam glass consumption and burning temperature were obtained.


Background The late stages of oil fields development include the technologies increasing oil recovery, and therefore oil production is carried out in conditions of its high water cut, which leads to increased equipment corrosion at production, preparation, storage, transport and processing facilities oil. Technological fluids high aggressiveness is associated with the presence of dissolved gases, mechanical impurities, salt ions, water-soluble naphthenic and mineral acids and bases, as well as microorganisms whose life-activity products cause active biocorrosion of the metal. According to statistics of oil and gas equipment failures and destruction, it can be noted that corrosion of metal and the formation of its products, contributing to the transported raw materials contamination, represent the main complications that significantly reduce its resource. Aims and Objectives Impact assessment of corrosive environment pH on the pitting corrosion development in formation water. Results Studies have shown that an increase in the pH of a water-salt solution saturated with chlorine ions promotes the substantial shift of the aluminum alloy surface stationary electrode potential (up to 900 mV) in the negative direction. This contributes to the cathodic corrosion reactions enhancement and the breakdown of passive films. Passive film breakdown causes the pitting corrosion development. According to the forecast, if the pH is increased to 14, the corrosion rate can be increased to 17 mm/year. Characteristics and composition of alkaline salt condensate require constant monitoring. With significant local increase in the condensate pH, it is necessary to protect the aluminum alloy surface with paint and varnish. Taking into account the study results and following the recommendations made will significantly increase the life of pontoons, reservoirs and other structures during their operation in the oil and gas industry.


Glistenings in intra-ocular lenses have been noted by clinical observation at the slit lamp in over 90% of Alcon Acrysof lenses on follow up 15 to 20 years after insertion in a cohort of 31 cases. A recent audit conducted by RANZCO showed glistenings still occurred in lenses produced after a decade long improvement in manufacturing techniques undertaken by Alcon. A two surgeon clinical audit was conducted to determine the incidence of glistenings in Alcon IOLs of different ages, models and chromophore content. All patients with Alcon IOLs presenting at routine follow up were audited sequentially by surgeon BDS (68 SA60AT lenses) and surgeon PH (all other lenses). Glistenings were graded using the criteria outlined by Werner et al with the addition of a Grade 4 density level for those worse than Grade 3. Implantations occurred between 1998 and 2016. Four IOL models were assessed (17 three-piece MA series, 74 SA60AT, 57 SN60AT, 153 SN60WF—including torics). Among the 284 lenses audited 35% of clear lenses but 66% of yellow lenses showed glistenings. Considering glistenings graded as 2 or greater, which may be more significant clinically, 2% of clear lenses and 35% of yellow lenses were affected (Figure 1). Glistening density was not strongly associated with duration in the Eye (Figure 1). In the subset of chromophore free three-piece lenses (N = 17) with a long mean time in the eye of 17 years, only seven showed grade one glistenings and there were no higher grades. In order to address the question whether differences in glistenings density were IOL model related or chromophore related, a comparison of SA60AT chromophore-free lenses with SN60AT and SN60WF yellow lenses with similar times in situ was undertaken. This analysis was achieved by excluding 79 of the SN60WF lenses with the shortest times in situ. This resulted in three groups of IOLs of similar size and with similar times in situ (Table 1). A pairwise Wilcoxon test showed a statistically significant difference between the IOLs with the chromophore and those without (P < .0001). However, the chromophore lenses SN60AT and SN60WF were not significantly different from each other. This audit suggests lenses containing chromophore were more likely to show glistenings and have higher density of glistenings than chromophore free lenses of the same material. Glistenings did not differ significantly between lens models unless there was a difference in chromophore status. There have been many glistenings related publications over the last 20 years, but our literature search did not find papers with long-term follow up which specifically address the significance of the chromophore. These results suggest that the chromophore is strongly associated with glistening formation. A possible methodologic weakness in this study is that BDS contributed most of the clear lenses (68 of the 74 SA60AT cases) but all other cases came from PH. However, both surgeons had very similar surgical techniques and operated at the same day surgery. They also used a standardized photographic classification (Werner et al) which has been utilized in many publications. Although concordance in grading between BDS and PH has not been specifically tested, given the very large differences found, a genuine influence of the chromophore on glistening formation remains highly likely. Given that two major recent reviews have not found the addition of a blue light blocking chromophore to be clinically helpful, surgeons may find this audit's conclusion pertinent when choosing an IOL for implantation in their patients. Surgeons wishing to look at their own cases in collaboration with colleagues can contact email@example.com for a link


Aging is accompanied by a widespread deterioration in the state of the body (physiological and psychological) with the concomitant manifestation of neurodegenerative diseases (dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease). Biologically active substances contained in the fruits of chokeberry have previously shown a neuroprotective potential in relation to model organisms in vivo, so we put forward a hypothesis about the possible neurodenegeroprotective potential of the ethanol extract of chokeberry (×Sorbaronia mitschurinii) on Drosophila melanogaster with overexpression of the precursor of human beta-amyloid UAS-Aβ42. Its accumulation in human brain cells triggers the development of Alzheimer's disease. In this work, we have studied the effect of chokeberry extract at a concentration of 10 mg/ml on the lifespan of Drosophila model of Alzheimer's disease. The extract increases the median and maximum lifespan of females by 11 %, as well as the median lifespan of males by 2 % but reduces their maximum lifespan by 3 %. These results indicate the neuroprotective effect of chokeberry extract.


Telemetry data from flight tests are normally plotted using MatLabTM or other third party software. For most of the trajectory and flight parameters, a static 2D or 3D line graph does not provide the proper data visualization that can be accomplished with 3D software. Commercial 3D software can be expensive and difficult to customize, and writing custom software using Direct3D or OpenGL can be complex and time consuming. These problems were overcome using C# and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) to quickly and easily create a 3D Telemetry Theater and Trajectory Visualization Tool to dynamically display actual and simulated flight tests.


As the first practical solid state imaging device, the invention of the Charge Coupled Device has profoundly affected image sensing technology. They are used in many applications both as area and linear imaging devices.


The implementation of laws and regulations regarding villages still has many problems that must be addressed properly and as early as possible. Problems start from the aspect of human resources, regional and village regulations that have not been compiled, the readiness of village documents that are not yet available and so on. Training on Income Tax Article 23 is expected to be able to provide solutions to aspects of improving human resources. The objects of this community service activity are all village government officials who are responsible for managing village finances. The training given to training participants uses the pedagogical learning method, where the speaker provides training with a monologue then continues with a two-way dialogue between the resource person and the participant. Community service activities are carried out in Kerinjing Village and carried out within 2 days. The results of this training can be concluded that: 1) The role of village officials in Kerinjing Village, Tanjung Raja Ogan Ilir sub-district in relation to Income Tax Article 23 is very large; 2) There is a suitability of training material with the needs of village officials to increase understanding of Article 23 Income Tax; 3) There is a positive response seen from the enthusiasm of the training participants to participate in service activities; 4) There needs to be assistance for village officials in calculating, calculating, paying, reporting in relation to Income Tax Article 23. Especially in relation to tax notification (SPT) both periodic and annual SPT.


105.39 The Eureka theorem of Gauss Introduction In 1796, Gauss proved that every positive integer is a sum of at most three triangular numbers [1]. The result has received its catchy name because Gauss noted his breakthrough by writing EYPHKA! Num = + + in his diary. To prove Gauss's result it is sufficient to prove that every positive integer of the form can be expressed as a sum of three squares. Considering such an expression modulo 8 shows that the squares must all be odd and we then have 8k + 3


Taking the shaking table test of a complex high-rise structure in Guangzhou as an example,the shaking table test of dynamic model of high-rise structure which including model design,model manufacturing process,choice of testing program etc.is introduced detailedly in this paper.Based on finite element analysis,the errors between simulated earthquake by shaking table test and finite element analysis are analyzed.Moreover,several problems of the shaking table test of high-rise structure which need researching in the future are introduced.


We present the first interferometric polarization map of the W3(OH) massive star-forming region observed with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) at 878 μm with an angular resolution of 1.″5 (about 3 × 103 AU). Polarization is detected in the W3(H2O) hot core, an extended emission structure in the northwest of W3(H2O), and part of the W3(OH) ultracompact H ii region. The W3(H2O) hot core is known to be associated with a synchrotron jet along the east–west direction. In this core, the inferred magnetic field orientation is well aligned with the synchrotron jet and close to the plane of sky. Using the Chandrasekhar–Fermi method with the observed dispersion in polarization angle, we estimate a plane-of-sky magnetic field strength of 17.0 mG. Combined with water maser Zeeman measurements, the total magnetic field strength is estimated to be 17.1 mG, comparable to the field strength estimated from the synchrotron model. The magnetic field energy dominates over turbulence in this core. In addition, the depolarization effect is discerned in both SMA and James Clerk Maxwell Telescope measurements. Despite the great difference in angular resolutions and map extents, the polarization percentage shows a similar power-law dependence with the beam averaged column density. We suggest that the column density may be an important factor to consider when interpreting the depolarization effect.


The Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques has embarked on a bold journey to provide its readership with articles that are compelling and provide clear evidence for more effective medical practice. To practice medicine more effectively, physicians must also pay more attention to the businesses in which they operate. Health care organizations are businesses and just as physicians must increasingly engage in evidence-based practice, health care businesses must increasingly engage in evidence-based business practice. JSDT has introduced a new section to the journal entitled "The Business of Medicine." This section will provide articles focused on business challenges facing physician practice organizations. We invite articles for consideration that elucidate the business challenges that health care organizations face and provide evidence to support health care innovation and strategy. Such terms as strategic alliances, health care innovation, strategy, value chain management, and consumer behavior must become part of the physician's lexicon. Trends in the financing and delivery of health care have signaled the need for all participants to become more strategic in their outlook. The business of health care is the practitioner's business. This section will help you as medical practitioners to understand better and fully engage in the business of health care. There is a growing body of research and anecdotal evidence that the business of health care shares many of the challenges that other economic sectors face. The next sections present examples of the economic and business challenges facing health care providers.


responsibil i ty on the youths for themselves and others. Staff members who should not beworking with troubled youths are made worse by selecting them into this program and giving them more power to abuse.their charges. In sum, you cannot expect good results if you bring in some consultants for a few days, "train" the whole staff, give them all groups assigned "by the numbers", and generally undersupervise or use unskil led supervisors thereafter. The tailure to build in evaluation assures that when the problems become known, they wi l l be bombs. To sum i t uo. I th ink th is edi t ion is better than the f i rst . l t of fers a method I have seen to be effective for many years using different group leaders at a girls' learning center with above average abil ity students. (The method works in several cottages while the majority of girls are involved in other approaches to counsel ing.) The method is easy enough for the g i r ls to learn. l t should not be too much harder tor col lege students to learn. They do have to become adept at assessing and interpret ing roup and indiv idual dynamics which is not necessarily required of the adolescents. Since college training programs cannot prepare their students for a l l of the methods they wi l l be required to use where they wi l l employ, i t seems reasonable to give them al l a sol id f oundat ion in pr inciples and ski l ls in at least a few methods. This book presents a method I would include in such training.


Currently, Web quality research term mainly refers to the quality of content of web pages. There are some research efforts on Javascript code and CSS code quality metrics, but none for measuring metrics of HTML5 code and estimating its quality and quantity. Towards this direction the aim of this work is to determine what characteristics of HTML5 code can be measured, to specify concrete metrics to measure those characteristics, to implement a tool for calculating them for a small set of representative web pages and finally evaluate experimentally the results based on statistical analysis and data mining techniques.


City management has been brought significant challenges by urban population increasing, for example, urban transport, environment, water resource, residents medical treatment and so on. Take full advantage of information technologies, manage city operation in an integrated and systematic mode, to coordinate the various functions of city, provide quality service and unlimited innovation space for enterprises, higher quality of life for residents. Based on interconnect, collaborative and wisdom, the smart city is a new thinking path for exploring future urbanization and a new concept for promoting post-modern city construction. From the perspective of system engineering, comprehensively analyzed system architecture of smart city, soft environment construction, city construction dimensional model, evaluation indexes, causal analysis diagram and evaluation flow chart to provide a reference thinking path for the smart city construction and development. At the same time, the future research direction of the project were given, they were how to mine big data from smart city operation, construct organization and operation mechanisms of smart city.


Louis Althusser's critique of Gramsci's "absolute historicism" involved the elaboration of a distinctive notion of plural historical temporalities or times. This argues, first, that Althusser's theory of plural historical temporalities should be understood as integrally linked to his critique both of structuralism and of theories of the subject. Second, the essay argues that, Althusser's early criticisms notwithstanding, Gramsci can be understood to have elaborated a consistently nonformalist notion of constitutive temporal plurality, particularly with his notion of "prevision" as a method of political work. Rather than culminating in a figure of temporal synchronization, hegemonic politics should instead be thought as a mode of intervention that valorizes rather than negates the "non-presence of the present," or constitutive noncontemporaneity, as the fundamental condition of revolutionary politics.


In several European countries policies are being implemented to reduce growing car use. Sometimes in vain, sometimes with success. In the European Commission (EC) 'Designs to Avoid the Need to Travel in Europe' (DANTE) research project an assessment is made on the impact of these strategies and whether successful strategies are transferable to other countries. This paper gives an overview of the implementation rate of various types of measures in Denmark, Greece, Italy, Rumania, United Kingdom, and The Netherlands. The main empirical part of the DANTE project is based on a synthesis of the policies to reduce the need to travel in 7 cities and a corridor. As an example of the case study findings the paper discusses some measures implemented to increase bicycle use in these cities, and some experiences with park-and-ride-schemes. (A) For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 493592.


After 1918 wide range of land reforms were implemented in East-Central and Southeast Europe in order to restructure the system of landed property and to provide land for the peasants. The objective of my essay – behind the evaluation of the introduced land reforms in the Central, Eastern and Southeastern European countries – is to analyze its concrete effects and consequences on the agriculture. I will focus on the evaluation of agrarian reforms, which were implemented in six countries of the region (Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland). Because of limited extent I wouldn't like to deal with the main factors, which determined the backwardness of the agriculture in the region, such as the overpopulation of the agrarian sector, its low internal capital accumulation and income production capacity and finally the lack of technical-technological modernization.


French research on rootstocks is based on two strategies: the creation of new rootstocks and the evaluation of existing rootstocks (GreffAdapt facility). The search for traits associated with drought tolerance has not yet been brought to a successful conclusion, but work is continuing with the emphasis on field experiments, measurement of δ13C, consideration of yield, and study of trait plasticity as a function of the scion and the water status.


Hemodialysis can remove uremic toxins for cognitive process improvement in hemodialysis patients. This study aims to determine the long-standing relationship of hemodialysis to the cognitive function of patients with chronic renal failure. This type of research is descriptive analytic with a cross sectional study design. The population in this study were patients who underwent hemodialysis with the sampling technique used was total sampling totaling 83 respondents. The study was conducted in May - June 2018 in the hemodialysis unit. The instrument used to measure cognitive function is MMSE (Mini Mental State Exam). Data analysis used was univariate analysis and bivariate analysis using correlation test. The results showed that the duration of hemodialysis was the lowest 1 week and the highest 96 months with a mean duration of 21 months hemodialysis, the lowest cognitive function score 7 and the highest 30 scores with the average cognitive function was 18. Relationship analysis showed no long association of hemodialysis with function cognitive (p Value = 0.375; r = 0.099). This study provides recommendations for further research related to factors that influence cognitive impairment in hemodialysis patients and it is expected that nurses improve the quality of cognitive function nursing care in hemodialysis patients at risk of cognitive impairment.Keywords: Cognitive Function, Hemodialysis


Gonadal index and maturity stages of the Brazilian squid Loljgo sanpaulensjs were analysed on a monthly basis. Squid were caught in coastal waters off the Cabo Frio region, Brazil, between 1987 and 1988 at depths rang~ng from 30 to 60 m using an otter trawl with 10 m footrope and 45 mm cod-end mesh size. Field data analysis showed that development of the nidamental gland and testis was closely related (r > 0.9) to body size and maturity stage in the population. Mature indiv~duals are recruited into the population twice a year. Size at first maturity was estimated to be 50 to 55 mm mantle length (ML) for males and 55 to 60 mm ML for females. Indirect evidence suggests that the final phases of the maturity process in females occur abruptly at some point after that size, and that recruitment of juveniles follows spawning and subsequent mortality or emigration of adults from the sampling area. Spawning is likely to take place in late summer and late winter


We consider the mean distribution functions $\ensuremath{\Phi}(r|\mathcal{l}),$ ${\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{B}}(r|\mathcal{l}),$ and ${\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{S}}(r|\mathcal{l}),$ giving the probability that two sites on the incipient percolation cluster, on its backbone and on its skeleton, respectively, connected by a shortest path of length l are separated by an Euclidean distance $r.$ Following a scaling argument due to de Gennes for self-avoiding walks, we derive analytical expressions for the exponents ${g}_{1}{=d}_{f}{+d}_{\mathrm{min}}\ensuremath{-}d$ and ${g}_{1}^{\mathrm{B}}{=g}_{1}^{\mathrm{S}}{=3d}_{\mathrm{min}}\ensuremath{-}d,$ which determine the scaling behavior of the distribution functions in the limit $x\ensuremath{\equiv}r/{\mathcal{l}}^{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\nu}}}\ensuremath{\ll}1,$ i.e., $\ensuremath{\Phi}(r|\mathcal{l})\ensuremath{\propto}{\mathcal{l}}^{\ensuremath{-}\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\nu}}d}{x}^{{g}_{1}},$ ${\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{B}}(r|\mathcal{l})\ensuremath{\propto}{\mathcal{l}}^{\ensuremath{-}\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\nu}}d}{x}^{{g}_{1}^{\mathrm{B}}},$ and ${\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\mathrm{S}}(r|\mathcal{l})\ensuremath{\propto}{\mathcal{l}}^{\ensuremath{-}\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\nu}}d}{x}^{{g}_{1}^{\mathrm{S}}},$ with $\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\nu}}\ensuremath{\equiv}{1/d}_{\mathrm{min}},$ where ${d}_{f}$ and ${d}_{\mathrm{min}}$ are the fractal dimensions of the percolation cluster and the shortest path, respectively. The theoretical predictions for ${g}_{1},$ ${g}_{1}^{\mathrm{B}},$ and ${g}_{1}^{\mathrm{S}}$ are in very good agreement with our numerical results.


The behavior of the 3 hinged precast arch structure was investigated by comparing field measurements with numerical analyses performed for precast lining arch structures, which are widely used for the open-cut tunnel. According to the field measurements, the maximum vertical displacement occurred at the crown with upward displacements during the backfilling up to the crown of the arch and downward displacements at the backfill height above the crown. The final crown displacement was 19 mm upward from the original position. The horizontal displacement at the sidewall, which had a maximum horizontal displacement, occurred inward of the arch when compacting the backfill up to the crown and returned to the original position after completing the backfill construction. According to the analysis of displacement measurements, economical design is expected to be possible for precast arch structures compared to rigid concrete structures due to ground-structure interactions. Duncan model gave good results for the estimation of displacements and deformed shape of the tunnel according to the numerical analyses comparing with field measurements. The earth pressure coefficients calculated from the numerical analyses were 0.4 and 0.7 for the left and the right side of the tunnel respectively, which are agreed well with the eccentric load acting on the tunnel due to topographical condition and actual field measurements.


Field experiment was conducted for two crop seasons (1996-97 & 1997-98) at CCS, HAU, Hisar research farm to study the effect of weather parameters on growth and yield of mustard. The results indicated that an increase in maximum temperature and duration of sunshine hours resulted in increased leaf area index (LAI). The increase in daytime temperature resulted in higher biomass accumulation during vegetative phase, but the trend was reversed during physiological maturity. The biomass accumulation in brassicas increased with increase in evaporation rate during the grand growth period. However, latter on during the physiological maturity, increase in evaporation rate resulted in decline of biomass accumulation. Further, it was noted that the magnitudes of some important weather parameters (maximum and minimum temperatures, pan evaporation and morning relative humidity) during the vegetative phase of crop played decisive role in deciding the quantum of seed yield which is a resultant of various yield attributes. The rainfall during the crop growing season either have no association or had a negative relationship with yield and yield attributes because crop never experienced water stress as abundant moisture was made available through irrigation.


We point out the existing confusions about the slowroll parameters and conditions for multifield inflation. If one requires the fields to roll down the gradient flow, we find that only articles adopting the Hubble slowroll expansion are on the right track, and a correct condition can be found in a recent book by Liddle and Lyth. We further analyze this condition and show that the gradient flow requirement is stronger than just asking for a slowly changing, quasi-de Sitter solution. Therefore it is possible to have a multifield slowroll model that does not follow the gradient flow. Consequently, it no longer requires the gradient to be small. It even bypasses the first slowroll condition and some related no-go theorems from string theory. We provide the "spiral inflation" as a generic blueprint of such inflation model and show that it relies on a monodromy locus---a common structure in string theory effective potentials.


Transformation of retinal neuro‐epithelial cells by Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) leads to many alterations in cell phenotype, including changes in cell movement, cell‐cell adhesion and protease secretion. To define and quantitate the alterations in cell movement, we analyzed video recordings of cultured cells using the computer‐assisted Dynamic Morphology System (DMS). Control neuro‐epithelial cells showed very low levels of translocation and membrane activity. After transformation, neuro‐epithelial cells exhibited increased membrane activity, although directed cell translocation remained low. Developing retinas also contain a small proportion of Muller glial cells, which were purified by repeated passaging of control cultures. In contrast to neuro‐epithelial cells, both control and RSV‐transformed glial cells showed high levels of translocation and membrane activity. To analyze how different kinds of cell movement affect invasive behavior, we compared the ability of control and RSV‐transformed cells to invade the chorio‐allantoic membrane of developing chicken embryos. Control neuro‐epithelial cells were not invasive. RSV‐transformed neuro‐epithelial cells, which showed low levels of translocation as revealed by DMS, were invasive. Similarly, RSV‐transformed glial cells were invasive while control glial cells, which translocated, were not invasive. These results suggest that high levels of cell translocation are not necessary for invasion. In addition, the results suggest that elevated membrane activity in neuro‐epithelial cells may be important for their invasion.


The design of a next generation Australian Synchrotron replacement lattice is a multi-objective and multi-constrained problem. Our group was tasked to produce a low emittance design while re-using the existing tunnel infrastructure and injector system. Our objectives coupled with the set infrastructure constraints are not straightforward to achieve with manual design. Several variables act at cross-purposes to one-another, leading to a conflicting trade-off between objectives. Recently we have investigated replacement options for the Australian Synchrotron containing longitudinal gradient and reverse bends in the form of a 4BA (4-bend achromat) lattice. In this work, optimise the lattice design for a potential fourth generation Australian Synchrotron facility. We outline the baseline 4BA solution to the lowest emittance lattice that can reuse the existing tunnels and injector system. INTRODUCTION The Accelerator Physics group at the ANSTO Australian Synchrotron (AS) was recently tasked with the goal of designing a baseline lattice for a potential upgraded facility at the Australian Synchrotron in Clayton, Victoria, Australia. The current storage ring is a 216 m circumference, 3.03 GeV electron storage ring which provides users with an emittance (εx) of 10.51 nm. With recent developments in the field and facilities around the world moving into the next generation of light source facilities, we aimed to develop a collection of potential designs for a new lattice with ultra-low emittance, while maintaining the tunnel infrastructure. BASELINE LATTICE General Layout The lattice replacement design (AS-U) presented here is a symmetric fourth-order multi-bend achromat which achieves a extremely low emittance of 0.308 nm (308 pm). The design (shown in Fig. 1) comprises of 14 4BA cells with 14 long straight sections of 3.52 m. Each sector (see Fig. 2) comprises of a matching cell and dispersion suppressor section at either end of the unit cells (see Fig. 3). The beta-functions, dispersion function and H function of one sector is shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, respectively. This lattice is based on the SLS-2 lattice design by Streun et al. [1]. We employ reverse bend (RB), longitudinal gradient bend (LGB) and vertical bend (VB) magnets. Longitudinal Gradient Bends [2] vary the magnetic field to compensate for dispersion and the H function. Reverse bend magnets at the end of the cells control and reduce the dispersion at center of the LGB magnet through variation of the dispersion [3]. ∗ email@example.com RB


1. commitment /k 'mitm nt/n.承诺;献身;委托 We will argue over it and may even, as a nation, make some fairly solemn-sounding commitments to avoid it. (08.6)


This is not a chapter but an introduction to the Green Building Handbook Volume 2, edited by Llewellyn van Wyk


Purpose
The Life in Custody (LIC) Study is a nationwide prospective cohort study examining the quality of prison life in the Netherlands. The purpose of this paper is to describe Dutch prisoners' perceptions of prison climate, as well as differences across regimes.

Design/methodology/approach
The target population of the study consisted of all male and female adult prisoners in the Netherlands who were incarcerated in various regimes in a total of 28 prisons, between January and April 2017. An intensive and personal recruitment strategy was employed. Participants completed a detailed survey, the prison climate questionnaire (PCQ). Self-reported information on a variety of topics was collected, including perceived prison climate, well-being and self-reported behaviour.

Findings
In total, 4,938 prisoners participated in the survey, which amounts to a high response rate of 81 per cent. Analyses show that respondents' characteristics are almost identical to those of non-respondents. Ratings of prison climate vary across domains and regimes, with more positive scores for minimum-security regimes.

Practical implications
A detailed methodological approach is described that can be adopted to achieve a high response rate with survey research among prisoners. The paper alerts researchers and practitioners to a large ongoing study and first findings on prison climate in the Netherlands. The PCQ can be requested from the authors and used in future research (internationally) to gain information about the perceived quality of prison life. The paper gives insight in how different regimes are associated with differences in perceived prison climate. Collaboration on the research project can be sought with the authors.

Originality/value
Findings of the LIC study illustrate the value of having data on prison climate. Results of the study will contribute to more knowledge on imprisonment and what can be done to improve the humane treatment of offenders by the criminal justice system. Moreover, knowledge about the methodology of the study may enable future comparative research on prison climate.


The article systematizes and examines the causes, tasks and problems of digital transformation of enterprises in certain sectors of the economy in terms of the functioning of the organization management association, which assumes certain patterns and dependencies of parts of the whole, as well as taking into account the proactive effect of managing digital transformation systems. The results of the analysis of problematic issues faced by organizations during the digital transformation of business processes are presented. To determine the obstacles, an analysis was made, where the difficulties encountered by enterprises when moving towards digital transformation were determined. The identified problems are distributed in accordance with the priority of the tasks, as a result of which the greatest importance was noted in the management part. To get out of this group of problems, appropriate solutions are proposed that have distinctive features from classical management.


ABSTRACT There is a perception that temporary employment is rising in Europe but there is little evidence to support this. If one takes the position that temporary employment should be rising due to large structural changes in European labor markets, then stagnating trends represents something of a puzzle. I examine the puzzle by applying a life-course approach to understand the distribution and trends in temporary employment among prime-age workers in 31 European countries. I compare and contrast changes in the temporary employment rate in a single period of time using cross-sectional data from the European Labour Force Survey (LFS), with changes in the risk of experiencing temporary employment in multiple periods of time using longitudinal data from the European Survey of Income and Living Conditions (SILC). Results from cross-sectional data suggest that between 1996 and 2007, the temporary employment rate increased in Europe by 28%, but between 2007 and 2019, there was little change. By contrast, results from panel data suggest that between 2013 and 2019, the risk of experiencing at least one temporary employment contract rose 36%. Over time, the temporary employment rate stagnated, but the temporary employment risk rose. The contribution provides insight into the nature of employment experiences associated with insecurity.


We explain the appearance of the free compression of a transition measure in the problem of the restriction of the representation of the symmetric group to a subgroup by showing the responsible free projection.


This article describes the basic processes of racialization. The paper begins by analyzing how Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans were racialized during t...


Breast irradiation significantly reduces the risk of recurrence of cancer. There is growing evidence suggesting that irradiation of only the involved area of the breast, partial breast irradiation (PBI), is as effective as whole breast irradiation. Benefits of PBI include shortened treatment time, and perhaps fewer side effects as less tissue is treated. However, these benefits cannot be realized without precise and accurate localization of the lumpectomy cavity. Several studies have shown that accurate delineation of the cavity in CT scans is very challenging and the delineated volumes differ dramatically over time and among users. In this paper, we propose utilizing 3D ultrasound (3D-US) and tracked strain images as complementary modalities to reduce uncertainties associated with current CT planning workflow. We present the early version of an integrated system that fuses 3D-US and real-time strain images. For the first time, we employ tracking information to reduce the noise in calculation of strain image by choosing the properly compressed frames and to position the strain image within the ultrasound volume. Using this system, we provide the tools to retrieve additional information from 3D-US and strain image alongside the CT scan. We have preliminarily evaluated our proposed system in a step-by-step fashion using a breast phantom and clinical experiments.


Founded in 1990 to cover the emerging discipline of scientific visualization, the IEEE Visualization Conference Series is now one of the most prestigeous events on the IEEE calendar. By 1992 "Vis" was recognized as the premier conference for the topic area worldwide. The initial conference had Gordon Bell as its first (Keynote) speaker, followed immediately by a Keynote Panel that included Jim Clark, founder and then chairman of Silicon Graphics and Bill Poduska, founder and President and CEO of Ardent Computer, David Nagel, VP for Advanced Technology of Apple Computer, and Stephen Colley, President and CEO of NCUBE.


T he introduction of computed tomography (CT) of the chest has undoubtedly provided clinicians with a new and valuable diagnostic tool. Compared with plain chest radiography, CT allows greater discrimination between solid mass and fatty, cystic, and vascular structures,' and has been shown to be useful in the evaluation of many pulmonary disorders, including pulmonary nodules,2 interstitial lung disease,3 and bronchiectasis,, to name a few. In particular, chest CT often provides new insight into the evaluation of mediastinal structures due to the superimposition of structures in this region on plain films.' Consequently, chest CT is currently in widespread use, being ordered by a wide variety of physicians, including those in various specialties and primary care, as well as residents in training. Despite the improved imaging that CT scans provide , the specific indications for this study remain vague. Furthermore, the overall utility of this study in enhancing patient-care decisions or improving patient outcome is unclear. In our own experience, data obtained from chest CT scans often provide no new clinical information, and when new information is obtained, it often has little or no impact on patient care. It is our concern, therefore, that the justification for frequent utilization of chest CT scans does not exist. As with any diagnostic test, if it were low in cost and essentially risk-free, even modest benefits would justify its widespread use. However, chest CT is neither inexpensive nor risk-free. Although charges vary, combined technical and professional fees are approximately $500 (based upon local norms). There are also costs and risks associated with chest CT due to the unnecessary evaluation of false-positive studies and the delay in diagnosis associated with false-negative tests. Unfortunately, the accuracy ofchest CT for a wide variety ofconditions has yet to be adequately defined. Perhaps even more significant are the radiation risks. The exact patient radiation dose depends upon several factors, including patient size, the specific machine employed, and the technique used. In general , conventional chest CT results in a radiation dose of approximately 2 rads.. To place this value in better perspective, this radiation dose is approximately 100 times that of a standard chest film. While radiation exposure considerably depending upon technique, radiation doses can range as high as 12 to 14 rad,6 or the equivalent of more than 500 chest films! Concern has been focused recently in the literature on the risk of exposure resulting from a single …


Transferable skills analysis (TSA) has been a fundamental tool for analyzing employability in vocational rehabilitation. Computerized software has reduced the cost and time necessary to perform a TSA, proliferating its use. The use of TSA software has also expanded in recent years beyond the forensic arena to other areas of rehabilitation including vocational evaluation, career exploration, and case management. However, among the various software packages, there is a lack of consistency in how a TSA is performed, leading to varying results between programs. This paper highlights this inconsistency, its potential clinical impact on service provision, and the need for further research into the definition and application of TSA in rehabilitation.