Purpose: To propose and demonstrate a Monte Carlo‐based method of assessing the targeting uncertainty of an ophthalmologic‐specific stereotactic radiosurgerydevice that provides a physically realistic assessment of end‐to‐end uncertainty in targeting accuracy. Using this method, the minimum acceptable an ongoing European clinical trial in the treatment of macular degeneration, separation between optic disc (organ at risk) and fovea (target) was calculated for Method and Materials: All sources of uncertainty in targeting were estimated in categories that include mechanical precision, machine alignment, calibration error, patient motion, and biometric uncertainty. These sources were characterized in terms of their magnitude of error as well as the resulting two‐dimensional shape of their uncertainty distribution on the retina, such as Gaussian, constant, or random. Once uncertainties were characterized, sample "treatments" were simulated by choosing a random magnitudes and directions for each source of error. After statistical noise was adequately reduced, an uncertainty distribution resulted that described the probabilistic position of the beam on the retina. Armed with this distribution, the probability that the proximal portion of the optic disc could receive a dose greater than a threshold could be calculated and a patient eligibility criterion defined. Results: Using this technique, a minimum acceptable fovea to optic disc edge distance was calculated for patients eligible for the radiation treatment of macular degeneration using this SRSdevice.Conclusion: For complex, multi‐dimensional systems this method is more straightforward than the traditional Taylor's expansion method of uncertainty propagation. It explicitly takes into account the non‐normal distribution of most input uncertainties and, as the result itself is a multi‐dimensional probability distribution, provides more insight than a single number like a standard deviation. It allows the user to explicitly select an acceptable risk and tailor the operational parameters to achieve that. Conflict of Interest: Research sponsored by Oraya Therapeutics


A Tradeable Green Certificates (TGCs) is a market oriented instrument to achieve targets of renewables in deregulated electricity markets. TGCs have already been implemented in several countries, but the effect of the market instrument is still uncertain with respect to price formation and efficiency. We give a survey of previous studies on TGC markets predominantly based on static comparative analyses and equilibrium models. A system dynamics analysis of the Swedish TGC market design is then presented. The dynamic analysis of the TGC market reveals new insights caused by the investment dynamics. In the last part of our paper, we expand our study to represent trading of TGCs. The performance of the TGC market is analysed using laboratory experiments. In particular, the price formation shows to be dependent on market design chosen and trading strategies adopted. We hypothesize some some trading strategies that shows to mimic the behaviour of the laboratory experiments as well as the observations of the Swedish TGC market.


In scheduling theory the basic model assumes that all machines are continuously available for processing throughout the planning horizon. This assumption might be justified in some cases but it does not apply if certain maintenance requirements , breakdowns or other constraints that cause the machines not to be available for processing have to be considered. In this chapter we discuss results related to deterministic scheduling problems where machines are not continuously available for processing. Examples of such constraints can be found in many areas. Limited availabilities of machines may result from pre-schedules which exist mainly because most of the real world resources planning problems are dynamic. A natural approach to cope with a dynamic environment is to trigger a new planning horizon when the changes in the data justify it. However, due to many necessities, as process preparation for instance, it is mandatory to take results of earlier plans as fixed which obviously limits availability of resources for any subsequent plan. Consider e.g. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) production planning systems when a rolling horizon approach is used for customer order assignment on a tactical level. Here consecutive time periods overlap where planning decisions taken in earlier periods constrain those for later periods. Because of this arrangement orders related to earlier periods are also assigned to time intervals of later periods causing the resources not to be available during these intervals for orders arriving after the planning decisions have been taken. The same kind of problem may be repeated on the operational level of production scheduling. Here processing of some jobs is fixed in terms of starting and finishing times and machine assignment. When new jobs are released to the shop floor there are already jobs assigned to time intervals and machines while the new ones have to be processed within the remaining free processing intervals. Another application of limited machine availability comes from operating systems for mono-and multi-processors, where subprograms with higher priority will interfere with the current program executed. A similar problem arises in multiuser computer systems where the load changes during the usage. In big massively parallel systems it is convenient to change the partition of the processors among different types of users according to their requirements for the machine. Fluctuations related to the processing capacity can be modeled by intervals of different processor availability. Numerous other examples exist where the investigation of limited machine availability is of …


The first enantioselective transport of Z-amino acid and dipeptide K+ carboxylates has been realized using lariat ethers with dipeptide pendant arms as new 'symporter' models.


This study offers the opportunity to discover and comprehend the experiences of expatriate nurses employed in an acute general hospital, in Malta. The evidence in the literature suggests that when nurses migrate to other countries to work, they often encounter difficulties in adjusting to the new environment to which they have migrated. Efforts to enhance their adjustment to work have been recommended in the literature. Due to the fact that there has been no local studies carried out in this area of expatriation, an interpretive phenomenological approach was considered most appropriate, with the aim of producing rich and meaningful data. Data was collected from a purposive sample often expatriate nurses originating from Bulgaria, Romanian and the Philippines, who had been working within the acute care hospital for a minimum of two yertr'> throngh in-rlP-pth sP-mi-stm~tnrerl interviews. All the ten interviews were recorded and transcribed. Following transcription, only nine interviews were analysed as during this stage one of the nurses from the initial sample decided to terminate participation in the study. Analysis and interpretation of the data from the nme interviews was achieved through use of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), a distinctive approach in conducting qualitative research that is concerned with understanding lived experiences. The findings demonstrate that several contributory factors exist in influencing the nurses to migtate to Malta, mostly related to financial incentives and better working conditions. However, on migration, it was evident that these nurses had to face some


An algorithm is given for computing the mixed Hodge structure (more precisely, the Hodge–Deligne numbers) for cohomology of complete intersections in toric varieties in terms of Newton polyhedra specifying the complete intersection. In some particular cases the algorithm leads to explicit formulas. Bibliography: 8 titles.


The idea that stressful life events can contribute to the initiation and development of substance use disorders gained some acceptance particularly in the clinical community. Research studies of life events and their relationship to addiction disorders are reviewed. Adverse life events will be divided into predisposing or vulnerable life events, precipitating or triggers, and mediator factors. Findings from studies are summarised and their relevance to the methodology discussed.


Feminism as a movement has adapted/changed as time goes by and contemporary literature produced by female African writers has recently offered a locus to assess how the movement has favoured the field. Two novels are briefly investigated in this article, namely Everything Good Will Come by Nigerian Sefi Atta and We Need New Names by Zimbabwan NoViolet Bulwayo. My aim is to discuss how feminism, in its close-knit relationship with postcolonialism, dialogues with the aforementioned literature to offer some reflection upon the position of the woman as a doubly colonised subject, with special attention to questions of identity.


A new set of Walsh functions is defined in terms of the split-matrix ordering. The intrinsic properties of the functions are analyzed. The relationship and the associated conversion rules between the newly defined functions and other typical Walsh functions are discussed. It is shown that the proposed Walsh functions provide a straighforward and efficient algorithm for fast Discrete Walsh Transformation.


In this paper, we outline and describe the development and implementation process of a Diabetes Electronic Patient Record system (DR). We describe and analyze the process using understandings and concepts from Science, Technology and Society studies (STS). We attribute the status of the current system to various associations and translations, where the project group members become engaged and interested in the process of developing DR in profound ways, an interest that may lack or is difficult to establish in large system development projects.


Because the original main function of cascade hydropower stations was irrigation in China,the power parameter detecting systems of these stations are not suited to the current operations.This paper describes the construction of power parameters remote detecting system of cascade hydropower stations,which is adapted to the actual condition of power generation in China.It discusses the components of the remote detecting system,the hardware design of power parameters detecting,the method of alternating sampling,the power parameters calculation and the error analysis of power parameters detecting.Especially,the power parameters remote detecting terminal unit design and the realization are also described.


ALTHOUGH able archaeologists have studied the "Ludovisi Throne" and the relief of like form and like material which is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, I think it will be generally conceded that they have not yet produced a convincing interpretation of these interesting marbles. In 1910, Mr. Marshall wrote in the Burlington Magazine: "The large three-sided relief added to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is the most important antiquity which has left Italy in the last hundred years. Its beauty and solemnity will impress all who see it and to students whether of Greek art or of Greek religion, it will prove of extraordinary importance."2 In the following year Professor Studniczka published the two reliefs in full as parts of one monument, and such they are in all human probability,3 although the beautiful scroll frame of the Boston marble is absent from the relief in Rome and, on the other hand, superiority of workmanship has been claimed for the "' Ludovisi Throne." Even if the same hand did not execute the


while also undercutting many prevailing assumptions on local scales – for example, Meleesha Bardolia's study debunks the stereotype of censors as oppressors by exposing the internal inconsistency of censorship in apartheid South Africa (107). The book's fruitful discoveries might have built towards a more solid model of world literature's formation, however. Unfortunately, the chapter-by-chapter analyses become somewhat submerged in their mass of archival trivialities, so that they never really come together to intervene in any unified way into Casanova's "international literary space", as hoped. That said, in unlocking the revisionist potential of the marginalized case studies of world literature, this project is an experiment both exciting and successful.


The eyebrows have two important functions. They protect the eyes and eyelids from dust and sweat, and they also play an important role in the aesthetics and recognition of the face as well as in non-verbal communication [1, 2]. This means that complete or partial absence of an eyebrow can lead to considerable psychosocial stress for affected individuals. After tumor excisions that result in partial loss of the eyebrow, it is therefore particularly important to achieve an aesthetically optimal reconstruction. The aim should not only be to restore the continuity of the eyebrow, but also to make it is as symmetrical as possible with the contralateral side. Numerous approaches have been described for this, including local flaps and transplantation of hairy scalp [3–5]. When choosing a reconstruction technique, the size and the position of the defect in relation to the remaining part of the eyebrow are decisive. Direct closure can often be used to repair small defects, but this is not possible with more extensive lesions [3, 6]. Larger defects can be closed with a unilateral or bilateral advancement flap, but this can often result in a noticeable reduction in the horizontal extent of the eyebrow. Furthermore, aesthetically unfavorable vertical scars can result from central defects and the use of a bilateral advancement flap (O-to-H plasty) with incisions cranial and caudal to the eyebrow [3]. The modified O-to-T plasty presented here with an incision within the eyebrow can avoid the disadvantages of this method and makes it possible to treat centrally located defects in an aesthetically acceptable manner.


Haplotype associations of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) with psoriasis vulgaris (PV) have been demonstrated in different racial or ethnic populations. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the different haplotype associations of the MHC in Chinese patients with psoriasis according to the type of onset and their sex. One hundred and thirty‐eight patients with PV and 149 normal control subjects without psoriasis were typed for HLA‐A, ‐B, ‐C, ‐DQA1, ‐DQB1 and ‐DRB1 by using the PCR with sequence‐specific primers. The results showed: (i) HLA‐A*26 (26.1% vs. 12.1%, Pc < 1 × 10−5), ‐B*27 (17.03% vs. 1.01%, Pc < 1 × 10−7), ‐Cw*0602 (15.58% vs. 5.03%, Pc < 1 × 10−2), ‐DQA1*0104 (19.93% vs. 9.40%, Pc < 1 × 10−3), ‐DQA1*0201 (22.40% vs. 10.74%, Pc < 1 × 10−3), ‐DQB1*0303 (18.12% vs. 9.73%, Pc < 1 × 10−7), and ‐DRB1*0701/02 (26.09% vs. 9.73%, Pc < 1 × 10−7) were significantly increased in PV patients, while HLA‐B*57, ‐DQB1*0201 were slightly increased in PV patients. HLA‐Cw*0304 (5.07% vs. 14.43%, Pc < 1 × 10−3), ‐DQA1*0501 (5.79% vs. 14.09%, Pc < 0.05) were found to be negatively associated with PV, but HLA‐A*2 (2.54% vs. 6.38%, Pc < 0.5) was decreased in PV patients without statistical significance. (ii) HLA‐A*26‐B*27 [P < 0.0001, odds ratio (OR) = 48.38], ‐A*26‐Cw*0602 (P < 0.0001, OR = 11.84), ‐B*27‐Cw*0602 (P < 0.0001, OR = undefined), ‐DRB1*0701/02‐B*27 (P < 0.0001, OR = 22.62), ‐DRB1*0701/02‐DQA1*0104 (P < 0.0002, OR = 3.59), ‐DRB1*0701/02‐DQB1*0303 (P < 0.0001, OR = 5.63), ‐DQA1*0201‐DQB1*0303 (P < 0.0002, OR = 7.77), ‐A*26‐B*27‐Cw*0602 (P < 0.0004, OR = undefined), ‐A*26‐DRB1*0701/02‐DQA1*0201‐DQB1*0303 (P < 0.01, OR = undefined) were identified as risk haplotypes for patients with PV in China. (iii) HLA‐A*26 ‐B*27 (P < 0.0001, OR = 58.47), ‐DQA1*0201‐DQB1*0303 (P < 0.0001, OR = 8.62), ‐DRB1*0701/02 ‐DQA1*0104 (P < 0.0002, OR = 4.13), ‐DRB1*0701/02‐DQB1*0303 (P < 0.0001, OR = 6.68) and ‐A*26‐DRB1*0701‐DQA1*0201 ‐DQB1*0303 (P < 0.006, OR = undefined) were only significantly associated with type I psoriasis compared with controls, while others showed no differences in either type I or type II psoriasis. (iv) These associated haplotypes with PV were not different by sex, except that the frequency of DRB1*0701/02‐DQB1*0303 (P < 0.0001, OR = 10.14) was higher in male patients with psoriasis. To summarize, this study demonstrated a differential association of HLA and identified some special risk haplotypes in Chinese patients with PV compared with other ethnic or racial populations.


v1.2, June 21, 2004 While experiential qualities of rectangular architectural spaces can be effectively predicted from properties like room proportions or area (Franz, von der Heyde, & Bulthoff, 2003), these factors from normative architectural knowledge obviously cannot be directly transfered on open-plan indoor spaces. Phenomenologically as well as in empirical aesthetics, nontrivial forms are often compared by collative variables (e.g., complexity, regularity, cf. Berlyne, 1960, 1972) that are introspective assessment criteria of structural properties of a stimulus array (Wohlwill, 1976) and have proven to allow predictions mainly on the arousal dimension of affective experience (Stamps, 2000). In the following, we introduce a novel approach that relates affective and collative qualities of arbitrarily shaped architectural spaces to directly measurable parameters. The concept of isovists (i. e. viewshed polygons, cf. Benedict, 1979) is used to generically describe spatial properties of architectural spaces from a perceptually-oriented viewer-centered perspective. In a psychological experiment, we compared numerical factors describing isovists and their derivatives (Turner, Doxa, O'Sullivan, & Penn, 2001; Psarra & Grajewski, 2001) of virtual reality (VR) simulated rooms with their experiential qualities, quantified with a semantic differential scaling in six principal categories (pleasure, interestingness, beauty, spaciousness, complexity, and clarity). Since VR offers a high degree of perceptual realism, control, and flexibility, properties of spaces can be individually varied, allowing to ascribe observed variances in the measured experience to particular differences between the stimuli. The study consisted of two stages comprising 18 and 16 scenes from a fictive art gallery and was conducted with 2 groups of eight participants. The stimuli were presented as radiosity-rendered spherical panorama images on a 130x90 degree wide-angle projection system. The original analysis (Franz, von der Heyde, & Bulthoff, 2004), correlating averaged ratings with 28 characteristic values derived from the isovists, was focused on automatically detectable measurands mainly related to complexity. Isovist area, density of wall edges, and enclosure ratio turned out to be the most effective predictor variables. Extending the initial scope, an additional exploratory correlation analysis of the second scene set concentrated on manually evaluated aspects commonly related to order, as symmetry or self-similarity. Particularly the number of symmetries turned out to be a relevant factor explaining additional variance in the ratings (e.g., correlation coefficient with rated pleasure r=-0.75, p<0.001). Beside symmetry, from the tested factors ∗Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Spemannstrasse 38, 72076 Tubingen, Germany. E-mail firstname.lastname@example.com , internet http://www.kyb.tuebingen.mpg.de/ gf.


Instrumentation and control (I&C) systems are crucial in ensuring the safe operation of power reactors. New and modern nuclear facilities commonly use digital I&C systems. However, the application of digital technologies within I&C systems has made these systems vulnerable to cyber-attack. Literature study shows that cyber-attack is one of the threats that could occur at any time in the lifetime of the I&C system. Indonesia regulates cyber security and interface of safety and security through BAPETEN Chairman Regulation (BCR) number 1 of 2009 on Nuclear Installation Physical Protection and BCR number 6 of 2012 on Design Provision of Computer-Based Important Safety System on Power Reactor. The provision related to interface safety and security against cyber-attack has a significant gap compared to IAEA Requirements and Internationals practice. Therefore, this paper tries to identify technical recommendations for BCR number 1 of 2009 and BCR number 6 of 2012 related to the interface of safety and security and cyber security in the Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) I&C system using IAEA requirements and international practice. The paper concludes that some technical recommendations must be added to BCR 1 of 2009 and BCR 6 of 2012. These recommendations are required in establishing cyber security program, integrating a cyber-security program with physical protection system, implementing control networks with reduced interconnectivity, implementing defense-in-depth as an essential concept in designing the NPP I&C system, developing a highly integrated protection system platform that utilizes FPG, and integrating passive safety system into the safety system. Keywords: cyber-attack, safety and security interfaces, instrumentation and control system


The Association of Canadian Occupational Therapy University Programs held a workshop in May, 1988. The purpose of that discussion was to describe the current status and needs of occupational therapy research and to consider principles to direct further research. Currently, research in occupational therapy is very limited. The reasons for this lack of development are the isolation of present researchers, the small number of trained researchers, difficulty in obtaining external funding, and the inadequacy of quantitative research methodologies to answer questions in occupational therapy. This group presented a number of strategies intended to further the development of research in our profession. These strategies include increasing the number of trained researchers through the development of graduate programs in occupational therapy, use of varied methodologies, including quantitative and qualitative means, which fit the types of research questions asked. More collaboration is recommended which should increase successful procurement of external funding. Finally, occupational therapists are encouraged to focus research efforts on the specification and support of the scientific basisof our practice. The purpose of this paper is to describe the current status and needs of occupational therapy research in Canada, to bring forward for discussion principlesto direct future occupational therapy research and to state the position of the Association of Canadian Occupational Therapy University Programs (ACOTUP) on strategies to increase research productivity in occupational therapy.


Abstract I quantified monthly variation in species composition and captures of birds in a premontane forest of northwestern Argentina. Seasonal patterns of frugivore-insectivores and nectarivores were compared with fruit and flower abundances, respectively. The composition of the entire bird community fluctuated seasonally; frugivore-insectivores showed a peak in captures during the wet season, insectivores peaked at the end of the dry season, and nectarivores peaked during the dry season. At a local scale (∼50 ha), captures of frugivore-insectivores were not correlated with number of plant species with ripe fruits for any vegetation stratum considered, but were correlated with a fruit phenology index that considers crop size. At a plot scale (∼7.5 ha), only understory flower abundance and captures of nectarivores were correlated, but only in the plot where both were more abundant. At a net-site scale (50 m2), captures of the Rufous-bellied Thrush (Turdus rufiventris) were correlated with understory fruit abundance, but only in the plot where fruits were more abundant. These results suggest that seasonal fluctuations in birds may be driven to some extent by their food resources. Premontane forest provides habitat for many migrants and also presumably acts as a source of birds that emigrate to disturbed areas. Although premontane forests should be a conservation priority for the region, they are poorly protected and suffering high deforestation.


A method of real-time edge detection was implemented on the platform that consisted of the TMS320C6713 DSP, XC2S300E FPGA, an emulator with the program edited by the wavelet transform. The real-time image that come directly from the camera was shown in the left of the monitor and the real-time image that handled by the program of the wavelet transform was shown in the right of the monitor. This method was called realtime comparing method of edge extraction based on the method of local maxima gradient vectors modulus of wavelet transform. The effect of the method was effective for real-time edge extraction of the objects in short distance.


Extrapolating from the two-block system of an example of a nonsofic shift hat was given by Lind and Marcus, a class of one-counter shifts is described, that is disjoint from the class of standard one-counter shifts.


History of human civilization from the beginning of time,each country and nation are to some extent,diversity,human rights norms established Ziji.Concept of human rights in each country are national mainstream culture's performance in the field of human rights.Chinese and Western concepts of human rights exist in many different value orientation and choice.Lofty spirit of China's human rights,harmony,perfection can make up for the West of human rights "body Godless" defects;Western concepts of human rights in the Merged,individual,pragmatic view of human rights in the East can make up some missing.


1. Use of a trisaccharide, substituted trisaccharide-containing core which is fully substituted by groups of the fatty acid esters and, optionally, one or more anionic groups as adyuvanta.2. Use according to claim 1, wherein the core is substituted by trisaccharide derivative of raffinose, melezitose, maltotriose, nigerotriozy, kestose or maltotriulozy preferably raffinose, melezitose or maltotriose, raffinose or most preferably maltotriozy.3. Use according to claim 1, wherein the core comprises a trisaccharide substituted one or two groups, sulfuric ester or phosphoric ester as an anionic grupp.4. Use according to claim 1, wherein the anionic group is a sulfuric ester kisloty.5. Use according to claim 1, wherein the group of the fatty acid ester is an ester of a straight, branched, saturated or unsaturated fatty acids having a chain length of from 4 to 20 carbon atoms, preferably from 6 to 18, more preferably from 8 to 16 carbon atoms most preferably from 10 to 14 carbon atoms, particularly preferably 12 ugleroda.6 atoms. Use according to claim 1, wherein the fatty acid ester is an ester of lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, arachidic acid or stearic acid, preferably lauric kisloty.7. Use according to claim 1, wherein all of the groups of the fatty acid ester are substituted identichnymi.8 trisaccharide core. Use according to claim 1, wherein the core is substituted by trisaccharide derivative of raffinose, melezitose or maltotrio


This study analyzes the impacts of government spending on land use conversion from forest to agriculture based on national budget allocation in Indonesia. As agriculture expansion and the government spending on agriculture increase especially during this more than ten-year period, it is suspected that the conversion of land from forest to agriculture gradually increases. Therefore, the increase of government spending on agriculture may be one of the contributing factors to deforestation. Balanced panel data from 33 provinces in Indonesia that covers a ten-year period between 2006 and 2015 was used to examines the indirect effects of government spending on agriculture, total government spending over GRDP, and public spending on land use conversion. The generalized method of moment estimation (GMM) technique was applied in this research to investigate relationship between government spending and deforestation. The result showed that there is an indirect impact from increasing government spending: there is an increase in the total amount of land use conversion from forest to agriculture in Indonesia. This study depicts that an increase in government spending on agriculture and total government spending over GRDP have a significant positive impact on deforestation. Meanwhile, public spending has no significant effect on deforestation.


This research considers the influence that public-private clean diesel R&D partnerships have on emission regulations in the U.S. While there is substantial literature on the contribution of public-private R&D partnerships to facilitating organizational learning, innovation, and national competitiveness, there has been little research on its influence on environmental policy and rulemaking. Understanding whether partnerships are influential in the regulatory process, and the conditions under which they are influential, will increase awareness of the potential regulatory impacts of future partnerships. This research focuses on the effects of such partnerships on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rulemaking with respect to diesel fuel quality in heavy-duty vehicles. Diesel exhaust contains air pollutants such as particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, which have adverse human health and environmental impacts. For this reason, the heavy-duty diesel industry in the U.S. has been subject to increasingly stringent federal emission regulations. The EPA sets technology-forcing standards in order to drive industry progress in emissions reduction. Since the EPA bases its rulemaking largely on its appraisal of technological development in industry, technologists in companies and research organizations play an important role in providing the EPA with timely technical information. A comparative analysis of three public-private partnerships, all of them including several industry and government partners, formed the basis for a comparative case study. The partnerships investigated the effects of diesel fuel quality, particularly sulfur levels, on emissions reduction. Publicly available documents, interviews, and questionnaires provided insights on the three partnerships and public-private partnerships in general. The comparative analysis reveals that public-private partnerships do play a role in influencing policy, but that role is limited by the circumstances of each partnership and regulators' preference to rely more on other sources of knowledge for technical input. A clear understanding of upcoming regulations, broad stakeholder involvement, and the generation of publicly accessible results are all critical to a partnership's potential regulatory influence. Partnership results can directly provide input to a regulatory decision, but its effects on technological progress, knowledge networks, and further research collaboration are also relevant to the regulatory process. Thesis Supervisor: Joanne Kauffman Title: Principal Research Scientist, Laboratory for Energy and the Environment Thesis Supervisor: D. Eleanor Westney Title: Society of Sloan Fellows Professor of International Management


forms are listed. While both ga and gav are acceptable forms of the past tense of "å gi," only the former is listed. In addition, while stod and sto are considered acceptable forms of the past tense of å stå, only stod is on the list. Paragraph 102 summarized that "[t]he four main forms [of verbs] are made the following way": Subparagraph C notes that "weak verbs have the past tense endings. . . . -dde, -tte." While "-dde" is a common ending for weak verb past tenses (e.g., bodde [lived]), it is hard to think of a single weak verb with past tense ending "-tte"—the verb å møte does indeed end in "-tte" in the past tense (møtte [met]) but the first "-t" belongs to the root, not the ending. If the authors consider the past tense åtte (owned) as the alternative form of eide, then it seems more sensible to think of the past tense as a strong verb form of å eie (to own). Considering the ending of the past måtte (had to) of the modal å måtte as a "-tte" ending is probably more confusing for students than an explanation. Overall, my assessment of Norwegian Grammar: Bokmål is that it has a few advantages, but even more disadvantages. The aspects of non-helpful exercises and confusing explanations far outweigh the helpful lists and information. Louis Janus University of Minnesota


Large scale, elongated structures, similar those ones widely studied in wall-bounded flows, are also present in turbulent jets. Several characteristics of these streaks can be identified via reduced order models such as resolvent analysis. The present work involves a resolvent-based study of these structures in turbulent jets. We focus on obtaining the optimal forcing that generates these energetic coherent structures. Results are compared with experimental data post-processed using spectral proper orthogonal decomposition, allowing us to draw conclusions about the nature of the non-linear forcing, since the two analyses should provide equivalent results if this term is modelled as spatially white. By identifying streaks in a global framework, we expect to better understand the mechanism by which they are generated.


The virtual reality technology is an emerging cross-disciplinary new technology. It can be applied to various fields with remarkable effect. The article discussed the modeling of hypothesized scenes and the simulation actuation through the realization of the campus cruise system. It emphatically discussed the key technology and the method of the hypothesized modeling and hypothesized cruise,and gave two concrete application cases by combining the campus cruise system of Zhejiang Normal University and the hypothesized simulation system of Wenzhou University. The next generation intelligent VR model was proposed. This technology is specially suitable for the official websites of colleges and schools, realty development, and all kinds of realtime simulation systems such as architectural design.


PURPOSE: A pharmaceutical composition containing amide derivatives and nonmetallic salt lubricant is provided to improve storage stability and to be used as a cancer cell growth inhibitor. CONSTITUTION: A pharmaceutical composition contains a compound of chemical formula 1 or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof and nonmetallic salt lubricant. The nonmetallic lubricant is fatty acid esters, fatty acids and alcohols, oils, fumaric acids, polyethylene glycol(PEG), polyetetrafluoroethylene, talc, or a mixture thereof. The nonmetallic salt lubricant is sugar fatty acid ester or hydrogenated vegetable oil. The pharmaceutical composition further contains a diluent, a binder, a disintegrant, or a mixture thereof.


In marginal lands, cereal landraces continue to be important in agricultural production, whereas hybrids lose their competitive advantage. In this context, selection for adaptation to each environment is particularly important in crops grown under unfavourable conditions, e.g., mountain areas. In this work, from a panel of traditional and modern varieties, mixtures and evolutionary populations, a randomised block experiment was established to select the most productive and suitable wheat and rye varieties specific for the Antrona Valley. The nutritional analysis of each flour was carried out. The results obtained in two years of varietal comparison suggested that rye is more suitable than wheat for growing in this environment: Alpina rye showed the highest yield/m2 and the highest ash content (1.87% ± 0.03%; p < 0.05) compared to other varieties, indicating it as suitable for the baking process. Among wheats, San Pastore showed the highest number of ears/m2 (411 and 350; p < 0.05) compared to others. However, in a context of climate change, the cultivation of Solibam could ensure yield stability, thanks to the high variability within the evolutionary population. Overall, our results demonstrated the possible reintroduction of the cereal supply chain in the Valley and the resumption of the historic rye bread production.


Muga culture has immense potentiality for socio-economic upliftment with sustainable income generation amid rural folk in North East India. Muga silkworm is reared on Som (Persea bombycina) and Soalu (Litsea polyantha) plants for production of muga cocoons. In order to ensure crop production, traditional farmers used diverse indigenous technical knowledge (ITK) in the farming process of muga culture. The plant Litsea salicifolia is locally named as Dighloti in Assam and known as secondary host plants of muga silkworm. 'Early stage muga silkworm rearing at Dighloti' is one of the important ITK used by the traditional farmers for silkworm diseases management. With the aim of validate the efficiency of the ITK, five consecutive crops of muga silkworm were conducted using the ITK hybridized with the existing improved technology packages. The study revealed that extent of incidence of muga silkworm disease was 6.4 percent in ITK hybridized improved technology against 14.4 percent in existing improved technology package. Thus, average yield of 70 cocoon per dfl and ERR 62.2 percent was significantly higher in ITK hybridized improved technology as compared to the yield of 56 cocoons per dfl and ERR 51.7 percent in improved technology package.


According to the principle of independent and random sampling,296 Shanghai girls got the opportunity for body measurements involving 18 different boy sizes.Statistical analysis is used to digitize girls various different bodies,and body characters of every position are expressed with precise data to obtain the girl garment size series.


Dependencies between automatic test cases are considered as problematic, since they impair understandability and maintainability of these test cases. However, dependencies can not be fully avoided, when test cases require a time-consuming setup of the test fixture. This paper describes the handling of dependencies between test cases within an integration framework for heterogeneous automatic test tools that unifies test case administration, test execution and reporting of the test results. Two types of dependencies between test cases are identified. A simple approach is presented how one of these dependency types is utilized within the framework to gain control during test execution in order to reduce test execution time and unnecessary output.


Liesegang rings (LR) of various types of Ag dendrite crystals are observed from an aqueous solution based on a simple galvanic displacement reaction between a Zn plate and Ag2SO4. The growth process and formation mechanism of LR of Ag dendrites are investigated in detail. The synthesised LR of Ag dendrites have been successfully employed as a Raman probe for SERS analysis of melamine.


We stand at an interesting crossroads in the field of cancer genetic counseling and testing. Less than 2 decades ago, clinical testing for hereditary cancer syndromes was a rare event reserved for infrequently observed syndromes that a clinician might see once or twice in a lifetime. A small handful of specialized laboratories performed such testing, and it was not unusual to send a sample to another country for processing as the options were limited and expertise sparse. All of that changed early in 1996 when clinical testing became available for mutations within BRCA1 and BRCA2. Those of us on the frontlines were besieged with phone calls from patients wanting the test, reporters inquiring what we would do with the information, and medical colleagues questioning if and how these data would be useful. I remember lecturing to a small group of research clinicians at my institution soon after BRCA testing became available and discussing the option of prophylactic mastectomy and oophorectomy for women who tested BRCA positive. I found myself dodging angry accusations of ''mutilating'' women's bodies based on ''genetic fortunetelling'' and opening Pandora's box, psychologically and emotionally ruining women who would then be uninsurable and societal castaways. Let's just say that cancer genetic testing was not welcomed with open arms by everyone. The truth is that we didn't know how testing would unfold. Those of us providing counseling and testing had no information on how real-life patients outside carefully proctored research protocols would handle this information. Would they be forever depressed? Would their anxiety levels make it impossible for them to function? Could this possibly make patients suicidal? We didn't know, and we were worried. But, once testing hit the marketplace, there was no holding back the surge. We were also concerned about insurability. Would patients who tested positive lose their health insurance coverage and, therefore, the ability to have the careful surveillance and expensive risk reduction surgeries we were recommending? If employers learned this information, would patients be passed up for promotions or even lose their jobs for fear that they would cost their companies too much money? And, speaking of the surveillance and risk reduction surgeries we were offering, would they even work? I had multiple ''academic conversations'' with physicians at my institution who questioned whether prophylactic oophorectomy would adequately reduce the risk of ovarian cancer in BRCA carriers. Perhaps mutation carriers would then be at high risk to develop primary cancers in other locations. Although we thought that unlikely (and luckily, we were right), we had no long-term data to support this, or any, of our hypotheses. Much has changed since 1996. We now have data demonstrating that there are no serious long-term psychological and emotional sequelae associated with genetic testing. Our fears regarding health insurance discrimination have not played out, perhaps in part to aggressive and supportive legislation via the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act protecting patients from genetic discrimination. Also, the employment and social repercussions have not been reported as major issues. The surveillance and risk reduction surgeries we recommended, albeit far from perfect, have proven to be extremely effective in reducing cancer risk in carriers. Although we have fewer data regarding chemoprevention in these populations, we are optimistic that these drugs may also reduce risk in these high-risk families. Interestingly, the issues that have generated the greatest dangers in the field of genetic counseling and testing are those we did not anticipate. Namely, how gene patents would create corporate monopolies and thwart competition, research, and data sharing in the field, and how this would impact pricing, access, andmarketingof genetic testing.As you will read in the article of Brierley et al on page 303, in part because of aggressive marketing of patented testing to clinicians without INTRODUCTION


21st century has been era of digitalization which is totally assisted by internet networks. Internet has been developing its wings in every possible way in order to make human life simpler, luxurious and entertaining. Withholding many beauties, it has been favoriting all generation people. But young millennials who are born simultaneously with the emerge of internet technology are found to be more fascinated and attracted by this technology and thus are in the 1st rank in internet use. The COVID-19 pandemic has something powerful to change many things. Along with human health and psychology, it had also changed the internet use pattern of the people worldwide. In this review, impact of pandemic on internet use behavior mostly by college studying youths is analyzed. Time spent by surfing internet is hiked unexpectedly due to this pandemic as daily scheduled has of many citizens is altered. It is found that some of the students have taken this as an opportunity to explore and develop knowledge about new technologies. Online class has been normalized in many places and they are not deprived of education. But various disastrous impact is also seen. Third world countries students are having problem in study due to poor internet management. Students are facing problem of Internet Addiction using it all time. Mental stress, anxiety, aggressiveness, etc. can be seen when they are disconnected from internet for certain period of time. Here seems to drag attention of socialists and psychologist towards measures that needs to be adopted to minimize these dreadful impacts of internet use and emphasize more on benefits.


This paper examines the role of Rem Koolhaas, his architectural firm and think-tanks OMA and AMO, and his recently published book Content in the shaping of debates on European identity. The paper focuses on two issues: (a) Koolhaas's attempt to re-brand, re-present and re-envision Europe and Brussels for the Prodi Commission; (b) his use of creolized and graphic communication and publishing strategies to pursue a distinctive 'European' standpoint on globalization.


The circadian rhythms of gene expression drive diurnal oscillations of physiological processes that determine the acute injury response including immunity, inflammation and hemostasis. While outcomes of various acute injuries are affected by the time of day at which the original insult occurred, such diurnal influences on recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI) are unknown. We report that several key regulators of circadian gene expression are differentially expressed in uninjured spinal cord tissue of naïve mice at Zeitgeber time 1 (ZT1) or ZT12, where ZT0 or ZT12 are times when lights are turned on or off, respectively. However, mice that received moderate, T9 contusive SCI at ZT0 or ZT12 showed similar recovery of locomotion as determined using the ladder walking test and the Basso mouse scale (BMS) over a 6 week post-injury period. Consistent with those findings, terminal histological analysis revealed no significant differences in white matter sparing at the injury epicenter. Therefore, locomotor recovery after thoracic contusive SCI is not affected by the time of day at which the neurotrauma occurred at least when comparing the beginning to the end of the mouse active period.


I an article in vol. 26 Journal of Criminal Law (1962) at page 230 Professor J. A. Coutts suggests that when a submission of no case to answer is made in a summary trial before magistrates the court should consider whether the prosecution has established its case beyond reasonable doubt. A similar view was expressed in an article by J. c. Wood at 77 L.Q.R. 491. On the face of it the proposition seems reasonable enough, and it is only when one appreciates (as Professor Coutts emphasises) that it is directly contrary to the directions given to magistrates by the Divisional Court, that one is prompted to examine more closely the authority upon which it is founded. Submissions of no case to answer are common in summary trials, so that it is important that magistrates should apply the correct principle when considering them and not continue a trial to "hear the accused's explanation" or to "hear both sides". If a defence submission of "no case" is entitled to succeed, then the accused has the undoubted right to have the case dismissed at that stage, and not be required to make a defence (and possibly convict himself), and no amount of directions or suggestions from the Divisional Court that it is better for lay magistrates to hear the whole case before arriving at their conclusion should be allowed to interfere with that right. In fact, however, it is here submitted that the Divisional Court has never laid down any such proposition, but has merely advised magistrates that a submission of "no case" is something quite different from a plea by the defence at the end of the case that the accused is entitled to an acquittal. Such an elementary proposition would not normally be expected to require justification, but, from the nature of many submissions


Fernando A. Flores's 2019 work Tears of the Trufflepig deals with, among other topics, the commodification and fetishization of disenfranchised human beings. The novel describes how a previously extinct indigenous community, the Aranaña people, is being artificially brought back into existence to enrich and expand the global black market via the shrinking and selling of their heads. Through the analysis of how shrunken heads, or tsantsas, are depicted in the story, together with the examination of the portrayal of South Texas as a landfill (therefore implying that its inhabitants are, by extension, human waste), the aim of this paper is to describe the process through which those who are considered 'redundant' or even 'disposable' can easily be transformed into a product for consumption. Ultimately, in the context of neoliberal capitalism, the story seems to suggest that not only can the category of 'waste' be applied to human beings, but even worse, that this categorization proves to be a social construct driven by purely economic factors.


The integrity of ocular anatomy and physiology, the function of the visual system, and the perception of vision, our most prized sense, are intimately connected with our general health. Subtle visual signs and symptoms may therefore be the first manifestation of occult systemic disease. With a basic history and examination of the eyes and vision, the physician can narrow the differential diagnosis and ascertain whether there is any immediate threat to vision or even life. The major focus of this chapter is the eye in the context of a range of vascular, haematological, neoplastic, inflammatory, endocrine, genetic, metabolic, toxic, and nutritional disorders. This chapter also considers the leading causes of blindness globally, and common ocular presentations in primary care and general medical practice. Other isolated ocular conditions are excluded and neuro-ophthalmological conditions are referred to elsewhere in this book (Chapters 24.6.1 and 24.6.2).


The food quality and the safety must be a constant concern both for consumers and for authorities. The education for quality and the active involvement, coherent and sustained by the state, through the implementation of a quality strategy at national level should be the main `forces` that can contribute to the implementation and certification of quality management systems in the agri-food sector. The meat and milk products are important components in the human diet; therefore, their contamination with heavy metals plays a significant role in the public health. The concentrations of several human essential trace elements (Mn, Cu, Zn and Ba) and toxic elements (As, Cd, Pb) were analysed in 95 animal-based foods, including meat, milk products and honey, collected from Romanian market. The inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry technique (ICP-MS) was used for the determinations. In order to evaluate the potential health risk of the consumers due to metals intake via food ingestion, three indices were calculated, namely: the potential average daily dose (ADDpot, mg/kg/day), the hazard quotient (HQ) and the hazard index (HI). In terms of food safety, the toxic element concentrations in the majority of the investigated samples were below the maximum permitted levels set by Romanian and European legislation.


Terahertz (THz) radiation has shown unique advantages in biomedical applications for novel diagnostic technologies due to the high sensitivity to molecular structure and chemical concentration. However, emerging evidence shows that intense pulses of THz radiation can induce significant non-thermal biological effects that must be characterized. In human skin exposed to intense THz pulses, relatively large responses characterized by differential gene expression profiles are observed. These data are analyzed by signaling pathway perturbation analysis to predict phenotypic endpoints and dysregulatory effects on cancer-related processes. The activities of several important pathways that drive the initiation, development, and progression of many human cancers are predicted to be suppressed, and this effect is intensity-dependent. Some affected pathways are targets for current and emerging anti-cancer therapies. In particular, the activity of the Ras signaling and Calcium signaling pathways is predicted to be significantly inhibited. These results indicate the possibility of an additional therapeutic mechanism of intense THz pulses, due to the potential for targeted suppression of pro-mitotic activity in diseased tissue.


In this paper we present a new 3D descriptor for the human classication. It is applied over a complete point cloud (i.e 360◦ view) acquired with a multi-kinect system. The proposed descriptor is derived from the Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HOG) descriptor : surface normal vectors are employed instead of gradients, 3D poins are expressed on a cylindrical space and 3D orientation quantization are computed by projecting the normal vectors on a regular polyhedron. Our descriptor is utilized through a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. The SVM classifier is trained using an original database composed of data acquired by our multi-kinect system. The evaluation of the proposed 3D descriptor over a set of candidates shows very promising results. The descriptor can efficiently discriminate human from non-human candidates and provides the frontal direction of the human with a high precision. The comparison with a well known descriptor demonstrates significant improvements of results.


We report here a very rare case of six synchronous primary colorectal cancers. A 78-yearold male was admitted to our department for further examinations and treatment of rectal bleeding, anemia and general fatigue. Colonoscopy revealed an ulcerative and localized type tumor in the rectosigmoid. The tumor obstructed the lumen, and further observation of the oral side was not possible. The patient was preoperatively diagnosed as rectosigmoid cancer, and was operated. Besides the preoperatively diagnosed cancer, three tumors were detected in the sigmoid, descending and transverse colons, respectively. Subtotal colectomy was performed. Pathological examination revealed a total of six cancers. Such as in this case, advanced cancer of the distal colon sometimes prevents accurate diagnosis of the coexisting tumor in the proximal portion. Therefore, in this condition, we believe that careful palpation during the operation and intraoperative colonoscopy will contribute to accurate diagnosis and improving the prognosis of patients with synchronous multiple primary colorectal cancers. (日本医科大学医学会雑誌 2014; 10: 142―146)


We present a general model for the oxidation of CO on low-index platinum single crystal surfaces. In order to take fluctuations into account, it is first formulated in terms of stochastic birth–death processes. A corresponding deterministic limit for large particle numbers can be derived rigorously. The dynamical behavior of the reaction kinetics is investigated by means of a numerical bifurcation analysis of the deterministic limit and stochastic simulations. The computed bifurcation diagrams for Pt(110) and Pt(100) are in qualitative and reasonable quantitative agreement with experimental results. For Pt(110), several types of noise-induced oscillations are obtained.


Actualists hold that contrary-to-duty scenarios give rise to deontic dilemmas and provide counterexamples to the transmission principle, according to which we ought to take the necessary means to actions we ought to perform. In an earlier article, I have argued, contrary to actualism, that the notion of 'ought' that figures in conclusions of practical deliberation does not allow for deontic dilemmas and validates the transmission principle. Here I defend these claims, together with my possibilist account of contrary-to-duty scenarios, against Stephen White's recent criticism.


The absorption spectra of gaseous and solid iodine have been measured in the photon energy range of 45–160 eV. The radiation of the 7.5 GeV electron synchrotron DESY was used as the light source. The intensity distribution of the 4d→ e f continuum is discussed. A fine structure, similar in both phases, is found near the low‐energy side of this continuum. This fine structure can be ascribed to transitions of 4d5/2 and 4d3/2 electrons into the lowest empty molecular orbital and into Rydberg states of the molecule. One‐electron level energies and the 4d3/2, 4d5/2 ionization energies (58.95, 57.25 eV±0.2 eV) are deduced from the observed spectra. A rediscussion of the optical spectrum of the iodine molecule is given in the light of these results.


The present invention relates to a method for water - water delivery system to add steam cycle evaporator. A condenser (101) for condensing water vapor into water can be supplied by a turbine facility (105) of the water vapor. The first part of the condensate for the degassed degassing apparatus (109) and a condenser (101) coupled, so that the condenser (101) can be conveyed to a condensate degasser (109). A heat exchanger (102) and a condenser (101) coupled, so that the condenser (101) a second part of the condensate can be supplied to the heat exchanger (102), wherein the heat exchanger (102) to the conveying line ( 103) coupled, so that water can be supplied to the supplementary heat exchanger (102). A heat exchanger (102) constructed such that by means of the second portion of the condensate can be heated makeup water. Heat exchanger and degassing apparatus (109) (102) coupled, so that the heated water can be added to a degassed conveyor device (109).


The high rates of hypertension, obesity and diabetes in San Luis Potosí are worrying, since it has been shown that the existence of comorbidities associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection increases the risk of mortality, however most of the evidence comes from of other populations in the world for which it is necessary other investigations that focus on the Mexican population, in this case potosine. The objective of this study is to describe the clinical and respiratory characteristics of seriously ill and deceased patients with COVID-19, in a state in northeastern Mexico. And determine comorbidities, in order to apply better measures aimed at safeguarding the population at risk. Design: prospective and observational in the same medical center. Methods: Different types of variables, such as demographic data, severity, laboratory variables, ventilatory assistance received (high-flow oxygen therapy [HFO] and invasive mechanical ventilation [IMV]), oxygenation (PaO2 , PaO2 /FiO2 ), comorbidities and complications were automatically obtained. In order to analyze the difference between medians, the Fisher test (categorical variables) and the Mann-Whitney U test were used. A value of p <0.001 was considered significant. Results: 163 patients were included (G1 = 51 [31.2%]; G2 = 92 [56.44%] and G3 = 20 [31.74%]); age 65 (52-72) years; 68% men, APACHE II 18 (15 -24); SOFA 6 (4-7); arterial hypertension (25.11%) and obesity (16.82%) were the most frequent comorbidities. HFO was used in 62.7% of the patients, 85% failed. 95% of the patients required IMV and 85% ventilation in the prone position. In the population, baseline PaO2 /FiO2 improved at the 7th day (165 [125-210] vs 194 [153-285]; p = 0.02), as in G1 (164 [125-197] vs 207 [160-294]; p = 0.07), but not in G2 (163 [95-197] vs. 135 [85-177]). The development of pneumonia associated with IMV was high. The amount of D-dimer and IL-6 was also significantly increased in patients who died on the 7th day of the study. Conclusions: The lack of improvement in PaO2 /FiO2 at the 7th day could be a prognostic marker for deterioration, as well as D-dimer and IL-6 secretion. Special attention needs to be paid to managing hypertension and diabetes in adults over 60 years of age. Which was the age group with the highest mortality.


e15155 Background: Biliary tract cancers (BTC) are composed by a heterogeneous and rare group of malignant tumors with poor prognosis. Surgical resection is the only potentially curative treatment. Currently, the standard of the adjuvant therapy is not yet defined due to the low number of pts and the few phase II-III available studies. The objective of this single retrospective center study is to compare the addition of CT to concurrent chemoradiation therapy (CT-CCRT) in an integrated model versus concurrent chemoradiation therapy (CCRT) alone in adjuvant setting. Methods: We reviewed clinical data about 123 pts with intra and extra-hepatic BTC treated with radical resection followed by adjuvant therapy from 2003 to 2013 at our institution. We compared the group of pts treated with adjuvant FOLFOX 6 schedule for 3 cycles followed by RT with 5-FU or Gem and further 3 cycles of FOLFOX (CT-CCRT) with pts treated with the same RT associated with Gem or 5-FU (CCRT). Results: Complete follow-up was available i...


We investigated the influence of the compatibility between mood and decision strategies on the subjective value of a decision outcome. Several studies have provided evidence for the idea that a sad mood induces people to analyse information carefully, probably fitting well with a deliberative decision strategy. In a happy mood, people tend to act more strongly on their feelings, probably fitting well with an intuitive decision strategy. However, sometimes the situation demands the use of decision strategies that seem incompatible with mood states. We expected that decision makers would value a decision outcome higher in the case of a fit between mood and decision strategy than in the case of a non-fit. After a mood manipulation, participants were instructed to decide either based on their first affective reaction or after deliberation. Results confirmed our expectations: fitting decisions enhanced the subjective value of a decision outcome.


This publication documents a project that took place in Iceland's Highlands region, involving ten Quebec and Icelandic artists. Poulin introduces the project in terms of its curatorial approach – i.e. to leave no trace –, while Eiriksson relates his experience of the expedition via a poetic logbook. Dumont's essay speaks of cultural difference, performance, landscape and wandering whereas Olafsdottir focuses on the resulting art works. Includes a topographic map of the artists' itinerary. Texts in French, English and Icelandic. Biographic notes on artists and authors. List of illustrations.


Cold-Hardiness in the Antarctic Tick, Ixodes uriae Author(s): Richard E. Lee Jr. and John G. Baust Source:  Physiological Zoology, Vol. 60, No. 4 (Jul. Aug., 1987), pp. 499-506 Published by: . Sponsored by the University of Chicago Press Division of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry, Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30157912 Accessed: 25-02-2016 14:56 UTC


Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) survivors are at risk to a wide variety of disabilities, including physical dysfunction. Aim: Our aim was to quantify pectoralis muscle area (PMA) in ARDS survivors and evaluate the impact of PMA in lung function and quality of life after 6 months. Methods: We conducted a cohort study of 22 survivors of moderate-severe ARDS, recruited in Sao Paulo, Brazil. High-resolution CT (HRCT) scan of the lungs were performed after 1 and 6 months. If present, a HRCT obtained in ICU was also evaluated. At 6 months a pulmonary function test and a quality of life questionnaire (SF-36) were performed. PMA area was assessed using image J software. Results: 22 patients were followed-up for 6 months. 17 presented a HRCT at 1 and 6 months and were included. There was a reduction in PMA after 1 month compared with ICU (40.6 cm2 vs 30.4 cm2, p = 0.01), with an improvement after 6 months compared to 1 month (30.4 vs 35.1, p = 0.001). PMA at 6 months was related to age (r = -0.46, p=0.03), predicted body weight (r = 0.53, p = 0.03) and mechanical ventilation time (r = -0.44, p=0.04). There was a functional impact of PMA, with a correlation between PMA and residual volume/pulmonary total capacity at 6 months (r = -0.65, p=0.002), as well as an impact in quality of life, with PMA related to vitality dimension in SF-36 (r=0.72, p=0.02). Conclusions: There was a reduction in PMA 1 month after ARDS with recovery in 6 months. The analysis of PMA could be an easy and available tool to estimate sarcopenia in ARDS patients, but further study should evaluate the relationship with functional deficits and late outcomes.


Aiming at business system integration and service rapid encapsulation in the advanced manufacturing field,a combinatorial modeling approach for Enterprise Integration Patterns(EIP) was proposed.The EIP unit was defined to describe EIP and to support invoking function and modular message processing mechanism.Combinatorial modeling approach of enterprise integration was adopted to realize the message routing function cross business systems.Petri-net was used to describe the composition of EIP,and an algorithm to verify the correctness of the composition was also provided.A modeling tool—MixEIP was realized which supported EIP composition through configuration.Experimental results demonstrated that this method improved modeling efficiency of the integration with faster message processing.


Decentralization policy schemes (DPSs) in the public sector have been implemented in different ways by Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Both approaches have led to a transfer of competencies from state administration to self-government with the aim of improving the efficiency of the delivery of services. This paper presents a comparative scale efficiency analysis of the units performing services in the building order sector. The analysis is based on two unique regional datasets from two countries, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The DPS implemented in Slovakia is based on the principle of voluntary cooperation of municipalities. In the case of the Czech building sector, the competencies have been transferred to the newly created municipalities with delegated or extended competencies. This study aims to contribute to the research on efficiency in public administration. We focused on the relationship between two types of DPSs, and units' scale efficiency. We also tried to determine whether a specific unit scale size could be identified as the most efficient. We employed a two-stage metafrontier approach based on procedures for evaluating program and managerial efficiency. The results show that different DPs have not led to statistically significant differences in performance, and it is not possible to identify the most efficient building office scale size.


This article is the fifth in a series on the relationship of evaluation theory and practice. It was commissioned by the Eastern Evaluation Research Society and the American Evaluation Association as part of The Chelimsky Forum, launched in 2013 to honor Eleanor Chelimsky, one of the most influential and respected program evaluators of our era, and the former director of the Program Evaluation and Methodology Division of the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the forum is aimed at discussing challenges in the fit between theory and practice and strategies for addressing them. This article focuses on the relationships between evaluators and their users, especially policy makers. It tries to see things through the eyes of these users, recognizing their values and concepts related to evidence, proof, and "the truth" as they see it. It therefore tries to come to grips with the common core of evaluation thinking among a host of such clients, aiming to speak to them in their own language, but without sacrificing evaluator independence. It also recognizes the modern world of electronic reports and the possibility of both widespread and targeted dissemination of evaluation results. Finally, it offers some hints about evaluator development in this modern world, especially in the volatile world of policy and politics.


The introduction of liquid 3He into a silica aerogel provides us with a model system in which to study the effects of disorder on the properties of a strongly correlated Fermi liquid. The transport of heat, mass and spin exhibits cross-over behavior from a high temperature regime, where inelastic scattering dominates, to a low temperature regime dominated by elastic scattering off the aerogel. We report exact and approximate solutions to the Boltzmann–Landau transport equation for the thermal conductivity of liquid 3He, including elastic scattering of quasi-particles by the aerogel and inelastic quasi-particle collisions. These results provide quantitative predictions on the transport properties of liquid 3He in aerogels over a wide range of pressures, temperatures and aerogel densities. In particular, we obtain a scaling function, F(T/T⋆), for the normalized thermal conductivity, , in terms of a reduced temperature, T/T⋆, where T⋆ is a cross-over temperature defined by the elastic and inelastic collision rates. Theoretical results are compared with the available experimental data for the thermal conductivity.


Cratons are the oldest parts of the lithosphere, some of them surviving since Archean. Their long-term survival has sometimes been attributed to high viscosity and low density. In our study, we use a numerical model to examine how shear tractions exerted by mantle convection work to deform cratons by convective shearing. We find that although tractions at the base of the lithosphere increase with increasing lithosphere thickness, the associated strain-rates decrease. This inverse relationship between stress and strain-rate results from lateral viscosity variations along with the model's free-slip condition imposed at the Earth's surface, which enables strain to accumulate along weak zones at plate boundaries. Additionally, we show that resistance to lithosphere deformation by means of convective shearing, which we express as an apparent viscosity, scales with the square of lithosphere thickness. This suggests that the enhanced thickness of the cratons protects them from convective shear and allows them to survive as the least deformed areas of the lithosphere. Indeed, we show that the combination of a smaller asthenospheric viscosity drop and a larger cratonic viscosity, together with the excess thickness of cratons compared to the surrounding lithosphere, can explain their survival since Archean time.


A light pointer is described which allows the deflexions of two mirrors to be recorded in a two co-ordinate graph. This is used in a direct-recording Fabry-Perot interferometer for displaying the intensity as a function of air pressure.


The article deals with the axiological analysis of the terminology apparatus of the general interpretation of the system and its properties; classification features of types of systems; systematic methodology of general, specific, and, in fact, scientific principles and methodological approaches, methodology of system management.


This project was a literature review of the current efforts toward endoscopic third ventriculostomy training to treat spina bifida related hydrocephalus in Africa. Neurosurgical care in Africa is greatly limited by a shortage of neurosurgeons and a lack of knowledge of neuroendoscopic management of hydrocephalus. Hydrocephalus in Africa, especially in infants, is vastly undertreated. Even those few children who are able to receive standard shunt surgery are left with a lifetime dependency due to the periodic monitoring and likely complications associated with the placement of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. This, along with other financial, social, and sanitary limitations, make shunt surgery not only impractical, but oftentimes impossible, in many impoverished regions of Africa. Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) has been identified as a promising alternative to shunt surgery, requiring minimal follow-up and with a high success rate, as well as a low rate of complications. However, the problem of the availability of trained staff still stands. The purpose of this study was to explore educational efforts to upscale the use of ETV in Africa. In order to do this, a PubMed ® search was performed for articles on neurosurgical management in patients with SB. Articles were identified by searching for the terms "ETV and Africa and hydrocephalus." Articles were excluded if they did not refer to the management of hydrocephalus among individuals living with spina bifida. Articles meeting inclusion criteria were classified according to management method (i.e. shunt, ETV, ETV/Choroid plexus cauterization). Because the use of ETV is still not widespread in Africa, I expected to find that there are not many programs in place with the goal of training surgeons in this procedure. However, I hoped to identify any current strategies that may provide a replicable model for expanding the training, and ultimately use, of ETV. Identifying and expanding these educational efforts is a crucial step in alleviating the burden of hydrocephalus associated with spina bifida on the African population.


Background: The management of infected subtrochanteric femoral nonunions is a difficult clinical challenge to the reconstructive surgeon. We analyzed the results of infected subtrochanteric nonunions managed by the Ilizarov method. Materials and Methods: We present a 11-year prospective study of 14 consecutive infected subtrochanteric nonunions treated by the Ilizarov method between 2008 and 2018. The mean age of patients was 45.5 years (range 20–64). All were postoperative infections. The mean shortening of the femur in ten patients was 2.9 cm (range 2–7 cm). Implant removal was done in 12 cases. Wound debridement followed by Ilizarov fixation was done in the same sitting in all the patients except two, where a two-stage procedure was performed. A temporary external fixator was used for two-stage procedure. Long Schanz pins (cephalic pins) were effectively used for improved stability of the proximal fragment. Results: Thirteen of the 14 patients united. Infection was eradicated in thirteen of the fourteen patients. Mean fixator duration was 12.4 months (range 9.5–18) mean range of preserved knee motion was 95°, including two patients who had total knee stiffness. Conclusion: Ilizarov fixation is a reliable method to achieve union in infected subtrochanteric nonunion of femur.


It is assumed that humanitarian aid in civil war does good by relieving the suffering of the civilians undergoing hardship. However, some authors claim that aid can also lead to the exasperation and prolongation of conflict. In this paper we test the hypothesis that humanitarian aid can lead to the exasperation of conflict in civil wars. Taking Operation Life line Sudan as an example this thesis present different ways in which humanitarian aid interacted negatively with the Second Sudanese Civil war 1983- 2005. Three theories are applied: capacity building theory, structural conflict and conflict dynamics theory. Each of these theories present a perspective on how the conflict was exasperated. We argue that the separation of the OLS into different sectors and the different ways they applied relief strategies aided the structural division between both sides. Aid help increase the conflict, both in a latent way via increasing the institutionalized repression of certain groups in society and in a manifest way through interacting with the war dynamics. We also argue that OLS aided the factionalization of the Southern Movement as well as increasing repression over the Nuba Mountains inhabitants and displaced population around Khartoum. We end this paper with a comparison with the different effects of aid in the North and South based on the three theories named above.


Risankizumab, a humanized immunoglobulin G1 monoclonal antibody, selectively inhibits interleukin‐23, a key cytokine in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, by binding to its p19 subunit. In SustaIMM (ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT03000075), a phase 2/3, double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled study, Japanese patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis (n = 171) were stratified by bodyweight and concomitant psoriatic arthritis and randomized 2:2:1:1 to 75 mg risankizumab, 150 mg risankizumab, placebo with cross‐over to 75 mg risankizumab and placebo with cross‐over to 150 mg risankizumab. Dosing was at weeks 0, 4, 16, 28 and 40, with placebo cross‐over to risankizumab at week 16. The primary end‐point was 90% or more improvement from baseline in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI‐90) at week 16 for risankizumab versus placebo. Missing data were imputed as non‐response. All primary and psoriasis‐related secondary end‐points were met for both risankizumab doses (P < 0.001). At week 16, PASI‐90 responses were significantly higher in patients receiving 75 mg (76%) or 150 mg (75%) risankizumab versus placebo (2%). Corresponding response rates were 86%, 93% and 10% for static Physician Global Assessment (sPGA) score of clear/almost clear; 90%, 95% and 9% for PASI‐75; and 22%, 33% and 0% for PASI‐100, with significantly higher responses for both risankizumab doses versus placebo. Through week 52, PASI and sPGA responses increased or were maintained and treatment‐emergent adverse events were comparable across treatment groups. Both doses of risankizumab were superior to placebo in treating patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. The safety profile was consistent with previous risankizumab trials, with no new or unexpected safety findings.


Abstract The etching damage was studied on lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin film capacitors with RuOx/Pt multi-layered electrodes. PZT films were deposited on RuOx/Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by spin coating with the sol-gel solution and etched by an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etcher. Etching damage was systematically investigated by varying etching parameters such as coil RF power, DC bias to wafer susceptor, and chamber pressure. Quantitative analysis of etching damage was made in terms of the degree of the coercive field shift (Eshift ) in hysteresis loops. In this study, the optimization of etching process for PZT films was attempted to minimize the etching damage to the ferroelectric capacitors.


Department of Physics and Center for Theoretical Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanSearches for Higgs boson at the LHC have excluded standard model (SM) Higgs boson mass inthe range between 127 GeV to 600 GeV. With a fourth generation, the excluded range is wider. Toclose the windows between 114 GeV to 127 GeV, the mode H → γγ plays an important role. Thereare evidences that the Higgs boson mass is about 126 GeV from LHC data. H → γγ can occurat one loop level in the SM. In the SM with three generations (SM3), the dominant contributionis from W boson with some cancellation from top quark in the loop. With SM4, the large massof the fourth generation quarks and charged lepton cancel the W boson contribution significantly,the decay width is suppressed by a factorin the range of 0.25 ∼ 0.55 for the fourth generation massin the range of 500 to 1000 GeV. This reduction factor makes σ(pp → HX)Br(H → γγ) for SM4comparable to that for SM3 for Higgs boson mass in the window allowed mentioned earlier. UsingH → γγ alone, therefore, it is difficult at present to distinguish whether the Higgs boson is fromSM3 or SM4. We also comments on some other detection channels.


e876 www.ccmjournal.org August 2017 • Volume 45 • Number 8 The author replies: We appreciate the comments of Rady and Verheijde (1) and are grateful for the opportunity to clarify certain aspects of our recently published article in Critical Care Medicine (2). Opposite to a current view suggesting that standard MRI T1-weightened sequences are not precise enough to early detect brain structural anomalies in this setting, we demonstrated that anoxic comatose patients displayed significantly extensive cortical and subcortical brain volumes atrophy compared with matched controls, providing new insights into the brain structural impact of anoxic/ hypoxic insult related to cardiac arrest (CA), and paving the way for the use of this innovative neuroimaging tools in CA survivors neuroprognostication. It is worth noting that despite these promising results, we have never suggested that quantitative MRI morphometry should be used in isolation as a prognosticator for post-CA patients, but rather advocated for their use in conjunction with other prognostic variables available, as currently recommended in this challenging setting (3). Rady and Verheijde (1) raise concerns about to which extent the structural anomalies that we have observed, are specifically related to the anoxic-ischemic brain insult. It should be noted that, as a variant to most of the studies in the field (3), we have carefully controlled and matched patients and control groups, on age and sex. Nevertheless, we agree that additional variable as cultural level or previous cognitive decline—both well-known brain atrophy associated factors—were not controlled in the current study and would need to be specifically addressed. Furthermore, we confirm that we have exclusively observed a dissociated pattern of atrophy between cortical and subcortical structures on the patients group, suggesting a specific vulnerability/adaptability of cortical/subcortical structures towards CA-related brain injury. Concerning our colleague's suggestion of recording and comparing structural MRI of the same subjects, before and after CA, we consider that ethical and feasibility issues (i.e., CA yearly occurrence rate of about 50–110 per 100,000 people worldwide) (2) would render this approach impracticable. Finally, our colleagues put into the light the crucial issue of the "gold standard" methods that should be used to test potential neuroimaging-derived predictors in this setting. It is worth noting that we have used blinded assessment of outcomes, which were performed 1 year after the coma onset, using a standardized and validated scale (Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended) (4). We think that complementary clinical scoring tools, which more accurately discriminate the full span of acquired disorders of consciousness (e.g., Coma Recovery Scale-Revised) (5), could be used instead. Nevertheless, we disagree with the idea of employing additional neuroimaging surrogates (e.g., transcranial magnetic stimulation) to validate novel neuroprognostication methods (e.g., structural MRI). We suggest that such a combination of techniques could be better suited to 1) increase the understanding of the pathophysiologic mechanisms underpinning functional/structural changes induced by severe brain injury and further elucidating the neural substrates of consciousness and 2) ultimately provide clinically useful multimodal batteries of test, validated against robust behavioral data. Innovations in the recordings and processing of neuroimaging have produced a cornucopia of possibilities to assess the structure and function of the brain in patients with acquired disorders of consciousness. But even if further large-scale validation studies are required, the novelty of these approaches should not impede us to assess their usefulness in this defiant setting, where pervasive nihilism (6) prevail, and patients are frequently viewed through an end-of-life prism, leaving them marginalized from the evolving fruits of neuroscience. Dr. Silva has disclosed that he does not have any potential conflicts of interest.


Introduction: Visual impairment caused severe disability in 2.2 billion people globally in 2010. This disability, which interacts with the physical, social, or attitudinal environment, spans across the lifecycle, and is associated with psychological distress and poor quality of life. This study aimed at describing the effect of surgery on blindness, QoL, anxiety and depressive disorders.Methods A one arm pre – post study was conducted among systematically-selected visually impaired adults (> 18 years) requiring surgery at the National Eye Centre (NEC), Nigeria. Trained research assistants used a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire to interview participants at pre – and 10–12 week's post-surgery. The visual function was measured with presenting visual acuity. Presence of psychological distress was defined by a scores ≥ 8 on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADs), and confirmed the presence of anxiety, and depression using Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) questionnaire. The World Health Organization Quality of Life-Bref questionnaire was used to assess the quality of life. Descriptive analysis for frequency and proportions was carried out while Chi square McNemar test used to detect the effect of surgery on blindness, anxiety, depression and QoL. Statistically significant was set at p Value < 0.05.Results Of the 180 respondents, males accounted for 56.7%, and 72.2% had Cataract. Pre-surgical psychological distress, anxiety and depression were 38.9%, 25.6%, and 30.0%, respectively. Pre-surgery, a third had poor QoL on social relationship domain of WHOQoL-Bref. Ophthalmic surgery significantly improved blindness, anxiety, and social relationship QoL. No significant effect on depression.Conclusions Ophthalmic surgery influences social relationships QoL, and anxiety. It however has no effect on depression. Apart from surgical interventions, holistic care of vision impairment should involve mental care to improve QoL.


In order to meet the requirements of visual inspection for a special printed board,with the help of Beckhoff's control architecture based on EtherCAT bus protocol,a full close-loop servo system of Biaxial Synchro-control is designed. The establishment of master-slave axis coordinate system and the realization of the Biaxial Synchro-control's process are explored. The visual inspection's high frequency requirement of a special printed board is responded by means of Extreme Fast Control with oversampling. The building of HMI,the compilcaton of control procedure,the servo system's debug and improvement are successfully accomplished based on the TwinCAT software.Beckhoff ADS communication is used to complete the interconnection with the upper visual inspection software. Finally the system performance the whole equipment are tested and optimized.


Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa; trade name, NovoSeven) is FDA-approved for use in patients with hemophilia A or B who have inhibitors to factors VIII and IX. However, the drug has also been used -- in both practice settings and small trials -- for bleeding patients in other clinical circumstances. In this industry-supported, international randomized trial, …


The present invention provides an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, an image forming control device and method. The image formation control apparatus comprising: a reception unit for receiving a print job including the image data and job setting data; and a control unit, by analyzing the print job input from the external input unit, and controls such that the image forming section, based on the job setting data for image formation. Wherein said control unit, said job set from setting items included in the data string is set, and a different isolated represents the original set of setting items determined specific set setting character string processing the job setting data for setting further comprises setting the setting items and the string representation of the string, performs control such that the image forming unit forming an image based on the job setting data .


A common human behavior is to take other's opinion before taking any decision. With the tremendous availability of documents which express opinions on different issues, the challenge arises to analyze it and produce useful knowledge from it. Many works in the area of Sentiment Analysis is available for English language. From last few years, opinion-rich resources are booming in other languages and hence there is a need to perform Sentiment Analysis in those languages. In this paper, a Sentiment Analysis in Hindi Language (SAHL) is proposed for reviews in movie domain. It performs 1) preprocessing like stopword removal and stemming on the input data, 2) subjectivity analysis on the preprocessed data, to remove objective sentences that are not contributing to opinion of the input data, 3) document level opinion mining for classification of the documents as positive and negative using two different methods: Machine learning technique and Lexicon based classification technique. We have used Naive Bayes Classifier, Support Vector Machine and Maximum Entropy techniques for Machine learning. In Lexicon based classification, adjectives are considered as opinion words and according to the polarity of the adjectives, the documents are classified, 4) negation handling with window size consideration for improving the accuracy of classification. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is confirmed by extensive simulations performed on a large movie dataset.


The main tendencies of children's traumatism in the Arkhangelsk region have been considered, specific weight of external action in incidence of diseases, features of traumas in dynamics and depending on age have been detected. The results of the medicosociological study of children's traumatism have been presented, the main mechanisms of injury production in the age, environmental and time aspects have been determined.


Background and Objectives:Active head rotation test measures vestibulo-ocular reflex at frequencies of 1 Hz to 8 Hz which correspond to the frequencies of head movements in daily living. However, the normative data of several authors are not in unity, and the usefulness of the test in the evaluation of the peripheral vestibulopathy is yet to be determined. The purpose of this study is to make our own normative data using our own testing condition and facilities and to evaluate the usefulness of the test in the evaluation of the peripheral vestibulopathy. Materials and Methods:Active head rotation test was performed in 22 controls and 34 peripheral vestibulopathy patients (24 unilateral, 10 bilateral using the VORTEQ system in darkness with eyes open (VOR-EO. Gain, phase and symmetry were compared between the control group and the patient groups. Results:The control group showed the gain of 1.0 to 1.1 at frequencies of 1 Hz to 4 Hz. Phase was between 4 to 7 degrees, and symmetry was close to zero. Unilateral vestibulopathy group did not show a significant difference in gain, phase and symmetry from the normal group at the majority of frequencies. Bilateral vestibulopathy group showed a significant gain reduction compared to the normal group and unilateral group (p<0.05. But phase and symmetry were not significantly different. Conclusion:The active head rotation test was not useful in evaluating unilateral peripheral vestibulopathy although it was useful in assessing funcitonal deficit of VOR in bilateral vestibulopathy. (Korean J Otolaryngol 1998;41(7 :856-861


Simple Summary With a strong association between esophageal cancer and multiple primary cancers (MPCs), physicians encounter difficult decision making for appropriate treatment. By analyzing long-term survival for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) associated with MPCs, patients with antecedent/synchronous cancers showed similar survival benefit in comparison with esophageal SCC only. The most common site of other primary cancers is the head and neck, which also showed no inferiority in overall survival (OS) among sites of MPCs. Once curative esophagectomy can be achieved, surgery should be selected as a potential therapeutic approach if indicated. Abstract Background: Advances in surgical techniques and treatment modalities have improved the outcomes of esophageal cancer, yet difficult decision making for physicians while encountering multiple primary cancers (MPCs) continues to exist. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term survival for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) associated with MPCs. Methods: Data from 544 patients with esophageal SCC who underwent surgery between 2005 and 2017 were reviewed to identify the presence of simultaneous or metachronous primary cancers. The prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) were analyzed. Results: Three hundred and ninety-seven patients after curative esophagectomy were included, with a median observation time of 44.2 months (range 2.6–178.6 months). Out of 52 patients (13.1%) with antecedent/synchronous cancers and 296 patients without MPCs (control group), 49 patients (12.3%) developed subsequent cancers after surgery. The most common site of other primary cancers was the head and neck (69/101; 68.3%), which showed no inferiority in OS. Sex and advanced clinical stage (III/IV) were independent risk factors (p = 0.031 and p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusion: Once curative esophagectomy can be achieved, surgery should be selected as a potential therapeutic approach if indicated, even with antecedent/synchronous MPCs. Subsequent primary cancers were often observed in esophageal SCC, and optimal surveillance planning was recommended.


This project outlined a conceptual framework to help make sense of opportunities in an effort to recognize conditions leading to failure and to establish paths toward success. In finding success, three distinct themes emerged from the literature: capacity, passion, and relevance. The CPR Success and Failure Analysis framework is intended to be a framework for success. Displayed as a Venn diagram, the framework includes domains of capacity, passion, and relevance, which are connected in the center through presence. The framework may serve as a theoretical lens for research, in-person and online educational opportunities, self-reflection, business coaching/consulting, college and career planning, and various other purposes. Given that a variety of circumstances could be applied to this framework, the possibilities for its use seem endless.


Summary The continuing professional education prepares the pharmacists for the requirements of the changed role of pharmacists in the society. Different approaches to continuous professional education ranging from lectures to peer-mentoring work shops and web tools have been developed throughout the last 25 years. The goal of the current analysis is to systematize the trends in accredited education events for pharmacists by the Quality Committee of the BPhU during 2010-2013. This study is a retrospective database analysis. The information concerning the accredited forms of continuing education of pharmacists as well as other activities related to continuing education was extracted from the official protocols, issued by the Quality Commission of the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union (BPhU). The continuing postgraduate education of pharmacists in Bulgaria is developing with new elements which allow competence development through individual forms of self-development such as publication activities, delivering presentations, individual training, etc. In the educational programs accredited during the second registration period, still prevailed the short courses, with focus on the new medicinal products.