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Imaging plays a central role in neuro-oncology including primary diagnosis, treatment planning, and surveillance of tumors. The emergence of quantitative imaging and radiomics provided an uprecedented opportunity to compile mineable databases that can be utilized in a variety of applications. In this review, we aim to summarize the current state of conventional and advanced imaging techniques, standardization efforts, fast protocols, contrast and sedation in pediatric neuro-oncologic imaging, radiomics-radiogenomics, multi-omics and molecular imaging approaches. We will also address the existing challenges and discuss future directions.

The Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) strain XK1.4 isolated from pickled vegetables was applied for cucumber and radish fermentation using rice bran. Fermented radish and cucumber pickles are the lactic acid fermentation products formed through the influence of microorganisms present in the environment. The main objective of the study is to select the appropriate rice bran type (white/yellow rice bran) and treatment methods (roasting time), and also choose suitable fermentation conditions (initial microbial population and added salt content) for traditional pickled cucumber and white radish with appropriate lactic acid content and high acceptability by consumers. The results showed that the quality of white bran was better than yellow bran and less oxidized, the total free fatty acid was also much lower than that of yellow bran. It was found that the lactic acid content analyses provided significant different results for the samples, compared to the control (without inoculant addition). The pickled samples for which L. plantarum strain XK 1.4 was used displayed a better fermentation process. The lower concentration of bacteria added in the initial stage, the lower the acid content of the rice bran medium and the fermented products where L. plantarum strains were added. L. plantarum grew rapidly in rice bran fermenting bed of 10 CFU g at 25-26 °C and 3% NaCl. With the appropriate selection of fermentation parameters, it only takes about 4 days for the fermentation process (2 days of preparing rice bran medium and 2 days of fermenting white radish and cucumber) with high lactic acid content and consumer’s acceptability.

Drug isomers may differ in their proarrhythmia risk. An interesting example is the drug sotalol, an antiarrhythmic drug comprising d- and l- enantiomers that both block the hERG cardiac potassium channel and confer differing degrees of proarrhythmic risk. We developed a multi-scale in silico pipeline focusing on hERG channel - drug interactions and used it to probe and predict the mechanisms of pro-arrhythmia risks of the two enantiomers of sotalol. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations predicted comparable hERG channel binding affinities for d- and l-sotalol, which were validated with electrophysiology experiments. MD derived thermodynamic and kinetic parameters were used to build multi-scale functional computational models of cardiac electrophysiology at the cell and tissue scales. Functional models were used to predict inactivated state binding affinities to recapitulate electrocardiogram (ECG) QT interval prolongation observed in clinical data. Our study demonstrates how modeling and simulation can be applied to predict drug effects from the atom to the rhythm for dl-sotalol and also increased proarrhythmia proclivity of d- vs. l-sotalol when accounting for stereospecific beta-adrenergic receptor blocking.

We present a model of market hyper-segmentation, where a monopolist acquires within a short time all information about the preferences of consumers who purchase its vertically differentiated products. The firm offers a new price/quality schedule after each commitment period. Lower consumer types may have an incentive to delay their purchases until next period to obtain a better introductory offer. The monopolist counters this incentive by offering higher informational rents. Considering the dynamic game played by the monopolist and its customers, we find that there is always a Markov perfect equilibrium (MPE) in which the firm immediately sells the good to all customers, offering the Mussa-Rosen static equilibrium schedule to first time customers (and getting full commitment profits). However, if the commitment period between two offers is long enough, there is another MPE with gradual market expansion. Contrary to the Coasian result for a durable-good monopoly, we find that in both equilibria the profit of the monopolist increases (and the aggregate consumers surplus decreases) as the interval of commitment shrinks.The model yields policy implications for regulations on collection and storage of customers information.

We develop a simple North-South model of quality ladders to show that the virtual mobility of labor across time zones, facilitated by the advance in communication technology, can raise the endogenous growth rate of the world economy. The unique balanced growth rate is increasing in the endowments of skilled labor in both countries and decreasing in the rate of impatience. Moreover, we find that partial R&D offshoring to the South has initially a negative effect on the level of skilled wages in the North, but this is compensated for by its positive effect on the growth rate in both North and South., Nakanishi acknowledges the financial support of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A), No.16H02016.

A two-step synthesis approach was utilized to grow CaMnO3 on M-, R- and C-plane sapphire substrates. Radio-frequency reactive magnetron sputtering was used to grow rock-salt-structured (Ca, Mn)O followed by a 3-h annealing step at 800 °C in oxygen flow to form the distorted perovskite phase CaMnO3. The effect of temperature in the post-annealing step was investigated using x-ray diffraction. The phase transformation to CaMnO3 started at 450 °C and was completed at 550 °C. Films grown on R- and C-plane sapphire showed similar structure with a mixed orientation, whereas the film grown on M-plane sapphire was epitaxially grown with an out-of-plane orientation in the [202] direction. The thermoelectric characterization showed that the film grown on M-plane sapphire has about 3.5 times lower resistivity compared to the other films with a resistivity of 0.077 Ωcm at 500 °C. The difference in resistivity is a result from difference in crystal structure, single orientation for M-plane sapphire compared to mixed for R- and C-plane sapphire. The highest absolute Seebeck coefficient value is − 350 µV K−1 for all films and is decreasing with temperature.

Landslides affect properties and the lives of a large number of people in many hilly parts of Vietnam and in the world. Damages caused by landslides can be reduced by understanding distribution, nature, mechanisms and causes of landslides with the help of model studies for better planning and risk management of the area. Development of landslide susceptibility maps is one of the main steps in landslide management. In this study, the main objective is to develop GIS based hybrid computational intelligence models to generate landslide susceptibility maps of the Da Lat province, which is one of the landslide prone regions of Vietnam. Novel hybrid models of alternating decision trees (ADT) with various ensemble methods, namely bagging, dagging, MultiBoostAB, and RealAdaBoost, were developed namely B-ADT, D-ADT, MBAB-ADT, RAB-ADT, respectively. Data of 72 past landslide events was used in conjunction with 11 landslide conditioning factors (curvature, distance from geological boundaries, elevation, land use, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), relief amplitude, stream density, slope, lithology, weathering crust and soil) in the development and validation of the models. Area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC), and several statistical measures were applied to validate these models. Results indicated that performance of all the models was good (AUC value greater than 0.8) but B-ADT model performed the best (AUC= 0.856). Landslide susceptibility maps generated using the proposed models would be helpful to decision makers in the risk management for land use planning and infrastructure development., Validerad;2020;Nivå 2;2019-12-16 (johcin)

Hille’s (1971) seminal study of organic cation selectivity of eukaryotic voltage-gated sodium channels showed a sharp size cut-off for ion permeation, such that no ion possessing a methyl group was permeant. Using the prokaryotic channel, NaChBac, we found some similarity and two peculiar differences in the selectivity profiles for small polyatomic cations. First, we identified a diverse group of minimally permeant cations for wildtype NaChBac, ranging in sizes from ammonium to guanidinium and tetramethylammonium; and second, for both ammonium and hydrazinium, the charge-conserving selectivity filter mutation (E191D) yielded substantial increases in relative permeability (PX/PNa). The relative permeabilities varied inversely with relative Kd calculated from 1D Potential of Mean Force profiles (PMFs) for the single cations traversing the channel. Several of the cations bound more strongly than Na+, and hence appear to act as blockers, as well as charge carriers. Consistent with experimental observations, the E191D mutation had little impact on Na+ binding to the selectivity filter, but disrupted the binding of ammonium and hydrazinium, consequently facilitating ion permeation across the NaChBac-like filter. We concluded that for prokaryotic sodium channels, a fine balance among filter size, binding affinity, occupancy, and flexibility seems to contribute to observed functional differences.

We construct a modified Hotelling-type model of two mediaproviders, each of whom can issue fake and/or real news and eachof whom can invest in the debunking of their rival’s fake news. Themodel assumes that consumers have an innate preference for oneprovider or the other and value real news. However, that valuationvaries according to their bias favouring one provider or the other.We demonstrate a unique subgame perfect Nash equilibrium inwhich only one firm issues fake news and we show, in this setting,that increased polarisation of consumers (represented by a widerdistribution) increases the prevalence of both fake news anddebunking expenditures and is welfare-reducing. We also show,inter alia, that a stronger preference by consumers for theirpreferred provider lowers both fake news and debunking. Finally,we compare monopoly and duopoly market structures in terms of‘fake news’ provision and show that a public news provider can bewelfare-improving.

We model an oligopoly where firms are allowed to freely enter and exit the market and choose the quality level of their products by incurring different set-up costs. Using this framework, we study the mix of firms in the long-run Cournot-Nash equilibrium under different cost structures and the effects of market size on market outcomes. Specifically, we consider two alternative specifications of cost structure. In the first specification, quality upgrading requires a large increment in the set-up cost or R&D investment. Under this cost structure, we show that in the Nash equilibrium, each firm specializes in a single quality level, and an increase in the market size leads to (i) an increase in the fraction of firms that specialize in the high quality product, (ii) an increase in the market share of the high quality product, and (iii) a reduction in firms'markups and in markup dispersion. Under the second type of cost structure where quality upgrading only requires higher marginal cost, we find that all firms will produce both types of product, and the value share of the high-quality product increases as the market expands, but in quantity terms, the market share of the high quality product does not change. Finally, we find that trade liberalization has broadly similar effects to that of a market expansion, but the supply of the high-quality product from the smaller economy may decrease.

We propose a dynamic model of climate change abatement in which the number of contributors is endogenous and thus may differ between two modes of cooperation, namely, loose vs tight. In the tight mode of cooperation, each member is prescribed a specific target, whereas in the loose one, members choose their own abatement levels as Nash players. Conditions exist such that the incentive to free ride is lower and the number of contributors is higher in the loose cooperation framework, and this can lead to higher welfare, both in the steady state and along the transition path. Our theoretical results suggest that the loose coalition mode, such reflected in the spirit of the Paris International COP21 Conference on Climate Change, by attracting more participants, could turn out to be more effective in reducing emissions than the Kyoto Protocol.

We show that a monopolist's profit is higher if he refrains from collecting coarse information on his customers, sticking to constant uniform pricing rather than recognizing customers' segments through their purchase history. In the Markov-perfect equilibrium with coarse information collection, after each commitment period, a new introductory price is offered to attract new customers, creating a new market segment for price discrimination. Eventually, the whole market is covered. Shortening the commitment period results in lower profits. These results sharply differ from the ones obtained when the firm can uncover the exact willingness-to-pay of each previous customer.

Nguyen Trung Kien,1 Nguyen Truong Giang,2 Bui Van Manh,1 Nguyen Manh Cuong,3 Ngo Van Dinh,3 Dinh Cong Pho,4 Vu The Anh,3 Dao Thi Khanh,5 Luu Quang Thuy,6 Pham Van Dong71Center of Emergency, Critical Care Medicine, and Clinical Toxicology, Military Hospital 103, Vietnam Military Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam; 2Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Military Hospital 103, Vietnam Military Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam; 3Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Military Hospital 103, Vietnam Military Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam; 4Faculty of Medicine, Vietnam Military Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam; 5Department of Pharmacy, Military Hospital 103, Vietnam Military Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam; 6Center of Anesthesia and Surgical Intensive Care, Vietduc University Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 7Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Cho Ray Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, VietnamBackground: Local anesthetic systemic toxicity (LAST) is a life-threatening complication that may follow application of LAs through various routes. Despite increasing usage of LA techniques in a large number of health-care settings, contemporary awareness of LAST and understanding of its management are inadequate.Case presentation: We report two cases who suffered LAST following brachial plexus block for surgery on the upper extremity. The first patient received an ultrasound-guided supraclavicular block with 300 mg lidocaine (6 mg/kg) and 50 mg ropivacaine (1 mg/kg) in 25 mL without epinephrine, and the second patient received an ultrasound guided interscalene block with 200 mg lidocaine (4.5 mg/kg) and 45 mg ropivacaine (1 mg/kg) supplemented with epinephrine 1:200,000. Both patients presented with symptoms of central nervous and respiratory system depression, the first roughly 10 minutes after injection, and the second immediately after withdrawal of the needle. In both cases, thorough recovery was obtained using lipid-emulsion therapy.Conclusion: The complication of LAST following u

Fruit rot caused by Aspergillus niger or Colletotrichum musae is an important post-harvest disease on orange, chilli and Cavendish banana fruits. The use of synthetic fungicides has been a traditional strategy for the management of the fruit rot disease, but these chemicals adversely affect human health and environment. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of CaCl2 on in vitro hyphal growth and in vivo lesion inhibition. First, aqueous solutions of CaCl2 at three concentrations of 20, 40 and 60 mM were assessed for their inhibitory effect against hyphal growth in vitro. Next, mature fruits were immersed into a solution of 20 mM CaCl2 for 20 - 30 s, then inoculated by a pathogen suspension at the density of 106 conidia mL-1 and observed for 12 days. The results showed that 20 mM CaCl2 was the most effective concentration in antifungal assay to Aspergillus isolated from orange rot. The treatment of CaCl2 continued to gain efficacy on limiting lesions’ development on orange fruits until 12 days after inoculation (DAI). On chilli, CaCl2 at concentrations of 20 and 40 mM inhibited well on the growth of Aspergillus hyphae isolated from chilli rot. However, calcium treatment was not effective on chilli fruits. On Cavendish banana, solutions of CaCl2 at concentrations of 20, 40 and 60 mM highly limited fungal growth of Colletotrichum in vitro conditions. The application of CaCl2 solution could inhibit anthracnose lesion length of Cavendish banana variety, but its efficacy did not prolong until 6 DAI. In general, the good results were obtained from the 20 mM CaCl2 in almost all the studied assays. Management of rot diseases on fruits by employing 20 mM CaCl2 could be suitable to replace the current hazardous agro-chemicals., Thối trái do nấm Aspergillus niger hay nấm Colletotrichum musae là bệnh sau thu hoạch thường gặp trên cam, ớt và chuối già. Thuốc trừ nấm tổng hợp là biện pháp truyền thống quản lý bệnh thối trái nhưng lại ảnh hưởng bất lợi đến sức khỏe con người và môi trường. Vì vậy, mục tiêu của nghiên cứu là đáng giá ảnh hưởng của CaCl2 đối với sự sinh trưởng in vitro của nấm và sự ức chế vết bệnh ở điều kiện in vivo. Đầu tiên, dung dịch CaCl2 ở các nồng độ 20, 40 và 60 mM được sử dụng để đánh giá khả năng ức chế sự sinh trưởng in vitro của nấm bệnh. Tiếp theo, trái trưởng thành được nhúng vào dung dịch CaCl2 20 mM trong 20 - 30 s, rồi lây nhiễm với huyền phù mầm bệnh ở mật số 106 bào tử mL-1 và quan sát đến 12 ngày. Kết quả cho thấy CaCl2 20 mM có hiệu quả ức chế tốt đối với nấm Aspergillus phân lập từ bệnh thối trái cam. CaCl2 tiếp tục thể hiện hiệu quả ức chế bệnh trên trái cam đến 12 ngày sau lây bệnh. Trên ớt, CaCl2 20 và 40 mM cho hiệu quả ức chế sự phát triển nấm Aspergillus phân lập từ bệnh thối trái ớt. Tuy nhiên, xử lý CaCl2 không mang lại hiệu quả mong đợi trên trái ớt. Trên chuối già, dung dịch CaCl2 ở các nồng độ 20, 40 và 60 mM ức chế tốt sợi nấm Colletotrichum trong điều kiện in vitro. Dung dịch canxi có thể ức chế vết bệnh thán thư trên chuối già, nhưng hiệu quả không kéo dài đến 6 ngày sau lây bệnh. Nhìn chung, các kết quả tốt đều đạt được khi xử lý bằng CaCl2 20 mM ở hầu hết các thí nghiệm. Việc kiểm soát bệnh thối trái bằng CaCl2 20 mM có thể thay thế cho hóa chất nông nghiệp độc hại hiện nay.

Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global problem that affects one-third of all women. The present study aims to develop and determine the validity of a screening instrument for the detection of IPV in pregnant women in Tanzania and Vietnam and to determine the minimum number of questions needed to identify IPV. Method An IPV screening instrument based on eight questions was tested on 1,116 Tanzanian and 1,309 Vietnamese women who attended antenatal care before 24 gestational weeks. The women were re-interviewed during their 30th-34th gestational week where the World Health Organization (WHO) IPV questionnaire was used as the gold standard. In all, 255 combinations of eight different questions were first tested on the Tanzanian study population where sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy were calculated. In the evaluation of the performance of the question combinations, different IPV types and the frequency of abusive acts were considered. The question combinations that performed best in Tanzania were subsequently evaluated in the Vietnamese study population. Results In Tanzania, a combination of three selected questions including one question on emotional IPV, one on physical IPV and one on sexual IPV was found to be most effective in identifying women who are exposed to at least one type of IPV during pregnancy (sensitivity = .80; specificity = .74). The performance of the identified combination was slightly less effective in Vietnam (sensitivity = .74; specificity = .68). Focusing on different IPV types, the best performance was found for exposure to physical IPV in both Tanzania (sensitivity = .93; specificity = .70) and Vietnam (sensitivity = .96; specificity = .55). In both countries, the sensitivity increased with the frequency of abuse whereas the specificity decreased. Conclusion By asking pregnant women three simple questions we were able to identify women who we

We propose a novel type system for verifying that programs correctly implement constant-resource behavior. Our type system extends recent work on automatic amortized resource analysis (AARA), a set of techniques that automatically derive provable upper bounds on the resource consumption of programs. We devise new techniques that build on the potential method to achieve compositionality, precision, and automation. A strict global requirement that a program always maintains constant resource usage is too restrictive for most practical applications. It is sufficient to require that the program's resource behavior remain constant with respect to an attacker who is only allowed to observe part of the program's state and behavior. To account for this, our type system incorporates information flow tracking into its resource analysis. This allows our system to certify programs that need to violate the constant-time requirement in certain cases, as long as doing so does not leak confidential information to attackers. We formalize this guarantee by defining a new notion of resource-aware noninterference, and prove that our system enforces it. Finally, we show how our type inference algorithm can be used to synthesize a constant-time implementation from one that cannot be verified as secure, effectively repairing insecure programs automatically. We also show how a second novel AARA system that computes lower bounds on resource usage can be used to derive quantitative bounds on the amount of information that a program leaks through its resource use. We implemented each of these systems in Resource Aware ML, and show that it can be applied to verify constant-time behavior in a number of applications including encryption and decryption routines, database queries, and other resource-aware functionality., Comment: 30, IEEE S&P 2017

Transaction-level modeling with SystemC has been very successful in describing the behavior of embedded systems by providing high-level executable models, in which many of them have inherent probabilistic behaviors, eg, random data and unreliable components. It is thus crucial to have both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the probabilities of system properties. Such analysis can be conducted by constructing a formal model of the system under verification and using Probabilistic Model Checking. However, this method is infeasible for large systems, due to the state space explosion. In this article, we demonstrate the successful use of statistical model checking to conduct such analysis directly from large SystemC models and allow designers to express a wide range of useful properties. The first contribution of this work is a framework to verify properties expressed inBounded Linear Temporal Logic for SystemC models with both timed and probabilistic characteristics. Second, the framework allows users to expose a rich set of user code primitives as atomic propositions in Bounded Linear Temporal Logic. Moreover, users can define their own fine-grained time resolution rather than the boundary of clock cycles in the SystemC simulation. The third contribution is an implementation of a statistical model checker. It contains an automatic monitor generation for producing execution traces of the model-under-verification, the mechanism for automatically instrumenting the model-under-verification, and the interaction with statistical model checking algorithms.

We aimed to determine the relationship between dioxin congeners in maternal breast milk and maternal glucocorticoid levels with newborn birth weight after nearly 45 years of use of herbicides in the Vietnam War. The study subjects comprised 58 mother–infant pairs in a region with high dioxin levels in the soil (hotspot) and 62 pairs from a control region. Dioxin levels in maternal breast milk were measured by HRGC-HRMS. Salivary glucocorticoid levels were determined by LC-MS/MS. Dioxin congener levels in mothers from the hotspot were found to be two to fivefold higher than those in mothers from the control region. Birth weight was inversely correlated with 2,3,7,8-TeCDD and 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF congener levels. The rate of newborns whose birth weight was less than 2500 g was threefold higher in the hotspot (12 %) than in the control region (4 %). Salivary glucocorticoid levels in mothers with low birth weight infants were significantly higher than those in the normal birth weight group. Low birth weight of Vietnamese newborns in a hotspot for dioxin levels is related to some dioxin congener levels and high glucocorticoid levels in mothers. This finding in mother–infant pairs suggests that excess maternal glucocorticoid levels are related to dioxin burden and they result in low birth weight. © 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, Embargo Period 12 months

This paper presents a new static analysis for deriving upper bounds on the expected resource consumption of probabilistic programs. The analysis is fully automatic and derives symbolic bounds that are multivariate polynomials of the inputs. The new technique combines manual state-of-the-art reasoning techniques for probabilistic programs with an effective method for automatic resource-bound analysis of deterministic programs. It can be seen as both, an extension of automatic amortized resource analysis (AARA) to probabilistic programs and an automation of manual reasoning for probabilistic programs that is based on weakest preconditions. As a result, bound inference can be reduced to off-the-shelf LP solving in many cases and automatically-derived bounds can be interactively extended with standard program logics if the automation fails. Building on existing work, the soundness of the analysis is proved with respect to an operational semantics that is based on Markov decision processes. The effectiveness of the technique is demonstrated with a prototype implementation that is used to automatically analyze 39 challenging probabilistic programs and randomized algorithms. Experimental results indicate that the derived constant factors in the bounds are very precise and even optimal for many programs.

Transaction-level modeling with SystemC has been very successful in describing the behavior of embedded systems by providing high-level executable models, in which many of them have inherent probabilistic behaviors, e.g., random data and unreliable components. It thus is crucial to have both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the probabilities of system properties. Such analysis can be conducted by constructing a formal model of the system under verification and using Probabilistic Model Checking (PMC). However, this method is infeasible for large systems, due to the state space explosion. In this article, we demonstrate the successful use of Statistical Model Checking (SMC) to carry out such analysis directly from large SystemC models and allow designers to express a wide range of useful properties. The first contribution of this work is a framework to verify properties expressed in Bounded Linear Temporal Logic (BLTL) for SystemC models with both timed and probabilistic characteristics. Second, the framework allows users to expose a rich set of user-code primitives as atomic propositions in BLTL. Moreover, users can define their own fine-grained time resolution rather than the boundary of clock cycles in the SystemC simulation. The third contribution is an implementation of a statistical model checker. It contains an automatic monitor generation for producing execution traces of the model-under-verification (MUV), the mechanism for automatically instrumenting the MUV, and the interaction with statistical model checking algorithms., Comment: Journal of Software: Evolution and Process. Wiley, 2017. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1507.08187

Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a global public health problem. The purposes of this study were describing the association between IPV during pregnancy and women's health and describing the coping of women exposing to IPV. This study was cross sectional study design; it was cross crosssectional study with 1309 pregnant in Dong Anh district. The prevalence of IPV during pregnancy was 35.2%. IPV affected to pregnant's women health (physical health: 31.7% and mental health: 69%). Pregnant women were usually not disclosing with IPV (43.6%). Family of birth was the most sharing of pregnant women with IPV and they were also the most people who helped women. The national Program agaist violence in Vietnam should be more attention to family of birth to protect women agaist violence.

Background: Violence against pregnant women is an increasing public health concern particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The purpose of this study was to measure the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy and the risk of adverse birth outcomes. Methods: Prospective cohort study of 1276 pregnant women in Dong Anh district, Vietnam. Women with gestational age less than 24 weeks were enrolled and interviewed. Repeated interviews were performed at 30–34 weeks gestation to assess experience of IPV during pregnancy and again 48 hours post-delivery to assess the birth outcome including birth weight and gestational age at delivery. Results: There was a statistically significant association between exposure to physical violence during pregnancy and preterm birth (PTB) or low birth weight (LBW). After adjustment for age, education, occupation, body mass index (BMI), haemoglobin level, previous adverse pregnancy outcomes, the pregnant women who were exposed to physical violence during pregnancy were five times more likely to have PTB (AOR = 5.5; 95%CI: 2.1–14.1) and were nearly six times more likely to give birth to a child of LBW (AOR = 5.7; 95%CI: 2.2–14.9) as compared to those who were not exposed to physical violence. Conclusion: Exposure to IPV during pregnancy increases the risk of PTB and LBW. Case-finding for violence in relation to antenatal care may help protect pregnant women and improve pregnancy outcomes.

Stochastic Petri nets are commonly used for modeling distributed systems in order to study their performance and dependability. This paper proposes a realization of stochastic Petri nets in SystemC for modeling large embedded control systems. Then statistical model checking is used to analyze the dependability of the constructed model. Our verification framework allows users to express a wide range of useful properties to be verified which is illustrated through a case study.

Using energy data over the period 1981-2011 we find that US biofuels subsidies and production have provided a perverse incentive for US fossil fuel producers to increase their rate of extraction that has generated a weak green paradox. Further, in the short-run if the reduction in the CO2 emissions from a one-to-one substitution between biofuels and fossil fuels is less than 26 percent, or less than 57 percent if long run effect is taken into account, then US biofuels production is likely to have resulted in a strong green paradox. These results indicate that subsidies for first generation biofuels, which yield a low level of per unit CO2 emission reduction compared to fossil fuels, might have contributed to additional net CO2 emissions over the study period.

Many embedded and real-time systems have a inherent probabilistic behaviour (sensors data, unreliable hardware,...). In that context, it is crucial to evaluate system properties such as "the probability that a particular hardware fails". Such properties can be evaluated by using probabilistic model checking. However, this technique fails on models representing realistic embedded and real-time systems because of the state space explosion. To overcome this problem, we propose a verification framework based on Statistical Model Checking. Our framework is able to evaluate probabilistic and temporal properties on large systems modelled in SystemC, a standard system-level modelling language. It is fully implemented as an extension of the Plasma-lab statistical model checker. We illustrate our approach on a multi-lift system case study.

There is a growing interest in multi-sector models that combine aggregate balanced growth, consistent with the well-known Kaldor facts, with systematic changes in the relative importance of each sector, consistent with the Kuznets facts. Although variations in the income elasticity of demand across goods played an important role in the initial attempts, recent models stress the role of supply-side factors in this process of structural change. Along these lines, Ngai and Pissarides (American Economic Review, 2008) focus in differential productivity growth across sectors while Acemoglu and Guerrieri (Journal of Political Economy, 2008) stress differences in factor proportions and capital deepening. We explore a general framework that encompasses, as special cases, these two supply-side mechanisms. Our model uncovers an additional driving force for structural change based on differences in the degree of capital-labor substitutability. When the flexibility to combine capital and labor varies across intermediate goods and the final sector is Cobb-Douglas, as the economy grows the fraction of capital (labor) allocated to the sector with high elasticity of substitution increases (decreases). We provide some casual evidence consistent with this new mechanism.

The Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) community requires a fully operational Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) architecture to significantly reduce time from sensor detection to defensive weapons release. The United States Navy has established programs of record leveraging space, terrestrial, and maritime communications capabilities extending to fiscal year 2015. An ordered systems engineering process was performed to derive requirements and identify Joint ASW C4I Architecture strengths and weaknesses. This architecture is dependent upon the ASW community’s ability to leverage current and planned technologies impacting C4I areas including common operational tactical picture delivery, data transmission rate, time latency, and data fusion processes. Performance forecasts for identified alternatives were modeled and simulated based on a synthesized operational scenario using the EXTEND simulation tool, and life cycle cost estimates were produced for each alternative. Based on those outcomes, one of the several alternatives is recommended for implementation. In addition, it was discovered that programmed C4I capabilities lack an integrated fielding plan and do not properly align in FY2020. Furthermore, the ASW community must make process changes to enable cross-program manager collaboration supported by a single system architect to ensure robust architectures are fielded by 2020., http://archive.org/details/circhitecturesup109456987

We show that (i) subsidies for renewable energy policies with the intention of encouraging substitution away from fossil fuels may accentuate climate change damages by hastening fossil fuel extraction, and that (ii) the opposite result holds under some specified conditions. We focus on the case of subsidies for renewable resources produced under increasing marginal costs, and assume that both the renewable resources and the fossil fuels are currently in use. Such subsidies have a direct effect and an indirect effect working in opposite directions. The direct effect is the reduction in demand for fossil fuels at any given price. The indirect effect is the reduction in the current equilibrium price for fossil fuels, which tends to increase the amount of fossil fuels demanded. Whether the sum of the two effects will actually result in an earlier or later date of exhaustion of the stock of fossil fuels depends on the curvature of the demand curve for energy and of the supply curve for the renewable substitute.

Conventional wisdom suggests that subsidising biofuel production will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper shows that in many cases, and for a wide range of parameter values, this is not true. Biofuel subsidies can generate supply-side response by fossil fuel producers that accelerates their rate of extraction, even in the case where fossil fuel extraction costs are stock dependent. Thus, policies designed to reduce GHG emissions may, perversely, hasten climate change.

In recent decades, a rapid increase in fish production from the aquaculture sector has led to degradation of the environment due to indiscriminate use of chemical additives and veterinary medicines. Consequently, antimicrobial resistance among pathogenic bacteria has increased and environmental problems associated with these chemicals and antibiotics have become a burden for sustainable aquaculture development. Therefore, there is a need to alter the indiscriminate use of chemicals and antibiotics for the use in aquaculture by replacing these with prebiotics or other harmless substitutes. Different probiotics can confer huge functions and benefits to various hosts through the improvement in survival rates and enhancement of health. However, there is a need for special species-specific prebiotics in a particular culture environment.Customising the species-specific probiotics for prawn culture was performed via several experiments. After the specific prebiotics, Pseudomonas synxantha and P. aeruginosa were isolated and tested from a commercial product, the emphasis was on determining the effectiveness of them on the cultivation of the juveniles’ western king prawns, Penaeus latisulcatus. The customisation process began with trialling five inhibition test methods to determine the most effective detection method for the potential probiotic bacteria. P. synxantha and P. aeruginosa showed the highest inhibition against Vibrio spp. isolated from P. latisulcatus and pathogenic Vibrio isolated from other aquatic animals.A series of experiments were conducted under laboratory conditions to investigate the physiological and immune responses of the juvenile P. latisulcatus exposed to the customised probiotics. The research results proved the suitability of these probiotics for the cultivation of P. latisulcatus as they conclusively met all the essential requirements for the appropriate probiotics. The application of these customised probiotics at 10[superscript]5 CFU/mL as “wat

The Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) community requires a fully operational Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) architecture to significantly reduce time from sensor detection to defensive weapons release. The United States Navy has established programs of record leveraging space, terrestrial, and maritime communications capabilities extending to fiscal year 2015. An ordered systems engineering process was performed to derive requirements and identify Joint ASW C4I Architecture strengths and weaknesses. This architecture is dependent upon the ASW community's ability to leverage current and planned technologies impacting C4I areas including common operational tactical picture delivery, data transmission rate, time latency, and data fusion processes. Performance forecasts for identified alternatives were modeled and simulated based on a synthesized operational scenario using the EXTEND simulation tool, and life cycle cost estimates were produced for each alternative. Based on those outcomes, one of the several alternatives is recommended for implementation. In addition, it was discovered that programmed C4I capabilities lack an integrated fielding plan and do not properly align in FY2020. Furthermore, the ASW community must make process changes to enable cross-program manager collaboration supported by a single system architect to ensure robust architectures are fielded by 2020., The original document contains color images.

PURPOSE: Hreceptor (VEGFR) and FGF receptor (FGFR) signaling pathways. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Six different s.c. patient-derived HCC xenografts were implanted into mice. Tumor growth was evaluated in mice treated with brivanib compared with control. The effects of brivanib on apoptosis and cell proliferation were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. The SK-HEP1 and HepG2 cells were used to investigate the effects of brivanib on the VEGFR-2 and FGFR-1 signaling pathways in vitro. Western blotting was used to determine changes in proteins in these xenografts and cell lines. RESULTS: Brivanib significantly suppressed tumor growth in five of six xenograft lines. Furthermore, brivanib-induced growth inhibition was associated with a decrease in phosphorylated VEGFR-2 at Tyr(1054/1059), increased apoptosis, reduced microvessel density, inhibition of cell proliferation, and down-regulation of cell cycle regulators. The levels of FGFR-1 and FGFR-2 expression in these xenograft lines were positively correlated with its sensitivity to brivanib-induced growth inhibition. In VEGF-stimulated and basic FGF stimulated SK-HEP1 cells, brivanib significantly inhibited VEGFR-2, FGFR-1, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, and Akt phosphorylation. CONCLUSION: This study provides a strong rationale for clinical investigation of brivanib in patients with HCC.

The Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) community requires a fully operational Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) architecture to significantly reduce time from sensor detection to defensive weapons release. The United States Navy has established programs of record leveraging space, terrestrial, and maritime communications capabilities extending to fiscal year 2015. An ordered systems engineering process was performed to derive requirements and identify Joint ASW C4I Architecture strengths and weaknesses. This architecture is dependent upon the ASW community’s ability to leverage current and planned technologies impacting C4I areas including common operational tactical picture delivery, data transmission rate, time latency, and data fusion processes. Performance forecasts for identified alternatives were modeled and simulated based on a synthesized operational scenario using the EXTEND simulation tool, and life cycle cost estimates were produced for each alternative. Based on those outcomes, one of the several alternatives is recommended for implementation. In addition, it was discovered that programmed C4I capabilities lack an integrated fielding plan and do not properly align in FY2020. Furthermore, the ASW community must make process changes to enable cross-program manager collaboration supported by a single system architect to ensure robust architectures are fielded by 2020.

On étudie les échanges intertemporels entre deux pays ayant des distributions de richesses différentes. On montre que, à cause du risque moral et de l'imperfection du marché de capital, les gens très riches ou très pauvres choississent de ne pas devenir entrepreneurs. À un taux d'intérêt donné, le pays dont la distribution de richesse est moins égalitaire a une offre d'entrepreneurs plus élevée, ce qui lui donne, en équilibre d'autarcie, un taux d'intérêt plus élevé. Par conséquent, quand le commerce international est permis entre deux pays, celui dont la distribution de richesse est moins égalitaire deviendra le pays créditeur. Les politiques redistributives peuvent donc influencer le profil du commerce intertemporel. Par exemple, si le gouvernement d'un pays adopte une politique d'aide aux entreprises qui font faillite, l'offre d'entrepreneurs de ce pays augmentera, ce qui, à son tour, haussera le taux d'intérê}t en équilibre d'autarcie. Un pays créditeur deviendra un pays endetté quand une telle polique est introduite., This paper examines the pattern of intertemporal trade between countries with different distribution of wealth. We also examine the consequences of redistribution policies in this framework. The driving force of our model are risk aversion, capital market imperfections, and costs associated with default. We show that under capital market imperfections due to moral hazard, the very rich and the very poor do not undertake any risk and become passive lenders. Only individuals whose wealth lies within a medium range choose to become entrepreneurs. At any given rate of interest, a country with with a wealth distribution that is relatively less skewed to the left will have a greater supply of entrepreneurs, leading to a higher equilibrium interest rate under autarky. Hence, when the countries are opened to trade, those economies with highly skewed distribution (to the left) will become net lenders. Redistributive policies therefore will have impact on intertemporal trade. For example, if a government adopts a bail-out policy (a redistribution from successful entrepreneurs to unsuccessful ones) will increase the supply of entrepreneurs, driving up the autarkic interest rate. Consequently, a country which would be a lender if there were no bail-out policy is a net borrower under the bail-out policy.

General objective: The general objective is to assess the utilisation of public health services among different social groups in a period of rapid policy and society changes in Vietnam. Methods: Studies on the utilisation of reproductive health services were based on one household survey conducted in a lowland district in 1992 and two other surveys performed in 1991 and 1994 in a highland district. 1132, 1756 and 2106 women were interviewed. Studies on utilisation of outpatient services were based on a 1999 household survey of 4769 individuals in a lowland district and another household diary survey of 1452 individuals in a highland district, conducted in 1998. Main findings: Less than one fifth of the pregnant women had attended the recommended three antenatal visits in the 1991-1994 studies. One third of the highland and two thirds of the lowland women had given birth at a health facility. Less educated women, Catholics and women with three or more children were less prone to utilise these services. Modern contraceptives, almost exclusively intrauterine devices, were used by 63% of the couples (1992) in the lowland area where implementation of the population policy had been strong. In the highland areas the corresponding figure was 34-45% during the same period. In the 1992 survey, 46% of the couples had more than two children, and more than half of them had shorter spacing (three years) between the first and the second child than had been recommended and finally stipulated in the 1988 population policy. Less educated women, farmers and Catholics had shorter spacing between the first and second child and also a higher probability of having a third child. In addition, women who had no sons or who had previously lost a child were more likely to have a third child. About half of the people (1998 and 1999 survey) reporting some kind of illness used some kind of self-medication, usually buying drugs, while less than 30% attended the public health facilities. In the low

Martin Heinze, Hans Joachim Fiedler, Ngo van Vien, Technische Universität Dresden, Sektion Forstwirtschaft Tharandt, WB Bodenkunde und Standortslehre, Zusammenfassung auf Deutsch, Russisch und Englisch

Appartient à l’ensemble documentaire : FrVtm0