University of Essex at the TAC 2011 Multilingual Summarisation Pilot

We present the results of our Arabic and English runs at the TAC 2011 Multilingual summarisation (MultiLing) task. We partic- ipated with centroid-based clustering for multi- document summarisation. The automatically generated Arabic and English summaries were evaluated by human participants and by two automatic evaluation metrics, ROUGE and Au- toSummENG. The results are compared with the other systems that participated in the same track on both Arabic and English languages. Our Arabic summariser performed particularly well in the human evaluation

Timeshare Owners’ Perceptions of and Preferred Ways of Participating in Tourism Planning

Purpose To explore the impact of prostate cancer treatment on: (a) the experience of symptoms (i.e. sexual, urinary, and bowel), and (b) perceived health state of men with prostate cancer one month following their radiation treatment. Methods A prospective pre-test–post-test descriptive survey was conducted on a convenience sample of 73 men with prostate cancer who were recruited from a Regional Cancer Centre in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Participants receiving radiation treatment (brachy therapy, high dose radiation [HDR] and external beam radiation [EBR], or EBR alone) completed a questionnaire that elicited information pertaining to quality of life (QOL), symptom experiences, and perceived health state prior to, and one month after completion of their radiation treatment. Results Post-treatment scores showed increased problems with urinary bother (ppp=0.002) and function (p=0.001), and sexual function (p Discussion Our findings suggest that prostate cancer treatment presents a challenge with regard to symptom experiences and perceived health state in men with prostate cancer. Therefore, strategies for patient education to assist men to cope with their symptoms and to provide them with support in the initial weeks following treatment are discussed

Enterohepatic Helicobacter in ulcerative colitis : potential pathogenic entities?

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The net cost of incorporating resistance testing into HIV/AIDS treatment in South Africa: a Markov model with primary data

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Current guidelines for providing antiretroviral therapy (ART) in South Africa's public sector programme call for switching patients from first-line to second-line treatment upon virologic failure as indicated by two consecutive viral loads above 5000 copies/ml, but without laboratory evidence of viral resistance. We modelled the net cost of adding resistance testing for patients with virological failure and retaining patients without resistance on first-line therapy, rather than switching all failures to second-line therapy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Costs were estimated for three scenarios: routine maintenance (standard care without resistance testing, switch all failures to second line); resistance testing (resistance test for patients with failure, switch those with resistance); and limited testing (resistance test for patients with failure in the first three years, switch those with resistance). A Markov model was used to estimate the cost of each arm over five years after first line initiation. Rates of treatment failure, viral resistance and treatment costs were estimated with primary data from a large HIV treatment cohort at a public facility in Johannesburg. Future costs were discounted at 3%.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Virological failure rates over five years were 19.8% in routine maintenance and 20.2% in resistance testing and limited testing; 16.8% and 11.4% of failures in routine and limited testing, respectively, did not have any resistance mutations, resulting in 3.1% and 2.0% fewer patients switching to second-line ART by the end of five years. Treatment costs were estimated at US$526 and$1268 per patient per year on first-line and second-line therapy, respectively; a resistance test cost $242. The total average cost per patient over five years was$2780 in routine maintenance; $2775 in resistance testing; and$2763 in limited testing.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Incorporating resistance testing into treatment guidelines in South Africa is potentially cost-neutral and can identify other reasons for failure, conserve treatment options, and generate information about emerging resistance patterns.</p

Non-financial performance measurement in the Libyan commercial banking sector : four grounded theory case studies

The use of non-financial performance measurements (such as quality, delivery and customer satisfaction) has received a lot of attention from practitioners and academics over the last two decades in developed countries. This research project is an exploratory study in Libya to investigate the use of non-financial performance measurements (NFPMs) in a developing country's commercial banking sector. The Libyan service sector is the second contributor to the Libyan Gross Domestic Product (GDP) after the oil sector. Within the service sector, the commercial banking sector has been playing a significant role in the development of the Libyan economy. This research project aims to: 1) explore the current use of NFPMs in the Libyan commercial banking sector (LCBS); 2) determine the environmental factors influencing the use of NFPMs in the LCBS; and 3) explore the impact of NFPMs on financial performance measurements (FPMs) in the LCBSA grounded theory methodology was adopted and four case studies (two State owned banks and two private banks) were conducted. Each case study was analysed according to a structured set of coding procedures (based on the grounded theory approach of Strauss and Corbin, 1990) and substantive hypotheses emerged for each case study. A cross-case analysis of the four case studies gave rise to the following nineteen formal hypotheses which (together with the model developed from the four case studies) are the main findings of this study: H1 The limitations of FPMs are one of the major motives leading to a bank's use of NFPMs H2 A more competitive environment is one of the main motives for managers in a bank using NFPMs. H3 Management's knowledge of the relationship between NFPMs and FPMs is one of the major motives leading to the use of NFPMs in a bank. 11 H4 Demanding customers are one of the major motives leading to the use of NFPMs in a bank. H5 The nature of the banking industry as a service oriented industry is one of the major motives leading to the use of NFPMs in a bank. H6 Lower level managers in a bank tend to use NFPMs more than middle and higher level managers do. H7 Operational experience of management, competence of management, management with more authority, top management's interference, stability of management, and collective working group positively affect a bank's use of NFPMs. H8 New regulations and strategies of the Central Bank and the uncertainty of the economic environment positively affect a bank's use of NFPMs. H9 Some of the Central Bank's old regulations, over-control and interference of the Central Bank, information shortage, weakness of infrastructure, traditional educational system, State ownership and the general public's lack of banking knowledge negatively affect a bank's use of NFPMs. H10 The development of human resource strategies to be more service-oriented is associated with a bank's use of NFPMs. H11 The development of the reward system to be linked with non-financial performance and to be more service-oriented is associated with a bank's use of NFPMs. H12 The development of the banking system (operating, information and reporting system) is associated with a bank's use of NFPMs. H13 The development of a bank's management accounting information is associated with its use of NFPMs. H14 The development of a bank's organisational structure is associated with its use of NFPMs. H15 The adoption of advanced management practices is associated with a bank's use of NFPMs. H16 Use of NFPMs encourages a bank to diversify and improve its range of services. H17 Use of NFPMs encourages a bank to adopt advanced technology. H18 Use of NFPMs improves a bank's profitability, customers' deposits and other FPMs in the long-term. H19 Use of NFPMs leads to an increase in a bank's capital expenditure.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceAccounting Department, Faculty of Economics, University of GaryounisGBUnited Kingdo

Bonding trends within ternary Isocoordinate chalcogenide glasses GeAsSe

A structural study is presented of ab-initio molecular dynamics simulations of Ge-As-Se calcogenide glasses performed at the same mean coordination number but differing stoichiometry ranging between Se rich and Se poor glasses. Starting configurations are generated via Reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) simulations of Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) measurements of experimental samples. Structural analysis is presented illustrating the bonding trends found with changing stoichiometry.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures. Submitted to Physical Review

Parasite Manipulation of the Invariant Chain and the Peptide Editor H2-DM Affects Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II Antigen Presentation during Toxoplasma gondii Infection

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite. This apicomplexan is the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, a leading cause of central nervous system disease in AIDS. It has long been known that T. gondii interferes with major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II) antigen presentation to attenuate CD4(+) T cell responses and establish persisting infections. Transcriptional downregulation of MHC-II genes by T. gondii was previously established, but the precise mechanisms inhibiting MHC-II function are currently unknown. Here, we show that, in addition to transcriptional regulation of MHC-II, the parasite modulates the expression of key components of the MHC-II antigen presentation pathway, namely, the MHC-II-associated invariant chain (Ii or CD74) and the peptide editor H2-DM, in professional antigen-presenting cells (pAPCs). Genetic deletion of CD74 restored the ability of infected dendritic cells to present a parasite antigen in the context of MHC-II in vitro. CD74 mRNA and protein levels were, surprisingly, elevated in infected cells, whereas MHC-II and H2-DM expression was inhibited. CD74 accumulated mainly in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and this phenotype required live parasites, but not active replication. Finally, we compared the impacts of genetic deletion of CD74 and H2-DM genes on parasite dissemination toward lymphoid organs in mice, as well as activation of CD4(+) T cells and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) levels during acute infection. Cyst burdens and survival during the chronic phase of infection were also evaluated in wild-type and knockout mice. These results highlight the fact that the infection is influenced by multiple levels of parasite manipulation of the MHC-II antigen presentation pathway