Rendering PostScript^TM fonts on FPGAs

This paper describes how custom computing machines can be used to implement a simple outline font processor. An FPGA based co-processor is used to accelerate the compute intensive portions of font rendering. The font processor builds on several PostScript components previously presented by the authors to produce a system that can rapidly render fonts. A prototype implementation is described followed by an explanation of how this could be extended to build a complete system

Smartphones, time-lapse and responsible use in the school laboratory

Reports how observing and recording simple biological phenomena over an extended timescale could be enhanced by digital technology, the journey took surprising turns and twists into questions relating to ethics, child protection and reviewing acceptable use policies on information and communication technology

Fertility and early pregnancy outcomes after conservative treatment for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

BACKGROUND: Cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN) typically occurs in young women of reproductive age. Although several studies have reported the impact that cervical conservative treatment may have on obstetric outcomes, there is much less evidence for fertility and early pregnancy outcomes. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of cervical treatment for CIN (excisional or ablative) on fertility and early pregnancy outcomes. SEARCH METHODS: We searched in January 2015 the following databases: the Cochrane Gynaecological Cancer Specialised Register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; The Cochrane Library, Issue 12, 2014), MEDLINE (up to November week 3, 2014) and EMBASE (up to week 52, 2014). SELECTION CRITERIA: We included all studies reporting on fertility and early pregnancy outcomes (less than 24 weeks of gestation) in women with a history of CIN treatment (excisional or ablative) as compared to women that had not received treatment. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Studies were classified according to the treatment method used and the fertility or early pregnancy endpoint. Pooled risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using a random-effects model and inter-study heterogeneity was assessed with I(2). Two review authors (MK, AM) independently assessed the eligibility of retrieved papers and risk of bias. The two review authors then compared their results and any disagreements were resolved by discussion. If still unresolved, a third review author (MA) was involved until consensus was reached. MAIN RESULTS: Fifteen studies (2,223,592 participants - 25,008 treated and 2,198,584 untreated) that fulfilled the inclusion criteria for this review were identified from the literature search. The meta-analysis demonstrated that treatment for CIN did not adversely affect the chances of conception. The overall pregnancy rate was higher for treated (43%) versus untreated women (38%; RR 1.29, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.64; 4 studies, 38,050 participants, very low quality), although the inter-study heterogeneity was considerable (P < 0.01). The pregnancy rates in treated and untreated women with an intention to conceive (88% versus 95%, RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.80 to 1.08; 2 studies, 70 participants, very low quality) and the number of women requiring more than 12 months to conceive (14% versus 9%, RR 1.45, 95% CI 0.89 to 2.37; 3 studies, 1348 participants, very low quality) were no different. Although the total miscarriage rate (4.6% versus 2.8%, RR 1.04, 95% CI 0.90 to 1.21; 10 studies, 39,504 participants, low quality) and first trimester miscarriage rate (9.8% versus 8.4%, RR 1.16, 95% CI 0.80 to 1.69, 4 studies, 1103 participants, low quality) was similar for treated and untreated women, CIN treatment was associated with an increased risk of second trimester miscarriage, (1.6% versus 0.4%, RR 2.60, 95% CI 1.45 to 4.67; 8 studies, 2,182,268 participants, low quality). The number of ectopic pregnancies (1.6% versus 0.8%, RR 1.89, 95% CI 1.50 to 2.39; 6 studies, 38,193 participants, low quality) and terminations (12.2% versus 7.4%, RR 1.71, 95% CI 1.31 to 2.22; 7 studies, 38,208 participants, low quality) were also higher in treated women.The results should be interpreted with caution. The included studies were often small with heterogenous design. Most of these studies were retrospective and of low or very low quality (GRADE assessment) and were therefore prone to bias. Subgroup analyses for the individual treatment methods and comparison groups and analysis to stratify for the cone length was not possible. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggests that treatment for CIN does not adversely affect fertility, although treatment was associated with an increased risk of miscarriage in the second trimester. These results should be interpreted with caution as the included studies were non-randomised and many were of low or very low quality and therefore at high risk of bias. Research should explore mechanisms that may explain the increase in mid-trimester miscarriage risk and stratify this impact of treatment by the length of the cone and the treatment method used

What About the Camp Followers – and their Children?

UN Security Council Resolution 2396 (2017) on Foreign Terrorist Fighters (Returnees and Relocators) urges nations to improve information and evidence sharing while developing tailored prosecution, rehabilitation and reintegration strategies; including programs addressing radicalization in children associated with “Foreign Terrorist Fighters.” The need for such programs has gained urgency since the collapse of Islamic State (IS)/Daesh, with the detainment of IS family members in overcrowded camps in Syria, and their uncertain fate following the Turkish military Operation PEACE SPRING, in October 2019. Approximately 2 million children underwent Daesh indoctrination June 2014 – 2019, and this process continues to be led by women in many detention camps. The heightened sense of vulnerability to terrorist attacks in Western nations has led many nations to refuse the return of children to their home country, or initial entry - fearing that their past radicalization will lead to future terrorism. Such decisions contravene, among other instruments, the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Convention on Refugees (1951), Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1961), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC 1989), and the Optional Protocol to the CRC on Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC, 2000). This paper examines emotional traumas experienced by Daesh “camp followers,” particularly the children, and the psychological rehabilitation and social reintegration challenges they face as they grow to adulthood. This paper argues that the psychosocial support needed for rehabilitation and reintegration is better found in Western societies than in refugee camps, which are often incubators for future terrorists

Notes on 208 cases of scurvy treated in the Victoria hospital, Lovedale, South Africa: during the 12 months Nov. 1927 – Nov. 1928

(1) That the normal diet of the natives of this area is so poor in Anti-scorbutic elements that they live in a state of mild latent scurvy. This tends to make them less physically and mentally fit than they would otherwise be. It also lessens their resistance to other diseases Tuberculosis, Enteric Fever etc. (2) Drought deprives them of practically all the Antiscorbutic factor that exists in that diet, viz: - milk and green food -stuffs. (3) The greatest sufferers are (1) the adult men, who, most of them, are at work in labour centres and (2) the newly weaned children (1 - 3 yrs) who undergo a sudden change from a mildly Anti - scorbutic diet (breast milk) to an absolutely scorbutic one. (4) The deaths that occurred were all among children and all save one in the class 1 - 3 yrs. Heart failure was the ultimate cause of death in every case. (5) There was a conspicuous absence of cases amongst adolescents; no cases at all occurring between the ages of 14 and 18, and only 2 between 12 and 20 years. (6) Physical exertion precipitates the symptoms. A man may be apparently well and pains and swelling come on as soon as he starts heavy work. (7) Some points that I have not found mentioned in textbooks are as follows: - (a) In untreated cases among adults and older children fibrosis of the muscles and around joints takes place after haemorrhages by the natural process of healing. This causes crippling. (b) In parturient women scurvy tends to cause prolongation of labour and postpartum haemorrhage. (c) In small children with marked oedema the destruction of large areas of epidermis (in some as large as the palm of the hand) is common, raw septic surfaces being produced. (d) In small male children the extreme oedema of the external genitals is of fairly frequent occurrence. The prepuce is so swollen that difficulty of micturition results and even absolute retention in some cases. (8) That lemon juice half ari ounce three times a day will cure any adult case in the course of 2 to 4 weeks. But the larger the amount of lemon juice given the more rapid the cure. (9) Hot fomentations applied to the haemorrhagic swellings in adult cases and rubbing with Ung. Pot. Iod. after the swelling has gone down, prevents fibrosis and the resultant crippling

Multiplicative Invariance for a Class of Subsets of the Complex Plane

Multiplicative invariance is a well-studied property of subsets of the unit interval. The theory in the complex plane is less developed. This paper introduces an analogous definition for multiplicative invariance in the complex plane coinciding with a more general definition concerning subsets of attractors of iterated function systems satisfying the strong separation condition. We establish similar results to those of Furstenberg's in the unit interval. Namely, that the Hausdorff and box-counting dimensions of a multiplicatively invariant set are equal and, furthermore, are equal to the normalized topological entropy of an underlying subshift. We also extend results concerning the box-counting dimension of intersections of base-$b$ restricted digit sets with their translates where $b$ is a suitably chosen Gaussian integer.Comment: 29 page

Disentangling astroglial physiology with a realistic cell model in silico

Electrically non-excitable astroglia take up neurotransmitters, buffer extracellular K+ and generate Ca2+ signals that release molecular regulators of neural circuitry. The underlying machinery remains enigmatic, mainly because the sponge-like astrocyte morphology has been difficult to access experimentally or explore theoretically. Here, we systematically incorporate multi-scale, tri-dimensional astroglial architecture into a realistic multi-compartmental cell model, which we constrain by empirical tests and integrate into the NEURON computational biophysical environment. This approach is implemented as a flexible astrocyte-model builder ASTRO. As a proof-of-concept, we explore an in silico astrocyte to evaluate basic cell physiology features inaccessible experimentally. Our simulations suggest that currents generated by glutamate transporters or K+ channels have negligible distant effects on membrane voltage and that individual astrocytes can successfully handle extracellular K+ hotspots. We show how intracellular Ca2+ buffers affect Ca2+ waves and why the classical Ca2+ sparks-and-puffs mechanism is theoretically compatible with common readouts of astroglial Ca2+ imaging

Quality of Life Changes Following Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation and Participation in a Mixed-Type, Moderate-intensity, Exercise Program

Summary:The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the impact of undertaking peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBST) on quality of life (QoL), and to determine the effect of participating in a mixed-type, moderate-intensity exercise program on QoL. It was also an objective to determine the relationship between peak aerobic capacity and QoL in PBST patients. QoL was assessed via the CARES questionnaire and peak aerobic capacity by a maximal graded treadmill test, pretransplant (PI), post transplant (PII) and following a 12-week intervention period (PIII). At PII, 12 patients were divided equally into a control or exercise intervention group. Undergoing a PBST was associated with a statistically but not clinically significant decline in QoL (P<0.05). Following the intervention, exercising patients demonstrated an improved QoL when compared with pretransplant ratings (P<0.01) and nonexercising transplant patients (P<0.05). Moreover, peak aerobic capacity and QoL were correlated (P<0.05). The findings demonstrated that exercise participation following oncology treatment is associated with a reduction in the number and severity of endorsed problems, which in turn leads to improvements in global, physical and psychosocial QoL. Furthermore, a relationship between fitness and QoL exists, with those experiencing higher levels of fitness also demonstrating higher QoL.Bone Marrow Transplantation (2004) 33, 553-558. doi:10.1038/sj.bmt.1704378 Published online 12 January 200