Does project portfolio management approach fit smart city management?

Nowadays public administrations have to face many challenges related to Smart City initiatives and must coordinate these projects executing effective Smart City strategies with the adoption of an efficient portfolio management framework. Except for a few aspects, literature about this topic is scarce so this study was carried out as an attempt to evaluate the feasibility of adopting PMI’s Project Portfolio Management methodology to handle Smart City initiatives. A specific survey investigating how much Smart City projects mirror portfolio dynamics has been submitted to experts across the globe and the collected results have been analysed according to our possibilities. Results are twofold: on the one hand, it appears that the Project Portfolio Management approach could be beneficial for managing Smart City project sets, on the other hand, the Project Portfolio Management seems to be a very suitable tool when the Smart City project portfolio is heavily influenced by external stakeholders

Ascertaining the Ideality of Photometric Stereo Datasets under Unknown Lighting

The standard photometric stereo model makes several assumptions that are rarely verified in experimental datasets. In particular, the observed object should behave as a Lambertian reflector, and the light sources should be positioned at an infinite distance from it, along a known direction. Even when Lambert’s law is approximately fulfilled, an accurate assessment of the relative position between the light source and the target is often unavailable in real situations. The Hayakawa procedure is a computational method for estimating such information directly from data images. It occasionally breaks down when some of the available images excessively deviate from ideality. This is generally due to observing a non-Lambertian surface, or illuminating it from a close distance, or both. Indeed, in narrow shooting scenarios, typical, e.g., of archaeological excavation sites, it is impossible to position a flashlight at a sufficient distance from the observed surface. It is then necessary to understand if a given dataset is reliable and which images should be selected to better reconstruct the target. In this paper, we propose some algorithms to perform this task and explore their effectiveness

Flat rotation curves in Chern-Simons modified gravity

We investigate the spacetime of a slowly rotating black hole in the Chern-Simons modified gravity. The long range feature of frame-dragging effect under the Chern-Simon gravity well explains the flat rotation curves of galaxies which is a central evidence of dark matter. Our solution provides a different scenario of rotating space from Goedel's solution.Comment: 4 pages, Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Clinical and biological profiles of prospective blood donors at the Yaoundé Central Hospital and the Yaoundé University Teaching Hospital: Profils cliniques et biologiques des futurs donneurs de sang à l'hôpital central de Yaoundé et au CHU de Yaoundé

Assessing the profiles of prospective donors could help develop strategies to improve blood safety in our context. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical and biological profiles of prospective Cameroonian blood donors. To attain this objective, we carried out a cross-sectional and analytical study on all prospective blood donors that presented at the Yaoundé Central Hospital (HCY) and Yaoundé University Teaching Hospital (YUTH) blood banks from January 2017 to May 2017. After obtaining participants’ consent, we collected information from them, examined them, and collected five-milliliter blood samples from each of them. These blood samples were used to test for HIV, HBV, HCV, and Syphilis. A total of 247 prospective donors were retained for the study. We found that group “O” was noted in 50.9% of the participants and 97% were Rhesus-positive. Of the four main transfusion transmissible infections (TTIs) screened, 57 participants tested positive for at least one; nine were tested positive for HIV, twenty-six for HBV, ten for HCV, and sixteen for Syphilis. Co-infection was noted in four of the participants with two of them testing positive for both HIV and HBV, one for both HIV and HCV, and one for both HCV and Syphilis. On univariate analysis, a significant association was found between lymph nodes measuring more than 2 cm and the presence of a TTI. The presence of lymph nodes measuring more than 2 cm was associated with the presence of a TTI. L'évaluation des profils des donneurs potentiels pourrait aider à développer des stratégies pour améliorer la sécurité du sang dans notre contexte. Cette étude visait à évaluer les profils cliniques et biologiques des candidats donneurs de sang camerounais. Pour atteindre cet objectif, nous avons mené une étude transversale et analytique sur tous les candidats donneurs de sang qui se sont présentés aux banques de sang du Centre Hospitalier Central de Yaoundé (HCY) et du CHU de Yaoundé (YUTH) de janvier 2017 à mai 2017. Après obtention des participants ' consentement, nous avons recueilli des informations auprès d'eux, les avons examinés et prélevé des échantillons de sang de cinq millilitres sur chacun d'eux. Ces échantillons de sang ont été utilisés pour tester le VIH, le VHB, le VHC et la syphilis. Au total, 247 donneurs potentiels ont été retenus pour l'étude. Nous avons constaté que le groupe « O » était noté chez 50,9 % des participants et 97 % étaient rhésus positifs. Sur les quatre principales infections transmissibles par transfusion (ITT) dépistées, 57 participants ont été testés positifs pour au moins une ; neuf ont été testés positifs pour le VIH, vingt-six pour le VHB, dix pour le VHC et seize pour la syphilis. Une co-infection a été notée chez quatre des participants, dont deux étaient positifs à la fois pour le VIH et le VHB, un pour le VIH et le VHC et un pour le VHC et la syphilis. En analyse univariée, une association significative a été retrouvée entre les ganglions mesurant plus de 2 cm et la présence d'un ITT. La présence de ganglions mesurant plus de 2 cm était associée à la présence d'un ITT

Amyloid goiter.

AbstractBackground and aimAmyloidosis refers to a variety of conditions in which amyloid proteins are abnormally deposited in organs and/or tissues. Amyloidosis is a rare occurrence in thyroid gland.MethodsA systematic review of the published data on amyloid goiter was carried out by searching Medline and other online databases (such as Scopus and Endnote) for the period from 1951 to March 2008. A total of 127 publications (case series, single case reports and reviews) was found, of which 31 were case series published from February 1995 to March 2008. Six articles have been considered for our review because they regard amyloid goiter as a manifestation of both primary and secondary amyloidosis (a total of 30 cases have been analyzed). Exclusion criterion was the presence of primary thyroid cancer.ResultsThe preoperative diagnosis of amyloid goiter should be considered in patients with known systemic amyloidosis or with a long-standing predisposing disease who present a rapidly growing thyroid volume in association with a euthyroid state. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy can be performed to exclude primary malignant lesions of thyroid gland and immunohistochemical studies can identify and characterize the amyloid deposits.ConclusionAmyloid goiter has to be suspected in all patients with a progressive, rapidly growing, bilateral thyroid enlargement and a concomitant history of chronic inflammatory processes. Moreover, this should be suspected in patients who are known to have disease predisposing to amyloid deposition

Geometrically Frustrated Crystals: Elastic Theory and Dislocations

Elastic theory of ring-(or cylinder-)shaped crystals is constructed and the generation of edge dislocations due to geometrical frustration caused by the bending is studied. The analogy to superconducting (or superfluid) vortex state is pointed out and the phase diagram of the ring-crystal, which depends on radius and thickness, is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Suppression of 2D superconductivity by the magnetic field: quantum corrections vs superconductor-insulator transition

Magnetotransport of superconducting Nd_{2-x}Ce_xCuO_{4+y} (NdCeCuO) films is studied in the temperature interval 0.3-30 K. The microscopic theory of the quantum corrections to conductivity, both in the Cooper and in the diffusion channels, qualitatively describes the main features of the experiment including the negative magnetoresistance in the high field limit. Comparison with the model of the field-induced superconductor-insulator transition (SIT) is included and a crossover between these two theoretical approaches is discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to JETP Letter

Cohexisting Medullary and Papillary Thyroid Cancer

Purpose: Papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs) and medullary thyroid carcinomas (MTCs) have always been considered different in terms of their incidence rates, cell origins, and histopathological features. Simultaneous occurrence of both disease entities is very rare. Methods: We describe a series of cases with simultaneous MTC and PTC occurrences in the thyroid gland. Results: From 2,897 patients (mean age, 49.2±12.5; 81% women) who underwent thyroidectomy for cancer between 2000 and 2015, we reviewed 11 cases of simultaneous occurrence of MTCs and PTCs. Multifocal PTC with simultaneous MTC was detected in 5 of the 11 cases (45%). Of these PTC patients, 2 had 2 foci, 2 had 3 foci, and 1 had 4 foci. There was 1 case of multifocal MTC with solitary PTC. One patient presented with “composite thyroid carcinoma” with mixed features of MTCs and PTCs. Eight patients (72%) presented an association with diffuse lymphocytic thyroiditis. The sizes of the tumors were 1.95±0.23 cm vs. 1.20±0.20 cm for PTCs and MTCs, respectively (P=0.531). The prevalence of extrathyroidal extension was 33.1% vs. 30.2% for PTCs and MTCs, respectively (P=0.282). All patients underwent total thyroidectomy and central neck node dissection. Radio iodine was delivered to 44% of patients. Follow-up review revealed 9 disease-free patients and 1 with local neck recurrence, while 1 patient died due to non-thyroid reasons. Conclusion: There are only 30 reports describing a total of 50 cases in the English literature regarding concurrent PTC and MTC in the same gland. This study represents one of the largest case series. Whether the incidence of another cancer in these patients is coincidental, or due to the possible activation of a common tumorigenic pathway for both follicular and parafollicular thyroid cells, remains to be elucidated

PENGABDIAN KKN-MANDIRI TEMATIK KELURAHAN ONEKORE KABUPATEN ENDE

The general theme of the 2020 Community Service Program is “Community Empowerment”. Meanwhile, the special theme is "Entrepreneurship". The implementation time starts from August 3 to September 3, 2020, in Onekore Village, Ende Tengah District, Ende Regency. On the program. With this special theme, the main activity carried out is supporting entrepreneurship in Onekore Village. The purpose of implementing this activity is that students are expected to gain learning experience through direct involvement in the community in finding, formulating, solving, and overcoming problems in the field. In this KKN activity, the problems found were the lack of utilization of existing garden products, namely bananas. So far, it is consumed by boiling or eating it without further processing. Olso besides, we also found woven products from weaving that were difficult to market. Students socialize and practice entrepreneurship as an effort to solve problems faced by weaving craftsmen. Efforts made to help the household economy include making flower pots and making wallets made from woven fabrics. Supporting activities during the Community Service Program are assisting with the administration of the Village, community service, building a gate for the Indonesian Independence Day, making sample gardens, socializing COVID-19 and, health service for the elderly