KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF SURFACE AND UNDERWATER FIN-SWIMMING

The aim of the study was to perform a comparative kinematic analysis of surface and underwater fin-swimming. Results of the experiments were obtained in terms of motion as well as maximum and minimum differences between the technique of surface and underwater fin-swimming

Passenger Road Transport in India: Major Challenges in Reducing Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions and Ways Ahead

The shift of the Indian economy to a higher trajectory of growth over the last two decades has been primarily associated with urbanisation and rapid motorisation both as a cause and as an effect. Motorised passenger transport is now being considered as a fulcrum for inclusive growth in India. Thus putting a cap on its growth may be difficult. Given the key challenge to decouple the economic and social development from the inherent growth in energy consumption and CO2 emissions, the paper takes cue from the Bellagio Declaration 2009 and essentially argues for an integrated and multi-pronged Avoid-Shift-Improve approach to steer passenger road transport growth in India towards a sustainable low carbon path

Passenger Road Transport in India: Major Challenges in Reducing Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions and Ways Ahead

The shift of the Indian economy to a higher trajectory of growth over the last two decades has been primarily associated with urbanisation and rapid motorisation both as a cause and as an effect. Motorised passenger transport is now being considered as a fulcrum for inclusive growth in India. Thus putting a cap on its growth may be difficult. Given the key challenge to decouple the economic and social development from the inherent growth in energy consumption and CO2 emissions, the paper takes cue from the Bellagio Declaration 2009 and essentially argues for an integrated and multi-pronged Avoid-Shift-Improve approach to steer passenger road transport growth in India towards a sustainable low carbon path

Generating optimal derivative free iterative methods for nonlinear equations by using polynomial interpolation

In this work we show a general procedure to obtain optimal derivative free iterative methods for nonlinear equations f (x) = 0, applying polynomial interpolation to a generic optimal derivative free iterative method of lower order. Let us consider an optimal method of order q = 2(n-1), v = phi(n)(x), that uses n functional evaluations. Performing a Newton step w = v - f(v)/f'(v) one obtains a method of order 2(n), that is not optimal because it introduces two new functional evaluations. Instead, we approximate the derivative by using a polynomial of degree n that interpolates n+1 already known functional values and keeps the order 2(n). We have applied this idea to Steffensen's method, obtaining a family of optimal derivative free iterative methods of arbitrary high order. We provide different numerical tests, that confirm the theoretical results and compare the new family with other well known family of similar characteristics. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This research was supported by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion MTM2011-28636-C02-02 and by Vicerrectorado de Investigacion. Universitat Politecnica de Valencia PAID-06-2010-2285.Cordero Barbero, A.; Hueso Pagoaga, JL.; Martínez Molada, E.; Torregrosa Sánchez, JR. (2013). Generating optimal derivative free iterative methods for nonlinear equations by using polynomial interpolation. Mathematical and Computer Modelling. 57(7-8):1950-1956. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcm.2012.01.012S19501956577-

An Ill Wind? Climate Change, Migration, and Health

Background: Climate change is projected to cause substantial increases in population movement in coming decades. Previous research has considered the likely causal influences and magnitude of such movements and the risks to national and international security. There has been little research on the consequences of climate-related migration and the health of people who move

Inflammatory breast cancer: dynamic contrast-enhanced MR in patients receiving bevacizumab. Initial experience

To retrospectively compare three dynamic contrast material-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging (dynamic MR imaging) analytic methods to determine the parameter or combination of parameters most strongly associated with changes in tumor microvasculature during treatment with bevacizumab alone and bevacizumab plus chemotherapy in patients with inflammatory or locally advanced breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted in accordance with the institutional review board of the National Cancer Institute and was compliant with the Privacy Act of 1974. Informed consent was obtained from all patients. Patients with inflammatory or locally advanced breast cancer were treated with one cycle of bevacizumab alone (cycle 1) followed by six cycles of combination bevacizumab and chemotherapy (cycles 2-7). Serial dynamic MR images were obtained, and the kinetic parameters measured by using three dynamic analytic MR methods (heuristic, Brix, and general kinetic models) and two region-of-interest strategies were compared by using two-sided statistical tests. A P value of .01 was required for significance. RESULTS: In 19 patients, with use of a whole-tumor region of interest, the authors observed a significant decrease in the median values of three parameters measured from baseline to cycle 1: forward transfer rate constant (Ktrans) (-34% relative change, P=.003), backflow compartmental rate constant extravascular and extracellular to plasma (Kep) (-15% relative change, P<.001), and integrated area under the gadolinium concentration curve (IAUGC) at 180 seconds (-23% relative change, P=.009). A trend toward differences in the heuristic slope of the washout curve between responders and nonresponders to therapy was observed after cycle 1 (bevacizumab alone, P=.02). The median relative change in slope of the wash-in curve from baseline to cycle 4 was significantly different between responders and nonresponders (P=.009). CONCLUSION: The dynamic contrast-enhanced MR parameters Ktrans, Kep, and IAUGC at 180 seconds appear to have the strongest association with early physiologic response to bevacizumab. Clinical trial registration no. NCT0001654

Evaluation of an educational program for essential newborn care in resource-limited settings: Essential Care for Every Baby

Abstract Background Essential Care for Every Baby (ECEB) is an evidence-based educational program designed to increase cognitive knowledge and develop skills of health care professionals in essential newborn care in low-resource areas. The course focuses on the immediate care of the newborn after birth and during the first day or until discharge from the health facility. This study assessed the overall design of the course; the ability of facilitators to teach the course; and the knowledge and skills acquired by the learners. Methods Testing occurred at 2 global sites. Data from a facilitator evaluation survey, a learner satisfaction survey, a multiple choice question (MCQ) examination, performance on two objective structured clinical evaluations (OSCE), and pre- and post-course confidence assessments were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Pre-post course differences were examined. Comments on the evaluation form and post-course group discussions were analyzed to identify potential program improvements. Results Using ECEB course material, master trainers taught 12 facilitators in India and 11 in Kenya who subsequently taught 62 providers of newborn care in India and 64 in Kenya. Facilitators and learners were satisfied with their ability to teach and learn from the program. Confidence (3.5 to 5) and MCQ scores (India: pre 19.4, post 24.8; Kenya: pre 20.8, post 25.0) improved (p < 0.001). Most participants demonstrated satisfactory skills on the OSCEs. Qualitative data suggested the course was effective, but also identified areas for course improvement. These included additional time for hands-on practice, including practice in a clinical setting, the addition of video learning aids and the adaptation of content to conform to locally recommended practices. Conclusion ECEB program was highly acceptable, demonstrated improved confidence, improved knowledge and developed skills. ECEB may improve newborn care in low resource settings if it is part of an overall implementation plan that addresses local needs and serves to further strengthen health systems

LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products

(Abridged) We describe here the most ambitious survey currently planned in the optical, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). A vast array of science will be enabled by a single wide-deep-fast sky survey, and LSST will have unique survey capability in the faint time domain. The LSST design is driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a wide-field ground-based system sited at Cerro Pach\'{o}n in northern Chile. The telescope will have an 8.4 m (6.5 m effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 deg$^2$ field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel camera. The standard observing sequence will consist of pairs of 15-second exposures in a given field, with two such visits in each pointing in a given night. With these repeats, the LSST system is capable of imaging about 10,000 square degrees of sky in a single filter in three nights. The typical 5$\sigma$ point-source depth in a single visit in $r$ will be $\sim 24.5$ (AB). The project is in the construction phase and will begin regular survey operations by 2022. The survey area will be contained within 30,000 deg$^2$ with $\delta<+34.5^\circ$, and will be imaged multiple times in six bands, $ugrizy$, covering the wavelength range 320--1050 nm. About 90\% of the observing time will be devoted to a deep-wide-fast survey mode which will uniformly observe a 18,000 deg$^2$ region about 800 times (summed over all six bands) during the anticipated 10 years of operations, and yield a coadded map to $r\sim27.5$. The remaining 10\% of the observing time will be allocated to projects such as a Very Deep and Fast time domain survey. The goal is to make LSST data products, including a relational database of about 32 trillion observations of 40 billion objects, available to the public and scientists around the world.Comment: 57 pages, 32 color figures, version with high-resolution figures available from https://www.lsst.org/overvie