486 research outputs found
Implementasi Perda Nomor 13 Tahun 2012 Tentang Retribusi Jasa USAha Pelayanan Pelabuhan di Kabupaten Kepulauan Meranti
District Regulation Meranti Islands No. 13 of 2012 on Business Service Fees Ports that have been issued are expected to increase regional revenue originating from retribution withdrawal harbor, but since published in 2012 and held until 2015 had never withdrawal levy derived from port services achieve the targets set. This study aims to investigate the implementation of Regulation No. 13 Year 2012 regarding Business service levies Port Services and analyze the factors that affect the implementation of regional policy (Regulation No. 13 of 2012) Meranti Islands District.This study uses qualitative research methods with descriptive research, which can be interpreted as a problem-solving process was investigated by describing the state of the research subjects were based on the facts that appear during the study were then followed by the popularity of existing theories. Implementation of Regional Regulation (Perda) No. 13 of 2012 in implementation has not run optimally. Factors inhibiting the low / lack of socialization, community participation, and resources are low
Measuring the capability to raise revenue process and output dimensions and their application to the Zambia revenue authority
The worldwide diffusion of the good governance agenda and new public management has triggered a renewed focus on state capability and, more specifically, on the capability to raise revenue in developing countries. However, the analytical tools for a comprehensive understanding of the capability to raise revenue remain underdeveloped. This article aims at filling this gap and presents a model consisting of the three process dimensions ‘information collection and processing’, ‘merit orientation’ and ‘administrative accountability’. ‘Revenue performance’ constitutes the fourth capability dimension which assesses tax administration’s output. This model is applied to the case of the Zambia Revenue Authority. The dimensions prove to be valuable not only for assessing the how much but also the how of collecting taxes. They can be a useful tool for future comparative analyses of tax administrations’ capabilities in developing countries.Die weltweite Verbreitung der Good-Governance- und New-Public-Management-Konzepte hat zu einer zunehmenden Konzentration auf staatliche Leistungsfähigkeit und, im Besonderen, auf die Leistungsfähigkeit der Steuererhebung in Entwicklungsländern geführt. Allerdings bleiben die analytischen Werkzeuge für ein umfassendes Verständnis von Leistungsfähigkeit unterentwickelt. Dieser Artikel stellt hierfür ein Modell vor, das die drei Prozess-Dimensionen „Sammeln und Verarbeiten von Informationen“, „Leistungsorientierung der Mitarbeiter“ und „Verantwortlichkeit der Verwaltung“ beinhaltet. „Einnahmeperformanz“ ist die vierte Dimension und erfasst den Output der Steuerverwaltung. Das mehrdimensionale Modell wird für die Analyse der Leistungsfähigkeit der Steuerbehörde Zambias (Zambia Revenue Authority) genutzt. Es erweist sich nicht nur für die Untersuchung des Wieviel, sondern auch des Wie des Erhebens von Steuern als wertvoll. Die vier Dimensionen können in Zukunft zur umfassenden und vergleichenden Analyse der Leistungsfähigkeit verschiedener Steuerverwaltungen in Entwicklungsländern genutzt werden
Holographic flows and thermodynamics of Polyakov loop impurities
We study holographic probes dual to heavy quark impurities interpo- lating between fundamental and symmetric/antisymmetric tensor representations in strongly coupled N = 4 supersymmetric gauge theory. These correspond to non- conformal D3- and D5-brane probe embeddings in AdS_5 × S^5 exhibiting flows on their world-volumes. By examining the asymptotic regimes of the embeddings and the one-point function of static fields sourced by the boundary impurity, we con- clude that the D5-brane embedding describes the screening of fundamental quarks in the UV into an antisymmetric source in the IR, whilst the non-conformal, D3- brane solution interpolates between the symmetric representation in the UV and fundamental sources in the IR. The D5-brane embeddings exhibit nontrivial ther- modynamics with multiple branches of solutions, whilst the thermal analogue of the interpolating D3-brane solution does not appear to exist
Maintenance Therapy With Tumor-Treating Fields Plus Temozolomide vs Temozolomide Alone for Glioblastoma: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
IMPORTANCE: Glioblastoma is the most devastating primary malignancy of the central nervous system in adults. Most patients die within 1 to 2 years of diagnosis. Tumor-treating fields (TTFields) are a locoregionally delivered antimitotic treatment that interferes with cell division and organelle assembly.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of TTFields used in combination with temozolomide maintenance treatment after chemoradiation therapy for patients with glioblastoma.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: After completion of chemoradiotherapy, patients with glioblastoma were randomized (2:1) to receive maintenance treatment with either TTFields plus temozolomide (n = 466) or temozolomide alone (n = 229) (median time from diagnosis to randomization, 3.8 months in both groups). The study enrolled 695 of the planned 700 patients between July 2009 and November 2014 at 83 centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Israel, and South Korea. The trial was terminated based on the results of this planned interim analysis.
INTERVENTIONS: Treatment with TTFields was delivered continuously (>18 hours/day) via 4 transducer arrays placed on the shaved scalp and connected to a portable medical device. Temozolomide (150-200 mg/m2/d) was given for 5 days of each 28-day cycle.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary end point was progression-free survival in the intent-to-treat population (significance threshold of .01) with overall survival in the per-protocol population (n = 280) as a powered secondary end point (significance threshold of .006). This prespecified interim analysis was to be conducted on the first 315 patients after at least 18 months of follow-up.
RESULTS: The interim analysis included 210 patients randomized to TTFields plus temozolomide and 105 randomized to temozolomide alone, and was conducted at a median follow-up of 38 months (range, 18-60 months). Median progression-free survival in the intent-to-treat population was 7.1 months (95% CI, 5.9-8.2 months) in the TTFields plus temozolomide group and 4.0 months (95% CI, 3.3-5.2 months) in the temozolomide alone group (hazard ratio [HR], 0.62 [98.7% CI, 0.43-0.89]; P = .001). Median overall survival in the per-protocol population was 20.5 months (95% CI, 16.7-25.0 months) in the TTFields plus temozolomide group (n = 196) and 15.6 months (95% CI, 13.3-19.1 months) in the temozolomide alone group (n = 84) (HR, 0.64 [99.4% CI, 0.42-0.98]; P = .004).
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this interim analysis of 315 patients with glioblastoma who had completed standard chemoradiation therapy, adding TTFields to maintenance temozolomide chemotherapy significantly prolonged progression-free and overall survival.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00916409
Entanglement of heavy quark impurities and generalized gravitational entropy
We calculate the contribution from non-conformal heavy quark sources to the entanglement entropy (EE) of a spherical region in N=4 SUSY Yang-Mills theory. We apply the generalized gravitational entropy method to non-conformal probe D-brane embeddings in AdS_5×S^5, dual to pointlike impurities exhibiting flows between quarks in large-rank tensor representations and the fundamental representation. For the D5-brane embedding which describes the screening of fundamental quarks in the UV to the antisymmetric tensor representation in the IR, the EE excess decreases non-monotonically towards its IR asymptotic value, tracking the qualitative behaviour of the one-point function of static fields sourced by the impurity. We also examine two classes of D3-brane embeddings, one which connects a symmetric representation source in the UV to fundamental quarks in the IR, and a second category which yields the symmetric representation source on the Coulomb branch. The EE excess for the former increases from the UV to the IR, whilst decreasing and becoming negative for the latter. In all cases, the probe free energy on hyperbolic space with β = 2π increases monotonically towards the IR, supporting its interpretation as a relative entropy. We identify universal corrections, depending logarithmically on the VEV, for the symmetric representation on the Coulomb branch
On the Richardson-Lucy Algorithm with A Varying Point Spread Function along The Iterations
Abstract: This work analyses the soundness of two algorithms, Fishsint and Almexp to improve images using the Richardson-Lucy (RL) algorithm under a varying Point Spread Function (PSF) along the iterations. A plethora of methods based on Richardson-Lucy has been published, but no further proposal involving such an alternative has been published. Whereas the unnamed predecessor of Fishsint addressed only small size synthetic images under a blind fashion procedure, Fishsint and Almexp employs an algorithm Wdet to determine the initial PSF and all subsequent values after each iteration, respectively. Fishsint performs a loop, where the last determined PSF improves the previously obtained image and vice versa. Its original unnamed version has been modified in the present work by entering a previously determined initial PSF to accelerate the convergence. The algorithm Almexp, as well, uses the algorithm Wdet to determine the PSF of the last obtained image to deconvolve itself. Therefore, whereas the Fishsint unnamed predecessor used an initial guess PSF - chosen by the customer - Almexp determines the PSF always through the algorithm Wdet.
Fishsint and Almexp furnish final images which outperform those obtained with the original Richardson-Lucy approach working under a constant PSF along the iterations. Hence, in order to carry out a comparison between their performances, all the algorithms have been embedded into an ad hoc written Fortran 90 program. The results corroborate the soundness of a varying PSF along the iterations with the Richardson Lucy algorithm.
Keywords: Richardson-Lucy, varying PSF along iterations, image improvement, neutron radiograph
Post-sigh sleep apneas in mice: Systematic review and data-driven definition
Sleep apneas can be categorized as post-sigh (prevailing in non-rapid eye movement sleep) or spontaneous (prevailing in rapid eye movement sleep) according to whether or not they are preceded by an augmented breath (sigh). Notably, the occurrence of these apnea subtypes changes differently in hypoxic/hypercapnic environments and in some genetic diseases, highlighting the importance of an objective discrimination. We aim to: (a) systematically review the literature comparing the criteria used in categorizing mouse sleep apneas; and (b) provide data-driven criteria for this categorization, with the final goal of reducing experimental variability in future studies. Twenty-two wild-type mice, instrumented with electroencephalographic/electromyographic electrodes, were placed inside a whole-body plethysmographic chamber to quantify sleep apneas and sighs. Wake\u2013sleep states were scored on 4-s epochs based on electroencephalographic/electromyographic signals. Literature revision showed that highly different criteria were used for post-sigh apnea definition, the intervals for apnea occurrence after sigh ranging from 1 breath up to 20 s. In our data, the apnea occurrence rate during non-rapid eye movement sleep was significantly higher than that calculated before the sigh only in the 1st and 2nd 4-s epochs following a sigh. These data suggest that, in mice, apneas should be categorized as post-sigh only if they start within 8 s from a sigh; the choice of shorter or longer time windows might underestimate or slightly overestimate their occurrence rate, respectively
Early-life nicotine or cotinine exposure produces long-lasting sleep alterations and downregulation of hippocampal corticosteroid receptors in adult mice
Early-life exposure to environmental toxins like tobacco can permanently re-program body structure and function. Here, we investigated the long-term effects on mouse adult sleep phenotype exerted by early-life exposure to nicotine or to its principal metabolite, cotinine. Moreover, we investigated whether these effects occurred together with a reprogramming of the activity of the hippocampus, a key structure to coordinate the hormonal stress response. Adult male mice born from dams subjected to nicotine (NIC), cotinine (COT) or vehicle (CTRL) treatment in drinking water were implanted with electrodes for sleep recordings. NIC and COT mice spent significantly more time awake than CTRL mice at the transition between the rest (light) and the activity (dark) period. NIC and COT mice showed hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor (GR) downregulation compared to CTRL mice, and NIC mice also showed hippocampal mineralocorticoid receptor downregulation. Hippocampal GR expression significantly and inversely correlated with the amount of wakefulness at the light-to-dark transition, while no changes in DNA methylation were found. We demonstrated that early-life exposure to nicotine (and cotinine) concomitantly entails long-lasting reprogramming of hippocampal activity and sleep phenotype suggesting that the adult sleep phenotype may be modulated by events that occurred during that critical period of life
- …
