IntroductionOwnership structure has been a focal point for economists since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Berle and Means (1932) were the first to create a framework for the study of separation of ownership and control, which was later identified to create agency problem. Agency problem occurs when ownership is diffused. Principals (shareholders) want their capital and capital gains return to them. Agents (executive managers) control the firm and they have the real power over corporate assets. According to Gunther (2002) "a firm with a million shareholders does not have owners". It would not be cost-effective for the principals to monitor and control the executives.When ownership concentration is high, the problem of corporate governance is different from the one described by Berle and Means (1932). Protection of minority shareholders from expropriation by the major shareholders is the main problem (La Porta et al., 1999; Bebchuk et al., 2000; Claessens et al., 2000; Maury and Pajuste, 2004; and Yeh and Woidtke, 2005). Shleifer and Vishny (1997) report a bizarre behavior of shareholders, who have assured ownership concentration beyond a threshold. These shareholders prefer to safeguard their dominant position, using entrenchment practices, than to gain some financial benefits. The main concern of potential shareholders is expropriation and capital reassurance (Leechor, 1999; and Maury and Pajuste, 2004).Both minority shareholder expropriation and agency problem are present in all the firms and corporate governance systems. Only the mix and weight of these problems differs.Demsetz and Villalonga (2001) argue that a Herfindahl index (the sum of equity holdings of the five biggest shareholders, while the second is square of the first) can depict the ability of major shareholders to monitor and control executives, while the percentage of equity holdings of executives depict their ability to ignore control. These quantitative measures cannot capture the full effect of some quality characteristics of ownership.Ownership Concentration and Corporate Governance SystemsIt is widely accepted that there are distinct corporate governance differences between countries. The basic differences are in orientation, ownership concentration and time horizon of economic relationships (Shleifer and Vishny, 1997). The differences are fundamental. The notion of family-owned firms is different in different groups of countries. Weimer and Pape (1999) have identified and ranked countries in different systems (Anglo- Saxon, Germanic, Latin and Japanese). Ali et al. (2007) suggested that family firms of the S&P 500 firms, on an average, own 11% of their firms, while in Continental Europe the ownership percentage is more than 35%. Franks et al. (2008) indicated that in UK, ownership concentration is 18%, while in Germany the percentage is 43% and in Italy it is 68%.Many researches have identified that the differences in ownership concentration is the source of all other differences. Ownership dispersion in Anglo-Saxon countries specifies the corporate governance problem (Shleifer and Vishny, 1997). They define corporate governance as the mechanism with which the providers of capital assured themselves the return of their capital and capital gains. The need for this mechanism is based on the limited power and controlling capabilities of sporadic shareholder. It basically says that the alignment of interest between shareholders and managers is necessary. The incentive plans, monitoring and controlling mechanisms are adopted to achieve this alignment. Historically, the protection of dispersed shareholders' interest is greater in Anglo-Saxon countries. Legal, regulative and market mechanisms assure a higher level of protection of shareholder rights.In Continental Europe, on the other hand, the problem of CG is very different. Protection of minority shareholders' rights is the primary problem, and agency problem becomes secondary. …


Toxoplasma gondii and related coccidians are intracellular protozoan parasites. Coccidia are obligate intracellular parasites normally found in the intestinal tract. Virtually all warm-blooded animals, including humans, are commonly infected with coccidia. Until, the discovery of the life cycle of T. gondii in 1970, coccidia were considered host-specific parasites with infection generally confined to intestines. In addition, coccidia of dogs and cats were classified in the genus Isospora, and were thought to be of little or no biologic or clinical significance. Since then, a lot has been learnt about public health and biological significance of canine and feline coccidia, and they are now classified into several distinct genera: Toxoplasma, Neospora, Isospora (also called Cystoisospora), Hammondia, Besnoitia, Sarcocystis, Cryptosporidium, and Cyclospora. Only parasites belonging to Toxoplasma, Neospora, and Isospora of cats and dogs are discussed in detail here (Tables 1 and 2 ).


As a main bioactive component extracted from Evodiae fructus, evodiamine has a variety of pharmacological activities. In this paper, evodiamine was chosen as starting material to react with different halides. Upon treatment of TFA, a series of novel ring‐opening evodiamine derivatives 3a–o were successfully synthesized in a moderate to high yields. These obtained compounds exhibit a moderate to good antitumor activity against BGC803 and SW480 in vitro test by MTT assay. The results showed that hexyl substituted evodiamine derivative (3j, R=hexyl) has a strong antitumor activity against BGC803 and SW480.


The advancement of research from basic science discovery to clinical application requires the extensive collaboration of individuals from multiple disciplines, therefore the ability to work as an effective interprofessional team is essential for researchers in clinical and translational science (CTS). Courses that build interprofessional skills are a key component in CTS education, but the development of these courses poses numerous administrative and educational challenges. This paper describes the processes of designing, implementing, and evaluating an innovative graduate‐level course that combines online lectures and in‐class facilitated group discussions to promote interprofessional interactions. The course offers students the opportunity to interact with and learn from individuals in a variety of disciplines, and it requires students to engage in interprofessional group work to meet the course objectives. During the past 4 years, 96 students from the schools of medicine, pharmacy, nursing, public health, and health and rehabilitation sciences at a large urban university have completed the course. The course has been well‐received, with 87% of students rating its overall quality as excellent, good, or satisfactory. The course offers educators a model to teach graduate students the skills that are essential for becoming effective CTS researchers. Clin Trans Sci 2012; Volume #: 1–7


In the course of the past few years, English language has acquired uncommon consideration in Pakistan. In the progression of this momentum, students have embarked on learning and communicating in English at the cost of dismissing their native language, that is, Urdu. The current study attempted to discuss the dominance of English language and its consequences on the psychology of learners. This study addressed the question of whether students perceive English language imperialism as a threat to their national language, Urdu. The current study is quantitative in nature. A sample size comprising 100 participants was selected and those learners were studying in undergraduate and graduate programs at Kinnaird College for Women Lahore, Minhaj University, and the University of Punjab, Lahore. A self-constructed questionnaire was utilized to gather the information. Moreover, an investigation was undertaken on the impacts of the independent variable namely English language imperialism on the dependent variable namely students' psychology. The results indicated a notable interconnection among various psychological factors, collectively exerting a significant influence on student's psychological well-being. Since they consider it a sign of accomplishment in their academic and professional careers.


In despite of inspiring result has been achieved by 50 year's development of Guizhou phosphorus chemical engineering industry,but added value of product was not high,refinement degree was low,utility value of resource should be advanced;while the factors of excess dependence upon resource of sulfur and environmental protecting pressure from phosphogypsum treatment restrict its development.Aim at issues faced to,integrated Guizhou's resource of phosphorus and coal,it has been suggested that develops phosphorus chemical engineering industry through decomposing phosphorite by nitric acid.So that carries the point of enhancing economic benefits and improving environment,by adjusting industrial structure.


Sarcomas of the breast are rare, comprising 1% of all breast tumors. Primary chondrosarcomas of the breast account for an extremely rare subset of such tumors, with few reports in the literature. We report the case of a 52 year-old woman with a primary chondrosarcoma of the breast and review the current literature.


Plutarch is not an uncritical biographer.1 Not only do his "rogueheroes" come in for severe criticism—one thinks of the couples Demetrius & Antonius, and Lysander & Sulla—there are quite a few others who receive a rap on their knuckles. But his Lives of Flamininus and Aemilius Paullus come close to hagiography. A clear sign of this is that he selected two admirable Greek heroes as their "parallels": Philopoimen as counterpart of Flamininus, and Timoleon of Aemilius Paullus. One would have expected Plutarch to mark more distance from these two Roman commanders as it was they who prepared the way for the complete domination of Greece by the Romans. When he composed these Lives he had a profound knowledge of the history of Greece in relation to Rome.2 He knew better than most Greeks of his day that their forefathers had had a very hard time under the Romans from 146 BC onwards; Roman proconsuls had filled their coffers and their villas with the treasures of Greece, Roman tax-farmers (publicani) had exploited the economic resources of the Greek cities and countryside, Roman armies had fought their battles on Greek soil, the most catastrophic for the Greeks being Sulla's campaign against the troops of Mithridates in 97–96 BC.3 It is true that in Plutarch's own day the Greeks had learned to live with the reality of Roman domination which was not unpleasant in so far as it guaranteed them peace and prosperity. But Plutarch knew that the magistrate of a Greek polis did not wield any real power. As every Greek city was subject to the Roman proconsul, the local magistrate had simply to act the part written for him


The number of ecovillages – intentional sustainable communities – is showing signs of growth all over the world. These self-organized groups can be seen as agents of change that may contribute to the transition to a more sustainable environmental, social, economic and political paradigm. This article seeks to reflect on the 'transitional potential' of intentional sustainable communities as mechanisms that foster the development of social innovation practices. It is an exploratory study that debates the articulation between an empirical phenomenon, the existence of this type of communities, and a theoretical perspective, the study of transitions. This study is based on a systematic literature review to identify relevant analytical dimensions and suggests a conceptual model that provides comprehension of the phenomenon of intentional sustainable communities as a mechanism for social innovation and transformative change.


The present work aims to address the problem of fluid-structure interaction using a discontinuous Galerkin approach. Starting from the Navier-Stokes equations on a fixed domain, an arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) approach is used to derive the equations for the deforming domain. A geometric conservation law (GCL) is then introduced, which guarantees freestream preservation of the numerical scheme. The space discretization is performed using a discontinuous Galerkin method and time integration is performed using either an explicit four stage Runge-Kutta scheme or an implicit BDF2 scheme. The mapping parameters for the ALE formulation are then obtained using algorithms based on radial basis functions (RBF) or linear elasticity. These strategies are robust and can be applied to bodies with arbitrary shapes and undergoing arbitrary motions. The robustnesss and accuracy of the ALE scheme coupled with these mapping strategies is then demonstrated by solving some model problems. The ability of the scheme to handle complex flow problems is demonstrated by analyzing the low Reynolds number flow over an oscillating circular cylinder. Thesis Supervisor: Jaime Peraire Title: Professor, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics


The first‐nearest‐neighbor short‐range‐order and size‐effect coefficients have been determined for the solid‐solution alloys Ni+12% Ta, Ni+15% W, and Ni+20% Mo by the method of x‐ray diffuse scattering. In these alloys a strong preference for unlike nearest neighbors was found, with the Ni+12% Ta, Ni+15% W, and Ni+20% Mo alloys having α1=−0.10, −0.12, and −0.13, respectively. The corresponding size‐effect coefficients for these alloys were found to be β1=0.017, 0.015, and 0.000, respectively.


This paper presents an investigation in a bilingual HRM course for undergraduates,which reveals that in China's institutions of higher learning,there are eight major factors that affect the students' learning outcomes through bilingual teaching.The paper further identifies three of the factors that can well explain the variance in the students' learning effectiveness.Finally,the paper offers recommendations to enhance learning effectiveness on bilingual courses in the future.


It is known that a highly ordered medium allows certain wave functions to move unhindered throughout and in this manner achieve delocalization. It is also known that if one introduces disorder into ...


Abstract Push—pull ventilation has been used as an engineering control technique for a number of years. It can provide efficient and cost effective control in conjunction with local exhaust. It is effective where control by local exhaust alone is not possible. However, its use has been limited due to a lack of design criteria and, in a large part, due to a lack of knowledge of the physical characteristics of the push—pull system components and their interaction with each other. Recent work by National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) researchers has led to the development of design criteria for a number of processes including open surface vessels, foundry casting cleaning, roller mills used for rubber and plastics manufacture, and multiple opening presses used for laminating wood. In addition to providing the design criteria for these processes, the research has provided observations and data regarding the characteristics and limitations of the push—pull technique. For example, the bel...


Nonwoven fabric technique has been extensively used because nonwoven fabrics can uses both filaments and staple fibers and have ease of processing, a wide range of raw material sources, and a short production. This study makes protective nonwoven fabrics with Kevlar fibers, flame retardant polyester (FPET) fibers, and low-melting-point polyester (LPET) fibers. The number of lamination layers of the nonwoven fabric is varied and examined to determine their influence on the mechanical properties of the protective nonwoven fabrics. The results of test show that tensile strength and bursting strength of the protective nonwoven fabrics increase as a result of the increased number of lamination layer.


There is increasing evidence that epileptic activity involves widespread brain networks rather than single sources. Using high-density Electroencephalography (EEG), Electrical Source Imaging (ESI) and Granger-causality measures, we investigated whole-brain directed functional connectivity in left and right Temporal lobe Epilepsy (LTLE and RTLE, respectively), during interictal spikes and spike-free epochs, and in healthy subjects. This allowed us to identify the main drivers and connectivity patterns of interictal epileptic activity in TLE, and of the resting-state in both TLE and healthy subjects. We further found that LTLE and RTLE had different interictal network patterns, and that resting-state outflows were decreased and had a different pattern in TLE vs healthy controls. Our studies show that whole-brain EEG-based directed functional connectivity analysis is a very promising tool to investigate how brain regions driver others during epileptic and non-epileptic activity. This could importantly contribute for epilepsy presurgical planning, especially in patients whose focus is not clear by other already available neuroimaging tools.


Following a suggestion by Egami (1979), the author's earlier Monte-Carlo simulation calculations (Harris and Sung, 1978), for the random anisotropy model are shown to be incomplete. Using a modified algorithm, it is shown explicitly that the ferromagnetic (asperomagnetic) state is unstable against the reversal of a small number of spins, and that the energy of the resultant new ground state is significantly less than that of the asperomagnetic state, particularly for large anisotropy values. Thus, these new results appear to conform with the predictions of the renormalisation group calculations of Pelcovitz et al. (1978). Some implications for magnetisation processes and coercive field behaviour in real materials are also discussed.


What constitutes a success, survivor, or failure regarding UK quality circle programmes, is not a clear‐cut issue, according to results from four questionnaire‐based surveys carried out by the Department of Management Sciences at UMIST, 1982–4. It is an open question whether some quality circles have a limited life‐span and should be allowed to die off naturally when appropriate; circle activity often appears to resume once labour conditions have stabilised. The success of individual circles seems to depend greatly on how well their members work and integrate together, and how well the circle philosophy has been evolved to fit the company's style. A circle will only work as part of a policy of worker involvement and open management and if it is coupled with a specific long‐term company‐wide commitment to quality.


Experiences from the Finnish Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Act were studied by surveying 35 SEA processes. Integration of plan or programme preparation and assessment, organisation of assessment, public participation and consultation, treatment of alternatives, scoping, impact assessment methods, effectiveness, environmental reporting, follow-up, effects on plan or programme preparation, assessment costs and consistency of the assessment were examined and evaluated. The results suggest that SEA is not yet used properly in decision-making. Several shortcomings characterised assessment practices in public participation, establishment and comparison of alternatives, definition of environmental problems, recognition of significant impacts and readiness to use SEA as a planning tool to integrate environmental considerations into the planning. In consequence, the assessments had only minor effects on the adopted plans and programmes. The most critical challenges in Finnish SEA practise are focusing on the most significant environmental issues and strengthening the links between planning, participation and decision-making.


Estimates of tension leg platform (TLP) surge presented in the literature are generally based on the assumption that the tethers are straight at all times, i.e., that transverse deformations of tethers due to hydrodynamic and inertial forces may be disregarded. The purpose of this note is to verify the validity of this assumption in the case of a deep water TLP. The equation of motion of the tethers for the platform being considered is a nonlinear partial differential wave equation. The numerical solution of that equation showed that, for an assumed harmonic motion of the platform, the hydrodynamic and inertial forces that cause the tethers to deflect will increase the amplitude of the restoring force on the platform by a factor of about three. However, the resulting platform motion does not differ significantly from that corresponding to the assumption that the tethers are straight.


By the later 5th c. A.D., Constantinople was the greatest urban centre in the Mediterranean world. This paper considers three associated elements of the infrastructure of the city, each of which applied aspects of ancient technology: a first theme will consider the urban terraces which have only been studied in detail for the area of the Great Palace, but which represent a massive investment in the transformation of the built topography of the city; a second theme will examine the new Theodosian fortifications and suggest that these reflect a new level of innovation more often associated with the religious and civic architecture of the city; the third theme will briefly review recent research on the water supply and will identify major areas of continuity and innovation into the Middle Byzantine period.


Based on FPGA,the hardware description language Verilog and the top-to-down design method of modularization are adopted to achieve the design of a simple CPU logic controller,in which the software design and simulation are conducted for each module of CPU,and then each module is synthesized.The principle analysis is performed for the key function modules of CPU.The time-sequence simulation diagrams are given by means of compilation and adaptation with software MAX+plus II.The water lamp controlled by simple instructions was implemented by using the hardware device.The complete design of simple CPU based on Verilog was accomplished.This design has a strong flexibility and reliability.The CPU can achieve more functions as long as extending or amending the instructions appropriately.


A recent multicenter study, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), demonstrates that a diet emphasizing fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products that provides calcium, magnesium, and potassium at the 75th percentile of American intake produces an antihypertensive effect comparable to that achieved with many pharmacologic interventions.


Linear programming techniques have seldom been used in studying educational processes and are just now becoming of interest in health care delivery systems.


The profit distribution is a core factor to the formation and operation of supply chain alliance and a determinate of success and stability of alliance.Based on analysis of the profit distribution rule of supply chain alliance,we propose two-step profit distribution method,which manifests the principles ofmore pay for more work and mutual profit and accordingly gives corresponding risk compensations in terms of different risk assumed by supply chain alliance partners.


Background: The chronic complications of diabetes are broadly divided into microvascular and macrovascular, with the former having much higher prevalence than latter. Microvascular complications include neuropathy, nephropathy and retinopathy. Objectives of the study was to assess the clinical and biochemical profile of renal involvement in diabetic patient and complications due to diabetes mellites. Methods: This was a hospital based prospective study done in which total of 250 cases attended and admitted at general medicine department, Government Medical College, Sir. T. Hospital, Bhavnagar. Study included Diabetic patient having age - >12 years, Both Gender and Patient who gives consent for study. Results: Almost 54.8% having age between 41-60 years, Male: female ratio 0.87:1 and 44.0% were to 'obese 2' Body mass index (BMI) category. Around 22.4% participants have retinopathy, 30.0% have anemia, 62.4% have HTN and 26.8% have Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD). Almost 59.6% participants have S. creatinine level was 1.3 to 4 mg/dL and 43.6% have stage 5 of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). Conclusions: Incidence of DM Nephropathy increase with age. With increasing numbers of years of diagnosed DM, the chances of DM Nephropathy are increased and as the duration of DM as well as duration of uncontrolled glycemia increases GFR decreases and DM Nephropathy progresses. HbA1c is a useful marker to account for the glycemic control over the past months, and hence the better indicator to the development as well as progression of DM Nephropathy.


The location and context switching, especially the indoor and outdoor scenario switching, provide basic and original information for various mobile applications. Diverse smartphone placements and limited battery supply pose challenge for the accurate and robust indoor-outdoor identification. In this paper, a pervasive indoor and outdoor scenario identification algorithm is proposed, which utilizes both the sensing data collected by the commodity smartphones and recognized human activity information. The indoor and outdoor scenario identification is modelled as a binary classification problem. To better utilize the collected sensor data and inferred human activities, two time-dependent Adaboost classifiers are developed to perform stateless and instance-based scene detection. The stateless detection result is further used as the observation of a hidden Markov model (HMM) to obtain the final scene estimation. The adoption of the stateful HMM filter can effectively eliminate the occasional noises and improve detection accuracy. Furthermore, to meet the high-accuracy detection demand on the indoor-outdoor transition scenario, invoking GPGSV on demand is introduced to improve the detection confidence. Extensive experimental results confirm that the proposed pervasive indoor-outdoor identification algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art JODetector with more than 97% detection accuracy under various weather condition and smartphone placements, especially in the cloudy daytime, at night and being put in pocket.


The female reproductive system is a biological system that is responsible for producing, transporting, and storing eggs and facilitating the meeting between eggs and sperm for fertilization. The female reproductive system consists of internal and external organs. This literature review aimed to describe the female reproductive system. Internal organs include the ovaries (ovaries), fallopian tubes (oviducts), uterus (womb), cervix (cervix), and vagina. The ovary is the main female reproductive organ. The two main functions of the ovaries are the secretion of female sex hormones and the development and release of female gametes, or ova. The almond-shaped ovaries are located on either side of the uterus and are supported and supported by the halves mesovarium of the broad, ovarian, and suspensory ligaments. The female reproductive system is also influenced by reproductive hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, and gonadotropins which are produced by the pituitary gland and ovaries.


Background. The urgency of the problem is of particular importance due to the increased incidence of lung cancer (LC) metastasis into the skeleton, which significantly worsens the survival rate of patients. This so-called "osteoarticular form" of LC is observed in 30–40 % cases of the disease. Purine bases belong to the biomarkers of bone metastases in LC, but their diagnostic and prognostic role has not been studied. The purpose was to determine the state of purine metabolism in the "osteoarticular form" of LC with the assessment of the clinical and pathogenetic significance of the identified changes. Materials and methods. The study enrolled 123 patients (all men) aged from 24 to 79 years. The ratio of the peripheral and central forms of cancer was 1 : 4, small-cell to non-small-cell histological variant — 1 : 4, and IB, IIA, IIB, IIIA, IIIB and IV stages of the disease — 1 : 2 : 4 : 6 : 5 : 6. The number of patients with metastases to the lymph nodes and distant organs was 89 and 62 %, respectively. The blood serum levels of products of purine metabolism (uric acid, oxypurinol, adenine, guanine, xanthine, hypoxanthine, xanthine oxidase, xanthine deaminase, adenosine deaminase, and 5'-nucleotidase activities) were studied. Results. Purine dysmetabolism is observed in 98 % of the patients with LC, which manifested by increased concentrations of uric acid and oxypurinol in the blood, xanthine oxidase and adenosine deaminase activities. The parameters of purine metabolism in LC reflect the severity of the disease, associated with the localization and morphological form of the tumor process, invasion in the breast, trachea, and esophagus, the presence of nerve root syndrome and obstructive atelectasis. Thirty-two per cent of the patients with LC were found to have the "osteoarticular form" of LC accompanying by an increase in the indices of uricemia, oxypurinemia, and adeninemia, involved in the pathogenetic constructs of the tumor process. The level of adenine (6-aminopurine) relating to the LC metastases in the skeleton has a predictive negative value. The survival of patients with "osteoarticular form" of LC is worse than in other patients.


The utility model discloses a spring-loaded packing seal structure, which comprises packing, a packing bushing and a packing plate inside a valve cover packing chamber, wherein the packing plate is connected with a valve cover through a bolt, and a spring is arranged between the bolt and the packing plate. The utility model has the advantages as follows: compared with the prior art, the utility model is additionally provided with the spring between the bolt and the packaging plate, so that the sealed situation of a valve can be continuously maintained during packing abrasion under a small spring pre-tightening force; the torque required by the operation of the valve is not increased; the service life of the valve is prolonged; and the maintenance cost of the valve is reduced.


While there are areas where the responsibilities of leaders and managers overlap, real differences exist between the styles, functions, and purposes of each. Leaders think in the long-term: setting a vision for their business and constantly imagining new ideas and changes that will help the organization improve for the future. They thrive in environments of uncertainty and chaos rather than structure and routine. Conversely, managers prefer stability, control, and certainty. They execute operational tasks in the short-term and conform to certain organizational norms. Whereas, managers adhere to the status quo, leaders love to challenge it. In short, leaders are the strategists and managers are the tacticians. With these differences in mind, it is clear that both managers and leaders are equally vital for organizational success. Businesses increasingly need more employees with the adaptable, imaginative, visionary characteristics of leaders, while still relying on effective managers for execution and stability.


This work uses genetic and histologic analyses to show that a subgroup of plant-specific and evolutionary conserved SBP-box genes is absolutely required for male fertility in Arabidopsis. Either together with or independently of SPOROCYTELESS/NOZZLE, another early anther gene, these SBP-box transcription factors promote sporogenous cell and parietal cell formation in early anthers. The SBP-box transcription factor SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE8 (SPL8) is required for proper development of sporogenic tissues in Arabidopsis thaliana. Here, we show that the semisterile phenotype of SPL8 loss-of-function mutants is due to partial functional redundancy with several other members of the Arabidopsis SPL gene family. In contrast with SPL8, the transcripts of these latter SPL genes are all targeted by miR156/7. Whereas the introduction of single miR156/7-resistant SPL transgenes could only partially restore spl8 mutant fertility, constitutive overexpression of miR156 in an spl8 mutant background resulted in fully sterile plants. Histological analysis of the anthers of such sterile plants revealed an almost complete absence of sporogenous and anther wall tissue differentiation, a phenotype similar to that reported for sporocyteless/nozzle (spl/nzz) mutant anthers. Expression studies indicated a functional requirement for miR156/7-targeted SPL genes limited to early anther development. Accordingly, several miR156/7-encoding loci were found expressed in anther tissues at later stages of development. We conclude that fully fertile Arabidopsis flowers require the action of multiple miR156/7-targeted SPL genes in concert with SPL8. Either together with SPL/NZZ or independently, these SPL genes act to regulate genes mediating cell division, differentiation, and specification early in anther development. Furthermore, SPL8 in particular may be required to secure fertility of the very first flowers when floral transition-related miR156/7 levels might not have sufficiently declined.


A case of natural hybridization between pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) and perch (Perca fluviatilis) was confirmed based on the intermediate morphological, anatomical and genetic characteristics of the hybrid. Micro satellite analyses ruled out the possibility that the focal individual was of either pure species, and indicated it was a S. lucioperca backcross.


Cities today are facing numerous challenges due to the rapid urbanisation. Cities are often the centre of economic activities and the focal point for tourist and investors. As a result of the concentrated economic activities, cities are facing various environmental, social and economic challenges, which added pressure on the city organisation and infrastructure, as well as the need of local authorities to perform their task efficiently. Today, the assistance of smart technology is important in city development and management. Nevertheless, the steps that have been taken during the implementation is increasing quickly, as these inventive technologies offer huge benefits and potentials in solving key issues of most cities including Kuala Lumpur. Consequently, urban areas in both developing and developed countries currently aimed at incorporating innovative technological solutions to transform into smart cities. In line with this, the Malaysian government aims to transform Kuala Lumpur and its neighbouring areas as a liveable, resilient and exciting metropolitan city. In line with this vision, this paper discusses the benefits of implementing smart city components, through the proposed smart city conceptual framework for Kampung Bharu. This paper also highlights the relevant components of smart cities that can be proposed in order to enhance the Kampung Bharu's quality of life, economic growth, as well as its environment, specifically at Kampung Bharu Food Haven (KBFH) areas, which are located at Jalan Raja Muda Musa, Jalan Raja Alang, Jalan Raja Uda and Jalan Raja Abdullah. Among the proposed smart city components are smart infrastructure, smart smart waste management and smart services. All components intended to transform Kampung Bharu into a Smart City that can contribute to improved quality of life.


Ideal for students, academics and practitioners, this text analyzes issues associated with assisted reproduction and embryology. Interdisciplinary in approach, it evaluates areas where there is debate and further/renewed regulation is needed.


Base analying the reason of aluminium alloy extruded die invalidation. Combining the condition of manufacture and representing the factors of affecting extruded aluminium alloy dies' life. The correlation prevention methods were presented.


This paper presents a reflexive analysis of how university educators experience the shift to increasing online teaching in 2019 We explore what it means to be an online educator in contemporary higher education and aim to raise questions about how we approach online education and understand ourselves as educators, informed by a sociomaterial lens The research utilised collaborative autoethnography (CAE) to facilitate meaning‐making and uncover complex perspectives through collaboration and conversation This enabled us to question what we as educators were losing and what we were gaining as a consequence of shifting to more online modes of teaching via university mandated platforms and processes Through this methodology, various themes emerged: the role of corporeality;how we constructed ourselves through texts;how others materialised us in virtual spaces;the experience of online time;and our transforming practices and identities This paper provides a snapshot of a significant cultural milieu in academia as we were afforded time to engage in reflexive practice about teaching online just as the academic world was abruptly mandated to shift almost wholly online It also provides unique insights into the significance of understanding ourselves as both embodied and social, and the importance of community within academia Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic Higher education's shift online, both before and during COVID, has had a substantial effect on university staff, including discomfort and loss of agency What this paper adds Considering the material and embodied is important in online education, particularly because it can be taken‐for‐granted and hence overlooked Feelings of disconnection can result from the inevitable gap between how educators represent themselves online and how others perceive ("materialise") them online Experiencing a lack of connection with online students provides the opportunity to question assumptions about student experiences and develop more nuanced online teaching practice Teaching requires some kind of reconciliation between the linear time as laid out in learning design and the not‐yet‐here/always‐there time of online learning Implications for practice and/or policy Attention must continue to be paid to the experiences of educators as even experienced ones find teaching online disturbs identities and practices Collegially sharing virtual spaces may assist university educators in making sense of the shifts demanded by online teaching and allow more active modelling of meaning‐making processes for students Teaching may benefit from deliberate consideration of developing online personas and reflection on how to accommodate them within academic professional identities What is already known about this topic Higher education's shift online, both before and during COVID, has had a substantial effect on university staff, including discomfort and loss of agency What this paper adds Considering the material and embodied is important in online education, particularly because it can be taken‐for‐granted and hence overlooked Feelings of disconnection can result from the inevitable gap between how educators represent themselves online and how others perceive ("materialise") them online Experiencing a lack of connection with online students provides the opportunity to question assumptions about student experiences and develop more nuanced online teaching practice Teaching requires some kind of reconciliation between the linear time as laid out in learning design and the not‐yet‐here/always‐there time of online learning Implications for practice and/or policy Attention must continue to be paid to the experiences of educators as even experienced ones find teaching online disturbs identities and practices Collegially sharing virtual spaces may assist university educators in making sense of the shifts demanded by online teaching and allow more active modelling of meaning‐making processes for students Teaching may bene it from deliberate consideration of developing online personas and reflection on how to accommodate them within academic professional identities [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of British Journal of Educational Technology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts )


There is strong evidence that the brain can use multiple substrates for energy including glucose, lactate, ketone bodies, glutamate and glutamine. Competition studies show that certain substrates are preferentially used for energy by synaptic terminals even when other substrates are available. It has recently been shown that synaptosomes can use both glutamine and glutamate for energy and synthesis of amino acids; however, these substrates yield very different patterns of 13C-labelling of end products. These findings provide evidence of differential compartmentalisation of the metabolism of glutamate taken up from the extracellular milieu as compared to the glutamate produced from glutamine within synaptic terminals. This compartmentalisation is related to the specific role(s) of glutamate vs. glutamine in synaptic terminals as well as the metabolism of these amino acids in either partial or complete TCA cycles for energy. The presence of glucose, which provides a source of acetyl-CoA, can greatly modulate both the metabolic fate of other substrates and the pool size of amino acids such as glutamate and GABA. The differential localization of the enzymes glutamate dehydrogenase and aspartate aminotransferase contribute to this compartmentalisation as does the necessity that synaptic terminals balance their energy needs with the requirement to synthesize neurotransmitters.


On the premise of one-supplier one-retailer supply chain being relative to effort and retail price,the mathematical model of returns policy is established.Through studies on traditional returns policy,the reasons of difficulty in supply chain collaboration is explained.To deal with this problem,the returns policy based on channel rebate and penalty is proposed,and collaboration and a win-win outcome are achieved.Also,a method defining the optimal contract parameters is provided.Finally,a numerical example is given to illustrate the model.


In the present study, we explored the role of mothers and fathers in adolescents' school deviance. We were interested in the connection between parental variables manifested within the home, such as support, monitoring, punitive discipline, attitude towards deviance, time spent with children, and their impact on adolescents' deviance at school. We used self-reported data from 317 adolescents aged between 15 and 19 years (m = 17.9, SD = 0.9) from Suceava, Romania. Using independent t-tests, we found that girls are more parented than boys, the later are almost twice as deviant than girls, and mothers seem to invest more parenting resources in children compared with fathers. Using multiple hierarchical regressions, we found evidence that punitive discipline and attitude towards deviance are the strongest predictors of deviance. Monitoring explains deviance only with respect to girls, while time parents spent together explains deviance only with respect to boys.


A systematic spectroscopy of the inner shells in superheavy quasimolecule systems with energy eigenvalues in the vicinity of the negative continuum has still not been realized. The investigation of quasimolecular x rays in collisions with bare projectiles represents a unique tool to study the transiently formed molecular orbitals. For heavy-ion collision systems it seems to be a promising approach to get information about the inner orbitals at small internuclear distances. We present calculations of quasimolecular x rays from the heavy-ion collision system U${}^{92+}$-Pb and study the dependence on the impact energy and the impact parameter. We find that up to an impact energy of 50 MeV/u the interference structure is visible in the spectrum.


Purpose – Foreign Exchange Rates (FER) have been one of the most significant factors for both Korean exporters and the economy of Korea. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether exporters with a high level of Exchange Rate Elasticity of Sales (ERES) make the use of earnings management for Income Smoothing (IS).

Design/methodology – Income smoothing was obtained using the methodology suggested by Leuz, Nanda and Wysocki (2003). Accruals-based Earnings Management (AEM) was estimated using Discretionary Accruals (DA) calculated by the operant Jones Model developed by Dechow, Sloan and Sweeney (1995). Real Earnings Management (REM) was obtained using the methodologies suggested by Roychowdhury (2006) and Cohen and Zarowin (2010). Data were 2,402 firm years of public listed companies on the KRX, which were not in the financial industry and had a settlement of accounts in December for the period from 2013 to 2017.

Findings – Results of the evaluation are as follows. First, companies with higher levels of ERES have relatively lower levels of smoothing of reported income. This might be because a fluctuation in sales caused by an exchange rate fluctuation has a direct impact on the volatility of the reported income. Second, companies with high levels of both ERES and IS have a positive correlation with both AEM and REM. This might be because companies with high levels of IS engage in earnings management to smooth reported income. Specifically, it is possible to assume that for smoothing the reported income, not only AEM but also REM is practiced. Third, companies with high levels of ERES but low levels of IS have a negative correlation with both AEM and REM. This could be interpreted as companies exhibiting low levels of IS due to higher levels of ERES tend to control IS. In addition, such results were supported by firms relying highly on exporting, and are consequently sensitive to exchange rate fluctuation. Therefore, it may conclude that companies with high levels of ERES make the use of earnings management as a means of IS.

Originality/value – This study can find its significance from the fact that it is the first study, empirically verifying that companies of Korea, where exportation is a large part, use both AEM and REM as a means for smoothing reported income upon facing exchange rate fluctuations. In addition, it is highly expected that the results of this study could be useful for participants of financial markets when making IS-related decisions.


High‐resolution 1H NMR (500 MHz) spectra were recorded for morphine, 3‐O‐acetylmorphine, 6‐O‐acetylmorphine and diacetylmorphine (heroin). Complete assignment of all proton resonances was made for these substances following determination of accurate chemical shift and coupling data by spectral simulation of all tightly coupled proton resonance patterns. Chemical shifts and proton couplings are discussed in terms of the conformation of rings C and D. From a varied collection of morphine analogs, torsion angles for ring D protons were obtained from crystallographic studies. The corresponding coupling constants were calculated, they demonstrate similar conformation of the ring D for the compared morphine compounds.


Abstract : Series of controlled and free environment tests were conducted to determine the technical feasibility of using the cooling resulting from the adiabatic expansion of compressed air to initiate ice crystal production in a supercooled fog. It was found that approximately 1000 cc of air, when compressed to 60 psig and released through a supersonic nozzle, will produce the same number of ice crystals as does the evaporation of 1 cc of liquid propane. An analysis was made of the Air Force locations in the U.S. and Europe where supercooled fog can be expected to most seriously restrict runway operations. The bases where such restrictions can be expected to be most acute are Elmendorf AFB Fairchild AFB, Hahn AB, Zweibrucken AB, and K. I. Sawyer AFB. The AWS is already conducting operational supercooled fog dispersal programs using liquid propane at the first three of these bases. Various methods of producing compressed air are described and the operating cost advantage of using this technique in lieu of liquid propane are discussed. It is estimated that a compressed air system would consume approximately 1/17 as much fuel as would a system using liquid propane spray. In an average year, the estimated savings at Elmendorf AFB is projected to be over 34,000 gallons (129,000 liters) costing over $16,000. (Author)


Summary The complexation between uranium(VI) and malonate in 1.05 mol kg−1 NaClO4 was studied at variable temperatures (25, 35, 45, 55 and 70 °C). The formation constants of three successive complexes, UO2(OOCCH2COO), UO2(OOCCH2COO)22− and UO2(OOCCH2COO)34−, and the molar enthalpies of complexation were determined by potentiometry and calorimetry. The heat capacity of the complexation, Δ Cop,m(MLj), is calculated to be 96 ± 12, 195 ± 15 and 267 ± 22 J K−1 mol−1 for j=1, 2 and 3, respectively. Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure Spectroscopy helped to characterize the coordination modes in the complexes in solution. UV/Vis absorption and luminescence spectra at different temperatures provided qualitative information on the temperature effect. The effect of temperature on the complexation between uranium(VI) and malonate is discussed in terms of the electrostatic model and compared with the complexation between uranium(VI) and acetate.


In this work we measure gravity field variations over an area covering a known cave, and model the observed gravity signal utilizing observed cave rooms and incorporate density variations in the host rock. The aim of the modelling is to test hypotheses of hidden karst features and variations in the lithology introduced by karstification processes that significantly lowers the density.


The Euclidean group contains two models of free Hamiltonian evolution: one has a continuous configuration space in which the wavefunctions obey the Helmholtz equation, and require two initial conditions: initial values and initial velocities; the other is based on a discrete position space where the wavefunctions obey a difference equation, and its evolution requires only initial values. Yet the two models are unitarily equivalent. We find that the two initial conditions of the former correspond, according to their parity, with the initial condition of the latter at alternate points, either even or odd.


Results of the study of mass-energy distributions of binary fragments for a wide range of nuclei with Z= 82-122 produced in reactions of ions located between 22Ne and 136Xe at energies close and below the Coulomb barrier are reported. The role of the shell effects, the influence of the entrance channel asymmetry and the deformations of colliding nuclei on the mechanism of the fusion-fission, quasifission and multinucleon transfer reactions are discussed. The observed peculiarities of the mass and energy distributions of reaction fragments are determined by the shell structure of the formed fragments. Special attention is paid on the symmetric fragment features in order to clarify the origin of these fragments (fission or quasifission). The influence of shell effects on the fragment yield in quasifission and multinucleon transfer reactions is considered. It is noted that the major part of the asymmetric quasifission fragments peaks around the region of the Z=82 and N=126 (double magic lead) and Z=28 and N=50 shells; moreover the maximum of the yield of the quasifission component is a mixing between all these shells. Hence, shell effects are everywhere present and determine the basic characteristics of fragment mass distributions.


Quantitative assessment of muscle activity is generally evaluated by means of surface electromyography (sEMG), which records the changes in fibers action potential following a stimulation by α-motoneurons. sEMG alterations in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) have been widely documented in literature, as sEMG directly relates to the nervous system via the α-motoneurons. Recently, a novel algorithm has proposed Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) as a valuable tool to assess in time-frequency domain the mean regions of muscle activation during walking. Thus, the objective of the present work is to achieve a reliable assessment of Gastrocnemius Lateralis-muscle behavior during PD walking, by adopting CWT to interpret sEMG signals. Onset and offset timing of activity and the occurrence frequency, a recently introduced parameter useful for characterizing muscle-recruitment variability, were computed. Results reported a statistically significant (p<0.05) delay of Gastrocnemius Lateralis activity in PD in the early-stance phase, while an anticipatory strategy was revealed at the late-swing phase, yet not significant. The occurrence frequency parameter displayed an inhomogeneous distribution of the activation occurrence in PD patients during gait cycle; the authors might speculate that this underling information could suggest that people with PD prefer adopting a simpler motor control. Besides the information achieved in time domain, availability of frequency content of sEMG signal could be a further advantage, since it might be adopted to detect modifications in the electrophysiological behavior in people with PD. Thus, further studies could be focused on the attempt to quantify this parameter during walking in PD.


Through electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT) assisted spontaneous four-wave mixing, we produce the entangled paired photons with a coherence time of 2.34 μs from a cold atom cloud. The EIT dephasing rate is the ultimate limit.


In this study, the Charpy impact energies of ferritic and austenitic functionally graded steels produced by electroslag remelting have been modeled in crack divider configuration by predicting Vickers microhardness profiles of the specimens with adaptive network-based fuzzy inference systems. To produce functionally graded steels, two slices of plain carbon and austenitic stainless steels were spot-welded and used as electroslag remelting electrode. Functionally graded steel containing graded layers of ferrite and austenite may be fabricated via diffusion of alloying elements during remelting stage. To build the model for graded ferritic and austenitic steels, training, testing, and validation using, respectively, 174 and 120 experimental data were conducted. It was found that the data are valid within the range of examined data. A good fit equation which correlates the Vickers microhardness of each layer to its corresponding chemical composition was achieved by the optimized network for both ferritic and...


Exhaust-water-selective recirculation is proposed for the purpose of reducing the emission of nitrogen oxides from diesel engines. In this method, water is extracted from the exhaust and fed directly into the intake air charge. This system operates as a closed system without a supplementary water charge. The exhaust-water-selective recirculation effectively works to decrease the combustion temperature due to the large heat capacity and heat of vaporization, thereby greatly reducing the amount of exhaust nitric oxide. Particulate emission and brake-specific fuel consumption are lower compared to ordinary exhaust gas recirculation when the amount of recirculated water is not excessive. It is expected that a diesel engine with exhaust-water-selective recirculation may achieve reduction of NO without sacrificing the thermal efficiency, when the system is combined with retarded fuel injection and engine-load-dependent water injection.


Objective:To study the method of classⅡ divisionⅠ malocclusion treated with twin-block appliance.Methods:25 patients aged 10~12 years old were treated with twin-block appliance for 9~12 months cephalograms were taken before and after treatment.Results:The improvement of molar relationship was a result of mandible changes mainly.Conclusion:The classⅡcorrection with the twin-block appliance is achieved through normal growth besides mandibular skeletal and dentoalveolar changes.


ABSTRACT Operational hydrology requires reliable and accurate instruments and methods of observation. It is useful to review developments, particularly those of the last decade. Two milestones of this development may be mentioned, both actively supported by the IAHS International Commission on Surface Water, namely the IAHS/UNESCO/WMO (1970) Symposium in Koblenz, and the WMO Seminar in Padova 1975 (WMO, 1975). In assessing the trends, the interconnections of hydrometry with network design and data processing are discussed. Suggestions are also submitted for further developments including research and the potential applications in one particular field, where new instruments and methods are badly needed, specifically the measurement of three-dimensional turbulent flow in streams and lakes. Problems and results are introduced in connection with three-dimensional flow measurement to give an example for the trend of development.


Six new methylphenyl porphyrin-5-fluorouracil compounds were synthesized and their structures were characterized by UV-Vis,IR,1H NMR and MS.The synthesis and separation conditions of the target compounds were studied.The results showed that the yield was higher when DMF was used as the solvent at 115℃ for 2h.The yields of A1,A2,B1,B2,C1,C2 were 25.66%,25.02%,24.89%,26.17%,28.43%,24.19% respectively.The products were separated via column chromatography with silica gel G(particle size 48—75μm),and the separated effect was satisfactory.


Polyoxymethylene (POM) is an engineering thermoplastic. Formaldehyde is the monomer unit of this polymer. Depolymeraization of POM occurs at 100 o C and yields formaldehyde whereas thermal degradation occurs at 270 o C. During thermal degradation, POM splits into carbon dioxide, water and formic acid. It has been proved that formaldehyde can be used as hydrogen source, when metallic nanoparticles are used as catalysts under particular parameters. In this experiment a trial has been made to produce hydrogen using POM scrape material. POM is used as formaldehyde source and copper nanoparticle is used as catalyst to produce sodium formate and hydrogen. Water is used as solvent for formaldehyde. Depolymeraization is done with water at 100 o C. The quantity of hydrogen produced is calculated based on sodium formate assay and statistical analysis. Sodium formate in different weights is taken for assay to measure precision, correlation coefficient and regression analysis.


The cultural globalization promotes the produce and development of the market for professional publishing manager in international society,and creates the most efficient allocation of professional publishing managers. Now the market for professional publishing manager has not been developed in China because of its character,function and constituting factors. Therefore China should quickly take effective measures to build the market,and promote the sustaining development of the publishing enterprises.


The article deals with the study of modern steganographic methods and tools for processing digital images using software tools that are freely available through the Internet and available to the ordinary citizen. During the study, was performed identify the structural changes in graphics files which are the results, as well as, the result's images and the original's images. Was performed such comparisons: changes the size of graphics files; counting the number of modified pixel values of the images; study of the modification of the color image components and their respective bit planes; comparison of the structure of the received files. On the basis of the conducted researches were the results of relatively modern implementation methods hide information by steganography software that can be used in the future to improve the efficiency of steganographic system or steganographic analysis.


Impurities and the content of the most important elements in the matrix graphite and its raw materials in spherical fuel element of 10MW HTR were studied by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP AES), such as B, Cd, Fe, Ti, U, Th, Gd, Eu, Sm, Dy etc. The effect of processing conditions on the impurities of the matrix graphite was discussed. The results indicate that most of the impurities in the raw materials will be held in the final spherical graphite products. The processing conditions have no effect on the impurities of the matrix graphite. All impurities in the raw materials and the matrix graphite are met the specifications of the spherical fuel elements.


Sward species composition estimation is a tedious one. Herbage must be collected in the field, manually separated into components, dried and weighed to estimate species composition. Deep learning approaches using neural networks have been used in previous work to propose faster and more cost efficient alternatives to this process by estimating the biomass information from a picture of an area of pasture alone. Deep learning approaches have, however, struggled to generalize to distant geographical locations and necessitated further data collection to retrain and perform optimally in different climates. In this work, we enhance the deep learning solution by reducing the need for ground-truthed (GT) images when training the neural network. We demonstrate how unsupervised contrastive learning can be used in the sward composition prediction problem and compare with the state-of-the-art on the publicly available GrassClover dataset collected in Denmark as well as a more recent dataset from Ireland where we tackle herbage mass and height estimation.


Readers spent more time reading and gained more knowledge when they read online crime stories that included links than when they read online crime stories without links.


In this paper, dyeing effect of self-made combined low salt dark trichromatic reactive dyes named LS red, LS yellow and LS blue was measured. And the alkali stability, solubility, dyeing build up, cold pad-batch dyeing adaptability and color fastness of new combined dyes were compared with ED reactive dyes.


We aimed to assess safety and, secondarily, the efficacy of intramyocardial high‐dose plasmid‐vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) 165 (pVEGF165) gene transfer in no‐option patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).


The article considers the problem of discussion as a process and a way of academic exchange and communication. The relevance of the research is substantiated by the fact that the chosen topic has mostly not been considered in the field of scientific research. The importance of researching informal sources of information for a better understanding and more objective analysis of events is substantiated as well. For the first time, numerous facts gathered by the author during personal communication with the academics are presented. The subject and the conclusions of the study will contribute for a better understanding of the historical role of both public and nonpublic discussion in the artistic process, in particular in its pedagogical component.Contemporary art education, as well as public opinion in general, focuses on the individuality of the artist, so in the artistic environment can not but arise new discussions and even conflicts. Discussions and controversy among teachers and students in the analyzed period were less ideological in nature, in contrast to the preWWII period in the educational institution. In the postwar period, some artiststeachers were oppressed and persecuted because of their own conceptual principles in teaching practice. Such teachers were deprived of the opportunity to spread their artistic ideas among students. Later, under the influence of the changing political situation in the country, they were invited to teach at universities again and they formed the forefront of the revival and formation of a new art school.The influence of mass media on the cultural process both in the conditions of a totalitarian society and in the conditions of the modern reforms is analyzed in the article. The current state of the coverage of cultural events in the media and the impact of this process on the artistic environment is considered. The article shows that the decisive role in the course of the discussion is played by the personality, and not by the ideological or pedagogical value of the subject of discussion. The key role of the individual in the discussion process in the absence of a systemic tool for making decisions independent of the dominant ideology is also emphasized. The author concludes that even in the Soviet postwar period there was still opposition in art education.


We sought to investigate the effect of a 15‐min delayed intraprocedural reassessment of paravalvular aortic regurgitation (PVR) after an immediate evaluation of posttranscatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) on the regurgitation grading and usage of postdilatation.


This article proposes an integrated assessment methodology aimed at supporting decision-makers in design energy production scenarios to power a low emissions traffic fleet. The Multidimensional Air Quality (MAQ) system is used to define and solve a decision problem that selects a set of energy production scenarios minimizing costs, impacts on air quality, and greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions. This study focuses on the road transport sector, that is responsible for 25% of European GHGs emissions and 39% of NOx emission, a precursor of both NO2 and PM10 concentrations. The electrification of the light vehicle fleet and the use of biomethane to power heavy vehicles are analyzed, estimating the electricity demand increase, exploring different energy production mixes, and assessing the impacts on air quality, costs, and GHGs according to the fuels/sources used to satisfy the energy demand. A case study over Lombardy region, in Northern Italy, is proposed. Note to Practitioners—The study designs a new decision problem implemented and solved through the Multidimensional Air Quality system (MAQ), an integrated assessment modeling tool. Such system integrates a set of databases, models, optimization, and enumeration algorithms. Composing these elements, specific multiobjective decision problems can be designed defining domain (mesoscale, regional, urban), objectives (air quality index, greenhouse gas emissions, costs, population exposure, health impacts), decision variables (technologies, behavioral measures, energy production, fuel switch), and constraints. MAQ system allows the comprehensive analysis of energy, technological, behavioral policies estimating impacts on air quality, human health, GHGs emissions, and costs.


Soil potential ratings are calculated for the Karoi-Chinoyi-Banket area of Zimbabwe. Under these tropical conditions, soil properties for evaluation included slope, organic matter, compaction and toxicity. The method successfully differentiates between a soil which has a very high potential and ones which require considerable expenditure to achieve a satisfactory, continuing yield.


8 pp.
The legal locations for these plantations are within
Townships 12 and 13 South, Ranges 17, 18, and 19 East, Willamette
Meridian.
Captured May 29, 2007.


Objective To study the relationship between the content of S100B protein in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and prognosis of patients with craniocerebral injury. Methods The serum and CSF levels of S100B protein in 125 patients were determined at the different times after craniocerebral injury by ELISA. The curative outcome was estimated according to GOS. Results The serum S100B level was significantly higher 1 day after the injury in the patients with craniocerebral injury than that in the control patients (P0.01). There was significant difference (P0.01) in the serum S100B levels 1 day after the injury among the three groups with different outcome (P0.01). The change in the CSF S100B levels was similar to than in the serum S100B levels. Conclusions Both the serum and CSF S100B protein levels are closely associated with the outcome in the patients with craniocerebral injury. The serum S100B may be more clinically useful for making the prognosis of the patients with craniocerebral injury.


A volumetric display method and a corresponding principle prototype using mirror image series are described. In the method, a DMD embedded digital light projector is used to produce a 2D picture. The picture is then reflected by a front surface mirror which is moving to-and-fro in its surface normal direction to form a mirror image series. When the 2D picture is synchronous refreshing according to the position of the mirror, the mirror image series will be sensed as a 3D image with physical depth of focus by a viewer because of the persistence of vision. The 3D image is composed by uniform voxels arranged uniformly without the shadow caused by the thickness of screen. Thus it is suitable for accurate display of 3D designed engineering objects. Contrast to directly moving projecting screen, the method avoids the real-time focus and magnification correction problem, and reduces 50% of mechanical scan distance.


Objective To evaluate the potential value of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI)elastography in the characterization of solid liver tumors.Methods Forty-three patients with 56 liver tumors were evaluated with ARFI,which included 21 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC),8 patients with metastase,5 patients with cholangiocarcinoma(CCC),and 9 patients with hemangioma.The shear wave velocity of the tumor and background liver parenchyma were calculated,and results were compared with 30 healthy subjects.Statistical analysis was performed on the shear wave velocity for differentiation of normal liver,background liver parenchyma,and tumors.Results HCC and CCC had greater stiffness than metastase (P <0.05),there were no statistical differences between HCC and CCC (P = 0.179).Malignant liver tumors had significantly greater stiffness than hemangioma and normal liver (P = 0.000).34.5% (9/26) HCC and 33.3% (4/12) hemangioma appeared softer than the background liver.With a cut-off value of 1.5 m/s for the shear wave velocity,the sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value and negative predictive value for malignancies were 79.5%,83.3%,94.5% and 52.6%,respectively.Conclusions ARFI elastography quantification is a promising noninvasive technique for assessing solid liver tumors.Use of ARFI elastography quantification may lead to new quantitative tissue characterization parameters for differentiating hemangioma and malignant liver tumors.

Key words:
Ultrasonography; Liver neoplasms;  Elasticity


The purpose of this study was to examine the level of stadium security and safety employed during Nigeria Professional Football League Matches; this is due to the fact that security during the NPFL seems to be ineffective with reports of violence, assaults and pandemonium springing up indiscriminately. A descriptive survey research design was utilized with ten (10) stadia that participated in the NPFL 2018/2019 football league season and their managers being the respondents. Seven (7) security parameters were identified including entry and exit systems, Venue Operations Centre (VOC), Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), Protection of the field of play, public announcer room, stewards' management and police attendance. Results indicated that majority of the security measures to ensure spectator safety are not followed as recommended by FIFA and the green guide; with CCTV and VOC non-existent in almost all the stadia in the study. Results are discussed in relation to previous studies. Article visualizations:


The finite horizon cash balance problem with charges levied against the cash balance is considered. Conditions, sufficient to show that a two-sided (s, S) policy is optimal, are given. We consider transactions cost functions which include no fixed costs, and are linear in the amount of change. Only a reinterpretation of an earlier formulation is required when transactions costs are levied against the balance. When penalty charges are so levied, we require the penalty cost function to be convex, non-negative, and include no charge on a zero ending balance.


Abstract Residual effects on pasture of four phosphatic fertilisers applied at three levels of liming were investigated for four years following six annual applications. Superphosphate and serpentine superphosphate gave similar pasture yields, which declined at a rate of 7 per cent per annum for three years, with no decline in the fourth year. No decrease in pasture yields was recorded with Gafsa and Nauru rock phosphates. Gafsa gave very high residual yields even at a light rate of liming and was superior to all other phosphates by the second year. Further investigations into the value of rock phosphates under acid conditions are warranted.


This study evaluated the possibility of conjunctive use (CU) of shallow groundwater (SGW) and surface water for irrigation at the Wonji Shoa Sugar Estate (WSSE) (Ethiopia). Irrigation suitability was investigated by taking 46 SGW samples from piezometers and hand‐dug wells. Many physicochemical parameters (Mg2+, Na+, Ca2+, K+, CO3−, SO42−, HCO3−, Cl−, TH, EC, TDS and pH) and other indices (MAR (magnesium adsorption ratio), SSP (soluble sodium percentage), SAR (sodium absorption ratio), RSC (residual sodium carbonate), KR (Kelly's ratio) and permeability index (PI)) were analysed following standard procedures. The salinity and infiltration problems of SGW were found to be none to moderate with no chloride and boron ion toxicity. The sodium ion toxicity problems are slight to moderate. The SGW is generally categorized under C3S1 (high salinity and low sodium hazard). However, a high value of SSP and RSC indicates a high possibility of occurrence of infiltration problems when using SGW. Hence, CU of SGW and surface water must be practised to minimize the potential problems of infiltration and salinization and their associated difficulties in soil and sugar cane productivity. Therefore, during CU planning, optimum irrigation scheduling that considers the in situ use of groundwater table must be practised. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The 2010 South Africa health plan has highlighted the need to ensure a qualified workforce in order to improve access to quality health care.


The buckling restrained brace(BRB) consists of a kernel steel component and a peripheral restrictive one,the kernel steel component will not buckle but yield under repeated axial loading.Based on the principle,two types of BRB,i.e.,the pure steel and the concrete are proposed,the mechanic study of these two kinds of BRBs was focused on their static stability at present.Since BRB is mainly used in vibration control under earthquake action,so the dynamic stability of two kinds BRB was studied with analytical method,the critical frequency and dynamic instability border of BRB were derived;the influence of outer component stiffness on the dynamic stability was analyzed,and some measure was proposed for diminishing the brace vibration.


As part of the skilled labor group, international students have quite a high potential to decide their country's future direction. This means there is a need for deeper understanding regarding the views and identity of international students, which are affected by their study tenure abroad. As such, this paper aims to shed new light on how mobility as a form of migration affected the identity of Indonesian international students as a group of migrants. To achieve this purpose, five international students from Indonesia, both current and former, were interviewed in-depth to understand these post-mobility changes in their identity. From these interviews, it was revealed that their experience abroad, not exactly the mobility act itself, is the one with more impact on their identity. Most expressed that their time abroad has changed their perspective and general world-view, such as they feel more like are global citizens or more concerned about environmental and humanity issues. In turn, even though their Indonesian root is still visible, sometimes they are also seen as akin to a stranger in their own home.


The higher sex ratio at birth and the male marriage squeeze in China are receiving considerable attention. Scholars speculated that they might have a series of negative consequences for public safety, but there is little quantitative evidence. Using data from a survey of 364 villages in rural China, this study explores the challenge of gender imbalance to social order and safety at the village level. We found that gender imbalance had negative effects on the marriage market, community economy and order, and threatened communities' development and safety. Our findings confirm that the negative consequences of gender imbalance and the marriage squeeze are not just speculation, and effective policies are urgently needed to respond to and prevent negative consequences of gender imbalance.


This thesis throws light on an oft-overlooked element of the containment policy of the United States under President Harry S. Truman (1945 – 1953): its geopolitical foundations. It contends that during this period, that of the early Cold War, American foreign policy was to an important degree informed, and therefore shaped, by geopolitical concerns and arguments. This was the case to such an extent that it is possible to speak of an internal geopolitical mode of thinking possessed by the administration, the geopolitics of containment, which existed alongside more traditional concerns of simple power politics and ideology. Based on a review of the existing literature on both the field of geopolitics as well as the early Cold War, the thesis comes to the conclusion that this geopolitical element of containment has been touched upon only briefly by previous studies. This leads to the research question at the basis of the thesis: was American foreign policy influenced by geopolitics in the early Cold War (1945 – 1953), and if so, how? The thesis argues that the answer to the first question is affirmative, by examining American policy documents of the period on the presence of geopolitical terminology. It then continues by analyzing the geopolitical elements in the rhetoric and argumentation of these same documents. The conclusion is reached that the geopolitics of containment developed alongside the wider policy of containment, coming into existence in 1946 and becoming increasingly prevalent as the years went on. In addition, the thesis argues that this process was linked to the increasing hostility toward the Soviet Union toward the end of the Truman administration. This is also tied to the fact that the geopolitics of containment was a type of analysis overwhelmingly preoccupied with policy toward the Soviet Union. The final conclusion is that geopolitical analyses were general in nature, and appeared less in policy discussions of a more technical nature. The thesis concludes that the geopolitical perspective on containment policy was an integral part of the increasingly narrow world view of the American government, and posits that studying it further may provide new outlooks on the role of the United States in the origins of the Cold War.


This paper investigates the low-carbon product manufacturer's different decision behavior in the offline traditional retail channel and online e-commerce channel when the carbon trading market has been established. The low-carbon product manufacturer is both in the carbon trading market and product market. In the former market, the manufacturer can gain profits by selling its emission quota. In the latter market, the manufacturer has two sales channel options, the traditional offline retailer and the online e-commerce platform. These two channels make two supply chains, the manufacturer-led offline one and the e-commerce platform-led online one. This paper combines the carbon trading market with the product market, formulates different Stackelberg game models, compares the manufacturer's decision under two channels and the impact of channels on the carbon emission, does sensitivity analysis, and verifies the conclusions with numerical examples. Our findings are (1) the establishment of the carbon market will help the manufacturer reduce its carbon emission, especially for those sensitive to the carbon price and those with too much emissions; (2) whether the manufacturer turns to the online channel depends on the consumers' sensitivity to the sales service, and consumers' attention will guide the way to the online mode; (3) which mode is conducive to carbon emission reduction relies on the product type: the e-commerce platform does well for daily necessities of mass production while the traditional channel is better for experience goods.


A reflecting surface self-radiation LED indoor lighting lamp comprises a circuit board (2), LEDs (3), and a light reflecting shade (1) for reflecting the light emitted from the LEDs (3). The light emitting surfaces of the LEDs (3) are opposite to the convex surface part of the light reflecting shade (1). The LEDs (3) are welded on the circuit board (2). A gap is provided between the circuit board (2) and the convex surface. The LEDs (3) are provided between the convex surface and the circuit board (2). The side of the circuit board (2) facing to the convex surface is coated with a reflecting layer. The circuit board (2) is an aluminum substrate. The LEDs (3) are directly welded on the aluminum substrate. The circuit board (2) is connected with a power supply (5) through conducting wires. The power supply (5) is separated from the circuit board (2). This lighting lamp has the advantages of wide irradiating area, uniform illumination, and good radiation effect.


The body's response to a persistent oxalate challenge is poorly understood. Here we report that calcium (measured by atomic absorbance spectrometry) increases in kidneys in rats exposed to a persistent challenge of 360 μmole/d oxalate for 13D. Time dependent increases in renal concentrations of oxalate and calcium occurred for exposures of 12hr to 13D (p⩽0.02), but these oxalate and calcium concentrations were not intercorrelated (p = 0.8). Since the calcium concentration was always at least five fold the oxalate concentration, it is unlikely that the entire calcium increase was due to its incorporation into calcium oxalate crystals.


SUMMARY This paper proposes a lossless coding method for HDR color images stored in a floating point format called Radiance RGBE. In this method, three mantissa and a common exponent parts, each of which is represented in 8-bit depth, are encoded using the block-adaptive prediction technique with some modifications considering the data structure.


The nature of a number of fundamental processes occurring during reproduction in sponges still remains in doubt. Among the more significant of these are: the true status of sponges described as dioecious, namely whether some are actually successive hermaphrodites; the origin of oogonia, which have recently been claimed to be derived from choanocytes; the origin and mechanism of formation of large spermatogenic masses; the specific pathway leading to fertilization taken by sperm cells within the sponge tissue of viviparous species; the role played during larval metamorphosis by somatic cells which are incorporated into embryos; the cell lineage of choanocytes which form flagellated chambers during larval metamorphosis; the specific relationship of somatic growth and dormancy to gametogenesis; the role of budding and fragmentation in population maintenance; the role, if any, of gemmules in dispersion. It is considered mandatory that new techniques be developed in order to further elucidate these and other r...


Residual stresses are of interest from an engineering perspective because they can have a significant influence on material performance. For example, fatigue initiation, fatigue crack growth rate, stress corrosion cracking, and fracture are all influenced by the presence of residual stress. Current design methods for aerospace structure typically assume that the material is residual stress free. Tensile residual stresses are one of many design uncertainties that are accounted for through the use of safety margins. Modern, advanced design tools (e.g., finite element software) enable light-weight, sophisticated designs with reduced safety margins; however, uncertainty associated with residual stress limits the ability to further trim margins (i.e., residual stress is often treated as a known-unknown). Two common methods for residual stress measurement are incremental hole drilling and slitting. This paper establishes the repeatability of these techniques through replicate measurements on nominally similar specimens. Each technique was used to measure the residual stress in peened aluminum plates at multiple locations. A statistical analysis of the data was performed to compare the level of repeatability obtained using the two techniques. The standard deviation of the slitting method data was about 2% of the peak stress magnitude, compared with 5% for the hole drilling measurements.


This study was performed to evaluate the effects on saccharification and alcohol fermentation, according to the size of the ground rice (12, 20, 35 mesh) and ultra sonication process (15, 30, 60, 120 min). After saccharification of the ground rice samples for 3 h at 60℃, sugar content was observed to be high in the order of cooked ground rice (CGR) > ultrasonicated ground rice (UGR) > ground rice (GR), in all sizes of ground rice. Further, higher sugar content was obtained by increasing the time of ultrasonication process. Almost 90% saccharification of CGR (11.5oBx) could be reached up to 10.2°Bx by ultrasonicating 35 mesh ground rice for 120 min. After alcohol fermentation on the 35 mesh saccharified-UGR for 4 days at 25℃, 16.7% alcohol concentration could be obtained, as high as of CGR (17.2%). After 4 days of alcohol fermentation, UGR showed a lower pH and a higher acidity (pH 4.06-4.17, 0.99-1.1%) than CGR (pH 4.27, 0.75%).


Adherence is the Holy Grail for effective treatment of chronic conditions, yet the quest is now easier with empathic engagement and cheaper technology, writes Steven Chong.


Many studies show racial and ethnic survival disparities in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), and self-identified African-Americans have significantly lower overall survival and progression-free survival than self-identified Caucasians. However, survival models based on genetic ancestry, rather than self-identified race, are needed to assess whether genetic ancestry influences this survival disparity or whether the cause of the disparity is largely socioeconomic. Using clinically annotated genomic data from 501 LSCC tumor samples in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we compared clinical data, gene expression profiles, mutations, and copy number changes of tumors across ancestral groups to identify significantly differential events. We then applied the Cox Proportional Hazards model to predict overall survival as a function of genetic ancestry alongside other genetic, molecular, and clinical variables. We found a significant difference in metastatic stage between tumors from patients of African (AFR) and European (EUR) ancestry, which was significant in predicting survival. We identified increased copy number of chromosome arm 8q and locus chr8q24, as well as increased expression of MYC targets in AFR samples relative to EUR samples, all of which suggest a role for the MYC pathway in differential cancer progression. In addition, we found enrichment of amplifications at chr22q11 and chr16p11 in AFR samples compared to EUR samples. We identified top differentially mutated genes between groups, of which mutant SPRR3, PDGFA, FRS3, and C21orf62 correlate with survival. Notably, when survival was modeled as a function of both genetic ancestry and SPRR3 mutation, genetic ancestry was no longer significant as a predictor of survival. The PDGFRA receptor is also significantly differentially expressed between groups, suggesting a possible role of the PDGF axis in differential tumor growth. These results suggest potential genetic and clinical factors implicated in racial survival disparities. Further studies and more diverse sampling of cancer patient populations would allow validation of these differences and future elucidation of patient-specific treatment modalities.
 Citation Format: Sejal Jain, Alexandria Yao, Diane Allen-Gipson, Fatemeh Momen-Heravi, Alison M. Taylor. Survival disparities in lung squamous cell carcinoma: Clinical and genomic correlates with genetic ancestry [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 15th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2022 Sep 16-19; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr A009.


For the serious rot disease occur in apple orchards in China,many orchards suffered losses so serious that had to be abandoned.Using wild mountain small sub-feature of strong anti-rot disease as stock,grafting small apple varieties lead Russia No.1 and Huangtaiping on 1.2 ~ 1.5 m high of the trunk.A height of 1.5 m,down select three to five collateral,graft apple varieties at 30 ~ 40 cm from each lateral branch of the base location,where susceptible to rot disease site.Develop three to five main branches.At the same time,the main branch of the thin multi-spindle shaping method was used.The results showed that:using this method could lower more than 90% rot diseases compared with low grafting apple cultivation and grafting cultivation.The fruit park will not be destroyed by these rot diseases.


Abstract Buildability is one of the most important factors affecting labour productivity. Nonetheless, an extensive search of the literature revealed a dearth of research into its effects on labour productivity in in-situ reinforced concrete construction. Since rebar fixing is an essential, labour intensive, trade of this type of construction material, and isolated foundations are among the major activities of low to medium-rise construction projects, the objective of this research is to investigate the effects and relative influence of the variability of foundation sizes; rebar diameter; and quantity of reinforcement fixed, on rebar fixing labour productivity of this activity. To achieve this objective, a sufficiently large volume of productivity data was collected and analyzed using the multiple linear regression method. As a result, the effects and relative influence of these factors are determined. Apart from the variability of foundation sizes, the findings show significant effects of the buildability factors investigated on the labour efficiency of the fixing operation, which can be used to provide designers feedback on how well their designs consider the requirements of the buildability concept, and the tangible consequences of their decisions on labour productivity. In addition, a set of recommendations are presented, which can improve the buildability level of this activity and hence translate into higher labour efficiency and lower labour cost. On the other hand, the depicted patterns of results may provide guidance to construction managers for effective activity planning and efficient labour utilization.


The patterns of particulate matter with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller (PM2.5) are heterogeneous in China nationwide but can be homogeneous region-wide. To reduce the adverse effects from PM2.5, policymakers need to develop location-specific regulations based on nationwide clustering analysis of PM2.5 concentrations. However, such an analysis is challenging because the data have complex structures and are usually noisy. In this study, we propose a robust clustering framework using a novel concept of depth, which can handle both magnitude and shape outliers effectively and incorporate spatial information. We apply this framework to a PM2.5 dataset and reveal ten regions in China that have distinct PM2.5 patterns, and the homogeneity within each cluster is also confirmed. The clusters have clearly visible boundaries and enable policymakers to develop local emission control policies and establish regional collaborative systems to control air pollution in China.


p-Aminophenol was prepared by electroreduction of nitrobenzene. In this article, we discussed the mechanism of electroreduction reacti on and Confirmed that Copper with appropriate hydrogen overvoltage was suitable to serve as cathode for the reaction,the optimumreaction temperature was about 90,and optimum acid concentration was about 33%.


The case of a direction-finding antenna (or an antenna array) with a beam shape which can be approximated by a cosine or a sine function is considered, and a probability function is found for the direction indications when two co-channel signals are present under Rayleigh fading conditions. Simulated case studies are described and compared with the analytical results.


In order to solve the question of slow speed Ethernet transmission in traditional embedded equipment,an implement method based on FPGA and W5100 was designed.The NiosⅡprocessor which was created by SOPC technology was used to control hardware TCP/IP protocol W5100 to realize Ethernet transmission,and C2H was used to do hardware accelerator for crucial C code.This system transmits data reliably and has much faster transmission speed than traditional methods,realizing high-speed Ethernet transmission.


Thirty-seven New Zealand Red rabbits were either dosed with methyiprednisolone sodium succinate (MP, n18) about 20 nun before laser irradiafion, or they were left untreated (n=19). Dosing with MP was tapered at 30, 30, 20, 20, and 10 mg/kg/day for five consecutive days. Retinas were irradiated with a multi-lime argon laser to produce retinal injuries (grid of 16 lesions/eye) near hemorrhaging levels (285 mW/lOmsec, 290 ?m retinal spot size). A variety of funduscopic and histologic assessments were made for hemorrhagic and non-hemorrhagic lesions from 10 miii to 6 mo after injury. Fluorescein angiography showed that non-hemorrhagic control lesions stopped leaking at 3d post injury, but MPtreated lesions leaked for 2-4 days longer. After MP treatment, funduscopic lesion areas were similar to controls during the first 24 h then became smaller by 1 mo. After 1 mo, MP-treated lesions increased in area while controls became reduced. Histologic analysis showed no effect on reduction of neutrophils (PMN) in MP-treated lesions over controls at 3 hr. At 24 hi, retinal PMN values in hemorrhagic lesions ofthe MP group were elevated (p<0.05) while monocyte/macrophage counts were reduced (p<0.05) compared to control. At 4d, MP impeded replacement oflost retinal tissue, and contributed to retinal hole development at 1 mo followed by extensive enhancement of chorio-retinal scarring at 6 mo. In severe laser-induced retinal trauma, the immunosuppressive effects of high dose MP therapy contributed to a variety of untoward wound healing outcomes, thereby suggesting caution in its use to treat similar injuries in humans.


Civil Procedure Law contains the right of the plaintiff to bring an action and the right of the defendant to bring a counterclaim. The legal doctrine also distinguishes actio duplex claim, which is regarded as a claim that may be joined by the defendant without a counterclaim. Such a situation competes with the dispositive principle in civil procedure. The aim of the study is to examine the role of the dispositive principle in actio duplex claim and find out how it harmonizes with the court`s obligation to respect the limits of the claim.


Some new properties of explicitly quasiconvex functions are presented in this paper.These new properties are expressed in terms of the properties of and relationships between the level set,the sub-level set,the relative interior,and the relative boundary of the sub-level set.


Dual Sensory Loss and learning disability is a historically neglected area of social work practice. This paper presents one element of a research study conducted with a health and social care provider in Northern Ireland. It explored staff experiences of assessing adults and children with a dual sensory loss and learning disability. Two sensory disability team managers, eight social workers and two rehabilitation officers were interviewed across sensory disability, learning disability and children with disability teams. Current levels of engagement and ways in which more inclusive services and practices could be developed were explored. Staff views indicate that there is minimal engagement between staff and service users with unique, complex needs. Staff use a range of tools, resources and skills in an attempt to promote inclusion and engagement. The paper concludes that to promote engagement staff need to develop their practice, making effective use of tools and resources. Staff skills and knowledge can be enhanced through training which is targeted, relevant and specific. There needs to be commitment to sharing good practice and cascading learning throughout teams. This will enable service users to have input into their own assessments which will form the cornerstone of all ongoing interventions.