Description of Reform: Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has provided a facility of filing of Advance Bill of Entry (Advance Import Declaration) and started imposing late charges for delayed filing of Bill of Entry There has been a sharp rise in the adoption of Advance Import Declaration. Earlier, the percentage of cases where Advanced Import Declaration (that are filed prior to arrival of vessel in the port) was only 10%. This year the adoption of Advance Import Declarations has seen a sharp increase as evidenced from ICEGATE system logs. Advance Import Declarations constituted 58.7% (8,663 BE) of the total import declarations (BE) examined in the first week of January, 2018. (ICEGATE system logs capture the time taken from entry inwards of the vessel, to issuance of Out Of Charge (OOC) order. Issuance of OOC order is the last step in the port / customs process, subsequent to which a consignment can proceed to Gate Out from the Terminal.)


Rehabilitation of sports related hamstring injuries is challenging as it requires safe and early return to sport. This is because hamstring injuries need time to recover and has high rate of re injury. In our case report, 21 ‑ year ‑ old female student, involved in sports activity (weight lifting), who was rehabilitated for left hamstring avulsion injury was briefed to report and elucidate the importance of hamstring injury treatment conservatively and to describe a rehabilitation program on athletes with clinical outcome. She was conservatively treated with K-Tape with therapeutic ultrasound, twice a week, once a day for three weeks duration. At the end of third of intervention- pain, muscle strength and range of motion was assessed. She had no impairment or functional limitations, including full range of pain ‑ free movement of left leg, pain 0/10 by VAS score. By the 4 th week, she started to perform sports specific drills. She was rehabilitated and set fit to play after 6 weeks from the date of injury. K-Tape with therapeutic ultrasound is effective in hamstring injuries. In this case study, rehabilitation program with an emphasis on K-Tape with therapeutic ultrasound is found to be effective in returning the weight lifter back to play.


In the framework of a random matrix description of chaotic quantum scattering the positions of $S$-matrix poles are given by complex eigenvalues ${Z}_{i}$ of an effective non-Hermitian random-matrix Hamiltonian. We put forward a conjecture on statistics of ${Z}_{i}$ for systems with broken time-reversal invariance and verify that it allows to reproduce statistical characteristics of Wigner time delays known from independent calculations. We analyze the ensuing two-point statistical measures as, e.g., spectral form factor and the number variance. In addition, we find the density of complex eigenvalues of real asymmetric matrices generalizing the recent result by Efetov [Phys. Rev. B. 56, 9630 (1997)].


Evaluation of the structural properties of 200-nm-thick Si-doped Al 0.49 Ga 0.51 N films, grown on nominally relaxed 1- m m-thick Al 0.62 Ga 0.38 N buffer layers on sapphire, revealed that increased Si doping promoted the relaxation of the compressively strained layers. The degree of strain relaxation R of the Al 0.49 Ga 0.51 N films, as determined by x-ray diffraction ~ XRD ! , increased from R 5 0.55 to R 5 0.94 with an increase in disilane injection from 1.25 nmol/min to 8.57 nmol/min. Transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that the edge threading dislocations ~ TDs ! in the Al 0.49 Ga 0.51 N layers were inclined, such that the redirected TD lines had a misfit dislocation component. The calculated strain relaxation due to the inclined TDs was in close agreement with the values determined from XRD. We propose that the TD line redirection was promoted by the Si-induced surface roughness. © 2003 American Institute of Physics. @ DOI: 10.1063/1.1595133 # Al x Ga 1 2 x N alloys are necessary for the fabrication of deep ultraviolet optoelectronic devices. However, growth of this alloy becomes more difficult with increasing x . In general, Al x Ga 1 2 x N films with x > 0.20 deposited directly on c -plane sapphire substrates exhibit threading dislocation ~ TD ! densi-ties in the 10 10 –10 11 cm 2 2 range, 1 in comparison to 10 8 –10 9 cm 2


Daniel Defoe,the author of Robinson Crusoe,and Aphra Behn,the author of Oroonoko,both present their work as a memoir,a personal account of what they have heard and seen.The former is an adventure story and the latter is a travel narrative.Both novels are notable for the exploration of slavery,race and gender.Hero in each is courageous,intellectual and high-minded.


The article deals with problems of using artistic literature in a foreign language teaching. The author strongly advocates the idea that literature plays a very important role at the English lessons and if teachers properly motivate their students, their work can be very useful and successful. Teaching of all four skills, reading, listening, writing and speaking, is emphasized and also some activities that can help teachers when working with literary texts are suggested.


Faculty at institutions of higher education are experiencing constant requests to increase teaching loads and class sizes while, at the same time, continuing to meet the demands for scholarship and service. The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) can serve as one way in which faculty can simultaneously focus on improving their teaching and their students' learning as well as meeting the rigorous demands for peer review and publication. The systematic approach of asking questions about one's teaching, designing and conducting appropriate research methodologies to investigate those questions, analyzing the results, and subjecting the entire process and findings to peer review elevates good teaching to appropriate scholarship worthy of recognition in the tenure and promotion processes of higher education. This essay examines definitions and the history of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. In addition, it focuses on how faculty members can find time for and get started with SoTL work. As faculty at an institution historically focused on teaching, we are interested in improving our teaching and, in turn, our students' learning. We are sometimes confronted with evidence that our students are not necessarily learning all that we intend for them to learn. Indeed, we often find that our students perform quite acceptably on exams, achieving good course grades, and yet somehow, we suspect that these students have not mastered the course material. This frustrating scenario is fairly commonplace and often leads to a feeling of helplessness and despair. After all, what can a faculty member do? We are expected, as faculty, to teach (often with heavy teaching loads and increasingly larger classes), to participate in service (both to our institution and to the community), and to continue to be scholars within our disciplines. Many faculty find it difficult to balance the in-depth teaching, service, and scholarship responsibilities, as they often seem unrelated and disjointed. And, with the exception of those in the field of education, most faculty receive graduate training in research in their disciplines, but little or no formal training in teaching. Typically, all of our graduate school training teaches us to be scholars and researchers. Yet, we often do not think to apply these same techniques to our teaching and to improving our students' learning in our classrooms. However, for a number of reasons, a growing number of faculty choose to do exactly this by participating in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). According to McKinney, "there are three rationales for SoTL: professionalism, pragmatism, and policy. Essentially, it is our professional obligation to be scholars in our disciplines and as educators. In addition, SoTL is practical and will help us and others (as it is made public) improve teaching and learning. Finally, SoTL can help us provide evidence for important discussions about policy decisions" (p13). By performing SoTL work, faculty are able


This paper presents numerical simulations of the transfer matrix of polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) in long optical fibers, wherein the average frequency dependence of this matrix is calculated conditioned on various given values of the differential group delay that is introduced between signal components in the two principal states of polarization (PSPs) and the second-order PMD parameter that characterizes frequency-dependent cross coupling between the PSPs. The results are then compared with four popular models of first- and second-order PMDs (F&SO-PMD), and it is found that none of them describes the average Jones matrix of F&SO-PMD with acceptable accuracy over the entire range of PMD parameters and optical bandwidth of interest. The differences between the various models and the simulation results are particularly large when the frequency-dependent cross coupling is large.


The appliance works according to the heat pump principal, and operates as a heating and/or cooling system, with integrated water heating. It consists of a compressor, a radiator acting as condenser, a boiler acting as evaporator, with a return into the compressor. The conduit between compressor and radiator contains a heat exchanger for water heating. The connection conduit between radiator (4) and boiler (5) contains an additional heat exchanger (9), to preheat the water which subsequently passes through the first heat exchanger (2).


The newly developed thermal-shunt approach for AlGaAs/GaAs microwave power heterojunction bipolar transistors is reviewed from its inception through thermal modeling to fabrication and performance evaluation. Its merits of providing low noise figure and generating high power density at microwave frequency are summarized.


This study examines the effects of online gossip propensity in social networking sites (SNSs). We posit that online gossip propensity affects SNS identification, which in turn determines normative pressure and SNS engagement. The ultimate outcome is electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) intention. We also explore the impact of two types of SNS communication channel, i.e. handheld (mobile devices and tablets) and traditional (desktop PCs and laptops) computing devices. The data were collected from a questionnaire survey with 400 general consumers. Using a scenario approach, we asked the respondents how they would react to a special discount campaign for a popular beer brand ad posted on an SNS. Our structural equation modelling results indicate that online gossip propensity is indeed a significant driver of SNS identification. All hypothesised paths are supported, except the one from normative pressure to eWOM intention. Furthermore, SNS communication channels had a clear impact, since the latent means are greater for most of the constructs in the handheld computing device group than in the traditional computing device group.


Digital cellular standards have emerged over the last 20 years. Today, 2G systems like GSM/EDGE are providing worldwide coverage for voice and basic data services. The increasing demand for true-mobile users for high-speed data services has forced the development of 3G toward HSPA. The next step in this evolution is the adoption of OFDM for cellular application in systems like WiMAX and LTE. The user equipment should be compatible to all standards from 2G up to 4G in order to provide the best possible experience to the end user. Therefore, the integration of RF transceivers has to cope with multiple frequency bands, multiple modulation schemes as well as MIMO techniques.


The inclusion of periodic baffles ino a tube coupled with fluid oscillation can result in a range of fluid mechanics where excellent fluid mixing can be achieved. This configuration can give high heat and mass transfer in both batch and continuous modes of operation. Potential applications include plus flow mixers, reactors, bioreactors, filtration units and crystallizers


In this paper, we employ multiple wireless-powered user devices as wireless relays to assist information transmission from a multi-antenna access point to a single-antenna receiver. To improve energy efficiency, we design a hybrid relaying communication strategy in which wireless relays are allowed to operate in either the passive mode via backscatter communications or the active mode via RF communications, depending on their channel conditions and energy states. We aim to maximize the overall SNR by jointly optimizing the access point's beamforming strategy as well as individual relays' radio modes and operating parameters. Due to the non-convex and combinatorial structure of the SNR maximization problem, we develop a deep reinforcement learning approach that adapts the beamforming and relaying strategies dynamically. In particular, we propose a novel optimization-driven hierarchical deep deterministic policy gradient (H-DDPG) approach that integrates the model-based optimization into the framework of conventional DDPG approach. It decomposes the discrete relay mode selection into the outer-loop by using deep Q-network (DQN) algorithm and then optimizes the continuous beamforming and relays' operating parameters by using the inner-loop DDPG algorithm. Simulation results reveal that the H-DDPG is robust to the hyper parameters and can speed up the learning process compared to the conventional DDPG approach.


NASA's Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission launched in December 2018. From its perch aboard the International Space Station, it uses lasers to create detailed 3D maps of Earth's forests and topography.


Interfacial or superficial tension plays an important role in the modeling and design of extraction, cleaning, or emulsification processes. For instance, in the processes of extraction and cleaning, the main factors that determine the efficiency of the mass transference are the number of interactions between the molecules in the interface and the drop size, which is strongly dependent on the interfacial tension between two phases, which reflects the cohesion and interaction of their forces [1]. These forces are affected by the pressure and temperature of the system, decreasing, in this way, the value of the abovementioned tension. High-pressure interfacial and surface-tension phenomena govern the migration and recovery of oil and gas from hydrocarbon reservoirs. The phenomena are of particular relevance to phase separation and mass transfer in light hydrocarbon fractionation plants [2].


OBJECTIVE To inspect on the feasibility of bacterial endotoxins test(BET)for Baobijia and to test.METHODS BET of Chinese Requirements for Biologics version 2000.RESULTS Baobijia could be tested by tachypleus amebocyte lysate(TAL)with the sentivity of 0.25EU·mL -1 .CONCLUSION Four batches of Baobijia met the requirements by test.


In the first part of the work are established imbedding theorems pertaining to arbitrary classes of functions of a single variable (L), L(L), Hpω(δ) and Lvlnβ(1 + L). The second part contains estimates for best approximations (moduli of continuity) in different metrics. It is shown that in certain cases these estimates cannot be strengthened. Bibliography: 14 titles.


CBIR procedure is winding up progressively significant in therapeutic field so as to store, oversee, and recover picture information dependent on client question. Looking is finished by methods for coordinating the picture highlights, for example, surface, shape or various mixes of them. Surface highlights assume a significant job in PC vision, picture preparing and design acknowledgment. In this paper we present a novel technique for utilizing SVM (Support Vector machine) classifier pursued by KNN (K-closest neighbor) for CBIR utilizing surface and shape highlight. We propose a vigorous recovery utilizing a regulated classifier which focuses on extricated highlights. Dim level cooccurance network calculation is executed to separate the surface highlights from pictures. The element enhancement is done on the removed highlights to choose best highlights out of it to prepare the classifier. The characterization is performed on the dataset and it is grouped into three classifications, for example, ordinary, considerate and dangerous. The question picture is ordered by the classifier to a specific class and the important pictures are recovered from the database. To improve exactness to figure the accuracy worth and review in important picture. Besides no of tissues arrange capacity in database to get significant picture in various component extraction techniques.


Conceptual development in the field of Educational Technology provides crucial theoretical grounding for ongoing research and practice. This essay draws from theoretical developments both within and external to the field of Educational Technology to articulate a systems definition of Educational Technology in Society. A systems definition of Educational Technology in Society is characterized as a goal oriented problem-solving approach utilizing tools, techniques, theories, and methods from multiple knowledge domains to: (1) design, develop, and evaluate, human and mechanical resources efficiently and effectively in order to facilitate and leverage all aspects of learning, and (2) guide change agency and transformation of educational systems and practices in order to contribute to influencing change in society. This paper offers valuable theoretical grounding to help guide researchers and leaders in the field.


Increasing stocks of public infrastructure and the serious deterioration of infrastructure systems in many countries present great financial, safety, technical and operational challenges to government organisations responsible for their development and management. This paper proposes a performance-based life-cycle cost management model for reinforced concrete bridge structures with regard to chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion. The model comprises four aspects: a chloride-induced corrosion deterioration model; performance-based management of concrete structures; the cost-effectiveness of management actions measured by the performance improvement per unit of money spent; a life-cycle cost model, which includes construction cost, inspection cost, maintenance cost, repair cost and failure cost. Two examples of chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion are provided to demonstrate the use of the proposed performance-based management strategy.


Acute psychosocial stress is thought to induce neuroendocrine response by hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis(HPAA) and sympathetic-adrenal medulla axis separately.Salivary cortisol is a stable indicator of HPAA activity response to acute psychosocial stress.This article focuses on studies which have employed the Trier Social Stress Test(TSST) or its modified version for stimulation of HPAA and discusses the role of various mediators(e.g.,demographic factors,biological factors,and training) of the acute specificity stress response to psychosocial stress.Authors proposed that neuroendocrine responses to acute psychosocial stress await longitudinal studies.


Asbestos legislation is finally being debated in the Senate, but it still faces many hurdles before a possible final vote. The bill, the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2005, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee last May. It would remove asbestos lawsuits from the courts and create a $140 billion trust fund financed by defendant companies and their insurers to compensate asbestos victims. Many Democrats and some Republicans say the trust fund is not nearly large enough to compensate all the victims and taxpayers will end up paying much of the cost. To bolster their case, on Feb. 8 opponents of the bill released an analysis by the Senate Budget Committee that says the fund will likely face a $150 billion shortfall. The White House has expressed lukewarm support for the bill. In a statement, the Office of Management & Budget said, "Despite serious concerns over certain provisions," 0MB "looks forward to working with ...


In an earlier article in Seminars in Dialysis (9:276–281, 1996), the author described the invention of clinical hemodialysis for acute renal failure and its initially equivocal reception by the emerging specialty of nephrology in the United States. A similar story of blunted enthusiasm played out following the invention of the Quinton–Scribner shunt (whose idea "came in the night"), which allowed maintenance treatment for chronic renal failure. Few centers at first could match Belding Scribner's early successes, and some physiology‐oriented university nephrologists envisioned how routine dialysis might swamp other activities. Nonetheless, increasingly complex and successful inventions appeared and prevailed: the chronic dialysis unit, the national dialysis chain. A unique federal entitlement program fostered the spread of maintenance dialysis, but so did the emergence of disposable off‐the‐shelf supplies and many new nephrologists trained in academia but seeking positions in practice. Indeed, the spread of end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) care transformed American nephrology. The essay concludes by considering what nephrologists of the ESRD era share with their patients.


This paper interprets Louise Erdrich's novel Tracks in light of Louis Owens' frontier theory. According to Owens, the concept of the frontier enco


The application of computer network in the field of higher education has greatly promoted the development of education. However, as the main body of professional teaching activities, the comprehensive quality of teachers, especially the professional development planning, has been difficult to guarantee the needs of higher education. Based on this, this paper first analyzes the professional development planning of university teachers on account of computer network. Secondly, it studies the quality and ability structure and professional development of university teachers under the computer network, and finally gives the professional development path of university teachers under the computer network.


Mechanical frictions phenomena, related to the wear and the abrasion of tyres, brakes, clutch, and road surface, are responsible for significant particle emissions of the non-exhaust road vehicles which are considered as vectors of various toxic, carcinogens or mutagen substances. Their rate is high and the particles represent, today, major impacts on public health and on the environment. Physical characteristics of the non-exhaust road transport and surface emissions could be analyzed in a laboratory situation under controlled condition if suitable deceleration profiles and sampling systems are developed having the ability to increase the non-exhaust emissions. The aim of this paper is to develop the deceleration profiles, thus increasing the production rate of particles during urban, suburban, and highway driving conditions, allowing their identification and analysis. Experiments have been performed confirming the reliability of the developed braking profiles. A load effect, a large clustering, and the presence of isolated clusters and fibers have been observed. Size analysis indicated a high production of the particles in the range of [7 nm, 4 ¼m]. Further experiments and processing of data is necessary to confirm identification and quantification of the non-exhaust emissions taking into account atmospheric and turbulence features and the traffic.


Margaret and Ray retired to a new house at Western Port, Victoria. They walked daily, often with friends, and took an active part in community life. They ate a healthy diet, were non‐smokers, and kept regular hours. Then their pleasant social lifestyle ended abruptly.


More than twenty species of rodents have been listed from the Blue Ash local fauna of South Dakota in preliminary surveys, but only four species have been formally identified and described. Species of rodents from the families Eutypomyidae, Eomyidae, and Heliscomyidae are described here. There are one species of eutypomyid, Eutypomys wilsoni (new species); three species of eomyids, Paradjidaumo sp., Leptodontomys sp. cf. L. douglassi, and Zophoapeomys indicus (new genus and species); and two heliscomyids, Heliscomys medius (new species) and Heliscomys sp. An additional specimen of the problematical rodent Zetamys sp. is also cited. This increases the number of described taxa from the Blue Ash fauna to seven. There appears to be some ambiguity as to the age of the fauna, latest Whitneyan or earliest Arikareean. Unfortunately, the species described here (and previously) are unique to this fauna and cannot be used to correlate with other North American faunas to determine the exact biostratigraphic age.


China's utilization of sintering waste heat recovery still has a long way to go, comparing to Japan and other advanced countries. It is very important to make standards in the field of sintering waste heat recovery and give more support by taking suitable economic policies. This paper analyzes the domestic sintering heat recovery situation and methods of reusing, and it is proposed that power generation using waste heat recovery should be a future development direction.


This article argues that the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan should be understood as a 'household', a structure that gave powerful significance to binary gendered ideologies at every level of city organisation. Male and female roles were configured around 'public' and 'domestic' spheres, but these concepts were perceived in a broader and more flexible way than traditional public/private dichotomies suggest and might helpfully be understood in political terms as distinguishing between exterior/foreign and interior/domestic realms. Building on understandings of parallelism and complementarity, the article demonstrates that gendered pairings, based on distinctive masculine/public and feminine/domestic spheres, mirrored the household not only in social, economic and political contexts, but also in religious settings, providing space for both male and female power at every level of urban life. Just as a married couple provided the basis to a successful and productive home, so the parallel responsibilities of men and women, structured according to concepts of 'household' and reflected throughout the institutions and activities of the city, were believed to form the foundations of a thriving Aztec city.


Background The ASAS-HI is a new instrument based in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health to assess the impact of axSpA; ASAS-HI has been validated in Mexican patients. Objectives To investigate the status of health in Mexican patients with axSpA using the ASAS-HI Methods This is multicenter, cross-sectional study of 377/423 patients with axSpA (ASAS criteria) referred by 64 rheumatologists with private or institutional practice across the country in a period of six months. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected at each site and analysed centrally. Results The ASAS imaging arm were fulfilled 87.5% and the clinical by 61.8%; HLA-B27 was positive in 80.1%; 71.6% were males; 51.9% received bDMARDs. Mean ages at onset and diagnoses were 25.8 (9.9) and 32.8 (11.7) years; median age was 41.6 (13.7) years. The correlation between ASAS-HI and BASDAI, BASFI, and EQ-5D was significant. ASAS-HI mean score was 6.4 (4.2); the cut off was six; values below six meant good health, which corresponded to 203 (53.84%) patients. Univariate analysis disclosed significant differences between groups in variables that were significant in the regression models (see below) and in health care coverage, enthesitis, joint counting, glucocorticoids, HLA-B27, sacroiliitis, BASMI, and ASDAS. In the multivariate analysis, two models were associated ASAS-HI: 1) sex, education, comorbidities, joint surgery, and physician global assessment; 2) BASDAI, BASFI, and EQ-5D Conclusions ASAS-HI cut off of six identified good health in 46.15% of patients with axSpA. ASAS-HI correlated with other measures of disease activity, functioning, and quality of life. In multivariate analysis, ASAS-HI associated with those measures as we all as with demographic and clinical variables. References [1] Kiltz U, van der Heijde D, Cieza A, Boonen A, Stucki G, Ustun B, et al. Developing and validating an index for measuring health in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2011;50(5):894–8. [2] Kiltz U, van der Heijde D, Boonen A, Bautista-Molano W, Burgos-Vargas R, Chiowchanwisawakit P, et al. Measuring impairments of functioning and health in patients with axial spondyloarthritis by using the ASAS Health Index and the Environmental Item Set: translation and cross-cultural adaptation into 15 languages. RMD Open. 2016;2(2):e000311. Acknowledgements We acknowledge 64 rheumatologists (grupo sacroiliacos) all over the country that participated in the study Disclosure of Interest None declared


Induction heating offers the possibility to shorten considerably the nitriding time, from 10 h and more to less than 10 min. The inductive nitrided case microstructure consists of a compound layer (δ-TiN and e-T 2 N-nitride in pure titanium and δ-TiN in titanium alloys) and a diffusion layer of nitrogen stabilized α-titanium, as found with other nitriding processes. In aluminum alloyed titanium the compound layer and the diffusion layer are separated by an intermediate layer of Tι 3 Al or Ti 2 AlN. The case microstructure with a hardness up to 2700 HV 0.02 improves the wear resistance in those tribological systems in which the material behavior can be described with the hardness. The electrochemical behavior is not affected by nitriding. The nitrided microstructures are thermically stable.


L. braziliensis is the main etiological agent of American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, a disease that deserves further attention due to the high detection rate and ability to produce deformities. The neutrophil is considered the first line of defense against infectious agents or foreign substances and their rapid recruitment into tissues is critical for the innate immune system. In a murine model of infection with L. braziliensis, we showed a constant recruitment of neutrophils to the site of infection. Based on this finding, we hypothesized that neutrophil may a play an important role during the initial stages of L. braziliensis infection. Experiments were conducted used thyoglycolate-recruited and bone marrow-derived neutrophils. We initially observed that neutrophils are readily infected by fresh serum-opsonized parasites. Neutrophil upon L. braziliensis interaction, neutrophil became activated, increasing the expression of CD18 and decreasing the expression of CD62L. This activation led to the production of superoxide, neutrophil elastase secretion and release of TNF-a. Neutrophil infection with L. braziliensis did not prevented neutrophil apoptosis or destruction of internalized parasites. Using a neutrophil depleting antibody, we detected a significant increase in parasites numbers in neutrophil-depleted mice. In parallel, the contact of neutrophils with L. braziliensis led to secretion of chemokines, able to induce the recruitment of dendritic cells. Therefore, we can conclude that neutrophils play an important role in combating parasite during initial infection by L. braziliensis


My area of research is in an interdisciplinary field called Computational Topology. I work on developing or improving heuristic topological algorithms and construct triangu-lations of " interesting " spaces which may stump these algorithms. More generally, I am interested in studying low-dimensional topology in the piecewise linear (PL) setting. I am a doctoral student working under the supervision of Dr. Frank Lutz at the Techni-sche Universität Berlin in Germany. In my doctoral thesis I describe the construction of some triangulated manifolds we built by hand. We applied heuristic programs to compute certain topological properties of these simplicial complexes to verify that our construction is correct. In doing so we exposed flaws in existing strategies and made changes to improve the computational accuracy and/or speed of these programs. We begin with the construction of triangulations of the Akbulut–Kirby spheres [15]. This infinite series of triangulations of the topological 4-dimensional sphere is based on a handlebody construction via finitely presented groups, that is, their fundamental groups have nontrivial presentations of the trivial group x, y | xyx = yxy, x r = y r−1 with r ≥ 3. Akbulut [1] showed that these spheres are diffeomorphic to the standard 4-sphere S 4. We aim to show explicitly that our triangulations are PL homeomorphic (recall that DIFF=PL in dimension 4) to a triangulation of the standard 4-sphere using computational topological tools like the random discrete Morse algorithm [5] and the bistellar simplification client in polymake [8]. So far we have shown that our triangulation for r = 3 is indeed PL homeomorphic to the boundary of a 5-simplex. We are making further improvements to the bistellar simplification client to recognize our triangulated spheres for r > 3. Furthermore , our " complicated " triangulations have also been used to test and improve the (co-)reduction heuristics in the persistent homology package Perseus [13] and the sphere recognition heuristics in [12]. Figure 1: Our blueprints for constructing: (left) the Akbulut–Kirby sphere for r = 5; and (right) Mazur's 4-manifold. We have also constructed a triangulation of Mazur's 4-manifold using the techniques developed for building the Akbulut–Kirby spheres. Mazur's 4-manifold M is a contractible


The structure consists of centrosymmetric {(C 9 H 18 NO) + -[(C 6 F 5 ) 2 PO 2 ] - } 2 units linked by N-H...O hydrogen bonds to form 12-membered [H-N-H...O-P-O...H-N-H...O-P-O...] rings.


The Reader's Digest, March 1979, contains an article entitled "Everything Begins with a Pencil," with the tag-line, "Seven inches of wood and graphite: it may be the most underrated intellectual tool man has ever devised." According to the article, "Some 2.5 billion pencils (enough to circle the world 11 times at the equator) are manufactured and sold annually in the United States." It has been said that if the pencil were to disappear suddenly, the world of scholarship, science, industry, business, and art would come to a grinding halt. The slate and stylus is for the blind as the pencil is for the sighted. One of the first tools of learning put into the hand of a sighted child is a pencil. Formerly, one of the first tools that was put into the hands of a blind child was the slate and stylus. I know, because Iwas a blind child and my classmates were blind children. Most of the literate blind of the present come from this era. Today, in our traditional schools for the blind much of the teaching is by rote (and the recorded word), which may be called the "story-hour method;" in the mainstream, it is "sit and absorb." When and if the writing of braille is introduced, it is by the cumbersome braillewriter which, like its inkprint counterpart, the typewriter, is essentially non-portable. The slate and stylUS,' like the pencil, can be slipped into a pocket to be used easily and unobtrusively whenever and wherever the need arises: taking notes in a class or meeting, noting telephone numbers and addresses, and for everyday jottings. Imagine lugging a typewriter about, whipping it out of its case, and finding a flat surface on which to set it, merely to record a telephone number. The sighted world uses the pencil as a primary tool, the typewriter as a supplement. In like manner, the slate and stylus is the primary tool for the blind;lthe braillewriter is the supplement. Denying the blind child the slate and stylus is tantamount to denying the sighted child the pencil. Nearly every sighted person owns and a carries a multitude of pencils, but few blind people own a slate and stylus. They do not possess, nor can they use, the basic tools of intellectual life. It is inconceivable that many blind students of today are permitted to drift through college without this skill. (Recently, I met a blind college student who had been denied


Background: Employability skills and self-efficacy among students in the university can be improved by providing them with the necessary resources and support. This includes providing students with access to career and employability services, such as career counseling, job search assistance, and resume writing services.
Aim: This study was designed to investigate the employability skills and self-efficacy of students at Biliran Province State University.
Method: The study used a survey questionnaire to collect data from a sample of 100 students from different colleges within the University.
Findings: Results revealed that the students had low to moderate employability skills and self-efficacy. The results also showed that there were significant differences in employability skills and self-efficacy among students in different colleges at the University. The discussion of the results highlighted the importance of developing interventions to improve the employability skills and self-efficacy of students. The study concluded that the employability skills and self-efficacy of students at Biliran Province State University needed to be improved. Recommendations included providing training and workshops to help students develop their employability skills and self-efficacy.


This article proposes a greater emphasis upon the intellectual history of political studies in the UK. The limitations of conventional understandings of the disciplinary past are considered in relation to the 1950s and 1960s. The author seeks to challenge contemporary views of this period in two respects. First, he shows how the key institutions of the emergent discipline were formed for highly contingent reasons, and how they were underpinned by a disciplinary ethos that was inherited from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Second, he draws attention to an important, and neglected, shift in disciplinary self-understanding in the late 1950s and 1960s, as figures like W. J. M. Mackenzie blended aspects of the dominant approach to political inquiry with newer ideas, thus generating an influential conception of a distinctively British political science.


The proliferation of affordable communication technology, combined with the temporo-spatial reach of social media, enables unprecedented collaboration opportunities and affinity associations between users of such technologies. Schools and universities, suggest Walker and White (2013, p. 1), "feel pressure to invest in technology if and when they can afford it", but the educational value of certain implementations is very much an ongoing debate. One concern involves an apparent conflict between formal and informal styles of learning, to which we can add an additional anxiety about collective vs. individual progress. In the English classroom, these questions are useful guides for developing course materials that incorporate specific technologies, especially those designed for purposes extrinsic to formal education. Drawing on our classroom experiences with South Korean university students, this paper will focus on personalization of learning through the use of Pinterest, an image sharing website and application. We refer to what follows as a pilot study to suggest that its structure and content should not be considered fixed for future use. Instead, we developed this with little evidential insight as to how it would work in the classroom, with the intention of adapting the project for future iterations after receiving student feedback. Based on the experience of delivering the lessons to six unique peer groups over three semesters, we conclude that several aspects of the project can be preserved, and are indeed quite successful for stimulating student interest, encouraging original and diverse end products, and demonstrating the acquisition of new vocabulary. These include thematic image searching and organizing, curation of images for a virtual exhibition and an oral-visual presentation based on the results of exploring images with Pinterest. Nevertheless, we recommend some modifications to the project for certain contexts, particularly related to its appropriateness for particular student groups, ability levels or class types.


Objective Interferon-β (IFN-β) reduces relapse rates in multiple sclerosis; however clinical response varies between subjects. Can MRI be reliably used to identify poor responders early? Methods Data from studies of INF-β where early MRI data was given and subjects were classified as good or poor responders using clinical outcomes were used, and overall ORs for poor treatment response according to MRI findings calculated. Results 1388 papers were screened. seven papers and one abstract met the inclusion criteria, however two were later excluded as insufficiently detailed MRI data was given. The overall OR of poor treatment response in subjects with ≥2 new T2-weighted lesions at 1 year was 9.86 (95% CI 2.33 to 41.70). The OR of poor treatment response in those with ≥1 gad enhancing lesion was 3.34 (95% CI 1.36 to 8.22) and in those with ≥2 gad enhancing lesions 5.46 (95% CI 2.48 to 28.03). Between-study heterogeneity was lower when looking at gad-enhancing lesions. In those with ≥1 new T2 lesion the overall OR for relapses or disease progression was not significantly increased at 2.69 (95% CI 0.72 to 10.04). Conclusions MRI after starting treatment provides important information about the likelihood of treatment failure. The presence of gad-enhancing lesions seems to provide more reliable information than new T2 weighted lesions. These findings should be incorporated into clinical practice, and second line therapy should be considered in patients with new MRI changes.


In this paper we report nine polysiloxanes with azobenzene or azoxybenzene mesogens in the side chains. Polysiloxanes Ⅲa-f were synthesized by reacting poly (3-chlorocarbonylpropyl)methyl-siloxane-co-dimethylsiloxane with 4-(4'-substituted phenylazo)phenol or 3-methyl-4 (4'-substituted phenylazo)phenol in 74%-81% yields. By the oxidation of Ⅲa-c,polysiloxanes Ⅲa-c were further prepared. The chemical structures of these polysiloxanes obtained were confirmed by IR,1H NMR and elemental analysis. Their phase behavior were investigated using differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and polarizing microscope. Six of them, Ⅲa-c and Ⅲa-c,show liquid crystalline properties.


Sexual coercion in marriage is not widely talked about in Vietnam. Against this background, the present study aimed to describe how and why non‐consensual sex in marital settings occurs in a rural community in Vietnam. Data were collected from 81 married men and women through ethnographic fieldwork, in‐depth interviews and focus group discussions. Findings revealed that silence and lack of resistance on the part of women in sex are interpreted as consent, and cultural values often encourage women to accept coercion 'voluntarily'. Lack of information on, and public dialogue about, sexuality make it difficult for sexually inexperienced people to gain knowledge before commencing sexual relationships and often lead to traumatic first experiences. These factors combine to make women develop negative attitudes toward sex or to deny sex altogether. To better understand sexual coercion within marriage, we should look not only at physical acts but also at cultural and gendered perceptions and practices in a specific setting. Findings highlight the need for a comprehensive response to tackling sexual coercion within marriage.


Abstract The effects of housing density on endocrine organ weights and on retention of the parasite Microphallus pygmaeus by male and female mice arc described. A reduction in gonadal function with increasing housing density was found in each sex. Male mice showed clear evidence of greater adrenocortical activity at higher densities but this was not as clearly defined in females. Animals of both sexes showed a decline in relative weights of both thymus and spleen at the highest densities. The number of parasites recovered, a standard time interval after introduction by stomach tube, was increased significantly in both males and females housed at higher densities. The results suggest that a progressive increase in population density in both male and female mice stimulates pituitary-adrenocortical activity and that there is concomitant suppression of gonadal function. The change in susceptibility to the parasites may also be a direct or indirect consequence of the change in pituitary-adrenocortical activity, on immunological responses or intestinal physiology, such as an increase in the duration of exposure to adverse pH values.


Financial analysis is a systematic set of techniques and tools financial management uses to explore, define, optimize, and evaluate decisions. The financial position and reliance on economic statements of firms are also seen as crucial components of financial analysis, which is a significant factor in making business decisions about the company's future development. ERP and innovative software systems are being developed to support business processes in the execution of all company activities, and more and more managers rely on automatically generated and visualized data. And how are software engineers being trained to be familiar with financial analytics? This paper presents a training methodology for giving an interdisciplinary course for training software engineers to develop programming models for financial software, specifically addressing financial analysis. Educational authoring software that supports training in the discipline of "Software Systems for Business Modeling" is discussed. Results of an anonymous survey of trainees on the effectiveness and efficiency of using the utility are presented.


This paper presents the results of experimental research on the dynamic behavior of a roller mill. It is established experimentally that vibration of the roller mill is related to powder properties. However, its characteristic is not sufficiently clarified at present. Through experimental analysis, it is found that vibration of the mill is a kind of stick-slip motion, and the frequency of vibration is measured to be the same as the 1st-order natural frequency of a torsional driving system. Moreover, it is indicated that the powder has a negative-damping property relative to velocity.


Bacillus species producing alkaline proteases were isolated from different ecological regions of Pakistan yielding 68 Bacillus isolates. Isolates were screened for alkaline protease production and Bacillus sp. CAMB No. 10358 showed the best enzyme activity of 161.83 U/ml in the shake flask, when 2% soybean meal, 1% skim milk, 0.3% NaCl, 0.1% CaCl 2 , and 1% Na 2 CO 3 was used as basal medium. The isolates were treated with MNNG (N-methyl- N / -nitro-N-nitroso guanidine) and two mutant M-2 and M-7 were observed to be stable. Mutants were then assessed to obtain maximum yield and activity of alkaline proteases by optimization of different parameters. The optimum temperature, pH, and fermentation period were found to be 30°C, 10, and 48 hours respectively. Purify the alkaline protease by ammonium sulphate precipitation followed by cation ion exchange chromatography using CM-Cellulose. The molecular weight of the purified alkaline protease was found to be 28 KDa by SDS-PAGE. The protease activity of the mutants was observed to be 522.5 U/ml and 577.5 U/ml respectively. The protease activity of mutants was increased by 2.74 folds when treated with the MNNG.


Abstract In this paper we consider open-loop Nash equilibria of the linear-quadratic (LQ) differential game. We present both necessary and sufficient conditions for existence of a unique solution for the finite-planning horizon case, and show that there exist situations where the set of associated Riccati differential equations has no solution, whereas the problem does have an equilibrium. The pursued analyses allows a simple study of convergence of the equilibrium strategy if the planning horizon expands. Conditions are given under which this strategy converges. A detailed study of the infinite planning horizon case is given. In particular we show that, in general, this problem has no unique equilibrium. Furthermore, we show that the limit of the above mentioned converged strategy may not be an equilibrium for the infinite planning horizon problem. Particular attention is paid to computational aspects and the scalar case.


This article discusses the pertinence of a specific line of research about the uses of and conflicts in coastal environments, since research lines dealing with traditional urban and rural cuts could have the necessary potential to accomplish interdisciplinary research about coastal areas. Academic reasons for the creation of the line, as well as arguments in favor of its specificity as a territorial analysis cut, are presented here. The complexity and the "novelty" of some coastal area phenomena, as scientific objects, don't allow us to see them as particular cases of the conventional urban and rural issue. Based on examples taken from a round table on the theme, conflict is championed as a category capable of organizing coastal interdisciplinary research. The research about conflicts invokes all the natural and social dynamics necessary for its equation, with the advantage of allowing for more direct application of discoveries to the management process. Key-words: coastal area, research, interdisciplinarity, conflicts, territories.


A medical humanities (MH) module has been conducted for first year students at KIST Medical College, Lalitpur, Nepal for the last four years. The students are divided into small groups and case scenarios, role-plays, paintings, and activities are used to explore MH. The module for the fourth batch of students was conducted from December 2011 to March 2012. In this article the authors provide a brief overview of the MH module, Sparshanam and the learning objectives of different sessions. They provide transcripts of some of the role plays done during the module. The role plays were conducted in Nepali with the help and guidance of the facilitators and the written transcripts in English language were provided by different student groups.


Jenunoileal atresia is a congenital defect that causes small bowel obstruction in newborns. They are classified into 5 types and simple abdominal x-ray can aid in the diagnosis and with prompt resuscitation and surgery provides positive outcome. We present a 5-day-old newborn male baby was presented with features of intestinal obstruction since birth. Diagnosis of atresia of the small bowel was made through plain abdominal x-ray and was successfully operated. During the recovery, the baby developed surgical site infection which was managed promptly.


This paper proposes a conceptual framework to understand the influence of word-ofmouth communications in the higher education context. Research to date on student behaviour is viewed primarily through effects of marketing activities or satisfaction and post-purchase behaviour. In this conceptualisation, we invoke insights through the dualprocess of communication persuasion. Through this lens, communications are suggested to have two major impacts on student choice behaviour: message relevance and source credibility. The paper summarises the extant literature related to source types, including their persuasive characteristics, and students' selection criteria as delivered in word-of-mouth messages. We conclude with suggestions for future research and the identification of the key questions in terms of source types and selection criteria.


Autophagy is a fundamental catabolic recycling process of the cell and plays an essential role in brain physiology and pathology. We can differentiate three major autophagy types that all degrade there cargo via the endo-lysosomal system; chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), microautophagy, and macroautophagy. CMA and microautophagy use cytosolic chaperone proteins to transport proteins directly to lysosomes or endosomes respectively. CMA requires the LAMP2A receptor on lysosomes for substrate binding, while microautophagy transfers the cargo by invagination of lysosomal and endosomal membranes. In contrast, macroautophagy (here after called autophagy) consists in the formation of an autophagic membrane that engulfs cytoplasmic material that than fuses with the lysosome to degrade the content. In this Research Topic, we bring together, a collection of articles that highlight the role of autophagy in the brain with particular view on neurons, neuroglia and synaptic compartments, dysregulation of autophagy in neurodegeneration, methods to detect, analyze and quantify autophagy as well as points of therapeutic opportunities in neurodegenerative disease. In neurons, autophagy presents cell specific adaptations. Neurons are highly polarized post-mitotic cells that are particularly sensitive to oxidative stress and the accumulation of dysfunctional and toxic proteins. Moreover, presynaptic compartments can lay sometimes fare away from the soma, have limited local translation mechanisms and these compartments host the areas where synaptic vesicles fuse with the plasma membrane to release neurotransmitter for communication with post synaptic site. The work from Decet and Verstreken summaries our current understanding of OPEN ACCESS


A new concept of network protection is introduced in this paper, which is to realize protection coordination by virtue of network communication to achieve the purpose of improving speed and selectivity of distribution system protection and solving the complicated problems of protection coordination among short-distance and multi-cascade switches. The network protection is divided into two types according to communication mode. One is based on master-slave communication network and another is based on peer-to-peer communication network. Principle and realization of the two types are illuminated respectively in the paper, and also their features, advantages, limitation and application. (9 pages)


The article discusses the features and tools of sculpture, which can be used to develop new methods and techniques applicable for preschool children, as well as specifics of cognitive development and creative abilities of preschoolers in the process of acquisition of symbolic means for solving creative tasks with "high uncertainty factor". These means are the "author's symbol" and the "visual model" in the art of sculpting. The experiment showed that the implementation of symbolic means to solve tasks in expressive modeling contributes to the development of creative abilities of children, formation of the emotional reflection, and the enrichment of creative product.


This paper describes the minimum description length principle in maximum likelihood estimate(MLE) in lossy data compression. In the lossless case the problem of optimal compression is theoretically equivalent to finding a probability distributions and minimizes the code-lengths.


A contour shape matching based pixel motion estimation is proposed. The pixel motion information is very useful to compensate the motion artifact generated at the specific gray level contours in the moving image for subfield gray-scale display devices. In this motion estimation method, the gray level boundary contours are extracted from the input image. Then using contour shape matching, the most similar contour in next frame is found, and the contour is divided into segment unit. The pixel motion vector is estimated from the displacement of the each segment in the contour by segment matching. From this method, more precise motion vector can be estimated and this method is more robust to image motion with rotation or from illumination variations.


Mixed-method models are increasingly adopted in the social sciences (Lincoln, 2010). In this paper, we take a methodological stance by discussing the benefits of combining qualitative research (in-depth interviews, participant observations and case studies) with agent-based computer simulation in order to analyse social networks, in cases in which detailed micro-behavioural information is required and/or with hidden and sensitive populations.
The paper is part of a larger research project on the recent rise of a highly controversial Internet movement advocating anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa ("pro-ana" and "pro-mia", in web jargon), in the form of websites, blogs and forums. In an effort to gain insight into the social determinants of this subculture, their implications for the health and nutrition of participants, and possible policy responses, we are conducting a comprehensive comparison of the online and offline personal networks of individuals with eating disorders.
The data in which we are interested allows limited use of quantitative methods. Large-scale surveys, longitudinal studies, or even mapping of complete networks can hardly be conducted with a relatively small, partly hidden, and very vulnerable population. To overcome these constraints, we have devised a general analytical framework relying heavily on qualitative research carried out on a smaller, purposive (i.e. not statistically representative) sample of subjects. The method consists of using this type of empirical data to inform agent-based computer simulation (Tubaro & Casilli, 2010). While qualitative analysis and models have often been considered as mutually exclusive, we claim that bringing together their respective strengths can contribute to a better understanding of social phenomena that would be difficult to study otherwise - notably the pro ana-mia lifestyle and computer mediated communication in the related "cloaked" websites (Daniels, 2009).
In particular, we illustrate how qualitative research can provide present-day agent-based models with a sound and proper insight as to the behaviour and motivations of social actors –an insight that quantitative data do not always provide, at least at micro level and for hidden and sensitive populations. Conversely, agent-based modelling and simulation offer valuable tools for: a) performing "thought experiments" to check the consistency of social scientists' theoretical frameworks and to precisely define their domains of applicability; b) replicating and generalizing findings; c) providing a basis for cross-disciplinary validation of results.
We detail the epistemic and methodological structure that allows articulation between qualitative analysis and agent-based modelling to occur, insisting on the possibility for qualitative data to intervene at different stages of the modelling process and on the need for a two-way feedback, from data to model and from model to data.
Finally, we conclude with a discussion of potential challenges, both in relation to our particular research project (with its twofold online/offline perspective and its specific target population) and from a more general methodological viewpoint


In order to achieve accurate attitude measurement and smooth navigation controlling of unmanned surface vehicle (USV), a visual horizon tracking method based on Kalman filter has been proposed. Firstly, the approximate parameters of the visual horizon are estimated according to the predictive camera attitude, and the candidate image pixels are obtained in a small region of interest around the predicted horizon location. Then, within the candidate image pixels, the candidate line segments are determined by repeated interior points selecting and least squares fitting, and the final visual horizon is picked out according to geometric properties of the candidate line segments. Lastly, the optimal prediction of the camera attitude is updated by Kalman filter. As the horizon detection is only performed in a local region, compared with traditional horizon detection method, the proposed method takes a short time and performs robust to the false alarms. To validate the performance of our method, an experiment is performed based on the frames captured by the camera which is fixed on an USV. The experimental results indicate that our method has higher tracking accuracy and speed.


(A) electro-optic polymer core and (b) discloses an electro-optic waveguide device comprising at least one additional polymer cladding or a polymer buffer clad. Some embodiments, electro-optic polymer core (35), the first polymer clad (40) in proximity to the electro-optic polymer core, first polymer buffer clad in proximity to said first polymer clad (50) and a second polymer clad in proximity to the electro-optic polymer core (45). Another embodiment includes an electro-optic polymer core and polymer buffer clad (55). In another embodiment, the polymer buffer clad comprises an organically modified sol-gel. Further discloses a process for making a polymer waveguide device.


10 The critical failure of Complicit, Joe Sutton's play about journalistic ethics which was staged recently at London's Old Vic under the direction of artistic director Kevin Spacey, was not so surprising. Although dramatists may be fascinated by journalism, they do not, as a breed, reveal much understanding of how newspapers work. Obviously a chasm separates the journalist from the playwright. Journalism is, essentially, a practical skill. Drama involves other elements, which may include the banner-like raising of things such as "principle". It is not that journalists lack principle (some do, many don't); it is that their craft is rooted in a daily reality, whereas the dramatist, writing in his study, is given to pie-in-the-sky thinking. Perhaps the playwrights should be given a copy of Michael Frayn's wonderful comic novel, Towards the End of the Morning, which was rooted in daily reality, to see that the truth is often less elevated than they imagine. Sutton's play, by contrast, amounts to a wordy civics lesson of the kind favoured by American universities. (Considering the paucity of his material, it is revealing, and faintly alarming, to note that he teaches the writing of drama at Dartmouth College, one of America's finest seats of learning.) But journalists are not, on the whole, idealists. They are practical folk, their working lives shaped by demands different from those understood by playwrights, who have as much time as they want to write, and rewrite, their own copy. It goes without saying that in the left-liberal world of theatre, journalism is a practice that is regarded with suspicion; distaste, even. Arnold Wesker observed journalists at The Sunday Times during his research for The Journalists, but when the play was presented to the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1972, the production was ditched because some of the actors were disturbed by the challenge of playing intelligent Tories! Things haven't changed much in the intervening decades. The bestknown play about newspapers and newspapermen (in Britain) is probably still Pravda, co-written by David Hare and Howard Brenton, and originally staged with great success at the National Theatre in Journalistic stage frights


This paper estimates the long-term effects on output of different fiscal policies in Portugal in the context of unrestricted VAR models that include several public spending and taxation variables. Empirical results suggest that the effects of fiscal policies are within the Keynesian paradigm for public transfers, public consumption, public investment and direct taxation, with public investment showing particularly strong positive effects and direct taxation showing particularly strong negative effects. In turn, non-Keynesian effects dominate in the case of public wages where cuts are expansionary and indirect taxation where raises are neutral. Accordingly, cuts in public wages and raises in indirect taxations are the two most desirable instruments for fiscal consolidation in Portugal. Finally, deficit-neutral policies that offset raises in public transfers, public consumption, and public investment, with raises in indirect taxes have long-term positive effects on output. The same is true for cuts in direct taxation offset with cuts in all forms of public spending except for public investment.


A series of working situations involving lifting, transport and setting (lowering) motions represent the main dynamic biomechanical action of the human body and will be presented and analyzed in this paper. In these situations, the bipodal stability, as well as the manner of handling objects, the shape, weight and quality of these objects may determine some posture issues leading finally to occurrence, development and/or emphasis of muscular-skeletal system pathologies. Some aspects related to structural analysis, standard settings and other types of analysis performed upon lifting/lowering motion are presented in the first part of the paper. We presented in the second part of the paper the experimental system used for analyzing the lifting and handling some objects with weights between 1 10kg by analysis of postural stability and correlation with forces and moments developed by the human body during the action. The results of this analysis and also the conclusions upon the determinations of values for NIOSH equation (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) as a tool for stress evaluation associated with objects lifting/lowering motions using both hands are presented in the final part of the paper.


Locating usable spatial data is essential for the application and use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS data collection development constitutes a core element of GIS services within academic libraries. Managers of geospatial resources require a fundamental understanding of the nature and use of GIS data. In the creation of a GIS collection development policy, library professionals should consider the established collection development policy, needs of the GIS user community, campus GIS services, and library infrastructure. Library professionals also need to employ a variety of online resource guides and spatial search engines and navigate a network of government agencies, academic institutions, commercial enterprises, and GIS professionals to locate, select, and acquire spatial datasets. When making decisions regarding GIS data acquisition, the selector should consider cost, availability, license agreements and distribution policies, documentation, data structures, and software and hardware.


Intrusion Detection & Prevention Systems generally aims at detecting / preventing attacks against computer systems and networks or in general against information systems. The basic task of IDPS is to monitor the usage of such systems by detecting / preventing any unwarranted incidents which leads the systems to insecure state. The monitoring is done by checking each packet for its validity against the signatures formulated for identified vulnerabilities. Since, signatures are the heart & soul of an Intrusion Detection and Prevention System (IDPS), we, in this paper, discuss the methodology we adapted in our research effort in the domain of Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDP) called RUDRAA for formulating, verifying & validating the potential signatures to be used with IDPS. The research objectives of this project are 1) To formulate potential IPS signatures to be used with Intrusion prevention system. 2) To do code improvement and packaging of IDP software solution.


Mobility is one of the main factors affecting the performance of ad hoc networks. Obtaining realistic mobility models is essential for the proper evaluation of ad hoc protocol performance. In our paper, we develop a hybrid mobility model, by observing the actual movement patterns of people on-campus and then post processing the data to form their spatio-temporal distributions. Our model differs from the synthetic and wireless network trace based models in that the model is empirical in nature and devoid of the restrictions as observed in some of the existing mobility models. Our model has been implemented by a structure similar to that of a finite state machine (FSM), using a tool that operates on our traces to generate another trace file which is readable by the network simulator (NS-2).


Diabetes mellitus is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality allover the world. Strategies of treating this disease are variably depending on the nature of diabetic pathophysiology and the drug mechanism of action and toxicity. Up to 90% of type II diabetes are attributed to amyloid fibril deposition so that the conventional insulin releaser like glibenclemide and sensitizer like metfoermin are no longer being curative. In this study we have assessed the method of correcting amyloid dystrophic pancreatic disorder with the alkaloid colchicine and a trial of reducing insulin resistance with the trace element chromium in combination in a course monitored with 1⁄2hr glucose tolerance test and ultrasonic assessment of pancreatic body thickness. A four months course of daily treatment with colchicine-chromium revealed promising curative anti-amyloid activity as compared with start of treatment and control groups at P< 0.05 in that amyloid pancreatic body thickness had been reduced from 1.5 to 1.2 cm before and after treatment respectively with a cumulative increase in insulin releasing activity estimated by increasing ability to reduce blood glucose from 185 to 135 mg/dl +/5 with regression Kufa Med. Journal 2008. Vol. 11. No.1 455 coefficient r= -0,97 as compared the glibenclemide-metformin r= -0.45 at the end of the treatment. From the overall results we concluded that treating type II diabetic patients with combined anti-amyloid and insulin sensitizer have more promising permanently curative antidiabetic effects.


With the implementation of the strategies for the development of our country through science and education and talents, and of the"211 and 985 projects", there has been a more substantial increase in the scientific and technological strength and international competitiveness of research universities, reflected in the year-by-year increase in the number and total funding of research projects taken up by universities, and in the output results. All the achievements rely on the increasing investment of the government in the fields of science and technology and on hard-working scholars and students who devote themselves to scientific research, as well as the prospective planning and scientific decision making of leaders, and the concerted efforts, standard management and guiding service of the administrative departments. In the present paper the important role of the president's office of a university in ensuring that research work can be running smoothly is explored through analysis on the assistant role of the president's office of Peking University Health Science Center, and its practice in the provision of service-oriented management and promotion of the innovation and development of scientific research by close cooperation with the research management department and integrated coordination of all the individual administrative departments.

Key words:
Research university;  Administrative staff;  Service mode.


This work aims to evaluate the extractors Mehlich-1 and diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) and their extraction capacity for zinc (Zn) correlating them with the bioavailability of this nutrient in the soybean culture [Glycine max (L.) Merril] cultivated in a Eutrophic Red oxisol, in order to find better correlation between fertilization doses and plant absorption of zinc in conditions of the Parana Western region. The experiment was performed in 2008, in the city of Marechal Candido Rondon – Brazil, in completely randomized design. The treatments were arranged in 3×3 factorial scheme, consisting of three fertilization doses (N:P2O5:K2O in kg ha-1): without fertilization; recommended dose (4:40:40) and twice the recommended dose (8:80:80); and three Zn doses: 0.00; 1.00 and 2.00 kg ha-1. Between the evaluated extractors, Mehlich-1 presented higher capacity of Zn extraction in the studied soil. Concerning fertilization with Zn, though the doses show increment in the soil, no increase was found in the Zn concentration in leaf tissue.

 Key words: Micronutrients extraction, diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA), Mehlich-1.


In an article first published in 1965, Gordon E. Moore predicted that the number of transistors that could be squeezed onto the board of an integrated circuit would double every ten years. Moore's law, as it has become known, has proven remarkably durable; while he initially thought it might only hold true for the next decade or so, it continues to be used to project the pace of growth for a whole range of digital technologies, including semiconductors, computer processors, and random-access memory devices. Moore's law might be reasonably extended, too, to the academic study of these technologies and their impact on politics, society, and cultural practices. New presses, journals, and specialist academic associations seem to crop up daily, competing for attention in what is already a crowded field. Alex Goody's recent book provides an invaluable guide to this burgeoning field, both identifying the major theorists who have helped to define the critical discourse on the topic and exploring its connections to a range of literary texts, from Karel Capek's 1921 play R.U.R. (which coined the word ''robot'') to recent work in hypertext fiction and Web-based literature. For scholars looking for an informed and engaging introduction to the field, one that offers cogent accounts of the most pressing debates in technology and culture studies while stretching their sense of the ways in which literature has sought to explore the ramifications of a social world increasingly defined by the shifting relations between humans and machines, Goody's volume is an excellent choice.


Medial modes, a natural generalization of normal bands, were investigated by P\l onka. Rectangular algebras, a generalization of rectangular bands (diagonal modes) were investigated by Poschel and Reichel. In this paper we show that each medial mode embeds as a subreduct into a semimodule over a certain ring, and that a similar theorem holds for each Lallement sum of cancellative modes over a medial mode. Similar results are obtained for rectangular algebras. The paper generalizes earlier results of A. Romanowska, J.D.H. Smith and A. Zamojska-Dzienio.


Slave Patrols: Law and Violence in Virginia and the Carolinas. By Sally E. Hadden. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001. Pp. xi, 340. Illustrations, maps. $35.00.) For all of the myriad ways in which southern slaves and slaveholders have been and continue to be scrutinized by historians, it is remarkable that until now, there has never been a book-length treatment of one of the system's most integral components: its slave patrols. We have no shortage of scholarship on slave laws, the courts that imposed them, or the punishment of slaves, both legal and otherwise. But neither legal nor social historians of the Old South have given much attention to the institutional lynchpin so vital to all of these facets of slave control: the paramilitary groups of white men, armed and often mounted, that used both intimidation and violence to monitor and regulate the behavior of the enslaved African Americans living in their midst. Sally E. Hadden's ambitious and much-anticipated new book fills this void admirably. She limits her study to three of the oldest southern colonies/states-Virginia and North and South Carolina-which allows her to examine patrols over the full scope of slavery's existence in North America, from its origins in the late seventeenth century to its demise in 1865. Her first and last chapters are chronological, chronicling the origins and the end of slave patrols. In between are topical chapters, describing in great detail the organization and make-up of patrols and their behavior during times of tranquility and times of crisis. Hadden maintains that though the origins of slave patrols can be traced to European precedents of posses and militia groups, their legal foundation lay primarily in Caribbean laws and control mechanisms. This was especially true of South Carolina, the first colony to formalize a system of monitoring slave behavior. The emergence of slave patrols varied considerably from colony to colony in terms of the scope of their enforcement powers, the authorities to whom they answered, and the compensation they received. South Carolinians and Virginians drew more heavily on local militia as the basis of their patrols, which thus took a more military orientation than was true for North Carolina, where patrols operated in a more civil context and answered to county courts and city councils. Hadden remains sensitive to such variables throughout her study, noting particularly the differing challenges and responsibilities faced by urban and rural patrols. Although the organizational and legal infrastructure of patrols is a central concern of Hadden's, she never neglects the human dimension of either their participants or their targets. She details the many ways in which patrollers and slaves interacted, much of which seems familiar from other studies of slave discipline or subversion. More intriguing are less-explored aspects of patrollers' experience: how they differed in function from, but often overlapped with, other guardians of the system, such as constables, overseers, and slave catchers; how they became targets of retaliatory ambushes and other forms of treachery by slaves; and how early evening hospitality traditionally provided by patrol captains often made for intoxicated and overly boisterous night riders. …


Abstract Sabine's gulls (Xema sabini) undertake the longest migration of any gull, a trans-equatorial journey between Arctic breeding and southern hemisphere wintering areas. For such long-distance migrants, quantifying within- and between-individual variation in migratory strategy is key towards understanding resilience to environmental variability encountered over migration. We tracked 22 birds on 32 migrations from the Canadian Arctic to evaluate strategies and quantify flexibility among individuals and years. All birds undertook extended stopovers in a geographically-restricted staging area halfway through migration in the California Current System in both directions. Individuals were otherwise flexible in most aspects of migration but were repeatable in arrival date and duration of the southbound staging phase. Routes taken during southbound migration and overlap in overwintering areas were significantly larger within the same year than among years. Overall, birds showed high individual flexibility in migratory strategies but made similar decisions to one another in the same years. Every year, all birds showed repeatable, consistent reliance on the staging grounds as a key stopover site in both directions. This suggests Sabine's gulls adjust to environmental change in many aspects of their migration but may be vulnerable to climate change and other anthropogenic influences during critical stages of the journey.


Wireless sensor networks are formed by connected sensor nodes that each have the ability to collect, process, and store environmental information as well as communicate with other nodes via inter-node wireless communication. These characteristics allow wireless sensor networks to be used in a wide range of applications. Cluster-based protocols attempt to solve this problem by load balancing within the cluster and rotating the job of cluster head every few rounds in wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we derive the formulation of the power consumption for opportunistic network-coded cooperative multicast schemes. Simulation results show that our approach can remarkably improve the performance of outage probability than direct multicast.


It is shown that, under certain assumptions, one can estimate the difference between the effect of a treatment and that of a placebo even when the treatment has been given to all and only those patients who are at risk (as evidenced by a screening examination).


The CaWO4:Eu3+ phosphors with different doping concentrations and different sintered temperatures are synthesized using the microemulsion reaction method. After sintered at different temperatures, the samples with doping concentration of 30 or 50 mol% can obtain the brightest characteristic emissions from Eu3+ ions. At 800 ℃, moreover, the samples with doping concentrations of 0.52 mol% can emit the strongest light. It is therefore concluded that more intense emissions enable the CaWO4:Eu3+ phosphors with high doping concentrations to have great potential to be used as efficient phosphors in the future.


ABSTRACT This series of articles provides perspectives and recent case examples reflective of the growing interest in and need for formal causal analysis procedures that narrow the uncertainties associated with understanding cause and effect relationships in environmental and health matters. That understanding is important for guiding prevention, remediation, and/or restoration efforts pertaining to environmental stressors. A defensible establishment or refutation of causes is often needed to support legal opinions and/or reach decisions on specific regulatory actions. For complex environmental and health matters, the ability to support cause and effect relationships to a reasonable degree of certainty depends not only on the existence of the relationships but also on the analyst's ability to examine alternative possibilities and to use available evidence to support scientific opinion. Formal casual analyses have evolved to provide analysts with organized frameworks for weighing evidence and decreasing the likelihood of missing important aspects of cause and effect relationships as problems become increasingly complex and less familiar. In this perspectives series, the causal analysis method is explored through additional examination of the underlying philosophies and history of approaches that serve as the foundation of what we consider causal analysis today. In addition, examples of applied causal analysis provide insights into the challenges and benefits of a well thought out causal analysis.


Strategy implementation is an important part of strategic management and of management in general. Research has shown that many firms are keen to come up with elaborate corporate strategic plans, yet most of them (up to 70%) fail to implement the plans so carefully prepared. This study sought to determine the influence of operational process on strategy implementation by cooperative societies in Kenya. The study adopted a quantitative research approach; a survey research design to collect data. The study covered a sample of 291 primary cooperative societies selected using a random stratified sampling method from a population of 2,149 societies. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Two hundred and ninety-one sets of research instruments were distributed and 200 were completed and returned; representing a significant response rate of 68.73%. Out of the 200 respondents, only 180 responding societies had formulated strategic plans and these were the only ones covered by the analysis. The study found a strong positive correlation between organizational process and strategy implementation (r =.684, n=180, p =.000). Therefore, the study concludes that successful implementation of strategic plans in cooperative societies requires its operational plans to be aligned and derived from the strategic plan, adequate resources allocated as per the strategic plan requirements, the right people with the required skills and training, motivated by rewarding them based on achievements of strategic plan milestones. Two-way communication is more helpful for strategy implementation than a one-way channel. There must be regular reviews to ensure implementation is progressing as planned. The study concludes that in this study the major milestones of strategy implementation had been moderately achieved in most societies. The results show that respondents agreed that the top management of the societies' held regular strategy review meetings (Mean=3.57). They were however neutral to the negative statement that the society does not constantly monitor the environment for changes in plan assumptions (Mean=2.80) as well as on whether their cooperative societies had policies, procedural manuals or annual budgets to ensure implementation proceeded was on course (Mean=2.72). On the question of adequacy of the information system to monitor implementation they disagreed (Mean=2.51). The standard deviations were small (1.115, 1.209, 1.100 and 1.270) implying that the variation in responses was slight.


Conventional discrete return airborne lidar systems, used in the commercial sector for efficient generation of high quality spatial data, have been considered for the past decade to be an ideal choice for various mapping applications. Unlike two-dimensional aerial imagery, the elevation component of airborne lidar data provides the ability to represent vertical structure details with very high precision, which is an advantage for many lidar applications focusing on the analysis of elevated features such as 3D vegetation mapping. However, the use of conventional airborne discrete return lidar systems for some of these applications has often been limited, mostly due to relatively coarse vertical resolution and insufficient number of multiple measurements in vertical domain. For this reason, full waveform airborne sensors providing more detailed representation of target vertical structure have often been considered as a preferable choice in some areas of 3D vegetation mapping application, such as forestry research. This paper presents an overview of the specific features of airborne lidar technology concerning 3D mapping applications, particularly vegetation mapping. Certain key performance characteristics of lidar sensors important for the quality of vegetation mapping are discussed and illustrated by the advanced capabilities of the ALTM-Orion, a new discrete return sensor manufactured by Optech Incorporated. It is demonstrated that advanced discrete return sensors with enhanced 3D mapping capabilities can produce data of enhanced quality, which can represent complex structures of vegetation targets at the level of details equivalent in some aspects to the content of full waveform data. It is also shown that recent advances in conventional airborne lidar technology bear the potential to create a new application niche, where high quality dense point clouds, enhanced by fully recorded intensity for multiple returns, may provide sufficient information for modeling and analysis, which have traditionally been applied mostly to full waveform data.


Many engineered systems, such as energy and transportation infrastructures, are networks governed by non-linear physical laws. A primary challenge for operators of these networks is to achieve optimal utilization while maintaining safety and feasibility, especially in the face of uncertainty regarding the system model.
To address this problem, we formulate a Chance Constrained Optimal Physical Network Flow (CC-OPNF) problem that attempts to optimize the system while satisfying safety limits with a high probability. However, the non-linear equality constraints representing the network physics introduce modelling and optimization challenges which make the chance constraints numerically intractable in their original form.
The main contribution of the paper is to present a method to obtain tractable polynomial approximations to the chance constraints using Semidefinite Programming (SDP). The method uses a combination of existing semi-algebraic techniques for projection and volume computation in combination with novel set manipulations to provide conservative inner approximations to the chance constraints. In addition, we develop a new two-step procedure to improve computational speed.
While the method is applicable to general physical network flow problems with polynomial constraints, we use the AC optimal power flow problem for electric grids as an example to demonstrate the method numerically.


Building capacity for environmental management requires more than the traditional disciplines of science and engineering. Six success factors have been identified in the development of Hong Kong's environmental protection institutions. They are a strong, unifying vision; scientific understanding of the problems; openness to face challenges; pragmatism in developing solutions; involvement of the community; and commitment at the highest political levels. Growth in institutions is not a linear process, but involves phases of growth, interspersed with consolidation and reorientation. Hong Kong has seen success in developing robust environmental protection institutions and infrastructure, and is now building new leadership capacity for future growth.


Single Best Answer You see a 41-year-old woman on methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis. After routine monthly blood tests, you notice an isolated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) of 80 U/L, which has been consistently raised for the past 2 months. She is well in herself with no symptoms. She does not drink any alcohol. What would be the MOST appropriate management option? Select ONE option only. A. Arrange an ultrasound of the liver B. Discuss with the rheumatologist C. Refer to a hepatologist D. Retest as normal E. Stop methotrexate


The Porosity of Autonomy: (Some) Replies to Open Peer Commentaries on "The Porosity of Autonomy: Social and Biological Constitution of the Patient in Biomedicine" Jonathan Beever & Nicolae Morar To cite this article: Jonathan Beever & Nicolae Morar (2016) The Porosity of Autonomy: (Some) Replies to Open Peer Commentaries on "The Porosity of Autonomy: Social and Biological Constitution of the Patient in Biomedicine", The American Journal of Bioethics, 16:4, W4-W6, DOI: 10.1080/15265161.2016.1145757 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2016.1145757


Continued collaboration between Senior Speech and Language Therapists (SLT) and the Simulation Centre at an acute hospital, led to further research into safety learning themes identifying issues with basic dysphagia care on the wards despite ongoing lecture-based training. This was interpreted as training being focussed on one way of learning for medical staff and not providing an equitable training service for those with differentiated learning needs [1]. This led to the SLT team creating a training programme titled 'dysphagia friendly wards'. As part of this, the SLT and Simulation Centre developed a simulation programme which was a hybrid of open theatre forum style and simulation using a bell to increase interaction within the scenarios. We created a realistic ward environment increasing the validity of the scenario with groups of up to four healthcare care assistants and nursing staff from stroke wards.
 Three scenarios were designed around the safety learning themes identified in the incident reports such as poor mouth care, incorrect diet textures, and choking hazards which were noted on the ward by the SLT team. This created a realistic and interactive session using a live actor to demonstrate different swallowing difficulties, poor oral hygiene, and the importance of dysphagia management. The live actors are professionally trained and members of the simulation education team.
 Currently the programme is ongoing and we are due to finish our first ward by the end of March 2023 with the hope of rolling this out hospital-wide. Each ward is estimated to take 2 months to complete. Feedback during and after the sessions has been positive and participants have engaged by asking thoughtful questions and putting information into practice on the wards. Communication issues highlighted our diverse workforce and patients which was found in real time during the simulation. Supporting evidence has been written and available for presentation.
 Very few SLT teams have used simulation training within their practice and the opportunity to create a programme that is proactive and differentiated for different learners is fantastic, and creates a work force that feels valued alongside giving gold standard care to patients with both communication and dysphagia.
 1. L. Raffaelli (2014) 18 Teacher-Tested Strategies for Differentiated Instruction. Edutopia. Available online


Two exact lens equations have been recently shown to be equivalent to each other, being consistent with the gravitational deflection angle of light from a source to an observer, both of which can be within a finite distance from a lens object [Phys. Rev. D 102, 064060 (2020)]. We examine methods for iterative solutions of the gravitational lens equations in the strong deflection limit. It has been so far unclear whether a convergent series expansion can be provided by a known method for obtaining approximate solutions in the strong deflection limit in terms of a small offset angle in earlier publications. By using the ratio of the lens mass to the lens distance, we discuss a slightly different method for iterative solutions and behavior of the convergence. Finite distance effects begin at the third order in the iterative method. The iterative solutions in the strong deflection limit are applied to Sgr A∗ and M87. These results suggest that only the linear order solution can be relevant with current observations, while the finite distance effects at the third order may be negligible in the Schwarzschild lens model for these astronomical objects.


Self-assembled semiconductor quantum dots have attracted considerable interest recently, ranging from fundamental studies of quantum optics to advanced applications in the field of quantum information science. With their atom-like properties, quantum dot based nanophotonic devices may also substantially contribute to the development of quantum computers. This work presents experimental progress towards the understanding of light-matter interactions that occur beyond well-understood monochromatic resonant light scattering processes in semiconductor quantum dots. First, we report measurements of resonance fluorescence under bichromatic laser excitation. With the inclusion of a second laser, both first-order and second-order correlation functions are substantially altered. Under these conditions, the scattered light exhibits a rich spectrum containing many spectral features that lead to a range of nonlinear multiphoton dynamics. These observations are discussed and compared with a theoretical model. Second, we investigated the light scattered by a quantum dot in the presence of spectral filtering. By scanning the tunable filters placed in front of each detector of a Hanbury-Brown and Twiss setup and recording coincidence measurements, a "two-photon spectrum" has been experimentally reconstructed for the first time. The two-photon spectrum contains a wealth of information about the cascaded emission involved in the scattering process, such as transitions occurring via virtual intermediate states. Our measurements also reveal that the scattered frequency-filtered light from a quantum dot violates the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality. Finally, Franson-interferometry has been performed using spectrally filtered light from quantum dot resonance fluorescence. Visibilities exceeding the classical limit were demonstrated by using a pair of folded Mach-Zehnder interferometers, paving the way for producing single time-energy entangled photon pairs that could violate Bell's inequalities.


While the present interest in the use of functionalised nanoclays as additives for improving tensile properties and fire performance in polypropylene thermoplastics has led to a considerable literature, little attention has been given to this polymer in fibre form. In this paper we report the conditions necessary for and the characteristics of filaments and tapes comprising dispersions of a functionalised clay in polypropylene-clay prepared by melt compounding polypropylene in a twin screw extruder. A small fraction (1 3% w/w) of modified grafted polypropylene has also been included to improve dispersion of the clay. Xray diffraction of hotpressed films, coupled with transmission electron microscopic investigation have been used to assess the degree of dispersion of the clay. Clay dispersion at the nano-level was observed by TEM, but intercalation was not evident from X-ray study. Compounded samples were meltextruded into filaments using a single screw extruder and drawn prior to wind up. The physical properties of the clay-containing polypropylene filaments showed that presence of dispersed clay increased filament modulus and was supportive of having achieved some degree of nanodispersion. Selected filament samples had sufficiently acceptable textile properties to enable their knitting into fabric samples. The burning behaviour of fabric and film samples were observed by limiting oxygen index (LOI)  Corresponding author. Tel. : +44 1204 903517 ; fax : +44 1204 399074 E-mail address : email@example.com (B.K.Kandola)


In a weighted graph, the arcs are mainly classified into  ,  and  . In this article, some new distances and sequences in weighted graphs are introduced. These concepts are based on the above classification. With respect to the distances, the concepts of centre and self centered graphs are introduced and their properties are discussed. It is proved that, only partial blocks with even number of vertices can be self centered. Using the sequences, a characterization for partial blocks and precisely weighted graphs (PWG) are obtained.


Paleoecology derives from the application of ecological principles to paleontological material. Paleoecology courses are commonly taught to undergraduates in geology and typically contain subject matter other than paleoecology, such as taphonomy, which is necessary to understand paleoecology, or evolutionary theory, if it is not covered elsewhere in a geology curriculum. Contents of paleoecology courses are affected by advances in sedimentology, developments in other branches of paleontology, advances in ecology, progress in paleoecology itself, changes in the concept of paleoecology as a science, and availability of text and reference books. Paleoecology courses of the 1980s are likely to include a great deal of paleoenvironmental analysis, more study of taphonomy than in the past, reduced emphasis on functional morphology, increased emphasis on organism-sediment interactions, a traditional dose of population paleoecology, and, in community paleoecology, more emphasis on community evolution and the meani...