The paper deals with the serendipity emerging in projects. Serendipity means an unexpected and fortunate discovery. It happens mainly into projects thanks to the open mind behavior of stakeholders. Though two significant examples of project, the authors point out the moment where serendipity burst out. The authors are managing projects for twenty years and collaborating since over fifteen years. They are sharing, discussing and improving their own experience. After definition and some famous example of serendipity in centuries, two significant examples are proposed to the reader. They are concerned with students in second grade course in an Institute of Technology where projects are taking more and more time and space in their syllabus. The first subject deals with a concept car and the second talks about the regula falsi concept. The authors had recently the opportunity to propose a survey about serendipity to a group of a hundred of teachers-researchers. The results and comments end the paper.


The proportionality of existence of land with good bearing to erect any building or building is very small, to remedy this deficiency it is necessary to resort to techniques of reinforcement of the soils which can constitute a very important development. Among these methods of remediation, there is reinforcement by the geosynthetics which constitute an effective solution to these constraints. This process tends to stabilize the soil in question with increased load bearing capacity in civil engineering and geotechnical works such as embankments, slopes, embankments and hydraulic structures, with an inestimable gain in time, economy and durability while preserving the natural and environmental aspect.


Accounting for the effects of anthropogenic changes in carbon flux within the earth's critical zone will be a major, fundamental challenge to address carbon-driven climate change. As a scalar path-function measure of equivalent inorganic carbon emissions, CO2e is a necessary but insufficient metric for global carbon management. We propose a new, comprehensive strategy for fiscal accounting of anthropogenic changes in carbon flux that employs a vector, state-function, temporal metric applied to each microeconomic transaction[i], forming the basis of a transactional accounting system. Simply stated, the proposed metric is a measure of the temporal velocity of carbon in the critical zone toward sinks such as the atmosphere and oceans, reflecting how we employ a carbon flux temporal differential to achieve a carbon-based energy differential. This accounting methodology allows for a granular, more detailed analysis of carbon-related anthropogenic activity within a broader, more comprehensive overall framework for all such activities at all levels of the economy. In turn, the methodology promotes a more detailed macroeconomic assessment of carbon, such as in international trade flows. A simple electrical circuit can demonstrate the vector, state-function, temporal carbon metric. The total resistance of multiple resistors in series is simply the sum of the individual resistors. For resistors in parallel, however, the total resistance is determined by adding together the inverse of the resistance, or conductance, of each of the individual parallel circuits. The inverse of the total conductance is then the total resistance of all the parallel circuits.


The marine fish fauna occurring at Vizhinjam usually consists of a variety of interesting species and this note deals with the diagnostic characters of nine species of
fishes which were collected during field trips. These are: Velifer africanus, Samaris cristatus, Aspidonotus tractus, Uraspis helvola, Thyrsoidea macrura, Chihmyeterus
orbicularis, Diodon hystrix, D. holacanthus and D, maculifer. Of these Velifer africanus is a new record to the Indian Seas. Thyrsoidea macrura described herein isthelongest specimen of giant moray eel hitherto recorded.


Abstract : In 2001 and 2003, the United States Army, along with Coalition Forces, demonstrated their conventional superiority by routing the forces of the Taliban and the Iraqi Army. Since those conventional victories, determining success has not been so clear. How does a counterinsurgency (COIN) commander know he is winning? U.S. military doctrine addresses the need to construct measures of effectiveness, but it does not offer any universal metrics applicable to COIN. To determine if there are any reasonable, universal metrics, this monograph looks to COIN theorists, COIN doctrine, and COIN researchers. The proposed metrics include body count, violence reduction, actionable intelligence, popular attitude, popular behavior, resource reduction, and subjective assessments. Each metric has shortcomings, unless it is linked to a reduction of insurgent tangible resources. Counterinsurgency in practice reveals that reducing insurgent tangible recourses is the surest path to victory in COIN. Measuring tangible resource reduction is possible and efficient if the process mirrors the intelligence collection process. The staff must identify indicators of the trend in insurgent resources instead of tasking elements to look for and destroy resources. The indicators are environmentally dependant but typically include size of attack, solicitation for sponsorship, equipment characteristics, and insurgent interactions with the civilian population.


Early conversational agents (CAs) focused on dyadic human-AI interaction between humans and the CAs, followed by the increasing popularity of polyadic human-AI interaction, in which CAs are designed to mediate human-human interactions. CAs for polyadic interactions are unique because they encompass hybrid social interactions, i.e., human-CA, human-to-human, and human-to-group behaviors. However, research on polyadic CAs is scattered across different fields, making it challenging to identify, compare, and accumulate existing knowledge. To promote the future design of CA systems, we conducted a literature review of ACM publications and identified a set of works that conducted UX (user experience) research. We qualitatively synthesized the effects of polyadic CAs into four aspects of human-human interactions, i.e., communication, engagement, connection, and relationship maintenance. Through a mixed-method analysis of the selected polyadic and dyadic CA studies, we developed a suite of evaluation measurements on the effects. Our findings show that designing with social boundaries, such as privacy, disclosure, and identification, is crucial for ethical polyadic CAs. Future research should also advance usability testing methods and trust-building guidelines for conversational AI.


The backbones form the core of the Internet and carry large volumes of data across long distances. Designing a backbone network with performance guarantees is important but difficult due to the uncertainty in the traffic matrix, the need to accommodate component failures, and the desire to avoid congestion. Backbone networks today are highly over-provisioned but cannot guarantee to support all traffic matrices.
In this thesis we propose using Valiant Load-Balancing (VLB, named after L.G. Valiant) to design backbone networks that can support all traffic matrices efficiently, even under a number of failures.
Chapter 2 shows that VLB is efficient for any network. A simple scheme, the Gravity Full Mesh, requires a total capacity no more than twice the theoretical lower bound, and another scheme, Minimum Network Fanout, requires a total capacity at most 20% more than the theoretical lower bound.
The path diversity in VLB enables the network to tolerate failures efficiently. Chapter 3 shows that in order to tolerate k arbitrary failures, the fraction of extra capacity required is only approximately kN . In addition, VLB provides fast rerouting after failure.
In Chapter 4 we first argue that most applications will not be affected by the extra propagation delay caused by VLB. Then we propose adaptive VLB, which adjusts the amount of load-balancing according to the traffic condition in order to minimize packet delay.
In Chapter 5 we propose using VLB to route traffic between two networks. VLB can efficiently utilize the peering links so that there is no congestion unless the total peering traffic rate exceeds the total peering capacity. It can further ensure that peering packets receive the same quality of service as non-peering tragic. We derive the optimal load-balancing parameters for routing local traffic and peering traffic.
We finally apply VLB to designing circuit-switched networks with performance guarantees. Current circuit-switched networks use heuristics to minimize average blocking probability. The heuristics require parameters that depend on the traffic metrics, are hard to analyze, and cannot give performance guarantees. Valiant Load-Balancing, on the other hand, can give theoretical bounds on blocking probabilities for all flows under worst case traffic.


A method of preparing pentafluoroethane wherein chlorine-containing carbon compounds are fluorinated in the presence of chromium catalysts that are in an amorphous state and wherein the main component is chromium compounds with the addition of at least one metal element selected from the group composed of indium, gallium, cobalt, nickel, zinc and aluminum and the average valence of the chromium in said chromium compounds is not less than +3.5 but not more than +5.0. And said chromium catalysts and a preparation method thereof. A method of preparing pentafluoroethane wherein the total yield of chlorofluoroethane by-products can be decreased without significantly deteriorating the generation activity of the pentafluoroethane and compounds which can be recycled in the reaction system. And to provide catalysts for this fluorination and a preparation method thereof.


Stress is a risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease such as atherosclerosis. The initiation and progression of atherosclerosis involves upregulation of the LOX‐1 receptor (binds and uptakes oxLDL) and adhesion molecules such as VCAM‐1. Whether stress can affect these early markers is unknown. We hypothesized that stress can lead to upregulation of the LOX‐1 receptor and VCAM‐1 in ApoE−/− mice, a model for human atherosclerosis. Twelve week old male (n=3) and female (n=3) ApoE−/− mice were restrained for 2 hours per day for 14 consecutive days to create an animal model of emotional stress. Unstressed mice of both sexes (n=3 each) were used as controls. Induction of stress was confirmed by higher levels of corticosterone. After 2 weeks of stress, the mice were euthanized and the aortic root was examined using immunohistochemistry for LOX‐1 and VCAM‐1. In the male stressed mice, there was a trend for increased LOX‐1 receptor protein expression compared to controls (3807±1472 vs. 621±35 units, P=0.06) but not in VCAM‐1 expression. Interestingly, VCAM‐1 protein levels were lower in stressed females compared to controls (1032±163 vs. 7144±1046 units, P <0.001), while LOX‐1 expression was not changed. In conclusion, repeated restraint stress in male and female mice has differential effects on early markers of atherosclerosis.


We discuss an interesting feature of the distribution of luminous blue variables (LBVs) on the H-R diagram, and we propose a connection with the bistability jump seen in the winds of early-type supergiants. There appears to be a deficiency of quiescent LBVs on the S Doradus instability strip at luminosities between log(L/L☉) ≃ 5.6 and 5.8. The upper boundary, interestingly, is also where the temperature-dependent S Doradus instability strip intersects the bistability jump at about Teff ≃ 21,000 K. Because of increased opacity, winds of early-type supergiants are slower and denser on the cool side of the bistability jump, and we postulate that this may trigger optically thick winds that inhibit quiescent LBVs from residing there. We conduct numerical simulations of radiation-driven winds for a range of temperatures, masses, and velocity laws at log(L/L☉) = 5.7 to see what effect the bistability jump should have. We find that for relatively low stellar masses, the order-of-magnitude increase in the wind density at the bistability jump leads to the formation of a modest to strong pseudophotosphere that might alter a star's apparent position on the H-R diagram. The effect is strongest for LBVs approaching 10 M☉, where the pseudophotospheres are sufficiently extended to make an early B-type star appear as a yellow hypergiant. Thus, the proposed mechanism will be most relevant for LBVs that are post-red supergiants [curiously, the upper boundary at log(L/L☉) ≃ 5.8 coincides with the upper luminosity limit for red supergiants]. Further work is obviously needed, especially with regard to a possible evolutionary connection between the "missing" LBVs and the most luminous red supergiants and yellow hypergiants. Specifically, yellow hypergiants such as IRC +10420 and ρ Cas occupy the same luminosity range as the missing LBVs and show apparent temperature variations at constant luminosity. If these yellow hypergiants do eventually become Wolf-Rayet stars, we speculate that they may skip the normal LBV phase, at least as far as their apparent positions on the H-R diagram are concerned.


The NEMO-3 experiment is searching for neutrinoless double beta decay. The experiment has been taking data since 2003 with seven isotopes decaying via double beta decay. Data up to the end of 2008 show no evidence for neutrinoless double beta decay which permits setting at the 90% CL, limits on the transition halflive times: for Mo and for Se. NEMO-3 also measures two-neutrino double beta decays for other isotopes and has reached the highest precision measurements to date. The SuperNEMO project aims to extend the NEMO technique to a 100 – 200 kg isotope experiment with the target half-life sensitivity of 1 − 2 × 10 y. The current status of the SuperNEMO R&D programme is described, focusing mainly on the calorimeter R&D. y 10 × 5.8 23 2 / 1 > ν T y 10 × 2.1 23 2 / 1 > ν T Introduction Experimental search for the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) is of major importance in particle physics because if observed it will reveal the Majorana nature of the neutrino and may allow an access to the absolute neutrino mass scale. The 0νββ decay violates the lepton number and is therefore a direct probe for the physics beyond the standard model. The existence of this process may be related to right-handed currents in electroweak interactions, supersymmetric particles with R-parity nonconservation, and massless Goldstone bosons, such as majorons. The spontaneous two-neutrino double beta decay (2νββ) is a rare second-order weak interaction process. It is the testing ground for nuclear models and provides a valuable input for the theoretical calculations of the 0νββ decay nuclear matrix elements (NME). The currently running NEMO-3 experiment is devoted to the search for 0νββ decay and to the accurate measurement of two neutrino double beta decay (2νββ decay) by means of the direct detection of the two electrons. This tracking experiment, in contrast to experiments with Ge, detects not only the total energy deposition, but also the other parameters of the process. These include the energy of the individual electrons, angle between them, and the coordinates of the event in the source plane. Since June of 2002, the NEMO-3 detector has operated in the Fréjus Underground Laboratory


AbstractIn this paper, the authors review recent applications of an integrated numerical modeling approach based on the analysis of the mechanical behavior of discrete systems. The numerical analysis includes both a more realistic representation of fracture networks and the simulation of rock mass behavior as a combination of failure through intact rock and displacement/rotation along predefined discontinuities. Selected examples are presented with respect to a variety of engineering problems, including shear testing, failure of hard-rock pillars, slope stability, and block/panel cave mining. The results clearly illustrate the importance of including natural jointing to better capture rock mass behavior in response to loading and unloading. Particular emphasis is given to modeling cave development and surface subsidence, and the proposed numerical method is shown to capture fully the complex rock mass response to caving associated with multi lift extraction. Whereas the use of relatively complex numerical...


Objective To investigate the effect and complication of implantation of small-incision non-phacoemulsication intraocular lens in the diabetic patients with cataract. Methods A clinical comparative observation of small-incision non-phacoemulsification intraocular lens was performed in 48 eyes of diabetic cataract and 48 eyes of senile cataract. Results There was no obvious difference of complications and postoperative eyesight between two groups. Conclusion When the level of fast blood glucose is below 7.8 mmol/L, the implantation of small-incision non-phacoemulsification intraocular lens for the diabetic patients with cataract would improve eyesight obviously.


The information gathered leads to an improved definition of project based learning. For students to gain a greater understanding of classroom content they need to experience a hands-on environment that allows for a challenge and problem solving opportunities. It is recommended that a project based learning environment be used in Business and Marketing Education. Students are given opportunities to apply information learned in the classroom to real world situations and make deeper connections with the material. This real-world application will allow students to strengthen their skill sets and further prepare them for their lives after school. They have learned how to collaborate, make connections and self-manage. Students provided with project based learning opportunities will be able to hone their problem solving and critical thinking skills as well. Students will be better prepared for the work force.


Thank you very much for downloading the emerging politics of antarctica. As you may know, people have search numerous times for their favorite novels like this the emerging politics of antarctica, but end up in malicious downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they are facing with some harmful bugs inside their desktop computer. the emerging politics of antarctica is available in our book collection an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. Our books collection saves in multiple locations, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Merely said, the the emerging politics of antarctica is universally compatible with any devices to read.


Objective To investigate the status of cesarean section(CS) and its influencing factors in pregnant women of community population in Haidian district,Beijing.Methods A total of 1 126 puerperal women without pregnancy complications who accepted postnatal care in eight community hospitals were evaluated by questionnaire from Apr.to Oct.2007.Results 55.6% of pregnant outcomes were vaginal delivery and 44.4% were CS(among which 40.2% were induced by social factors).The result of regression analysis showed that the influencing factors of cesarean section were BMI≥25.0 kg/m~2,having abortion history,pregnancy weight gain16kg,the pregnancies themselves and their relatves refusing to choose vaginal delivery,having insufficient acquaintance with the disadvantages of cesarean section,without labor onset at the hospitalization,obtaining no definite suggestion of delivery mode from obstericians,childbearing during working day,neonatal weight3 500 g.Conclusion The cesarean section rate in pregnant women of Haidian district is in a high level and is affected by multiple factors.


2-Amino-3-hydroxypyridine reacted with benzyl chloride to give 2-amino-3-benzyloxypyridine(3),which was cyclized with α-acetyl-γ-butyrrolactone to provide 9-benzyloxy-3-(2-hydroxyethyl)-2-methyl-4H-pyrido[1,2a]pyrimidin-4-one(4).Compound 4 underwent chlorination,reduction and debenzylation to afford the key intermediate 3-(2-chloroethyl)-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-9-hydroxy-2-methyl-4H-pyrido[1,2-a]pyrimidin-4-one(6).Finally,compound 6 was subjected to nucleophilic substitution with 6-fluoro-3-(4-piperidinyl)-1,2-benzoisoxazol hydrochloride to achieve the title product paliperidone with an overall yield of about 35%.


We report a determination of the multiplicity distribution of ..pi../sup 0/ mesons on the basis of the distributions in the number of recorded ..gamma.. rays for dTa and CTa interactions at 4.2 GeV/c per nucleon. The distributions established for the multiplicity of ..pi../sup 0/ mesons are compared with experimental distributions in the number of ..pi../sup -/ mesons for the same interactions. The average number of ..pi../sup 0/ mesons is obtained as a function of the number of ..pi../sup -/ mesons in dTa and CTa events. The experimental data on the multiplicity of ..pi../sup 0/ mesons are compared with calculations according to the cascade model.


DOI: 10.21276/haya.2018.3.4.7 Abstract: The impact of culture environment was assessed for the production of GIFT tilapia over high stocking densities at 20 fish/m 2 and 30 fish/m 2 in ponds and 300 fish/ m 3 and 400 fish /m 3 in cages in the same ponds to ensuring maximum utilization of the pond resources. After 120 days culture period the highest net yield of 3.72 kg/ m 2 was obtained from ponds which were stocked with 20 fish / m 2 and fed with homemade feed consisted of 60% wheat bran + 30% mustard oil cake +10% flour, while the highest net yield of 8.55 kg / m 3 was obtained from cages stocked with 300 fish / m 3 fed with the same feed from the same cultural environment. The lowest net yields of 2.34 kg/ m 2 and 8.48 kg/ m 3 were recorded from fish stocked at 30 fish/ m 2 and 400 fish / m 3 fed with the same feed from ponds and cages respectively. With the high survival rate the growth and yield of tilapia fish were found to be significantly influenced (p <0.05) by the cultural environment, stocking density and their interactions. Therefore the culture environment had a greater exerted effect on the production than the stocking densities.


The study intended to identify sub-level of service quality of cosmetics salesperson with women university students with high purchasing rate for cosmetics and through empirical analysis, investigate influences of cosmetics salesperson's service quality on satisfaction, trust, and brand loyalty in integrated way. As a result of study, tangibles and trust among sub-level of service quality affected brand satisfaction and trust; trust and empathy affected brand loyalty; satisfaction affected trust; satisfaction and trust affected brand loyalty. Soit could be known that there was difference in influences on brand satisfaction, trust, and loyalty according to sub-level of service quality of cosmetics salesperson. This study would provide basic material useful for establishing differentiated sale service strategy for sales increase and competitiveness for a company by substantially investigating influences of service quality of cosmetics salesperson on consumer's behavior.


Bluetooth is among the dominant standards for wireless short-range communication with multi-billion Bluetooth devices shipped each year. Basic Bluetooth analysis inside consumer hardware such as smartphones can be accomplished observing the Host Controller Interface (HCI) between the operating system's driver and the Bluetooth chip. However, the HCI does not provide insights to tasks running inside a Bluetooth chip or Link Layer (LL) packets exchanged over the air. As of today, consumer hardware internal behavior can only be observed with external, and often expensive tools, that need to be present during initial device pairing. In this paper, we leverage standard smartphones for on-device Bluetooth analysis and reverse engineer a diagnostic protocol that resides inside Broadcom chips. Diagnostic features include sniffing lower layers such as LL for Classic Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), transmission and reception statistics, test mode, and memory peek and poke.


Concrete is versatile material and its production is increasing day by day. Cost of conventional concrete are very high and availability natural aggregate are decreasing. Now there is a need to find out new material which can replace concrete in gradient. In this study coconut shells is used as aggregate in concrete, M-40 concrete is casted with coconut shells aggregate and then these aggregate is tested for its compressive strength and workability.


Objective To explore the changes of intercellular communication and the biological features of remnant tumor cells after radio frequency ablation (RFA).Methods Hepatoma models were established with VX2 tumor cell lines by the method of transplantation and were treated with RFA.The remnant tumors were intended to bring about by controlling the marginal temperature of the tumors.The experimental animals were divided into control group and treatment group.The treatment group was divided into three subgroups according to time points of biopsy: first week,second week and third week.The gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) was observed by measuring the scope of Lucifer-Yellow CH (LY) transferring following microinjection.The expression of intercellular connexin (Cx32) was detected by immunohistochemistry.Results Positive index of Cx32 (first week: 0.203±0.014; second week: 0.404±0.067) and the scope of LY transferring [first week:(224.5±34.6) μm; second week:(257.8±42.7) μm] were higher significantly on the 1st and 2nd week in the treatment group than in the control group [Cx32:0.107±0.024;LY:(137.5±30.6) μm] (P0.01).The scope of LY transferring was positively correlated with the positive index of Cx32 (r=0.88,P0.01).Conclusion The GJIC of the remnant tumor cells is improved obviously and the invasive potentiality of the remnant tumor cells is possibly decreased during the first 2 weeks after RFA.


We report a study of the photodimerization of properly arranged anthracene pairs generated by photolysis in a dianthracene crystal at 2 K. We monitor the progress of the photodimerization reaction by measuring the fluorescence lifetime of the pair excimer state, and we use pressure as an empirical parameter. Dimerization is too fast to monitor beyond 6 kbar for the normal (protonated) anthracene pairs, and beyond 10 kbar for the pedeutero sample. The results are interpreted as dimerization through a tunneling mechanism, although evidence of a photophysical retardation was observed. Pressure enhancement of the fluorescence decay rate is exponential. The pressure coefficient for rate enhancement is 0.203 (0.010) natural log units per kbar for the normal sample, and 0.2576 (0.0065) for the perdeuterated sample, respectively (with the standard deviation of the mean given in parentheses). The reaction may be formally construed as nanosecond tunneling of a very heavy particle. The origin of the "reverse" deuter...


There are numerous natural and cultural world tourism heritage sites spread across the entire landscape of the world, which are of outstanding universal value. These sites attract tourists from all over the world for different reasons such as for sightseeing, heritage and archaeological interest, education and research. The concern is that global warming and climate change are posing huge threats to most of these sites and properties by altering, deteriorating and ravaging them. In order to address these problems and find sustainable solutions, this article identifies a climate change adaptation strategy as the potential intervention that can be utilised to enable these sites and properties to cope with the prevailing unusual climatic conditions in order to sustainably protect and preserve them for the present and future generations to enjoy.


The proportion of mothers living without male partners is growing fast in Mexico, and time is a valuable resource determining their quality of life. Using the 2002 Mexican Family Life Survey (N = 1,818), the author examined the effects of coresident extended household members on time allocation by employed mothers. Results indicate that female extended kin have greater influence than male kin on the time allocation of single mothers in Mexico. Female extended household members also play more important roles in making activity time available for single mothers than for mothers with partners. This study supports the hypothesis that household extension functions as a safety net for employed single mothers facing time and material constraints in Mexico.


When pilots are unable to accurately perceive the position and motion of their bodies, they are spatially disoriented. Spatial disorientation is often induced by aviation illusions, and its consequences include dizziness, confusion, nausea and fatigue. The present research evaluated the severity of cognitive, neuroendocrine and subjective symptoms of the Coriolis illusion, induced by a spatial disorientation flight training device. Also, the research examined the effectiveness of a mild, ground-based countermeasure, similar to the Coriolis illusion, in reducing the occurrence and severity of symptoms. In the early stages of data analysis, there appeared to be a significant impact of the Coriolis illusion on cognitive performance and subjective reports of disorientation. However, when more powerful detailed were conducted, no significant impact of the Coriolis illusion was found. Therefore, conclusions regarding the effectiveness of the countermeasure or the duration of the symptoms could not be made.


Approach: Technologies like microor macroarrays are the source of various problems concerning analysis and evaluation of the datasets obtained. In the present thesis a functional classification provided by the Gene Ontology is used to group large-scale gene-expression. The problem was: How can the expression levels of all genes in a functional group be combined to a single number (score), and how can this score be tested for differential gene expression of the GO-node? Two different statistical tests are discussed to find an accumulation of induced genes in a GO-node on the one hand. On the other hand, we test for a contamination of GO-node with genes that display moderately increased or decreased expression levels. The tests are applied on GOscores measuring the level of differential gene-expression in GO-nodes. Two different methods are proposed to calculate a GO-score. Results: The tests are used to compare expression data derived from two different types of human breast cancer. The first dataset comes from the Estrogen receptor positive type of breast cancer, the second one comes from the Estrogen receptor negative type. The most important finding is, that the method provides insight, that can not be found by gene-wise screens, since the GO-scores are mainly driven by genes which do not indicate statistical significance in a gene-wise multiple testing context. One interesting group is the GO-term mitosis. Differential expression of the genes in this group reflects the differences in the proliferative potential of these breast cancer types. To enlarge the practical use, a graphical user-interface has been implemented which allows the molecular biologist for browsing and structuring results of microarray experiments.


FEDERAL PROGRAMS that support students and schools of public health are among the oldest of all Federal efforts on behalf of education for the health professions. Traineeship funds were first authorized in 1956. The Hill-Rhodes program of formula grants was enacted in 1958, and projects grants were authorized 2 years later. Yet reliable data on students, faculty, educational programs, and costs have not been readily available. Before 1974, no coordinated, controlled system of data collection existed among the schools. For 9 years, beginning in 1961, the American Public Health Association collected some information on students and faculty, but that effort lapsed after 1970. In 1974, the Division of Associated Health Professions, Bureau of Health Manpower, Health Resources Administration, contracted for a new data collection effort that would facilitate an assessment of manpower training for public health and the impact of Federal assistance. During the early 1960s, when fewer than 12 schools graduated less than 2,000 students, data could be collected on a demand basis without significant hardship on the schools or without delay in receiving an adequate response. In 1977-78 there were 20 schools with a combined enrollment of more than 6,800 students and a faculty in excess of 1,750. Professional education in these schools is organized around approximately 21 major specialties. Yet specialty emphasis, curriculums, and administrative organization vary considerably among the schools, as do statistical and fiscal accounting procedures. In an effort to collect needed information, the Division of Associated Health Professions contracted with


Polyamic acid (PAA) containing aromatic ester was synthesized and used to modify the epoxy resin (E-51)/PAA curing system. The mechanical properties, dynamic mechanical properties, fracture surface morphology, and thermal properties of the E-51/PAA curing systems were systematically investigated. Experimental results revealed that the impact strength of the cured systems modified with PAA are 3 to 4 times higher than that of the unmodified system, and enhanced the thermal decomposition temperature by about 15°C, while the storage modulus is also higher than that of the unmodified system, and the fracture surfaces of modified systems display tough fracture feature.


Acoustic vortices are intensely researched in metasurfaces for their potential application in acoustic communication and particle manipulation. By elaborately designing acoustic metasurfaces with phase profiles, an acoustic vortex is obtained. However, most existing studies are limited to the single working frequency and the specific topological charge. To address these limitations, a tunable broadband acoustic vortex generator is designed to generate acoustic vortices with multiple orders. For this purpose, an annulus subwavelength Mie resonator is theoretically proposed first. In the Mie resonator, the multipole mode is excited by coupling eccentric monopole sources at related resonance frequencies. Then coupling the Mie resonance structure and two eccentric monopole sources can realize the multipole crossing, thus generating acoustic vortices with topological charge m of ±1, ±2, ±3, ±4, and ±5. Numerical simulations and an experiment further confirm the theory. In addition, frequency tunability, broadband characteristics, and system robustness are quantitatively studied. The designed vortex generator performs well on these characteristics, which may have potential applications in acoustic communication for multiplexing and demultiplexing.


Many laser drilling applications require that the shape of the drilled hole be carefully controlled. In order to successfully do this it is necessary to understand the laser drilling process. This paper reports on a quantitative model which predicts the depth and shape of a hole drilled in alumina ceramic by a ruby laser. Both experimental and theoretical results indicate that the predominant drilling mechanism for this application is not one of surface absorption and conduction inward, but one in which laser energy is absorbed throughout the bulk of the ceramic. The depth and shape of holes drilled in ceramic have been accurately predicted from the measured beam energy density distribution. Finally, it is shown that the radiation pressure of the focused beam plays an important role in the romoval of molten material from the heated region.


Ivan Nikitich Matochkin (1899 - 1973) is a prominent anatomist of the Soviet era, whose life story, as well as scientific and organizational work, should not be forgotten. He became one of the few outstanding personalities who, having been born in the countryside and striving for knowledge, achieved high results in the professional field. Of particular note is the work of Professor Matochkin in Arkhangelsk, where he arrived from Kazan to head the Department of Normal Anatomy of the Arkhangelsk State Medical Institute (ASMI) in 1940. The list of his merits should include the development of the department headed by him, participation in the organization of the Arkhangelsk branch of the All-Russian Scientific Society of Anatomists, Histologists and Embryologists, the Society Knowledge, numerous scientific works on neuromorphology and angiology, the publication of scientific collections on research topics, management of ASMI, defense of dissertations by many students of Professor Matochkin, which opened the way for them to a bright scientific future. All the significance that the department of normal anatomy, the university to which he devoted many years of his life, was for Ivan Nikitich, allows us to understand the bequeathed heart of the professor. In this article, in addition to the main milestones in the life of Professor I.N. Matochkin, previously unknown archival data are presented that complement the pages of the biography of the scientist.


Acoustic color is a representation of an object, typically 2-D, which is constructed to show the evolution of the spectral response over the aspect of the object. The two natural axes for this representation are frequency and the aspect to the object. It is intuitive to assume finer resolution in both dimensions would lead to more information extractable for improved quality. However, with conventional linear track data collection methods, there is an inherent trade-off between signal processing decisions and the amount of information that can be utilized without loss of quality. In this work, this trade-off is investigated for an object with a simple geometry, and various quality metrics are discussed. For objects with spectral response that changes slowly over aspect, quality can be improved with methods such as synthetic aperture sonar processing. However, the effect of these processing decisions can depend on the type of object being represented. Other representation approaches as extensions of acoust...


Material and methods . The data used, from the acute coronary syndrome registry RECORD-3, in the emergency cardiology department of Tomsk SRI of Cardiology, together with another 51 center in Russia. Based on the absence of presence of NOCA, patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction, who had undergone coronary arteriography, were selected to two independent groups: 27 with NOCA and 571 with OCA. Results. There were no significant differences in the clinical portrait of NOCA and OCA patient. However, palpitation followed angina attack in NOCA patients. In the NOCA, there was significantly lower number of persons with diagnostically relevant raise of cardio specific enzymes. Indirectly, it points on temporary ischemia with no necrosis, or that the area of necrotic myocardium is not large. In NOCA patients, statistically more significantly were absent reciprocal ECG changes. Endpoints as mortality and novel heart failure development had tendency to statistically more significant decrease of prevalence in NOCA patients. As final diagnosis at discharge, in NOCA patients more often another diagnosis was mentioned (including unstable angina, etc.), but not myocardial infarction. The key issues in hospital management of these two groups were identical, except more often prescription of dihydropiridine calcium channel blockers to NOCA patients, and rarer prescription of antiplatelet drugs at discharge. Conclusion. Regardless the fact that prognosis in ACS with NOCA and intact arteries is better than in OCA, it is necessary to analyze thoroughly pathogenesis of the disease in every case, as in this category of patients especially, it is most heterogenic. As these patients have comorbid factors, it is necessary to select the leading one, and to intensify efforts on this factor directly.


To many of us, "half doing" something is quite unthinkable. We are programmed by our upbringing and medical training to believe that if a job's worth doing it must be done properly. In the real world, however, life's not quite like that. In general practice we often have to cut corners because we simply don't have time to do a full examination on every patient.

To diverge slightly, I was once told that many people with messy desks are actually very tidy. This apparent paradox arises from the fact that they prefer to live with the mess if they haven't time to do a thorough job tidying up. They …


A new method to measure electron temperature and electron energy distribution function by an emissive probe has been proposed. The method is based on measurement of the functional relationship between the floating potential and the heating voltage of emissive probe. From the measured data of the floating potential change as a function of the heating voltage, the electron temperature could be determined by comparing with the theoretical curve obtained under the assumption of Maxwellian distribution. The electron temperatures obtained by the present method were consistent with those measured by the rf-compensated Langmuir probe within the error.


Objective To understand HIV associated risk behaviors and its related factors among fishermen in Lvsi harbor of Nantong city,Jiangsu province.Methods Semi-structure interviews were conducted among 30 informants,including fishermen,businessmen,fishing officials,and local public health officials.Results Most of the interviewed fishermen were males and about 80% of them were aged 20 to 45 years,and 90% had received education of less than 9 years.They often engaged in commercial sex,a major behavior putting them at risk to HIV/STDs infection.Factors associated with risky sexual behaviors included occupational characteristics,family tolerance regional differences,individual incomes,perception of risk to infection and management.Conclusions Appropriate interventions should be provided to reduce HIV associated risk behaviors among fishermen.


In this paper we study the application of recommender systems to E-supermarket. The authors analyze personalized requirement for customer in E-supermarket, and design the model of E-supermarket shopping recommender system. A dynamic hybrid recommendation method is presented.


I. In a previous paper [5], we have considered the question of interpolation on finite open Riemann surfaces; it is our intention to show in this note that the problem can be treated in an essentially simpler way. We shall suppose given a finite open Riemann surface, R. Such a surface is, by definition, the complement in some compact Riemann surface of a finite family of closed, pairwise disjoint discs each of which we may assume to have an analytic simple closed curve as boundary. A set ECR is called an interpolation set for R if given a bounded, complex valued function ax on E, there is a bounded holomorphic function f on R such that f I E = a. It is convenient to denote by H14[R] the collection of all functions which are bounded and holomorphic on R. For our characterization of interpolation sets in R we introduce a functional dR(z, E) as follows: If zEE, then


The invention discloses a method for preparing a copper-indium-selenium optoelectronic thin film material of a solar cell and belongs to the technical field of the preparation of optoelectronic thin films for solar cells. The method prepares the copper-indium-selenium optoelectronic thin film material of the solar cell by the following steps: firstly, cleaning a glass substrate; secondly, placing CuCl2.2H2O, InCl3.4H2O and SeO2 into a solvent; thirdly, adjusting the pH value of the solution to 7.5; fourthly, obtaining a precursor thin film by drying; fifthly, placing the precursor thin film sample into a closed reactor containing hydrazine hydrate and preventing the precursor thin film sample from contacting the hydrazine; and finally, obtaining a copper-indium-selenium optoelectronic thin film by drying. The method does not require high temperature and high vacuum conditions, has low requirements on instruments and is low in product cost, high in production efficiency and easy to operate. The obtained copper-indium-selenium optoelectronic thin film has excellent continuity and uniformity, and the main phase of the obtained copper-indium-selenium optoelectronic thin film is a CuInSe2 phase. The process allows for easily control of the components and structure of a target product and provides low cost and large-scale industrial production of high-performance copper-indium-selenium optoelectronic thin films.


T HE INVESTIGATIONS for which the 1969 Stouffer Prize was awarded center around the function of aldosterone in hypertension. It has been known for many years that the adrenal cortical secretions are in some way involved in the mechanisms of both experimental and clinical hypertension, and this led to such attempted treatments as partial aind total adrenalectomy and adrenal denervation. Furthermore, there was evidence that the adrenal cortex contained a saltretaining hormone which was increased in the urine of patients with congestive failure. The discovery of aldosterone greatly clarified this aspect, shortly followed by Davis' basic and elegant experiments on the physiologic functions of this hormone. Jerome Conn described a new syndrome in man, primary aldosteronism, wvith its hypertension and its cure by renmoval of adrenal cortical tumors. Deane and Masson had observed the hypertrophy of the zona glomerulosa following development of experimental renal hypertension whether as a result of a clamp on the renal artery or a cellophane perinephric hull and following injection of renin. With the development of methods for measuring both the secretion rate from the adrenal glands and excretion of aldosterone in the urine, it became possible for Jacques Genest and John Laragh concurrently to show that angiotensin was the primary substance controlling the secretion of aldosterone. This has led to further insight into the mechanisms and diagnosis of both primary and secondary aldosteronism. Franz Gross codified and added strong experimental evidence derived from animals, a schema which emphasized the close association of angiotensin stimulation, the secretion of aldosterone, the retention of Na+, and the rise in arterial pressure. It is always difficult to select among the many who have made important contributions in a particular area of research, but it must be done if competitive stimulation is to be furthered by the recognition engendered by the Prize. Both the Prize winners and many others have carried out investigations concerned with the adrenal cortex and have contributed significantly to the understanding of the mosaic of mechanisms which control blood pressure. Also, the treatment of hypertension, both surgically by removal of adrenal cortical aldosterone-secreting tumors and the use of aldosterone antagonists such as spironolactone, has been strikingly improved. This again emphasizes the truly international character of science. IRviNE H. PAGFE and JAMES W. MCCUBBIN Cleveland, Ohio


year gap between occupation phases. The later artifact inventory is interpreted as representing small groups engaged in gathering wild-plant products and occupying the areas seasonally. The earlier peoples probably placed more emphasis on hunting. A discouraging theme which runs through all four papers is the extensiveness of the relic collectors' destruction of the archaeological record. This has so seriously limited interpretations that it would seem worthwhile to plan a major project to trace amateur collections and obtain whatever data can be salvaged, if any. Editorial problems are minor, and we may look forward to more reports of equal quality in this series.


A distributed software system is a complex composition of distributed application modules and middleware services. This complexity surfaces internally in the middleware construction, as well as externally in the programming models supported and services offered. There is a growing need to reduce this complexity both internally and externally. This requires enhanced modularity of middleware services, advanced separation of concerns between application logic and non-functional concerns, as well as sophisticated composition techniques, resulting in modular and expressive composition specifications, that are robust and evolvable. The goal of this dissertation is to study, create and develop a composition technology for distributed software systems that incorporates such requirements. This composition technology should be supported and enforced by a component and composition model in the middleware for the development of distributed software systems. Such component and composition models must meet the following goals: 1. Advanced separation of concerns with robust composition. The (de)composition model must support separation of concerns to decouple application logic and middleware service composition logic, and to modularize both into separate entities. The compositions and supported interactions between the different entities must be specifiable in the contracts and the interfaces of the different entities, and such contracts must be enforced to achieve robust and correct compositions. 2. Powerful, expressive composition logic. More complex compositions must be supported, by means of powerful, more expressive composition logic to reason about the different software entities residing in a distributed software system. 3. Role-based task division, reuse and refinement. The roles in the development process each have their own responsibilities in the composition of distributed software systems. Therefore, the composition technology must support decomposition, reuse and refinement of expressive composition logic across multiple applications and/or deployment contexts. Such composition technology must enable appropriate separation of concerns in time, in size, in qualities and in responsibilities across the roles in the development process. Initial AO-middleware research shows promising results on separation of concerns, ease-of-composition and customization of middleware platforms [CC04, BCH03, CG04, ZGJ05a, ZGJ05b]. However, AO-middleware still lacks important requirements such as robust composition, expressive distributed composition, as well as role-based task division, reuse and evolvability of composition logic. Our overall approach is to comprehensively integrate the concepts of AOSD and CBSD into the middleware's composition model, to achieve the three goals we defined above. The basic concepts in the component and composition model are an aspect-component and aspect oriented composition. The application of AOSD/CBSD ideas to middleware is not new [PDFS01, JBo08a, Spr08], but the aspectcomponent and AO-middleware research communities have so far focused on only a part of what we see as a much broader problem space. State-of-the art aspectcomponent based middleware cannot deal with the requirements for middleware stated above, or can only deal partly with each of the requirements. In essence, AO-middleware still lacks a comprehensive integration of AOSD and CBSD concepts. This lack of comprehensive integration is characterized by 1) a lack of explicit interfaces for robust AO-composition, to achieve safe and correct compositions, 2) a lack of expressive power to specify distributed expressive compositions in modular, declarative specifications, and 3) a lack of support for role-based task division of composition specifications within the middleware's component based development process. This three-fold lack of integration between AOSD and CBSD as middleware composition technology is at the basis of the three main contributions for this dissertation. 1. Explicit interfaces for robust AO-composition. We define the DyMAC AOcomposition model that supports explicit interfaces for AO-composition. First, we offer expressive power to state what an advised component provides in an AO-composition. This expressive power is supported by means of Aspect Integration Contracts. Second, we offer expressive power to state what an advised component requires (and that some advising component thus must provide). This is supported by means of Aspectual Dependencies. 2. Distributed AO-composition. We introduce expressive, declarative composition abstractions that support distributed AO-composition, which leverages the concepts of AO-composition to distributed computing, and enables nonlocal aspect-based composition. This composition technology supports expressive event-condition-action specifications that reason about events and conditions in a distributed software system and that can trigger distributed actions. This achievement is realized as a distribution extension to the DyMAC component and composition model. 3. Role-based task division, reuse and refinement. To achieve role-based task division of composition logic we support well-separated, reusable and refinable AO-compositions throughout the component-based development process of distributed software systems. This is supported in the M-Stage development model for distributed software systems. We have integrated these concepts in a middleware prototype, and benchmark results show that our AO-composition model can be implemented with acceptable performance overhead.


This is a general industry guide that includes resources and tools to help all HR students do research in the field of Human Resources.


Abstract : This report provides an overview of results on workplace issues obtained from the 2002 Status of the Armed Forces Survey on Workplace and Gender Relations. This survey was administered between December 2001 and April 2002 to a sample of almost 60,000 active-duty members below the rank of admiral or general, with at least 6 months of service at the time the first survey was mailed. Over 19,960 eligible Service members returned usable surveys, representing an adjusted response rate of 36%. This report is organized into six chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 provide background information on the history of the survey, survey administration procedures, and analytic methods used in the report. Each subsequent chapter focuses on a different survey topic, with findings presented by Service and paygrade groups.


— A parallelized 3D self-consistent electro-static particle-in-cell finite element (PIC-FEM) code using an unstructured tetra-hedral mesh was developed. For simulating some applications with external permanent magnet set, the distribution of the magnetostatic field usually also need to be considered and determined accurately. In this paper, we will firstly present the development of a 3D magnetostatic field solver with an unstructured mesh for the flexibility of modeling objects with complex geometry. The vector Poisson equation for magnetostatic field is formulated using the Galerkin nodal finite element method and the resulting matrix is solved by parallel conjugate gradient method. A parallel adaptive mesh refinement module is coupled to this solver for better resolution. Completed solver is then verified by simulating a permanent magnet array with re-sults comparable to previous experimental observations and simulations. By taking the advantage of the same unstructured grid format of this solver, the developed PIC-FEM code could directly and easily read the magnetostatic field for particle simulation. In the upcoming conference, magnetron is simulated and presented for demonstrating the capability of this code.


Racism continues to divide, separate, oppress and hurt—as was seen by recent global events. The church, because of the very nature of the Gospel of Christ, is called to bring unity, reconciliation, justice, healing and peace. The current crisis and threat of racism call for a time of new opportunity and new resurrections, forged from resistances that breathe a new life, of which the Belhar Confession can be a beacon of light. This article focuses on how the theological framework of Mary-Anne Elizabeth Plaatjies-Van Huffel and the Belhar Confession provide a historic opportunity to stand in solidarity with the voices of those who are suffocating ("can't breathe"). It is an emphatic call for the church to denounce and address all forms of racism and injustice.


-Major revolution takes place in technology today is the digital technology taking over analog technology and converting it into centralized cloud and wireless systems. With the rapid advancements in wireless technology, small devices began to be utilized in almost all parts of various regions in day to day life. These small devices are equipped for sensing, computation and communication. This technological invention is widely known as Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). This advanced sensor technology is used in various application scenarios such as environment, agriculture and healthcare too. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) play a vital role in Internet of Things (IoT) and different types of real time applications such as military surveillance, healthcare monitoring and manufacturing. Although the advancements in WSN, it has security threats. Authentication is the very important part in Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) only authenticated user is allowed to access the realtime sensing information. In this paper we propose an effective and secure three-factor authentication and key agreement scheme for WSN. Keywords— authentication, key management, privacy, wireless sensor networks, security


Session 4 Conventional and Novel Methodologies for Plant Improvement ABSTRACT SSR-(single sequence repeat), and RAPD (randomly amplified polymorphic DNA) primer generated DNA fingerprints were used to distinguish a new genotype of quackgrass from its original type of Agropyron repenes L. Beauv. (= Elytrigia repens). Products of polymerase chain reactions (PCR) were separated by agarose (AGE) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Although, both kinds of primers were found to be polymorphic, the microsatellite primer with sequence of 5í-AC(GACA)4-3í generated distinguishing fingerprints in the two types of quackgrasses. This result gives genetic evidence for the new genotype of quackgrass.


We describe a 4-year-old boy with various facial dysmorphic features such as downslanting palpebral fissures, ptosis, hypertelorism, broad nasal bridge, small and low-set ears, broad philtrum, and micrognathia. In addition, profound mental retardation, myopia, muscular hypotonia as well as genital and cardiovascular abnormalities are also present. Refinement of the breakpoints by cytogenetic techniques, in particular the increase of banding resolution in conventional cytogenetic analysis, has enabled the correct diagnosis, as proven by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) using whole chromosome painting and single copy probes. We were able to demonstrate an unbalanced translocation that the patient inherited from his father resulting in a submicroscopic monosomy 16p13.3 and a trisomy 2p24.2-pter.


The invention discloses a method and a device for inserting data into databases. The method includes acquiring row data required to be inserted into first data tables of the databases; inserting the data into the databases according to a certain mode. Data items in each row data are in one-to-one correspondence to fields in the corresponding first data table, and the first data tables correspond to first counters, first buffer areas and first read-write locks. The certain mode includes adding one to each first counter and placing the row data into the first buffer areas; judging whether count values in the first counters reach set threshold values or not; setting the count values in the first counters as zero if the count values in the first counters reach the set threshold value, placing all the row data buffered in the first buffer areas into the first data tables, clearing all the row data buffered in the first buffer areas and executing the step for acquiring row data; executing the step for acquiring row data if the count values in the first counters do not reach the set threshold values; performing read-write operation during the operation for inserting the data into the databases in at least one access control period of the first read-write locks.


Several polymeric coatings are dried by blowing jets of hot air on them from the top and bottom sides in multizone dryers. The goal of quickly removing solvent from a coating by manipulating air flow and temperature, together called operating conditions in this work, conflicts with the goal of producing blister-free coatings. Optimum operating conditions ensure both minimum residual solvent and no defects. Determining optimum conditions for multizone dryers is a difficult task with severe convergence problems. In this work, an easy method is developed to determine near-optimum operating conditions and residence times. The results indicate that the air flow on the top side should always be lower than or equal to that on the bottom side; the minimum residence time in first zone should be such that, toward the end, the solvent concentration starts to fall at the bottom. As long as the residence times are reasonably long, several different combinations of residence times in the second and subsequent zones nea...


Friendship networks account for a large part of an individual's economic success or failure in life. Using data from the German TwinLife study, we explore, within a classical twin design, to which extent friendship networks are related to genes. We find a substantial heritability component in twins' network sizes and network homophily, but not in twins' network closeness. Addressing indirect ways in which genes could influence network characteristics, we do not find evidence that shared hobbies affects networks.


This work is a comprehensive theoretical study of a new class of structures – magnetoelectric gradient structures, which are a product of the integration of magnetoelectric mutliferroic layered structures and an artificial dielectric. In this paper, a mathematical model of the behaviour of a layered multiferroic structure in inhomogeneous electric and magnetic fields is built on the basis of solving Maxwell's equations, taken in the magnetostatic approximation, and the equation of motion of the magnetization. Based on the constructed mathematical model, the influence on the spectrum of eigenwaves of stationary magnetic and electric fields, as well as the values of the dielectric constant of an artificial dielectric layer, are analysed. The results of the study confirm the possibility of designing a new class of electronically controlled microwave devices with a triple control mechanism: magnetic field – electric field – artificial distribution of dielectric constant.


This chapter first introduces the mathematical concept of aperiodic and quasiperiodic functions, which will form the theoretical basis of the superspace description of the new recently discovered forms of matter. They are divided in three groups, namely modulated phases, composites, and quasicrystals. It is shown how the atomic structures and their symmetry can be characterized and described by the new concept. The classification of superspace groups is introduced along with some examples. For quasicrystals, the notion of approximants is also introduced for a better understanding of their structures. Finally, alternatives for the descriptions of the new materials are presented along with scaling symmetries. Magnetic systems and time-reversal symmetry are also introduced.


The purpose of this article is to discuss the legal issues involved in police vehicular pursuits and identify the factors that should be considered by law enforcement organizations in policy development, training, and supervision of pursuit situations. High-speed pursuit driving often poses a greater risk to innocent citizens than police use of a deadly weapon. The hazards inherent in a vehicular pursuit to officers, suspects, and other motorists must be balanced against the need for immediate apprehension. Despite some differences in State laws, the basis for most pursuit-related liability is negligence. Pursuit litigation usually focuses on whether the police acted prudently and reasonably under the circumstances. Most State laws provide that police drivers operating a pursuit vehicle are under a legal duty to drive with due regard for the safety of others and may be liable for the consequences of their negligent or reckless conduct. The first section of this article discusses some general principles of liability applicable to police pursuits, including: (1) Duty owed, (2) proximate cause, (3) immunity, (4) Federal Civil Rights Act, (5) suits by injured officers, and (6) criminal prosecutions. The second section discusses eight factors that determine liability in a particular pursuit situation. The final section discusses departmental responsibility for liability reduction in the areas of (1) policy development, (2) training, (3) supervision, and (4) evaluation and documentation.


Vast majority of the data warehouses have less than few terabytes of data and their performance for complex queries on traditional database systems are often not very satisfactory. Data warehouse appliances have been announced by vendors (HP Oracle Exadata Storage server, HP Neoview, Neteeza etc.) to address this burgeoning need. Most of these involve creating a large parallel database systems using scale-out of commodity machines and/or pushing filters into disk retrieval system to reduce the data coming to memory; these done along the lines pioneered by research projects such as Gamma, Bubba and other prior database machine research. These approaches deliver performance by deploying many CPUs, large amount of memory, large number of disk-heads & disk space and in effect extracting performance by under utilizing the resources -- albeit very inexpensive commodity resources. In contrast we propose a database system in a box (i.e., a single system) that can deliver high performance for complex queries while utilizing much less resources (memory, disks etc.); i.e., better resource utilization and therefore lower cost. This approach consists of using column store (pioneered in the Bubba project) which has the effect of 1) reducing the need for large number of disk heads (i.e., I/O bandwidth); and 2) reducing the need for large amount of memory for achieving memory-resident query execution. Having mitigated the disk I/O problem using column store & memory, the Von Neumann bottleneck becomes the force majeure. This problem has been pursued by database researchers in the context of cache-conscious query execution. Unfortunately, traditional CPUs provide limited control to "page" the data into the cache and retain it there to leverage the cache effectively. Our approach is to leverage a custom dataflow machine that can be coupled with a large memory and thereby practically eliminating the Von Neumann bottleneck. Besides mitigating this bottleneck, the exploitation of fine-grained pipelined and operator parallelism in hardware provides significant performance improvement. This results in a low-cost high-performance database appliance for vast majority of the data warehouse market. Kickfire has shown that such an appliance can deliver both price/performance and raw performance as compared to the competitive approaches. Note that this high performance appliance does not preclude leveraging scale-out; i.e., it can itself be used to scale-out to a much larger database in the future.


Food retains a central importance in family life, which extends beyond its nutritional necessity. Through in-depth interviews with 39 mothers of pre-school children, this study focuses on how mothers negotiate the complex and competing priorities of feeding their children. Mothers are expected to feed their children, according to expert definitions of appropriate nutrition, whilst taking account of individual food preferences and structural constraints. The ways that feeding children intersects with the construction of 'good' mother or how mothers negotiate external information and advice on feeding their children has not been the focus of much research. This research considers these issues at a time when government policy remains focused on health, lifestyles and obesity. This study shows that mothers feel the responsibility of motherhood strongly whilst accepting their accountability. It also shows that feeding children is one of the main concerns of mothers of young children and one that occupies a great deal of time. By talking to mothers of different ages and living in different social circumstances, this study shows that all mothers accept the links between food and health and all take account of these links as they look to their children's future health. All mothers seek external sources of information and advice but sources differ with mothers' age and social class. Expertise is found not to be the preserve of those with formal qualifications as mothers talked of how expertise is negotiated. Mothers therefore work hard to negotiate their own versions of good motherhood through their food decision-making. By focusing on the aspects of feeding children that are considered the most important at any given time, mothers are able to negotiate their own sense of good motherhood.


This chapter discusses the needs and challenges of future smart cities and the critical role wireless devices play in conveying the information needed to operate the smart cities. It shows that the open spectrum regime provides a compelling solution to the demands of having a connected city, that cognitive radio (CR) is the solution to exploit this free spectrum, and that the frequency envelope modulation (FEM) and network organization scheme provides a way for CRs to effectively form ad hoc networks in an efficient manner. Smart cities essentially require augmenting a city's existing infrastructure with an advanced command and control network to control the flow of resources. The issues relating to resource sharing have been studied extensively in the literature. At the physical (PHY) and medium access control (MAC) layers, spectrum sensing, spectrum handoff, and spectrum management are fundamental issues.


A shallow marine faunule of eight taxa from the Kings Park Formation of the Perth Basin is the first described Paleocene molluscan assemblage from Western Australia. These species are part of a depauperate suite of macroinvertebrates (molluscs, echinoids and corals) derived from deep, onshore caissons in Perth and are inferred to be late Paleocene in age, based on planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy and associated age ranges of the molluscan fauna. Bivalves are Sarepta austranaxa sp. nov. (Sareptidae), Solemya kingsparki sp. nov. (Solemyidae), Periploma vivarirex sp. nov. (Periplomatidae), Parvamussium sp. nov.? (Propeamussiidae), Serripecten? sp. (Pectinidae) and Venericardia (Rotundicardia) petraea Darragh (Carditidae). Gastropods are Levifusus? sp. cf. L.? quadrifunifer Darragh (Buccinidae), and Columbarium rumatoides Darragh (Turbinellidae). Bivalves dominate the fauna in dark, glauconitic siltstone and sandstone facies; gastropods are of relatively poor preservation and low diversity.


It is important to generate aluminum oxide layer on the surface of aluminum in order to enhance the adhesion of the dye molecules in coloring aluminum industry. One of the major advantages of aluminum is the formation of a resistant oxide layer naturally, but the thickness of this layer is not high enough and it should be damaged due to lack of mechanical strength. However, the thickness of oxide layer can be increased through anodizing; this process improves its abrasion and corrosion resistance as well as its mechanical properties. In the present study, specimens of pure aluminum were anodized under galvanostatic condition in sulfuric acid electrolyte and porous nanostructured aluminum oxide layer was formed. Porosity of the anodized layer was controlled by optimizing the working conditions such as electrolyte concentration, anodizing time and current density. Finally, the specimens were electrolytically colored by applying alternating current to copper (Cu) solutions. Colored coatings were created at constant voltage and different coloring duration. The results indicated that the shade of different metal ions can be optimized by controlling the coloring parameters, the longer time of coloring results in the darker colors. The samples were examined by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical test.


The authors fabricated magnetic nanowires using electrochemical deposition technique and reported the growth of different types of nanowires and their manipulation on patterned magnetic structures. Short (5 micron) Ni wires and longer (20 micron) Au/Ni/Au/Ni were used as templates with the commercially available aluminium oxide porous membranes. To observe the ordering behavior of short nanowires on magnetic pattern, 20-nm thick NiFe squares was fabricated using optical lithography and SEM was used to show structure of aluminum oxide templates and the aggregation of patterned nanowires. The NiFe arrays were magnetized in a magnetic field and a solution of a short Ni nanowires was applied on top of the structures. Results showed that nanowires follow the magnetic field direction and it is possible to separate particles attached to nanowires by using magnetic fields. Also, it was observed that longer permanently magnetized nanowires arranged themselves according to their own dipole field.


We design a wind speed simulator with the principle of wind sensor,a coder based brushless motor and a AVR microcontroller as the core controller.Experimental results show that the simulator satisfies the requirements for design.It has such positives as small volume,low power consumption,high precision and reliability,so it can accurately test the data of a wind sensor.


The fluorine content of groundwater exceeds the standard in most areas of China. In this study, the self-made mesoporous carbon electrode combined with the ion exchange membrane was used to form a ...


* The author expresses appreciation to Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, a crucial guide to this essay from the beginning, and to Arthur Aryeh Goren, under whose tutelage the project developed further. The work of both scholars is critical to understanding the American-Israel Pavilion and the controversy over the Jordan Pavilion mural that erupted at the Fair. Thanks are due also to Jack Wertheimer for his comments on an initial draft, and to Edna Nahshon for her insightful comments and patient editing. 1. "Israel Should Be at World's Fair," National Jewish Post and Opinion, November 16, 1962, 2. It's the Real World After All:


Peer-To-Peer (P2P) networks like Gnutella improve some shortcomings of Conventional Search Engines (CSE) such as centralized and outdated indexing by distributing the search engines over the peers, which maintain their updated local contents. But they are designed for sharing and searching the contents in personal computers instead of websites. In this work, we propose a novel web information retrieval method called Site-To-Site (S2S) searching, which uses the P2P framework with CGI as protocol. It helps the site owners to turn their websites into autonomous search engines without extra hardware and software costs. In this paper, we introduce S2S searching with some related work. We also describe the system architecture and communication protocol. Finally, we summarize the experimental results, and show that S2S searching works well in one thousand sites.


In this paper, we study the explicit representation of Pal-type weighted (0;0,2)-interpolation on the unit circle on two pairwise disjoint sets of nodes obtained by projecting vertically the zeros of (1−x^2)P_n (x) and (1−x^2)P''_n (x) respectively onto the unit circle, where P_n (x) stands for nth Legendre polynomial.


Research question Pulmonary disease progression in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) is characterised by inflammation and fibrosis and aggravated by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa). We investigated the impact of Pa specifically on: 1) protease/antiprotease balance; 2) inflammation; and 3) the link of both parameters to clinical parameters of CF patients. Methods Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-8, neutrophil elastase (NE) and elastase inhibitor elafin were measured (ELISA assays), and gene expression of the NF-κB pathway was assessed (reverse transcriptase PCR) in the sputum of 60 CF patients with a minimum age of 5 years. Spirometry was assessed according to American Thoracic Society guidelines. Results Our results demonstrated the following: 1) NE was markedly increased in Pa-positive sputum, whereas elafin was significantly decreased; 2) increased IL-1β/IL-8 levels were associated with both Pa infection and reduced forced expiratory volume in 1 s, and sputum TGF-β1 was elevated in Pa-infected CF patients and linked to an impaired lung function; and 3) gene expression of NF-κB signalling components was increased in sputum of Pa-infected patients, and these findings were positively correlated with IL-8. Conclusion Our study links Pa infection to an imbalance of NE and NE inhibitor elafin and increased inflammatory mediators. Moreover, our data demonstrate an association between high TGF-β1 sputum levels and a progress in chronic lung inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis in CF. Controlling the excessive airway inflammation by inhibition of NE and TGF-β1 might be promising therapeutic strategies in future CF therapy and a possible complement to cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulators. P. aeruginosa infection is linked to an imbalance of NE and NE inhibitor elafin, and increased TGF-β1 sputum levels. Inhibition of NE and TGF-β1 are promising therapeutic strategies in future CF therapy. https://bit.ly/3emeI0u


These abstracts are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License. Go to http://iovs.arvojournals.org/ to access the versions of record. Purpose: Previous studies reported that a reduction in pore density occurs in eyes with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), indicating that this reduction may contribute to the elevated outflow resistance characteristic of this disease. This study aimed to determine, under flow conditions, whether release of connections between Schlemm's canal (SC) inner wall (IW) cells and underlying juxtacanalicular connective tissue (JCT) cells plays a role in GV formation; and whether decreased amount of cell margin overlap between adjacent IW cells promotes paracellular pore formation using advanced 3D EM reconstruction. Methods: Normal human eyes (N=3) were either immersion-fixed (0mmHg) or perfusion-fixed (15mmHg). Frontal and radial sections of SC were processed for serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBF-SEM). The IW and JCT cells, GVs, and pores were 3D-reconstructed. Morphometric analyses were performed. In each IW cell, total number of connections with underlying JCT cells was determined. Total cell margin length (ML) and zero-overlap length (ZL) of each IW cell were measured to calculate percent zero-overlap length (PZL=ZL/ML). All data was compared between the eyes fixed at 0 and 15mmHg using Student's t-test. Results: Total number of connections between each IW cell with underlying JCT cells significantly decreased in the eye fixed at 15mmHg (33±5, N=4 cells) compared to the eyes fixed at 0mmHg (180±12, N=5 cells, p<0.001). The maximum volume of GVs significantly increased in the eye fixed at 15mmHg (199.05±12.11 µm 3) compared to those fixed at 0mmHg (74.12±27.54 µm 3 , p<0.01). All intracellular pores were found only in the thinnest regions of GV walls. The amount of overlap between adjacent IW cells significantly decreased (0.52±0.19µm vs. 3.71±0.20µm, p<0.0001), and PZL increased 26.68% (p=0.001) in the eye fixed at 15mmHg vs. those fixed at 0mmHg. All paracellular pores were found only in regions where the overlap length was zero µm. Conclusions: Our innovative use of SBF-SEM permits 3D ultrastructural analyses of the two types of cellular connections between IW/JCT and IW/IW cells. Our data suggests that these two types of connections each play a role in GV and pore formation in normal human eyes under flow conditions. Results of this study provide a baseline for future comparison with POAG eyes. Purpose: The trabecular meshwork (TM) regulates aqueous humor outflow and intraocular pressure (IOP). The effects of TGF-β signaling pathways …


We use ion chromatogram technique to determine the anion and cation ion concentrations in pore waters.Metrosep A Supp4-250 type column and 1.8 mmol/L Na_(2)CO_(3)+1.7 mmol/L NaHCO_(3)mixed solution in anion system are used to determine concentrations of Cl~(-),Br~(-)and SO~(2-)_4 in pore water,and Metrosep C 2-150 type column and 4 mmol/L tartaric acid+0.75 mmol/L C_(7)H_(5)NO_(4) mixed solution in cation system are used to determine concentrations of Na~(+),NH~+_4,K~(+),Ca~(2+)and Mg~(2+).The results indicate that correlation coefficient between measured and standard values for each ion in standard solutions preponderates over 0.999.The detection limit is less than 0.5 mg/L,and the relative standard deviation is better than 3%.In particular,we carried out special experiment to measure Br~(-)concentration under high Cl~(-) concentration background as well as NH~+_4concentration under high Na~(+) concentration background.Right now,a tentative ion chromatograph method for analyzing concentrations of cations and anions in pore water from marine sediments has been established in our lab.This method has been proved to be rapid,simple,sensitive,and accurate.


1: Determining Data Types 2: Getting the Big Picture: Understanding Numerical Data 3: Getting the Big Picture: Understanding Categorical Data 4: Standard Score and Deviation Score 5: Let's Obtain the Probability 6: Let's Look at the Relationship Between Two Variables 7: Let's Explore the Hypothesis Tests


Quantum contextuality and its ontological meaning are very controversial issues, and they relate to other problems concerning the foundations of quantum theory. I address this controversy and stress the fact that contextuality is a universal topological property of quantum processes, which conflicts with the basic metaphysical assumption of the definiteness of being. I discuss the consequences of this fact and argue that generic quantum potentiality as a real physical indefiniteness has nothing in common with the classical notions of possibility and counterfactuality, and that also it reverses, in a way, the classical mirror-like relation between actuality and definite possibility.


As spectral clustering has the advantage of recognizing non-convex distribution, it has been widely used in image segmentation and other areas. However, when the spectral clustering algorithm deals with large size images, in order to get the affinity matrix, it costs a lot of computation time, so its applications are limited. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a fast image segmentation algorithm based on spectral clustering. Firstly, we separate the large size image into several smaller images which are segmented in advance, and combine the segmentation results of each smaller image. Then a point is randomly selected in the integrated results to constitute the feature data of the large size image. The feature data is clustered to get the image segmentation results by using the spectral clustering method. Finally, we show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm by experiments and compare with the common used image segmentation method.


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Using the theory of vertex operator algebras and intertwining operators, we obtain presentations for the principal subspaces of all the standard $\widehat{\goth{sl}(3)}$-modules. Certain of these presentations had been conjectured and used in work of Calinescu to construct exact sequences leading to the graded dimensions of certain principal subspaces. We prove the conjecture in its full generality for all standard $\widehat{\goth{sl}(3)}$-modules. We then provide a conjecture for the case of $\widehat{\goth{sl}(n+1)}$.


The use of bidara has developed from time to time. As technology develops, the use of bidara can be found in the world of medical treatment. This is what interests the writer to find out about the use of bidara as a natural anti-cancer drug and the interpretation of bidara trees reviewed in the Qur'an, sura Saba' verse 16. In this study, the author used a qualitative approach with the Library Research technique. The method used is descriptive-analysis. The primary source in this study is the book of Tafsir Ibn Katsîr and the secondary sources are magazines or articles, journals and scientific works related to research. The results of this study are the use of active compounds contained in bidara leaves, namely alkaloids, sapori, tani, and steroids. According to Jannah's research results (2018), sea bidara leaf extract has the potential to inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells (1470) in vitro with values of ethanol extract, chloroform fraction, and n-hexane fraction of 5814, Mn, and 384 respectively. The katsir regarding the bidara in surah Saba': 16 states that the bidara (As-Sidr) in the sentence Min sidrin qalīl (a few bidara trees) in this context Ibn katṡīr interprets the pronunciation of As-Sidr as a substitute for good trees because of the disbelief of the Saba people '


To realize the air-conditioning control of the clean operating room, the controlling requests of the clean operating room air-conditioning are analyzed in this paper. According the air dispose system, the control system, which is consisted with computer, information panel and programmable logic controller,are designed. The air-conditioning control strategy is built to realize the requests of the clean operating room.


AbstractThe role of warm conveyor belts (WCBs) and their associated positive low-level potential vorticity (PV) anomalies are investigated for extratropical cyclones in Northern Hemisphere winter, using ERA-Interim and composite techniques. The Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.68 implies a moderate to strong correlation between cyclone intensification and WCB strength. Hereby, cyclone intensification is quantified by the normalized maximum 24-h central sea level pressure deepening and WCB strength by the WCB air mass associated with the cyclone's 24-h period of strongest deepening. Explosively intensifying cyclones typically have strong WCBs and pronounced WCB-related PV production in the cyclone center; they are associated with a WCB of type W2, which ascends close to the cyclone center. Cyclones with similar WCB strength but weak intensification are either diabatic Rossby waves, which do not interact with an upper-level disturbance, or cyclones where much of the WCB-related PV production occurs far...


Objective: To examine the influence of Primary Stroke Center (PSC) growth on disparities in tPA use.
Background: Using tPA for acute stroke when the symptom burden is high and contraindications are absent is a life-saving and disability reducing treatment that is underutilized. No study has examined if rural-urban disparities in tPA use have improved since the Joint Commission began certifying hospitals as PSCs in 2004.
Design/Methods: We used hospital discharge data from the National Inpatient Sample from 2000-2010 to identify indicators of tPA utilization, describe temporal trends in demographic and geographic disparities in acute stroke care. We calculated the relative percentage of rural-urban inequity present in each state, comparing observed vs. expected inequity (100[percnt] indicates maximum rural-urban inequity and 0[percnt] indicates the expected rural-urban difference in tPA).
Results: Of 914,500 cases of acute stroke between 2001 and 2010, 2.3[percnt] (N=21, 190) received tPA. Racial disparities in tPA receipt improved from 2001-2010 for African Americans and Native Americans (prevalence ratio 2001-2010: 0.58 to 0.70 and 0.59 to 0.64, respectively). However, the rural-urban disparity in tPA use grew: tPA use in urban hospitals more than quadrupled (1.17[percnt] to 4.87[percnt]), compared to rural hospitals (0.87[percnt] to 1.59[percnt]). Hawaii, Kansas, and Nebraska were the only states where growth in tPA in rural hospitals outpaced the growth in urban hospitals. Of 33 states with available data, 15 were reached/ exceeded 75[percnt] of the maximum rural-urban inequality for 2004 and 2010. PSC growth occurred primarily in urban areas, but odds of tPA receipt increased with local PSC certification for both urban (AOR 2.01, 1.74-2.32) and rural (AOR 1.81, 1.11-2.96) patients.
Conclusions: Geographic disparities in tPA utilization have increased despite PSC growth. Greater understanding of the effectors of tPA utilization is necessary to ensure that access to tPA treatment is equitable for all communities in the US. Disclosure: Dr. Gonzles has nothing to disclose. Dr. Thibault has nothing to disclose. Dr. Willis has nothing to disclose.


High rates of exit remain the "Achilles heel" of many microfinance organizations. After reviewing definitional issues, the paper explores how exit rates adversely affect both their commercial and social objectives. It then reviews case studies of exit monitoring based on routine, questionnaire based and focus group methods, making detailed suggestions as to how data collection, analysis and reporting can be improved. Journal of Microfinance Volume 4 Number 2 2 remains "unfinished business" for two reasons. First, the extent to which high exit rates adversely affects both commercial and social goals of MFOs is still understated. Second, current exit monitoring practices remain weak. The middle sections of this paper develop these arguments in turn. The last section concludes with a set of specific recommendations for MFOs and for the industry more generally. These include the case for (a) investing more in exit monitoring, (b) doing so more systematically and routinely, (c) being more consistent in definition and measurement of exit and related concepts, and (d) improving the reliability and cost-effectiveness of protocols for collection and analysis of data on why people leave. The context of this paper is an ongoing action research project called Imp-Act, sponsored by the Ford Foundation and involving a network of more than thirty microfinance organizations in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In addition, the paper draws on case-study material from exit studies of village banking organizations in Malawi and Zambia. It is useful to start by considering precisely what the term "exit rate" (E) means. The most commonsense definition is the percentage of a specified population of users of a service in period T who do not continue using the service during period T+1. Its opposite, the retention rate (R), can be defined as the percentage of users of a particular service in period T who continue to use it in time T+1. Four complications then arise. First, exit and retention rates vary according to the time interval adopted for their measurement. To illustrate, consider the case of a village bank that provides loans on a routine 16week cycle. It then seems obvious to define the exit rate as the proportion of borrowers in one cycle not taking a loan in the next cycle. But the interval between cycles is not fixed. This is because the struggle to repay one external loan to the village bank often delays receipt of the next loan. It follows that it is James Copestake is the Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics and International Development at the University of Bath. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


In recent years, the roles of cognitive and emotional processes in student demoralization have become important research topics. Drawing from the educational and sport psychology research literature, this paper (a) presents an attributional analysis of chronic failure experiences in physical education settings, (b) identifies and describes two important antecedents of student demoralization; namely, the competitive achievement structures of our traditional school systems and reactive teaching behaviors, and (c) outlines equity teaching approaches, proactive teaching styles, and reattribution training as potential remedies for chronic student failure experiences. The suggestion is made that teachers of physical education need to be sensitized to attribution theory if they are to fully understand both the adaptive and maladaptive implications of their own teaching behaviors, and that they should enhance the motivation of all students, not just those who currently excel.


Background and Purposes: Rubber foams have been used extensively clinically to alter somatosensory inputs from the ankle joints and the foot soles so that the compensatory ability of the visual and vestibular systems can be examined. However, it is not clear if other balance-related factors are also altered in such maneuvers. The purpose of this study was, by experimentally inducing somatosensory loss of the foot and ankle, to verify if the somatosensation of the ankle and foot was the only factor changed during standing on the foam. Methods: Somatosensory loss was induced in 14 healthy subjects by inflating pneumatic cuffs above bilateral ankle joints to produce vascularischemia. Postural sway was assessed under four conditions: pre-ischemia ground standing, pre-ischemia foam standing, post-ischemia ground standing, and post-ischemia foam standing. The motion of a reflective marker placed on the center of the sacrum was used to reflect postural sway, and the variables of interest included trajectory, maximum range of anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) trajectory, and mean instantaneous velocity in the AP and ML directions of the sacrum marker. Results: Multivariate ANOVA showed a lack of significant interaction between somatosensory status and support surface, and significant main effects of both on postural sway. Foam standing led to greater postural sway than ground standing even after a total loss of somatosensation of the feet. Conclusions: Somatosensory inputs might not be the only factor changed when standing on a compliant surface because greater postural sway occurred even after a total loss of somatosensation. Clinically, a declined balance performance in foam standing should not be completely attributed to impaired visual or vestibular compensation.


In this paper, we consider the relationship between performance and ownership concentration in a large number of publicly traded and privately held companies located in smaller European economies (Austria, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, and Ukraine). These countries represent the five legal families (German, French, Scandinavian, Common Law, and Eurasian, respectively), yet are characterized by fairly illiquid and small stock markets. This paper is the first cross-country study we know of to explore the relationship between corporate performance and ownership concentration for both public and private firms from all five legal traditions. Combining two literatures — on ownership concentration and performance as well as on law and finance — we generate our central hypothesis that the relationship between performance and ownership concentration should vary by the level of legal protection afforded small shareholders as well as the type of ownership concentration (we consider the ownership concentration of a single blockholder as well as that of a coalition of the five largest blockholders). Our tobit empirical tests control for firm size (log of total assets as well as log of employees), status as a listed firm, risk (standard deviation of return on assets), ratio of intangible to total assets, status as a financial firm, leverage, and age. The results confirm our hypothesis in that firms located in the country with the lowest level of legal protection in our sample — Ukraine — exhibit a very different relationship between performance and ownership concentration depending on whether we consider the portion of the firm's equity held by a single shareholder or by a coalition of the five largest shareholders. Specifically, where minority shareholders are least protected, ownership concentration of a single blockholder is negatively related to performance; but the ownership portion of a coalition of the five largest shareholders is positively related to performance. These findings are robust to breaking down the sample by size and by one-digit SIC industry category. We conclude with some implications for the literature and for future research.


This text helps students to develop the writing skills they need to succeed in AS and A2 level English; offers a step-by-step guide to approaching writing tasks and structuring a response; looks at a range of writing tasks, from argumentative essays to data-based investigations; provides Personal Audit Sheets (PASS) to help students assess their own writing skills and make practical steps to develop them; can be used as preparation for both coursework and exams. Written by an experienced teacher, author and AS and A2 level examiner, Writing for Assessment is an essential resource for all students of AS and A2 level English Language, English Literature, and English Language and Literature