Perception is strongly influenced by our expectations, especially under situations of uncertainty. A growing body of work suggests that perception is akin to Bayesian Inference in which expectations can be viewed as 'prior' beliefs that are combined via Bayes' rule with sensory evidence to form the 'posterior' beliefs. In this thesis, I aim to answer open questions regarding the nature of expectations in perception, and, in particular, what the limits of complexity and specificity in developing expectations are, and how expectations of different temporal properties develop and interact. First, I conducted a psychophysical experiment to investigate whether human observers are able to implicitly develop distinct expectations using colour as a distinguishing factor. I interleaved moving dot displays of two different colours, either red or green, with different motion direction distributions. Results showed that statistical information can transfer from one group of stimuli to another but observers are also able to learn two distinct priors under specific conditions. In a collaborative work, I implemented an online learning computational model, which showed that subjects' behaviour was not in disagreement with a near-optimal Bayesian observer, and suggested that observers might prefer simple models which are consistent with the data over complex models. Next, I investigated experimentally whether selective manipulation of rewards can affect an observer's perceptual performance in a similar manner to manipulating the statistical properties of stimuli. Results showed that manipulation of the reward scheme had similar effects on perception as statistical manipulations in trials where a stimulus was presented but not in the absence of stimulus. Finally, I used a novel visual search task to investigate how expectations of different timescales (from the last few trials to hours to long-term statistics of natural scenes) interact to alter perception. Results suggested that recent exposure to a stimulus resulted in significantly improved detection performance and significantly more visual 'hallucinations' but only at positions at which it was more probable that a stimulus would be presented. These studies provide new insights into the approximations that neural systems must make to implement Bayesian inference. Complexity does not seem to necessarily be a prohibitive factor in learning but the system also factors the provided evidence and potential gain in regards to learning complex priors and applying them in distinct contexts. Further, what aspects of the statistics of the stimuli are learned and used, and how selective attention modulates learning can crucially depend on specific task properties such as the timeframe of exposure, complexity, or the observer's current goals and beliefs about the task.


Ability to accelerate the morphological evolution of nanoscale precipitates is a fundamental challenge for atomistic simulations. Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) methodology is an effective approach for accelerating the evolution of nanoscale systems that are dominated by so-called rare events. The quality and accuracy of energy landscape used in KMC calculations can be significantly improved using DFT-informed interatomic potentials. Using newly developed computational framework that uses molecular simulator LAMMPS as a library function inside KMC solver SPPARKS, we investigated formation and growth of Guiner–Preston (GP) zones in dilute Al–Cu alloys at different temperature and copper concentrations. The KMC simulations with angular dependent potential (ADP) predict formation of coherent disc-shaped monolayers of copper atoms (GPI zones) in early stage. Such monolayers are then gradually transformed into energetically favored GPII phase that has two aluminum layers sandwiched between copper layers. We analyzed the growth kinetics of KMC trajectory using Johnson–Mehl–Avrami (JMA) theory and obtained a phase transformation index close to 1.0. In the presence of grain boundaries, the KMC calculations predict the segregation of copper atoms near the grain boundaries instead of formation of GP zones. The computational framework presented in this work is based on open source potentials and MD simulator and can predict morphological changes during the evolution of the alloys in the bulk and around grain boundaries.


Have government debt levels reached dangerous levels? Certainly, for some countries, the data would suggest so. However, this paper will argue that for many governments, the amount of explicit debt on their balance sheets seriously understates the magnitude of their future fiscal obligations. This clearly emerges from the assessment of many analysts on the size of the prospective fiscal obligations associated with aging populations. But this point is further reinforced if one examines the range of other fiscal risk exposures of governments. Thus, an examination of a government's explicit debt should only be the starting point for assessing the sustainability of a government's fiscal position.


In the emerging field of Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) silicon continues to be the best material to integrate with mechanical and electrical miniature systems such as microsensors and microactuators that use various schemes of sensing and actuation. The functionality of these systems may be enhanced from extended type of materials with enhanced sensitivity and improved actuation. The integration of piezoelectric materials in MEMS facilitates the functionality of the devices. PVDF (Polyvinylidene fluoride) and its copolymers in the domain of piezoelectric materials have always been upfront to integrate with MEMS, in particular, copolymers of PVDF possess a much enhanced material properties and can eventually deliver better performance than PVDF homopolymer. The application of copolymers extends to all classes of miniaturized systems such as optical microsystems, sensors, actuators etc. In thin film technology, it is very important to have a better understanding of the crystal structure and material properties of thin films. In the present work microfabrication and characterization of P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer thin films are carried out. Various deposition techniques for PVDF thin films are presented and spin coating technique is finally adopted for microfabrication of PVDF copolymer thin films due to its advantages. Further spinning characterization of PVDF copolymer thin films are presented. An optimized set of spin parameters are found in order to develop a uniformly deposited PVDF copolymer thin films. In the current work, polarization of the films is performed through step-wise poling method. A simple experimental setup for stepwise poling method is presented. The main aspect of the present work is focused on the material characterization of the microfabricated PVDF copolymer thin films through "Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy" (FTIR). An in-depth FTIR analysis on the effect of annealing PVDF copolymer thin films is presented and the analysis is extended through the study on the variation of the significant optical parameters such as absorbance and transmittance spectra in the infrared region. The study focuses on the variation of the spectra in the piezoelectric phase of the thin films. Further, the effect of polarization ( poling ) of PVDF copolymer thin films on the absorbance and transmittance spectra is also presented, FTIR analysis is further extended through comparison of the spectra of the microfabricated PVDF copolymer thin films with the available commercial PVDF thin films. In the present work, the mechanical properties of the spin coated PVDF copolymer thin are characterized through the measurement of piezoelectric constant, d 31 for the considered geometry of PVDF copolymer thin films. The results are compared with the measured piezoelectric constant of commercial PVDF thin film. Finally a novel variable optical attenuator (VOA) through piezoelectric actuation is presented. The design of the VOA using PVDF copolymer thin films is discussed and the optical attenuation properties of the VOA are analyzed


Two allosterically regulated proteins can be engineered to interact so that when light activates one it triggers the enzymatic output (dihydrofolate reductase) of the other. Protein function depends not only on local interactions between amino acids but also on communication between separated sites. For example, the activity of a protein may be regulated by ligand binding to a distant surface. This raises the possibility that the allosteric networks in two proteins could be connected so that the activity of one protein regulates the activity of the other. Lee et al. now report the construction of such a chimera. They used statistical coupling analysis (SCA) to identify allosteric networks in a light-sensing Per/Arnt/Sim (PAS) signaling domain and in the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). Based on this information, they engineered PAS-DHFR chimeras aimed to link the two networks. With no optimization, one chimera displayed a modest light-dependent catalytic activity, providing a proof of concept for engineering protein complexes with coupled activities. J. Lee, M. Natarajan, V. C. Nashine, M. Socolich, T. Vo, W. P. Russ, S. J. Benkovic, R. Ranganathan, Surface sites for engineering allosteric control in proteins. Science 322, 438-442 (2008). [Abstract] [PubMed]


Abstract We investigated the plumbing system of Stromboli volcano from the upper mantle to the surface. Thermobarometric estimates indicate that the deeper detected part of the plumbing system is located in the upper mantle, at approximately 34–24 km depth where, during their ascent, primitive Stromboli basalts (HKCA to shoshonitic) interact with peridotitic materials. In this region magma flow is probably channelled along fracture zones that may converge into a feeder dyke that crosscuts the Moho at about 17 km depth. During their ascent, basaltic magmas will interact with lower crust materials represented by cumulates of earlier Stromboli-type basalts at 13–10 km depth. This zone is also the section of the plumbing system where the feeder dyke is entering the chamber. Thermobarometric estimates, obtained by constructing a grid of selected reactions, indicate that current primitive Stromboli basalts equilibrate at 0.3–0.15 GPa and temperatures approaching 1200 °C, and progressively crystallize and degas before being erupted. Crystal size distributions on lavas and juvenile tephra erupted in 2002–2003 give very variable residence times. Based on average bubble distances, the estimated times for the exsolution of the gaseous phases range from 2–7 days to 45 min for the lavas and scorias, down to about 15 h to 12 min for the pumices erupted during paroxysmal explosions. Estimated syneruptive viscosities range from 102 Pa s for the anhydrous basaltic pumices at 1200 °C, to 103–104 Pa s for lavas approaching their effusion temperatures (1100–1150 °C). In turn, viscosities for the hydrous basaltic melt that led to the formation of the basaltic pumices may be around 10 Pa s or lower. In the light of the above, we discuss the possible shapes and volumes of Stromboli magma chamber by considering a sphere, an ellipsoid (geometrically concordant with the regional stress distribution) and a feeder dyke, the last two being more likely. In the light of volcanological, structural and geophysical data on conduit thickness, we propose an alternative model that takes into account the volumes of recently erupted lavas. This model consists of a convective ellipsoidal magma chamber 'injected' by an active feeder dike of undegassed magma of higher temperature, lower density and lower viscosity. This dyke will evolve into a magma column inside the chamber and will separate the reservoir into two lateral, nearly symmetric convective regions. Crystallization would occur preferentially in the proximity of the wallrocks, particularly where the chamber is entering the conduit. The onset of paroxysmal explosions during major effusive cycles may be explained by a drastic increase in the intrusion rates at the base of the chamber that will produce a progressive inflation of the magma column dynamically transferred to the chamber walls. The ceasing of 'anomalous' intrusion rates at the base of the chamber, coupled with higher discharge rates, will progressively depressurize the chamber to a critical threshold, until the stress transferred to the walls is dynamically released: at this point the walls themselves will undergo a nearly instantaneous elastic rebound and contract in the attempt to recover their original pre-eruptive geometry. These dynamics will squeeze up portions of the undegassed magma column, triggering a paroxysmal explosion with the ejection of 'golden pumices'.


Abstract The finding that homeowners own more non-housing wealth than tenants is well known. We examine whether the higher financial wealth of owners can be partly explained with increases in saving when becoming a homeowner in two distinct institutional contexts. Using longitudinal data for the UK (British Household Panel Survey) and Germany (Socio-Economic Panel Study), we find that homeowners save more and are financially wealthier than tenants. However, when controlling for time-constant selection into homeownership, upon entering homeownership households reduce their probability to save in Germany and reduce their average saving rate in Germany and the UK. For Germany, there is some evidence that processes of homemaking (family formation and home improvement) lead to less saving. For the UK, we find no evidence that increasing home equity over time discourages saving. Finally, tenants do not compensate for their lack of housing wealth by accumulating more non-housing wealth over time. This disadvantage for tenants seems more pronounced in the UK compared to Germany.


The world's coral reefs have been severely degraded over the past four decades and
better management is urgently required to reverse this trend. Mathematical models are
important tools for hypothesis and scenario testing, and are thus essential for better
management. In this thesis, models of a coral reef ecosystem are constructed that aim to
identify the key ecological processes responsible for reef degradation. The models
operate at a 'local' intra-reef scale and they are dynamic, deterministic and non-spatial.
A modelling strategy is used which adds complexity in a step-wise fashion, and this aids
in the interpretation of results. The models are analyzed using mathematical equilibrium
theory and are then parameterised using empirical data from reefs worldwide.
Afterwards, the potential of reefs to undergo phase shifts from coral- to algaldominance
under the effects of three anthropogenic stressors – fishing, nutrification and
sedimentation – are investigated. This involves the application of a novel type of genetic
algorithm, systematic sweeps of the parameter ranges and two types of sensitivity
analysis. A key result is that the presence of macroalgae can give rise to multiple
equilibria and hence discontinuous phase shifts under each of the three stressors
investigated, by strengthening positive feedback to an algal-dominated state. Another
key result is that reef benthic covers show a high degree of non-linearity under the three
stressors. Overall, the results show that reefs are inherently prone to phase shifts under
anthropogenic stress. These results suggest that in order to maximise resilience to reef
degradation, there is an urgent need to effectively manage different anthropogenic
stressors simultaneously. The models in this thesis can be parameterised for local reef
areas at specific locations and then used for scenario testing, and they also serve as a
solid foundation on which to add and investigate more complexity.


"What are the turf ba les in radiology?" #ECR2014 surely the question should be about what is best for the patient?" DrDLi le When it comes to lung biopsies, the key factors are patient consent and collaboration, the indications and contraindications, imaging review, guidance selection, patient positioning and the use of local anaesthesia, and recovery and potential complications, a leading Italian interventional radiologist told a standing-room only Mini Course on Thursday. "Talking to the patient is the single most important thing when you do a lung biopsy," said Dr. Mario Bezzi, from the department of radiological sciences at the Sapienza University of Rome. "Remember to team up with the patient." Shallow breathing for upper lesions is important, and having the patient in a prone position reduces lung excursion. Clear advice on following instructions is vital, even if pressure or pain is felt, he added. Bezzi had some practical advice on injection of contrast during the procedure to diff erentiate the lesion from the vascular structure. "I start the procedure without contrast, based on the previous imaging. I can place the contrast on the non-contrast images, but when it comes to going near the vessel, I inject contrast medium at that point. I split the dose of the contrast medium if I need more bolus during the procedure," he said. "For a skinny lady, I would say that boluses of around 30 mL of contrast media will show you the vessels. For larger gentlemen, I would use 40 to 45 mL. At that point, you can be sure that you have three to four boluses." A point of controversy, however, was needle size. A member of the audience said he uses a 20G Tru-Cut side-cu ing needle for most lung biopsies and gets good results, but Bezzi expressed surprise. He prefers 20G modifi ed Menghini end-cu ing needles because compared to side-cutting needles, modified Menghini devices allow for a bigger tissue core for each sample. Use the coaxial technique to obtain multiple samples with a single pleural puncture; an introducer needle carries a smaller needle, and increases needle size by 1G (e.g., 17G carries 18G), he commented. Immediate post-procedure care should include bed rest; supine or lateral decubitus (45°); O2, pulse and blood-pressure monitoring; between one and four hours for the patient in a dedicated recovery room; and a chest x-ray a er four hours or if there is any clinical deterioration. Many interventional radiology services perform lung biopsy as a day case, with discharge a er four hours, and readmission only if certain symptoms persist, according to Bezzi. A pneumothorax is bound to happen at some point and is something everyone must face up to, he said. The main risk factors are chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, patient age, needle size, lesion size < 10 mm, lesion depth, lack of previous surgery, procedure time, an operator's experience, and conditions that increase chest pressure, such as a cough or tracheal cannula. Pre-procedural evaluation for lung parenchyma comprises peripheral emphysematous bullae, bronchiectasis, and the presence of comorbidities and conditions that can suddenly increase pressure in the chest. Other potential complications are haemoptysis, haemorrhage, failure and the consequent need to repeat the procedure, infection/sepsis, and air embolism, he said. A haemmorrhage is very o en asymptomatic, self-limiting and intraparenchymal. In the case of haemoptysis, it's necessary to reassure the patient and inform a referring physician of the need for closer monitoring during the recovery period. An air embolism can occur if a vessel is punctured inadvertently, and air is aspirated by negative pressure or embolised by positive pressure. The symptoms resemble those of stroke, transient ischaemic a ack, seizures or cardiopulmonary collapse, and a CT scan of the chest and brain is recommended. To manage air embolism, make the diagnosis and place the patient in the le lateral decubitus position or with the head down, and 100% O2 or hyperbaric O2 should be administered in the intensive care unit, he noted. "You held this excellent lecture in English, but you used Gauge numbers. At home in Italy, do you use metric units?" asked a delegate. "We use Gauge because otherwise we would not understand each other," replied Bezzi. "G is the standard name. Give me a 20G and everybody understands what you want." BY PHILIP WARD


Problem statement: Although there is agreement on the potential of projectbased learning (PBL) and virtual manipulatives (VMs), their positive impact depends on how they are used. This study was based on supporting the use of online PBL environments and improving the efficacy of the instructional practices in PBL by combining the potentials of PBL and VMs. Purpose of the study: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of a PBL environment enriched with VMs by comparing it with a traditional PBL environment. The comparison is focused on academic achievements in Quadratic Equations and Polynomials subjects and attitudes towards mathematics courses. Methods: Since randomly assigning students to groups was not possible, a quasi-experimental design was used in the study. One experimental group (EG; N = 30) and one comparison group (CG; N = 30) were used in the study. While the comparison group was taught with traditional PBL activities, the experimental group received some other PBL by using the web enriched with VMs. Participants in the EG and the CG were pretested and post-tested with an Achievement Test (AT), including 25 questions about Polynomials and Quadratic Equations subjects. The changes in attitudes were investigated by an attitude scale. Findings and Results: The statistical analysis indicates that EG students significantly outperformed CG students with respect to AT results. The change in attitudes towards mathematics courses was not statistically significant among the two groups. Conclusions and Recommendations: The results of the study provided some empirical evidence about the positive effects of VMs that are used to * Assoc.Prof.Dr., Karadeniz Technical University, firstname.lastname@example.com


The effect of pressure, temperature, and melt composition on CO2 and H2O solubilities in aluminosilicate
melts, coexisting with CO2-H2O fluids, is discussed on the basis of previously published and new experimental
data. The datasets have been chosen so that CO2 and H2O are the main fluid components and the conclusions
are only valid for relatively oxidizing conditions. The most important parameters controlling the solubilities
of H2O and CO2 are pressure and composition of melt and fluid. On the other hand, the effect of temperature
on volatile solubilities is relatively small. At pressures up to 200 MPa, intermediate compositions
such as dacite, in which both molecular CO2 and carbonate species can be dissolved, show higher volatile
solubilities than rhyolite and basalt. At higher pressures (0.5 to 1 GPa), basaltic melts can incorporate higher
amounts of carbon dioxide (by a factor of 2 to 3) than rhyolitic and dacitic melts. Henrian behavior is observed
only for CO2 solubility in equilibrium with H2O-CO2 fluids at pressures <100 MPa, whereas at higher
pressures CO2 solubility varies nonlinearly with CO2 fugacity. The positive deviation from linearity with
almost constant CO2 solubility at low water activity indicates that dissolved water strongly enhances the solubility
of CO2. Water always shows non-Henrian solubility behavior because of its complex dissolution
mechanism (incorporation of OH-groups and H2O molecules in the melt). The model of Newman and Lowenstern
(2002), in which ideal mixing between volatiles in both fluid and melt phases is assumed, reproduces
adequately the experimental data for rhyolitic and basaltic compositions at pressures below 200 MPa but
shows noticeable disagreement at higher pressures, especially for basalt. The empirical model of Liu et al.
(2004) is applicable to rhyolitic melts in a wide range of pressure (0-500 MPa) and temperature (700-
1200°C) but cannot be used for other melt compositions. The thermodynamic approach of Papale (1999) allows
to calculate the effect of melt composition on volatile solubilities but needs an update to account for
more recent experimental data. A disadvantage of this model is that it is not available as a program code. The
review indicates a crucial need of new experimental data for scarcely investigated field of pressures and fluid
compositions and new models describing evident non-ideality of H-C-O fluid solubility in silicate melts
at high pressures.


Established 'rational' methodologies in the field of project management are being increasingly challenged by scholars who argue that the emphasis that they place on idealised top-down processes neglect 'soft' human dimensions of projects. This has led to negative outcomes such as delays in delivery, low quality products and overshot budgets. In this paper, set in the empirical context of video game development, we present and analyse the Agile Programming Paradigm, an approach to the organisation of software projects that has recently emerged as an alternative to traditional, formal project management and organisation methodologies. The proponents of Agile advocate a bottom-up approach to management with an emphasis on constant product iterations and interaction with customers. They argue that a shift in attention from processes, documentation and measurement to 'softer' variables supports a development system better able to 'embrace change', which is understood as the
key limitation of formal, rational methods. We use emerging analyses of 'organisational becoming' first advanced by Tsoukas and Chia (2002) in order to frame our discussion theoretically, suggesting that the Agile Paradigm constitutes a potential answer to a key question formulated during their research, 'what must organisation(s) be like if change is constitutive of reality'. In the empirical part of the paper we present three case studies of organisations that have implemented Agile techniques. This analysis informs a subsequent discussion where we assess the advantages and limitations of the Agile Paradigm. We conclude with an interpretation of our findings within the 'Organisational Becoming' philosophical framework.


Quaternary kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) and Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) thin films have been prepared from a mixture of CuS, ZnS and SnS2 nanoparticles and solar cells were made from the CZTSSe films. The binary sulfide nanoparticles were pre-synthesized in aqueous solution and then spray deposited onto glass substrates. The nano-sized binary sulfide nanoparticles have a large surface area that provides the driving force for solid-state reactions between the nanoparticles and results in the formation of the quaternary CZTS phase at moderate temperatures. The CZTSSe solar cells were prepared using the binary sulfide nanoparticles films annealed in Se vapor and the cells showed an encouraging efficiency of 5.12% (Voc = 378 mV, Jsc = 26.2 mA cm−2 and FF = 51.7%). Our synthetic approach provides a low-cost, environmentally friendly and easy to scale up option for the preparation of CZTSSe thin films for solar cell applications.


The effect of increasing [K+]0 on 3H-glycogen levels was examined in mouse cerebral cortical slices. K+ stimulates in a time- and concentration-dependent manner the hydrolysis of 3H-glycogen. Over 70% of the maximal effect is reached within 30 sec and the EC50 for the glycogenolytic action of K+ is 11 mM. Significant 3H-glycogen hydrolysis occurs at 5–12 mM [K+]0, concentrations reached by the ion in the extracellular space during neuronal activity. The K+-evoked glycogenolysis is Ca2+-dependent, and is inhibited by Ca2+-channel blockers such as Ni2+ and Mn2+, but not by Cd2+, nifedipine, and omega- conotoxin. Furthermore, the effect of K+ is not enhanced by the Ca2+- channel agonist Bay K 8644. This type of pharmacological profile suggests that the activation of voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channels of the T subtype mediates the glycogenolytic action of K+. This set of observations suggests that K+ released in the extracellular space by active neurons may promote the mobilization of energy substrates and therefore play a role in the coupling between neuronal activity and energy metabolism.


The Baudelaires need a safe place to stay - somewhere far away from terrible villains and local police. A quiet refuge where misfortune never visits. Might Heimlich Hospital be just the place? In Lemony Snicket s eighth ghastly instalment in A Series of Unfortunate Events, I m sorry to say that the Baudelaire Orphans will spend time in a hospital where they risk encountering a misleading newspaper headline, unnecessary surgery, an intercom system, anesthesia, heart-shaped balloons, and some very startling news about a fire. Ages 10+"


The purpose of this paper is to analyse the possibility of corporate environmental reporting (CER) in a developing country so as to present the possible factors encouraging as well as those inhibiting the practice. It responds to the observation of prior research that CER research in developing countries is rare and the conjecture that developing countries should concern themselves with 'development issues', not CER. The findings draw from a wide range of secondary contextual material and employ an argumentative approach to the rationale of CER in a developing country. While CER has been associated more with developed countries, developing countries have unique factors encouraging, and others discouraging, the practice. Developing countries must seek ways to attain economic development, but avoid environmental destruction that results from pursuit of an unbalanced growth. Consequently, companies in developing countries must endeavour to assist in the social-environmental-economic agenda and especially report on their respective environmental impacts.


This chapter presents the findings of the first phase of a four-phase research study that involves the design and development of an integrated architecture for a mobile learning platform. During this phase, a high-level architecture was designed for a mobile learning platform called mLearn. The architecture of the mLearn platform allows XML multimedia content delivery over a HTTP protocol. It also uses J2ME on the client side in support of computer-aided learning approaches used in mobile learning. In addition, the mLearn platform uses several SMS delivery methods including Push, Pull and WAP Push, which enable learners to interact with each other and to share content. In this study, three defined learning approaches were chosen for the mLearn platform: exposition, exploration, and communication.


Dynamic multi-objective optimization (DMO) is one of the most challenging class of optimization problems where the objective functions change over time and the optimization algorithm is required to identify the corresponding Pareto optimal solutions with minimal time lag. DMO has received very little attention in the past and none of the existing multi-objective algorithms perform satisfactorily on test problems and a handful of such applications have been reported. In this paper, we introduce a memetic algorithm (MA) and illustrate its performance for online neural network (NN) identification of the multi-input multi-output unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system. As a typical case, the longitudinal model of the UAV is considered and the performance of a NN trained with the memetic algorithm is compared to another trained with Levenberg-Marquardt training algorithm using mini-batches. The memetic algorithm employs an orthogonal epsilon-constrained formulation to deal with multiple objectives and a sequential quadratic programming (SQP) solver is embedded as its local search mechanism to improve the rate of convergence. The performance of the memetic algorithm is presented for two benchmarks Fisherpsilas Discriminant Analysis (FDA), FDA1 and modified FDA2 before highlighting its benefits for online NN model identification for UAVs. Observations from our recent work indicated that Mean Square Error (MSE) alone may not always be a good measure for training the networks. Hence the MSE and maximum absolute value of the instantaneous error is considered as objectives to be minimized which requires a Dynamic MO algorithm. The proposed memetic algorithm is aimed to solve such identification problems and the same can be extended to control problems.


A dictionary of business history written in the 1980s would almost certainly have been a briefer and less diverse volume than the present. By then, notions of what were considered valid business organisational models were characterised by a degree of certainty and restricted scope which seems refreshingly obsolete a quarter of a century later. At the height of the 'neo-liberal' revolution sweeping the Anglo-American world at that time, economists and business analysts seemed to share the conviction that at base all business models by denition shared one key ingredient: the paramountcy of the prot motive as the key driver and raison d'etre for all business activity. In this context the prot motive was solely about the enrichment of individuals or corporate bodies; the pursuit of wealth for its own sake. Other models, in which either the prot motive was entirely absent, or in which prot was to be used for purposes other than individual or corporate enrichment which trumped the pure prot motive, were implicitly regarded as either inferior or in some way invalid. Business was about individuals enriching themselves, and any motive which superseded this reason for being involved in business threatened business integrity by diluting the discipline of market fundamentals. This was one reason why, over a period of a quarter of a century or so, business models based on collective rather than individual and corporate interests faded from economics and business literature (Kalmi, 2007). This questioning of the legitimacy of mutual and collective models of business organisation was given legal force by new legislation in the UK and in many Western economies designed to allow mutual organisations such as building societies to be converted into mainstream 'investor-led' public limited companies, usually with the help of substantial financial incentives for members or owners of mutual organisations.


Whether a state chooses to dedicate its intellectual property to the public domain or derive revenue from the licensing of its rights, absent express authority on the subject there is uncertainty. State employees who are aware of the existence of state-owned intellectual property are not certain how it should be managed or if they are authorized to expend state resources to pursue infringement claims. Individuals and entities who wish to use state-owned intellectual property do not know how to obtain permission for such use and without permission they cannot be certain that they will not be sued for infringement. Without clear legislative directives, there is the risk that individual departments, agencies and employees may develop policies that are inconsistent with public policy and that do not comply with the rulemaking procedures of administrative law. The absence of a comprehensive set of laws to address the extent to which a state wishes to protect and exploit its intellectual property rights or dedicate all or some of those rights to the public domain also represents a lost opportunity. Like the federal government, states have the ability to encourage and promote further innovation in the arts and sciences through the proper management and sharing of their own intellectual property. By identifying state-owned and funded inventions and dedicating some or all of those rights to the public domain, states can add to the body of knowledge that serves as the basis for future discoveries and creations. By claiming ownership of works of authorship written or developed by state employees and contractors and then freely disseminating such works, states can enhance the public's understanding of the workings of government. Finally, by asserting trademark protection in the symbols of government and enforcing such rights when necessary, states can help prevent their citizens from being confused about the source of services. In an effort to assist states to develop a comprehensive policy for the management of their intellectual property rights, this Article begins with an overview of the four major intellectual property protection schemes, including a discussion of the practical problems that states face to secure protection under each body of law. It next discusses some of the policy and procedural issues that states must address in deciding whether and to what extent they should protect and exploit their intellectual property rights. Third, this Article examines the laws of various states in an effort to identify statutes that are potential models for legislation. This Article concludes with a proposed set of statutory provisions to govern the management of state-owned intellectual property. The premise of the legislation is that free dissemination of state-owned intellectual property should be the rule and any restrictions on the public's use of such rights should be the exception.


Abstract. Marine cloud brightening through sea spray injection has been proposed as a climate engineering method for avoiding the most severe consequences of global warming. A limitation of most of the previous modelling studies on marine cloud brightening is that they have either considered individual models or only investigated the effects of a specific increase in the number of cloud droplets. Here we present results from coordinated simulations with three Earth system models (ESMs) participating in the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) G4sea-salt experiment. Injection rates of accumulation-mode sea spray aerosol particles over ocean between 30° N and 30° S are set in each model to generate a global-mean effective radiative forcing (ERF) of −2.0 W m−2 at the top of the atmosphere. We find that the injection increases the cloud droplet number concentration in lower layers, reduces the cloud-top effective droplet radius, and increases the cloud optical depth over the injection area. We also find, however, that the global-mean clear-sky ERF by the injected particles is as large as the corresponding total ERF in all three ESMs, indicating a large potential of the aerosol direct effect in regions of low cloudiness. The largest enhancement in ERF due to the presence of clouds occur as expected in the subtropical stratocumulus regions off the west coasts of the American and African continents. However, outside these regions, the ERF is in general equally large in cloudy and clear-sky conditions. These findings suggest a more important role of the aerosol direct effect in sea spray climate engineering than previously thought.


Abstract. Communities in Fiji and Tonga rely on landscape services to support a variety of livelihoods. These communities are increasingly vulnerable to climate (e.g. increasing cyclone occurrence and intensity) and environmental (e.g. mining and deforestation) stressors. Within these landscape systems, accurate and timely monitoring of human-climate-environment interactions is important to inform landscape management, land use policies, and climate-smart sustainable development. Data collection and monitoring approaches exist to capture landscape-livelihood information such as surveys, participatory GIS (PGIS), and remote sensing. However, these monitoring approaches are challenged by data collection and management burdens, timely integration of databases and data streams, aligning system requirements with local needs, and socio-technical issues associated with low-resource development contexts. Such monitoring approaches only provide static representation of livelihood-landscape interactions failing to capture the dynamic nature of vulnerabilities, and benefit only a small user base. We present a prototype of a mobile, open-source geospatial tool being collaboratively developed with the Ministries of Agriculture in Fiji and Tonga and local stakeholders, to address the above shortcomings of PGIS and other environmental monitoring and data sharing approaches. The tool is being developed using open-source mobile GIS technologies following a formal ICT for Development (ICT4D) framework. We discuss the results for each component of the ICT4D framework which involves multiple landscape stakeholders across the two Small Island Developing States. Based on the ICT4D user requirements analysis, we produced a prototype open-source mobile geospatial data collection, analysis and sharing tool. New dynamic spatial data layers related to landscape use and climate were specifically developed for use in the tool. We present the functionality of the tool alongside the results of field-testing with stakeholders in Fiji and Tonga.


This report describes a system level study on the use of a swarm of sea gliders to detect, confirm and kill littoral submarine threats. The report begins with a description of the problem and derives the probability of detecting a constant speed threat without networking. It was concluded that glider motion does little to improve this probability unless the speed of a glider is greater than the speed of the threat. Therefore, before detection, the optimal character for a swarm of gliders is simply to lie in wait for the detection of a threat. The report proceeds by describing the effect of noise on the localization of a threat once initial detection is achieved. This noise is estimated as a function of threat location relative to the glider and is temporally reduced through the use of an information or Kalman filtering. In the next section, the swarm probability of confirming and killing a threat is formulated. Results are compared to a collection of stationary sensors. These results show that once a glider has the ability to move faster than the threat, the performance of the swarm is equal to the performance of a stationary swarm of gliders with confirmation and more » kill ranges equal to detection range. Moreover, at glider speeds greater than the speed of the threat, swarm performance becomes a weak function of speed. At these speeds swarm performance is dominated by detection range. Therefore, to future enhance swarm performance or to reduce the number of gliders required for a given performance, detection range must be increased. Communications latency is also examined. It was found that relatively large communication delays did little to change swarm performance. Thus gliders may come to the surface and use SATCOMS to effectively communicate in this application. « less


This thesis presents an improved method to calculate renormalization constants in a regularization invariant momentum scheme using twisted boundary conditions. This enables us to simulate with momenta of arbitrary magnitude and a fixed direction. With this new technique, together with non-exceptional kinematics and volume sources, we are able to take a statistically and theoretically precise continuum limit. Thereafter, all the running of the operators with momentum scale is due to their anomalous dimension. We use this to develop a practical scheme for step scaling with off shell vertex functions. We develop the method on 16 × 32 lattices to show the practicality of using small volume simulations to step scale to high momenta. We also use larger 243×64 and 323×64 lattices to compute renormalization constants very accurately. Combining these with previous analyses we are able to extract a precise value for the light and strange quark masses and the neutral kaon mixing parameter BK . We also analyse eigenvectors of the domain wall Dirac matrix. We develop a practical and cost effective way to compute eigenvectors using the implicitly restarted Lanczos method with Chebyshev acceleration. We show that calculating eigenvectors to accelerate propagator inversions is cost effective when as few as one or two propagators are required. We investigate the technique of low mode averaging (LMA) with eigenvectors of the domain wall matrix for the first time. We find that for low energy correlators, pions for example, LMA is very effective at reducing the statistical noise. We also calculated the η and η meson masses, which required evaluating disconnected correlation functions and combining stochastic sources with LMA.


The aim of this study was to determine the fatty acid composition of different mushroom species collected from the Yozgat and Tokat region in Turkey. Fatty acid composition was determined in the mushroom species (Morchella elata, Macrolepiota procera, Lactarius delicious, Helvella lacunosa, Boletus edulis, Cantharellus cibarius, Bovista plumbea, Agaricus bisporus). The fatty acids copmpsition in mushrooms were identified and quantified by gas chromatography. The amounts % of fatty acids in species were different, Fatty acids with 14-24 carbons were occured in mushrooms samples linoleic acid was the major fatty acid detected in all species linoleic acid respectively in species '' Bovista plumbea, Agaricus bisporus, Macrolepiota procera'' were higher than other mushrooms. Percentage of linoleic acid (ω-6) in species varied from 10 % to 51 %. The other major fatty acids were respectively, palmitic, stearic, oleic acids other abundant fatty acids in the mushrooms. These four fatty acids were present in all of the mushrooms examined. The high level of docosadienoic acid (22:2) detected in Morchella elata is remarkable. When fatty acid composition results are compared as saturated and unsaturated, the fatty acid composition of the mushrooms showed that the unsaturated fatty acids are in higher proportions than the saturated fatty acids.


Abstract. The decadal changes in the fugacity of CO2 (fCO2) and pH in surface waters are investigated in the southern Indian Ocean
(45–57∘ S) using repeated summer observations, including measurements of fCO2, total alkalinity (AT) and total
carbon (CT) collected over the period 1998–2019 in the frame of the French monitoring programme OISO (Océan Indien Service d'Observation). We used three datasets (underway fCO2, underway AT–CT and station AT–CT) to evaluate the trends of fCO2 and pH and their
drivers, including the accumulation of anthropogenic CO2 (Cant). The study region is separated into six domains based on the
frontal system and biogeochemical characteristics: (i) high-nutrient low-chlorophyll (HNLC) waters in the polar front zone (PFZ) and (ii) north part
and (iii) south part of HNLC waters south of the polar front (PF), as well as the highly productive zones in fertilised waters near (iv) Crozet Island and (v) north and (vi) south of Kerguelen Island. Almost everywhere, we obtained similar trends in
surface fCO2 and pH using the fCO2 or AT–CT datasets. Over the period 1998–2019, we observed an increase in
surface fCO2 and a decrease in pH ranging from +1.0 to +4.0 µatm yr−1 and from −0.0015 to
−0.0043 yr−1, respectively. South of the PF, the fCO2 trend is close to the
atmospheric CO2 rise (+2.0 µatm yr−1), and the decrease in pH is in the range of the mean trend for the global ocean
(around −0.0020 yr−1); these trends are driven by the warming of surface waters (up to +0.04 ∘C yr−1) and the
increase in CT mainly due to the accumulation of Cant (around +0.6 µmol kg−1 yr−1). In the PFZ, our data
show slower fCO2 and pH trends (around +1.3 µatm yr−1 and −0.0013 yr−1, respectively) associated with an
increase in AT (around +0.4 µmol kg−1 yr−1) that limited the impact of a more rapid accumulation of Cant
north of the PF (up to +1.1 µmol kg−1 yr−1). In the fertilised waters near Crozet and Kerguelen islands, fCO2
increased and pH decreased faster than in the other domains, between +2.2 and +4.0 µatm yr−1 and between −0.0023 and
−0.0043 yr−1. The fastest trends of fCO2 and pH are found around Kerguelen Island north and south of the PF. These trends
result from both a significant warming (up to +0.07 ∘C yr−1) and a rapid increase in CT (up to
+1.4 µmol kg−1 yr−1) mainly explained by the uptake of Cant. Our data also show rapid changes in short periods and
a relative stability of both fCO2 and pH in recent years at several locations both north and south of the PF, which leaves many open
questions, notably the tipping point for the saturation state of carbonate minerals that remains highly uncertain. This highlights the need to
maintain observations in the long-term in order to explore how the carbonate system will evolve in this region in the next decades.


The year 2014 welcomed two major events of national importance for Scotland, the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the Scottish Independence Referendum. These national sporting and political events provided Scotland and its citizens with an opportunity to display the nation on the world stage and decide upon its geopolitical future. While the referendum was widely acknowledged as a significant 'once in a generation' event for all voters, it also marked the first time extension of the franchise in a major UK public ballot to those aged 16 and 17 years old. Therefore, this thesis draws upon the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and Independence Referendum as a lens to investigate understandings of youth citizenship and national identity among a generation of newly enfranchised 16 and 17 year old voters, living in the city of Glasgow, located at the epicentre of these events. First, the thesis examines how ideas of Scotland presented through the Games resonated with young people's conceptions of the nation. Second, the discussion explores how the Games and Referendum prompted young people to consider the future of the nation. Third, the thesis considers how young people mobilised their vote as newly enfranchised citizens through the Referendum. Fourth, the thesis aims to inform, and be informed by, current theories of the geographies of citizenship and national identity. Overall, the thesis concludes by providing a timely and original analysis of the geographies of youth citizenship and national identity through an exploration of the reconfigured interstitial political space that these young people occupied during the referendum.


Photogrammetry is a technique used for studying and precisely defining the shape, dimension, and position in space of any object, using mainly measurements taken over one or more photographs of that object. Today, photogrammetry is a popular science due to its ease of application, low cost, and good results. Based on these causes, it is becoming a good alternative to scanning. This has led to its implementation in different sectors such as the archeological, architectural, and topographical for application in element reconstructions, cartography, or biomechanics. This chapter presents the fundamental aspects of this technology, as well as its great possibilities of application in the engineering field.


Gameplay is commonly considered to be a voluntary activity. Game designers generally believe that voluntary gameplay is essentially different from mandatory gameplay. Such a belief may be a challenge for serious games, as instruction is usually mandatory. The article describes the outcomes of two experiments on the impact of voluntariness on the learning effect and enjoyment of a serious game. In the first experiment freedom of choosing to play a serious game was studied, with participants who had volunteered to participate. The results suggested that, contrary to the opinion of many game designers, being required to play a serious game does not automatically take the fun out of the game. The second experiment had voluntary participants and mandatory participants, who had to participate as part of a homework assignment. The outcomes show that mandatory participants enjoyed the game as much as the voluntary participants, even if they had to play the game for a minimum required time. These studies indicate that mandatory gameplay does not reduce enjoyment and learning effect.


The identification of clinical risk factors for AIDS in patients with preserved immune function is of significant interest. We examined whether patients with fungal infection (FI) and CD4 cell count ≥200/µl were at higher risk of disease progression in the era of cART. 11,009 EuroSIDA patients were followed from their first CD4 cell count ≥200/µl after 1 January 1997 until progression to any non-azoles/amphotericin B susceptible (AAS) AIDS disease, last visit or death. Initiation of antimycotic therapy (AMT) was used as a marker of FI and was modelled as a time-updated covariate using Poisson regression. After adjustment for current CD4 cell count, HIV-RNA, starting cART and diagnosis of AAS-AIDS, AMT was significantly associated with an increased incidence of non-AAS-AIDS (IRR=1.55, 95% CI 1.17–2.06, p=0.0024). Despite low incidence of AIDS in the cART era, FI in patients with a CD4 cell count ≥200/µl is associated with a 55% higher risk of non-AAS-AIDS (95% confidence interval 1.17–2.06, p=0.0024). These data suggest that patients with FI are more immune compromized than would be expected from their CD4 cell count alone. FI can be used as a clinical marker for disease progression and indirect indicator for initiation/changing cART in settings where laboratory facilities are limited.


Three-dimensional reconstruction of reservoir analogues can be improved combining data from different geophysical methods. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) data are valuable tools, since they provide subsurface information from internal architecture and facies distribution of sedimentary rock bodies, enabling the upgrading of depositional models and heterogeneity reconstruction. The Lower Eocene Roda Sandstone is a well-known deltaic complex widely studied as a reservoir analogue that displays a series of sandstone wedges with a general NE to SW progradational trend. To provide a better understanding of internal heterogeneity of a 10m-thick progradational delta-front sandstone unit, 3D GPR data were acquired. In addition, common midpoints (CMP) to measure the sandstone subsoil velocity, test profiles with different frequency antennas (25, 50 and 100MHz) and topographic data for subsequent correction in the geophysical data were also obtained. Three ERT profiles were also acquired to further constrain GPR analysis. These geophysical results illustrate the geometry of reservoir analogue heterogeneities both depositional and diagenetic in nature, improving and complementing previous outcrop-derived data. GPR interpretation using radar stratigraphy principles and attributes analysis provided: 1) tridimensional geometry of major stratigraphic surfaces that define four units in the GPR Prism, 2) image the internal architecture of the units and their statistical study of azimuth and dips, useful for a quick determination of paleocurrent directions. These results were used to define the depositional architecture of the progradational sandbody that shows an arrangement in very-high-frequency sequences characterized by clockwise paleocurrent variations and decrease of the sedimentary flow, similar to those observed at a greater scale in the same system. This high-frequency sequential arrangement has been attributed to the autocyclic dynamics of a supply-dominated delta-front where fluvial and tidal currents are in competition. The resistivity models enhanced the viewing of reservoir quality associated with cement distribution caused by depositional and early diagenetic processes related to the development of transgressive and regressive systems tracts in high-frequency sequences.


Vertical-bore, geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) have been providing heating and cooling to four new elementary schools located in Lincoln, Nebraska since 1995. According to representatives of the local utility and school district, the systems are providing a comfortable, complaint-free environment with utility costs that are nearly half of that of other schools in the district. Performance data collected from on-site energy management systems and district billing and utility records for all fifty schools in the Lincoln district indicate that only five consume less energy than the best performing GHP school; however these five cool less than 10% of their total floor area, while the GHP schools cool 100% of their floor area. When compared to other new schools (with similar ventilation loads), the GHP schools used approximately 26% less source energy per square foot of floor area. Variations in annual energy performance are evident among the four GHP schools, however, together they still consume less source energy than 70% of all schools in the district. These variations are most likely due to operational differences rather than installed equipment, building orientation, or environmental (bore field) conditions.


Groundwater samples of bore wells (BW), open wells (OW), Hand Pumps (HP), lakes, falls and streams collected from different locations in Yercaud Taluk in Salem District, Tamil Nadu were analyzed for their physicochemical characteristics. The ground water samples were studied during pre-monsoon (June-July 2010) and post-monsoon (December 2010-January 2011) seasons from 25 different villages. The present study was undertaken to characterize the physicochemical parameters such as temperature, pH, Total Alkalinity (TA), Electrical Conductivity (EC), salinity, Calcium Hardness (CH), Magnesium Hardness (MH), Total Hardness (TH), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Solids (TS) and fluoride. Each parameter was compared with its standard permissible limit as prescribed by World Health Organization (WHO). The Water Quality Index (WQI) reflected that most of the samples are of good and excellent quality. The Karl Pearson Correlation matrix has approved the influence of CH on EC, Salinity and TDS with significantly positive correlation. The study reveals that all the villages have hardness within the desirable limit prescribed by WHO.


South Africa and the origins and development of the European Economic Community. When the European Economic Community was introduced in 1958 South Africa did not pay particular attention to this new development. No concerted effort was made to stay abreast of European developments. The South African decision-makers were content to accept the British perception of the meaning and implications of the customs union which systematically developed. While Britain did not join the EEC South Africa's commonwealth trade preferences were not affected. The unsuccessful efforts by Britain in 1963 and 1967 to join the common market and its eventual membership in 1973 radically changed the position for South Africa. The article discusses a number of policy options which South Africa could have followed. However, none of these options were exercised and South Africa remained completely outside the EEC. South African producers, dependent on exports to Europe, had to rely on their originality, the quality of their products and their expertise and introduce drastic changes to counteract the new discrimination against their products.


The history of computing has been characterized by an effort to replicate and augment human intelligence. Today's personal computers are still substantially similar in their overall goals to the "memex," a hypothetical computer prototype described by Vannevar Bush in 1945: both are designed to use computation to augment advanced forms of intellectual labor. Yet in the last decade, the rise of the smartphone has disrupted this long-standing paradigm of cognitive enhancement. It introduces a paradigm characterized by less complex but more pervasive kinds of cognitive enhancement. This is a kind of cognitive enhancement perhaps more akin to ever-present notebook that facilitated Otto the hypothetical Alzheimer's patient in his daily activities (as described by Clark and Chalmers in their seminal paper on extended cognition in 1998). In this paper I compare and contrast some of the basic augmentations and affordances of the smartphone as compared to the PC (either desktop or laptop). Using Heersmink's "multi-dimensional matrix for exploring cognitive-artifact relations" (Heersmink, 2012), I conducted a preliminary investigation suggesting some of the concrete differences between these two paradigms of computation and cognitive enhancement.


ISO/IEC 15504 is an emerging international standard on software process assessment. It defines a number of software engineering processes and a scale for measuring their capability. One of the defined processes is software requirements analysis (SRA). A basic premise of the measurement scale is that higher process capability is associated with better project performance (i.e., predictive validity). The paper describes an empirical study that evaluates the predictive validity of SRA process capability. Assessments using ISO/IEC 15504 were conducted on 56 projects world-wide over a period of two years. Performance measures on each project were also collected using questionnaires, such as the ability to meet budget commitments and staff productivity. The results provide strong evidence of predictive validity for the SRA process capability measure used in ISO/IEC 15504, but only for organizations with more than 50 IT staff. Specifically, a strong relationship was found between the implementation of requirements analysis practices as defined in ISO/IEC 15504 and the productivity of software projects. For smaller organizations, evidence of predictive validity was rather weak. This can be interpreted in a number of different ways: that the measure of capability is not suitable for small organizations or that the SRA process capability has less effect on project performance for small organizations.


Abstract. The Chinese Spring Festival (CSF, also known as the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year) is the most important festival in China. Lunar New Year's Day (LNYD) is the first day of the Lunar New Year. Traditionally, the CSF holiday begins a couple of days before LNYD and ends on lantern day, lasting for approximately 2 weeks. In this paper, based on the long-term station observations from 1979 to 2012, the precipitation during the holiday over southern China (108–123° E and 21–33° N, 155 stations) tends to be lower than that before and after the holiday. The mean precipitation frequency anomaly from the fourth day to the sixth day after LNYD (i.e., days [+4, +6]) decreases by −7.4 %. Simultaneously, the daily precipitation amount experiences a reduction of −0.62 mm day−1 during days [+2, +5]. The holiday precipitation anomalies are strongly linked to the anomalies of relative humidity (ΔRH) and cloud cover. The station observations of the ΔRH show an evident decrease from day +2 to day +7, and a minimum appears on days [+4, +6], with a mean of −3.9 %. The ΔRH vertical profile displays significant drying below approximately 800 hPa. Between 800 and 1000 hPa, the mean ΔRH is −3.9 %. The observed station daytime low cloud cover (LCC) evidently decreases by −6.1 % during days [+4, +6]. Meanwhile, the ERA-Interim daily LCC also shows a comparable reduction of −5.0 %. The anomalous relative humidity is mainly caused by the decreased water vapor in the lower-middle troposphere. Evident negative specific humidity anomalies persist from day −3 to day +7 in the station observations. The average specific humidity anomaly for days [+4, +6] is −0.73 g kg−1. When the precipitation days are excluded, the anomaly remains significant at −0.46 g kg−1. A significant water vapor deficit is observed in the lower troposphere below 700 hPa. Between 800 and 1000 hPa, the mean specific humidity drops by −0.70 g kg−1. This drier lower-middle troposphere is due to anomalous northerly winds, which are closely related to the cyclonic circulation anomaly over the northwestern Pacific. The time-lag correlation demonstrates that approximately 1 week after a lower temperature occurs over eastern China, a stronger cyclone is observed over the western Pacific. The possible mechanism needs further clarification through elaborate observation and numerical modeling.


Progression of colorectal cancer (CRC) culminates in liver metastasis. To identify genes that are involved in the metastatic phenotype, cDNA microarrays were used to analyze mRNA expression profiles of CC531 rat colon adenocarcinoma cells for changes related to their homing into the liver. Briefly, CC531 cells were intraportally implanted into the liver of Wag-Rij rats and re-isolated after 3, 6, 9, 14 and 21 days. Altogether 2919 genes from ca. 25000 genes were deregulated as a response to metastasis formation into the liver. Candidates from promising gene families were chosen for further analysis using different in vitro models and human CRC samples. These gene families included the claudins and the insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs). For claudins, it was shown that the initial phase of rat CRC cell homing into the liver involves a transient down-regulation of several claudins. Also it was shown that siRNA silencing of Cldn1 and Cldn4 increased migration and reduced colony formation, with these phenotypes being consistent with metastatic homing. Correspondingly, human CRC samples showed increased Cldn1 and Cldn4 expression in UICC stages l-lll, and significantly reduced expression in stage IV and in liver metastasis. Additionally, the IHC analysis revealed that the expression of Cldn1, Cldn4 and Cldn3 in liver metastasis specimens was lower than in the corresponding primary carcinomas. Taken together, metastasizing cells require a transient reduction in claudin expression for liberation from the primary tumor and then initialization metastatic growth in the liver. For IGFBPs it was shown that deregulation of IGFBP3 and IGFBP7 is related to the metastatic behavior of CRC cells. In CRC patients, a significant correlation between the expression levels of these genes was noticed but no relation to overall survival was registered. Further, the patients' age was inversely correlated with the expression of IGFBP3. Silencing of IGFBP3 and/or IGFBP7 in human and rat colorectal cancer cell lines reduced proliferation, colony formation, and for IGFBP3, also migration. These results indicate that IGFBP3 and 7 cannot be simply assigned to the group of tumor suppressors, but have additional properties, which become evident only in the context of cancer progression and metastasis formation.


During the initial stages of intraperiplasmic growth of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus on Escherichia coli, the peptidoglycan of the E. coli becomes acylated with long-chain fatty acids, primarily palmitic acid (60%) and oleic acid (20%). The attachment of the fatty acids to the peptidoglycan involves a carboxylic-ester bond, i.e., they were removed by treatment with alkaline hydroxylamine. Their linkage to the peptidoglycan does not involve a protein molecule. When the bdelloplast peptidoglycan was digested with lysozyme, the fatty acid-containing split products behaved as lipopeptidoglycan, i.e., they were extracted into the organic phase of 1-butanol:acetic acid:water (4:15) two-phase system; all of the lysozyme split products generated from normal E. coli peptidoglycan were extracted into the water phase. It is suggested that the function of the acylation reaction is to help stabilize the bdelloplast outer membrane against osmotic forces. In addition, a model is presented to explain how a bdellovibrio penetrates, stabilizes, and lyses a substrate cell.


Trichoglyphics, namely the direction put on by the hair, as well as dermatoglyphics are influenced by genetic and environmental factors acting between the 10th and 17th week of fetal life. Most subjects with smooth hair present a hair whorl in the parietal region, in front of the posterior fontanelle, on the median line or laterally on the right or, less frequently, on the left. In the hair whorl the hair usually rotate clockwise in most cases, but counterclockwise in 11.1% of cases. The latter rotation is more frequent in left-handed subjects (1). A minority of subjects presents a frontal hair whorl (2). The latter, although possibly present in normal subjects, is more frequent in some inherited skin disorders (3). This is why a frontal hair whorl may be an additional sign to confirm the suspicion of inherited disorders, particularly those associated with mental retardation.


In the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of spray dryers, the Euler-Lagrange model is used to compute the motions of the spray droplets and the heat and mass transfers between the droplets and the air stream. Such calculations are performed for hundreds to tens of thousands of droplets to represent the spray in the dryer. One limiting factor in drying mass transfer is the internal diffusion of water moisture inside partially dried particles. In order to model this internal diffusion of water moisture, each particle is represented by a series of concentric spherical shells. A one-dimen- sional diffusion equation is solved over these shells to obtain the internal distribution and diffusion of water moisture inside each particle. A key strength of CFD is the ability to carry out what-if and optimization analyses quickly. As an example, a dryer with a given set of feed conditions was con- sidered. CFD simulations were carried out with the aim to find the optimum condition for the drying air. Key information of interest to the plant operator were extracted from the CFD results and pre- sented in percentages of particles leaving the particle and air exits, and the particle conditions at these exits in terms of mean diameter, temperature and moisture content. From these results, the operator of the dryer can easily select the optimum operating conditions, which allows him to achieve the desired product quality at minimum cost. spray drying / simulation / computational fluid dynamics


This work provides a set of volumetric data to evaluate the influence of the concentration and the temperature on the molecular interactions between N, N-Dimetilformamida (DMF) and water. Densities of binary aqueous mixtures of N, N-Dimethylformamide (DMF) were measured over the entire composition range at constant pressure of 98.93 kPa and at temperatures from 293,15K and 313,15K using a vibrating-tube densimeter. Excess molar volumes and partial molar volume at infinite dilution were also calculated. The partial molar volumes at infinite dilution of DMF in aqueous solution were obtained by extrapolation at each temperature. The excess molar volumes were calculated from density data and fitted to the Redlich–Kister polynomial equation. The DMF presents a hydrophobic behavior similar to other organic solutes in water such alcohols and polyols.


Water distribution networks (WDNs) play a crucial role in the well-being of human populations and economic prosperity. It is essential that they cope with abnormal operating conditions and recover functionality quickly. Traditionally, WDNs are designed using cost and reliability objectives, but there is a lack of consensus on the definition and quantification of reliability which typically is a computationally intense process. Subsequently, various reliability-like metrics, called resilience indices, have been developed and demonstrated in the design of WDNs. Few studies exist that thoroughly evaluate the performance of the previously developed resilience metrics. This paper investigates three resilience metrics by evaluating their performance on three benchmark WDNs for several simulated mechanical failure states. The metrics studied are: (a) resilience index, (b) network resilience index (NRI), and (c) modified resilience index (MRI). The metric MRI performed better overall but NRI produced cheaper designs that performed better in the case of WDN-I. It is recommended that a better metric that incorporates different dimensions of resilience, such as robustness and redundancy, should be developed in the future.


The article surveys the works of T.G. Sukacheva and her students studying the models of incompressible viscoelastic Kelvin Voigt uids in the framework of the theory of semilinear Sobolev-type equations. We focus on the unstable case because of greater generality. The idea is illustrated by an example: the non-stationary thermoconvection problem for the order 0 Oskolkov model. Firstly, we study the abstract Cauchy problem for a semilinear nonautonomous Sobolev-type equation. Then, we treat the corresponding initialboundary value problem as its concrete realization. We prove the existence and uniqueness of a solution to the stated problem. The solution itself is a quasi-stationary semi-trajectory. We describe the extended phase space of the problem. Other problems of hydrodynamics can also be investigated in this way: for instance, the linearized Oskolkov model, Taylor's problem, as well as some models describing the motion of an incompressible viscoelastic Kelvin Voigt uid in the magnetic eld of the Earth.


This paper defines and describes a fully distributed implementation of Google's highly effective pagerank algorithm, for "peer to peer" (P2P) systems. The implementation is based on chaotic (asynchronous) iterative solution of linear systems. The P2P implementation also enables incremental computation of pageranks as new documents are entered into or deleted from the network. Incremental update enables continuously accurate pageranks whereas the currently centralized web crawl and computation over Internet documents requires several days. This suggests possible applicability of the distributed algorithm to pagerank computations as a replacement for the centralized Web crawler based implementation for Internet documents. A complete solution of the distributed pagerank computation for an in-place network converges rapidly (1% accuracy in 10 iterations) for large systems although the time for iteration may be long. The incremental computation resulting from addition of a single document converges extremely rapidly, typically requiring update path lengths of fewer than 15 nodes even for large networks and very accurate solutions. This implementation of pagerank provides a uniform ranking scheme for documents in P2P systems, and its integration with P2P keyword search provides one solution to the network traffic problems engendered by return of document hits. In basic P2P keyword search, all the document hits must be returned to the querying node causing large network traffic. An incremental keyword search algorithm for P2P keyword search where document hits are sorted by pagerank, and incrementally returned to the querying node is proposed and evaluated. Integration of this algorithm into P2P keyword search can produce dramatic benefit both in terms of effectiveness for users and decrease in network traffic. The incremental search algorithm provided approximately a ten-fold reduction in network traffic for two-word and three-word querying.


OBJECTIVE
To explore demographic and social support predictors of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) (mental and physical) for childbearing women in the perinatal period.

DESIGN
Longitudinal.

SAMPLE
Three public hospitals in metropolitan Brisbane, Australia.

PARTICIPANTS
Four hundred seventy-three (473) women recruited at 36 weeks of pregnancy, and 6 and 12 weeks following childbirth.

METHODS
The Short Form-12 (SF-12) Version 2 Health Survey was used to measure the mental and physical domains of HRQoL. Social support was measured using the Maternal Social Support Scale (MSSS).

RESULTS
Mean scores for the mental and physical domains of HRQoL were lower than population norms. Social support was found to be a significant and consistent predictor of higher HRQoL scores, particularly in the physical domain at 12 weeks following child birth and mental domain during the perinatal period. The relationship between social support and HRQoL was found to be independent of other factors including education, length of relationship with partner, age, parity, and antenatal visit. The only other significant predictor was length of relationship with partner in the mental domain at 36 weeks of pregnancy.

CONCLUSION
Social support is a significant and consistent predictor of a mother's HRQoL during the perinatal period. Nurses and midwives need to assess social support, rather than making assumptions based on demographic factors.


Autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) are mysterious, complex, childhood pervasive developmental disorders characterized by impairments in social interaction, deficits in verbal and non-verbal communication, and restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior and interests. The etiology of this disorder is poorly understood and no biomarkers have yet been identified as characteristic of ASD. Leptin, a peptide hormone mainly secreted by adipose tissue, is involved in the regulation of body weight and energy expenditure. Leptin also play a role in regulation of neuroendocrine functions, immune system and inflammatory response and development. Recent evidences suggest that leptin might be implicated in the pathophysiology of autism. Availability of biochemical data related with leptin for Omani autistic children is scarce. So, the current study was aimed to compare the levels of leptin in the plasma of ASD children in Sultanate of Oman. Significant higher levels of leptin were found in Omani autistic children as compared with controls. Our results corroborate with the previous findings and also suggest that there might be some relationship between leptin and the pathophysiology of autism. The exact mechanism is still unknown and further extensive research needed.


The purpose of this study was to acquire a better understanding of the interaction between scientific epistemological beliefs and learning orientations in a group of Taiwanese eighth graders. After analyzing questionnaire responses of an initial sample of 202 students, 20 information- rich students were selected as the final subjects for this study. A qualitative analysis through inter- viewing of the subjects revealed that students holding constructivist epistemological beliefs about science (knowledge constructivists) tended to learn through constructivist-oriented instructional ac- tivities, and employ a more active manner as well as more meaningful strategies when learning science, whereas students having epistemological beliefs, more aligned with empiricism (knowledge empiricists), tended to use more rote-like strategies to enhance their understanding. Knowledge constructivist subjects tended to have more pragmatic views about the value of science and they were mainly motivated by their interest and curiosity about science, whereas knowledge empiricist subjects were mainly motivated by performance on examinations. This article suggests the impor- tance of presenting the constructivist philosophy of science for students. It follows that students are expected to have more meaningful orientations, as well as more appropriate attitudes, toward learning science. q 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed 82:473- 489, 1998.


Abstract A new method of measuring the layer charge of smectites by IR spectroscopy is proposed based on the integrated intensity measurement of the band assigned to the ammonium fundamental u4 mode of NH4+-exchanged clays. Measurements are made before and after Li fixation (Hofman & Klemen effect). These allow the quantitative determination of the total charge, equivalent to CEC, and tetrahedral and octahedral charge distribution in both dioctahedral and trioctahedral smectites.


Program description ALAS (Spanish for "wings") is an intervention for middle and high school students that is designed to address student, school, family, and community factors that affect dropping out. Each student is assigned a counselor/mentor who monitors attendance, behavior, and academic achievement. The counselor/mentor provides feedback and coordinates interventions and resources to students, families, and teachers. Counselors/mentors also serve as advocates for students and intervene when problems are identified. Students are trained in problem-solving, self-control, and assertiveness skills. Parents are trained in parent-child problem solving, how to participate in school activities, and how to contact teachers and school administrators to address issues.


This paper presents a current-processing cur- rent-controlled universal biquad filter. The proposed filter employs only two current controlled current conveyor transconductance amplifiers (CCCCTAs) and two grounded capacitors. The proposed configuration can be used either as a single input three outputs (SITO) or as three inputs single output (TISO) filter. The circuit realizes all five different standard filter functions i.e. low-pass (LP), band-pass (BP), high-pass (HP), band-reject (BR) and all-pass (AP). The circuit enjoys electronic control of quality factor through the single bias current without dis- turbing pole frequency. Effects of non-idealities are also discussed. The circuit exhibits low active and passive sen- sitivity figures. The validity of proposed filter is verified through computer simulations using PSPICE.


Abstract This article attempts to situate the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) in Sri Lanka in relation to varying approaches to mechanisms for searching for the missing. In particular, the article examines the possible tensions between a humanitarian and an accountability-based mandate and supports the position of the International Committee of the Red Cross that these two approaches can in fact be complementary in nature. It goes on to contend that the OMP's mandate is primarily humanitarian rather than exclusively humanitarian, and analyzes how this distinction may impact possible criminal prosecutions. It emphasizes the importance of preserving the humanitarian character of the OMP with the objective of ensuring that the victims' rights are at the centre of transitional justice processes.


Router buffer overflow and random bit errors have always been a problem in the Internet. The growth in multimedia applications in mobile extensions of the Internet has increased the threat from error bursts, random errors, and packet erasures that are a manifestation of wireless channels. Source-coded error resilience has come to prominence in the H.264/AVC codec standard, and this paper reviews such innovations surrounding this codec. Some innovations are new variants of an existing technique such as datapartitioning and some are entirely new such as the powerful dispersed-mode flexible macroblock ordering. Other techniques, such as reversible variable length coding, were not be transferred to H.264 from earlier codecs and, hence, innovations are proposed to still provide robust entropy coding. Other variants such as adaptive intra-refresh are still being experimented with. When error resilience or other protection methods fail to present an adequate video frame then error concealment can be brought to bear. This paper reviews error concealment which is important to commercial companies as they are able to distinguish their codec from others. The paper considers spatial, temporal and hybrid error concealment methods. Though this paper contains over one hundred references it can only provide a slice through this rich field.


'Absolutely, definitively alone', a young Jewish student in Romania tries to make sense of a world that has decided he doesn't belong. Spending his days walking the streets and his nights drinking and gambling, meeting revolutionaries, zealots, lovers and libertines, he adjusts his eyes to the darkness that falls over Europe, and threatens to destroy him. Mihail Sebastian's 1934 masterpiece, now translated into English for the first time, was written amid the anti-Semitism which would, by the end of the decade, force him out of his career and turn his friends and colleagues against him. For Two Thousand Years is a prescient, heart-wrenching chronicle of resilience and despair, broken layers of memory and the terrible forces of history.


RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Evidence-based guidelines on hypertension have been developed in many western countries. Yet, there is little evidence of their impact on the clinical practices of primary care nurses.

METHOD
We assessed the style of implementation and adoption of the national Hypertension Guideline (HT Guideline) in 32 Finnish health centres classified in a previous study as 'disseminators' (n = 13) or 'implementers' (n = 19). A postal questionnaire was sent to all nurses (n = 409) working in the outpatient services in these health centres. Additionally, senior nursing officers were telephoned to enquire if the implementation of the HT Guideline had led to a new division of labour between nurses and doctors.

RESULTS
Questionnaires were returned from 327 nurses (80.0%), while all senior nursing officers (n = 32) were contacted. The majority of nurses were of the opinion that the HT Guideline has been adopted into clinical practice. The recommendations in the HT Guideline were adopted in clinical practice with varying success, and slightly more often in implementer health centres than in disseminator health centres. Nurses in implementer health centres more often agreed that multiple channels had been used in the implementation (P < 0.001). According to senior nursing officers the implementation of the HT Guideline had led to a new division of labour between nurses and doctors in about a half of the health centres, clearly more often in implementer health centres (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
The HT Guideline was well adopted into clinical practice in Finland. The implementation of the HT Guideline had an impact on clinical practices, and on creating a new division of labour between nurses and doctors.


We report experimental measurements of the contact angle for four liquids on four different silica substrates, the systems covering a wide range of wettabilities. One of the substrates is a smooth planar silica surface, while the others have rough surfaces and meso-pores. We discuss the measured contact angles in relations to the microscopic wetting parameter, αw. This parameter emerges naturally from a corresponding states analysis of the partition function for this system, and is a measure of the ratio of the liquid–substrate intermolecular interaction to the interaction between two of the liquid molecules. Thus, it is a well-defined measure of wettability at both the nano- and macro-scales. The microscopic wetting parameter is shown to be a monotonic function of the contact angle. The contact angles for the materials with rough surfaces are found to be larger than those for the smooth planar surface for all liquids studied, including both non-wetting and wetting liquids. These results are discussed within the framework of a modified Cassie–Baxter model, in which only a fraction f of the liquid–solid interface is in actual contact with the solid. This fraction f is shown to increase as the wetting parameter increases in a physically reasonable way.


Andrew Dickson's startlingly original and joyously entertaining Worlds Elsewhere traverses centuries and continents to reveal Shakespeare and his works in a fantastic array of new guises..."Extraordinarily exhilarating...like no other Shakespeare criticism you have ever read." (Margaret Drabble). "A tour de force by any standards." (David Crystal). "Revelatory." (James Shapiro). "Brilliantly original." (Michael Pye). Anti-apartheid activist, Bollywood screenwriter, Nazi pin-up, hero of the Wild West: this is Shakespeare as you have never seen him before. From the sixteenth-century Baltic to the American Revolution, from colonial India to the skyscrapers of modern-day Shanghai, Shakespeare's plays appear at the most fascinating of times and in the most unexpected of places. No other writer's work has been performed, translated, adapted and altered in such a remarkable variety of cultures and languages. But what is it about William Shakespeare - a man from Warwickshire who never once set foot outside England - that has made him at home in so many places around the globe? Travelling across four continents, six countries and 400 years, Andrew Dickson takes us on a personal journey rich in insight and surprise. We enter the air-conditioned vault deep beneath Capitol Hill where the world's largest collection of First Folios is stored; discover the shadowy history of Joseph Goebbels's obsession with Shakespeare; and uncover the true story behind the scuffed edition in which Nelson Mandela and fellow Robben Island prisoners inscribed their names. Both cultural history and literary travelogue, Worlds Elsewhere is an attempt to understand how Shakespeare has become the international phenomenon he is - and why.


This study is the first comprehensive geographical research upon the bedouin tribes of Galilee. These tribal groups have been rather neglected in Literature and relatively little is known about them. It is hoped to contribute to the Settlement Geography of the Middle East and to shed some light on studies of the Holy Land, Settlement geography is defined for this study as having two basic aspects: 1) explaining the processes which have created the Bedouin settlement, and 2) describing the resultant settlement patterns. The most important period of sedentarization among the Galilee bedouin tribes is that of the first half of the 20th Century, although the processes of changing nomadic habits into sedentary ones were observed in earlier times. However, political and economic conditions of the country, as well as the weakness of the Central government of the Ottoman regime contributed much to the spread of nomadism into the non-desert environment of Galilee. However, the pattern of settlement among the Galilee bedouin is a recent phenomenon emerging largely during the past three decades. It has not yet reached its final shape. The study is divided into three parts, each part emphasizing one phase of the sedentarization process; the first part discusses the conditions under which the nomadism develops and the early symptoms of the denomadization process. The second part analyses the processes of sedentarization, and in the third part, the final product of sedentarization, the settlement patterns, are examined. The thesis ends with some concluding remarks summarizing the most significant general findings of this study and suggesting some further research for the future.


The nature conservation sector within Australia is dominated by the government sector. The degree of dominance in Australia is not necessarily exhibited in other countries, in particular the United States. The degree of dominance is suggested to be, in part, a product of the institutional framework that nature conservation is undertaken within. The institutional framework along with the characteristics of the goods and services produced shapes the range and type of activities undertaken by the private sector. The range of constraints faced by the private sector within Australia differs from those faced in other nations. In this paper some of these differences are identified. The implications are examined by reference to institutions and the resulting incentives in the United States and the United Kingdom in particular. The paper concludes with suggestions for policy strategies to mobilise the nongovernment nature conservation sector.


Abstract Production responses obtained with supplemental protein from expeller soybean meal or corn by-products, relative to solvent soybean meal, were determined in three replicated 4 × 4 Latin square trials. Dietary forage (54 to 58% of DM) was solely alfalfa silage containing 30 to 55% DM and 21% CP (DM basis). Main concentrate ingredient was either ground shelled or high moisture corn; diets were fed as total mixed rations. In Trials 1 and 2, supplements were: control (0 CP), .6× (60% of the supplemental CP of the 1× treatment) solvent soybean meal, .6× expeller soybean meal, and 1× solvent soybean meal. In Trial 1 (DM intake = 24.4 kg/d), supplement had no effect on production but increased weight gain; expeller soybean meal increased production of milk and lactose relative to either amount of solvent meal. In Trial 2 (DM intake = 20.0 kg/d), supplement increased production of milk and milk components; milk production on .6× expeller soybean meal was greater than .6× solvent soybean meal. In Trial 3 (DM intake = 22.4 kg/d), distillers dried grains plus corn gluten meal replaced .6× solvent soybean meal; supplement increased production of milk, 3.5% FCM, protein, and fat with no difference among the three proteins. Across all three trials, response to supplemental protein appeared to decrease with increased DM intake. Results indicate that resistant protein from expeller soybean meal and corn by-products can replace greater amounts from solvent soybean meal, and suggest that, despite high dietary CP, absorbed protein supply may be inadequate when alfalfa silage is the sole forage.


The success in using a food product as a delivery vehicle for probiotics depends on
its ability to maintain required level of viable cells (at least 107 cfu g-1) and to
suppress the growth of spoilage and pathogenic organism. Cheese-based dips could
deliver probiotic bacteria owing to its stable pH, buffering capacity of ingredients
and the presence of prebiotics. The anti-microbial properties of probiotics can also
be employed for controlling the spoilage organisms such as yeast and mould.
The work described in this thesis focused on the survival of probiotics and
their anti-microbial effects in dips. Effective selective enumeration methods were
first identified for specific probiotic cultures to enumerate their numbers, the ideal
conditions in which the organisms survive better were evaluated and the mechanism
by which the probiotic organisms antagonise pathogenic and spoilage organisms
were then elucidated. The cultures of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus,
Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus rhamnosus,
Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium spp. and propionibacteria were tested in
selected bacteriological media to evaluate their suitability as selective media.
Nineteen bacteriological media were evaluated at different incubation conditions,
including Streptococcus thermophilus (ST) agar, pH-modified MRS agar, MRS -
vancomycine agar (MRS-V agar), MRS-bile agar, MRS-NaCl agar, MRS-lithium
chloride agar, MRS - NNLP agar, RCA agar, sugar-based (such as maltose, galactose,
sorbitol, manitol, esculin) agar media, sodium lactate agar (NaLa), arabinose agar,
raffinose agar, xylose agar and LC agar. Aerobic and anaerobic incubations were
carried out at temperatures of 27°C, 30°C, 37°C, 43°C and 45°C for the duration of
24h, 72h and 7-9 days. ST agar and aerobic incubation at 37°C for 24h were suitable
for S. thermophilus. L. delbrueckii ssp bulgaricus can be enumerated in MRS agar
(pH 4.58 or pH 5.20) and anaerobic incubation at 45°C for 72h. MRS-V agar and
anaerobic incubation at 43°C for 72h was suitable to enumerate L. rhamnosus.
Anaerobic incubation in MRS-V agar at 37°C for 72h was selective to enumerate L.
casei. It is recommended that subtraction method should be implemented when L.
rhamnosus is present in the product. To do this, the count of L. rhamnosus recorded
on MRS-V agar at 43°C for 72h under anaerobic incubation should be subtracted
from the total count of L. casei. and L. rhamnosus recorded on MRS-V agar 37°C
for 72h under anaerobic incubation.


The aim of this study was to determine the association among periparturient events such as mastitis, lameness (infectious and non-infectious) and ketosis and the reproductive performance of high producing Holstein cows in a hot environment. The health status and reproductive data variables were recorded from 6,566 completed lactations in a large dairy operation. A logistic regression model with the stepwise procedure was used, considering the occurrence of the health problems during the pre-breeding period as fixed effect risk factors and reproductive variables as dependent variables. Pregnancy rate of cows contracting clinical mastitis (CM) around the period of first inseminations was five percentage points lower than cows without this disease. Cows with CM shortly before or after the first service had twice the risk of requiring more than three services per pregnancy than cows with healthy udders. Cows experiencing abortion, laminitis or metritis were two times more likely to require >3 services per pregnancy than cows not experiencing these reproductive disorders. Cows experiencing lameness, mastitis and metritis presented a significantly longer interval between calving and pregnancy compared to healthy cows. Ketosis and lameness increased the odds of a cow of being inseminated for the first time after 70 days in milk. In conclusion, these results suggest that abortion, ketosis, CM, retained placenta (RP), metritis, and lameness are associated with decreased reproductive performance in high producing Holstein cows subjected to thermal stress.


Women's empowerment is a concept that has acquired substantial recognition in the past decade. However, it is better known among international development organisations, NGOs, and grassroots groups than in academic circles. This article examines the concept of women's empowerment as a foundational element in a theory of social change in which the oppressed must be key actors in the change process. On the basis of empirical evidence, it highlights four dimensions of empowerment: economic, political, knowledge, and psychological. The knowledge dimension is fostered by one of the most respected and universal of institutions: formal education. Yet schools do not always provide friendly or even safe spaces for girls; moreover, the school curriculum emphasises academic subjects and avoids 'life skills' discussions. Most successful cases of empowerment through education have occurred in non-formal education programmes that specifically promote critical reflection on gendered social norms and encourage corrective responses. The article argues that the empowerment process must consider the close connection between the private and the public arenas, as the private space seriously constrains women's availability and possibilities for transformative action; therefore, both macro- and micro-level interventions are needed to create a modified gender division of labour. The promotion of agency — at both the individual and collective levels — plays a major role in the development of women's empowerment. Such a process requires the engagement of non-state actors, particularly women-led NGOs. The article ends with challenges for policy.