Using data from the two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households, I analyze the impact of transitions in marital status on changes in men's time spent in housework. The transitions occur among five marital statuses: never married, cohabiting, married, separated, and widowed. I find that men reduce the time they spend in routine housework when they form couple households and increase it when they leave couple households. In contrast, women increase the time they spend doing housework when they enter coresidential unions and reduce it when they exit. This finding suggests that, with respect to housework time at least, the formation of households with adult partners of the opposite gender remains more to men's advantage than to women's. Key Words: cohabitation, divorce, gender, housework, marriage. "Suddenly men are a hot topic." So begins Gerson's recent study (1993) of changes in men's commitments to their families and work. There is growing scholarly interest in the erosion of men's roles as primary breadwinners and their undertaking a more complex and differentiated set of familial responsibilities, including those of household labor (e.g., Coltrane, 1996). Despite this increasing interest in men's family roles, however, our knowledge of the dynamics of men's housework behavior remains meager. Although we know that there have been substantial changes at the aggregate level-men's housework hours per week increased from an average of 4.6 in 1965 to almost 10 in 1985 (Robinson, 1988)-the existing empirical literature is practically silent on the possible causes of changes in individual men's housework behavior. Specifically, previous research has ignored the effects of transitions in household and marital status on individuals' performance of housework. With the exception of South and Spitze (1994), the quantitative literature has examined only the division of housework in existing couple households (Berk, 1985; Blair & Lichter, 1991; Coverman, 1985; England & Farkas, 1986; Huber & Spitze, 1983; Shelton & John, 1993). Hence, although we know something about the hours that men and women in couple households spend doing housework, we do not understand how those hours are affected by household formation or dissolution. I report the first multivariate longitudinal analysis to date of the impact of transitions in marital status on men's time spent doing housework. I use data from both waves of the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) to answer the questions: How do men change their housework time when they move in and out of marital or cohabiting unions with women, and how do those changes compare with changes made by women who experience transitions in marital status? My longitudinal analysis provides a better understanding of the causal link between marital status and housework time than does existing cross-sectional research. The temporal ordering of transitions in marital status and changes in housework time is relatively unambiguous. Although it is possible that men and women change their housework hours in anticipation of such transitions, it is more likely that the transitions precede changes in housework time. Hence, I provide a clearer specification of the causal relationship between marital status and housework time than has been available to date. BACKGROUND I draw on the ideas of doing gender, a perspective that views domestic labor as a process by which individuals define their gender identities. In their seminal article on this concept, West and Zimmerman (1987) argue that gender should be understood as "a routine accomplishment embedded in everyday interaction" (p. 125). That is, gender is enacted and affirmed continuously by individuals through their interactions with other individuals. Coresidential heterosexual unions are the smallest interactional units in which individuals establish their gender identities through daily activities, for example, their performance of housework. …


Background. Nigeria has one of the world's largest burdens of children living with HIV and is highly endemic for hepatitis B. This study set out to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B and C infections among HIV-infected children and to identify the factors associated with these co-infections.

Method. We studied 155 HIV-infected children. Information on socio-demographics and history of exposure to risk factors such as scarification, blood transfusion, unsafe injections and circumcision were obtained. All the children were tested for the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen and antibodies to hepatitis C.

Result. The prevalence of HIV/HBV co-infection was 7.7%, while that of HIV/HCV co-infection was 5.2%. No child was co-infected with all three viruses. Children who were co-infected with HCV were more likely to be older than 5 years. There was no significant association between co-infection with either of the hepatitis viruses and socio-economic status, gender, number of persons living in the household, World Health Organization clinical stage, route of acquisition of HIV, scarification, blood transfusion, unsafe injection or circumcision.

Conclusion. The rate of HIV co-infection with hepatitis B and C in children is significant. HIV-infected children should be screened for these viruses. Those found to be negative and not immunised for hepatitis B should be immunised. Since the natural history of these co-infections in children is not known, it is imperative that affected patients be followed up adequately.


Linguistically-based accounts of attrition may give us an analysis of the properties of language observed at particular points in time. Then, by comparing states, we may try to explain the transition between them but, still, discussion concerning the actual mechanisms of change is typically left aside. The same may be said of studies of language acquisition. To integrate accounts of linguistic states at different points in time with psycholinguistic explanations about the transition from one state to the next, we require a broader, interdisciplinary approach. Sharwood Smith and Truscott's MOGUL (Modular Growth and Use of Language) is one such framework, adapting Ray Jackendoff's model of the language faculty to show how real-time processes might drive representational change over time.


In Collaborative Learning, Kenneth Bruffee advocates a far-reaching change in the relations we assume between college and university professors and their students, between the learned and the learning. He argues that the nature and source of the authority of college and university professors is the central issue in college and university education in our time, and that if college and university professors continue to teach exclusively in the stand-up-and-tell-'em way, their students will miss the opportunity to learn mature, effective interdependence-and this, Bruffee maintains, is the most important lesson we should expect students to learn. The book makes three related points. First, we should begin thinking about colleges and universities, and they should begin thinking about themselves, not as stores of information but as institutions of reacculturation. Second, we should think of college and university professors not as purveyors of information but as agents of cultural change who foster reacculturation by marshaling interdependence among student pers. And third, colleges and universities should revise longstanding assumptions about the nature and authority of knowledge and about classroom authority. To accomplish this, the author maintains, both college students and their professors must learn collaboratively. Describing the practical value of the activities encouraged by a collaborative approach-students working in consensus groups and research teams, tutoring peers, and helping each other with editing and revision-Bruffee concludes that, in the short run, collaborative learning helps students learn better-more thoroughly, more deeply, more efficiently-than learning alone. In the long run, collaborative learning is the best possible preparation for the real world, as students look beyond the authority of teachers, practice the craft of interdependence, and construct knowledge in the very way that academic disciplines and the professions do. With no loss of respect for the value of expertise, students learn to depend on one another, rather than depending exclusively on the authority of experts and teachers. In the second edition of this widely respected work, the argument is sharply focused on the need to change college and university education top to bottom, and the need to understand knowledge differently in order to accomplish that change. Several chapters, including that on collaborative learning and computers, have been throughly revised, and three new chapters have been added: on differences between collaborative learning and cooperative learning; on literary study and teaching literature; and on postgraduate education. From COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, second edition: ON THE CURRICULUM: Behind every public debate about college curriculum today lie comfortably unchallenged traditional assumptions. When we become fully aware of how deeply and irremediably these traditional assumptions have been challenged by twentieth-century thought, we see that a potentially more serious, and perhaps more rancorous and divisive, educational debate lies in wait for us. ON THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE: Remember the time Aunty Molly sat on the Thanksgiving turkey? Tell such a story at a family party and family members follow the story easily and get the point, because they are all members of the same small knowledge community. They know the people and the situation thoroughly, and they understand the family's private references. But try to tell the same story to neighbors or colleagues. For them to follow the story and get the point, you have to explain a lot of obscure details about family events and personalities that they're not familiar with. That is, when a smaller community sets out to integrate itsuelf into a larger one, the level of discourse has to change. The story changes and even its meaning changes as it becomes a constituting narrative of a larger and more complex community. The main purpose of college or university education is to help older adolescents and adults renegotiate their membership in that encompassing common culture. The foundational knowledge that shapes us as children sooner or later circumscribes our lives. We never entirely outgrow the local, foundational knowledge communities into which we are born. But for most people, the need to cope to one degree or another with the diversity and complexity of human life beyond the local and familiar does outgrow knowledge that is familiar and (locally) foundational. ON POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION: The problem is not that graduate professors do not know what they need to know. The problem is that most of them have learned what they know entirely under the traditional social conditions of academic alienation and aggression. Indeed, the problem is that mmbers of current graduate faculties were selected into the profession in part because they evidenced those traits. As a result, their fine education and superb reputations as scholars and critics may in some cased actually subvert their ability to understand knowledge as a social construct, learinng as an adult social process, and teaching as a role of leadership among adults.


Abstract Paleobiologists frequently hypothesize that a taxon's duration (i.e., the true span from origination to extinction) exceeds its stratigraphic range (i.e., the span from first appearance to last appearance in the fossil record). One can test hypothesized duration by assessing the plausibility of the implicitly hypothesized gaps between origination and first appearance and/or between last appearance and extinction. Several tests assess the probability of not finding a taxon over some stratigraphic gap. Because the likelihood of a hypothesis given data reflects the probability of the data given that hypothesis, these probabilities also give the likelihood of a hypothesized duration. However, many probability/likelihood tests require simplifying assumptions about unknown sampling parameters such as the consistency of sampling over time, sampling intensities for unknown ancestors, and actual sampling intensities themselves. This paper examines the effects of sampling parameters on probability/likelihood tests and presents methods for testing hypotheses about these unknowns while testing hypotheses about true durations. Two data sets are used here as examples. One analysis tests the origination times among Paleozoic gastropods implied by phylogenetic inferences. The other analysis tests the extinction times among Maastrichtian ammonites implied by different numbers of extinction events. In both cases, hypotheses positing many gaps in the fossil record become more likely after accommodating uncertainty about sampling. However, the increased likelihoods are insufficient to prevent these hypotheses from being rejected in favor of hypotheses positing fewer gaps. In both cases, the conclusions are identical to those derived by simple methods using simple models for unknown sampling parameters. Although numerous factors can exaggerate the implausibility of gaps, making these factors parts of testable hypotheses is possible. Thus, excessive assumptions about sampling parameters need not hinder empirical testing of hypothesized durations.


Part 1 Theoretical: social movement dynamics during democratic transition and consolidation - a synthesis of political process and political interactionist theories, Ron Pagnucco. Part 2 Comparative studies: the mass basis of the extreme right in Europe in a comparative perspective, Jorgen Falter and Markus Klein dominant and majority exclusive nationalism in Eastern Europe - searching for determinants, Mary McIntosh et al contexts of political protest in western democracies - political organization and modernity, Edeltraud Roller and Bernhard Wessels the role of voice in a future Europe, Karl-Dieter Opp. Part 3 Case studies - the United States and western Europe: movement strategy and dramaturgic framing in democratic states - the case of the American civil rights movement, Douglas McAdam David Duke - democracy under stress in Louisiana, Susan Howell the national front vote and right-wing extremism, 1988-1995, Nonna Mayer the far right in unified Germany, Michael Minkenberg recent right-wing radicalism in Germany - its development and resonance in the public and social sciences, Dieter Rucht discourse and racism in postwar Austria - antisemitism and attitudes toward foreigners, Ruth Wodak the political conditioning of collective violence - regime change and insurgent terrorism in Spain, Fernando Reinares Nazism through democracy - why 14 million Germans voted for the Nazi party, William Brustein. Part 4 Case studies - other regions: the breakup of Yugoslavia, Anthony Oberschall the opposition movement in South Africa, Gay Seidman putting "people power" back together again - some puzzles from the Philippines, Mark Thompson.


Hybrid membrane filtration processes involve complex physical, chemical and biological phenomena, thus their mechanistic modelling is challenging. The chief advantages of statistical and artificial neural networks (ANN) models (data-driven models) are that they do not require assumptions and simplifications to establish relationships from data. This paper investigates the characteristics and performance of several data-driven methods to model a hybrid membrane system. The focus is on the application of regression analysis and artificial intelligence based methods to a steady-state system. Among empirically based approaches, ANN neural networks methods were found to be very useful to predict permeate quality and membrane fouling. In the past multivariate nonlinear regression had barely been investigated for process modelling in water and waste water treatment. In this study polynomial multivariate nonlinear regression showed a superior performance. Multivariate parametric nonlinear models could match the performance of the nonparametric ANN models in the empirical modelling of complex systems, especially when combined with advanced optimization methods. This paper gives the methodology of how one could optimize a membrane hybrid system using ANN, validating it with one set of data. The same procedure/methodology can be applied to similar systems.


An estimated 20 million tons of plastic litter enters the ocean each year. This litter has a wide range of adverse environmental and economic impacts, from wildlife deaths and degraded coral reefs to billions of dollars in cleanup costs, damage to sea vessels, and lost tourism and fisheries revenues. Despite increased attention to the problem and general agreement about the need for reduction and cleanup of marine plastic litter, there is presently no overarching action plan that would effectively address the problem.This paper, fifth in the Emmett Center's Pritzker Brief series, reviews the universe of studies, policies and international agreements relevant to the problem and provides a suite of recommendations to achieve meaningful reductions in plastic marine litter by the year 2025.


We report source parameters of 277 earthquakes that occurred during 99.2000 in the Taiwan region, a time period dominated by the Chi-Chi earthquake sequence. We used an improved CMT inversion algorithm to handle high background noise and structural heterogeneity from complex tectonic settings near Taiwan. We also searched the best fitting solutions at an increment of 1 km of focal depths for all events that occurred after the :hi-Chi main shock on September 20, 1999. In general, central and northern Taiwan was seismically quiet before the Chi-Chi main shock. Aftershocks of this sequence dominated the regional seismicity for approximately 3 months afterward. The Chi-Chi sequence consists of a wide range of focal mechanisms, but the overall pattern is a west-verging thrust block bound strike-slip tear faults near the northern and southern termini of the surface rupture – the Chelungpu fault. Seismicity outside of the source zone of the Chi-Chi sequence generally agrees with known active tectonics from previous studies. Nonetheless, under high elevations of the eastern Central Ranges, there are several intriguing cases of changing focal mechanisms from normal faulting near the surface to thrust at depth. To facilitate further research of the Chi-Chi sequence, results of our inversion and original waveforms from the Broadband Array in Taiwan for Seismology (BATS) of 170 events within this sequence are ready for distribution on CD-ROM. The dataset is also online at the BATS web site (http://bats.earth.sinica.edu.tw/Chi-Chi_CMT).


Wound healing, occurs naturally upon inflammation following a programmed process such as hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. But at times this sequence is not followed due to lack of sufficient oxygenation, nutrition, stress etc. thus causing improper or impaired wound healing. To suffice this need, implants such as scaffolds are prepared which mimics the extracellular matrix (ECM) thereby providing a proper environment for growth, maintenance and adherence of the cells present in it. In the present work, we propose E¬¬¬¬¬CM derived from porcine omentumto be used as a xenogeneic biomaterial for designing our scaffolds. For this study porcine omentum was decellularised following a series of processes including both physical and chemical method such as repeated freeze thawingand SDS washing of the tissues. Composite films of both Alginate-ECM and Chitosan –ECM in different compositions were prepared by solvent casting method. These films were further characterized by Light Transmission, Swelling, hemocompatibility, moisture absorption and water vapour permeability, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Alginate films without ECM were found to be less thick than the chitosan films without ECM. Upon swelling the films differed in the hydrophilicity as uptake of water by chitosan films were more than alginate films. This accounts to the moisture retention capacity of films Apart from this since ECM is more hydrophilic than alginate and chitosan and addition of higher proportion of ECM in films imparts them more hydrophilicity. Alginate films were found to have more thickness, more hemocompitibility, more crystallinity and higher rate of moister absorption, lesser swelling ratio and more water vapour permeability than chitosan films


The monitoring of training loads is now a much-researched topic in team sports.1 Within this topic, researchers and practitioners are particularly interested in the impact of relatively short (acute) periods of higher training loads normalised for the prior and longer term (chronic) loads. In recent years, a well-established approach for normalising this acute 'spike' to chronic load has been by calculating the 'acute:chronic workload ratio' (ACWR). Importantly, the term "load" was retained given its common use in this research area. Both this index and chronic load itself have been reported to be independent predictors of training-related injuries.2 It has also been reported, particularly in team sports competitors, that there are associations between acute spikes in training loads (relative to chronic loads) and time-loss injuries.1

The ACWR is usually calculated as the simple ratio of recent (ie, 1 week) to longer term (ie, 4 weeks) training loads.1 While it is important for the numerator and denominator of any ratio to be correlated only through biological mechanisms,3 one aspect of the ACWR calculation is that the acute load also constitutes a substantial …


Inguinal hernia is a common problem encountered during surgical practice. Mesh repair of the hernia is considered gold standard. Numerous techniques have been described in literature, but use of prosthesis is associated with the lowest recurrence rates. Standard polypropylene mesh is used most commonly, but a variety of meshes made from different polymers, design and architecture are currently available. Being one of the commonest surgery performed worldwide, mesh use accounts for significant healthcare cost. Success of hernia repair hinges on a good technique and use of an appropriate prosthesis. A global market worth billions of dollars, mesh design and technology have a significant impact on surgical results after hernia repair. In this review, we try to focus on the advent of mesh technology, its classification, materials and designs available in surgical practice. As our search for an ideal mesh continues so will advent


Objectives: Abusive head trauma is a leading cause of traumatic death and disability during infancy and early childhood. Evidence-based screening tools for abusive head trauma do not exist. Our research objectives were 1) to measure the predictive relationships between abusive head trauma and isolated, discriminating, and reliable clinical variables and 2) to derive a reliable, sensitive, abusive head trauma clinical prediction rule that—if validated—can inform pediatric intensivists' early decisions to launch (or forego) an evaluation for abuse. Design: Prospective, multicenter, cross-sectional, observational. Setting: Fourteen PICUs. Patients: Acutely head-injured children less than 3 years old admitted for intensive care. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Applying a priori definitional criteria for abusive head trauma, we identified clinical variables that were discriminating and reliable, calculated likelihood ratios and post-test probabilities of abuse, and applied recursive partitioning to derive an abusive head trauma clinical prediction rule with maximum sensitivity—to help rule out abusive head trauma, if negative. Pretest probability (prevalence) of abusive head trauma in our study population was 0.45 (95 of 209). Post-test probabilities of abusive head trauma for isolated, discriminating, and reliable clinical variables ranged from 0.1 to 0.86. Some of these variables, when positive, shifted probability of abuse upward greatly but changed it little when negative. Other variables, when negative, largely excluded abusive head trauma but increased probability of abuse only slightly when positive. Some discriminating variables demonstrated poor inter-rater reliability. A cluster of five discriminating and reliable variables available at or near the time of hospital admission identified 97% of study patients meeting a priori definitional criteria for abusive head trauma. Negative predictive value was 91%. Conclusions: A more completeunderstanding of the specific predictive qualities of isolated, discriminating, and reliable variables could improve screening accuracy. If validated, a reliable, sensitive, abusive head trauma clinical prediction rule could be used by pediatric intensivists to calculate an evidence-based, patient-specific estimate of abuse probability that can inform—not dictate—their early decisions to launch (or forego) an evaluation for abuse.


Background:Straw drinking is often recommended as a strategy for managing swallowing difficulties in adult clinical populations. This study presents a range of normal adult straw drinking speeds and discusses clinical applications. Method:Straw drinking speed in a normal healthy population of 70 adults from 18 to 95 years of age was measured. Three types of straws were used: a Pat Saunders valved straw (PSVS), a wide-bore straw and a narrow-bore straw (NBS). Participants drank 40 ml of water for each straw tested. All participants were asked to comment on the straws used. A mixed-method design was used wherein both quantitative and simple structured qualitative data were collected. Results:Drinking speed was quickest for the wide-bore straw, followed by the NBS and slowest for the PSVS. This was supported by qualitative comments from the adults who reported that the PSVS was the most difficult straw to use. There were no significant differences between straw flow or straw type and sex of the participants. There were significant changes with aging and a decrease in flow speed with the NBS. Weight and height had some effect on straw drinking speeds. There was a slight correlation between age and sex and age and height, but not between age and weight. Conclusion:This article presents data for a normal range of straw drinking speeds in a healthy adult population. It can be used in the assessment and monitoring of straw drinking in acquired disorders of swallowing.


Reconfigurable microwave components play an important role in modern communication systems to meet the increasing demands for functionality and flexibility of the systems. Various technologies, such as semiconductor technology, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) or ferroelectric thin and thick films, are suitable for the realization of tunable microwave components. Ferroelectric materials are characterized by high tuning speeds, negligible power consumption and low manufacturing costs. In particular, ferroelectric thick films based on barium strontium titanate (BaxSr1-xTiO3, BST) are promising systems for use in the frequency range up to approx. 12 GHz. However, due to the high sintering temperatures above 1100°C for pure BST thick films, the fabrication of tunable components based on silver or gold electrodes is limited to planar structures, which are applied after the sintering process.

In this presentation, it will be shown the development of BST-ZnO-B2O3 composite materials for reducing the sintering temperature to 850-900°C. Furthermore, the material and component properties of these composites or rather corresponding MIM (metal-insulator-metal) varactors are presented and compared to planar-structured varactors. The LTCC integration potential of such fully screen-printed MIM varactors based on the developed low sintering BST composites are investigated by the fabrication of phase shifters embedded in LTCC modules.


Objective: The aim of this study was to assess whether an in-person mindfulness-based resilience training (MBRT) program or a smartphone-delivered resiliency-based intervention improved stress, well-being, and burnout in employees at a major tertiary health care institution. Methods: Sixty participants were randomized to a 6-week MBRT, a resiliency-based smartphone intervention, or an active control group. Stress, well-being, and burnout were assessed at baseline, at program completion, and 3 months postintervention. Results: Both the MBRT and the smartphone groups showed improvements in well-being, whereas only the MBRT group showed improvements in stress and emotional burnout over time. The control group did not demonstrate sustained improvement on any outcome. Conclusion: Findings suggest that brief, targeted interventions improve psychological outcomes and point to the need for larger scale studies comparing the individual and combined treatments that can inform development of tailored, effective, and low-cost programs for health care workers.


In this discourse analysis of how memory acquires and is acquired in interview exchanges, we investigate remembering as a category-bound activity, both a tensional and collaborative process of moral ratification of `survivor' as membership category. We propose the term re-membering to mean piecing together possible versions of survivor experiences in talk; these versions, offered by respondents and elicited by interviewers through questioning strategies, are epistemic claims to acquire the Holocaust as memory, or institutional History. We explore the accounting dynamic of interviewer and respondent, the relationship of ownership between survivors and memory, and the duties and moral obligations of the category `Holocaust survivor' that can be shown through the interviews of survivors and their adult daughters.


Accurate and easy to use Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) are of fundamental importance for a successful operational farm management. However, still today many farmers do not use FMISs for various reasons, like lack of knowledge and the complexity of many available FMISs. In particular for small to medium-sized farms and for multifunctional farms appropriate FMISs hardly exist. This paper aims on the deduction of a concrete FMIS from a general FMIS. The concrete FMIS has to focus on the needs of medium-sized and multifunctional farms. This means that the farmer has to be empowered to allocate the scarce resources of the farm. Therefore, we picked a German farm from the state North Rhine Westphalia as a case-study to apply a system analysis. The case study farm helps to identify and to analyze relevant material and information flows, production processes, and their interconnections and synergies.


The acquisition of the metastatic melanoma phenotype is associated with increased expression of the melanoma cell adhesion molecule MCAM/MUC18 (CD146). However, the mechanism by which MUC18 contributes to melanoma metastasis remains unclear. Herein, we stably silenced MUC18 expression in two metastatic melanoma cell lines, A375SM and C8161, and conducted cDNA microarray analysis. We identified and validated that the transcriptional regulator, inhibitor of DNA binding-1 (Id-1), previously shown to function as an oncogene in several malignancies, including melanoma, was downregulated by 5.6-fold following MUC18 silencing. Additionally, we found that MUC18 regulated Id-1 expression at the transcriptional level via ATF-3, which itself was upregulated by 6.9-fold in our cDNA microarray analysis. ChIP analysis showed increased binding of ATF-3 to the Id-1 promoter after MUC18 silencing. To complement these studies, we rescued the expression of MUC18, which reversed the expression patterns of Id-1 and ATF-3. Moreover, we showed that MUC18 promotes melanoma invasion through Id-1, as overexpression of Id-1 in MUC18-silenced cells resulted in increased MMP-2 expression and activity. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that MUC18 is involved in cell signaling regulating the expression of Id-1 and ATF-3, thus contributing to melanoma metastasis.


Success in business depends on two broad management skills: 'doing the right thing' (choosing the right projects) and 'doing things right' (good project management). This book examines the challenges that managers face in assessing the likely risks and benefits that need to be taken into account when choosing projects. It then explores the strategic level risks that will need to be dealt with in managing those projects and suggests risk management strategies. In so doing, it makes a rare but important link between strategic level appraisal of project opportunities and project risk management. Many projects have similar characteristics that are common to a number of projects experienced by the same or other organizations. Elaine Harris shows how the use of a project typology can guide project risk management by identifying common risks shared by projects of each type. Her cutting edge research will help advanced project practitioners and researchers in projects and risk management to develop a risk management strategy that is better suited to the context of their projects and one that is flexible enough to develop and adapt once the project decision has been taken and the real-world of project management and delivery begins. Series Editor: Professor Darren Dalcher.


Abstract The 'Middle' Cretaceous of the Northern California Coast Ranges has yielded unusually well-preserved specimens of Litosphaeridium, some of which (Litosphaeridium arundum, Litosphaeridium bacar, Litosphaeridium conispinum, and Litosphaeridium siphoniphorum subsp. glabrum) have been analyzed in detail previously. Two other species, which were discovered later, are Litosphaeridium adnatum sp. nov. and Litosphaeridium gaponoffiae sp. nov. Litospheridium adnatum sp. nov. is most similar to Litosphaeridium siphoniphorum, but has an adnate operculum, sulcal processes, a more elongate central body, and less of the central body is covered by processes. The other, Litosphaeridium gaponoffiae sp. nov., is most similar to Litosphaeridium arundum and Litospheridium fucosum, but has goblet-shaped processes, a free operculum, a more spherical central body, and its cingular processes are not reduced as they are in Litospheridium arundum. The two species are from the late Albian based on the associated dinoflagellate cysts.


Titanium(IV) sulfide (TiS2) is a promising 2D layered material for energy storage applications. However, its electrochemical performance has been hindered by its low ion diffusion coefficient and inconsistencies in determining its electrical properties. To overcome these challenges, bulk TiS2 cathodes are normally mixed with conductive additives (typically carbon) and polymer binders (typically polyvinylidene fluoride – PVDF) to yield a paste that is subsequently cast onto a current collector. The electrochemical performance of the electrode is lowered due to the extra weight of all the inactive components (i.e., additives, polymer binder, and metal substrates) introduced during the fabrication process. An alternative to the use of pasted electrodes is the direct growth of well-defined nanostructures on a conducting substrate. In this study, we report the synthesis, characterization, and electrochemical performance of carbon- and binder-free cathodes comprising highly conducting TiS2 nanobelts. The fabricated TiS2 nanobelts are highly anisotropic and are vertically grown directly on the current collector to yield a spatially controlled array. The short ion diffusion paths, high electrical conductivity and absence of additives that hinder ion migration lead to Li- and Na-based TiS2 electrochemical devices exhibiting high specific capacity, less capacity fade, and resilience under higher cycling rates. We also present the effects of sulfur vacancies on the electrochemical performance of both vertically oriented Li- and Na-based TiS2−x nanobelt array cathode insertion hosts. It is also worth mentioning that Na-ion half-cells comprising our vertically oriented TiS2 nanobelt arrays exhibit a discharge capacity of 217 mA h g−1 (theoretical specific capacity of 239 mA h g−1). This discharge capacity equates to 0.91 Na per TiS2 unit – exceeding the maximum loading ever obtained of 0.8 Na per TiS2 under practical operation. We thus observe that scaling to finite sizes as well as fabricating highly anisotropic nanobelt arrays are found to profoundly alter both the kinetics of Li- and Na-ion insertion and the electrochemical performance of TiS2.


The aims of this study were to type genetic variants in the casein genes in Czech dairy goat population and to assess an association within genotypes group at the casein loci on the following milk production parameters: mean daily milk yield, protein yield, and protein production during 240-days milking in 389 animals of Czech mixed dairy goat breeds in first till third lactation. Different molecular techniques: AS-PCR, PCR-RFLP and PEA (SNaP Shot) were used to determine genetic variants. Molecular analysis confirmed that the F (0.622) allele at CSN1S1 locus was predominant compared to the A allele and prevalent genotype was FA (0.524). At CSN2 locus allele C was predominant (0.669) compared to A allele (0.331) and genotype AC (0.486) and CC (0.427) had similar appearance. Frequency of allele F and N was similar (0.478, 0.522, respectively) at CSN1S2 locus. Frequencies of allele B (0.765) and genotype BB (0.619) at the CSN3 locus were dominant in goat population. Associations between milk production parameters and casein gene polymorphism were investigated, and significant effects were found on protein content, at loci CSN1S1, CSN1S2, CSN3 (P < 0.001), and CSN2 (P < 0.05). Also, significant effect was found on protein production at 240d of lactation at locus CSN3. These results indicate that casein genetic polymorphism loci should be used as a molecular marker for marker-assisted selection (MAS) for improving of milk composition and protein production. Klíčová slova milk protein genes, genetic polymorphism, goat, lactation


Contemporary marketing studies claim that in order to effectively create value firms should approach themselves and the market through a service-dominant logic (SDL) rather than a goods-dominant logic (GDL). Whereas GDL draws attention to tangible output and discrete transactions, SDL emphasizes knowledge and skills, exchange processes, and relationships. Overall, SDL enables a broader view on value creation.

For the purposes of this study I approached SDL as a particular strategic perspective on value creation, forming the backbone of a service-dominant strategy. I focused especially on customer value, which refers to customer-perceived benefits less sacrifices.

Despite the proliferation of research on SDL it had attracted little empirical examination. There was a lack of studies on how service-dominant strategies could be constructed and formulated. In addition, strategy research had not focused on how companies could accomplish value creation, although it is a prerequisite for continued success and survival.

In order to narrow this research gap I set out to develop a novel theoretical framework to strategizing about customer value creation, and to elaborate on this perspective empirically through a case study set in a waste management start-up.

The framework builds on the so-called practice turn in social theory and strategy research. The practice approach enables a simultaneous view on the micro-activities and the macro-cultural structures that constitute strategizing. According to the practice-theoretical framework, strategizing is a social activity that arises from habituated tendencies and dispositions rather than from deliberate and purposeful reflection. Thus, a strategic perspective on value creation is immanent in strategizing: it builds on the social practices that strategy practitioners draw upon.

The case study involved ethnographic materials and analysis. Over a period of 20 months I participated in the start-up company's meetings and negotiations, which constituted a considerable part of the overall strategizing. The aims were to identify the most significant social practices involved, and to analyze how they enabled or inhibited a service-dominant strategy and the tensions they formed with regard to a strategic perspective on value creation.

Overall, the case study provided a nuanced view on the practical complexities of strategizing about customer value creation in the context of new business development. I found that the strategizing built largely on ten practices, including engaging in product hobbyism and building large networks, which had different inherent logics that guided the strategizing. I also identified seven tensions between the inherent logics, such as rigid versus flexible organizational boundaries and atomistic versus holistic offerings, which were 'played out' in the everyday strategy making, sometimes sparking observable conflicts. Significantly, I discovered that the construction of a service-dominant strategy hinged upon how the tensions were resolved.

The present study has several contributions to marketing and strategy-as-practice research. With regard to the SDL literature in marketing, the novel theoretical framework, with its solid foundation in the practice turn, will enable researchers to examine different strategic perspectives on value creation in the social practices of strategizing. The case study provides an extensive empirical exploration of the construction of a service-dominant strategy, which was found to depend on specific practical tensions. It also showed that multiple perspectives on value creation coexist within a single organization.

With regard to strategy-as-practice research, this study highlights the worldview on value creation that is always immanent in strategizing, and emphasizes the role of extra-organizational actors in co-creating value. Furthermore, whereas previous strategy research has focused on struggles between ideologies and discourses, this study acknowledges the embodied nature of the tensions between practices. In addition, the empirical part demonstrates the role of historically and culturally transmitted, trans-individual practices. It also sheds light on strategizing in a small entrepreneurial company, which is something that has been overlooked.

Finally, practitioners could use this study to create space for alternative strategies to emerge by reflecting on the different perspectives on value creation that are presented in the theoretical framework. In shifting toward a service-dominant strategy they could use the tensions that were identified in the case study as a tool enabling them to focus on the most significant aspects of strategizing.

Keywords: service-dominant strategy, value creation, practice theory, start-up company


Quadriceps-to-Hamstrings Imbalances in Female Collegiate Soccer Athletes: Implication for
Injury

Sports involving rapid jumping, repetitive stop and
go movements, and sudden changes of direction place the anterior
cruciate ligament (ACL) at an increased risk for injury. Female
athletes tend to be quadriceps dominant suggesting a muscular
imbalance between the strength of the quadriceps and hamstring
thigh muscles. Ideal quadriceps-to-hamstring ratios should be
as close to 1 as possible to prevent injuries in athletes; however,
ratios of 1.5-1.8 are still considered normal. These Biomechanical
imbalances are believed to decrease shock absorption and knee
stabilization during landing. The purpose of this study was to
examine the strength of the quadriceps-to-hamstrings ratios in
female collegiate soccer athletes.


Long running fractures in pipelines pose great danger to humans, as well as leading to significant economical losses. Current methods of predicting crack arrest require cumbersome re-calibration when new pressurized media inside the pipe, or when new material qualities are introduced. A new method is being developed by SINTEF, where a coupling of fluid and solid mechanics in the finite element software LS-DYNA describes the fracture propagation, driving forces and crack arrest in gas pressurized pipelines. The type of work detailed in this report gives valuable knowledge about material properties and behaviour, and is of paramount importance to accurately formulate the problem of running ductile fracture. Different material definitions can be used with this coupled model, and calibrating one type of material model will bedetailed in this report. The coupled model itself will not be evaluated A widely applied test in the industry is the Charpy v-notch test, which is a standardized high strain rate testwhich determines the amount of energy absorbed by a material specimen during fracture. Being able to use the well established Charpy test for accurately predicting material properties and behaviour is a much studied subject, and at the end of this report, a finite element model of a Charpy specimen will be used to attempt toverify the material definitions found during this work.


The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends restricting our intake of saturated fat to less than 7 percent of calories, and our cholesterol intake to less than 300 mg per day (less than two eggs). They promote the use of low-fat milk and lean meat, and the use of "meat substitutes" in school lunches. These recommendations are consistent with the official dietary policy that began in 1977 with the release of the first Dietary Goals for the United States by the United States Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs. These guidelines were not justified by the then-available science. They were adopted despite the concerns of researchers and physicians. Subsequent research has disproven the hypothesis upon which they were based. They have failed to produce the promised benefits. Since animal products are a significant source of saturated fat and cholesterol, the official advice has been to limit the consumption of animal products in general and red meat in particular. At best animal products have been wrongly accused and unfairly impacted by public policy; at worst vast physical and fiscal harm has been done to the American public.


In the following study the mouse mutant cobblestone (cbs) concerning the development of the forebrain was analyzed. The cbs mutation was uncovered by an ethyl-nitroso-urea (ENU) genetic screen, using a mouseline called tauGFP.
 At the beginning of the analysis of the cbs mutation, the phenotype of the cbs/cbs mouse mutant was already known, but because of the mutagenic ability of ENU, which causes random mutations, the affected gene was unclear. By applying the method of positional cloning the gene intraflagellar transport 88 (Ift88) was identified as the candidate gene. A detailed analysis of mRNA levels of Ift88 in the cbs/cbs mutant was undertaken by Northen Blot analysis as well as quantitative real-time RT-PCR. At the same time the Ift88 protein levels were also investigated by Western blot analysis. A complementation analysis by crossing cbs heterozygotes to mice heterozygous for a targeted deletion of the Ift88 gene (Ift88tm1.1Bky) (Haycraft et al., 2007) was done to ascertain, if the genetic defect in the cbs/cbs mutant is located in the Ift88 gene.
 In the represented study it could be shown that cbs is a hypomorphic allele of the gene Ift88, in which both Ift88 mRNA and protein levels are reduced by 70% to 80%, respectively. A detailed analysis by in situ hybridization (ISH) was followed, using different markers, which are specific for various areas of the developing telencephalon such as Ttr1 for the choroid plexus, Wnt2b for the cortical hem, as well as EphB1 and Lhx2 for the hippocampal anlage. Furthermore both the dorsal-ventral and rostral-caudal compartmental boundaries of the forebrain were investigated by ISH. cbs/cbs mutants display defects in the formation of dorsomedial telencephalic structures, such as the choroid plexus, cortical hem and hippocampus. Furthermore mutants exhibit a relaxation of both dorsal-ventral and rostral-caudal compartmental boundaries of the forebrain, resulting in the intermixture of otherwise separated cell populations. It is further demonstrated that the proteolytic processing of Gli3 is reduced in the cbs/cbs mutant, leading to an accumulation of the full-length activator isoform. In addition the cbs/cbs mutant exhibits an upregulation of canonical Wnt signalling in the neocortex and in the caudal forebrain. Primary cilia, microtubule-based organelles that protrude from the surface of most cells of the vertebrate body, are dependent on Ift88 for their formation and maintenance. The ultrastructure and morphology of cilia of the ventricle of the cbs/cbs mutants was therefore simultaneously investigated by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Surprisingly, examined cilia are still existing and intact in the cbs/cbs mutant.
 Taken together, these results indicate a fundamental role for primary cilia in the development of the forebrain.


INTRODUCTION For most of the current period of legal thought, legal realism or instrumentalism have been the strongest forces at work in the field. (1) This has coincided with the rise in popularity of the theories of deontology or consequentialism in the field of moral philosophy. However, since Elizabeth Anscombe's famous 1958 paper Modern Moral Philosophy was published, (2) the theory of virtue ethics (3) has captured a small but growing group of adherents. Moral philosophy, of course, is necessarily and intricately tied to legal theory, and because of this, a corresponding theory is slowly developing in legal academia. For example, Lawrence Solum has already written of the effect of virtue jurisprudence on some areas of the law, (4) and together with Colin Farrelly, has called for a return to the principles of virtue jurisprudence as the basis of law. (5) At best, this project is in utero. (6) Virtue ethics is not, of course, a new field. In one form, its roots in western thought can be traced as far as Plato; (7) however, the treatment given to it by his pupil Aristotle received more attention and is generally regarded as the true birth of the theory. (8) Most early Christians disregarded Aristotelian and other Greek philosophies as pagan, and therefore the theory of virtue and law proposed by Aristotle fell into disfavor among western cultures. (9) The next serious treatment of the theory was in the medieval period, when St. Thomas Aquinas revived peripatetic thought and gave his own detailed account of how exactly the flourishing of human virtue was the goal of government, as well as what a regime was and was not permitted to do in pursuit of this goal. (10) This outline, while by no means exhaustive of the literature on the interaction of virtue and the law, provides a brief sketch of the primary influences on the field of virtue ethics from the pre-Enlightenment western canon. Until the recent treatment of the field, it had remained largely undeveloped from these roots. Recently, as noted above, some have attempted to build on this tradition and adapt our current legal system to virtue ethics, thereby creating a framework which most actively and effectively promotes the common good. (11) In many areas of the law, it remains to be seen or fully explored what sort of effect virtue jurisprudence might have and what the broader implications will be. One of these areas is constitutional interpretation. While the effect of virtue jurisprudence on constitutional adjudication has been explored, (12) the question of whether or not the Constitution may reasonably be interpreted as consistent with the ends of law according to virtue jurisprudence is valid and as yet little-discussed. If the Constitution is incompatible with virtue jurisprudence, then we must choose whether to have our cake or eat it. Such a discovery would not, of course, invalidate the theory of virtue jurisprudence; it would instead require us to conclude that the Constitution does not have a sturdy basis in a valid moral philosophy. (13) For many Americans, this choice between the Constitution and virtue ethics is easy: the Constitution functions neatly enough and is dear enough that it is the clear selection over what is, to most Americans, a nebulous and relatively unknown philosophical mindset. This Note will argue, however, that the two are not only compatible but ideally paired. This is not to say that adopting virtue jurisprudence as the philosophical foundation of the Constitution would be without consequence. Rather, it will argue that the Constitution is compatible with virtue jurisprudence if the reader interprets it in a particular way which is consistent with the founders' general worldview and beliefs. This Note will not attempt to establish that virtue jurisprudence is a superior system to any other, nor that the constitutional interpretation it provides ought to be the preferred method. Instead it will give a theoretical framework by which we as a people might base our Constitution on virtue jurisprudence, if we desired to do so. …


PURPOSE
To evaluate the feasibility of a novel radiochromic dosimetry system for in-vivo dose verification in organs at risk in HDR intracavitary gynecological brachytherapy.

METHODS
Novel, small cylindrical PRESAGE dosimeters (4mm in diameter by 20mm in height) were attached to intracavitary HDR brachytherapy applicators near the rectum and bladder of three patients undergoing Ir-192 HDR brachytherapy treatments. Two methods of dose-readout were investigated (i) a volume averaged readout by spectrophotometer, and (ii) 2D projection imaging in a high-resolution (50 micron) telecentric optical system. Both readout techniques were benchmarked against a gold standard. The gold standard consisted of spectrophotometer readout of precision 1×1×4cm optical cuvettes filled with PRESAGE, and irradiated to known doses in a 6 MV photon beam. Temperature corrections were required to account for increased PRESAGE sensitivity at body temperature. Estimated doses were compared with measured dose distributions in Eclipse.

RESULTS
Examination of the change in optical density between dosimeters and cuvettes shows a linear relationship in sensitivity between 1-15 Gy with a 95% confidence interval in the slope (0.8703 +/- 0.0192). Patient data showed a 0 % and 2.8% difference in estimated doses vs. Eclipse measurements in the bladder and rectum, respectively.

CONCLUSION
This work presents the spectrophotometer/optical scanning system as a viable dosimetry system, which can provide in-vivo dose verification in intracavitary HDR brachytherapy. Further work needs to be done in regard to dosimeter positioning in patient treatments. NIH Grant RO1CA100835.


We conducted a joint electromagnetic (EM) and seismic experiment to probe the mantle structure below a normal seafloor around the Shatsky Rise in the northwestern Pacific. Specifically for the investigation of the mantle transition zone (MTZ) structure, we deployed our state-of-the-art instruments in two arrays to the north and south of the Shatsky Rise for 5 years from 2010 to 2015. Here we report the result of analyses of EM and seismic data obtained in the joint experiment as well as in previous studies. From the EM data analysis, a 1-D profile of electrical conductivity was obtained for two observational arrays. The thickness of the MTZ was also obtained by the P-wave receiver function analysis, from which temperature profiles in the MTZ below two arrays were then estimated. We found that the northern array provides EM and seismic data with much higher quality than the southern array, and therefore meaningful estimation of MTZ water content is possible for the northern array. We estimated water content based on profiles of electrical conductivity and temperature obtained by our geophysical observation and electrical conductivities of dry and wet MTZ minerals (wadsleyite and ringwoodite) obtained by mineral physics. The result of the forward modeling study indicated that the upper limit of water content below the northern array is 0.5 wt.% or 0.05 wt.%, depending on different results of laboratory experiments for water effects on electrical conductivities. The lower limit of water content was not constrained by our data.


In this paper, we propose a Bayesian Deep Collaborative Matrix Factorization (BDCMF) algorithm for collaborative filtering (CF). BDCMF is a novel Bayesian deep generative model that learns user and item latent vectors from users' social interactions, contents of items as the auxiliary information and user-item rating (feedback) matrix. It alleviates the problem of matrix sparsity by incorporating items' auxiliary and users' social information into the model. It can learn more robust and dense latent representations by integrating deep learning into Bayesian probabilistic framework. As being one of deep generative models, it has both non-linearity and Bayesian nature. Additionally, in BDCMF, we derive an efficient EM-style point estimation algorithm for parameter learning. To further improve recommendation performance, we also derive a full Bayesian posterior estimation algorithm for inference. Experiments conducted on two sparse datasets show that BDCMF can significantly outperform the state-of-the-art CF methods.


Biological monitoring is a valuable method used in conservation studies to protect and preserve the biological integrity of natural ecosystems. This study was conducted to assess the water quality of the Pagbanganan River using planktonic algae as bioindicators of organic pollution. Horizontal tows were made in three selected stations (upstream, midstream & downstream) using a Wisconsin plankton net with 80pm mesh size. Collected samples were preserved with Lugol's solution and 70% ethyl alcohol. Identified phytoplankton genera were analyzed using Palmer's Pollution Index. Out of the 20 pollution indicator genera identified by Palmer (1969), 10 were present in Pagbanganan River, namely; Ankistrodesmus, Closterium, Cyclotella, Gomphonema, Melosira, Navicula, Nitzschia, Oscillatoria, Stigeoclonium and Synedra. Four of these were among the most abundant algae in the river. Mean Palmer's Pollution Index Scores indicate that there is "less" organic pollution existing in the river. Results imply that the river is still relatively safe for general household use, but effective conservation measures should be done to preserve the integrity of the river ecosystem.


In recent years, large-scale outbreaks of chikungunya arbovirus (CHIKV), which is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, have enabled the rapid propagation of the virus across the world. After acute infection phase with commonly fever, joint pain, headache, or rash, chronic rheumatism (arthralgia or myalgia, anorexia, and concentration disorders) up to 40% of cases is observed. The chronic form is defined by symptoms persisting for more than 3 months, and up to years, after initial diagnosis. Chronic discomfort has been linked to one of the four genotypes described. These genotypes represent different geographic lineages (classification based on partial sequence of viral E1 glycoprotein): West African, East-Central-South-African (ECSA), ECSA-diverged or Indian Ocean Lineage (IOL), and Asian. The first marker detected in CHIK infection is the viral RNA, usually by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). This marker can be identified in samples within 8 days of symptom onset. The infection can also be diagnosed with serological testing to detect CHIKV-specific immunoglobulin IgG and/or IgM. Sequencing studies can determine the infecting genotype.


Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is a common condition. The finding of IDA should be given urgent attention as 8-15% of patients will be diagnosed with a gastrointestinal cancer and patients requiring urgent investigation should be identified. IDA is defined as a haemoglobin below the normal range with iron studies that indicate the presence of iron deficiency. This article will discuss the causes of IDA, interpretation of iron studies, and initial investigations for IDA. In the presence of infection or inflammation, the ferritin can be up to 100µg/l even in the presence of IDA and these patients should be considered as having IDA if the other iron studies are supportive. Patients of all ages with IDA should have urinalysis and a Coeliac screen. Patients above 60 years and symptomatic patients of any age should be offered a colonoscopy and gastroscopy within 2 weeks. Men and women younger than 60 years, who are asymptomatic can have routine colonoscopy and gastroscopy. Pre-menopausal women should undergo the relevant endoscopy if they have symptoms or a family history of cancer. If initial bi-directional endoscopies do not show cancer, cancer should be considered in patients who do not respond to iron supplementation, which can indicate ongoing blood loss from the small bowel, or from extra-gastrointestinal sources.


Estolide compound has a large potential in many industrial applications such as biodegradable lubricants and in cosmetic formulation. In this study, monoestolide can be prepared by addition reaction of oleic acid under vacuum-reflux and solvent free condition for 10 hours at 85 °C in the presence of solid zinc chloride anhydrous (ZnCl2), choline chloride (ChCl) and ionic liquids (IL) ChCl-ZnCl2, ChCl-FeCl3, ChCl-SnCl2, ChCl-CuCl2 as homogenous acid catalysts. These reactions were compared with common homogenous catalyst namely sulfuric acid (H2SO4). The FTIR analysis show that addition reaction using the above catalysts showed the presence of three new peaks at 1732 cm-1 for C=O ester, 967.0 cm-1 for trans-CH=CH and 1176 cm-1 for C-O-C which confirmed the existence of monoestolide. The LC-MS results showed peak for the present of new monoestolides at retention time (tR) 12.3 min corresponding to m/z 563.48. Among the IL, ChCl-ZnCl2 surprisingly exhibited higher activity which is 98 % acid oleic conversion and 80 % selective for the synthesis of monoestolides. As a result, this IL gave two potential functions as a solvent as well as a green catalyst for monoestolide synthesis from oleic acid.


OBJECTIVE
The authors reviewed studies of Medicaid spending on mental health and substance abuse services.

METHODS
Studies were identified through a search of MEDLINE and bibliographies of known articles on mental health and substance abuse spending and by searching Web sites of or contacting key government and private organizations. Of 448 studies identified, the 14 that included Medicaid expenditure percentages for 1984 or later were compared.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
The most comprehensive studies of such spending suggest that between 9.3 and 13 percent of all Medicaid dollars are spent on behavioral health services. The most comprehensive estimates came from claims-based studies or studies based on the National Health Accounts. Studies based on provider or consumer surveys missed large portions of Medicaid spending. Policy makers need to ensure that they use the most accurate data to track mental health and substance abuse spending, an important part of total Medicaid expenditures.


The amount of solar radiation reflected back to space or reaching the Earth's surface is primarily governed by the amount of cloud cover and, to a much lesser extent, by Rayleigh scattering, aerosols, and various absorbing gases (e.g., O3, NO2, H2O). A useful measure of the effect of cloud plus aerosol cover is given by the amount that the 331 nm Lambert Equivalent Reflectivity (LER) of a scene exceeds the surface reflectivity for snow/ice‐free scenes after Rayleigh scattering has been removed. Twenty‐eight years of reflectivity data are available by overlapping data from several satellites: N7 (Nimbus 7, TOMS; 331 nm) from 1979 to 1992, SBUV‐2 series (Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet, NOAA; 331 nm) 1985 to 2007, EP (Earth‐Probe, TOMS; 331 nm) 1997 to 2006, SW (SeaWiFS; 412 nm) 1998 to 2006, and OMI (Ozone Measuring Instrument; 331 nm) 2004–2007. Only N7 and SW have a sufficiently long data record, Sun‐synchronous orbits, and are adequately calibrated for long‐term reflectivity trend estimation. Reflectivity data derived from these instruments and the SBUV‐2 series are compared during the overlapping years. Key issues in determining long‐term reflectivity changes that have occurred during the N7 and SW operating periods are discussed. The largest reflectivity changes in the 412 nm SW LER and 331 nm EP LER are found to occur near the equator and are associated with a large El Nino‐Southern Oscillation event. Most other changes that have occurred are regional, such as the apparent cloud decrease over northern Europe since 1998. The fractional occurrence (fraction of days) of high reflectivity values over Hudson Bay, Canada (snow/ice and clouds) appears to have decreased when comparing reflectivity data from 1980 to 1992 to 1997–2006, suggesting shorter duration of ice in Hudson Bay since 1980.


This study examined the problems of using conventional and traditional forms of psychotherapeutic and counseling interventions with American Indians and Alaska natives. Cultural specific forms of psychological and behavioral intervention and prevention have existed in Indian and Native communities for centuries. Vestiges of traditional healing and treatment ceremonies persist to this day although many have been revised to accommodate contemporary lifestyles. Numerous Indian and Native communities are working through a variety of prevention and intervention schemes in an effort to deal with drug and alcohol use. The communities rely heavily on the conventional wisdom and methods of the substance abuse research field; however, the community resource people recognize that intervention schemes must be adjusted to fit local tribal specific customs and norms. Cognitive-behavioral prevention, bicultural competence, and social skills enhancement perspectives were brought together to form a drug use prevention-intervention strategy tailored for use with Indian youth. As a stand alone prevention-intervention strategy the cognitive-behavioral perspective probably would not be very useful. The content of the components, exercises, interpersonal communication styles, and didactic approaches must be adjusted to fit the cultural lifeways of a community. Local people also must be included in the planning and curriculum adjustment and modification phase, and they should be trained to serve as group leaders. The cognitive-behavioral skills enhancement prevention strategy, therefore, can be used in many culturally different communities. (LLL) *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * **************************************************************.x*******


The Amazon River basin (ARB) in Sud-America contains the world largest rainforest and biodiversity and plays an important role in the regional and global hydrological cycle. It consist of several sub-basins as the Negro River basin (NRB) in the north and the Madeira River basin (MRB) to the south, both considered of utmost importance in the Amazonia for the Amazon River. The precipitation annual cycle in both basins experiences an opposite annual cycle and as a consequence their contributions to the Amazon River are lagged in time. Here we utilized the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPEI) to identify drought and wet conditions in the NRB and MRB along the period 1980-2016. This index has the advantages over other index because considers the effect of the Atmospheric Evaporation Demand (AED) on drought severity. Besides, the Lagrangian dispersion model FLEXPART v9.0 was used to track backward in time air masses residing over the basins and to calculate along the trajectories the budget of (E-P). This permitted to identify those regions from where air masses gain humidity (E-P>0) before arriving at the basins, what we consider as moisture sources. FLEXPART has been successfully utilized for the same goal in several studies. This allowed investigating the hydrological budget of (E-P) over the NRB and MRB as well as their role as sources of moisture for surrounded continental regions. This study examines the variability of moisture uptake by the basins from these sources during drought and wet episodes in the basins. We consider this a new approach to be a useful method for understanding the causes and variability of drought and wet events in other regions worldwide.


Effect-based analysis is genuinely implicit in economic reasoning. The jurisprudence developed throughout the debt crisis reveals frequent recourse to effect-based analysis for the legal assessment of the compatibility of anti-crisis instruments with EU law. The dividing line between the European Court of Justice (ECJ) (in Gauweiler and Pringle) and the German constitutional court (in its request for a preliminary ruling on the OMT programme) can be drawn according to whether spill-over effects for the purpose of delineating monetary from fiscal policy are recognised or not. This difference inspires the diverging answers the courts give on whether the European Central Bank (ECB) acted within its mandate. This article examines the scope and nature of the Court's effects orientation and seeks to analyse the underlying economic rationale guiding the Court's interpretation of the relevant EU Treaty norms - this analysis led the ECJ to results that conflicted with the analysis of the German constitutional court. The different (economic) understandings adopted by the courts are also explored in light of the functionality of interest rates in relation to monetary and fiscal policy.


Grazing animal moving patterns are largely affected by the shepherd himself but also related with the grazing season as well as the kind of livestock species and the available forage resources. In this paper, the spatial distribution of representative flocks of sheep and goats were recorded in different grazing areas of Askos village in Northern Greece in order to study the total time spent for the activities of feeding, moving, ruminating and standing in different forage resources during the day as well as the time they devoted for the activity of feeding during the year. It was found that sheep and goats used to a different extend the grazing areas, depending on season, and vegetation type. More specifically, during the spring period, both animal kinds spent more time (sheep 255 min/day and goats 298 min/day) in rangelands (mainly shrublands and grasslands) than in agricultural land (mainly temporal pastures and fallow land; 108 min/day for sheep and 123 min/day for goats). During summer, goats used more agricultural land (mainly cereal stubble and fallow land) than rangelands (325 min/day and 255 min/day, respectively), while sheep did the opposite (270 min/day and 398 min/day, respectively). Rangelands were mainly used during the winter period, when weather conditions allowed animals to graze (2475 min/day for sheep and 3025 min/day for goats). It seems that animals spent more time searching for feed in rangelands and this was more pronounced during spring for goats and in summer for sheep. Agricultural land and rangelands supplemented each other in providing forage throughout the year, while animal activities were diversified according to animal kind and season.


Transcription factors bind to specific sites on chromosomal DNA to regulate gene expression. It is generally thought that transcription factors find their target DNA through a combination of diffusion through the cytoplasm and diffusion along DNA segments. Elf et al. use single-molecule techniques to study the specific and nonspecific binding of a model transcription factor, the lac repressor, in living Escherichia coli. Lac repressor searching for an operator spends 90% of its time diffusing along DNA. If the repressor does not find an operator within 5 milliseconds, it falls off the DNA and diffuses through the cytoplasm to bind to another DNA segment. Such single-molecule approaches will move us toward a quantitative understanding of biochemical processes as they occur in living cells. J. Elf, G.-W. Li, X. S. Xie, Probing transcription factor dynamics at the single-molecule level in a living cell. Science 316, 1191-1194 (2007). [Abstract] [Full Text]


The classification of savanna fires into headfire and backfire types can in theory help in assessing pollutant emissions to the atmosphere via relative apportionment of the amounts of smouldering and flaming combustion occurring, and is also important when assessing a fire's ecological effects. This paper provides a preliminary assessment of whether a combination of visible and thermal satellite remote sensing can be used to classify fires into head and backfire categories. Remote determination of the fire radiative power, alongside assessments of the prevailing direction of the wind (through identification of the fire-related smoke plumes) and the fire front propagation (through its relation to the previously burned area) were used to infer the fire type category and to calculate 'radiative' fireline intensity (FLI). The ratio of radiative FLI for the head and backfire categories was found similar to that of in situ fireline intensity measurements, but the magnitudes of the radiative FLI values were around an order of magnitude lower. This agrees with other data suggesting that a fire's radiative energy is around an order of magnitude lower than the fuel's theoretical heat yield, and suggests that the remote measurement of radiative FLI and classification of headfire and backfire types is a realistic proposition for large wildfire activity.


Abstract For long, the inter-communal conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriot as well as the invasion and occupation of North Cyprus by Turkey defined the Cyprus Issue/Problem which has affected both the reality and image of Cyprus. The more recent financial crisis has proved to be a mega event that also has the capacity to redefine both the reality and image of Cyprus. This paper aims to address key political and discursive aspects of the financial crisis and their specific expression in Cyprus. A focal point of the analysis is the displacement of the Cyprus Issue by the financial crisis as the dominant factor affecting domestic politics, political rhetoric and international image of the Cyprus Republic. The paper draws together and builds on insights from a number of separate but complementary research projects addressing different facets of the public communication of the financial crisis in Cyprus. The second part provides an account of the unfolding of the financial crisis in Cyprus and some of its major implications; the third examines the impact of the financial crisis upon Cyprus politics and more particularly the displacement of the Cyprus Issue by the Financial Crisis as key issue in the campaign agenda. The fourth part examines the domestic political rhetoric employed for the crisis in Cyprus and more specifically the rhetoric of fear. The fifth part examines the image of Cyprus constructed by the politics of blame, not least in the German political discourse and the sixth part considers the international image of Cyprus.


Title 8, United States Code, Section 1409—one of this country's citizenship transmission laws—creates a white hetero-patriarchal property right in philandering, sexual exploitation, and rape (the "WHP"). Section 1409 governs the transmission of citizenship from United States citizens to their children, where the child is born abroad, outside of marriage, and one parent is a citizen and the other is not. Section 1409, however, draws a distinct gender distinction between women and men: An unwed female American citizen who births a child outside the United States, fathered by a foreign man, automatically transmits citizenship to her child. An unwed male American citizen, by contrast, who fathers a child abroad with a foreign woman has the distinctly male prerogative to either grant or deny citizenship to his foreign-born non-marital child at his leisure.

On the surface, it might appear that § 1409 treats men and women differently because it is easy to determine a child's mother, as opposed to a child's father, at birth. In fact, a majority of the Supreme Court has deployed these "natural" differences between men and women to shield § 1409 from three separate gender-based equal protection challenges. Justice Ginsburg, however, has keenly observed, "History reveals what lurks behind § 1409." What lurks behind § 1409 is a long legacy of white hetero-patriarchy deploying the legal category of citizenship to perfect sovereignty in itself and vulnerability in "foreign" women for the very purpose of sexual domination.

The historical model for this racialized regime of sexual domination is the classic case of Dred Scott, where the denial of citizenship to anyone of African descent further facilitated a white hetero-patriarchal property right in philandering, sexual exploitation, and rape. In Dred Scott, the exclusion of anyone of African descent from person-hood, through the legal mechanism of citizenship, perfected power in white men and vulnerability in racialized others. By excluding anyone of African descent from citizenship, enslaved owners continued to enjoy an unbridled property right in the use and enjoyment of the enslaved. The denial of citizenship to the enslaved facilitated their use as property. Following suit, § 1409 makes citizenship the property of men, through which they can exclude their non-marital foreign-born children from membership in the American polity. Section 1409 vests in these fathers not just a right to exclude their children, but to discard them, leaving them profoundly vulnerable to the sting of "illegitimacy," ethnic and racial animus, and financial precarity — a form of destruction, while simultaneously empowering these fathers to sexually possess, control, use, and enjoy foreign women. Section 1409 understands all too well: in order to sexually exploit the mother, one must control the status of the child.


In the context of the global trend of designing sustainable structures, the attention towards high-rise timber buildings of 8 to 25 storeys has been increasing in recent years. Balloon construction technique using a relatively new heavy timber material, cross-laminated timber (CLT), has been shown to be promising for high-rise building applications, given its compatibility with off-site construction techniques and its desirable mechanical characteristics. To date, tall timber buildings using CLT have been built mainly in non-seismic or low-seismic locations around the world, whereas their application in high seismic regions has been limited to platform construction. More research on the behaviour of CLT structures during seismic events in terms of system behaviour as well as the behaviour of components, particularly connections, is required. The research presented in this paper seeks to initiate the process of seismic design of tall wood buildings using a balloon construction technique. Two buildings, one three-storey fictitious building and one to-be-constructed ten-storey building, both located on the west coast of Canada, were considered and designed based on the NBCC 2015 seismic provisions. The loads on the shear walls, which span over three storeys, were extracted in order to estimate realistic demands on lateral load resisting systems (LLRS) in the balloon construction. Different connections, including base shear connections, panel-to-panel shear connections, as well as high-capacity hold-downs, were designed accordingly. An experimental program was developed to investigate the behaviour of these connections, focusing on yielding and failure mechanisms in each connection category. This paper explains different phases of the experimental program and introduces connection details designed to achieve the research goals. The results of this study will contribute to the body of knowledge on seismic behaviour of prefabricated mass timber buildings, and will benefit engineers and practitioners using timber to design high-rise structures.


Objective To explore what patients consider important when evaluating their recovery from hip fracture and to consider how these priorities could be used in the evaluation of the quality of hip fracture services. Design Semistructured interviews exploring the experience of recovery from hip fracture at two time points—4 weeks and 4 months postoperative hip fixation. Two approaches to analysis: thematic analysis of data specifically related to recovery from hip fracture; summarising the participant's experience overall. Participants 31 participants were recruited, of whom 20 were women and 12 were cognitively impaired. Mean age was 81.5 years. Interviews were provided by 19 patients, 14 carers and 8 patient/carer dyad; 10 participants were interviewed twice. Setting Single major trauma centre in the West Midlands of the UK. Results Stable mobility (without falls or fear of falls) for valued activities was considered most important by participants who had some prefracture mobility and were able to articulate what they valued during recovery. Mobility was important for managing personal care, for day-to-day activities such as shopping and gardening, and for maintenance of mental well-being. Some participants used assistive mobility devices or adapted to their limitations. Others maintained their previous limited function through increased care provision. Many participants were unable to articulate what they valued as hip fracture was perceived as part of their decline with age. The fracture and problems from other health conditions were an inseparable part of one health experience. Conclusions Prefracture mobility, adaptations to reduced mobility before or after fracture, and whether or not patients perceive themselves to be declining with age influence what patients consider important during recovery from hip fracture. No single patient-reported outcome measure could evaluate quality of care for all patients following hip fracture. General health-related quality of life tools may provide useful information within clinical trials.


Quantitative retrieval is a growing area in remote sensing due to the rapid development of remote instruments and retrieval algorithms. The aerosol optical depth (AOD) is a significant optical property of aerosol which is involved in further applications such as the atmospheric correction of remotely sensed surface features, monitoring of volcanic eruptions or forest fires, air quality, and even climate changes from satellite data. The AOD retrieval can be computationally expensive as a result of huge amounts of remote sensing data and compute-intensive algorithms. In this paper, we present two efficient implementations of an AOD retrieval algorithm from the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data. Here, we have employed two different high performance computing architectures: multicore processors and a graphics processing unit (GPU). The compute unified device architecture C (CUDA-C) has been used for the GPU implementation for NVIDIA's graphic cards and open multiprocessing (OpenMP) for thread-parallelism in the multicore implementation. We observe for the GPU accelerator, a maximal overall speedup of 68.x for the studied data, whereas the multicore processor achieves a reasonable 7.x speedup. Additionally, for the largest benchmark input dataset, the GPU implementation also shows a great advantage in terms of energy efficiency with an overall consumption of 3.15 kJ compared to 58.09 kJ on a CPU with 1 thread and 38.39 kJ with 16 threads. Furthermore, the retrieval accuracy of all implementations has been checked and analyzed. Altogether, using the GPU accelerator shows great advantages for an application in AOD retrieval in both performance and energy efficiency metrics. Nevertheless, the multicore processor provides the easier programmability for the majority of today's programmers. Our work exploits the parallel implementations, the performance, and the energy efficiency features of GPU accelerators and multicore processors. With this paper, we attempt to give suggestions to geoscientists demanding for efficient desktop solutions.


Evading cancer drugs by identity fraud Prostate cancer growth is fueled by male hormones called androgens. Drugs targeting the androgen receptor (AR) are initially efficacious, but most tumors eventually become resistant (see the Perspective by Kelly and Balk). Mu et al. found that prostate cancer cells escaped the effects of androgen deprivation therapy through a change in lineage identity. Functional loss of the tumor suppressors TP53 and RB1 promoted a shift from AR-dependent luminal epithelial cells to AR-independent basal-like cells. In related work, Ku et al. found that prostate cancer metastasis, lineage switching, and drug resistance were driven by the combined loss of the same tumor suppressors and were accompanied by increased expression of the epigenetic regulator Ezh2. Ezh2 inhibitors reversed the lineage switch and restored sensitivity to androgen deprivation therapy in experimental models. Science, this issue p. 84, p. 78; see also p. 29 Prostate cancer cells escape androgen deprivation therapy by morphing into a cell type that does not require androgens. Prostate cancer relapsing from antiandrogen therapies can exhibit variant histology with altered lineage marker expression, suggesting that lineage plasticity facilitates therapeutic resistance. The mechanisms underlying prostate cancer lineage plasticity are incompletely understood. Studying mouse models, we demonstrate that Rb1 loss facilitates lineage plasticity and metastasis of prostate adenocarcinoma initiated by Pten mutation. Additional loss of Trp53 causes resistance to antiandrogen therapy. Gene expression profiling indicates that mouse tumors resemble human prostate cancer neuroendocrine variants; both mouse and human tumors exhibit increased expression of epigenetic reprogramming factors such as Ezh2 and Sox2. Clinically relevant Ezh2 inhibitors restore androgen receptor expression and sensitivity to antiandrogen therapy. These findings uncover genetic mutations that enable prostate cancer progression; identify mouse models for studying prostate cancer lineage plasticity; and suggest an epigenetic approach for extending clinical responses to antiandrogen therapy.


Researchers investigated if a low dose of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor ramipril reduced the incidence of cardiovascular and renal events in patients with type 2 diabetes. A randomised, double blind, parallel group trial design was used. Intervention was ramipril (1.25 mg/day) or placebo for at least three years. Participants were 4912 patients with type 2 diabetes aged over 50 years who used oral antidiabetic drugs and had persistent microalbuminuria or proteinuria. Participants received their usual treatment in addition to their allocated intervention.1

The primary outcome was cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure leading to hospital admission, or end stage renal failure. Participants were followed for a median of four years (range 3-6 years). Of 2443 participants randomised to ramipril, 362 (14.8%) experienced a cardiovascular or renal event, compared with 377 (15.3%) of the 2469 randomised to placebo.

Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to compare the treatment groups in the length of time after randomisation until first occurrence of the primary outcome. Patients who did not experience the primary outcome during follow-up had their …


Researchers have considered negative affective factors as problematic to both acquisition and processing (Arnold, 1999; Krashen, 1982; Stevick, 1976). Fewer authors have examined the possible relationship between positive affect and learner output (Guiora, 1980; Stevick, 1999), and previous studies have mostly considered negative affective states (e.g. anxiety and agitation) and their inhibiting effects (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1994; Steinberg & Horowitz, 1986). Recently, researchers have focused on learners' willingness to communicate in a second language (Doucette & MacIntyre, 2010; Pyke, McCullough & Kissau, 2010; Storch & Leger, 2009). In the present study, we will address a possible correlation between positive affect and learner output. The participants will be forty male and female advanced learners (age range 18-25) of French as a second language at a post-secondary institution in Canada. We will present the participants with two randomized trials of stimuli: three one-minute videos and three photographs. The experimenter will ask participants a series of leading questions in order to elicit production; participants will describe one trial orally, and one trial in written form. Following each description, participants will rate their emotional response to each stimulus on a scale, then respond to a personality questionnaire designed to flag for extroversion. Initially, we will code adjective types, then run descriptive and inferential statistics. We acknowledge the limited subject pool, individual variability in responses, and the possibility of having to exclude unintelligible or illegible utterances from the analysis. We predict that variation in types and Mean Length of Utterance will increase with reported positive affective responses. If learner output varies with reported feelings, French language teachers should consider the effect of affect in selection of teaching materials.


This book contains 400 of the most important and most publicized scandals throughout the world since the beginning of the twentieth century. "Great Events from History: Modern Scandals" is an entirely new reference set on a subject that has never been covered as broadly and thoroughly in any other reference publication. However, before considering the content of this set, attention must be paid to the meaning of the word 'scandal' - a concept more elusive than one might at first appreciate. Scandals are typically high-profile events that garner considerable media attention and public discussion but nevertheless often remain poorly understood.The word 'scandal' is generally understood as applying to misbehavior and wrongful acts. However, scandalous acts are not necessarily illegal, and illegal acts are not necessarily scandalous. The essence of scandal is the damage to reputation brought on by the violation of codes of morality or propriety. It therefore follows that a given act when committed by one person might be considered scandalous, while the same act committed by another might not. When notorious criminals murder, their acts are not generally regarded as scandalous. However, when respected religious or community leaders publicly admit to having committed adultery, their behavior is apt to be considered scandalous. The difference is that criminals are expected to commit crimes, while religious and community leaders are expected to conduct their lives within the bounds of their communities' moral and ethical standards.Scope and coverage: This three-volume set covers major events that occurred worldwide throughout the 20th century. A wide variety of topics appear here, including scandals that rocked the worlds of banking and finance, education, government and politics, health and medicine, publishing and journalism, and sports and entertainment. Topics include such widely know scandals as the Teapot Dome scandal, 1919 'Black Sox' World Series, Watergate, the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, the death of Princess Diana, Enron, the Tour de France doping scandal, and the 2007 subprime mortgage industry collapse.Organization and format: The essays in this set are 3-5 pages in length and are arranged chronologically. The top matter of each essay offers a brief summary of its event's importance, the subject category or categories to which the event belongs - from agriculture to women's issues; the event's geographical locale; and a list of Key Figures including name, vital years, regnal dates and terms of office, and brief descriptors of their roles.The body of each essay is divided by subheads into a chronological Summary of Event and an assessment of the event's historical Impact. These sections are followed by a fully annotated Further Reading section listing sources for additional study and cross-references to essays of related interest within the set.Special features: Several helpful research aids can be found at the end of Volume 3. These include an annotated General Bibliography, a Chronological List of Entries, and Category, Geographical, Personage, and General Subject Indexes. This title contains 3 Volumes; 1,236 Pages; 400 essays; 70 sidebars/tables; 5 maps; 250 photographs; and keyword.


Sanz-Quinto, S, López-Grueso, R, Brizuela, G, Flatt, AA, and Moya-Ramón, M. Influence of training models at 3,900-m altitude on the physiological response and performance of a professional wheelchair athlete: A case study. J Strength Cond Res 33(6): 1715-1723, 2019-This case study compared the effects of two training camps using flexible planning (FP) vs. inflexible planning (IP) at 3,860-m altitude on physiological and performance responses of an elite marathon wheelchair athlete with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT). During IP, the athlete completed preplanned training sessions. During FP, training was adjusted based on vagally mediated heart rate variability (HRV) with specific sessions being performed when a reference HRV value was attained. The camp phases were baseline in normoxia (BN), baseline in hypoxia (BH), specific training weeks 1-4 (W1, W2, W3, W4), and Post-camp (Post). Outcome measures included the root mean square of successive R-R interval differences (rMSSD), resting heart rate (HRrest), oxygen saturation (SO2), diastolic blood pressure and systolic blood pressure, power output and a 3,000-m test. A greater impairment of normalized rMSSD (BN) was shown in IP during BH (57.30 ± 2.38% vs. 72.94 ± 11.59%, p = 0.004), W2 (63.99 ± 10.32% vs. 81.65 ± 8.87%, p = 0.005), and W4 (46.11 ± 8.61% vs. 59.35 ± 6.81%, p = 0.008). At Post, only in FP was rMSSD restored (104.47 ± 35.80%). Relative changes were shown in power output (+3 W in IP vs. +6 W in FP) and 3,000-m test (-7s in IP vs. -16s in FP). This case study demonstrated that FP resulted in less suppression and faster restoration of rMSSD and more positive changes in performance than IP in an elite wheelchair marathoner with CMT.


ABSTRACT In contrast to the general trend for glaciers of the Southern Patagonia Icefield, Glaciar Pio XI has experienced a large cumulative frontal advance since 1945. In an effort to better understand this advancing behaviour, this paper presents a synoptic analysis of frontal fluctuations (1998–2014), ice velocities (1986–2014), ice-surface elevations (1975–2007) and supraglacial moraines (1945–2014) derived from geospatial datasets. These analyses reveal changes in the ice flow of Glaciar Pio XI's freshwater calving northern terminus and tidewater calving southern terminus over recent decades. Between 1986 and 2000, ice flow speed generally accelerated reaching peaks of >15 m d−1 at the frontal edge of the southern terminus. Following this period, flow speed decreased, reducing to <1 m d−1 for the central part of the southern terminus in 2014, despite advancing to a neoglacial maximum. From 2000 to 2014 the reduction in speed was accompanied by a shift in maximum velocity away from the southern terminus, towards the central glacier trunk. As a result, the northern terminus, which accelerated during this period, represented the new primary flow path in 2014. Notably, the moraine maps presented highlight surges occurring around 1981 and again between 1997 and 2000, marked by arcuate moraine features on the southern terminus.


This research leverages computer vision with statistical, computational, and urban design techniques to reveal insightful and helpful relations between spatial features and patterns of spatial use. Three case studies are developed in two locations, in Madrid and Pittsburgh, with distinct spatial and utilization characteristics for covering diverse conditions through two types of experiments. The first one develops a bivariate analysis between parameters from data that describe the layout and use of each location for identifying correlations between spatial features and utilization patterns. The second experiment uses machine learning techniques for spatial clustering supported by matching temporal signatures of the detected occupations by the developed computer vision algorithms. The proposed design framework yields new types of data about people's interactions with their urban built environment for generating new knowledge to inform design and policy decisions more effectively and expanding the capabilities of practitioners for focusing on exploring new scenarios. This thesis advocates for expanding design through data.


Imagine a zebra in the African savannah. At each moment in time this zebra has to weigh up alternative courses of action before deciding which will be most beneficial to it. For instance, it may want to graze because it is short of food, or it may want to head towards a water hole because it is short of water, or it may want to remain motionless in order to avoid detection by the predator it can see lurking nearby. This is an example of the problem of action selection: how to choose, at each moment in time, the most appropriate out of a repertoire of possible actions. This thesis investigates action selection in a novelway and makes threemain contribu¬ tions. Firstly, a description is given of a simulated environment which is an extensive and detailed simulation of the problem of action selection for animals. Secondly, this simulated environment is used to investigate the adequacy of several theories of ac¬ tion selection such as the drive model, Lorenz's hydraulic model and Maes' spreading activation network. Thirdly, a new approach to action selection is developed which determines themost appropriate action in a principled way, and which does not suffer from the inherent shortcomings found in other methods.