Introduction: This article aims to show an alternative intervention for the prevention and control of back pain to the people of a production plant of geotextiles for the construction exposed to handling and awkward postures through the implementation of the Back School using the CORE technique. This technique being understood as trainer of the stability musculature of the spine; whose benefit is proportionate the muscular complex of the back, stability and avoid osteomuscular lesions and improved posture . Objective: To present the results about the implementation of the back school by the CORE technique for prevention of back pain in a population of forty-eight male collaborators. Materials and methods: The back school began with talks of awareness by the occupational health physician explaining the objectives and benefits of it to all participants. Once this activity was done, was continued to evaluate all plant employees to establish health status through the PAR-Q questionnaire, who were surveyed for the perception of pain using visual analog scale (VAS) and stability was determined column through the CORE assessment, to determine the training plan. Then, were made every six months the revaluations and implementation of a survey of assistant public perception to identify the impact of the implementation of the school back on the two variables referred (pain perception and stability of column). Results: The pain perception according VAS increased in the number of workers asymptomatic in 12% and based in the satisfaction survey 94% of population reported that with the development of this technique decrease the muscle fatigue in lumbar level; and 96% of population reported an improvement in the performance of their work activities. Discussion: Posterior to the analysis of all results, it is interpreted that back schools practice through CORE technique, contributes to the prevention and / or control of symptoms at the lumbar level in population of productive sector exposed to risks derived from the physical load, provided that ensure its continuously development and supervised for a competent professional.


Whatever we choose to do, the stakes are very high. David Whyte (1994, p. 298), poet Researching questions that matter demands passionate conviction. Whether recognized as such or not, such conviction, combined with profound compassion, defines true scholarship. Daring to care requires courage—the courage to speak out and to act. Courage transforms convictions and compassion into action. Thus, by its very nature, daring to care calls into question the traditional role of rigid scientific objectivity and invites advocacy to play a vital role within our scholarly tradition. In focusing on daring to care, this article raises questions that academia must ask itself in order to support scholars in rigorously researching and teaching about issues that matter. It provides examples of scholarship that have required courage, conviction, and compassion, including a case example where the outcome of appropriate methodology is literally life or death. Throughout the discussion, readers are invited to consider what supports their core convictions, compassion, and courageous action in their own scholarship, teaching, and advocacy.


Parental Opinions of Anti-Tobacco Messages within a Pediatric Dental Clinic Kari A. Sims Chair of the Supervisory CommitteePenelope J. Leggott BDS, MS Department of Pediatric Dentistry Purpose: To investigate parents' opinions about anti-tobacco messages given in a pediatric dental clinic. Methods: A survey was developed and administered to parents and caregivers at the University of Washington pediatric dental clinic soliciting their opinions about dentists, medical doctors, and parents giving anti-tobacco messages, and at what age these messages were appropriate. Descriptive analysis was completed for all variables. Fisher's exact and Chi-square tests were utilized to test for association between parental opinions of anti-tobacco messages given by a dentist and both parental tobacco use status and the age of the oldest child in the household. Results: A total of 286 surveys were utilized in data analysis. Of those surveyed, the majority were female (75.1%), white (63.5%), parents (91.3%), and had an average age of 42.1 years. Almost half had a college degree or higher (48.9%). Only 18.1% reported using tobacco products in the past 30 days. Two-thirds (65.0%) of the accompanied children were covered by public dental insurance. The majority indicated that it was appropriate for parents (96.5%), medical doctors (90.9%), and dentists (90.9%) to give children and adolescents anti-tobacco messages. When asked when a child should first receive anti-tobacco messages from a dentist, the majority indicated that 8-12 years was the most appropriate age (56.4%). Opinions of anti-tobacco messages given to children by the child's dentist did not differ based on parental tobacco use status, although parents who reported current tobacco use status were significantly more likely to indicate being upset if their child's dentist asked them about their own tobacco use (p = 0.032). Parents of older children are more likely to feel it is appropriate for a dentist to talk to their child about tobacco use, while parents of younger children are more likely to be unsure of the appropriateness of this practice (p= 0.004). Conclusions: Most parents indicated that dentists are an appropriate source of anti-tobacco messages and believed that ages 8-12 was the youngest age at which a dentist should be giving anti-tobacco messages. This study provides important reassurance that medical doctors and dentists share equal acceptability as sources of preventive messages in regard to tobacco use. The results of this study should encourage dentists to feel more confident in approaching this topic with patients and their families.


We examine the effect of the full set of bank capital regulations (capital stringency) on loan growth, using bank-level data for a maximum of 125 countries over the period 1998-2011. Contrary to standard theoretical considerations, we find that overall capital stringency only has a weak negative effect on loan growth. In fact, this effect is completely offset if banks hold moderately high levels of capital. Interestingly, the components of capital stringency that have the strongest negative effect on loan growth are those related to the prevention of banks to use as capital borrowed funds and assets other than cash or government securities. In contrast, compliance with Basel guidelines in using Basel-and credit-risk weights has a much less potent effect on loan growth.


A wavelet-based image-encoding is described which, when used in conjunction with the Difference Engine (a custom-designed VLSI display processor) allows us to reconstruct an image in real-time without the need to set each pixel explicitly. The image is compressed using a quadratic spline-wavelet transform; when reconstructing, an image-adaptive instruction generator attempts to produce the minimal instruction stream to give a good reproduction. The wavelet coefficients are used to decide which regions of the detail images should be retained in the multi-resolution analysis (MRA). A decision is made for each scan-line as to whether it is more economical, in terms of rendering time, to use the 'truncated MRA' or to set the pixels directly. The above approach provides a significant gain over standard image reconstruction/rendering schemes.<<ETX>>


A wireless avionics interface provides a mechanism for managing multiple broadcast transceivers. This interface isolates the control logic required to support multiple transceivers so that the flight application does not have to manage wireless transceivers. All of the logic to select transceivers, detect transmitter and receiver faults, and take autonomous recovery action is contained in the interface, which is not restricted to using wireless transceivers. Wired, wireless, and mixed transceiver technologies are supported. This design s use of broadcast data technology provides inherent cross strapping of data links. This greatly simplifies the design of redundant flight subsystems. The interface fully exploits the broadcast data link to determine the health of other transceivers used to detect and isolate faults for fault recovery. The interface uses simplified control logic, which can be implemented as an intellectual-property (IP) core in a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The interface arbitrates the reception of inbound data traffic appearing on multiple receivers. It arbitrates the transmission of outbound traffic. This system also monitors broadcast data traffic to determine the health of transmitters in the network, and then uses this health information to make autonomous decisions for routing traffic through transceivers. Multiple selection strategies are supported, like having an active transceiver with the secondary transceiver powered off except to send periodic health status reports. Transceivers can operate in round-robin for load-sharing and graceful degradation.


We identified and characterized the function of CD45+/collagen I+ fibrocytes in acutely injured skeletal muscle of wild-type (WT) and Ccr2−/− mice, and in quadriceps and diaphragm muscles of mdx5cv mice, a mouse model for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Fibrocytes were not detected in peripheral blood of WT mice after acute muscle injury or mdx5cv mice. Fibrocytes were detected in acutely injured muscles and in mdx5cv quadriceps and diaphragm muscles. These cells expressed F4/80 and CCR2, and they were mostly Ly6Clo. They expressed a low level of collagens but a high level of profibrotic growth factors as compared with i.m. fibroblasts. Fibrocyte expression of collagens and profibrotic growth factors was not increased in Ccr2−/− mice as compared with WT controls. Fibrocyte expression of both proinflammatory and profibrotic cytokines was significantly higher in mdx5cv diaphragm than in mdx5cv quadriceps. In cocultures, fibrocytes from the mdx5cv diaphragm stimulated a higher level of fibroblast expression of extracellular matrix genes than did those from the mdx5cv quadriceps. Our findings suggest that i.m. fibrocytes most likely originate from infiltrating monocytes/macrophages and differentiate within injured muscles. They likely contribute to the normal muscle injury repair by producing growth factors. They do not appear to contribute to the persistent muscle fibrosis associated with poor injury repair in Ccr2−/− mice. However, they likely contribute to the persistent inflammation and progressive fibrosis in the mdx5cv diaphragm.


The recent fall of labor's share of GDP in numerous countries is well-documented, but its causes are poorly understood. We sketch a "superstar firm" model where industries are increasingly characterized by "winner take most" competition, leading a small number of highly profitable (and low labor share) firms to command growing market share. Building on Autor et al. (2017), we evaluate and confirm two core claims of the superstar firm hypothesis: the concentration of sales among firms within industries has risen across much of the private sector; and industries with larger increases in concentration exhibit a larger decline in labor's share.


ABSTRACT Glaucoma is a major public health problem that can lead to an optic nerve lesion, requiring systematic screening in the population over 45 years of age. The diagnosis and classification of this disease have had a marked and excellent development in recent years, particularly in the machine learning domain. Multimodal data have been shown to be a significant aid to the machine learning domain, especially by its contribution to improving data driven decision-making. Solving classification problems by combinations of classifiers has made it possible to increase the robustness as well as the classification reliability by using the complementarity that may exist between the classifiers. Complementarity is considered a key property of multimodality. A Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) works very well in pattern recognition and has been shown to exhibit superior performance, especially for image classification which can learn by themselves useful features from raw data. This article proposes a multimodal classification approach based on deep Convolutional Neural Network and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers using multimodal data and multimodal feature for glaucoma diagnosis from retinal fundus images from RIM-ONE dataset. We make use of handcrafted feature descriptors such as the Gray Level Co-Occurrence Matrix, Central Moments and Hu Moments to co-operate with features automatically generated by the CNN in order to properly detect the optic nerve and consequently obtain a better classification rate, allowing a more reliable diagnosis of glaucoma. The experimental results confirm that the combination of classifiers using a new hybrid fusion approach and the BWWV technique is better than learning classifiers separately. The proposed method provides a computerized diagnosis system for glaucoma disease with impressive results comparing them to the main related studies that allow us to continue in this research path.


Semantic annotation of web services has been proposed as a solution to the problem of discovering services to fit a particular need and reusing them appropriately. While there exist tools that assist human users in the annotation task, e.g., Radiant and Meteor-S, no semantic annotation proposal considers the problem of verifying the accuracy of the resulting annotations. Early evidence from workflow compatibility checking suggests that the proportion of annotations that contain some form of inaccuracy is high, and yet no tools exist to help annotators to test the results of their work systematically before they are deployed for public use. In this paper, we adapt techniques from conventional software testing to the verification of semantic annotations for web service input and output parameters. We present an algorithm for the testing process and discuss ways in which manual effort from the annotator during testing can be reduced. We also present two adequacy criteria for specifying test cases used as input for the testing process. These criteria are based on structural coverage of the domain ontology used for annotation. The results of an evaluation exercise, based on a collection of annotations for bioinformatics web services, show that defects can be successfully detected by the technique.


ABSTRACT We examine the labour supply effect of remittances in the Republic of Haiti, the prime international remittances recipient country in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region relative to its GDP. Unlike previous empirical literature we address three econometric issues that may bias the estimates. We account for endogeneity of the remittances with respect to labour supply, for the zero-inflated nature of our dependent variable, hours of work, and for the self-selection of the migrant sample. Our results are in line with previous literature, and point to a decline of labour supply in the presence of remittances. However, contrary to previous findings, the labour market response to remittances of female household heads is not as sensitive as male's.


The trinity of government, military and publics has been drawn together into immediate and unpredictable relationships in a "new media ecology" that has ushered in new asymmetries in the waging of war and terror. To help us understand these new relationships, Andrew Hoskins and Ben O'Loughlin here provide a timely, comprehensive and highly readable survey of the field of war and media.

War is diffused through a complex mesh of our everyday media. Paradoxically, this both facilitates and contains the presence and power of enemies near and far. The conventions of so-called traditional warfare have been splintered by the availability and connectivity of the principal locus of war today: the electronic and digital media. Hoskins and O'Loughlin identify and illuminate the conditions of what they term "diffused war" and the new challenges it raises for the actors who wage and counter warfare, for their agents and mechanisms of the new media and for mass publics.

This book offers an invaluable review of the key literature and presents a fresh approach to the understanding of the dynamic relationships between war and media. It will be welcomed by a broad range of students taking courses on war and media and related modules, especially in media, communication and cultural studies, politics and international relations, sociology, journalism, and security studies


Adolescents, particularly early adolescents, are vulnerable to stress created by negative peer interactions. Stress, in turn, can lead to increased mental health problems and reduced academic engagement, in addition to negative long-term consequences for cognitive development and physical health. Using four waves (2 years) of data from a cluster randomized trial (N = 15 middle schools, 1,890 students, 47.1% female, 75.2% White), we evaluated whether enhancements to peer relations, brought about through carefully structured small-group learning activities (i.e., cooperative learning), could reduce stress and emotional problems and promote academic engagement. We hypothesized that the increased social contact created by cooperative learning would promote greater peer relatedness, reducing student stress and, in turn, reducing emotional problems and promoting academic engagement. Our results confirmed these hypotheses. We conclude that cooperative learning can provide social, behavioral, academic, and mental health benefits for students.


Marshalling evidence from critical feminist studies of eating disorders (Bordo; Malson and Burns; Warin), including Leslie Heywood's concept of anorexic "logic," this dissertation theorizes how anorexic rationality and subjectivity are expressed through the popular figure of the post-feminist action heroine, specifically within young adult (YA) speculative fiction franchises. Stephenie Meyer's Twilight novels (2005-2008), Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games series (2008-2010), and Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy (2011-2013) serve as the primary, and I argue ideal case studies for this investigation. Emerging as top-selling YA series in the post-Harry Potter era, all three franchises feature teen girl protagonists with post-feminist "sensibility" (Gill), and with their mass appeal, have given rise to global fandoms. Hence, this project also examines reader responses to the series under discussion through a selection of online fan fiction in which female-identifying youth rewrite their protagonists as anorexic. Although media studies scholars have analyzed the gendered discourses surrounding contemporary female action heroes (Inness; Brown; Wright), and feminist literary scholars have explored how motifs of weight, starvation and consumption function within certain narratives (Daniel; Ellmann; Karlin; Meuret; Silver), the correlation between anorexia and action heroine texts has yet to be systematically studied. This investigation is all the more crucial given Parliament of Canada's 2014 report, Eating Disorders Among Girls and Women in Canada, which notes that eating disorders have the highest mortality rates of all mental illnesses. Responding to the report's call for increased research on media messaging aimed at youth, this dissertation focuses on mass media franchises targeted at girls and young women, the largest demographic of eating disorder sufferers, arguing that contemporary teen action heroine mythology reflects and reifies a problematic value system that mutually constitutes conceptions of starvation and justice, and informs the social construction of ideal femininity. This research thus forges new pathways between theories of girlhood, body image studies, and YA literature to offer a theoretical framework for reading female heroism that places the corporeal matrix of gender, consumption, and embodiment at its centre.


Abstract:This essay considers how the myth of la ciguapa—an "indigenous," usually female creature with backward pointing feet—both suggests a metaphor for the contradictory coherence of Hispanic Caribbean history and society and becomes a method for contestatory movements. Beginning with a brief historicization of the myth's development in Santo Domingo, the author goes on to consider how the most recent decade of anti-Haitianism, negrophobia, misogyny, and homophobia in the Dominican Republic have inspired ciguapeo as an authoctonous method deployed by queer, black-identified, anti-racist, feminist movements.


This article will demonstrate aspects of the unique profile of OGJOB. The theological implications of this profile will be determined based upon a contextual analysis of chs. 1, 14, 19 and 42. The OG of Job is one sixth shorter than the Masoretic text. Scholars differ as to the reasons for this shorter text. Some argue that it is the result of a differing Hebrew Vorlage - unfortunately there is no external evidence available. Others ascribe the differences to the translator. OGJob is one of the more freely translated units in the corpus of Septuagint translations. In Cox's words "OGJob is one of a kind in the Septuagint corpus." (2007:667) Since the translator interpreted his parent text, it opens the possibility to determine theological aspects concerning this unit. In the past, scholars (Gard, and others) have overstated their case in this regard and were criticised by Orlinski (and others). What is clear is that OGJOB has a unique and different profile compared to the MT and other textual witnesses. In Job 1, for example, the translator renders the parent text creatively. On the one hand, he clears God from direct involvement in the maltreatment of Job. In conjunction with this the fundamental goodness and omnipotence of God is stressed. On the other hand, Job is depicted as a saint, he is blameless, genuine, religious, keeping away from every evil thing (v. 8). In chapter 2 Job is questioned in a unique manner by his unbelieving wife.


Most vertebrate mRNAs with premature termination codons (PTCs) are specifically recognized and degraded by a process referred to as nonsense‐mediated mRNA decay (NMD) while still associated with the nucleus. However, it is still a matter of debate whether PTCs can be identified by intranuclear scanning or only by ribosomes on the cytoplasmic side of the nuclear envelope. Here we show that inhibition of mRNA export by two independent approaches does not affect the downregulation of PTC‐containing T‐cell receptor β transcripts in the nuclear fraction of mammalian cells, providing strong evidence for intranuclear NMD. Our results are fully consistent with recently reported evidence for nuclear translation and suggest that an important biological role for nuclear ribosomes is the early elimination of nonsense mRNA during a pioneer round of translation.


This article discusses how Armenians have collected, displayed and exchanged the bones of their murdered ancestors in formal and informal ceremonies of remembrance in Dayr al-Zur, Syria – the nal destination for hundreds of thousands of Armenians during the deportations of 1915. These pilgrimages – replete with overlapping secular and nationalist motifs – are a modern variant of historical pilgrimage practices; yet these bones are more than relics. Bone rituals, displays and vernacular memorials are enacted in spaces of memory that lie outside of o cial state memorials, making unmarked sites of atrocity more legible. Vernacular memorial practices are of particular interest as we consider new archives for the history of the Armenian Genocide. The rehabilitation of this historical site into public consciousness is particularly urgent, since the Armenian Genocide Memorial Museum and Martyr's Church at the centre of the pilgrimage site were both destroyed by ISIS (Islamic State in Syria) in 2014.


This comparative study addresses the policies and practices of community television in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. In particular, I examine how community media organizations are transforming themselves to meet the demands of a digital world, and how these experiences are reflected in policy and regulation. Findings suggest that the policies governing community television do not correspond to what has been experienced by practitioners. Drawing from theories of the public sphere, the argument is made that policy does a disservice to community television by failing to acknowledge the importance of place, bodies, and practice. This is problematic, as it fails to distinguish community media from user-generated digital content.


Election monitoring efforts have a crucial role to play in attaining the goals of self-determination and democratic sovereignty. Yet current election monitoring practice suffers from variance in the goals, standards, and strategies employed by the many organizations that engage in election monitoring and observation programs. This Note examines the current state of election monitoring within the framework for analyzing the legitimacy of rules proposed by Thomas Franck in his 1992 article The Emerging Right to Democratic Governance, and concludes that the shortcomings of the current system fail to address many necessary aspects of legitimate self-governance of monitored nations. The Author advocates an integrated and coordinated approach between monitoring organizations and effective and appropriate use of developing technological tools in order to improve the ability of election monitoring to aid in attaining the goal of self-determination.


A driving force behind the social revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, Hoffman inspired a generation to challenge the status quo. Meant as a practical guide for the aspiring hippie, Steal This Book captures Hoffman's puckish tone and became a cult classic with over 200,000 copies sold. Outrageously illustrated by R. Crumb, it nevertheless conveys a serious message to all would-be revolutionaries: You don't have to take it anymore. "All Power to the Imagination was his credo. Abbie was the best." -- Studs Terkel


Six compounds previously isolated and reported from Macropidia fuliginosa were evaluated for antimicrobial activity against 11 different microbial strains, with all compounds displaying broad spectrum activity. In addition, the compounds were also assessed for their antiproliferative activity and cytotoxicity. Further investigation of M. fuliginosa has led to the discovery of a previously described acenaphthylenediol from the bulbs of the plant.


In the Oppenheimer-Snyder solution (OS) for the parabolic trajectory particle's worldline r(t,R) in terms of world time t differs from its standard worldline in the Schwarzschild field outside and on the surface of the dust star. This is a consequence of the fact that the trajectory function r(t,R) were defined on the "homogeneity hypersurface", when r = R at the zero initial moment of proper time in all layers and since these events are not simultaneous, the initial moments of the world time t(R) are nonzero. In view of the fact that the structure of the star at any moment means the determination of the positions of all particles on the hypersurface t=const., and the solution of the OS is used for checking more realistic models of stars, this incompleteness of the procedure for the transition to hypersurface t=const. leads to distortions of physical consequences other models too. A more consistent application of the OS method is proposed, where this problem does not arise. The modification consists in fixing the initial positions r=R for t(R)=0 and determining the shift of the proper time moments in different layers on the hypersurfaces t=const. from the condition of obtaining the standard trajectory function r(t,R). The pictures of particle trajectories of the dust star are presented, which clearly show the internal structure of the star at t=const. At large t, not only the surface asymptotically approaches the gravitational radius, but the world lines of particles in the inner layers also approach their asymptotes, rapidly becoming practically parallel to the world lines of particles at the center and on the surface. This shows that the frozen star picture refers not only to the surface, but also to the inner layers freezing at certain distances from the center. PACS: 04.20.Dg; 04.70.-s; 97.60.-s, 98.54.-h


Glaciological processes are modeled to investigate precipitation patterns and the resulting mass flux of snow and ice across Himalayan topography. Our model tracks the accumulation and ablation of snow and ice and the transport of snow and ice across the topography by glacier motion. We investigate high elevation precipitation on the Annapurna Massif by comparing the existing ice cover with model‐simulated glaciers produced by a suite of different precipitation scenarios. Our results suggest that precipitation reaches a maximum level well below the elevation of the highest peaks. Further, essentially no snow accumulates on the topography above an elevation of 6200–6300 m. Hence, the upper 1000+ m of the massif is a high elevation desert with little flux of snow and ice. Active glaciers are limited to a band of intermediate elevations where a maximum of about 60% of the landscape is covered by moving ice.


Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM's) target lower probabilities of brake noise as part of quality requirements for disc brake systems. Since brake noise is significantly controlled by variations in environmental conditions or alterations of brake systems, the brake system needs "in build" robustness against those variations to minimize noise during its lifecycle. In the past, proof of brake noise quality was primarily based on tests. Currently, it is based on a combination of simulation and testing. Due to cost and time schedule constraints, improvement cycles late in the development process need to be reduced. That is only possible with an increase of Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) based robustness evaluation taking into account all relevant sources of variation which may have an influence on brake noise occurrence. Robustness evaluation is a methodology to investigate how input scatter affects response variation and helps to understand how causes connect to variation in responses. The paper will discuss the challenges for software tools, CAEmodelling and CAE-processes to successfully apply a CAE-based robustness evaluation for brake noise application in virtual prototyping. It should be noted that Dynardo is a general purpose engineering consultant for CAE-based robustness evaluation and is not specialized for dealing with brake squeal simulation problems. Thus the paper does not address what methods of CAE modeling are appropriate to reflect the underlying physics of brake squeal accurate enough. However, since simulation is used today to investigate brake squeal and simulation models are successfully validated against hardware tests, it can be stated that appropriate CAE-models are available and can be successfully used to perform robustness evaluation.


Abstract This article examines an overlooked class of alcohol products, described herein as multiple fruit-flavored alcoholic drinks in a can (MFAC). The article describes how characteristics of these products likely contribute to hazardous alcohol consumption among youth. Government regulation of these products may be needed to protect adolescent and young adult populations. National substance abuse surveillance systems should consider immediate adoption of MFAC use indicators to determine use and harm associated with these products, and to assess the effectiveness of future regulatory actions.


Air pollution is a severe issue in many big cities due to population growth and the rapid development of the economy and industry. This leads to the proliferating need to monitor urban air quality to avoid personal exposure and to make savvy decisions on managing the environment. In the last decades, the Internet of Things (IoT) is increasingly being applied to environmental challenges, including air quality monitoring and visualization. In this paper, we present CAVisAP, a context-aware system for outdoor air pollution visualization with IoT platforms. The system aims to provide context-aware visualization of three air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM2.5) in the city of Melbourne, Australia. In addition to the primary context as location and time, CAVisAP takes into account users' pollutant sensitivity levels and color vision impairments to provide personalized pollution maps. Experiments are conducted to validate the system and results are discussed.


Hydrogen-bonded supramolecular polymers were prepared from the derivatives of α-amino-e-caprolactam (ACL), obtained from a renewable resource. Several self-complimentary bis- or tetra-caprolactam monomers were synthesized by varying the number of carbons of the spacer between the hydrogen-bonding end groups. Physical properties of these hydrogen-bonded polymers were clearly demonstrated by differential scanning colorimetry, solid-state NMR, and X-ray powder diffraction analyses. The supramolecular behavior was also supported by fiber formation from the melt for several of these compounds, and stable glassy materials were prepared from the physical mixtures of two different biscaprolactams. The self-association ability of ACL was also used by incorporating ACL at the chain ends of low-molecular weight Jeffamine (Mn = 900 g/mol) using urea and amide linkages. The transformation of this liquid oligomer at room temperature into a self-standing, transparent film clearly showed the improvement in mechanical properties obtained by the introduction of terminal hydrogen-bonding groups. Finally, the use of monomers with a functionality of four gave rise to network formation either alone or combination with bifunctional monomers. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011


Teachers play a very important role in providing children with a technology-supported learning environment. They are often challenged by the use of the tools and the effort required for planning pedagogical activities in technology integration. This study explored teachers' adoption process in tablet teaching (teaching with tablets). The purposes of the study were to study: (1) the processes teachers experienced for adopting tablets teaching, (2) the inspirations from children's learning reactions, and (3) challenges and strengths of the integration of tablet teaching. A phenomenological approach was used in this study. Three stages were involved in the data collection and analysis: (I) document analysis from online activity records and project reports, (II) interviews with 17 teachers, and (III) inductive analysis of various data resources. Analyses from various sources revealed that teachers' adoption process for tablet teaching includes: building basic knowledge of the new device, exploring different interests, modifying and redefining integration, and on-going tryouts. They were challenged with technology, pedagogical concerns, policy support, and community support. From the adoption process, teachers were inspired by children's motivation and learning engagement. In future implementation, scaffolding skills, exploratory opportunities, collaborative approach among teachers, open sharing of knowledge were suggested in tablet teaching.


Over the last few years, there has been an unprecedented outpouring of scholarship on partisan gerrymandering. Much of this work has sought either to introduce new measures of gerrymandering or to analyze a metric — the efficiency gap — that we previously developed. In this Article, we reframe this debate by presenting a series of criteria that can be used to evaluate gerrymandering metrics: (1) consistency with the efficiency principle; (2) distinctness from other electoral values; (3) breadth of scope; and (4) correspondence with electoral history. We then apply these criteria to both the efficiency gap and other measures. The efficiency gap complies with the criteria under all circumstances. Other metrics, in contrast, often violate the efficiency principle and cannot be used in certain electoral settings.


The Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station of the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, and the American Sugar Cane League of the U.S.A., Inc., working cooperatively to develop improved sugarcane varieties, have jointly evaluated and released the new variety, HoCP 00-950, for commercial planting in the summer of 2007. HoCP 00-950 is a progeny of the cross HoCP 93-750 x HoCP 92-676 made at Canal Point (CP) Florida in 1995 and selected at Houma (Ho), Louisiana, in 1997. Genetically, HoCP 00-950 is not closely related to LCP 85-384, Ho 95-988, HoCP 96-540, or L 97-128, but is closely related to L 99-226. Yield data from a total of 51 mechanically harvested trials in environments representative of the sugar industry in Louisiana indicate that HoCP 00-950 produces similar gross cane yields as HoCP 96-540 (31.7 vs. 32.3 tons/acre = 98%) but because of its high sugar content at harvest (296 vs. 276 lbs sugar/ton of cane = 107%), its recoverable sugar per acre has been slightly higher (9380 vs. 8940 lbs sugar/acre = 105%) in combined plant, first-ratoon and second-ratoon crop harvests. HoCP 00-950 is resistant to sugarcane mosaic virus (strains A, B, and D) and sorghum mosaic virus (strains H, I, and M). The variety is resistant to smut (Ustilago scitaminea Sydow) and rust (Puccinia melanocephala H. and P. Syd.) and is moderately susceptible to leaf scald [Xanthomonas albilineans (Ashby) Dowson]. It is more susceptible to ratoon stunting disease (Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli) than most sugarcane varieties. HoCP 00-950 is susceptible to the sugarcane borer [Diatraea saccharalis (Fabricius)]. Hence, it should not be grown in areas where insecticides cannot be applied. It is anticipated that HoCP 00-950 will make its greatest contribution in on-farm ripener management. If growers are unable to timely ripen cane due to inclement weather or if ripener efficacy is diminished due to environmental conditions, HoCP 00-950 could be used to correct the ripener schedule and/or to allow other varieties adequate time for optimal artificial ripening.


A stronger long-term orientation is considered a competitive advantage of family firms relative to non-family firms. In this study, we use panel data of U.S. firms and analyze this proposition. Our findings are surprising. Only in when the family is involved in the management of the firm is the firm found to invest more in long-term projects relative to a non-family firm. We also find that investment in long-term projects in family firms is determined less by cash flow variations than for non-family firms. Managerial implications of our findings are discussed. Our hypotheses are tested using Bayesian methods.


This research aims to find ways of making access to copyrighted books for the
visually impaired as much a matter of choice as possible by moving the provision of
access away from models based on charity and of building the provision of access
into the mainstream.
The work of third sector organisations providing access and attempts by the visually
impaired community itself to enhance access are described. Realities effecting
support workers in universities who have to help visually impaired students
investigated. Legal disputes relating to copyright and anti-discrimination law are
discussed. Developments in the ebooks market are monitored with a particular
reference to attempts to build accessibility into devices like the Kindle and Apple
products.
The research also looks at how best to secure access to online bookshops, web
pages offering ebooks for download in public libraries and ebook libraries in
academia. The current level of access being achieved in this area is assessed. Next
ongoing attempts to improve access and differing views on the advisability of an
approach based on enforcement of the Worldwide Web Consortium's accessibility
guidelines or a more flexible approach emphasising user testing are discussed.
Conclusions and recommendations: changes to copyright law and further
development and clarification of anti-discrimination law as it applies to publishers
are necessary. Libraries should adopt a more innovative approach and field some of
the specialist provision currently undertaken by charitable organisations.
Accessibility to relevant websites is probably best provided by a combination of
ongoing relationship building and with web developers and a more flexible
approach than rigid enforcement of accessibility guidelines. Further research is
needed on exactly how libraries could undertake specialist transcription most
efficiently and on how to bring multi-national companies like Adobe, Amazon and
other manufacturers of ebooks reading devices unambiguously into the ambit of
anti-discrimination.


Energy-efficient buildings can reduce human impact on the environment. Energy efficiency is not only concerned with generating more energy using fewer resources, nor reducing energy usage, but also it is about harnessing natural resources, such as wind and sun, to produce energy. The UK government is thus promoting the adoption of renewable energy in buildings. The Fuel-Cell Energy Systems (FCES), which utilizes hydrogen from renewable sources (green hydrogen), is a prominent technology yet with little application in the UK built environment. FCESs can help in addressing the problem of intermittent supplies of renewable energy by allowing for energy storage, which could act as a buffer to meet the variability in user-demand thereby maintaining energy security. Thus, the aim of this article is to explore the application of FCES in the UK built environment by drawing on the scant literature as well as discussion with industry experts. With the recent implementation of FCESs in Scotland, the development of guidelines for evaluation of the FCES is timely. A conceptual framework for the evaluation of FCES is thus outlined in this article, which could be piloted in Scotland (and possibly elsewhere). It is argued that such framework provides a holistic and structured approach for establishing the efficacy of FCES, which is crucial for informing its wider adoption in the future and in particular when it comes to the Return-on-Investment, especially from the perspective of funders and the local community.


How has the rise of Algerian youth organizations providing legal resources to women impacted female involvement in politics, the media, and policy-making? The purpose of my research is to examine how French colonial "Family Law" and traditional Berber patriarchy in 19th century Algeria intersected, and how Islamic feminism and legal reformation grew out of that intersection with globalization. French law and Berber patriarchy aligned in such a way that women were prevented from accessing the political process until the rise of Algerian feminist organizations in the late 1900's that called for broader language interpretations. My research shows that the provision of legal resources by Algerian feminist groups has resulted in higher rates of education and alternate interpretations of Sharia, empowering women in the political arena. My data, including personal interviews I conducted and statistics collected on voting polls, show that women have reached high political offices in Algeria. They have served as Prime Ministers, run for the presidency and received a high percentage of the vote, and increased their political involvement. All this is a result of increased literacy and usage of alternate feminist interpretations of Islamic law. My research will include statistical data collected by the feminist organizations provided workshops on examining Islamic texts in the 1960's, as well as interviews and case studies of women that had fallen victim in between the jurisprudence of Islamic and French law. My intention is to demonstrate that Sharia law is often misinterpreted in today's media, and even fought against, which in turn has reaffirmed patriarchal views by avoiding open conversation rather than addressing the problem and providing resources on Islamic law interpretations.


Real-time monitoring of the corona-poling process that is used to create a bulk second-order nonlinear-optical susceptibility was accomplished by observing electrochromic shifts and intensity decreases of charge-transfer absorption bands in both dye-doped and covalently functionalized polymer films. By measuring small changes in the refractive-index anisotropy, the optical waveguiding technique was demonstrated to be a sensitive measure of the poling-induced order and its relaxation. The guest–host systems were formed from the dyes N,N-dimethylaminonitrostilbene, N,N-dimethylindoaniline (Phenol Blue), and 4-(N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-N-ethyl)-amino-4′-nitroazobenzene (Disperse Red 1), each dissolved in a poly(methyl methacrylate) matrix. The covalently functionalized polymers contained pendant para-nitroaniline (PNA) moieties. The first, poly(N-(4-nitrophenyl)allylamine), was formed from a poly(allylamine) derivative and is called PPNA. The second was based on poly(hydroxystyrene), with PNA attachment occurring between the phenol group and the PNA hydroxyethyl group; this polymer is named PHS-MENA. The final polymer is a linear epoxy (bisphenol A) with the PNA amino N atoms forming a link in the main chain; it is called Bis A-NA. A sample calculation demonstrated the use of experimental electrochromic spectral data to estimate the electro-optic coefficients.


This chapter analyzes five Spanish verbs related to perception and causation: iluminar, alumbrar, deslumbrar, vislumbrar and columbrar . Although, apparently, these verbs may seem synonymous, a careful survey shows that they are not. It is obvious that the aforementioned verbs share a common etymological feature, since all of them are related to the Latin noun lumen ( light ). However, in spite of their formal and semantic similarities, each of them has developed specific nuances which justify their existence in the language system. Indeed, each of these verbs conceptualizes particular aspects concerning the experience in which light may intervene. Furthermore, their lexical-constructional behavior is placed along the continuum extended between two opposed poles: one is related to causativity and the other is linked to visual perception. Keywords: denominal verbs; perception verbs; causativity


In this note we give a probabilistic explanation of a phenomenon that is frequently observed but whose reason is not well understood. That is, in a regres- sion setting, the response (Y ) is often highly correlated with the leading principal components of the predictor (X) even though there seems no logical reason for this connection. This phenomenon has long been noticed and discussed in the literature, and has received renewed interest recently because of the need for regressing Y on X of very high dimension, often with comparatively few sampling units, in which case it seems natural to regress on the first few principal components of X. This work stems from a discussion of a recent paper by Cook (2007) which, along with other developments, described a historical debate surrounding, and current interest in, this phenomenon.


Abstract A simple, quick, and inexpensive technique to improve visualization of aspen (Populus tremuloides) tree rings under the microscope, the 'shadow technique', is described. The technique assumes appropriate preparation of increment cores or cross-sections and works well on the lighter portions of the sample with fungus- and bacteria-free wood. The shadow technique was used successfully to elucidate tree-ring boundaries in small diameter (<5 cm DBH) aspen from northern Utah that commonly had >100 annual rings. Crossdating verified whether the elusive rings were missing or false rings. Aspen tree-ring measurement will be greatly enhanced with the shadow technique and preliminary investigation suggests it could be used on other species such as curlleaf mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius).


Rate measurements over a very wide temp. range (300-2000 K) for some reactions involving the OH radical show distinct non-Arrhenius behavior. An attempt to fit the available data empirically leads to k1 = 106.19T2.13 exp(-1233 K/T) cm3/mol-s and k2 = 108.0T1.6 exp(-1660K/T) cm3/mol-s for the reactions with a finite activation barrier around room temp. ((1) OH + CH4 -> CH3 + H2O and (2) OH + H2 -> H2O + H) and k3 = exp(24.98 + 9.2 * 10-4T) cm3/mol-s and k4 = exp(27.1 + 1.5 * 10-3T) cm3/mol-s for reactions without substantial temp. dependence around 300 K ((3) OH + CO -> CO2 + H and (4) OH + OH -> H2O + O). The extent of non-Arrhenius behavior may plausibly be explained by means of the total reactive cross section, for which various forms are derived. A more direct explanation, however, is provided from detns. of the vibrational-rate enhancement. For OH + H2, vibrational excitation of H produces sufficient enhancement of the rate const. kOH+H2(v = 1)/kOH+H2(v = 0) = 1.5(-3.5+1.3)102 at 298 K to account for the Arrhenius graph curvature of the overall thermal rate const.


This work extends previous studies on using EEG decoding for automatic image retrieval. We propose an iterative way to integrate the information obtained from the EEG decoding and image processing methods. In the light of real-world BCI applications, we demonstrated that a limited number of EEG channels provide sufficient information about the subject's preference to be exploited in image retrieval by the proposed synergistic scenario. Furthermore, to meet a more realistic scenario we used natural images (i.e., images of objects in their natural environment).


Summary The heritabilities of direct and maternal effects on litter survival to weaning (LS) were estimated from records of 1,243 litters of pigs from the Nebraska Gene Pool population born from 1968 to 1981. Heritabilities were estimated by: (1) weighted least-squares regressions of average survival for litters of sons on average survival for litters of their sire, (2) nested analysis of variance with LS fitted to a model including year-line and sire of litter, (3) weighted least-squares regression of average survival for the litter of daughters" on the survival of the litter of their dam and (4) nested analysis of variance with LS fitted to a model including year-line and sire of dam of litter. Analyses were conducted with and without adjustment for litter size born. Estimates of the heritability of direct effects from methods 1 and 2 were negative. Adjustment to a common litter size born had no effect. If direct effects are considered to be negligible, as indicated by these analyses, then LS may be considered a trait of the dam. The heritability of maternal effects estimated from daughter-dam regression was .01 +- .02. The estimate of heritability of maternal effects obtained from analysis 4 was .07 + .03. Again, there were no effects from adjustment to a common litter size born. These estimates were not significantly different and the pooled estimate was .03 + .02. These analyses indicate that some additive genetic variance might exist for maternal effects but none for direct effects on LS. Selection for increased survival is not expected to be successful.


Thinning is a h ighly crucial point of the apple production technology. According to results of numerous studies the earliest thinning is deemed to have the best amending effects. There can be considerable difference between trees of the same cul tivar and age in a plantation in respect to their flowering, in the numbers of fruits set and also in their canopy volume. Thus it can be crucial -just l ike in the case of pruning- to establish a fruit thinni ng su i ted for specif ic characteristics of actual trees. This experiment was established to examine how does primary fruit set (fruit load before thinning) and further on specific (fruit/TCS cm2) and absolute (fruit/tree) fruit-load of the trees affect quality attri butes at harvest. Our experiment was establ ished in a plantation on medium-tight loamy soil in north-east of Hungary. Harvest date was determined w ith the joint observation of the calendar date, starch-index, flesh firmness, background colour and fruit weight. Three fruit-load levels were established based on local experience and on data of several years, I Ot/ha lower and higher besides the advised optimum yield in the same orchard with slender-spindle shaped 'Gala must' cultivar standing on M9 rootstock in 1m x 3,8 m spacing. In the establishment of the 15, 25 and 35t/ha fruit-load levels on 20-20 apple trees total number of fruits set was counted at each tree. After this number of apples due to be removed was defined using an objective index on the basis of trunk cross sections (fruit/TCScm2) (Lafer, 1999). The following attributes were measured: weight (g), flesh firmness (lb/cm2) total soluble solid content (Brix %) and total titrate-able acid content (g/J).From the data on sugar and acid content quality index (Pomona value) was determined (Thialult, 1970). We could ascertain, that in an orchard, of the same aged but in concern to trunk cross sections somewhat different trees besides the specific index (apple/TCS cm2 the absolute fruit load (fruit/tree) can also be an important data, that has considerable effect on the internal quality. Secondly we could observe, that higher level of fruit load before thinning (primary fruit set) negatively affects quality index of the apples irrespective of the specific fruit load level (fruit/cm2 TCS) set later. Results underlines necessity of the earliest chemical thinn ing.


ABSTRACT This study uses longitudinal data and four different measures of mental health to tease out the impact of psychiatric disorder onsets and recoveries on employment outcomes. Results suggest that developing a mental health problem leads to a significant increase in the probability of transitioning to non-employment, while a recovery increases the probability of return to work among the not employed with a mental health problem. No consistent effect was found on hours worked and earnings. Research and policy attention is needed with respect to early interventions such as job retention programmes to help workers with mental health problems remain employed as well as interventions that may lead to recovery and return to work. More research is needed especially with data and models that can differentiate between the effects of mental health onsets and recoveries on employment exit and return to work transitions.


Importance
The working schedules of hospitalists vary widely. Discontinuous schedules, such as 24 hours on and 48 hours off, result in several hospitalists providing care during a patient's hospital stay. Poor continuity of care during hospitalization may be associated with poor patient outcomes.

Objective
To determine whether admitted patients receiving care from hospitalists with more discontinuous schedules experience worse outcomes.

Design, Setting, and Participants
This retrospective cohort study used conditional models to assess Medicare claims data for 114 777 medical admissions of patients with a 3-day to 6-day length of stay from January 1, 2014, through November 30, 2016, who received all general medical care from hospitalists in 229 hospitals in Texas. Data were analyzed from November 2018 to June 2019.

Exposures
For each admission, the weighted mean of schedule continuity for the treating hospitalists, assessed as the percentage of all their working days in that year that were part of a block of 7 or more consecutive working days, was calculated.

Main Outcomes and Measures
The primary outcome was patient mortality in the 30 days after discharge. Secondary outcomes were readmission rates and Medicare costs in the 30 days after discharge, and discharge destination.

Results
Of the 114 777 patient admissions, the mean (SD) age was 79.9 (8.3) years, and 70 047 (61.0%) were women. For admissions in the lowest quartile for continuity of hospitalist schedules, the hospitalists providing care worked 0% to 30% of their total working days as part of a block of 7 or more consecutive days vs 67% to 100% for hospitalists providing care for patients in the highest quartile for continuity. Patient characteristics were not associated with the continuity of working schedules for the hospitalist(s) providing care. In conditional logistic regression models, admitted patients cared for by hospitalists in the highest quartile of schedule continuity (vs the lowest quartile) had lower 30-day mortality after discharge (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.88; 95% CI, 0.81-0.95), lower readmission rates (aOR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.90-0.99), higher rates of discharge to the home (aOR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.03-1.13), and lower 30-day postdischarge costs (-$223; 95% CI, -$441 to -$7). The results were similar across a range of different methods for defining continuity of hospitalist schedules and selecting the cohort.

Conclusions and Relevance
Hospitalist schedules vary widely. Admitted patients receiving care from hospitalists with schedules that promote inpatient continuity of care may experience better outcomes of hospitalization.


Addition of mineral nitrogen (N) can alter the concentration and quality of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in forest soils. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of long-term mineral N addition on soil solution concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in Strasan experimental forest (Norway spruce) in central Sweden. N was added yearly at two levels of intensity and duration: the N1 treatment represented a lower intensity but a longer duration (43 yr) of N addition than the shorter N2 treatment (24 yr). N additions were terminated in the N2 treatment in 1991. The N treatments began in 1967 when the spruce stands were 9 yr old. Soil solution in the forest floor O, and soil mineral B, horizons were sampled during the growing seasons of 1995 and 2009. Tension and non-tension lysimeters were installed in the O horizon ( n = 6), and tension lysimeters were installed in the underlying B horizon ( n = 4): soil solution was sampled at two-week intervals. Although tree growth and O horizon carbon (C) and N stock increased in treatments N1 and N2, the concentration of DOC in O horizon leachates was similar in both N treatments and control. This suggests an inhibitory direct effect of N addition on O horizon DOC. Elevated DON and nitrate in O horizon leachates in the ongoing N1 treatment indicated a move towards N saturation. In B horizon leachates, the N1 treatment approximately doubled leachate concentrations of DOC and DON. DON returned to control levels, but DOC remained elevated in B horizon leachates in N2 plots nineteen years after termination of N addition. We propose three possible explanations for the increased DOC in mineral soil: (i) the result of decomposition of a larger amount of root litter, either directly producing DOC or (ii) indirectly via priming of old SOM, and/or (iii) a suppression of extracellular oxidative enzymes.


In the early 16th century, traditional tattooing is widespread in the Philippines, but very little is known or written about the practice. Sources for the study of traditional tattoos in Northern Luzon are very inadequate and merely make vague statements on the function and symbolic meaning of tattoos, as well as the relationship between the practice and culture as a whole. The statements likewise reveal a distinctly ethnocentric deportment. Until today, tattooing and tattoo designs in the Cordilleras are best understood within the context of headhunting. Headhunting was the only known reason for tattooing, and, to this day, no one knows exactly what tattoos signify. This paper provides insights into the roles and functions of the tattoos, and how the tattoos (batek) become cultural symbols of the intricate rituals brought about by community regimens of the Ilubo, Kalinga. No longer practiced, the batek of the Ilubo is a visually powerful rendering of symmetry and unity of designs. Batek now serve as an archive of culture for the group.


This thesis traces the political interpretation of sustainability, and its translation into practice in English school building programmes during the period 2000-2010. Social power theory is used to analyse the complex network of decisions, and their consequences, through case studies of policy development and of building projects.
The thesis describes how the control of appointments to task forces and of the issues considered allowed Government to manage the framing of the policy agenda while seeming to validate industry perspectives. The process led to a political interpretation of sustainability that translated into two main technical solutions: improved operational energy efficiency and low-carbon energy technologies. Within construction projects the potential power of professional experts to produce alternative solutions is also demonstrated, through the example of the successful introduction of cross-laminated timber to reduce embodied carbon. Outcomes are therefore shown to have been substantially influenced by the exercise of both political and professional power.
The thesis also shows the unintentional power effects of procurement processes and design tools in defining and limiting possibilities, the restricting power of the professional systems within which the actors operate, and the power of numbers to provoke unreflective trust. These effects are shown to have led to some irrational solutions, with the thesis demonstrating that the energy technologies installed in three projects are likely to produce higher, not lower, carbon emissions.
These multiple power effects have therefore constrained thinking and possibilities for the interpretation of sustainability for construction, have limited the subsequent translation into practical solutions, and have had a substantial and at times negative effect on the material performance of the resultant buildings. In addition the technologies and numbers have not only been used, and therefore governed, by the actors but also appear to have governed them, limiting their actions and understanding of sustainability.


Citizen sociolinguistics is a response to the need for a new sociolinguistic methodology that accounts for and partakes of the social demands and affordances of massive mobility and connectivity in today's world. Drawing from contemporary theories about participatory culture ( Jenkins, Purushotma, Wiegel, Clinton, & Robison, 2009), orders of indexicality (Silverstein, 2003), and communicative repertoire (Rymes, 2011), as well as the decades-old tradition of citizen science, Citizen sociolinguistics traces the ways citizens, more so than trained sociolinguists, understand the world of language around them. The goal of this article, and the methodology it proposes, is to document, learn from, and advocate for the importance of this public participation in sociolinguistic inquiry and exploration and its potential to illuminate our contemporary communicative environment. This article is available in Working Papers in Educational Linguistics (WPEL): http://repository.upenn.edu/wpel/vol29/iss2/4 Citizen Sociolinguistics: A New Media Methodology for Understanding Language and Social Life


Measurements of the anisotropic flow coefficients v2{Ψ2},v3{Ψ3},v4{Ψ4}, and v4{Ψ2} for identified particles (π±,K±, and p+p) at midrapidity, obtained relative to the event planes Ψm at forward rapidities in Au + Au collisions at sNN=200GeV, are presented as a function of collision centrality and particle transverse momenta pT. The vn coefficients show characteristic patterns consistent with hydrodynamical expansion of the matter produced in the collisions. For each harmonic n, a modified valence quark-number Nq scaling [plotting vn{Ψm}/(Nq)n/2 versus transverse kinetic energies (KET)/Nq] is observed to yield a single curve for all the measured particle species for a broad range of KET. A simultaneous blast-wave model fit to the observed vn{Ψm}(pT) coefficients and published particle spectra identifies radial flow anisotropies ρn{Ψm} and spatial eccentricities sn{Ψm} at freeze-out. These are generally smaller than the initial-state participant-plane geometric eccentricities n{ΨmPP} as also observed in the final eccentricity from quantum interferometry measurements with respect to the event plane. © 2016 American Physical Society. (Less)


Data Mining (DM) refers to the analysis of observational datasets to find
relationships and to summarize the data in ways that are both understandable
and useful. Many DM techniques exist. Compared with other DM techniques,
Intelligent Systems (ISs) based approaches, which include Artificial Neural
Networks (ANNs), fuzzy set theory, approximate reasoning, and derivative-free
optimization methods such as Genetic Algorithms (GAs), are tolerant of
imprecision, uncertainty, partial truth, and approximation. They provide
flexible information processing capability for handling real-life situations. This
thesis is concerned with the ideas behind design, implementation, testing and
application of a novel ISs based DM technique. The unique contribution of this
thesis is in the implementation of a hybrid IS DM technique (Genetic Neural
Mathematical Method, GNMM) for solving novel practical problems, the
detailed description of this technique, and the illustrations of several
applications solved by this novel technique.
GNMM consists of three steps: (1) GA-based input variable selection, (2) Multi-
Layer Perceptron (MLP) modelling, and (3) mathematical programming based
rule extraction. In the first step, GAs are used to evolve an optimal set of MLP
inputs. An adaptive method based on the average fitness of successive
generations is used to adjust the mutation rate, and hence the
exploration/exploitation balance. In addition, GNMM uses the elite group and
appearance percentage to minimize the randomness associated with GAs. In
the second step, MLP modelling serves as the core DM engine in performing
classification/prediction tasks. An Independent Component Analysis (ICA)
based weight initialization algorithm is used to determine optimal weights
before the commencement of training algorithms. The Levenberg-Marquardt
(LM) algorithm is used to achieve a second-order speedup compared to
conventional Back-Propagation (BP) training. In the third step, mathematical
programming based rule extraction is not only used to identify the premises of
multivariate polynomial rules, but also to explore features from the extracted
rules based on data samples associated with each rule. Therefore, the
methodology can provide regression rules and features not only in the
polyhedrons with data instances, but also in the polyhedrons without data
instances.
A total of six datasets from environmental and medical disciplines were used
as case study applications. These datasets involve the prediction of
longitudinal dispersion coefficient, classification of electrocorticography
(ECoG)/Electroencephalogram (EEG) data, eye bacteria Multisensor Data
Fusion (MDF), and diabetes classification (denoted by Data I through to Data VI). GNMM was applied to all these six datasets to explore its effectiveness,
but the emphasis is different for different datasets. For example, the emphasis
of Data I and II was to give a detailed illustration of how GNMM works; Data III
and IV aimed to show how to deal with difficult classification problems; the
aim of Data V was to illustrate the averaging effect of GNMM; and finally Data
VI was concerned with the GA parameter selection and benchmarking GNMM
with other IS DM techniques such as Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System
(ANFIS), Evolving Fuzzy Neural Network (EFuNN), Fuzzy ARTMAP, and
Cartesian Genetic Programming (CGP). In addition, datasets obtained from
published works (i.e. Data II & III) or public domains (i.e. Data VI) where
previous results were present in the literature were also used to benchmark
GNMM's effectiveness.
As a closely integrated system GNMM has the merit that it needs little human
interaction. With some predefined parameters, such as GA's crossover
probability and the shape of ANNs' activation functions, GNMM is able to
process raw data until some human-interpretable rules being extracted. This is
an important feature in terms of practice as quite often users of a DM system
have little or no need to fully understand the internal components of such a
system. Through case study applications, it has been shown that the GA-based
variable selection stage is capable of: filtering out irrelevant and noisy
variables, improving the accuracy of the model; making the ANN structure less
complex and easier to understand; and reducing the computational complexity
and memory requirements. Furthermore, rule extraction ensures that the MLP
training results are easily understandable and transferrable.


The present research aimed to assess the effects of a novel type of orthosis, the Dynamic Ankle
Foot Orthosis (DAFO), on the balance and gait characteristics of hemiparetic subjects. The DAFO
is a low splint with a custom-moulded insole, which is believed to support foot alignment, ankle
supination-pronation and provide minimal restriction of the ankle joint flexion-extension. It was
hypothesised that DAFOs improve motor behaviour after stroke involving the acquisition of
standing balance (hypothesis I) and gait (hypothesis II) compared with using shoes. It was
proposed that users' subjective opinions of DAFOs would support the findings of the device's
ability to modify human performance such that they are beneficial when used as a part of
rehabilitation management for stroke patients (hypothesis III).
Twenty-two stroke subjects were randomly allocated to experimental (with DAFO and shoes-only)
and control (using shoes-only) groups. Subjects followed twelve weeks of experimental trials
comprising three data collections. The testing procedure was developed from preliminary work,
which involved a pilot study and reliability tests. Standing balance was measured using forceplatform
apparatus. The parameters investigated were: the velocity and sway index of the CoP,
and F(mean), F(sd) and F(slope) of shear forces. Kinematic gait performance was assessed
using a 3-D four-camera motion measurement system. The parameters studied were: the gait
velocity, stride length, step length, cadence, and single stance phase, together with the
minimum/maximum values of the angular displacement and velocity of the foot, shank, and thigh
segments in the saggittal plane during two strides. An open questionnaire was used to evaluate
subjects' opinions regarding the use of DAFOs.
Overall, the quantitative studies did not identify consistent and statistically significant differences
between the two experimental situations for these groups of patients. In the studies of balance,
none of the parameter comparisons analysed within- and between- groups achieved statistical
significance. In the studies of gait, statistically significant differences were identified for some (but
not all) parameters. It is unknown whether any single or combination of balance and gait variables
can be used to describe human gait entirely. On this basis, hypotheses I and II were rejected.
However, these are tentative conclusions. Thus, difficulties in maintaining the stroke subject
cohort number for these studies meant that the analyses probably lacked sufficient statistical
power to detect small but potentially important differences in DAFO mediated actions.
Furthermore, in several cases, clear differences in the magnitude of balance and gait parameters
between DAFO and shoe users were apparent, and these differences were often consistent with
nearer normal levels associated with use of the device (suggesting potentially beneficial
influences). Thus, positive effects of the DAFO on lateral velocity of sway and variability of the
spectral frequency were evident for some subjects. The gait velocity, stride length and single
stance phase were also nearer normal values using DAFOs than without them. In addition, the
maximum foot velocity value was improved in the middle of swing phase on the affected side,
which may indicate improvement to the ankle dorsiflexion function using these devices.
In contrast to the inconclusive balance and gait findings, the outcome of the questionnaire
assessments was clear. The majority of subjects provided very positive feedback with regard to
DAFO use. Most subjects expressed confidence in the splint, which they perceived as helpful for
their walking ability in day life. Some difficulties were noticed with donning and doffing the DAFO,
but the perceived benefits outweighed this consideration. These qualitative studies therefore
provide the most convincing evidence to support the idea that DAFOs improve stroke patients'
balance and gait, and that this type of orthosis may form a useful adjunct to rehabilitation
strategies. However, as the proposals set out for this research were related, acceptance of
hypothesis III requires that at least one of the preceding hypotheses be accepted. On this basis,
hypothesis III was also rejected.
In conclusion, although this work failed overall to demonstrate a significant effect of DAFOs on
the rehabilitation of stroke patients, the anecdotal evidence obtained adds to knowledge in this
field. The research identified some parameters of balance and gait, which might be influenced by
the device in a beneficial manner. These parameters may be more useful to use in future
investigations. The reasons for the discrepant outcomes of the quantitative and qualitative studies
are unclear. However, it is suggested that there may be uncontrolled variables within either the
patient group or in the DAFOs (or both) which mean that some DAFOs work better than others. It
is proposed that further studies of the DAFO are warranted.


Eyebrows have recently arched not only at the high sums involved in big money divorce cases, but also at the amount of ink spilled on this relatively small subset of divorce cases. Yet, it is precisely in big money cases, wherein judges have discretion over resources that significantly exceed the needs of the parties, that fairness acquires substantial haziness. The question of fairness is particularly acute in short marriages, as well as when one spouse is at fault for the divorce or when one spouse contributes extraordinarily to the marriage. Courts in both England and the United States have been encountering these issues with increasing frequency and differing results. The majority of American courts have employed the principle of equitable distribution, resulting in a disproportionate property division between spouses, particularly when the marital estate grew because of one spouse's extraordinary efforts. England, on the other hand, has recently implemented a yardstick of equality that aims for near equal property division between spouses, representing a major shift in English case law and a doctrinal break from American law. This article examines these changes in the comparative context, underscoring the consequences of country's interpretation of fairness in post-divorce property division.


Intracellular therapeutic targets that define tumor immunosuppression in both tumor cells and T cells remain intractable. Here, we have shown that administration of a covalently linked siRNA to an aptamer (apt) that selectively binds cytotoxic T lymphocyte–associated antigen 4 (CTLA4apt) allows gene silencing in exhausted CD8+ T cells and Tregs in tumors as well as CTLA4-expressing malignant T cells. CTLA4 expression was upregulated in CD8+ T cells in the tumor milieu; therefore, CTLA4apt fused to a STAT3-targeting siRNA (CTLA4apt–STAT3 siRNA) resulted in internalization into tumor-associated CD8+ T cells and silencing of STAT3, which activated tumor antigen–specific T cells in murine models. Both local and systemic administration of CTLA4apt–STAT3 siRNA dramatically reduced tumor-associated Tregs. Furthermore, CTLA4apt–STAT3 siRNA potently inhibited tumor growth and metastasis in various mouse tumor models. Importantly, CTLA4 expression is observed in T cells of patients with blood malignancies, and CTLA4apt–STAT3 siRNA treatment of immunodeficient mice bearing human T cell lymphomas promoted tumor cell apoptosis and tumor growth inhibition. These data demonstrate that a CTLA4apt-based siRNA delivery strategy allows gene silencing in both tumor-associated T cells and tumor cells and inhibits tumor growth and metastasis.


Background: The exposure time to pollutants arising from burning sugarcane can lead to different responses in the systemic inflammatory profile of workers involved in sugarcane harvesting, causing multisystem alterations in the health of this population. Aim: To evaluate the systemic inflammatory profile according to the exposure time to burning sugarcane during a sugar harvest. Methods: 24 male sugarcane workers were divided into two groups: individuals who had worked less than ten harvests (G1; n = 13); and individuals who had worked more than ten harvests (G2; n = 11). Blood samples were collected for analysis of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10, in addition to the total count of monocytes and neutrophils. All evaluations occurred during the pre-harvest (March), middle of harvest (July) and end of harvest (October), in 2014. During the harvesting activity, the concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) were recorded. Results: The concentrations of PM 2.5 in the middle (111.5 (96.42-122.5) µg/m 3 ) and end of harvest (97.39 (36.39-131.9) µg/m 3 ) were significantly higher compared to pre-harvest (28 (24-37.38) µg/m 3 ; p Conclusion: We conclude that sugarcane workers exposed to more than ten harvests demonstrate decreases in IL-8 concentration and neutrophil at the end of the harvest period.


Constructions of vulnerability are varied and contested through different research traditions, such that there is no agreed definition of its meaning. In an attempt to lessen this confusion, this thesis builds upon the distinction between etic ("outsider") and emic ("insider") orientated research and examines the extent to which vulnerability knowledge can be aligned to this spectrum. The nature of emic-orientated research necessitates the identification of "insiders", who are assumed to be those 'closest' to the issue at hand and able to offer first-hand insights based on personal experience. However, it is arguably inappropriate to assume the existence of a supposedly homogeneous group of insiders, or a definitive boundary between insiders and outsiders. Therefore, this research critically examines the notion of "insiderness" and the extent to which this influences constructions of flood vulnerability. Mixed methods are employed to elicit the perspectives of emergency professionals and the public in two socially-contrasting locations exposed to multiple flood drivers; a Bradford town in West Yorkshire (fluvial and pluvial flooding) and a town on the Isle of Wight (tidal and pluvial flooding). Contents analysis, semi-structured interviews and cognitive interviews facilitated by a GIS-based flood risk mapping tool ("KEEPER"), demonstrate the influence of professional roles, scales of decision making and phase of emergency management upon constructions of vulnerability. From this, it is argued that area-wide vulnerability assessment could benefit from more interactive and malleable forms of mapping, flexible to different place and hazard contexts, and professional needs. With residents, questionnaires, in-depth interviews and vignettes reveal evidence of hazardcentric, social-centric and existential constructions, which inform self-declared vulnerabilities. A number of variables and processes are identified as relevant for understanding the formation of these constructions. For instance, this research documents the process of othering, whereby residents distance vulnerability from the self, onto a real or illusionary "vulnerable other". Moreover, analysis suggests that this is partly motivated amongst "insiders" by the need to preserve ontological security. At a time where flooding is set to increase and households are expected to embrace responsibility and act to mitigate risks to their properties, these findings highlight a potentially significant barrier to household resilience, especially in the context of pluvial flooding. On the basis of this research, recommendations are made for using the concept of "insiderness" to target and tailor communication and community engagement in FRM.


ABSTRACT Vertical-beam entomological radars incorporating rotating polarization and a very-narrow-angle conical scan generate information about both the trajectories of the insect targets and their identities. The identity information comprises four parameters, one a measure of target size, two of shape, and the last the wing-beat frequency. Transformations have been developed to convert these to a set of orthogonal variables that make the widths of peaks in the distributions similar. The existence of distinct target classes has been demonstrated from the radar observations themselves, using an 8-month data set. The analysis uses peak finding followed by association of the peaks found for different parameters, and is achieved through specially developed algorithms and procedures. Peaks have been identified in each parameter separately, in pairs of parameters, and in the four parameters together, the three approaches producing consistent results. Mainly single peaks were found in spring and the first month of summer, and also in late autumn, while multiple peaks occurred through most of summer and early autumn. All peaks are broad, so the number of target classes that can be resolved is not large. Classes were recognized by associating similar combinations of peak positions for the four parameters when these occurred on multiple nights. The most commonly occurring classes corresponded approximately to rules developed previously for identifying targets as locusts and moths. Two methods of using the identified classes to partition a target sample, with different purity-versus-yield trade-offs, are demonstrated.


This paper presents an in-depth analysis of network revenues computed with marginal pricing, and in particular it investigates the reasons why marginal prices fail to recover the total incurred network costs in actual power systems. The basic theoretical results are presented and the major causes of the mismatch between network costs and marginal revenues are identified and illustrated with numerical examples, some tutorial and others of realistic size. The regulatory implications of marginal network pricing in the context of competitive electricity markets are analyzed, and suggestions are provided for the meaningful allocation of the costs of the network among its users. >


Plant nutrient is one of the limiting factors affecting crop production. Nitrogen and boron are major nutrients in case of broccoli. So, an experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of nitrogen and boron in seed yield and yield attributing characters of broccoli in Rampur, Chitwan during winter season. The experiment was laid out in factorial RCBD design with four levels of nitrogen and two levels of boron. Each plot consists of 25 plants which were separated by 60 * 60 cm spacing. There are altogether eight treatments replicates thrice. Local variety Calabrese was used.  Significant effect of different dose of nitrogen and boron on yield attributing characters was found. Also interactive effect of nitrogen and boron in number of pods, pod length, seed yield and number of seeds per pod was found significantly different. Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol 3(3): 541-544


Objective: This study investigates the impact of ongoing traumatic events on Palestinian adolescents' posttraumatic stress according to event-related and demographic factors. Method: A sample of 368 Palestinian adolescents (49.2% males, mean age 17.03) was drawn from different areas of the Gaza Strip. Students were investigated on exposure to traumatic events and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and disorder (PTSD). Results: The mean number of traumatic events experienced by the adolescents was 9.9 (SD = 3.20). Boys were significantly more exposed than girls, as were adolescents living in villages compared to those living in Gaza city or refugee camps. Adolescents mainly and pervasively experienced objective, non-personal material exposure (such as witnessing bombardments) (85% to 96%) and media exposure (95%). Up to 17% of the adolescents experienced direct, physical exposure (7% personal injury), exposure through injury and death of relatives. In this context, two fifths of the adolescents experienced mild, two fifths moderate and one fifth severe PTSS. Remarkably, adolescents did not differ significantly in PTSS despite exposure differences across gender, place of residency and family income. Conclusion: Near half of the investigated adolescents living in the Gaza Strip experience moderate to severe levels of posttraumatic stress, for around one fifth this amounts to a probable posttraumatic stress disorder. These findings urge toward providing psychological support programs to Palestinian adolescents to enhance current wellbeing and limit further developmental risks. Furthermore, the findings suggest the need to investigate the role of appraisal and coping to understand the pathways through which differences in trauma exposure lead to similar posttraumatic stress outcomes.


The answer in a nutshell is: Yes, five years ago, but nobody has noticed. Nobody noticed because the majority of social scientists subscribe to one of the following views: (1) the 'anomalous' behaviour observed in standard prisoner's dilemma or ultimatum game experiments has refuted standard game theory a long time ago; (2) game theory is flexible enough to accommodate any observed choices by 'refining' players' preferences; or (3) it is just a piece of pure mathematics (a tautology). None of these views is correct. This paper defends the view that GT as commonly understood is not a tautology, that it suffers from important (albeit very recently discovered) empirical anomalies, and that it is not flexible enough to accommodate all the anomalies in its theoretical framework. It also discusses the experiments that finally refuted game theory, and concludes trying to explain why it took so long for experimental game theorists to design experiments that could adequately test the theory.


The last five years have brought important reforms to care proceedings. The Judiciary made proposals for modernising family justice with a focus on strong judicial leadership, judicial continuity and better case management.2 The Family Justice Review3 recommended that the duration of care proceedings should be limited to 26 weeks, that fewer experts should be instructed in proceedings and there should be more limited scrutiny of the care plan, with the court considering only the plan for permanency (care by the parents(s), placement in the extended family, long-term fostering, or adoption) and not matters such as services for the child and contact arrangements. The Review's recommendations were enacted in the Children and Families Act 2014, supplemented by new procedural rules (the PLO 2014) and implemented on April 22, 2014. This date also marked the opening of the Family Court, replacing the triple jurisdiction of the Family Proceedings Court, the County Court and the High Court.


Premature sign off of audit procedure is one of those behaviors that can reduce audit quality. The present study was intended to examine whether time pressure, supervision, and  locus of control affect  the premature sign off of the audit procedure. The population used in this study is all auditors working at Public Accounting Firms in Surabaya. The data used is the primary data in the form of questionnaires distributed to the respondents.  The sampling technique used is purposive sampling. The sample of research is 50 auditors from 17 Public Accounting Firms in Surabaya. Data analysis techniques used is multiple regressions. The results of this research  showed  that time pressure, supervision and locus of control affected the premature sign off  of  the audit procedures. The implication of this research result for the auditor is the higher the premature  discontinuation of the audit procedure performed by the auditor will result in decreased audit quality and increased audit risk.


This article considers expert witness evidence in the family justice system in light of the Supreme Court's abolition of expert witness immunity in Jones v Kaney [2011] UKSC 13, [2011] 2 FLR 312. The 'Jones v Kaney factor' is just one amongst several disincentives which discourage expert witnesses from offering their services in the family courts. Jones v Kaney firmly puts the spotlight on these disincentives and begs the question: how could the law change to address them and increase the availability of expert witness in the family justice system? It is argued that changes in the law could do much. There should be criteria for judges to apply when considering whether or not the proposed expert evidence is necessary and reliable. There should be clearer guidance on how expert witnesses should best present their analysis and opinion. There should be a legal requirement for training and accreditation. The law should guarantee that expert witnesses receive feedback and the chance to respond to criticism. This article argues that the family justice system's 'laissez-faire' approach to expert evidence is unsatisfactory and ripe for review by the Law Commission.


During the Spanish Civil War, extrajudicial executions and disappearances of political opponents took place and their corpses were buried in unregistered mass graves. The absence of an official policy by successive democratic governments aimed at the investigation of these cases, the identification and exhumation of mass graves, together with legal obstacles, have prevented the victims' families from obtaining reparation, locating and recovering the human remains. This paper argues that this state of affairs is incompatible with international human rights law and Spain should actively engage in the search for the whereabouts and identification of the bodies with all the available resources.


This article examines the evolution of supply networks as influenced by urban logistics, from the point of view of third party logistics (3PL) companies. 3PL are the firms which have facilitated the development of large retailers for thirty years by offering them highly complex systems of warehouses and platforms to supply stores efficiently. 3PL also initiated sophisticated logistical techniques to reduce stocks in store while controlling order picking costs. Their major strength is the achievement of significant economies of scale through resource sharing for several large retailers, resulting in ever larger warehousing infrastructures. As they developed pooling expertise early on, 3PL could acquire a prominent position in the emerging market in city logistics, in which local authorities are highly involved, a perspective that can only be considered if 3PL are able to develop a first mover advantage.


This paper studies the relationship between fund and provider characteristics, and fund performance using a sample of 4,197 U.K personal pension funds operated by 35 providers over a 30 years' period (1980 – 2009). The fund performance is measured on an annual basis (short-term) and over the whole period of fund operation (long-term). We find substantial differences in which factors explain performance in the short- and long-run and whether the performance is measured against T-bills or against fund chosen prospectus benchmarks. Although big providers tend to perform better than their prospectus benchmarks on an annual basis, they underperform T-bills over the period of fund life. The provider's extent of specialisation positively covaries with benchmark outperformance measured on an annual basis, but does not result in superior performance over funds' operational life. In the long-run, fund performance is positively associated with market concentration and negatively with fund age. We also find that the timing of opening funds matters for their long-term returns, and, on average, funds lose more money during bear markets than they make during bull markets. Policy implications are discussed.


Under stable atmospheric conditions the brightness of the urban sky varies throughout the night following the time course of the anthropogenic emissions of light. Different types of artificial light sources (e.g. streetlights, residential, and vehicle lights) have specific time signatures, and this feature makes it possible to estimate the amount of brightness contributed by each of them. Our approach is based on transforming the time representation of the zenithal night sky brightness into a modal expansion in terms of the time signatures of the different sources of light. The modal coefficients, and hence the absolute and relative contributions of each type of source, can be estimated by means of a linear least squares fit. A practical method for determining the time signatures of different contributing sources is also described, based on wide-field time-lapse photometry of the urban nightscape. Our preliminary results suggest that, besides the dominant streetlight contribution, artificial light leaking out of the windows of residential buildings may account for a significant share of the time-varying part of the zenithal night sky brightness at the measurement locations, whilst the contribution of the vehicle lights seems to be significantly smaller.


An increase in 14-3-3 proteins switches axons from being attracted to being repulsed by Sonic hedgehog. In the developing nervous system, multiple signals mediate axon attraction or repulsion to guide axons to the final destinations where they make synaptic connections. Sonic hedgehog (Shh) functions as a morphogen and as a guidance cue in the developing nervous system. In the developing spinal cord, Shh produced by the floorplate initially directly attracts commissural axons to the midline and after midline crossing indirectly enables responsiveness to repulsive cues mediated by other guidance ligands, which prevents the axons from recrossing the midline. These axons then turn and migrate anteriorly. Using a spinal cord preparation called the open-book format, Yam et al. found that genetic disruption of Shh signaling in commissural neurons resulted in random movement of axons both anteriorly and posteriorly after crossing the midline, as well as increased frequency of axons that inappropriately recrossed the floorplate. As in the developing chick brain, Shh in the rodent brain was present in a gradient along the anterior-posterior axis, with the abundance highest at the posterior end. Rat commissural neurons cultured in vitro were initially attracted to Shh, then repulsed after 3 days in vitro (DIV). The activity of protein kinase A (PKA) and its inhibition by 14-3-3 proteins has been implicated in axon repulsion. Older cultured commissural neurons (3 DIV) and postcrossing axons in mouse spinal cord showed enriched abundance of the 14-3-3 isoforms β and γ and reduced PKA activity. In 3 DIV cultures, inhibition of 14-3-3 function by knockdown or a function-blocking peptide or stimulation of PKA activity converted the Shh-mediated repulsion to attraction, and inhibition of PKA activity in 2 DIV cultures switched their response to repulsion. Disruption of 14-3-3 activity in the open-book format preparations of rat or chick spinal cord reduced the frequency of anterior turning of axons that crossed the midline. In 2 DIV cultures, overexpression of 14-3-3β prevented Shh-mediated attraction, whereas overexpression of 14-3-3γ converted the response to Shh-mediated repulsion. In the developing chick, overexpression of either 14-3-3 isoform resulted in premature turning of axons before reaching the floorplate (the source of Shh), consistent with a premature switch to Shh-mediated repulsion. Thus, changes in the abundance of 14-3-3 to inhibit PKA activity appear to underlie the switch from Shh-mediated attraction to Shh-mediated repulsion in commissural axons. P. T. Yam, C. B. Kent, S. Morin, W. T. Farmer, R. Alchini, L. Lepelletier, D. R. Colman, M. Tessier-Lavigne, A. E. Fournier, F. Charron, 14-3-3 proteins regulate a cell-intrinsic switch from Sonic hedgehog-mediated commissural axon attraction to repulsion after midline crossing. Neuron 76, 735–749 (2012). [PubMed]


Abstract Although Eptesicus fuscus (Big Brown Bat) has been widely studied, information on tree-roosting in forests by males is rare, and little information is available on tree roosting in the southeastern United States. Our objectives were to characterize diurnal summer roosts, primarily for male Big Brown Bats, and to determine relationships between forest structure and roost selection. We quantified 25 male roosts located via radiotelemetry, and describe an additional 9 maternity roosts for females. All roosts for both sexes were in Pinus echinata (Shortleaf Pine) snags, and 82% of roost snags were 15–25 cm diameter at breast height (dbh). Most (94%) roosts for both sexes were under loose bark. A logistic regression model differentiating male roost sites from random locations indicated males were more likely to roost in recently thinned, open-forest conditions (less canopy cover, more cut stumps, and fewer under-story stems) that contained abundant overstory pines ≥25 cm dbh and abundant snags. Males roosted primarily (84%) in stands that had recently undergone partial harvesting. Maintaining a supply of pine snags ≥15 cm dbh in relatively open forest habitats, including areas undergoing partial harvest, would provide roosting habitat for male Big Brown Bats in the Ouachita Mountains.