The main objective in creating this body of work was to emphasize the importance of personal growth through investigation and subsequent discovery. People have forgotten the spirit of adventure and investigation that was prevalent in the past. They have lost the reverence for education as a personal activity. By using the book as a symbol of knowledge and tool for personal development, I hope to test the viewers' attitudes, and emphasize the importance of educational investigation. My goals in creating this work were multifaceted; partly societal and partly personal. Like many artists, I believe that the work I create serves some greater purpose and has meaning that is important for society in some way. A common purpose of art is to make people think, or more often to flunk differently than they currently do. Art students and museum-goers are accustomed to this activity, but the public at large do not take the time to try and grasp what the artist may be trying to convey. The work is quickly dismissed when a viewer cannot relate to an unusual object. I wanted people to investigate my work, and to reflect on issues I find important such as knowledge, discovery, curiosity, intellectual reflection, and observation as well as self-improvement through these activities. In short, I would like to influence members of society through viewing my art and rewarding them with a discovery or different mindset than they had before viewing the work. Personal goals were also a major factor in producing the work as well. I wanted to develop technical skills that were new to me. I needed to experiment and explore new technologies. I also felt the need to express personal yearnings and desires for my idealized future. It was of paramount importance to produce work that fit into what I view as the role of art. Library of Congress Subject Headings Illustration of books--Themes, motives; Book ornamentation; Book design Publication Date 2002 Document Type Thesis Department, Program, or Center School for American Crafts (CIAS) Advisor Hightower, Linda Advisor/Committee Member Tannen, Rich Advisor/Committee Member Cass, Robin Comments Note: imported from RIT's Digital Media Library running on DSpace to RIT Scholar Works. Physical copy available through RIT's The Wallace Library at: NE890 .D345 2002 Recommended Citation Dahlberg, Eric, "The Book as social catalyst and self portrait" (2002). Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology. Accessed from https://scholarworks.rit.edu/theses/7327 Campus RIT – Main Campus  Download SHARE THESES Enter search terms: Search


The new Millennium has seen a renewed and intensified interest in issues of business ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR). This has been partly driven by a wave of concern about conduct and governance of business and partly reflects a growing interest amongst consumers, policy makers and businesses, in forms of production and consumption that are more sustainable and more ethically oriented. This is typified by growth in demand of products encompassing ethical values such as organic and Fair Trade products. However, research knowledge base about consumers and their behaviour and attitude from an ethical perspective is relatively weak. Consumer attitude to foods is mainly influenced by concerns (e.g. food safety, human health, environmental impact) and commodity attributes (e.g. quality, taste, freshness and packaging). The objective of this paper is to get an insight on Serbian consumer attitude towards agro-food products with ethical values (AFPEV) namely organic, Fair Trade and typical/traditional products. This paper is based on the literature and an online self-administered questionnaire, carried out from December 2010 through June 2011 with 104 Serbian adult consumers, dealing with understanding of and knowledge about AFP and relationships with ethical values; AFPEV buying frequency; main criteria and reasons for buying AFPEV; opinion about AFPEV price and consumer willingness to pay; potential impacts on animal health and welfare as well environmental, economic social and civic impacts of buying AFPEV; purchasing channels; and main sources of information about AFPEV. Serbian consumers have a good knowledge about AFPEV that are bought by 98% of the sample. Most of the respondents relate ethical values to the respect of environment (73.5%) and organic production (49.0%). The main reasons for buying AFPEV are quality (35%), organic certification (17%), and taste (15%). Price seems less important. The main sources of information about AFPEV are mass media, newspapers and magazines (summing up 46%). However, the majority of Serbian consumers prefer to get information directly from the supply chain actors mainly sellers and/or producers. AFPEV are bought mainly from the specialized shops (34%) and supermarkets (26%) to achieve personal satisfaction, for health, safety, natural resources conservation, and environment protection. Consumers do not always buy sustainable products as consequences of environmental concern or to benefit the community or due to personal beliefs but mainly to give priority to health. Ethical factors are important in some cases, but they may be overstated. Results indicated that most Serbian consumers perceived that AFPEV as healthier and portray a positive attitude towards AFPEV thus showing a high willingness to pay higher prices. Serbian consumers seem to have a positive attitude towards organic, fair trade and typical products due to the sustainable benefits that they can bring about. Therefore, institutional and domestic market conditions should be improved for insuring long-term market development and information campaigns should be organised to increase Serbian consumers' awareness and consciousness and to strengthen their positive attitude towards AFPEV.


There has been significant interest and work toward the development of small length scale (micrometer to centimeter) energy conversion systems—heat engines and thermal energy harvesters—that operate on different thermal sources. Small combustion driven heat engines offer high power densities and longer operating durations, and present an opportunity to replace large and heavy chemical batteries. Thermal energy harvesters provide a great opportunity to harness the freely available thermal energy: solar, geothermal, and human body heat. These systems can contribute to significant energy savings when coupled to an existing, larger power generation system (e.g., vehicles and diesel generators) for the purpose of energy recovery. In this review, we discuss technological challenges, opportunities, and recent progress in small length scale energy conversion systems with special focus on free piston devices (engines and expanders) and phase-change driven devices. We discuss in detail four important design considerations that can have significant effect on small length scale device performance.


Drugs can cause adverse effects on the urinary tract by a local action, or as a result of systemic effects on the autonomic nervous system, or central nervous control of bladder emptying. Tiaprofenic acid and cyclophosphamide as its metabolite acrolein, for example, can cause haemonhagic cystitis. Localised retroperitoneal fibrosis, from methysergide, for instance, can lead to hydronephrosis. Agents with anticholinergic actions, such as the tricyclic antidepressants, can result in urinary retention, whilst alpha-adrenoceptor antagonists may lead to stress incontinence in females.


Background: Rhinoplasty poses a unique set of challenges to the plastic surgeon. Surgical dexterity is associated with a long learning curve; this sometimes causes undesirable results, especially in the case of surgeons who are beginners at performing such a complex procedure. Understanding the anatomic basis and mechanical properties of its components is fundamental for achieving satisfactory results in rhinoplasty. To enhance surgical training for those learning the principles of rhinoplasty, a wide variety of models has been described. Among these are the nose of the pig and rabbit, chicken sternal cartilage, nasal silicone models, and even a virtual computer-generated 3-dimensional model of the human nose. Objective: The authors propose the use of a sheep head as a model to replicate the technical steps involved in rhinoseptoplasty for surgical education and research. Methods: Several fresh domestic sheep heads were obtained from a local butcher shop, dissected according to a predetermined set of steps, and modeled in different shapes as described in the literature for human models. Sutures were placed in the cartilage to simulate the steps of a structured rhinoplasty. Results: The caprine model presents anatomical structures similar to those found in humans, including the medial and lateral crura, with appropriate cephalic orientation and domal angles. Septal cartilage was sufficient to simulate several grafts, and bones were available for fracture and rasping. Conclusions: With an estimated more than 1 billion domestic sheep worldwide, this model has the potential to improve outcomes in rhinoplasty by providing wider opportunities for training in a procedure that requires knowledge, precision, and artistry.


Abstract Wheat is one of the important cereal crops in Nepal as well as globally. But due to varied climatic and sowing conditions low production has been reported throughout the world including Nepal. Sowing rates are highly correlated to yield and its yield attributing characters. Yield loss has been reported 50-62% under a late sown condition which shows a heavy threat to food security problems. Vijaya is the most recommended varieties under late sown conditions due to its high yield and less threat to late sown conditions. Thus identification and release of varieties suitable under late sown conditions are of the utmost importance. Researches should be accelerated under different agro-ecological zones to study the constraints associated with late sown wheat in Nepal.


In this article, the impact of consistent internal heat source and varying downward gravity force on the onset of convective movement in an anisotropic porous matrix is studied numerically applying the high-term Galerkin technique. The gravity field variations with depth z are considered to be of four types: (a) G(z) = -z , (b) G(z) = -z^2 , (c) G(z) = -z^3 , and (d) G(z) = -(e^z - 1) . Outcomes show that both the thermal anisotropy parameter eta and gravity variation parameter lambda delay the onset of convection, while the internal heating parameter Hs and the mechanical anisotropy parameter xi speed up the arrival of convective activity. The dimension of the convection cells boosts with eta , xi and lambda , while it diminishes with Hs . It is also identified that the system shows maximum stability for case (d), while it is minimum for case (c).


This qualitative study seeks to investigate elementary school teachers' approaches to addressing gender and sexual diversity through their pedagogical decision-making in the Ontario Education system. Its aim is to provide further knowledge about how the needs of LGBTQ students are being understood and addressed in elementary schools specifically, and how teachers are ensuring a more democratized social and pedagogical space for all children and youth. This study draws on empirical data from semi-structured interviews with ten elementary school teachers, which helped to develop a deeper understanding of their commitment to addressing gender and sexual diversity in their classroom and school. A queer and gender complex theoretical approach is employed to examine the extent to which teachers' reflections speak to effectively addressing heteronormativity and cisnormativity in the school system. By gaining insight into how teachers make sense of their own experiences relating to gender and sexual diversity, and the relevance of this experience to their pedagogical practices, this research raises important questions about how to better support LGBTQ students in the education system.


Background: The adequate knowledge required for handling an emergency without hospital setting at the site of the accident or emergency may not be sufficient as most medical schools do not have formal first aid training in the teaching curriculum. Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the level of knowledge of medical students in providing first aid care. Subjects and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted during May 2011 among 152 medical students. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Based on the scores obtained in each condition requiring first aid, the overall knowledge was graded as good, moderate and poor. Results: Only 11.2% (17/152) of the total student participants had previous exposure to first aid training. Good knowledge about first aid was observed in 13.8% (21/152), moderate knowledge in 68.4% (104/152) and poor knowledge in 17.8% (27/152) participants. Analysis of knowledge about first aid management in select conditions found that 21% (32/152) had poor knowledge regarding first aid management for shock and for gastro esophageal reflux disease and 20.4% (31/152) for epistaxis and foreign body in eyes. All students felt that first aid skills need to be taught from the school level onwards and all of them were willing to enroll in any formal first aid training sessions. Conclusion: The level of knowledge about first aid was not good among majority of the students. The study also identified the key areas in which first aid knowledge was lacking. There is thus a need for formal first aid training to be introduced in the medical curriculum.


The recent proliferation of a reality TV genre that focusses on welfare recipients has led to concerns that prime-time media experiences are exacerbating misconceptions, and stifling critical debate, around major societal issues such as welfare reform and poverty. Motivated by arguments that 'second screening' practices offer opportunities to engage viewers with issues of political concern, we describe the design and evaluation of two smartphone apps that facilitate and promote more critical live-viewing of reality TV. Our apps, Spotting Guide and Moral Compass, encourage users to identify, categorise, tag and filter patterns and tropes within reality TV, as well as reinterpret social media posts associated with their broadcast. We show that such interactions encourage critical thinking around typical editing and production techniques and foster co-discussion and reflection amongst viewers. We discuss, more broadly, how these interactions encourage users to identify the wider consequences and framings of reality TV, and offer implications and considerations for design that provokes criticality and reflection in second screening contexts.


Assemblages of large herbivores may compete for food or facilitate one another. However, small vertebrate herbivore species co-occurring with large herbivores may be affected by large herbivore grazing through changes in plant species composition, nutrient content and vegetation structure. These changes can be either positive or negative for the smaller herbivores, but this may depend on the species of small herbivores. We experimentally tested the impact of cattle grazing on habitat choice of European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and common voles (Microtus arvalis). We excluded cattle for 7 years and measured changes in vegetation parameters, and the response of rabbits and voles. Rabbits were facilitated by cattle, whereas voles strongly preferred vegetation without cattle. The facilitation effect was stronger at low rabbit densities. Vegetation biomass and nitrogen concentration were not affected by cattle grazing, but vegetation height increased significantly where cattle were excluded. Plant species composition also changed following cattle exclusion; however, the main food plants of rabbits and voles remained abundant in each grazing treatment. We conclude that the response of both rabbits and voles predominantly reflect the differences in vegetation height in the presence and absence of cattle, but in a contrasting fashion. The difference in response between rabbits and voles may result from reduced perceived predation risk, which is lowest in high vegetation for voles, but in short vegetation for rabbits, which depend on their burrows for safety. The use of large herbivores in grassland conservation management can thus have a contrasting effect on different species of small herbivores. r 2008 Gesellschaft für Ökologie. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.


The physiological processes in loblolly pine leading to enhanced growth in response to fertilization have not been clearly established. We tracked net photosynthesis (Pn), height, basal diameter, and volume changes in loblolly pine seedlings in response to fertilization during the entire 2004 growing season. Pn measurements were conducted prior to fertilization and after fertilization in early May. The seedlings that received fertilization showed an increase in Pn rates above the controls for most of the growing season. Also, the fertilized seedlings had height, basal diameter, and volume increases of 10, 13, and 34 percent over the unfertilized seedlings. We conclude that fertilization led to an initial increase in Pn rates, which helped create extra photoassimilate to be used in building larger leaf areas, which in turn led to more above ground biomass.


One characteristic of adolescent period is universal change in the term of emotion such as, emphaty, feel of guilty, sad, angry, and internalization of prosocial norm. The period of development should be passed through by adolescent is full of many experiences need intelegence in managing emotion appropiate with the grade of age toward adult, so that sometimes adolescent acts without thinking before about the risk will be faced, and it can bring
the fatal consequences can take them into the prison. The purpose of this research is to get the image of emotional intelegence and some factors influence the adolescent occupant in the prison.This research is qualitative descriptive that was conducted in 28th of December 2009 17th of January 2010 by examining 4 adolescent occupants in Prison First Class in Lowokwaru. The selection of the sample was purposive sampling technique, it used interview and observation as the method, and it utilized triangulation resource to investigate the validity of the data.
From the research, it can be concluded that the image of emotional intelegence of adolescent occupants in the prison in the aspect of intrapersonal is tend to uncertain with their ability and they are lazy to actualize themselves. In the aspect of interpersonal, they tend to not able to be
emphaty, too selective in choosing friends, tossing the responsibility to other people, but they can adapt with environment despite of perforce. In the term of cognitive orientation, they tend to think only their own problems and can not find out the effective solutions. In the term of
afection, they are happy to come together in one place with their friends, but in the same time they are also sad because can not assemble with their family, and they are depressed and feel lonely. Some factors influence that are come from the internal of them, it covers the emotion to
try something, the self acceptence and other people, and the ability to overcome the stress. And the external factor is environment, it covers the peer, the system of taking care, and the familly condition economi that is in the level of mediate and low.


Large Eddy Simulations of atomization and evaporation of liquid fuel sprays in diesel engine conditions are performed with stochastic breakup and non-equilibrium droplet heat and mass transfer models. The size and number density of the droplets generated by the breakup model are assumed to be governed by a Fokker-Planck equation, describing the evolution of the PDF of droplet radii. The fragmentation intensity spectrum is considered to be Gaussian and the scale of Lagrangian relative velocity fluctuations is included in the breakup frequency calculations. The aerodynamic interactions of droplets in the dense part of the spray are modeled by correcting the relative velocity of droplets in the wake of other droplets. The stochastic breakup model is employed together with the wake interaction model for simulations of non-evaporating and evaporating sprays in various gas temperature and pressure conditions. The predicted results for physical spray parameters, such as the spray penetration length are found to be in good agreement with the available experimental data.


Introduction: An American Journey: David Jacobson (Arizona State University). Part I: History of Immigration to the United States:. 1. Immigration as a Pattern in American Culture: William H. A. Williams (Union Institute, Cincinnati Centre). 2. What is an American? Ethnicity, Race, the Constitution and the Immigrant in Early American History: Roger Daniels (University of Cincinnati). 3. Immigration: History of US Policy: William S. Bernard (Brooklyn College). 4. The Changing Face of Post-1965 Immigration: Reed Ueda (Tufts University). Part II: Immigration and Contemporary Ethnicity:. 5. From South of the Border: Hispanic Minorities in the United States: Alejandro Portes (Princeton University). 6. Asian Immigrants: Social Forces Unleashed After 1965: Bill Ong Hing (Stanford University). 7. Voluntary Immigration and Continuing Encounters Between Blacks: Roy Simon Bryce-Laporte (Colgate University). 8. The Social Organization of Mexican Migration to the United States: Douglas Massey (University of Pennsylvania). Part III: The Economy and Immigration:. 9. The Impact of Immigrants on Employment Opportunities of Natives: George J. Borjas (Harvard University). 10. US Immigration and the New Welfare State: Thomas J. Espenshade (Princeton University). 11. Foreign Investment: A Neglected Variable: Saskia Sassen (Columbia University). 12. Immigrant Entrepeneurs in America: Koreans in Los Angeles: Ivan Light (UCLA). Part IV: Comparative Perspectives on Immigration:. 13. Multiculturalism and Immigration: A Comparison of the United States, Germany, and Great Britain: Christian Joppke (European University Institute, Florence). 14. Immigration and Group Relations in France and America: David L. Horowitz (Duke University). Part V: Political Debate on Immigration:. 15. Membership: Michael Walzer (Princeton University). 16. Aliens and Citizens: The Case for Open Borders: Joseph H. Carens (University of Toronto). 17. Immigrants and Family Values: Francis Fukuyama (George Mason, University). 18. Inclusion, Exclusion, and the American Civic Culture: Daniel J. Tichenor (Rutgers University). Epilogue. Where the Maps are Not Yet Finished: A Continuing American Journey: Jamie Godwin-White (Arizona State University). Index.


What is the status of the Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS) revolution? Has the creation of software that can be freely used, modified, and redistributed transformed industry and society, as some predicted, or is this transformation still a work in progress? Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software brings together leading analysts and researchers to address this question, examining specific aspects of F/OSS in a way that is both scientifically rigorous and highly relevant to real-life managerial and technical concerns. The book analyzes a number of key topics: the motivation behind F/OSS—why highly skilled software developers devote large amounts of time to the creation of "free" products and services; the objective, empirically grounded evaluation of software—necessary to counter what one chapter author calls the "steamroller" of F/OSS hype; the software engineering processes and tools used in specific projects, including Apache, GNOME, and Mozilla; the economic and business models that reflect the changing relationships between users and firms, technical communities and firms, and between competitors; and legal, cultural, and social issues, including one contribution that suggests parallels between "open code" and "open society" and another that points to the need for understanding the movement's social causes and consequences.


The elimination of waste nitrogen as urea is a final and central step of amino acid catabolism. It is accomplished by one of the most essential pathways of terrestrial animals, the urea cycle. This article describes the basic function of the 5 catalytic enzymes, the two transporters, and the cofactor synthesizing enzyme that comprise the urea cycle as well as the consequences of their deficiencies and ways to treat them. The article then elaborates on related disorders of metabolism that may either cause hyperammonemia or elevation of an amino acid that is key to urea cycle function.


Abstract Lysibia nana Gravenhorst (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) is a solitary hyperparasitoid that attacks newly cocooned prepupae and pupae of braconid wasps in the subfamily Microgastrinae. One of its preferred hosts is Cotesia glomerata L. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a gregarious endoparasitoid of white butterfly caterpillars that feed exclusively on plants producing partly inducible glycoside toxins known as glucosinolates. Here, adult body size, egg-to-adult developmental time, and developmental mortality were compared in L. nana reared from prepupae of C. glomerata (the "primary host") emerging from larvae of Pieris rapae (L.) and Pieris brassicae (L.) (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) that were in turn maintained on two related crucifers, Brassica oleracea L. and Brassica nigra L. (Brassicaceae). Moreover, offspring sex ratio of L. nana reared in the laboratory was compared with that of field populations of C. glomerata reared on P. brassicae. Hyperparasitoids attained larger mass when "originating" from P. brassicae than P. rapae, a pattern that closely reflected host quality for C. glomerata. However, for a given host cocoon mass at parasitism, hyperparasitoid mass was greater on P. brassicae reared from B. oleracea than from B. nigra. Developmental time was more uniform across the different species combinations. Sex ratios in L. nana were higher than in C. glomerata, irrespective of the secondary (herbivore) host. Our results suggest that plant and herbivore quality are important factors affecting the development of L. nana as mediated through the primary parasitoid host. Consequently, both qualitative and quantitative constraints characterize interactions among L. nana and lower trophic levels.


For Generation Y, born after 1982, Margaret Thatcher is a piece of social history, relationships happen over the Internet and music marks their territory. How does this generation think about the world? What does their spirituality look like? And what implications does this have for the Church? "Making Sense of Generation Y" addresses the urgent need for the Church to reconnect with young people in today's society, and to communicate with them in a way they can understand. Through researching the relationship young people aged 16-25 have to the popular arts (soaps, film, music, clubbing, advertising and culturally iconic images), the authors explore the implications of their worldview for youth work and youth ministry as well as the wider church.


Modern electronics testing has a legacy of more than 40 years. The introduction of new technologies, especially nanometer technologies with 90nm or smaller geometry, has allowed the semiconductor industry to keep pace with the increased performance-capacity demands from consumers. As a result, semiconductor test costs have been growing steadily and typically amount to 40% of today's overall product cost.

This book is a comprehensive guide to new VLSI Testing and Design-for-Testability techniques that will allow students, researchers, DFT practitioners, and VLSI designers to master quickly System-on-Chip Test architectures, for test debug and diagnosis of digital, memory, and analog/mixed-signal designs.

KEY FEATURES
* Emphasizes VLSI Test principles and Design for Testability architectures, with numerous illustrations/examples.
* Most up-to-date coverage available, including Fault Tolerance, Low-Power Testing, Defect and Error Tolerance, Network-on-Chip (NOC) Testing, Software-Based Self-Testing, FPGA Testing, MEMS Testing, and System-In-Package (SIP) Testing, which are not yet available in any testing book.
* Covers the entire spectrum of VLSI testing and DFT architectures, from digital and analog, to memory circuits, and fault diagnosis and self-repair from digital to memory circuits.
* Discusses future nanotechnology test trends and challenges facing the nanometer design era; promising nanotechnology test techniques, including Quantum-Dots, Cellular Automata, Carbon-Nanotubes, and Hybrid Semiconductor/Nanowire/Molecular Computing.
* Practical problems at the end of each chapter for students.


Mental, neurological and substance use disorders constitute approximately 13% of the global burden of disease. This is especially evident in low to middle income countries, where that burden is often larger. With a recent move world wide to focus on the prevention of health problems rather than on management and mitigation, one important focus is on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Because disease burden is largely affected by psychosocial factors, which mediate the prognostic and maintenance of many chronic health conditions, CBT skills provide an important advantage in treatment, management and prevention.


Abstract : On any given day, organizations use software simulations to make better decisions. Software simulations of real world systems are often large and rich with many parameters potentially affecting outcomes. Faced with a multitude of parameters, decision makers may not know or may lose sight of the few truly critical factors. Thus, screening algorithms are essential in order to identify the factors that most impact outcome measures. This enables experimenters to better utilize their resources by focusing on truly important factors. Fractional Factorial Controlled Sequential Bifurcation (FFCSB) is a newly proposed two-phase screening procedure for large-scale simulation experiments. This thesis evaluates the performance of FFCSB from accuracy and efficiency perspectives. FFCSB is also compared to existing algorithms, Controlled Sequential Bifurcation (CSB) and Fractional Factorial (FF), in order to understand the relative merits and weaknesses of each algorithm. FFCSB delivers consistent accuracy guarantees across more factor patterns and offers efficiency savings over CSB. FFCSB and FF are equally matched in accuracy; however, FFCSB is more robust to non-ideal settings of control parameters and scales better with increasing response model size; conversely FFCSB can be less efficient than FF. A first-case application of FFCSB on the Hierarchy organizational model yields results in agreement with prior research, as well as providing interesting hypotheses for further exploration. The Hierarchy model serves as a benchmark to compare innovative Command and Control structures for enabling more effective warfare.


It has been shown [Phys. Rev. E 84, 022101 (2011); Chaos 22, 023123 (2012)] that earthquakes of magnitude $M$ greater or equal to 7 are globally correlated. Such correlations were identified by studying the variance $\kappa_1$ of natural time which has been proposed as an order parameter for seismicity. Here, we study the fluctuations of this order parameter using the Global Centroid Moment Tensor catalog for a magnitude threshold $M_{thres}=5.0$ and focus on its behavior before major earthquakes. Natural time analysis reveals that distinct minima of the fluctuations of the order parameter of seismicity appear {within} almost five and a half months{-on average-} before all major earthquakes of magnitude larger than 8.4. This phenomenon corroborates the finding [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 110, 13734 (2013)] that similar minima of the seismicity order parameter fluctuations had preceded all major shallow earthquakes in Japan. Moreover, on the basis of these minima a statistically significant binary prediction method for earthquakes of magnitude larger than 8.4 with hit rate 100\% and false alarm rate 6.67\% is suggested.


This study analyzes the way in which three storytellers use gaze and pointing gestures to disambiguate ellipted referents in a series of three "joint storytelling" sequences (Koike, 2008) about the same event that they all experienced together. Building on previous studies on ellipsis in Japanese discourse, this study elucidates how complex the structure of human referent ellipsis can be, by showing how the three storytellers use multi-resources including ellipsis in the talk-in-interaction to tell their side of the story with no potential ambiguity. I demonstrate that (1) in elliptical utterances gaze selects the explicitly addressed recipient, and pointing supplies the elliptical element, thus suggesting a hierarchy in which gaze overrides pointing, (2) uses of gaze and pointing toward participants can influence the interpretation of ellipsis as well as the participation framework in storytelling, and (3) the same sustained pointing gesture can provide different ellipted arguments in different utterances. I also show how the participants assisted one other in telling a shared story, while also publicly negotiating responsibility and conflict through different social actions. They used gaze and pointing gestures in elliptical utterances not only to supply ellipted human referents, but also to include the participant in the storytelling as the implicitly addressed recipient and to effectively mitigate conflicting actions.


This Review Essay surveys the recent literature on the tensions between of autonomy and accountability in robotic warfare. Four books, taken together, suggest an original account of fundamental changes taking place in the field of IHL: P.W. Singer's book Wired for War: the Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century (2009), William H. Boothby's Weapons and the Law of Armed Conflict (2009), Armin Krishnan's Killer Robots: Legality and Ethicality of Autonomous Weapons (2009), and Ronald Arkin's Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots (2009). This Review Essay argues that from the point of view of IHL the concern is not the introduction of robots into the battlefield, but the gradual removal of humans. In this way the issue of weapon autonomy marks a paradigmatic shift from the so-called "humanization" of IHL to possible post-human concerns.


This essay explores social justice commitments in dance pedagogy and dance education teacher preparation in the USA as developed through a series of conversations between two dance educators and former administrators in higher education. The authors examine the history of multiculturalism, multicultural practices in postsecondary dance, their influences on dance teacher education, and the limitations of the multiculturalism movement that emerge from misperceptions about, or disregard for differences in culture, gender, ability, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. Dominant arguments for maintaining status quo perspectives such as scarcity of resources, accreditation standards, and tenured faculty compositions are examined in conversation with a number of prophetic voices for social justice teaching and learning. Examples of pedagogical approaches and project assignments that aim to bring social justice learning to the dance education classroom in concrete ways are presented.


As we move into the second decade of the twenty-first century, the extent of the refugee crisis in Africa has become more circumscribed, while the scope of internal displacement has grown. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNCHR) in 2007, there were just over 3 million refugees on the continent of Africa, about a quarter of the total global refugee population. The downward trend in the flight across borders began in 2001 and has not abated. In 2007, 2 million people were voluntarily repatriated to Burundi, Sudan, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Despite these very positive developments, does the decrease in refugees indicate a changing climate for Africa in respect to overall political stability and regional peace? The United Nations defines a refugee "as a person having a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality ... or political opinion," who flees their country of origin for the safety of neighboring states. In Africa today, the problem of forced migration for reasons of social, cultural or political persecution continues, but displaced populations are more often internally than externally relocated. There were 12.7 million internally displaced people (IDPs) on the African continent in 2007. Conflict and rebellion in the Sudan, Chad, Somalia, Zimbabwe, and the DRC continues to result in the displacement of millions. The extent of such forced population movements, whether internal or external, is a kind of canary in the mine shaft for those interested in the political and economic development of the continent. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If there has been a change in the character of the twenty-first century refugee crisis on the African continent, the reference point for such change is the stability of the state. The reason for an increase in internal rather than external displacement is part of a costly form of internal war, pursued by the state as well as rebel groups and militias. This has emerged more widely on the African continent as a concomitant of the process of state building. It is further aggravated by an international environment of increased global interest and competition for the continent's natural resource wealth. Thus, while Africa has moved past an earlier refugee crisis rooted in colonial legacies and propelled by the Cold War, forced migration continues to haunt the continent's politics in some of its largest countries and potentially most productive economies. There are probably many reasons why current conflicts result in an increase in IDPs and not refugees. Internally displaced populations in the Sudan, the DRC, and Zimbabwe which are forced to move because of war or military harassment may be absorbed in a larger territory in a way that was not the case in small West African countries in the 1990s. Getting to the other side of the border may also not take you out of harm's way, as is probably currently the case in Darfur. Or perhaps it is the not-as-liberal asylum policies of more stable states like Kenya and Tanzania, which over the course of many decades have hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees from nearby regional conflicts. The cost of their generosity is now" having an impact on their own internal security and stability. Past conflicts in Burundi, Rwanda, and the DRC have sent refugees into Tanzania since the first decade of its independence. Kenya absorbed refugees from conflicts in Uganda, the Sudan, and Somalia--the total number in Kenya was more than 400,000 at one point in the 1990s. Besides absorbing some social service cost, the movement of weapons into both countries has posed problems for the security of regions in which camps were placed and has increased the overall availability of small arms. In 2003, Tanzania's president publicly critiqued refugees for a national increase in crime and arms trade. Thus, in relatively stable states, refugees can also pose difficult political problems, because they may still carry political baggage from the conflicts they fled. …


Attaining the proper balance between underfitting and overfitting is one of the central challenges in machine learning. It has been approached mostly by deriving bounds on generalization risks of learning algorithms. Such bounds are, however, rarely controllable. In this study, a novel bias-variance balancing objective function is introduced in order to improve generalization performance. By utilizing distance correlation, this objective function is able to indirectly control a stability-based upper bound on a model's expected true risk. In addition, the Generalization-Aware Collaborative Ensemble Regressor (GLACER) is developed, a model that bags a crowd of structured regression models, while allowing them to collaborate in a fashion that minimizes the proposed objective function. The experimental results on both synthetic and real-world data indicate that such an objective enhances the overall model's predictive performance. When compared against a broad range of both traditional and structured regression models GLACER was ~10-56% and ~49-99% more accurate for the task of predicting housing prices and hospital readmissions, respectively.


lt is likely that the external and internal differentiation of high level qualified service labor will have consequences for the employees concerned: For chances in their responsibilities, their organizational reference, their position in the market, but also for their professionally endemic thinking about the nature of 'technical progress'. lt is assumed that changes observable within engineering services reflect the development of highly qualified white collar labor in industrial organizations in general. If the 'service character' of these occupations is more and more typical for modern qualified work, the potential contradictions between orientation towards the market and orientation towards scientifically based professional 'identity' will grow - or end in an new service-oriented professional self-image which is highly functional for the interests of the modern capitalist enterprise. The crucial question will be: Which responses will enterprise policies on the one hand, unions on the other hand develop to integrale or represent the (career-oriented) interests of the majority, but also the interests of a (critical) minority of highly qualified employees? Members of this minority suffer under the strains between their organizational function in private enterprise and their professional (or personal) values on questions like the environment or technical and social progress. lt will - among other factors - depend on the responses to those aspirations whether the German unions will be able to integrale at least the critical, thus far unorganized potential of highly qualified professions. As a first step, the unions should address the scientifically educated employees simultaneously as experts and important partners of dialogue within 'risk society'.


This paper reexamines the development of the it-cleft construction from the perspective of grammaticalization theory. In a previous study, Ball (1991, 1994) finds that the it-cleft was initially restricted to NP foci, with the relative clause expressing presupposed information that is already known to the hearer/reader. However, it is well known that the modern day it-cleft also permits a range of non-NP foci and that the relative clause is no longer restricted to presenting information that is necessarily known to the intended audience. Using data from the Penn Parsed Corpora of Historical English, I argue that synchronic variation in the it-cleft can be understood as a consequence of gradual constructional emergence. Non-NP focus it-clefts are shown to originate by extension from the existing NP focus it-cleft, resulting in a more schematic it-cleft construction. In line with Lambrecht's (1994) theorizing, I provide evidence that the development of the 'informative-presupposition' (IP) it-cleft involves grammaticalization, whereby a sense of presupposition gradually becomes associated with the construction as a whole and is no longer predictable from the meaning of its parts. Discussing the implications for the present day it-cleft, this paper provides insight into how the gradual grammaticalization of constructions, and mismatch in particular, intersects with synchronic gradience (as understood by Croft 2007).


Butterworth, Chebyshev, and elliptic bandpass filter designs are optimal in the sense of band flatness or equiripple characteristics. A new architecture using optical all-pass filters is presented which can realize these designs exactly and efficiently using either ring resonators or reflectors such as Bragg gratings or thin-film interference filters. Design examples are given for a seventh- and eighth-order elliptic filter, and the new architecture is shown to be tolerant to loss. Previously, reflective filters could only approximate optimal responses. An order of magnitude improvement in transition width is demonstrated for an elliptic filter compared to an optimized transmission response for an individual thin-film filter.


BACKGROUND: Absence of an effective tobacco control policy costs lives and tobacco prevention is policy-sensitive. We describe the historical record of tobacco control in France. METHODS: Public policies and main decisions (laws, regulations, health plans) for tobacco control were considered from 1950 to 2010. Data for cigarette sales and relative price of cigarettes were obtained from official databases. Sales are expressed in number of cigarettes. The relative price of cigarettes is the nominal price divided by the Consumer Price Index. RESULTS: The first step Veil Law (1976) blunted the steady increase in cigarette sales observed since World War II. The second period began with the Evin Law (1991). This law banned tobacco advertising and withdrew tobacco from the Consumer Price Index allowing for marked and repeated increases in taxes. Sales decreased over the next 6 years, from 97.1 billion to 83.0 billion in 1997 but then remained steady for 5 years (83.5 billion in 2001). The first Cancer Plan (2003) imposed three tax increases in a year (39% increase in price). Cigarette sales decreased to 54.9 billion in 2004. This period ended in 2004 when a moratorium on tobacco taxes was announced. The policies which have been implemented since President Sarkozy was elected in 2007 were flawed and protected the interests of the tobacco industry: prevalence of smoking is now increasing, mainly among the younger generation. Since 1991, the cigarette market has nearly halved but the decline has been a stop-and-go erratic process. The two 5-year periods (1997-2002 and 2005 -2010) during which consumption leveled off seem to demonstrate that government-driven health policies could have been influenced by commercial interests. CONCLUSION: Tobacco control efforts, especially tobacco tax increases, need to be sustained and shielded from the influence of the tobacco industry.


Romania bears the marks of the country's former land policies : 36% of the active population is involved in agricultural activity. In addition, the agricultural land is characterized by excessive land fragmentation (approximately 2 ha per holding). In the context of a strong will to stimulate the land market and to encourage competitiveness by modernizing the production systems, the Ministry of Agriculture in 2005 decided to implement a specific policy : the life annuity subsidy. This consists in a subsidy calculated according to the surface of the agricultural land, paid to people over 62 years old who commit themselves to stopping agricultural activity. This paper analyses the opportunity for farmers to participate in this program using a Net Present Value to test the financial incentive of the measure under renting or selling contracts. We based our analysis on data concerning the land market and profitability from a survey conducted in the Mures region in the summer of 2007 and on land price figures. We show that in this specific context of grain and land prices, the amount of the subsidy is not high enough to make the program attractive but comforts landowners who are already engaged in renting contracts.


Importance
Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy is the standard-of-care first-line treatment for macular edema associated with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) or hemiretinal vein occlusion (HRVO), and information is needed to assess the effect of anti-VEGF therapy on patient-reported visual function.

Objective
To investigate the effect of intravitreal aflibercept or bevacizumab on patient-reported visual function in patients with macular edema secondary to CRVO or HRVO.

Design, Setting, and Participants
This preplanned secondary analysis of the Study of Comparative Treatments for Retinal Vein Occlusion 2, a randomized clinical trial, included 346 participants from 66 private practice or academic centers in the United States. Participants had CRVO- or HRVO-associated macular edema and month 6 outcome information. Data were collected from September 17, 2014, through November 18, 2015, and analyzed from February 7, 2018, through February 26, 2019.

Interventions
Eyes were randomly assigned to receive an intravitreal injection of bevacizumab (1.25 mg) or aflibercept (2.0 mg) at baseline and every 4 weeks through month 5.

Main Outcomes and Measures
Difference between treatment arms at month 6 in the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) composite and subscale scores.

Results
Among the 346 participants (56.1% men; mean [SD] age, 69 [12] years), significant improvements occurred from baseline to month 6 in the NEI VFQ-25 composite score in the aflibercept (mean [SE] change, 7.5 [0.9]; P < .001) and bevacizumab (mean [SE], 6.1 [0.9]; P < .001) arms and in 10 of 12 subscale scores after multiplicity adjustment. No differences were observed at month 6 in NEI VFQ-25 composite or subscale scores between participants randomized to aflibercept or bevacizumab treatment. Weak positive correlations were seen between the change in the study eyes' visual acuity and the changes in the NEI VFQ-25 composite score (r = 0.22; P < .001) and the Distance Activities (r = 0.24; P < .001) and Driving (r = 0.19; P = .03) subscale scores.

Conclusions and Relevance
Significant improvement occurred from baseline to month 6 in patient-reported visual function as assessed by the NEI VFQ-25. The lack of difference in NEI VFQ-25 scores between study participants treated with monthly intravitreal aflibercept and bevacizumab for macular edema due to CRVO or HRVO at month 6 is consistent with the primary outcome finding that showed bevacizumab was noninferior to aflibercept with respect to visual acuity improvement from baseline to month 6.

Trial Registration
ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01969708.


The paradigmatic view of data in decision support consists of a set of dimensions (e.g., location, product, time period, ...), each encoding a hierarchy (e.g., location has hemisphere, country, state/province, ..., block). Typical queries consist of aggregates over a quantifiable attribute (e.g., sales) as a function of at most one attribute in each dimension of this ``data cube.'''' For example, find the sum of all sales of blue polo shirts in Palm Beach during the last quarter. In this paper, we introduce an index structure for storing and indexing aggregates, called ``cube forests,'''' to support such cube queries efficiently --- one index search is usually enough. In their most general form, cube forests require a lot of space. So, we present an optimized structure, called ``hierarchically split cube forests'''' that exploit the hierarchical nature of the data to save space. We then present a model and algorithms to arrive at designs that further reduce update time, but suffer an increase in query time. Our experiments bear out the model and show that the structure has promise for decision support applications in read-intensive environments.


Abstract The sociological turn in translation studies has called for more research into the actors involved in the translation process and wider contexts of translation qua social activity. Methods from various social sciences have been adopted and adapted to shed light on this relatively uncharted territory. This is a preliminary study into the relationship between the translator status, the translation market and a nation's economic development. This article is an attempt to examine the sociology of translation in the development context of ten countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). The study concentrates on the insider view: the quantitative and qualitative data were collected with the help of questionnaires from translators, interpreters and other translation-related professionals. Our results show that these actors see the translation market as more developed than is commonly believed, but the status of translators as still quite low. The absence of a certification system and of a standard practice is hardly beneficial both for the development of the translation industry and translators themselves in this economically vibrant region where globalisation is believed to have led to increased demand for translation. However, the effects of regional integration on the translation market remain unclear, as far as the insiders of the translation space are concerned.


This study describes the effect of bovine alpha-S1 casein tryptic hydrolysate (CTH) in a representative sample of day-time workers from the general population of Japan with the occurrence of insomnia during the preceding six months. To investigate this issue, 32 subjects, aged between 25 and 40 years, were examined for the sub- jective sleep quality using the Japanese Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI-J). CTH significantly improves the PSQI total score of the treated subjects. It particularly improves the sleep quality after two weeks of treatment, decreases the sleep latency and the daytime dysfunction after four weeks of treatment. Given the antistress properties of CTH, it seems possible to relate the detected improvement of sleep aspects to a reduc- tion of stress following its' chronic administration. In conclusion, being given its beneficial effects and its absence of negative side effects, it would be advantageous to use the CTH to improve chronic insomnia in the Japanese general population. However, further studies will be necessary in order to clarify the essential aspect of CTH properties in the sleep problems.


Exchange rates are important macroeconomic prices and changes in these rates a ect economic activity, prices, interest rates, and trade ows. Methodologies have been developed in empirical exchange rate misalignment studies to evaluate whether a real e ective exchange is overvalued or undervalued. There is a vast body of literature on the determinants of long-term real exchange rates and on empirical strategies to implement the equilibrium norms obtained from theoretical models. This study seeks to contribute to this literature by showing that the global vector autoregressions model (GVAR) proposed by Pesaran and co-authors can add relevant information to the literature on measuring exchange rate misalignment. Our empirical exercise suggests that the estimate exchange rate misalignment obtained from GVAR can be quite di erent to that using the traditional cointegrated time series techniques, which treat countries as detached entities. The di erences between the two approaches are more pronounced for small and developing countries. Our results also suggest a strong interdependence among eurozone countries, as expected


Sperm selection for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has traditionally relied on standardised methods of sperm processing combined with subjective sperm selection (motility/morphology). In 2012, live birth rates (LBRs) stood at ≈24% per cycle started (32% per cycle reaching embryo transfer).

 The main clinical objective was to determine the benefits of a hyaluronan (HA)-based sperm selection process for physiological intracytoplasmic sperm injection (PICSI). A parallel, mechanistic objective evaluated sperm chromatin integrity and the potential of PICSI to compensate for poor sperm quality.

 A Phase III, parallel-arm, blinded randomised controlled trial (RCT) of efficacy of PICSI versus ICSI alongside mechanistic evaluation.

 The RCT ran from February 2014 to August 2016, involving NHS (n = 14) and private (n = 2) UK hospital or satellite clinics. Mechanistic work was conducted in three university-based research laboratories and a partnering small–medium enterprise from June 2015 to December 2017.

 Couples undergoing an ICSI procedure using freshly ejaculated sperm with female partners aged between 18 and 43 years and male partners aged between 18 and 55 years.

 Health and Care Professions Council-registered embryologists used the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency-registered (HA-coated) PICSI™ dish (Origio, Måløv, Denmark) to select a single sperm for injection. Control couples received standard care.

 Clinical – the primary outcome was full-term live birth (≥ 37 weeks' gestation). Secondary outcome measures were confirmed clinical pregnancy (CP), miscarriage following confirmation and preterm live birth (< 37 weeks' gestation). Mechanistic – measurement models were designed for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fragmentation, compaction and HA binding [HA binding score (HBS)].

 A total of 2772 couples were randomised and 2752 couples were included in the primary analysis (PICSI, n = 1371; and ICSI, n = 1381). Clinical – primary outcome: 379 out of 1381 (27.4% PICSI) and 346 out of 1371 (25.2% ICSI) couples who were randomised (up to 24 hours before treatment) into the trial achieved a term live birth ≥ 37 weeks' gestation [odds ratio (OR) 1.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.94 to 1.34; p = 0.18]. Subgroup analyses did not reveal differences in treatment effects for HBS, maternal age, previous miscarriage, follicle-stimulating hormone or anti-Müllerian hormone levels and paternal sperm concentrations. Secondary outcomes: CP was achieved for 487 out of 1382 (35.2% PICSI) and 491 out of 1375 (35.7%, ICSI) couples (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.84 to 1.15; p = 0.80). Miscarriage affected 60 out of 1381 (4.3% PICSI) and 96 out of 1371 (7.0% ICSI) of couples (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.84; p = 0.003). Preterm LBRs were 46 out of 1381 (3.3% PICSI) and 45 out of 1371 (3.3% ICSI) (OR 1.02, 95% CI 0.67 to 1.55; p = 0.94). Mechanistic: in the subset of samples examined, HBS correlated with sperm motility, concentration, fertilisation rate and DNA fragmentation. Sperm DNA compaction was weakly associated with clinical pregnancy rates (CPRs), but neither HBS nor DNA fragmentation was predictive of any clinical outcome.

 Embryologists were not blinded and limited data were available from poorer samples and non-random sample selection in the mechanistic cohort. Prepared rather than raw semen was used for tests of DNA integrity.

 PICSI offered no clear advantage in relation to the primary outcome. PICSI led to a reduced miscarriage risk, but had no effect on CPR or preterm LBR.

 Re-evaluate PICSI focusing on CP and miscarriage rates and consider aspects of sperm quality that PICSI favours.

 Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN99214271.

 This project was funded by the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation programme, a Medical Research Council and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) partnership. The research is also supported by the NIHR Infrastructure at Leeds and the NIHR Clinical Research Network.


Abstract Concern has been raised about the long-term viability of the harbour porpoise population in the Baltic Sea. Bycatch at possibly unsustainable levels, contaminants, overfishing of prey species and disturbance have been identified as possible threats. This literature study summarises the current knowledge about harbour porpoises in the Baltic Sea and, on the basis of reviewed material, tries to identify critical remaining uncertainties and suggests management needs. Information on porpoise demography like distribution, abundance, migration, population structure, and factors affecting survival are presented. The historic range of the harbour porpoise extended into the north-eastern parts of the Baltic Sea. During the second half of the 20th century, numbers of harbour porpoises have declined and the distribution range narrowed. Currently there is a considerable difference in abundance in the Kattegat and Belt Sea (0.73 – 0.99 animals km2) as opposed to the Baltic Proper (<0.01 animals km2). Although recent morphometric, genetic and contamination studies of harbour porpoises in the Baltic Sea are somewhat inconsistent with respect to population structure, the existence of a distinct Baltic subpopulation appears to be a valid concept. Migrational patterns of Baltic Sea animals are still ambiguous. In historic times large numbers of harbour porpoises were hunted in the Danish straits during winter and spring. Therefore it was often concluded that porpoises escaped from ice cover in the eastern Baltic Sea in the winter and re-colonised the Baltic Proper in spring. Recent observations indicate that migration behaviour is much more complex and diffuse. There seems to be a tendency of animals from the Kattegat to migrate into the North Sea during winter. But also animals remaining in the western Baltic or Baltic Proper have been described. Available nutritional studies suggest that harbour porpoises take a variety of different prey. Herring, sprat and cod are their most important prey items. Sexual maturity is attained at an age of 3–4 years. A larger proportion of females give birth to one calf every year (pregnancy rates were reported between 0.61 and 0.84). The average life span of harbour porpoises in the Baltic Sea is unknown. From existing data, a maximum age of 22 to 23 years seems to be a realistic assumption. However, a high mortality in the first years of age and a proportion of less than 5% of the animals living beyond 12 years have a significant impact on the potential for increase of the stocks. It is assumed that shallow areas play an important role for this species with respect to calving and nursing. A variety of studies report heavy attacks from parasites such as Anisakis simplex, Tonyurus convolutus, Stenurus minor, Halocercus invaginatus or Pseudalisus inflexus. However, when compared to samples from Greenland these can be regarded as normal infestations. Environmental contaminants most likely affect the long-term viability of Baltic Sea harbour porpoise stocks and might have been a major cause for the decline of Baltic Sea harbour porpoise stocks between the 1940s and the 1970s. Since then concentrations of PCBs and other organochlorine contaminants have declined. To date, the most important threat to Baltic Sea harbour porpoises is by-catch. Noise pollution has the potential to increasingly become a major threat due to the development of new activities in the Baltic Sea (offshore-windpower plants, fast ferries, etc.). This study lists a number of life history variables for which data is urgently needed. On the basis of the currently available knowledge, an effective management strategy must include political and technical means of mitigating threatening activities such as by-catch, disturbance to critical habitat, disposal of contaminants and over-fishing. In this respect it is important to establish marine protected areas and time- and area closures for certain fisheries which are likely to be unsustainable, to establish mandatory fishery observer programmes and to compile appropriate fisheries statistics.


Crigler-Najjar syndrome (CN) type II is characterized by severe chronic nonhemolytic unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia due to reduced hepatic bilirubin UDP-glucuronosyl-transferase (UGT) activity. Two bilirubin UGT isozymes, UGT1A and UGT1D, have been identified. We analyzed the DNA sequence of the bilirubin UGT genes in a 5-year-old Japanese male patient with CN type II, who had consanguineous parents. Point mutations were found on exons 1 of the UGT1A and UGT1D genes. The abnormalities were single nucleotide substitutions of G by A and of T by C at base position 211 of UGT1A cDNA and at base position 395 of the UGT1D, respectively. We found another single nucleotide substitution of T by G on exon 5 common to both genes at base position 1456 of the UGT1A cDNA or 1459 of the UGT1D cDNA. These three mutations result in changes of glycine to arginine and of tyrosine to aspartic acid at amino acid positions 71 and 486 of the UGT1A protein, and of leucine to proline and of tyrosine to aspartic acid at amino acid positions 132 and 487 of the UGT1D protein, respectively. Our patient was homozygous for all defects and his parents and elder brother were heterozygous for all defective alleles. The findings suggest that the CN Type II is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait.


Aims: This study aimed to examine the differential treatment effects of cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) and supportive psychotherapy (SPT) on self-reported symptoms of depression in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who sought treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD).
Methods: Participants were individuals with a documented TBI meeting criteria for MDD who, as part of a larger randomized controlled trial comparing treatments for MDD after TBI, received CBT (n = 22) or SPT (n = 22). The average age of participants was 48.8 years (standard deviation = 10.2), 57.1% were female, 57.5% were Caucasian, 20% were Hispanic and 15% were African–American. The main outcome measure was the Beck Depression Inventory-'II (BDI-II).
Results: Mean total BDI-'II score for all participants combined at baseline was 25 (standard deviation = 10.0). There were no significant differences in total BDI-'II score between treatment groups at either baselineor at the end of treatment. Participants treated with CBT reported significant improvements in sadness, loss of interest and loss of interest in sex, while participants treated with SPT reported significant improvements in symptoms of agitation and irritability. Conclusion: SPT may better target symptoms of behavioral disinhibition (agitation and irritability), while CBT may better target mood symptoms (sadness) and their behavioral manifestations (loss of interest and loss of interest in sex).


The Chemical Fixation and Solidification (CFS) process has been successfully applied to flyash from a glass-manufacturer and to arsenic trioxide wastes from roasting auriferous pyrite concentrates. Both wastetypes have been solidified with or without chemical fixation by addition of various amounts of Portland Cement. Leachability and unconfined compressive strength of the produced solidified waste were used as parameters to assess the efficacy of the CFS process. Leachability data for the solidified wastes was obtained by conducting standard leaching tests such as the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) and the Dynamic Leach Test (DLT). For the arsenic trioxide waste the leachability data was used to model long term leachability. This paper outlines the results from the application of the CFS process to industrial flyash and of arsenic trioxide waste and discuss the long term leaching models developed to predict leaching from arsenic trioxide waste.


Golf courses and estates are one form of development threatening coastal vegetation in South Africa's Cape Floristic Region. They occupy substantial tracts of land, fragmenting indigenous vegeta- tion. This study investigates the effects on bird community structure and function of replacing natural Strandveld vegetation with a 170-ha golf estate in which 46 ha of Strandveld vegetation was re- tained in conditions ranging from pristine to moderately degraded. Bird assemblages of the remaining Strandveld patches in the golf estate were compared with those of an adjacent Strandveld conser- vation area. Field work was conducted during the birds' breeding season, in October and November 2005. The golf estate was more species rich overall, but many species were uncommon, several were present only as a consequence of the creation of new habitats, and species were not evenly distributed across the remaining Strandveld fragments. Bird diversity and abundance were signifi- cantly higher in the adjacent conservation area. It is estimated that more than 8500 individual birds were displaced by construction of the golf estate and four Strandveld species were not represented at all within the estate. Within the estate, species richness rose with increasing Strandveld patch size and the minimum area of continu- ous pristine vegetation required to maintain the natural species assemblage was estimated at 51 ha. The golf estate was character- ized by a high proportion of generalist and granivorous species, but at the cost of reduced numbers of frugivores and nectarivores. Energy flow through the bird communities in the two areas was thus markedly different, and pollination and fruit dispersal potential within the golf estate were reduced substantially. Golf courses and golf estates inevitably will not substitute for the natural habitats they have replaced, but careful design with input from ecological theory can reduce the adverse effects of fragmentation.


Tianjin, one of the so-called Treaty Ports that opened to foreign trade under the unequal treaties was home to nine foreign concessions. In each concession, the foreign powers created urban forms and functions that mirrored practices in their respective home countries. This article explores the consecutive establishment and implementation of regulations in eight out of nine foreign concessions in Tianjin between 1860 and 1945. It firstly provides an overview of regulation types and legislative systems of the concessions. Secondly, it compares these regulations and bylaws with the ones in their home countries. Thirdly, it compares the specific cases of Tianjin concessions with each other. Finally, it places the Tianjin case in the context of other Chinese port city concessions. In conclusion, it argues that the regulations of concessions in Tianjin not only showed a strong influence from their home countries in a top-down setting, but also interacted with each other in a peer-to-peer setting. The circulation of these regulations, within Tianjin and among treaty ports in China, was promoted by governments' central control, municipal councils' intervention and individuals' movements from one place to another.


We examined the potential heterogeneous impact of implementing a series of visa exemption policies on foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia by exploiting a rich data set of monthly series of foreign tourist arrivals, by country and by port of entry between January 2014 and December 2018. This is the first study in providing empirical evidence of the heterogeneous impact of a country's visa exemption policy across tourist's origins and within-country destinations. Using a panel data approach, our estimates showed that while the policy increased monthly foreign tourist arrivals by 5% on average, the effect was evident for less-traditional destinations only. The policy also potentially provided a diversion effect between destinations, such that it created an adverse effect on the traditional destinations of Indonesia. Our estimates also suggest a heterogeneous impact between origins at the continent level, and an 8% higher impact per year after the policy's introduction, which was relatively lower than has been found in other studies. The findings imply that the visa exemption policy is not a one-size-fits-all policy in attracting international tourist arrivals.


In this paper, we explore quick 3D shape composition during early-phase spatial design ideation. Our approach is to re-purpose a smartphone as a hand-held reference plane for creating, modifying, and manipulating 3D sweep surfaces. We implemented MobiSweep, a prototype application to explore a new design space of constrained spatial interactions that combine direct orientation control with indirect position control via well-established multi-touch gestures. MobiSweep leverages kinesthetically aware interactions for the creation of a sweep surface without explicit position tracking. The design concepts generated by users, in conjunction with their feedback, demonstrate the potential of such interactions in enabling spatial ideation.


The primary physiological role of complement proteins lies in augmenting host defense to microorganisms. Among several cascade products, complement components C3 and C5 are cleaved and activated through proteolytic processing during immune activation following exposure to HIV-1. This reaction generates the small peptide anaphylatoxins C3a and C5a, which bind to G-protein coupled membrane receptors that sensitize the response of human T-lymphocytic cells to multiple cytokines including CXCL12/SDF-1. CXCL12 is an alpha chemokine that binds to the CXCR4 membrane receptor, which also functions as a co-receptor for X4-tropic HIV-1. Given the importance of complement activation in immune function and the bioactive nature of complement cleavage products we investigated here the role of C3a in HIV-1 infection of human thymocytes. Our data illustrate a potential new link between HIV-1 infection and complement activation in which C3a anaphylatoxin may modulate infectivity by reducing the susceptibility of thymocytes to HIV-1 infection.


We present a stochastic modelling approach to describe the dynamics of hourly electricity prices. The suggested methodology is a stepwise combination of several mathematical operations to adequately characterize the distribution of electricity spot prices. The basic idea is to analyze day-ahead prices as panel of 24 cross-sectional hours and to identify principal components of hourly prices to account for the cross correlation between hours. Moreover, non-normality of residuals is addressed by performing a normal quantile transformation and specifying appropriate stochastic processes for time series before fit. We highlight the importance of adequate distributional forecasts and present a framework to evaluate the distribution forecast accuracy. The application for German electricity prices 2015 reveal that: (i) An autoregressive specification of the stochastic component delivers the best distribution but not always the best point forecasting results. (ii) Only a complete evaluation of point, interval and density forecast, including formal statistical tests, can ensure a correct model choice.


This thesis presents contributions to the state-of-the-art in quadrotor control, payload transportation with single and multiple quadrotors, and trajectory generation for single and multiple quadrotors. In Ch. 2 we describe a controller capable of handling large roll and pitch angles that enables a quadrotor to follow trajectories requiring large accelerations and also recover from extreme initial conditions. In Ch. 3 we describe a method that allows teams of quadrotors to work together to carry payloads that they could not carry individually. In Ch. 4 we discuss an online parameter estimation method for quadrotors transporting payloads which enables a quadrotor to use its dynamics in order to learn about the payload it is carrying and also adapt its control law in order to improve tracking performance. In Ch. 5 we present a trajectory generation method that enables quadrotors to fly through narrow gaps at various orientations and perch on inclined surfaces. Chapter 6 discusses a method for generating dynamically optimal trajectories through a series of predefined waypoints and safe corridors and Ch. 7 extends that method to enable heterogeneous quadrotor teams to quickly rearrange formations and avoid a small number of obstacles. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics First Advisor Vijay Kumar


Introduction In order to improve health, hospital sources such as beds and staffing should be properly allocated and used. The aim of this study is reallocation of Shafa hospital beds in Kerman using a goal-programming model. Methods This study was an applied cross-sectional study, which used the goal programming model and software WinQSB to optimize bed allocation. By review of the literature and interviews with experts, the constraints in beds allocation were identified, and using the collected data the desired model was designed. Results Hospital beds were redistributed based on the constraints of the goal-programming model and objectives. The results showed that there was a shortage of beds in departments such as burns, GICU, HICU, cardiac surgery, emergency, and orthopedics, and excess of beds in the ear, nose, and throat (ENT), ophthalmology, and neurology departments. Conclusion It is anticipated that the optimal allocation of hospital beds, regarding hospital activity indicators, can lead to greater justice in the provision of services and a better distribution of resources.


Traditionally, governments seek to mobilize tax revenues by expanding their enforcement of existing tax regimes and facilitating tax payments. However, enforcement and facilitation can be costly and produce diminishing marginal returns if citizens are unwilling to pay their taxes. This paper addresses gaps in knowledge about tax compliance, by asking a basic question: what explains why citizens and businesses comply with tax rules? To answer this question, the paper shows how the voluntary adoption of two different types of participatory governance institutions influences municipal tax collection in Brazil. Municipalities that voluntarily adopt participatory institutions collect significantly higher levels of taxes than similar municipalities without these institutions. The paper provides evidence that moves scholarship on tax compliance beyond enforcement and facilitation paradigms, while offering a better assessment of the role of local democratic institutions for government performance and tax compliance.


The settlement of a couple's financial affairs at the time of divorce often requires the resolution of debt issues between them. Specifically, responsibility must be allocated between former spouses for repayment of their outstanding debts. This article analyzes the laws in common law property states that govern the judicial authority to reallocate responsibility for the repayment of individual and joint debts at the time of divorce. The topic of debt allocation in divorce proceedings is of great importance to many divorcing couples. However, the rules of law in this area in many common law property jurisdictions are not as well-articulated as the corresponding rules governing asset distribution. Furthermore, the (largely judicial) rules that have been formulated often reflect a reluctance to establish judicial authority to reallocate responsibility for the repayment of debts of the marriage. No clear explanation has been offered for this reluctance to include liabilities as fully as assets within the conceptual framework of the economic partnership of marriage at the time of dissolution. This Article examines the existing rules that govern equitable distribution of debts at divorce in the common law property states and speculates about the reasons for withholding full recognition of debts in equitable distribution law. The Article also analyzes the current state statutes and case law and the provisions of the recently promulgated Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution by reference to the general goals of equitable distribution law in the common law property states, relating to a fair winding down of the spouses' economic affairs at the end of marriage. It concludes that certain restrictive debt allocation rules, such as the joint purpose doctrine and rules excluding student loans from distribution in all cases, are inconsistent with the basic equitable goals in this area of law.


Purpose: The aim of the research is to determine to what extent one can talk about "cosmopolitan citizenship" not only programmatically, but also as an already functioning entity. And what role can and should civic education play in the development of such a citizenship?Methods: A working definition of citizenship at the national, supranational, and global level is developed with the help of political theory and European and international law. Several theses on the understanding of cosmopolitan citizenship in Global Citizenship Education and Education for Sustainable Development programs are discussed thanks to a policy analysis of, for example, UNESCO documents.Findings: Supranational programs and German curriculum-recommendations are mostly reduced to the level of rights-holders and if "political action" is envisaged then it is mostly focused on its individual dimension of (private) social responsibility i.e. in its post-political dimension. This lacks analysis of global power conflicts and of the question of democratic participation on supranational policy regulation. Practical implications: There are implications for curriculum development and implementation of educational policy.


Ionic liquids have been utilized to fabricate metals, alloys and semiconductor materials by the electrochemical scientific community. ILs offer desirable characteristics that make them attractive for electroplating procedures. Examples of such properties are large electrochemical windows, reasonable conductivities, lowvolatility, and environmental compatibility. A novel class of ILs are Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) that show similar properties of ILs. In addition, DESs formulated from ammonium salts as choline chloride (ChCl) and hydrogen bond donors (HBD) are one of the most promising electrolytes since they are readily available at a reasonable cost. This work focuses on 'ethaline' which is a DES prepared by mixing choline chloride and ethylene glycol in a 1:2 molar ratio. The main reason for selecting ethaline among other DESs is its availability as bulk reagent, ease of preparation and handling. Numerous metals are produced by the industry of which copper is essential for the manufacturing electronic industry. Although DESs have been used to fabricate Cu deposits, earlier studies have concentrated on low water-containing DESs (< 0.5 wt% H2O). This is in line with previous experiences using ILs because the electrochemical windows of the solvents were reduced drastically (~ 2 V) with the incursion of water. Despite the academic contributions to understand Cu electrodeposition utilizing DESs, these electrolytes are hygroscopic and absorb water from the atmosphere unless special provisions are taken. Information in the literature about the influence of water in Cu electrodeposition from DESs is scarce. Hence, the objective of this study is to understand the influence of water on the morphology of Cu deposits obtained from watercontaining DESs. We first examined the effect of adding various concentrations of water (3 - 15 wt%) on the stability of the solution; in particular this was obtained from the polarisation behaviour of metal deposition. It was noted that water addition affected both the limiting current for copper deposition and the deposition potential. A second series of experiments were carried out to assess how much water is absorbed by the DES depending on the storage conditions. The water content in these experiments was determined using Karl Fischer titration. The effect of increasing water content on copper coordination in the solvent was explored using UV-Vis spectroscopy. Subsequently, Cu films were electroplated on a steel rotating disc substrate from electrolytes containing different weight percentages of water. The deposits were characterised using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). SEM images showed that the morphology of Cu deposits was also dependent on the water content of the DES. The relationship between the observed changes in electrochemical characteristics and deposit properties with increasing water content will be discussed


The aim of this paper is to articulate an implicit conceptualization of the body of sport persons that exists besides the official holistic and health-based understanding of mind and body. Sport, besides being a guardian of positive values, also is also associated with an instrumentalization of the body consisting of a cluster of mutually interdependent conceptualizations of the body: Firstly, an optimization where athletes' are focusing upon optimizing their bodies to perform sport performances. Secondly, an idea of perfectedness in that this optimization rests upon the idea of being as perfect as possible for doing specific sport related tasks. Thirdly, modifiability in that body in sport is understood as a "raw material" that can and ought to be "cultivated" for satisfying this perfectedness ideal in sport. Fourthly, control in that there is a need of constant surveillance of sportspersons' bodies. Fifthly, a strict division between body and mind, where sportpersons are rational subjects who should use their mechanic bodies in trying to reach their aims. This implicit understanding of body is problematic in that (i) it, to some extent, resembles attitudes involved in anorexia nervousa, and that these attitudes, if not consciously discussed, are negative for the sport community itself as well as for the society at large. Furthermore, it might be that sports community, due to the idea of instrumentalization of body in sport, is strengthening negative attitudes towards people who do not live up to the ideal healthy body, for instance persons with obesity and overweight.


Objective. To determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries among adolescent squash players in the Western Cape.
Design. A retrospective descriptive survey was conducted during the first week of May 2006. Three schools were randomly selected from a list of the top 10 schools in the
Western Cape high school squash league of 2005, with 106 squash players aged 13 - 18 years participating in the study.
Setting. Injury data were collected for 106 players at three schools randomly selected from a list of the top 10 schools in the Western Cape high school squash league of 2005.
Interventions. An adapted structured self-administered questionnaire based on a previously validated musculoskeletal injury questionnaire was used to collect the data.
Main outcome measures. The main variables investigated were prevalence, mechanism and injury site of musculoskeletal squash injuries.
Results. Twenty-nine per cent of the players (N = 31) reported that they had sustained a squash injury in the 4 weeks prior to data collection. A total of 48 injuries were
reported by the injured players. The most common injuries included those of the thigh (19%), shoulder (13%) and lower back (13%). Forty-two per cent of players reported
no specific mechanism of injury, but experienced pain not associated with a traumatic injury only while playing squash.
Conclusion. A relatively high prevalence of squash injuries was found. This preliminary study serves as a baseline for future research. Areas for further investigation were identified and this could lead to the implementation of preventive programmes and education to prevent injuries among adolescent squash players. South African Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 19 (1) 2007: pp. 3-8


A model for calculating the daily actual evapotranspiration based on the potential one is presented. The potential evapotranspiration is reduced according to vegetation density, water content in the root zone, and the rainfall distribution. The model is tested by comparing measured (EA m ) and calculated (EA c ) evapotranspirations from barley, fodder sugar beets, and grass over a four year period. The measured and calculated values agree within 10 %. The model also yields information on soil water content and runoff from the root zone.


Collaborative production of expressive content accounts for an ever growing number of copyrighted works. Indeed, in the age of content sharing and peer production, collaborative efforts may have become the paradigmatic form of authorship. Surprisingly, though, copyright law continues to view the single author model as the dominant model of peer production. Copyright law's approach to authorship is currently based on a hodgepodge of rigid doctrines that conflate ownership and control. The result is a binary system under which a contributor to a collaborative work is either recognized as an author with a full control and management rights or a person who is deemed a non-author with no rights whatsoever. We argue that the doctrines and judicial precedents that govern the all-important issue of authorship are out of step with authorial reality. And the cost to the copyright system is enormous. As we show in this Article the misalignment between copyright law and authorial reality is both inefficient and unfair: it harms incentives to create, it denies reward to contributors, it leads to under-utilization of content and it creates excessive litigation. To remedy this state of affairs, we propose a new legal construct, which we call "copyright trust." In designing this new tool we draw on insights from property and corporate theory — two areas of research that have long dealt with the challenges of collaborative enterprises and co-ownerships. The doctrine of copyright trust is predicated on the insight of decoupling ownership from control. Essentially, it would empower courts to appoint one contributor as an "owner-trustee" with full managerial rights and the exclusive power to control the use of the work, while recognizing all other contributors as "owner-beneficiaries," who would be entitled to receive a certain percentage of the proceeds from the work. Copyright trusts would enable courts to retain the benefits of having a single owner without sacrificing the rightful claims of other contributors who would be entitled to receive a just reward for their efforts. The proposed doctrine of copyright trust would supplement, not replace, current doctrine. It is designed to enrich the menu of options available to courts in deciding authorship issues. The addition of our solution to the judicial toolbox would not only make it richer, but would also infuse current law with much needed flexibility that is sorely missing from other authorship doctrines.


The present invention relates to an electronic language teaching system for visual-disabled. The present invention comprising a computer having a Braillecode-aided keyboard configured to provide input character; a microphone; a software including graphical user interface configured to process the input character; a speaker configured to provide audio output; and a tactile feedback module connected to the computer configured to provide physical and visual output characterized in that the tactile feedback module further comprising: a retractable means configured to form and indicate Braille characters physically and visually. The above provision is advantageous as reduces manpower to teach the visual-diasabled by providing computer-implemented language teaching system.


Renal dysfunction is common after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. We have previously shown that CABG procedures complicated by stroke have a threefold greater peak serum creatinine level relative to uncomplicated surgery. However, postoperative creatinine patterns for procedures complicated by cognitive dysfunction are unknown. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that postoperative cognitive dysfunction is associated with acute perioperative renal injury after CABG surgery. Data were prospectively gathered for 282 elective CABG surgery patients. Psychometric tests were performed at baseline and 6 wk after surgery. Cognitive dysfunction was defined both as a dichotomous variable (cognitive deficit [CD]) and as a continuous variable (cognitive index). Forty percent of patients had CD at 6 wk. However, the association between peak percentage change in postoperative creatinine and CD (parameter estimate = −0.41;P = 0.91) or cognitive index (parameter estimate = −1.29;P = 0.46) was not significant. These data indicate that postcardiac surgery cognitive dysfunction, unlike stroke, is not associated with major increases in postoperative renal dysfunction.


Shopping is considered a 'must-do' activity for most people on travel. One of the major parts of tourist shopping is the purchasing of souvenirs. Souvenirs are universally associated with tourism as a commercially produced and purchased object to remind the purchaser of the experience. Recently, Korea becomes one of the most popular destinations that many Asian tourists like to visit. Among those Asian tourists, the number of Thai tourists bound for Korea shows an incredible rapid growth. Thai people pick Korea and Seoul as their favorite country and city to visit for three consecutive years since 2009. One of the major reasons why Thais are choosing to tour Korea is the enthusiasm for Korean pop culture. That is, 'Hallyu' has influenced Thais` decision to visit Korea and purchase Korean products. The primary objective of the current research is to explore the shopping experiences of Thai tourists, specifically their souvenir shopping. It adopts a reflexive interpretive approach to bring light to the various meanings Thai tourists attach to the souvenirs they purchase in Korea. In order to accomplish the objective, the individual interviews were conducted. A total of 12 Thais who have experienced traveling in Korea participated in the study. Four themes were identified through interview text analysis. First, the research participants almost always purchase souvenirs in Korea because the souvenirs represent their identities as tourists. Especially, they purchase the souvenirs as gifts for others, including family members, friends, and colleagues. The souvenirs as gifts show love and thanks to others, and they cement the social relationship. However, purchasing souvenirs for others is more like the moral obligations which evoke the psychological stress. Secondly, the research participants feel closer to Korea while shopping souvenirs around. Thirdly, they obtain imaginative experiences and pleasure through souvenirs related to the Korean pop culture. Souvenirs provide them to visually extraordinary experiences. Lastly, souvenirs purchased in Korea act as visible status marker when they go back to Thailand. They show the socioeconomic status and lifestyles. Tourists themselves and others place special value to souvenirs that were purchased out of Thailand. The findings of this study are of both academic and practical importance. Souvenirs are among the most pervasive elements of the travel experience. However, souvenir shopping is the complicated consumer behavior within tourism both from business and social science perspectives. Along the same line, it needs strategic approaches in order to maximize the economy effects. It concludes by suggesting how further research could offer unique insights into how the souvenirs are positioned both in the context of tourism academics and industry.


Video delivery over a mobile ad-hoc network that can be deployed by members of an emergency service in an incident zone is an appealing tool for emergency and rescue services, but has not be studied yet. In order to design and test a suitable solution, we have generated realistic evaluation scenarios by modeling fireman action plans and GPS traces from real situations. The Emergency Overlay Routing (EOR) protocol is a reactive protocol integrated into a store-carry-forward architecture. It selects ferry nodes to transport video data from a camera in the Incident Area to the Incident Chief's node, looking for the minimum delay, but reliable, candidate. The evaluation of EOR shows its superiority to the well-known DTN routing protocol, PROPHET, under this conditions.


The HABLA-corpus (Hamburg Adult Bilingual LAnguage) comprises data in the form of semi-structured interviews gathered in the project E11, Linguistic Aspects of Language Attrition and Second Language Acquisition in adult bilinguals (German-French and German-Italian). E11 investigated the language of adult bilinguals (2L1 speakers) who grew up in Germany, Italy or France being exposed to two languages simultaneously from birth, comparing them to advanced second language (L2) learners. In this contribution, we explain the motivation for creating the corpus and introduce the corpus design, including information about the subjects, data acquisition and labelling, quality and transcription conventions, with the purpose of providing an overview of the corpus and facilitate its use.


OBJECTIVE
First, to compare QOL and illness perceptions between patients with a Fontan circulation and patients with anatomically simple defects (ie, atrial septal defects [ASD] or ventricular septal defects [VSD]). Second, to explore illness perceptions as a mediator of the association between congenital heart disease (CHD) diagnosis and QOL.

DESIGN
Cross-sectional observational study.

SETTING
Twenty-four cardiology centers from 15 countries across five continents.

PATIENTS
Four hundred thirty-five adult patients with congenital heart disease (177 Fontan and 258 ASD/VSD) ages 18-83 years.

OUTCOME MEASURES
QOL and illness perceptions were assessed by the Satisfaction With Life Scale and the Brief Illness Perceptions Questionnaire, respectively.

RESULTS
Patients with a Fontan circulation reported lower QOL (Wald Z = -3.59, p = <.001) and more negative perceptions of their CHD (Wald Z = -7.66, p < .001) compared with patients with ASD/VSD. After controlling for demographics, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and New York Heart Association functional class, path analyses revealed a significant mediation model, αβ = 0.15, p = .002, 95% CI = 0.06-0.25, such that CHD diagnosis was indirectly related to QOL through illness perceptions.

CONCLUSIONS
The Fontan sample's more negative perceptions of CHD were likely a reflection of life with a more complex defect. Illness perceptions appear to account for unique differences in QOL between groups of varying CHD complexity. Psychosocial screening and interventions may be important treatment components for patients with CHD, particularly those with Fontan circulations.