OBJECTIVES
: To examine whether leisure activities can alleviate depressive symptoms among nursing home residents with very mild to mild dementia.

METHODS
: A cluster-randomized open-label controlled design. Thirty-six residents with at least moderate depressive symptoms were randomized by home into three conditions-mahjong (a.k.a. mah-jongg), tai chi, and handicrafts (placebo). Activities were conducted three times weekly for 12 weeks. Outcome measure was Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) administered at baseline, posttreatment, and at 6 months.

RESULTS
: Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed a group by time interaction on the GDS. Unlike control and tai chi participants whose scores remained relatively unchanged, the mahjong group reported a drop of 3.25 points (95% confidence interval: 1.00-5.50) on the GDS at posttreatment but gained back 2.83 points (95% confidence interval: 1.95-5.47) at 6 months. Activity discontinuation might be the reason for depression to return to baseline.

CONCLUSIONS
: Mahjong can lower depressive symptoms in those with mild dementia, but activity maintenance may be essential for long-term effects.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the level of contraceptive use among in and out-of school rural Ugandan adolescents.

DESIGN
Cross sectional survey.

SETTING
Mbarara district.

SUBJECTS
Five hundred in-school and 220 out-of school adolescents aged 15-19 years.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Contraceptive use.

RESULTS
Contraceptive prevalence was 171 (23.8%), with 99 (19.8%) among in-school and 72 (32.7%) in out-of school (OR=0.8, 95% CI=0.5-1.3). Of the 286 who had had sexual intercourse, 171 (59.8%) were current users with 99 (57.9%) in-school and 72 (42.1%) out-of school. The predominant method was the male condom with 80 (56.7%) in-school and 61 (43.3%) out-of-school (p=0.3). Sixty five (67%) of in-school aged 18-19 used contraceptives compared to those less than 18 years (OR=0.4, 95% CI=0.2-0.8). The out-of school who were urban residents 51(75%) were more likely to use contraceptives (OR=0.3, 95% CI=0.1-0.6). Out-of school with secondary education 37(84.1%) were more likely to use contraceptives (OR=0.2, 95% CI=0.1-0.5). Cost was a barrier for contraceptive use among in-school users 37(77.1%) (OR=2.6, 95% CI=1.7-5.4). Stigma surrounding their sexual activity was a barrier to out-of school 25 (58.1%) (OR=0.4, 95% CI=0.2-0.8).

CONCLUSION
Contraceptive use among rural sexually active adolescents is low although the prevalence is higher in out-of school. Reorientation of contraceptive services to make them more accessible through strengthening of school health programme and establishment of out-of school adolescent health programme are urgently needed.


The nature of urban road transportation problems in Nigeria as at today can best be appreciated by looking at the trend of its development since Nigeria came into existence. Thus, this paper, attempt a cursory review of urban road transportation system in Nigeria from 1960 to 2006 (a period of 46 years). The paper adopts exploratory method of research to examine and discuss relevant issues of interest in the history of Nigeria road transport system in six sections. It was discovered that urban road transport system in Nigeria is inefficient and grossly inadequate even after 46 years of becoming independent from Colonial Rule. The paper suggested the construction of more motor-able roads within cities in order to increase the network; encourage increased public and private participation in
the provision of transport services within cities and inter-cities transport system. The adoption of motorcycle as public mode of transportation in cities should be institutionalized since the users are constrained to use this means of transportation in the absence of alternative. However, policies guiding the regulations and use of this mode should be formulated and monitored so that its use would not impact negatively on the commuters' mobility rights and lives. Similarly, government should provide enabling environment that would guaranty efficient and adequate movement of vehicles in cities. Keywords : commuting distance, Tokunbo, commuters, Kabukabu, Okada Ethiopian Journal of Environmental Studies and Management Vol. 1 (1) 2008: pp. 7-18


The binding issue of th is thesis was the examination of workload, induced by relinotopic and spatiotopic stimuli, on both the ocu lomotor and cardiovascular systems together with investigating the covariation between the two systems - the 'eye-heart' link. Further, the influence of refractive error on ocular accommodation and cardiovascular function was assessed. A clinical evaluation was undertaken to assess the newly available open-view infrared Shin-Nippon NVision-K 5001 optometer, its benefit being the capability to measure through pupils = 2.3 mm. Measurements of refractive error taken with the NVision-K were found to be both accurate (Difference in Mean Spherical Equivalent: 0.14 ± 0.35 D; p = 0.67) and repeatable when compared to non-cycloplegic subjective refraction. Due to technical difficulties, however, the NVision-K could not be used for the purpose of the thesis, as such, measures of accommodation were taken using the continuously recording Shin-Nippon SRW-5000 openview infrared optometer, coupled with a piezo-electric finger pulse transducer to measure pulse. Heart rate variability (HRV) was spectrally analysed to determine the systemic sympathetic and parasympathetic components of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). A large sample (n = 60), cross-sectional study showed late-onset myopes (LOMs) display less accurate responses when compared to other refractive groups at high accommodative demand levels (3 .0 0 and 4.0D). Tonic accommodation (TA) was highest in the hypermetropes, fo llowed by emmetropes and early-onset myopes while the LOM subjects demonstrated statistically significant lower levels of TA. The root-meansquare (RMS) value of the accommodative response was shown to amplify with increased levels of accommodative demand. Changes in refractive error only became significant between groups at higher demand levels (3.0 D and 4.0 D) with the LOMs showing the largest magnification in oscilIations. Examination of the stimulus-response cross-over point with the unit ratio line and TA showed a correlation between the two (r = 0.45, p = 0.001), where TA is approximately twice the dioptric value of the stimulus-response cross-over point. Investigation of the relationship between ocular accommodation and systemic ANS function demonstrated covariation between the systems. Subjects with a faster heart rate (lower heart period) tended to have a higher TA value (r = -0.27, p < 0.05). Further, an increase in accommodative demand accompanies a faster heart rate. The influence of refractive error on the cardiovascular response to changes in accommodative demand, however, was equivocal. Examination of the microfluctuations ofacconunodation demonstrated a correlation between the temporal frequency location of the accommodative high Frequency component (HFC) and the arterial pulse frequency. The correlation was present at a range of accommodative demands from 0.0 D to 4.0 D and in all four refractive groups, suggesting that the HFC was augmented by physiological factors. Examination of the effect of visual cognition on ocular accommodation and the ANS confirmed that increasing levels of cognition affect the accommodative mechanism. The accommodative response shifted away from the subject at both near and far. This shift in accommodative response accompanied a decay in the systemic parasympathetic innervation to the heart. Differences between refractive groups also existed with LOMs showing less accurate responses compared to emmetropes. This disparity, however, appeared to be augmented by the systemic sympathetic nervous system. The investigations discussed explored Ihe role of oculomotor and cardiovascular fu nction in workload enviromnents, providing evidence for a behavioural link between the cardiovascular and oculomotor systems.


Two issues in the current Washington debates need to be linked. E-Verify, the Internet-based database that allows employers to verify an employee's work eligibility that is at the center of the immigration debate, is the ideal tool for stopping tax refund fraud. All that is needed is a digital signature of the E-Verify result, and the mandatory inscription of this signature on tax documents to make them self-authenticating. The central features of this proposal have been made before. The technology it requires is tried and proven. The processes and procedure it advocates are in place and effectively deployed in foreign jurisdictions, notably in VAT jurisdictions enforcing against VAT fraud. The heart of this linkage (the E-Verify/refund fraud linkage) is numerical. At least $5.2 billion in annual revenues are being lost through refund fraud – the cost for businesses to implement a fully mandated E-Verify system is $2.7 billion. If E-Verify solves refund fraud, there are funds available for a business credit with a considerable amount of money left over. The $5.2 billion figure comes from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) who found that in Processing Year 2011, identity theft cost the US taxpayer in excess of $5.2 billion in undetected fraudulent tax refunds, and estimated $21 billion in losses over five years. The $2.7 billion figure comes from a Bloomberg Report for the same time period indicating that a fully mandated E-Verify system for all employers would cost $2.7 billion (almost all of it in training expenses related to system implementation and worker appeals).


This study was undertaken to analysis the arterial road network and commercial property values in Ikeja, Nigeria. This was with a view to conducting detailed investigation into the relationship between arterial road network in the presence or absence of other variables and commercial property values in the city. In attaining the stated aim and objectives of the study, two hypotheses were formulated and tested.
The hypotheses are that there is no significant relationship between commercial property values and independent explanatory variables in the study area; and there are no differences in relative contributions of the explanatory variables to variability in commercial property values in the study area.
Data were collected from primary and secondary sources. The secondary sources included journals, textbooks, unpublished past projects and the internet. The primary sources were data on demand, supply and commercial property values over a
five-year period obtained through questionnaires administered on Estate Surveyors and Valuers and occupiers of commercial properties.
Total of twenty arterial roads in the study area were used in the analysis of the road network and one hundred and ten Estate Surveyors and Valuers randomly selected. The population of occupiers was estimated based on total number of commercial properties captured by use of Geographical Information System, and randomly selected in relation to the length of arterial roads along which they are
located. The appropriate sample sizes were determined using the Bartlett, Kotrlik and Higgins (2001) model.
A multiple linear regression model was used to describe the relationship between commercial property value and explanatory variables of arterial road network, accessibility, demand, supply and location at 0.05 confidence level. The study showed that there was statistically significant relationship between the variables
and commercial property values in the study area. The statistics indicated that the Pvalue = 0.0423; R2 = 69.37% indicating that the variables explained about 69.4% of
variability in commercial property value in the study area. The individual contribution of each of the variables was determined using second order polynomial regression
model, which showed marked differences in contributions to variability in commercial property values.
A stepwise regression analysis was carried out to determine the variables that were particularly statistically significant. It revealed that accessibility, demand,
location, and supply contribute significantly to variability in commercial property values in the study area. Furthermore, the principal components analysis showed that three components – accessibility, location and demand - have Eigen-values greater than 1.0 accounting for 76.82% of variability in the original data. The study also
revealed that commercial property values, demand and supply of commercial properties have been on the increase in the past five-years and that the increase will continue into the foreseeable future, all things being equal. The R2 statistic indicated for each variable implied very high probability of attaining the prediction.
Recommendations were made in line with the research findings that the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) should embark on funding of research into the impacts of different modes of transportation on property values; individual Estate Surveyors and Valuers should have analytical mind in emerging competitive professional terrain through the use of scientific techniques; and that the Lagos State Government should consider the construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation of road networks in the study area as very paramount in their budgetary allocations.


Background: Due to the increasing pollution of water resources, this study was carried out for evaluation of water quality pollution indices for monitoring of heavy metals (As, Zn, Pb and Cu) contamination in Ghahavand Plain, Hamadan Province, Western Iran during spring and summer 2012. Methods: Totally, 20 ground water wells were chosen randomly. The samples were filtered (0.45 μm) and maintained cool in polyethylene bottles. Samples were taken for the analysis of metals, the former was acidified with HNO3 to pH lower than 2. Metal concentrations were determined using ICP-OES. Results: The mean values of Contamination index (Cd), Heavy metal pollution index (HPI) and Heavy metal evaluation index (HEI) in samples for spring season were -2.27, 9.01 and 1.73 respectively and in samples for summer season were -1.95, 8.69 and 2.04 respectively. It indicates low contamination levels. Comparing the mean concentrations of the evaluated metals with WHO permissible limits showed a significant difference (P<0.05). Conclusion: The mean concentrations of the metals were significantly lower than the permissible limits. Although the heavy metal pollution of the ground water in Ghahavand Plain is lower than WHO permissible limits, but severe precautions consideration such as manage the use of agricultural inputs, prevention of use of wastewater and sewage sludge in agriculture, control of overuse of organic fertilizers and establishment of pollutant industries are recommended in this area.


This article proposes an innovative approach and its implementation as an expert system to achieve the semi-automatic detection of candidate attributes for scrambling sensitive data. Its approach is based on semantic rules that determine which concepts have to be scrambled, and on a linguistic component that retrieves the attributes that semantically correspond to these concepts. Because attributes cannot be considered independently from each other, it also addresses the challenging problem of the propagation of the scrambling process through the entire database. One main contribution of this article's approach is to provide a semi-automatic process for the detection of sensitive data. The underlying knowledge is made available through production rules operationalizing the detection of the sensitive data. A validation of its approach using four different databases is provided.


Locations of landslides, bank failures, and floodplain deposition during recent intense flooding in Vermont and Colorado (USA) were spatially nonuniform, indicating that some reaches are more prone to these types of geologic hazards. These three key flood effects signal redistribution of sediment across landscapes, reflecting hillslope-channel coupling and the sources and/or sinks of material. We show that spatial gradients in total stream power (Ω) provide critical additional information beyond at-a-point Ω magnitudes for predicting which reaches are likely to be susceptible to these hazards during floods. Field tests in four rivers (watershed areas 0.8–180 km 2 ) indicate that downstream increases in Ω coincide with erosion and mass wasting into channels, and downstream decreases in Ω are associated with floodplain deposition. Our analytical approach, supported by field evidence, predicts geologic hazards and, more broadly, sources and sinks of material along rivers. These are critical concerns from a practical and theoretical standpoint.


A case with giant cavernous hemangioma in the cavernous sinus is reported. The patient had a 5-month history of headache and visual symptoms. Computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies demonstrated a lesion of the cavernous sinus in the left middle fossa. Only a biopsy of the cavernous malformation of cavernous sinus was performed during the first surgery because of uncontrollable haemorrhage during surgery. After the operation, radiation therapy was performed. Five years later, the lesion was totally removed because of its gradual enlargement. The second surgery was uncomplicated except for partial third nerve palsy. Ten years after the operation, the patient was in good health and there was no recurrence of the cavernous angioma.


Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) associated with factor H deficiency (FHD) carries a poor prognosis. A 3-year-old girl with FHD-HUS reached end-stage renal disease at age 6 months after experiencing numerous relapses; she underwent a cadaveric renal transplant at age 46 months. One month after transplantation, she experienced an extensive non-hemorrhagic cerebral infarction. Later, hematologic and renal manifestations of HUS developed, followed by another massive cerebral infarction and death in spite of multiple plasma transfusions. A 14-month-old boy with FHD-HUS experienced numerous HUS episodes starting at the age of 2 weeks. Daily plasma transfusions during relapses brought about only a temporary state of remission. However, prophylactic twice-weekly plasma therapy has been successful in preventing relapses and preserving renal function. With this regimen, serum factor H was increased from 6 mg/dL to subnormal values of 12 to 25 mg/dL (normal >60 mg/dL). We conclude that FHD-HUS recurs because FHD is not corrected by renal transplantation. A hypertransfusion protocol may prevent FHD-HUS.


Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common complex neuropsychiatric disorder frequently overlapping with learning disabilities (LD) in children with average and above intelligence (Biederman et al 1991). The complex needs of these children could be better addressed in a multidisciplinary context (Foy & Earls 2005) within which paediatric occupational therapists may have a significant role. The aim of this study was to identify the interventions used by occupational therapists in the United Kingdom with these children and explore the rationale for their use. The purpose was to provide baseline data to inform multidisciplinary team approaches for the management of these children.
A survey, based on postal questionnaires, was conducted among 100 paediatric occupational therapists in the United Kingdom. The effective rate of response was 42%. Both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered and analysed.
The findings suggested that therapists tended to use more than one method/ approach in the rehabilitation of these children. The sensory integration approach and the perceptual-motor training were more popular among therapists. A variety of other approaches, used on an individual needs basis, were reportedly used. Future studies to test the effectiveness of reported practices with children with both ADHD and LD are recommended.


Critical loss analysis is often used to argue that firms with large margins have more to lose from a reduction in sales and hence are less likely to increase prices. This argument ignores the fact that profit-maximizing competitors who do not coordinate their pricing only have large margins if their customers are not very price sensitive. In this paper, we explore the implications of critical loss analysis using an internally consistent model of oligopoly. We show that, under the assumptions made in the standard critical loss analysis, firms with larger pre-merger margins are more likely to raise prices than are firms with smaller margins, other things equal. This reinforces the traditional view that mergers are more likely to harm consumers when the merging firms have greater market power, as measured by their margins. We also derive internally consistent formulas for evaluating the profitability of price increases when defining markets and evaluating unilateral effects.


We consider the problem of designing a survivable telecommunication network using facilities of a fixed capacity. Given a graph G = (V,E), the traffic demand among the nodes, and the cost of installing facilities on the edges of G, we wish to design the minimum cost network, so that under any single edge failure, the network permits the flow of all traffic using the remaining capacity. The problem is modeled as a mixed integer program, which can be converted into a pure integer program by applying the well-known Japanese Theorem on multi-commodity flows. Using a key theorem that characterizes the facet inequalities of this integer program, we derive several families of 3- and 4-partition facets, which help to achieve extremely tight lower bounds on the problem. Using these bounds, problems of up to 20 nodes and 40 edges have been solved optimally in a pervious work. Using heuristic approaches based on this framework, we solve problems of up to 40 nodes and 80 edges to obtain solutions that are approximately within 5% of optimal solutions.


Climate warming is faster in the Arctic than the global average. Nutrient availability in the tundra soil is expected to increase by climate warming through (i) accelerated nutrient mobilization in the surface soil layers, and (ii) increased thawing depths during the growing season which increases accessibility of nutrients in the deeper soil layers. Both processes may initiate shifts in tundra vegetation composition. It is important to understand the effects of these two processes on tundra plant functional types. We manipulated soil thawing depth and nutrient availability at a Northeast‐Siberian tundra site to investigate their effects on above‐ and below‐ground responses of four plant functional types (grasses, sedges, deciduous shrubs and evergreen shrubs). Seasonal thawing was accelerated with heating cables at c. 15 cm depth without warming the surface soil, whereas nutrient availability was increased in the surface soil by adding slow‐release NPK fertilizer at c. 5 cm depth. A combination of these two treatments was also included. This is the first field experiment specifically investigating the effects of accelerated thawing in tundra ecosystems. Deep soil heating increased the above‐ground biomass of sedges, the deepest rooted plant functional type in our study, but did not affect biomass of the other plant functional types. In contrast, fertilization increased above‐ground biomass of the two dwarf shrub functional types, both of which had very shallow root systems. Grasses showed the strongest response to fertilization, both above‐ and below‐ground. Grasses were deep‐rooted, and they showed the highest plasticity in terms of vertical root distribution, as grass root distribution shifted to deep and surface soil in response to deep soil heating and surface soil fertilization respectively. Synthesis. Our results indicate that increased thawing depth can only benefit deep‐rooted sedges, while the shallow‐rooted dwarf shrubs, as well as flexible‐rooted grasses, take advantage of increased nutrient availability in the upper soil layers. Our results suggest that grasses have the highest root plasticity, which enables them to be more competitive in rapidly changing environments. We conclude that root vertical distribution strategies are important for vegetation responses to climate‐induced increases in soil nutrient availability in Arctic tundra, and that future shifts in vegetation composition will depend on the balance between changes in thawing depth and nutrient availability in the surface soil.


This study estimates the technical efficiency of goat rearing in the province of Isparta in Turkey using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The data used were collected from 92 goat farmers using the stratified sampling method by means of a questionnaire. The technical efficiency of the goat farming varied widely between 0.13 and 1.00. The mean efficiency of 92 goat farms was calculated to be 0.44 and 0.66 for constant and variable returns to scale assumptions, respectively. The greatest slacks were in feedstuff concentrates and labour used. The most significant factors affecting efficiency of goat production were farmer experience, cooperative membership, milk yield per goat, and family and hired labour. Technical efficiency should be improved by providing farmers with well-organised education, an extension program, and research and development programs on goat rearing.


[1] A unified scheme to assign pollen samples to vegetation types was used to reconstruct vegetation patterns north of 55°N at the last glacial maximum (LGM) and mid-Holocene (6000 years B.P.). The pollen data set assembled for this purpose represents a comprehensive compilation based on the work of many projects and research groups. Five tundra types (cushion forb tundra, graminoid and forb tundra, prostrate dwarf-shrub tundra, erect dwarf-shrub tundra, and low-and high-shrub tundra) were distinguished and mapped on the basis of modern pollen surface samples. The tundra-forest boundary and the distributions of boreal and temperate forest types today were realistically reconstructed. During the mid-Holocene the tundra-forest boundary was north of its present position in some regions, but the pattern of this shift was strongly asymmetrical around the pole, with the largest northward shift in central Siberia ($200 km), little change in Beringia, and a southward shift in Keewatin and Labrador ($200 km). Low-and high-shrub tundra extended farther north than today. At the LGM, forests were absent from high latitudes. Graminoid and forb tundra abutted on temperate steppe in northwestern Eurasia while prostrate dwarf-shrub, erect dwarf-shrub, and graminoid and forb tundra formed a mosaic in Beringia. Graminoid and forb tundra is restricted today and does not form a large continuous biome, but the pollen data show that it was far more extensive at the LGM, while low-and high-shrub tundra were greatly reduced, illustrating the potential for climate change to dramatically alter the relative areas occupied by different vegetation types.


A facile synthetic procedure has been reported for classical mannich reaction of aldehyde, acetophenone and aniline using catalytic quantity of 1-propylimidazolium trifluroacetoacetate. As a result, acetophenone undergo rapid reactions with a variety of halide substituted benzalaldehyde, methylbenzaldehyde, methoxybenzaldehyde, isopropylbenzaldehyde, nitrobenzaldehyde, halide substituted aniline, nitroaniline to produce β-aminocarbonyl compounds, in moderate to very good yields. Recovery of the products from the reaction mixture is very facile. Efficiency of the catalyst in terms of reusability is also discussed. The formation of the products was confirmed based on their H1 NMR and melting point.


This paper presents a formal semantic analysis of the Catalan interjection 'Deu n'hi do' (DND,henceforth) and its interactions with exclamative sentences. The analysis of DND in a nutshell is that (1) it has the lexical meaning of weakening and not of intensification, contrary to previous approaches in the literature and (2) it changes the semantic type of the exclamative sentence it precedes, turning a set of propositions into a proposition. Since DND-exclamatives can syntactically embed in more contexts than bare exclamatives, they provide evidence that part of the meaning of exclamatives is conveyed through a Conventional Implicature (CI). Finally, the syntactic distribution and semantic behavior of DND-clauses in embedded contexts can be explained by the interaction between the asserted and the CI meaning.


Alzheimer's disease (AD) develops silently over decades. We cannot easily access and analyse pre-symptomatic brains, so the earliest molecular changes that initiate AD remain unclear. Previously, we demonstrated that the genes mutated in early-onset, dominantly-inherited familial forms of AD (fAD) are evolving particularly rapidly in mice and rats. Fortunately, some non-mammalian vertebrates such as the zebrafish preserve fAD-relevant transcript isoforms of the PRESENILIN (PSEN1 and PSEN2) genes that these rodents have lost. Zebrafish are powerful vertebrate genetic models for many human diseases, but no genetic model of fAD in zebrafish currently exists. We edited the zebrafish genome to model the unique, protein-truncating fAD mutation of human PSEN2, K115fs. Analysing the brain transcriptome and proteome of young (6-month-old) and aged, infertile (24-month-old) wild type and heterozygous fAD-like mutant female sibling zebrafish supports accelerated brain aging and increased glucocorticoid signalling in young fAD-like fish, leading to a transcriptional 'inversion' into glucocorticoid resistance and vast changes in biological pathways in aged, infertile fAD-like fish. Notably, one of these changes involving microglia-associated immune responses regulated by the ETS transcription factor family is preserved between our zebrafish fAD model and human early-onset AD. Importantly, these changes occur before obvious histopathology and likely in the absence of Aβ. Our results support the contributions of early metabolic and oxidative stresses to immune and stress responses favouring AD pathogenesis and highlight the value of our fAD-like zebrafish genetic model for elucidating early changes in the brain that promote AD pathogenesis. The success of our approach has important implications for future modelling of AD.


In this paper, we outline the proposed PhD project: "Challenges for Game Addiction as a Mental Health Diagnosis". The project aims to bridge gaps between the perspectives, theories and data of current research trajectories that engage with the concept of game addiction; from psychology, psychiatry, cognitive neuroscience to media and game studies. The project has several proposed outcomes. Based on a review of the literature, the adequacy of 'game addiction' as a concept is questioned. The concept is further discussed in a historical perspective of game related pathologies and media/moral panics. The validity of the prevalent instruments used to assess the prevalence of computer game addiction is examined in a cross-disciplinary context. The argument of the project is that research on computer game addiction is limited by mono-disciplinary approaches that fail to capture significant nuances at the cost of validity of results and instruments. The lack of communication between researchers has resulted in qualitative research that deny the existence of computer game addiction and quantitative research that assert the existence and prevalence of the phenomenon. Qualitative research cannot claim to capture as wide a sample as quantitative research and quantitative research cannot claim to capture the deep understanding and nuances of qualitative research. When the two methods produce conflicting results it stands to reason that a dispassionate review and analysis is necessary.


We use data on monozygotic twins to obtain improved estimates of the effect of intrauterine nutrient intake on adult health and earnings and thus to evaluate the efficacy of programs aimed at increasing birthweight. We use the results to evaluate the bias in cross-sectional estimates and to assess the proposition that health conditions play a major role in determining the world distribution of income. We show that there is considerable variation in the incidence of low birthweight across countries, and our estimates suggest that there are real payoffs to increasing body weight at birth. Increasing birthweight increases adult schooling attainment and adult height for babies at most levels of birthweight, but has no effect on adult body mass. The effect of increasing birthweight on schooling, moreover, is underestimated by 50x if there is no control for genetic and family background endowments as in cross-sectional estimates. We also find evidence that augmenting birthweight among lower-birthweight babies, but not among higher-birthweight babies, has significant labor market payoffs. However, shifting the distribution of birthweights in developing countries to that in the United States would reduce world earnings inequality by less than 1, far less than indicated by the cross-country correlation between per-worker GDP and birthweight.


Fixtures are devices used in manufacturing systems to locate, immobilize, and hold workpieces. There are many different numerical measures proposed in the literature to quantify the locating accuracy of a fixture, and its capability in firmly holding the workpiece in the presence of external loads. These numerical measures are useful in fixture layout design and the related area of grasp synthesis. As a number of numerical measures are available, a user may face the problem that how to choose an appropriate one as the optimality criterion in practice for fixture design. In this paper, we present a comparative study on several widely used optimality criteria, based on both theoretical analysis and simulation studies. First, we establish a set of inequalities, which describe the relations between several widely used numerical measures. Second, comparisons between optimality criteria are demonstrated by numerical examples.


This study examines the motivations behind the bidders' second tender offers for a sample of 366 bidders who made a first attempt over the period of 1976-1990. In both the short-term and the long-term, bidders do not experience a significant abnormal return. As the bidders do not earn a significant gain from their first tender offer attempts, the motivations for making another tender offer attempt are examined. A multinomial logit model is used to examine the rationales for bidders attempting a second acquisition. The results are consistent with the management entrenchment and the convergence-of-interest hypotheses. Also, a binary logit model is applied to examine the probability of the bidders becoming involved in acquisitions in the five years after their first tender offer attempts. We find that bidders with good management performance, small initial offer premium, and high dividend payouts are more likely to become involved in subsequent acquisition activity. Finally, the Cox Proportional Hazard model is estimated to incorporate the time dimension. This model examines the probability of bidders becoming involved in a subsequent acquisition activity in the two years and the five years following their first tender offers. Market variables and financial variables are highly significant in explaining the probability of bidder involvement in subsequent acquisition activity in the two-year model, whereas only financial variables are highly significant in the five-year model.


The charitable deduction allows taxpayers to deduct amounts donated to organizations pursuing statutorily designated purposes from their otherwise taxable income. By lowering the after-tax cost of giving and encouraging taxpayers to donate more than they otherwise would, the charitable deduction subsidizes a broad variety of organizations. Some of these organizations provide widespread societal benefits, while others provide narrower benefits that remain closer to the taxpayer-donor's home. To evaluate these current laws, this Article focuses on efficiency criteria, which limit subsidized organizations to those with donor support that does not cover the costs needed to optimally provide goods and services. Existing scholarship has identified the conditions that cause these underfunding issues but has not sought to apply these concepts to determine whether the organizations subsidized through the charitable deduction are actually in economic need. This Article seeks to fill this gap. While one cannot precisely determine whether and to what extent any given organization or type of organization is underfunded, the general assessment of this Article provides a starting point for evaluating the scope of the deduction. This Article suggests that some organizations currently subsidized through the charitable deduction may be able to garner sufficient donations on their own and that the tax law may provide subsidies that are economically unnecessary.


In 1997 Denmark celebrated the tricententenary of its legal deposit legislation and at the same time created a new law that surpassed the former 1927 text, which was out of date due to technological and political developments. In the first law on legal deposit, maps were not mentioned explicitly and we have no known examples of maps delivered before a revision of the law in 1781, which explicitly stated that maps and prints had to be deposited. It was only after 1850 that it became possible to follow what was deposited exactly. The number of maps deposited before was limited, not even including the first national survey maps. Maps were only produced in a limited number and the annual deposit did not exceed 600. We assume that all in all some 40,000 maps have been delivered to the collections by legal deposit. Each year since the Second World War the maps have been listed in the annual "Dansk Kortfortegnelse" and since 1980 all new maps have been catalogued in the REX database of the Royal Library.


Abstract Despite previous research efforts on mapping the demographic profile of a general conserving consumer, a review on the ecological concern literature shows that previous studies had limited success in explaining the social basis of ecological behaviour. An empirical study was carried out to ascertain the role of demographics in determining ecological purchase commitment. It examines the moderating role of consumer demographic characteristics and product involvement on the value-attitude-behaviour relationship in the context of health food consumption. The general pattern of findings supports the primary thesis of the research that the effect of collectivist orientation and ecological attitude on ecological commitment depends on the nature of the targeted consumer group. Essentially, people who are male, those who earn high income, and people who have high involvement in the health food category, engage in more extensive green-product-related information search, and purchase green products more fre...


Type 2 diabetes increases the risk of cardiovascular and renal complications, but early risk prediction can lead to timely intervention and better outcomes. Through summary statistics of meta-analyses of published genome-wide association studies performed in over 1.2 million of individuals, we combined 9 PRS gathering genomic variants associated to cardiovascular and renal diseases and their key risk factors into one logistic regression model, to predict micro- and macrovascular endpoints of diabetes. Its clinical utility in predicting complications of diabetes was tested in 4098 participants with diabetes of the ADVANCE trial followed during a period of 10 years and replicated it in three independent non-trial cohorts. The prediction model adjusted for ethnicity, sex, age at onset and diabetes duration, identified the top 30% of ADVANCE participants at 3.1-fold increased risk of major micro- and macrovascular events (p=6.3×10−21 and p=9.6×10−31, respectively) and at 4.4-fold (p=6.8×10−33) increased risk of cardiovascular death compared to the remainder of T2D subjects. While in ADVANCE overall, combined intensive therapy of blood pressure and glycaemia decreased cardiovascular mortality by 24%, the prediction model identified a high-risk group in whom this therapy decreased mortality by 47%, and a low risk group in whom the therapy had no discernable effect. Patients with high PRS had the greatest absolute risk reduction with a number needed to treat of 12 to prevent one cardiovascular death over 5 years. This novel polygenic prediction model identified people with diabetes at low and high risk of complications and improved targeting those at greater benefit from intensive therapy while avoiding unnecessary intensification in low-risk subjects.


The spread of malaria critically relies on the presence of Plasmodium transmission stages – the gametocytes – circulating in the blood of an infected individual, which are taken up by Anopheles mosquitoes. A striking feature of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes is their long development inside the erythrocytes while sequestered in the internal organs of the human host. Recent studies of the molecular and cellular remodeling of the host erythrocyte induced by P. falciparum during gametocyte maturation are shedding light on how these may affect the establishment and maintenance of sequestration of the immature transmission stages and the subsequent release and circulation of mature gametocytes in the peripheral bloodstream.


Digitalization is sweeping every organization. Also in hospitals patients' records go through a digitization process to become electronic healthcare record, (EHR).Purpose – This study describe physicians and nurses perceptions towards digitization of their work practices. The overall questions is: What are the professionals' perceptions on how to work with digitalized information systems?Design/methodology/approach –The sample consisted of physicians (n=64) and nurses (n=261) working in a Swedish regional hospital. A standardized questionnaire was coupled with free-text options as well. The professionals' perceptions of EHR were compared with the traditional paper-based records.Findings – The professionals reacted with resistance and need more time and more well-developed systems to exercise their new skills. Competence to document in itself is not the problem. The problem is how to perform their new EHR work in daily practise. Communication problems between different systems become obvious. The study shows that performability is important when working with digitization in every day's practises.Practical implications – There are still shortcomings in the quality of the documentation in EHR. Redundant documentations have to be minimized. The communication between systems and information to patient have to be developed. It also important to have more and better work places for professionals' possibility to perform their skills. Additionally, to increase their knowledge of digitization in healthcare the professionals need continuous training and time to discuss pros and cons with the digitization.


Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in and around a so-called War Hero Village (Ranavirugama) in northwestern Sri Lanka, this article traces the social (un)becomings of Sri Lankan Army veterans injured during the civil war with the Tamil liberation front. It argues that such veterans have long been able to draw on a materially rewarding narrative of sacrifice and carnal capital—epitomized in the honorific ranaviru (war hero)—in order to produce a particular kind of veteran citizenship, let alone subjectivity, and thus to pursue socially meaningful post-injury existences. In the eyes of the veterans themselves, however, this celebratory narrative is eroding and a "collective narrative" characterized by a kind of social forgetting of the injured veteran is emerging. Material benefits notwithstanding, this narrative contestation entails a "struggle for recognition" that threatens to leave them not only disabled but also with no one to be, or become.


One key difference between successful and struggling college readers is their use of strategies. The former can understand challenging texts due to their knowledge of how to apply a diverse range of strategies. In contrast, the latter are frequently unaware of when and how to utilize strategies, and, as a result, often cannot comprehend assigned texts. Problematically, research on successful and struggling college readers' strategy use has rarely taken place in the context of first-year composition. Thus, first-year writing instructors have few tools they can use to meet the needs of the many at-risk students who populate their classes. The following article attempted to help instructors better serve their students by examining the strategic differences between successful and struggling readers in first-year composition courses. The participants filled out a quantitative reading survey called the Metacognitive Assessment of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI), along with a demographic profile. The results showed significant differences between the groups overall and on the MARSI's subscales. In addition, successful readers used seven individual strategies significantly more than struggling readers. Explanations for these results are offered, as are pedagogical recommendations for first-year writing instructors.


To navigate effectively, an autonomous agent must be able to quickly and accurately determine its current location. Given an initial estimate of its position (perhaps based on dead-reckoning) and an image taken of a known environment, our agent first attempts to locate a set of landmarks (real-world objects at known locations), then uses their angular separation to obtain an improved estimate of its current position. Unfortunately, some landmarks may not be visible, or worse, may be confused with other landmarks, resulting in both time wasted in searching for the undetected landmarks, and in further errors in the agent's estimate of its position. To address these problems, we propose a method that uses previous experiences to learn a selection function that, given the set of landmarks that might be visible, returns the subset that can be used to reliably provide an accurate registration of the agent's position. We use statistical techniques to prove that the learned selection function is, with high probability, effectively at a local optimum in the space of such functions. This paper also presents empirical evidence, using real-world data, that demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.


A novel path to achieving self-similar pulses in an all-normal-dispersion solid-state laser resonator is presented and numerically examined. The spatially asymptotic self-similar solution to the nonlinear Schrodinger equation with gain is approached over many cavity round trips and the resultant steady-state solution, stabilized with a saturable absorber possessing a nearly rectangular power response profile, displays minimal spectral, temporal, and amplitude breathing. This method simplifies cavity construction and allows for a more than thirtyfold increase in pulse energy when compared to dispersion-managed soliton mode-locking schemes. A path to directly generable microJoule femtosecond pulses is identified.


The first STAT-containing transcription factor to be studied, the alpha-interferon-induced ISGF3, is composed of a Stat1:2 heterodimer and a weak DNA-binding protein, p48, that is a member of a growing family of proteins similar to the so-called interferon regulatory factor (IRF-1). The p48 and Stat1:2 heterodimer do not associate stably in the absence of DNA, but we show that amino acids approximately 150 to 250 of Stat1 and a COOH-terminal portion of p48 exhibit physical interaction, implying contact that stabilizes ISGF3. Moreover, amino acid exchanges within the Stat1 contact region diminish or abolish the functional activity of Stat1. This protein interaction domain may be important in other STAT proteins to recruit partners to multiprotein transcription factors.


Today our employment law provides workers with far more protection than once existed with respect to hiring, firing, salary, and workplace conditions. Despite these gains, continued progress towards justice is currently in jeopardy due to companies' imposition of mandatory arbitration on their employees. By denying their employees access to court, companies are causing employment law to stultify. This impacts all employees, but particularly harms the most vulnerable and oppressed members of our society for whom legal evolution is most important. If companies can continue to use mandatory arbitration to eradicate access to court, where judges are potentially influenced by social movements, social movements will no longer be able to assist the overall progressive trend of our jurisprudence. While the phenomenon of mandatory employment arbitration is not new, recent Supreme Court opinions have encouraged an even greater number of employers to use this practice to force employees to take any disputes to arbitration, rather than to court. Focusing particularly on the #MeToo movement, this Article will consider this reality and its detrimental implications for the evolution of legal precedent affecting our most vulnerable employees.


This paper describes a qualitative research study that investigated strategies used by urban teachers to build their personal resilience. Sixteen resilient teachers from four urban districts that reported student achievement equal to or higher than the state average on standard tests of reading and mathematics were interviewed. The definition of resilience was "using energy productively to achieve school goals in the face of adverse conditions." A three cycle interview process included pre-interview, interview and review by the respondent for accuracy. Standard qualitative methods were used in the analysis. Results revealed four key findings reported in this paper. Resilient teachers act from a set of values that guides their professional decision-making. They also place a high premium on professional development and find ways, often outside the school district, to get what they need. They provide mentoring to others and stay focused on students and their learning. A teacher candidate who gives evidence of resilience, of taking charge to solve problems and find opportunities may add to the school in important ways that bolster student achievement and school success. "Resilience is a key factor in how a teacher will hold up and perform in an urban school." Elementary school teacher, 7 years experience ********** Much has been written over the last two decades about the difficulty of recruiting quality teachers for urban schools (e.g. Bobbit, Faupel & Burns, 1991; Darling-Hammond, 2000). Until recently, few scholars have recognized that the problem is not recruitment but retention (Salvador & Wilson, 2002). As teachers and teacher leaders in urban schools face the challenge of maintaining their vitality in an era of nonstop change, they struggle to remain resilient. Particularly in urban schools, teacher and teacher leader resilience is critical to schools accomplishing what needs to be done. The impact of teacher leader resilience is particularly important because of teacher leader's ability to encourage colleagues to change, to do things they wouldn't ordinarily consider without the influence of the leader (Wasley, 1991). Thus, the resilience of teacher leaders is a key factor in school reform (Patterson, 2001). The operational definition of resilience that guides this study of teachers and teacher leaders is using energy productively to achieve school goals in the face of adverse conditions. Urban schools suffer from far greater complications than rural or suburban schools. High teacher and student absenteeism, high teacher turnover, high numbers of uncertified teachers and great numbers of inexperienced teachers (Darling-Hammond, 1998) all contribute to stress of urban teachers. Urban teachers are also more likely than their suburban and rural counterparts to teach more students with fewer basic resources like books, blackboards and paper (Farber, 1991). These problems are exacerbated by federal legislation that demands a certified teacher in every classroom by 2005. For instance, a clash regarding California's new draft standards for certification demonstrated the potential financial loss to districts of the new federal legislation, No Child Left Behind. To meet the federal requirements, California proposed defining "highly qualified" teachers as including interns with emergency permits. When asked to evaluate this plan, the US Department of Education said it wouldn't meet the terms of the law. That could cost the state $5.4 billion in federal dollars (Chaddock, 2002). Outside the school, the environment is also more complex as teachers are called upon to confront social issues that many believe belong in the home or larger community. It is not surprising that many urban teachers become skeptical, cynical and "burn out." Burn out can result in isolation and caring less about the students and other aspects of teacher's work or it may lead to working harder, sometimes mechanically, to the point of exhaustion (Farber, 1991). …


Detailed thermal-hydraulic analysis of commercial power reactors requires modeling of complex multidimensional thermal, fluids, and neutronic behavior. One code that has three-dimensional (3-D) thermal-hydraulic and neutronic capabilities is RELAP-3D. A comparison of RELAP-3D predictions to experimental data obtained during start-up of the Kozloduy VVER-1000 nuclear power plant in Bulgaria is presented here. The experiment has distinguishable 3-D hydraulics effects that allow for code model verification and reasonable agreement with the experimental results obtained. The transient investigated was conducted at 29% reactor power, and it was initiated from a steady state where three out of four reactor coolant pumps were operating. The transient consisted of the start-up of the nonoperating pump. Simulation results were compared to both temperature and pump data from the experiment. Temperature predictions compared reasonably well to the experimental data; however, discrepancies existed between predicted and experimental pump head values.


Executive Summary

Kirklees Public Health Directorate commissioned the research on which this report is based. Between October 2014 and July 2015, fifteen interviews were conducted in Kirklees with key actors in the community food sector and the local authority. These interviews were complimented with five more at the national level.

The overall aim of the research was to provide evidence of how the current Kirklees food system contributes to the aim of making local people and the economy more resilient. The research had three main objectives:

• To explore the potential impact of local food on economic development.
• To examine possible frameworks for an independent Kirklees food partnership.
• To develop awareness and promote the significance of these issues.

A number of key findings emerge.

Key findings

1. Many community food enterprises exist in isolation and there is little to bind them together beyond small reciprocal exchanges.
2. The community food sector needs more support and Kirklees should focus on the many good things that are already happening across the borough.
3. Redefining what is meant by 'local food' would improve the effectiveness of local supply chains and enable better procurement.
4. Better local procurement and sourcing would enable local producers and entrepreneurs to make a more effective contribution to the local economy.
5. A system of local/ sub regional food hubs is already in place across Kirklees comprised of community retailers, farms shops and schools.
6. There is a wide support for the development of an independent Kirklees food partnership and central food hub to coordinate these initiatives more effectively.
7. The Brighton and Hove partnership provides a good model for Kirklees to follow, but the right people must be involved from the outset if any new approach is to be successful.
8. Any new agenda must ensure that all the diverse communities across Kirklees, deprived as well as affluent benefit from any new ways of working.
9. Better planning and public policies are needed if the joint Kirklees Health/Well-Being and Economic Strategies are to bring about outcomes that cut across different areas of service delivery.
10. More commitment and support for partnership working is needed across all sectors in West Yorkshire.

Five recommendations are made.

Recommendations

1. Provide more support for the community food sector in Kirklees
2. Initiative better partnership working and collaboration across all sectors in West Yorkshire
3. Link the local food system with local supply chains to enhance local sourcing and procurement
4. Initiative better planning and policy to link the food system to population needs across different areas of service delivery more effectively.
5. Develop a local food partnership and food hub infrastructure to drive the food strategy to the next level.


Recent degradation studies have highlighted the importance of considering cloud cover when calculating degradation rates, finding more reliable values when the data are restricted to clear sky periods. Several automated methods of determining clear sky periods have been previously developed, but parameterizing and testing the models has been difficult. In this paper, we use clear sky classifications determined from satellite data to develop an algorithm that determines clear sky periods using only measured irradiance values and modeled clear sky irradiance as inputs. This method is tested on global horizontal irradiance (GHI) data from ground collectors at six sites across the United States and compared against independent satellite-based classifications. First, 30 separate models were optimized on each individual site at GHI data intervals of 1, 5, 10, 15, and 30 min (sampled on the first minute of the interval). The models had an average F0.5 score of 0.949 ± 0.035 on a holdout test set. Next, optimizations were performed by aggregating data from different locations at the same interval, yielding one model per data interval. This paper yielded an average F0.5 of 0.946 ± 0.037. A final, "universal" optimization that was trained on data from all sites at all intervals provided an F0.5 score of 0.943 ± 0.040. The optimizations all provide improvements on a prior, unoptimized clear sky detection algorithm that produces F0.5 scores that average to 0.903 ± 0.067. Our paper indicates that a single algorithm can accurately classify clear sky periods across locations and data sampling intervals.


Background The role of viruses in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is poorly understood. In part, this is secondary to difficulty in isolating viruses. Although traditional detection methods for respiratory viruses have had little clinical utility, modern viral screening techniques that use molecular sequencing are now both rapid and feasible, which makes analysis of the paranasal sinus microbiome more accessible. Objective To detect respiratory viruses in the paranasal sinuses of patients with CRS and of healthy controls as well as to correlate clinical and radiographic measures of CRS with viral presence. Methods In this prospective study, 13 patients with CRS with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP) and 8 patients without nasal polyposis (CRSsNP) were enrolled and compared with 14 healthy controls. Samples were obtained from the paranasal sinuses and were screened for viral DNA with polymerase chain reaction—based sequencing techniques. Typical symptoms of CRS, the Sinonasal Questionnaire, and objective measures, including the modified Lund-Mackay and modified Lund-Kennedy scores were obtained. Results Eighty percent of the positive screens (4/5) were found in patients with CRSsNP, whereas 20% of the positive tests (1/5) were in the CRSwNP group, and none of the controls tested positive (p = 0.0029). Coronavirus was the most common virus detected. Sinonasal Questionnaire scores of the patients with CRS who tested positive for viruses were higher but not statistically different than those without a positive screen (p = 0.31). Radiographic and endoscopic measures of disease were not significantly different in the setting of a positive viral screen (p = 0.12 and 0.11 respectively). Conclusion Although traditionally difficult, advances in molecular sequencing enhance detection of viruses in the sinonasal tract. In this study, respiratory viruses were more commonly isolated from patients with CRS compared with healthy controls. Moreover, viral infection may play a greater role in symptom exacerbation in CRSsNP than in CRSwNP. These findings warrant further investigation into the role of the viral microbiome in CRS.


Current opinion holds that human colour vision is mediated primarily via a colour–opponent pathway that carries information about both wavelength and luminance contrast (type I). However, some authors argue that chromatic sensitivity may be limited by a different geniculostriate pathway, which carries information about wavelength alone (type II). We provide psychophysical evidence that both pathways may contribute to the perception of moving, chromatic targets in humans, depending on the nature of the visual discrimination. In experiment 1, we show that adaptation to drifting, red–green stimuli causes reductions in contrast sensitivity for both the detection and direction discrimination of moving chromatic targets. Importantly, the effects of adaptation are not directionally specific. In experiment 2, we show that adaptation to luminance gratings results in reduced sensitivity for the direction discrimination, but not the detection of moving chromatic targets. We suggest that sensitivity for the direction discrimination of chromatic targets is limited by a colour–opponent pathway that also conveys luminance–contrast information, whereas the detection of such targets is limited by a pathway with access to colour information alone. The properties of these pathways are consistent with the known properties of type–I and type–II neurons of the primate parvocellular lateral geniculate nucleus and their cortical projections. These findings may explain the known differences between detection and direction discrimination thresholds for chromatic targets moving at low to moderate velocities.


Social policy and philanthropy are often considered as the two faces of the coin. Many of welfare and civil society theorists view philanthropy as an expression of state welfare policy, or on the contrary, it appears when state social policy is rather weak. It is assumed that a strong role of the state in social policy results in decline of philanthropic initiatives. The paper discusses the issues of philanthropy situation in Lithuania, the role of the state in social policy, and the post-communist welfare model. The study is based on the results of a quantitative and qualitative research that offer some challenging findings. The analysis reveals the conflict among state social policy, philanthropic actors' attitudes and expectations of the society.


Although research recognizes the role of IT and organizational agility on firm performance, a research gap to investigate IT-enabled agility at strategic and operational levels exists. In this study, we define operation-level agility as a firm's ability to respond to market changes or emerging opportunities by quickly modifying its business routines. In contrast, we define strategic-level agility as a firm's ability to define long-range investment decisions and implement them to accommodate strategic moves and business initiatives. We investigate how IT can empower these two levels of agility, and, in turn, how these two levels of agility can influence firm performance. We also examine the relative roles of the two levels of IT-enabled agility in manufacturing and service settings. We use survey data to validate the proposed hypotheses. The results indicate that, in general, IT leads to superior firm performance through agility at both levels. Further analyses, however, suggest that IT-enabled operation-level agility is a stronger success factor for service firms and IT-enabled strategic-level agility is more critical in manufacturing firms. Our findings provide a theoretical insight regarding the industry-specific values of IT-enabled agility at operation and strategic levels and practical implications for organizational IT deployment under specific industrial settings.


BACKGROUND
CALYPSO (CAeLYx in Platinum Sensitive Ovarian) patients compared carboplatin-pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (C-PLD) with carboplatin-paclitaxel (C-P) in patients with late-relapsing recurrent ovarian cancer (ROC). We analyzed outcomes in patients ≥70 years.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Nine hundred and seventy-six patients with taxane-pretreated ROC relapsing >6 months after first- or second-line platinum-based therapy were randomly assigned to 4-weekly C area under the curve (AUC) 5 plus PLD 30 mg/m(2) or 3-weekly C AUC 5 plus P 175 mg/m(2) for six or more cycles.

RESULTS
One hundred and fifty-seven (16%) patients ≥70 years (median: 74 years, C-PLD; 73 years, C-P; range 70-82 years) were included (n = 71, C-PLD; n = 86, C-P). In comparing elderly and younger, elderly patients experienced fewer grade ≥2 allergic reactions (P = 0.005) but more grade ≥2 sensory neuropathy (P = 0.007). Myelosuppression did not differ with age. Elderly patients completed planned treatment as frequently as younger (79%, C-PLD; 82%, C-P). In comparing arms within elderly patients, C-P was associated with more grade ≥2 alopecia, sensory neuropathy, arthralgia/myalgia (P < 0.001 for all), severe leukopenia plus febrile neutropenia; C-PLD was associated with more grade ≥2 hand-foot syndrome (P = 0.005). Median progression-free survival was 11.6 months (C-PLD) and 10.3 months (C-P; P = 0.44).

CONCLUSIONS
Patients ≥70 years experienced more neuropathy, with a higher incidence in the C-P arm. Similar to all study patients, C-PLD provided a better therapeutic index with less toxicity than C-P in elderly women with platinum-sensitive ROC.


Hydrogen gas is an energy carrier that has many advantages, including energy density for high mass and environmentally friendly. Hydrogen can be produced from various sources by numerous methods. Hydrogen production from renewable sources is interesting, due to the sustainable and inexpensive supply of the raw materials. Among the sources of renewable raw materials for hydrogen production are water and biomass with various production methods. It consists of the electrolysis of water with acidic and basic conditions, as well as thermochemical and biochemical biomass conversion.


Sexual harassment has become a subject of social and educational policy debate and discourse. The U.S. Supreme Court in Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education (1999) has given sexual harassment an even more prominent place on the national agenda. The Davis case, in combination with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and other legislation and case law, established that public schools can be forced to pay damages for failing to stop student-on-- student sexual harassment. The Davis case is predicted to be a defining court case, cited and exercised in subsequent litigation defining the potential economic impact of sexual harassment on school districts who do not establish and/or strengthen their district's posture against sexual harassment. Sexual harassment can no longer be ignored or given cursory attention by school districts. Davis demands advocacy against known sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is a complicated issue for school counselors, because the vast majority of students (90% in the Hostile Hallways study) do not tell a school official that they have been victimized (Harris/Scholastic Research, 1993). The challenge for school counselors is to help create an environment free of sexual harassment and encourage students to report harassment when it does occur. A critical ethical issue for school counselors is appropriately responding to the needs of the students who reveal the abuse but may seek confidentiality. This poses special ethical and legal questions. In the following section, the hypothetical case of Sarah, who confides in her school counselor that she has been the victim of sexual harassment, is presented. This article uses the case of Sarah to frame a response and define the school counselor's advocacy role by examining: (a) the Davis case, Title IX, and other legislation and case law regarding studenton--student sexual harassment, (b) the prevalence of sexual harassment in schools and the emotional costs, (c) the implications of the Davis decision for school districts and school counseling, (d) the counselor's legal and ethical obligations to Sarah and to her parents, and (e) the legal and ethical complications of confidentiality with minors who are victims of sexual harassment in schools. The Case of Sarah Until sixth grade, Sarah was a conscientious student consistently given high marks by teachers in her work ethic. Sarah's elementary academic life was not without struggle, but her motivation allowed her to maintain above average grades with an occasional "C." However, the sixth grade brought a marked change in grades and attitude for Sarah. At first her teachers and parents attributed the change to "middle-school adjustment," but when Sarah began to make health excuses to miss school, her parents called the school counselor for help. During the parent-initiated school counseling sessions, Sarah's counselor began to learn the truth of her first 5 months of sixth-grade. Sarah was a victim of sexual harassment. Sarah was unusually well-developed for a 12 year old and found herself the target of jokes and sexual comments about her physical development. Changing classes was the worst time for Sarah as boys leered, jeered, brushed up against her, and sometimes a hand would grope. Most recently, Sarah found herself trapped against her locker by a group of boys who made lewd remarks to her and wouldn't let her pass. Their leader, who frequently harassed Sarah, was a boy she recognized as having slid his hand up her blouse while she was trying to negotiate a crowded hallway. Sarah shared her situation with her friends, who repeatedly advised her to ignore the perpetrators and not to make "a big deal about it." To complicate matters, Sarah told her counselor that she did not want her revelations repeated to anyone, especially her parents: "They always tell me I am too loud and forward with boys and that my clothes are too tight. If they learn about what these boys have been doing, they will just tell me 'I told you so' or 'you asked for it by dressing like that'. …


Currently, OSPF for IPv6 (OSPFv3) uses IPsec as the only mechanism for authenticating protocol packets. This behavior is different from authentication mechanisms present in other routing protocols (OSPFv2, Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS), RIP, and Routing Information Protocol Next Generation (RIPng)). In some environments, it has been found that IPsec is difficult to configure and maintain and thus cannot be used. This document defines an alternative mechanism to authenticate OSPFv3 protocol packets so that OSPFv3 does not only depend upon IPsec for authentication. Information about the current status of this document, any errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License.


We report on our early photometric and spectroscopic observations of the extremely luminous Type II supernova (SN) 2008es. SN 2008es, with an observed peak optical magnitude of mV = 17.8 and at a redshift z = 0.213, has a peak absolute magnitude of MV = −22.3, making it the second most luminous SN ever observed. The photometric evolution of SN 2008es exhibits a fast decline rate (∼ 0.042 mag d−1), similar to the extremely luminous Type II-Linear (II-L) SN 2005ap. We show that SN 2008es spectroscopically resembles the luminous Type II-L SN 1979C. Although the spectra of SN 2008es lack the narrow and intermediate-width line emission typically associated with the interaction of an SN with the circumstellar medium of its progenitor star, we argue that the extreme luminosity of SN 2008es is powered via strong interaction with a dense, optically thick circumstellar medium. The integrated bolometric luminosity of SN 2008es yields a total radiated energy at ultraviolet and optical wavelengths of ≳ 1051 erg. Finally, we examine the apparently anomalous rate at which the Texas Supernova Search has discovered rare kinds of SNe, including the five most luminous SNe observed to date, and find that their results are consistent with those of other modern SN searches.


Self-emulsifying drug delivery systems (SEDDS) are one of the proven methods to increase solubility and bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs. SEDDS are isotropic mixtures, consisting of oils, surfactants, and sometimes cosolvents. Designed formulations are used to improve the oral absorption of highly lipophilic compounds. Multiple lipid-based drug delivery systems are widely reported in literature and they include simple oil solutions, coarse, multiple and dry emulsions, and more complex self-emulsifying, microemulsifying or nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems. The process of self-emulsification is dependent on diverse factors such as the nature of oil, surfactant, cosurfactant, oil/surfactant ratio, and the polarity of the emulsion. Considering the ease of large-scale production and the robustness of SEDDS, several formulations are commercially available which utilize this technology. This article attempts to present an overview of SEDDS along with their applications, compiled literature data, commercially available products, and their descriptions.


1. Total body potassium was measured in professional football players before the football season began and at approximately mid-season. The values obtained were significantly higher than in healthy subjects taking only average exercise. There was a significant increase in body potassium as the season progressed. 2. Lean body mass was estimated by four methods and the results were compared. The values of lean body mass, as a percentage of body weight, were significantly higher than in healthy control subjects taking only average exercise and they also increased significantly over the period of the study. 3. The mean erythrocyte potassium concentration was lower pre-season than at mid-season and the pre-season value was also significantly less than in healthy controls. The values before and after vigorous exercise were not significantly different. 4. Conversely, the pre-season mean plasma potassium concentration was significantly higher than in control subjects and than the mid-season value. The mean plasma potassium concentration was higher before vigorous exercise than immediately afterwards. 5. The leucocyte count increased significantly after vigorous exercise, correlating with a decrease in leucocyte ascorbic acid content.


Among the many applications of microarray technology, one of the most popular is the identification of genes that are differentially expressed in two conditions. A common statistical approach is to quantify the interest of each gene with a p-value, adjust these p-values for multiple comparisons, choose an appropriate cut-off, and create a list of candidate genes. This approach has been criticised for ignoring biological knowledge regarding how genes work together. Recently a series of methods, that do incorporate biological knowledge, have been proposed. However, the most popular method, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), seems overly complicated. Furthermore, GSEA is based on a statistical test known for its lack of sensitivity. In this article we compare the performance of a simple alternative to GSEA. We find that this simple solution clearly outperforms GSEA. We demonstrate this with eight different microarray datasets.


Most of the biological processes in living systems involve molecular adsorption and transport at biomembranes. It is highly desired to study the time-resolved transport kinetics through living cell membranes. In this thesis, an experimental means based on a nonlinear optical phenomenon, Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) has been demonstrated to detect the molecular adsorption and transport through living cell membranes in real time and to evaluate the salt ion effects on adsorption processes in biologically relevant colloidal systems. In the case of gram-negative bacteria, E.coli, a hydrophobic cation, Malachite Green (MG) has been observed to adsorb onto the cell surface and then sequentially transport across the double bilayer structures, the bacterial outer membrane and the cytoplasmic membrane. The adsorption characteristics as well as the transport rate constant at each of the membranes have been determined. In contrast to the prokaryotic E.coli cell, the molecular ion can adsorb onto the eukaryotic Murine Erythroleukemia (MEL) cell but cannot penetrate its membrane which has no hydrophobic ion permeable channels and is more tightly packed. MG cation has been used as a SHG indicator to probe the effects of solvent ionic strength and ion specificity on molecular adsorption at model protein systems. Polystyrene sulfate (PSS) microspheres and polystyrene carboxyl (PSC) microspheres have been examined. The electrostatic force dominated molecule-surface interaction between MG cations and the sulfate terminations at PSS surface is largely affected by the ionic strength of the solution but is not sensitive to the ion identity. On the other hand, the hydrophobic force dominated molecule-surface interaction between hydrophobic regions of the MG dye and PSC microsphere shows pronounced specific ion effects but is less affected by ionic strength of the solution. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Chemistry First Advisor Hai-Lung Dai


The authors report on the use of hollow cathode plasma for low-temperature plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (PA-ALD) of crystalline AlN, GaN and AlxGa1−xN thin films with low impurity concentrations. Depositions were carried out at 200 °C using trimethylmetal precursors and NH3 or N2/H2 plasma. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed the presence of 2.5–3 at.% O in AlN and 1.5–1.7 at.% O in GaN films deposited using NH3 and N2/H2 plasma, respectively. No C impurities were detected within the films. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy analyses performed on the films deposited using NH3 plasma revealed the presence of O, C (both <1 at.%), and H impurities. GIXRD patterns indicated polycrystalline thin films with wurtzite crystal structure. Hollow cathode PA-ALD parameters were optimized for AlN and GaN thin films using N2/H2 plasma. Trimethylmetal and N2/H2 saturation curves evidenced the self-limiting growth of AlN and GaN at 200 °C. AlN exhibited linear growth with a growth per cycle (GPC) of ∼1.0 A. For GaN, the GPC decreased with the increasing number of deposition cycles, indicating substrate-enhanced growth. The GPC calculated from a 900-cycle GaN deposition was 0.22 A. Ellipsometric spectra of the samples were modeled using the Cauchy dispersion function, from which the refractive indices of 59.2 nm thick AlN and 20.1 nm thick GaN thin films were determined to be 1.94 and 2.17 at 632 nm, respectively. Spectral transmission measurements of AlN, GaN and AlxGa1−xN thin films grown on double side polished sapphire substrates revealed near-ideal visible transparency with minimal absorption. Optical band edge values of the AlxGa1−xN films shifted to lower wavelengths with the increasing Al content, indicating the tunability of band edge values with the alloy composition.


The first phase of the Chain FEARS (Finite Element Analysis of Residual Strength) Joint Industry Project (JIP) aimed to develop guidance for the determination of a rational discard criteria for mooring chains subject to severe pitting corrosion which, based on current code requirements, would otherwise require immediate removal and replacement.
 Critical to the development of rational discard criteria is the ability to accurately estimate the residual strength of a corrosion and wear degraded chain, and to have as a benchmark for loss in strength, an accurate estimate of the chain in its as-new condition. A Finite Element Analyses (FEA) residual capacity assessment method was first developed and correlated against available break strength test data of corrosion degraded links [1], and the Predicted Break Load (PBL) of as-new links was established as a benchmark for loss of strength [2].
 The validated FEA method for the determination of chain residual capacity was employed as a basis to establish an understanding of the effects of corroded chain and to determine the underlying relationship between loss of chain capacity and both uniform and mega pitting corrosion levels. The investigation sought through the conduct a series of FEA assessments employing a parametric model of idealized degraded chain links to derive the theoretical relationship beteen the residual capacity for varying levels of uniform corrosion, and the residual capacity for varying size, locations and shapes of mega pit corrosion degradation.
 This paper presents the findings of the investigation into the effects of uniform and mega pitting corrosion on degraded chain residual capacity and the correlation of the relationship with physical break test data, the findings of which forms the basis for development of a rational guideline for chain discard criteria whereby degraded mooring chain can be assessed in respect of the need for replacement.


News stories about medical research influence patients' beliefs, behaviours and use of healthcare services.1 Yet the quality of news coverage of medical studies is often poor.2 ,3 Many news stories about medical research exaggerate the clinical significance of the findings, fail to report potential harms of new interventions or overlook important study limitations.2

While it is tempting to blame journalists for shoddy medical news coverage, academic researchers, their institutions and journals must share the blame. For scientists, news coverage is an opportunity to frame their research in a favourable light for the public and colleagues. Meanwhile, development and fund-raising exigencies demand that institutions generate public enthusiasm about scientific accomplishments, and medical editors are motivated to maximise the impact of the research published in their journals. Thus, researchers, institutions and journal editors share a common motivation to maximise press coverage of new medical research.

Not surprisingly researchers and their institutions commonly collaborate on press releases to promote news coverage of new medical studies, and many journals issue press releases independently.4 Press releases increase the odds that a study will receive news coverage5 and influence the content of eventual press coverage.6 Alarmingly, in the guise of original reporting, many press releases issued by academic institutions appear verbatim on newspapers and websites with nothing to notify readers that the text is …


ABSTRACT: This paper presents a conceptual discussion on structural response to high frequency and short duration impulsive ground motion based on numerical analysis of a single degree of freedom system subjected to explosion-induced ground motion. Parametric study is performed to investigate the effect of impulse duration to natural period ratio on the maximum response of a single degree of freedom system to different types of impulsive loadings. As the loading duration of explosion-induced ground motion is smaller than half of the natural period of most civil engineering structures, maximum displacement response to underground explosion increases with the increase in total impulse, and it generally occurs in the free vibration phase. It is, therefore, necessary to consider longer time domain than the loading duration in the analytical prediction of structural damage due to high frequency and short duration loading. Numerical analyses are carried out on single degree of freedom systems with different natural periods to simulate and investigate the contribution of vibration modes on the overall displacement, velocity and acceleration responses. High frequency vibration modes, which are activated within the forced vibration phase, cause smaller displacement and larger acceleration response. However, free-vibration response is dominated by lower frequency fundamental mode that yields larger displacement and smaller acceleration response. Hence, structures are more likely to undergo displacementinduced damage in the free vibration phase, but relatively larger inertia force due primarily to high acceleration might be detrim ental in the forced vibration phase.


The breeding and non‐breeding 'castes' of eusocial insects provide a striking example of role‐specific selection, where each caste maximises fitness through different morphological, behavioural and physiological trait values. Typically, queens are long‐lived egg‐layers, while workers are short‐lived, largely sterile foragers. Remarkably, the two castes are nevertheless produced by the same genome. The existence of inter‐caste genetic correlations is a neglected consequence of this shared genome, potentially hindering the evolution of caste dimorphism: alleles that increase the productivity of queens may decrease the productivity of workers and vice versa, such that each caste is prevented from reaching optimal trait values. A likely consequence of this 'intralocus caste antagonism' should be the maintenance of genetic variation for fitness and maladaptation within castes (termed 'caste load'), analogous to the result of intralocus sexual antagonism. The aim of this review is to create a research framework for understanding caste antagonism, drawing in part upon conceptual similarities with sexual antagonism. By reviewing both the social insect and sexual antagonism literature, we highlight the current empirical evidence for caste antagonism, discuss social systems of interest, how antagonism might be resolved, and challenges for future research. We also introduce the idea that sexual and caste antagonism could interact, creating a three‐way antagonism over gene expression. This includes unpacking the implications of haplodiploidy for the outcome of this complex interaction.


We have used density functional theory to investigate the adsorption efficiency of a hydrogenated graphene (graphane) sheet for H2S and NH3 gases. We find that neither the pristine graphane sheet nor the sheet defected by removing a few surface H atoms have sufficient affinity for either H2S or NH3 gas molecules. However, a graphane sheet doped with Li adatoms shows a strong sensing affinity for both the mentioned gas molecules. We have calculated the absorption energies with one [referred to as half coverage] molecule and two molecules [referred to as full coverage] for both gases with the Li-doped graphane sheet. We find that for both the gases, the calculated absorption energies are adequate enough to decide that the Li-doped graphane sheet is suitable for sensing H2S and NH3 gases. The Li-doped sheet shows a higher affinity for the NH3 gas compared to the H2S gas molecules due to a stronger Li(s)-N(p) hybridization compared to that of Li(s)-S(p). However, while going from the half coverage effect to the full coverage effect, the calculated binding energies show a decreasing trend for both the gases. The calculated work function of the Li-doped graphane sheet decreases while bringing the gas molecules within its vicinity, which explains the affinity of the sheet towards both the gas molecules.


This book review critically evaluates Robert Cooter & Ariel Porat's "Getting Incentives Right" (Princeton University Press, 2014). The review makes four general arguments, each addresses the book from a different angle. First, the book provides universally applicable theoretical insights, but limits the critical evaluation of existing law, and the consequent reform proposals, to the United States. It thereby gives up accuracy, vigor, and audience. While this observation applies to the entire book, I provide several examples for the possible benefits of a comparative legal perspective.Second, C&P seem to miss problematic incentives that implementing their proposals might entail. Specifically, some of the most innovative proposals for reform involve upward or downward adjustments of the scope of damages for the purpose of securing injurers' (and sometimes also victims') efficient conduct. I show that in adjusting damages to properly incentivize injurers, these reforms may also create adverse incentives that the book overlooks.Third, the book is committed to classical economic analysis of law, and is therefore insensitive to empirical findings concerning human behavior. Behavioral studies give rise to serious doubts about the assumptions of classical economic analysis, and therefore pose challenges to most of its conclusions. I explain the general weaknesses of the book's methodology, and then demonstrate how some of its more concrete arguments could benefit from integrating existing behavioral research. In addition, I advocate empirical testing of C&P's theoretical arguments. Because the book aims to encourage desirable human behavior, the actual — empirically observed — impact of proposed legal reforms on human behavior is much more important than the theoretical prediction. Empirical testing obviously goes beyond the book's proclaimed goals, but without it all assumptions, conclusions, and recommendations remain inherently suspect.Fourth, in many contexts C&P propose legal reforms which aim to provide more efficient deterrence, but complicate the law to such an extent that the additional administrative costs may exceed the benefit of the modification. If promoting social welfare is the ultimate goal of private law, the tradeoff between more efficient deterrence and greater administrative costs is highly important. Yet the book generally overlooks or understates these costs. I provide several examples for inefficiencies that might ensue.


This study was conducted for examining the influence of social media in brand awareness, word of mouth, and intention to donate and decision making to give donation at Rumah Zakat, Indonesia. Social media as an exogenous variable. Endogenous variables consist of brand awareness, word of mouth (WOM), willingness to donate, and decision to give donation. This study uses primary data that was collected from 156 respondents which active on social media. The analysis method applies the estimation model of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) that operated by SmartPLS program version 2.0. The result revealed that social media has significant influence to the word of mouth and brand awareness of Rumah Zakat. Brand awareness of Rumah Zakat significantly gives effect in marketing of word of mouth and willingness to donate. The establishment of word of mouth's marketing significantly effect to willingness to donate. Willingness to donate significantly influences the decision of giving donation. Meanwhile, social media indirectly influence in willingness to donate to Rumah Zakat.


This study examines the construction of women's life histories in literary collections through the exemplary case of Ling Zhiyuan 凌祉媛 and her poetry collection, Cuiluoge shici gao 翠螺閣詩詞稿 (Drafts of Poems and Song Lyrics from the Green Snail Shell Loft). Published in 1854 by her young husband Ding Bing (1832–1899) after her untimely death, this small collection is framed by numerous paratexts such as prefaces, verse inscriptions, biographical accounts, and elegies. I explore how Ling's self-representation in her poetry is mediated by these paratexts and show how different readers may have read or interpreted her poems. This essay thus highlights the discursive complexity and kinship and social networks underlying the production and interpretation of life writing in late imperial China.


This paper presents an effective and simple solution to the problem of Layer 3 (L3) handover in IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs (WLANs), so as to extend the IP mobility area of 802.11 wireless Stations (STAs). The IEEE 802.11f Inter-Access Point Protocol (IAPP), handles the Layer 2 (L2) mobility of STAs during L2 (intra-network) handovers, and offers IP connectivity via L2 specific methods. Instead of using a different protocol for the L3 mobility management of STAs, such as Mobile IP (MIP) [4] or a MIP-variant, the IAPP protocol is extended so as to also support the inter-network (L3) movements of 802.11 STAs. The proposed IAPP-based mechanism supports host mobility and offers substantial uninterrupted wireless IPconnectivity, even after L3 movements. The cornerstones of this mechanism are the zero-delay IP movement detection and the zero over-the-air IP signaling during IP handover establishment, which lead to seamless (very fast) and smooth IP handoffs. This fast IP-handoff method is especially suitable to 802.11 systems, as it has better performance than traditional MIP-based methods (shorter handover delays, near zero packet loss), while makes IP roaming transparent to the mobile STAs.


This essay describes the common concerns about the social reproduction of race found in the works of pioneering Afro-Latin American writers Maria de Fermina Reis, Irma Pedroso, Carolina Maria de Jesus and Daisy Rubiera Castillo. Each was the first African-descended woman in Brazil or Cuba to author a fictional novel or testimonial autobiography. Although separated by time and place, they were united in their projection of a black racial pride that transcended the racist marginalization inflicted upon them and their communities. Each was an unacknowledged theorist of race, who sought to minimize its most oppressive characteristics, while celebrating blackness in their own powerful ways. Recognizing them as organic intellectuals of race and racialized reproduction opens a new character in Latin American intellectual history.


A software product line is defined as a set of software products sharing a set of common features but containing significant variability. Mature software product lines generate a large number of variable requirements and complex inter-dependencies between them. A significant challenge is to provide engineers with clear and understandable views of these inter-dependencies and their impact. This paper presents a visualisation meta-model for representing inter-dependencies between product line and describes a tool to realise these visualisations.


The Report offers a global ranking of academic legal publications, covering more than 900 outlets, and using a four-tier categorization. The ranking is based on a combined quantitative and qualitative methodology. The Report was composed in the context of the Israeli academic system, but the methodology and the results are not jurisdiction-specific.

Evaluating academic publications is a never-ending challenge. Such evaluation is an integral part of internal hiring, promotion, and tenure procedures, and of external funding decisions and institutional rankings. The proper way to evaluate academic publications has been the subject of fierce debate. The traditional method for academic evaluation is specific review of each publication, assessing its originality, rigor, and significance. This method, known as "peer-review", is often difficult to perform and might be subjective and biased. These concerns have generated an increased interest in the use of quantitative indicators in research evaluation. However, notwithstanding its scientific allure, the use of quantitative measures to assess research has been heavily criticized by the academic community for losing sight of the intrinsic value of academic work, for ignoring distinct "citation communities" in various fields, and for creating perverse incentives that could actually undermine scientific innovation and reward mediocre work.

Evaluation of legal scholarship faces particular challenges due to the absence of comprehensive, universally endorsed, quantitative rankings of law journals and the fundamental bifurcation into peer-reviewed and student-edited journals. The challenges are further complicated in non-English speaking jurisdictions, such as Israel, where scholars publish in both their local language and English, in domestic and foreign journals.

The current Report aims to respond to some of the criticism of quantitative measures and to address the distinctive characteristics of the academic legal domain by proposing a ranking of legal publications that integrates various qualitative and quantitative measures. The Report is the product of more than two years of work, initiated by the Deans of four Israeli law schools operating within public universities. It presents the background to the Committee's work, outlines general principles, and explains the scope of the current project and the ranking methodology. The Appendix contains the proposed ranking.


Asthma monitoring should be focused on patient outcomes and goals. Using clinical practice tools allows the clinicians to detect problems such as bad adherence to mainte‐ nance therapy, comorbidities, or other external reason for a poorly controlled asthma. To succeed in the process of asthma control, doctors need the participation of the family. Because such educational task requires good agreement between patient environment and doctor, it might be difficult to achieve. However, it is worth to implement because the benefit is a life without symptoms of asthma with a minimum medication.