Abstract. The authors have investigated into different geostatistical point data modeling approaches for regionalization purposes that employ the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) techniques. Regionalization is a spatially constrained adjacency classification problem. In this study, regionalization is viewed as classification of spatial objects (non-uniformly distributed points) into a smaller number of geographic regions defined by their spatial and attributive characteristics or regionalized variables. For regionalization, we take into consideration the non-stationarity and autocorrelation properties of the spatial data.


In barter exchanges, participants directly trade their endowed goods in a constrained economic setting without money. Transactions in barter exchanges are often facilitated via a central clearinghouse that must match participants even in the face of uncertainty—over participants, existence and quality of potential trades, and so on. Leveraging robust combinatorial optimization techniques, we address uncertainty in kidney exchange, a real-world barter market where patients swap (in)compatible paired donors. We provide two scalable robust methods to handle two distinct types of uncertainty in kidney exchange—over the quality and the existence of a potential match. The latter case directly addresses a weakness in all stochastic-optimization-based methods to the kidney exchange clearing problem, which all necessarily require explicit estimates of the probability of a transaction existing—a still-unsolved problem in this nascent market. We also propose a novel, scalable kidney exchange formulation that eliminates the need for an exponential-time constraint generation process in competing formulations, maintains provable optimality, and serves as a subsolver for our robust approach. For each type of uncertainty we demonstrate the benefits of robustness on real data from a large, fielded kidney exchange in the United States. We conclude by drawing parallels between robustness and notions of fairness in the kidney exchange setting.


Abstract As the US presidential elections are just a few months away, the economic and strategic differences between India and the United States have come to the forefront. Trump–Modi partnership which started with 'hugplomacy, is now transformed to that of 'shadowboxing'. In this era, legacy as well as personal ties between the two leaders will matter little because national interests will be pursued relentlessly. India's quest for autonomy in foreign policy and its ability to manage the contradictions with the United States will dictate the future course of relations between the two countries.


The rise of mixed methods approaches to development-oriented research has brought new attention to qualitative research methods. This paper describes the use of qualitative approaches to illuminate gender relations in agricultural development research and project implementation. For gender research, qualitative methods can be particularly helpful in illuminating how men and women view their lives. Drawing on literature about social science methods and linking it to recent examples of qualitative methods employed in research and development projects, the paper argues for greater precision in key concepts of gender research, starting with sex and gender. From the many possible qualitative methods used in development work, the paper focuses on several common observational (both direct and participatory) and interview techniques, the latter including key informant and group interviews and focus group discussions. Researchers use various techniques to gather different types of information, for example, mapping techniques to understand men's and women's different types of knowledge about their environment and eliciting in-depth information on a single topic with key informants. In a brief discussion of the analysis of qualitative data, the paper notes that informant responses are not "the truth" but need to be assessed against other sources of data. Finally, there is a short discussion of how qualitative data have been used in comparative work. The paper concludes that the results of good qualitative research on gender relations can help identify the locally specific pathways needed to achieve gender-transformative development approaches.


Occludin has been identified from chick liver as a novel integral membrane protein localizing at tight junctions (Furuse, M., T. Hirase, M. Itoh, A. Nagafuchi, S. Yonemura, Sa. Tsukita, and Sh. Tsukita. 1993. J. Cell Biol. 123:1777-1788). To analyze and modulate the functions of tight junctions, it would be advantageous to know the mammalian homologues of occludin and their genes. Here we describe the nucleotide sequences of full length cDNAs encoding occludin of rat-kangaroo (potoroo), human, mouse, and dog. Rat-kangaroo occludin cDNA was prepared from RNA isolated from PtK2 cell culture, using a mAb against chicken occludin, whereas the others were amplified by polymerase chain reaction based on the sequence found around the human neuronal apoptosis inhibitory protein gene. The amino acid sequences of the three mammalian (human, murine, and canine) occludins were very closely related to each other (approximately 90% identity), whereas they diverged considerably from those of chicken and rat-kangaroo (approximately 50% identity). Implications of these data and novel experimental options in cell biological research are discussed.


In winter, small birds should be fat to avoid starvation and lean and agile to escape predators. This means that they face a tradeoff between the costs and benefits of carrying fat reserves. Every day they must gain enough fat to survive the coming night. Food-hoarding species can afford to carry less fat than nonhoarders because they can store energy outside the body. Furthermore, hoarders should avoid carrying excessive fat during the day because they can gain fat fast by retrieving food late in the afternoon. With no stored supplies, nonhoarders face more unpredictable access to food, and they should start gaining fat earlier in the day. The predicted pattern is then that nonhoarders gain fat early and that hoarders gain fat late in the day. Recent field data show the opposite pattern: hoarders gain relatively more fat reserves in the morning than nonhoarders do. Using a dynamic model that mimics the conditions in a boreal winter forest, I investigated under which conditions this pattern will arise. The only assumption of those investigated that produced this pattern was to relax the effect of mass-dependent predation risk. I did this by introducing a limit under which fat reserves did not affect predation risk. Hoarders then started the day by gaining fat in the morning. Later; when they had reached a safer (but still not risky) level, they switched to hoarding. The pattern I searched would only occur if either. not all food was possible to store, or if retrieval gave less energy than foraging in good weather conditions. If I assumed that low levels of body fat also increased predation risk, hoarders would cache in the morning when they carried least fat. I discuss empirical evidence for how body fat affects predation risk. In summary the factors that produced the pattern I searched were a change in the predation-mortality function combined with restrictions on hoarding.


Avoiding collisions between a robot arm and any obstacle in its path is essential to human-robot collaboration. Multiple systems are available that can detect obstacles in the robot's way prior and subsequent to a collision. The systems work well in different areas surrounding the robot. One area that is difficult to handle is the area that is hidden by the robot arm. This paper focuses on pick and place maneuvers, especially on obstacle detection in between the robot arm and the table that robot is located on. It introduces the use of single pixel time-offlight sensors to detect obstacles directly from the robot arm. The proposed approach reduces the complexity of the problem by locking axes of the robot that are not needed for the pick and place movement. The comparison of simulated results and laboratory measurements show concordance.


Sex allocation theory predicts that parents should manipulate brood sex ratio in order to maximise the combined reproductive value of their progeny. Females mating with high quality males should, therefore, be expected to produce brood sex ratios biased towards sons, as male offspring would receive a relatively greater advantage from inheritance of their father's characteristics than would their female siblings. Furthermore, it has been suggested that sex allocation in chicks fathered through extrapair fertilizations should also be biased towards sons. Contrary to these predictions, we found no evidence that the distribution of sex ratios in a sample of 1483 chicks from 154 broods of blue tits (Parus caeruleus) deviated significantly from that of a binomial distribution around an even sex ratio. In addition, we found no significant effect on brood sex ratio of the individual quality of either parent as indicated by their biometrics, feather mite loads, time of breeding, or parental survival. This suggests that females in our population were either unable to manipulate offspring sex allocation or did not do so because selection pressures were not strong enough to produce a significant shift away from random sex allocation. The paternity of 986 chicks from 103 broods was determined using DNA microsatellite typing. Extrapair males sired 115 chicks (11.7%) from 41 broods (39.8%). There was no significant effect of paternity (within-pair versus extrapair) on the sex of individual offspring. We suggest that, in addition to the weakness of selection pressures, the possible mechanisms responsible for the allocation of sex may not be sufficiently accurate to control offspring sex at the level of the individual egg.


The main focus of this study is on the causes of the problems in English language proficiency of Grade Nine high-school learners in Asmara, Eritrea, with reference to their oral skills, particularly for academic purposes. This study examines the way Grade Nine English teachers in Eritrea do or do not promote the development of Grade Nine learners' oral proficiency. The researcher's focus is on how the teachers structure their teaching approach to English and the way students learn the language in the classroom. The researcher looked at the practices of English language teachers by conducting observations in English classes in two high schools in Eritrea for about a month. The researcher obtained rich data via different methods of data collection with respect to the learners' oral development. The criteria that the researcher adopted for observation were those of the Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching Observation Scheme (COLT) (Allan, Frohlich, and Spada: 1983). In addition to the classroom observation, the researcher also conducted interviews with the teachers. Questionnaires were distributed to learners, after which focus-group discussions with selected students were conducted. The findings of this study are summarized as follows. Firstly, English teachers have teaching techniques which are ineffective in achieving the intended objective. They use the structural approach to language teaching, which is out-dated. Secondly, grammar is the main focus of lessons. Most of the students commented that more oral (speaking) classes should be included in the learning of language to achieve oral/aural proficiency. Teachers must therefore foster a supportive classroom environment and stress the importance of oral classes in language learning.


The narrator in Lolita can easily be perceived as trustworthy and sympathetic after a first reading of the novel. However, after a second reading of Lolita, numerous signs of unreliability are arguably detected, and are therefore well-worth examining further in order to enlighten the narrator"s true function. The aim of this essay is to explore the unreliability of the narrator and protagonist Humbert Humbert in Lolita.


What moral commitments do we manifest when we make claims upon one another? The practice of claiming is inescapable, and so any normative presuppositions of that practice are similarly inescapable (at least on pain of self-contradiction). This inquiry thus promises an Archimedian point from which to address intractable moral disagreements in modern society. Whatever we happen to differ about, we can be shown to agree about these premises, and therefore to share commitment to whatever can be derived from these premises. The most prominent developer of this approach is Jurgen Habermas, who has sought to ground, inter alia, religious and cultural rights on this basis. I will argue that the strategy cannot resolve disagreement in the way Habermas hopes, and that this has been shown, perhaps inadvertently, by Stephen Darwall, who for very different reasons seeks to work out the premises of the practice of claiming (and who never discusses Habermas). Darwall has no apparent interest in finding a universally convincing basis for resolving moral controversies. He seeks to address, not the practical problems of a pluralistic society, but some specialized, albeit important, questions of metaethics, having to do with what kind of entity a moral claim is. Both Habermas and Darwall think that discourse presupposes a kind of respect among persons. Darwall, however, shows that respect is too fluid, and takes too many possible forms, to ground any but the most trivial specific moral claims.


This paper defines Poly AML , a typed functional, aspect-oriented programming language. The main contribution of Poly AML is the seamless integration of polymorphism, run-time type analysis and aspect-oriented programming language features. In particular, PolyAML allows programmers to define type-safe polymorphic advice using pointcuts constructed from a collection of polymorphic join points. PolyAML also comes equipped with a type inference algorithm that conservatively extends Hindley-Milner type inference. To support first-class polymorphic point-cut designators, a crucial feature for developing aspect-oriented profiling or logging libraries, the algorithm blends the conventional Hindley-Milner type inference algorithm with a simple form of local type inference. We give our language operational meaning via a type-directed translation into an expressive type-safe intermediate language. Many complexities of the source language are eliminated in this translation, leading to a modular specification of its semantics. One of the novelties of the intermediate language is the definition of polymorphic labels for marking control-flow points. These labels are organized in a tree structure such that a parent in the tree serves as a representative for all of its children. Type safety requires that the type of each child is less polymorphic than its parent type. Similarly, when a set of labels is assembled as a pointcut, the type of each label is an instance of the type of the pointcut.


The voucher scheme introduced in Chile in 1981 allows for-profit private subsidized schools to choose their students. This study examines the effects of this practice on the results' gap between private and public schools and its impact on academic performance. Information from the 2005 SIMCE test is used, in which parents were asked about the admission requirements in their children's schools. We present evidence indicating that student selection is a widespread practice among private subsidized schools. After controlling for a series of selection criteria and the segmentation effects that they produce, theevidence indicates that there are no differences in results between public and private subsidized education. Our results show that a student attending a school that uses selection criteria obtains 6-14% higher results in standardized mathematics tests than a student from a school that does not use selection.


In evolutionary biology, genetic sequences carry with them a trace of the underlying tree that describes their evolution from a common ancestral sequence. Inferring this underlying tree is challenging. We investigate some curious cases in which different methods like Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood and distance-based methods lead to different trees. Moreover, we state that in some cases, ancestral sequences can be more reliably reconstructed when some of the leaves of the tree are ignored – even if these leaves are close to the root. While all these findings show problems inherent to either the assumed model or the applied method, sometimes an inaccurate tree reconstruction is simply due to insufficient data. This is particularly problematic when a rapid divergence event occurred in the distant past. We analyze an idealized form of this problem and determine a tight lower bound on the growth rate for the sequence length required to resolve the tree (independent of any particular branch length). Finally, we investigate the problem of intermediates in the fossil record. The extent of 'gaps' (missing transitional stages) has been used to argue against gradual evolution from a common ancestor. We take an analytical approach and demonstrate why, under certain sampling conditions, we may not expect intermediates to be found.


Past infectious disease epidemics in the United States and governmental responses to them made it highly predictable that people living in poverty, people of color, and people with disabilities would bear the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic due to discrimination that limits equal access to resources, such as health care, housing, and employment. The COVID-19 pandemic magnified and accelerated the impact of longstanding discrimination and health inequity among historically marginalized groups and low-income populations. Black and Latinx populations have a higher COVID-19 contraction and mortality rate, higher rates of unemployment, less access to health care, and are at higher risk of eviction during the pandemic, among other significant inequities. Without robust and swift government interventions, the impacts of the pandemic will be wide and deep. This article analyzes mechanisms of discrimination and barriers to health in the pandemic setting using the health justice framework to address discrimination and poverty. The health justice framework offers four overarching principles to prevent and eliminate health disparities during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. First, legal and policy responses must address the impacts of discrimination and poverty on the social determinants of health, which in turn threaten to exacerbate the health, financial, and social impacts of a public health emergency on low-income communities, communities of color, and other marginalized communities. Second, interventions mandating healthy behaviors—such as staying at home from work when sick, mask wearing, and minimizing close contacts outside the home—must be accompanied by legal protections, accommodations, and social supports to enable those behaviors while minimizing economic, social, and cultural harms. Third, because emergencies typically exacerbate long-standing and interconnected crises in low-income communities and communities of color, legal and policy responses must address root problems in addition to immediate needs. Fourth, historically marginalized communities must be engaged as leaders in the development of any interventions and the attainment of health justice. To demonstrate the application of the health justice framework and principles, this article focuses upon three pillars that support resilience and equip marginalized communities to withstand the immediate and long-term impacts of the pandemic: health care, housing, and employment. This article explains how health care discrimination is a social determinant of health, how lack of access to health care operated as a barrier to health justice during the COVID-19 pandemic, and applies the health justice framework to address health inequity. Then this article explains how housing and eviction are social determinants of health, how housing discrimination is a barrier to health justice during the COVID-19 pandemic, and suggests way to achieve health justice in housing. Finally, this article discusses how poverty and employment inequity are social determinants of health, how structural discrimination is an accelerator of employment inequity during the COVID-19 pandemic, and suggests how health justice principles can help achieve equity in employment. Ultimately, the framework can be adopted across numerous social determinants of health and structures to ensure the elimination of discrimination, poverty, and poor health among marginalized people during and after the pandemic.


Immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) related disease is a newly recognized fibro inflammatory condition characterized by tumefactive lesions, a dense lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate rich in IgG4-positive plasma cells, storiform fibrosis and often but not always, elevated serum IgG4 concentrations. We present a 38 years old female complaining of headache which was progressive and unilateral resistant to analgesics. Diagnosed as a case of migraine started anti migraine treatment with no benefit, it was further complicated by 3rd, 4th and 6th Cranial Palsy. Radiological finding of opacification of left sphenoid sinus with extension to the left cavernous sinus along with bone erosion was noted. The biopsy from the sphenoid sinus mass showed a moderately dense lymphoplasmacytic infiltration accompanied with fibrosis. Immunostaining for IgG4 show significant increase in IgG4-positive plasma cells with IgG4-IgG ratio > 40% and >100 IgG4 positive plasma cells per High Field Focus (HPF), giving the diagnosis of IgG4 sinusitis. This is a rare case of IgG4 related disease in the sphenoid sinus. Clinical, radiological and therapeutic challenges are discussed.


Starting from a model of random nonlinear polarization rotations for the effect of cross-polarization modulation in DWDM systems, we derive the mean distribution of the time-dependent polarization states at an arbitrary location within an optical link. We show that this distribution is fully parameterized by the degree of polarization of the particular wavelength channel, and we derive expressions to approximate this parameter for general optical links consisting of multiple optically amplified and dispersion-compensated spans, as well as related power thresholds. From the analytical expressions we derive a method to significantly reduce the detrimental effects.


Almost every higher education institution in the world is facing a tough challenge to recruit new students especially the talented ones due to intense competition in the local and global market. The institution needs to design effective marketing strategies that able to recruit students. The recruitment strategies in public higher education institutions can be classified into three main categories namely; non-active recruiting strategy, passive recruiting strategy, and active recruiting strategy. This study reveals that non-active recruitment strategies such as reputation of the university, and passive recruitment strategies such as advertisements have significant relationships with the talented postgraduate students' recruitment. However, active recruitment strategies (i.e. travelling abroad to recruit students) were not significantly correlated to talented postgraduate recruitment. Research Universities (i.e. USM, UM, UKM, UPM and UTM), seem to have more quality students as compared to other non-Research Universities except for the UIAM. Thus to be more effective, the recruitment of postgraduate student strategies and practices in the public universities needs to be reviewed continuously since the needs and wants of the students are ever changing. Keywords: Recruitment strategy, marketing strategy, higher education institutions, quality students JEL Classifications: 123, M31


From a brief history of poetry, to words of scattered yet sympathetic thoughts my obsession with poetry will be unleashed. My thoughts and different approaches with this project will take on a few different short intoxicating narratives and excursions. Different sections of my project are simple yet complex indirect reflections of verbal asymmetrical shapes, and visual connections. Ultimately, you will be able to experience the visual connections through the photos that I took and my poetic approach. I hope this project is found to be seen as an exhilarating experience as I share my personal self, my thoughts on creativity, and the positive impact it can have on our youth. My world is filled with creative imagination, chaotic verbal chemistry, and divine surprises. Here is where you will take a journey with me through this wild maze that you may not directly understand, but indirectly I will make sure is understood. Creatively and ultimately the maze will also reflect the game connect the dots in a divergent and convergent formality. This complicated, yet tranquil maze will start out with caged in mental thoughts, my personal incubation moments, and questions to consider with the intent to make you think. The maze will also take on many twist and turns as the journey takes a walk with my daily mental and emotional self through words of expression. The art of poetry, what it sounds like, smells like, and feels like. The series of poems that I created seem to be appropriate to the narrative are presented for eyes to see and wisdom to gain. You never know you might just find some value in this journey maze and may even feel yourself being able to relate to the subject matter. Recommended Citation Crews, Shalisa C., "My Poetic Journey Maze" (2018). Creative Studies Graduate Student Master's Projects. 285. https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/creativeprojects/285  Download


Prior to his masterpiece, Code Inconnu, Michael Haneke made five films as writer/director, one adaptation, and wrote one screenplay realized by another filmmaker. The Castle, though a thoroughly accomplished film in its own right, is the least interesting: an intelligent and faithful film version of Kafka's novel. Its importance in relation to the more personal films lies in the link Haneke presumably wished to make between his own work and Kafka's--at which point I should say clearly that I find Haneke's work the more interesting and productive, the more directly relevant to the quandaries we all face today: Kafka's novels induce a sense of hopelessness, Haneke's films (although profoundly pessimistic) continue to demand change, if change is still possible. What connects the two artists is a sense of a terrible, perhaps unreachable, hence undefeatable power that ultimately hangs over our lives, controls and destroys us. Those unsympathetic to Haneke (and they are many, especially since Funny Games) might link his work to Kafka's under the general label of 'paranoia'. But there is a crucial difference: in Kafka the higher power remains mysterious, inexplicable; in Haneke it is subjected to scrutiny and analysis, unmasked, named. Kafka is paranoid; Haneke is realistic. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The screenplay (realized by Paulus Manker) is another matter: The Moor's Head relates very closely to Haneke's concerns but is an altogether cruder, uglier, more simplified statement of them. It's possible (I don't know) that the screenplay was an earlier work, preceding his own films; or it's possible that Manker simplified and coarsened Haneke's vision. It differs from his own films in a number of ways: 1. It contains 'in your face 'physical horror (making it, at climactic moments, almost unwatchable); 2. It places a major burden of responsibility on the protagonist's wife (insensitive, incapable of understanding her husband's obsessions), whereas women in Haneke's films are shown to be at worst uneasily complicit (The Seventh Continent), and otherwise (Benny's Video) capable of beginning to extricate themselves from the dominant male discourse; 3. Its analysis of our predicament (if we really want to save the human race, or the planet, and defy Freud's universal death wish) is altogether too simple: ecology, although obviously of enormous importance, is not the only issue involved. Rather, the later films suggest that (as Jane Fonda asserts at the end of the Godard/Gorin Tout Va Bien) we must 'Change everything. But how? Everywhere, now.' Haneke, today, seems less optimistic about the possibility of this happening (but then so, today, does Godard). The five films that Haneke has directed from his own screenplays fall neatly into two groups: the two multi-narrative films (71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance, Code Inconnu) and the three single-narrative films (The Seventh Continent, Benny's Video, Funny Games). This article is concerned with the second group (the only three films I have available on video for repeated viewings), but I want to preface it by making the obvious connections. Chance (unpredictable encounters, people happening to be in the same place at the same time) plays a major role in the two multi-narrative works, no more than a minor one in the other group (in Funny Games it is virtually eliminated by the film's dominant character, who not only dominates the others but controls the film itself), but it is not the films' inner concern. Rather, the two films examine (one might say mercilessly scrutinize) people's reactions and their effects: the consequences of the chances, the coincidences, would have been different if those involved had reacted differently: accidents happen, yes, but what counts is how you respond, how you deal with them, the words you speak, the gestures you make. Beyond this is the films' omnipresent awareness of the pressures of modern living that partially, perhaps predominantly, determine one's behavioural choices. …


This paper deals with the optimization of coaxial filters using Tuning Space Mapping (TSM) method imple- mented to CST environment. The function of fine and coarse model and their link between each other is explained. In addition, supporting macros programmed in VBA language, which are used for maximum efficiency of the optimization from the users point of view, are men- tioned. Macros are programmed in CST and are also used for automatic calibration constants determination and for automatic calibration process between the coarse model and the fine model. The whole algorithm is illustrated on the particular seven-order filter design and optimized results are compared to measured ones.


An isolate of Fusarium solani that caused sudden death syndrome (SDS) of soybean was grown in a semidefined liquid medium. The phytotoxicity of cell-free fungal culture filtrates was determined on soybean calli grown on tissue culture medium amended with fungal culture filtrate. The mean calli brown rating increased as culture filtrate increased in the medium. There were significant (P < 0.05) positive correlations between SDS severity from field microplot data and calli browning due to culture filtrates. Seedlings of five soybean cultivars inoculated with the fungus under greenhouse conditions had significantly (P < 0.05) different foliar severity ratings and relative plant fresh weights. Sensitivity of calli of the same five cultivars to culture filtrate also had significantly (P < 0.05) different brown ratings and relative fresh weights. There were significant (P < 0.05) correlations between variables measured on inoculated soybean seedlings and calli sensitivity. Pathogenicity and phytotoxicity of F. solani isolates from different hosts were tested on soybean plants and calli, respectively. Isolates from hosts other than soybean did not cause SDS symptoms, and their culture filtrates had significantly lower toxicity to soybean calli than did that of soybean SDS-causing isolates.


AIM
Lipid peroxidation (LP) is an important factor in tissue damage following head injury. Reactive oxygen radicals which damage cellular components play an important role in ischemic or hypoxic tissue. They initiate the lipid peroxidation process after head trauma. However, antioxidant agents may protect brain tissue against oxidative damage

MATERIAL AND METHODS
39 male Swiss Albino rats (200-250 g) were used in this experimental study. These animals were divided into 3 groups: 1) control group, 2) propofol group (100 mg/kg) and, 3) citicoline (250 mg/kg) and propofol (100 mg/kg) combination group. Oxidant effect in brain tissue content was assessed by measuring the Malonyldialdehyde (MDA), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) and Gluthatione Peroxidase (GPx) activities.

RESULTS
There was no statistically meaningful difference among the groups regarding GPx levels. MDA levels were significantly lower in the citicoline and combination group than those of the control group. As for the levels of SOD, there was an increase both in the propofol and combination groups.

CONCLUSION
Atherapeutic benefit of the propofol and citicolin combination in head trauma has not been previously demonstrated. We examined the possible potential protective effect of propofol and citicolin against oxidative damage in experimental head trauma in the present study.


In general, underground spaces are associated with high risks because of their high uncertainty in geotechnical environments. Since most accidents and incidents in these structures are often associated with uncertainty, the development of risk analysis and management methods and prevention of accidents are essential. A deeper recognition of the factors affecting the implementation process can pave the way for this purpose. Risk rating of projects is a key part of the risk assessment stage in the risk management process of each project. Various multi-criteria decision-making methods, as quantitative approaches, are used to allow them to be used in the risk rating issue of each project. In this work, a new model is provided for risk management of Mashhad Urban Railway Line 3 using the game theory and multi-criteria decision-making methods. Based on the answers of the specialists and experts to the prepared questionnaires, various risk groups identified using the TOPSIS and AHP multi-criteria decision-making methods are ranked. Accordingly, the group of economic risks, as the most important risk and social risk group, is ranked as the least significant in both methods. In the following, the appropriate response to the main risks of the ratings is proposed based on the modeling of the game theory, and ranked in terms of importance. Also the worst risk scenario in the project is identified, and the appropriate responses for this state are also expressed in order of importance. The results obtained indicate that the risk of financing problems is the most significant risk, and other risks are ranked in terms of importance in the next ranks. Additionally, the use of new financing methods at times of credit scarcity and project financial problems is also considered as the most important response to the risk in this project.


Consten and Grundig was fundamental in shaping EU competition law and giving it its distinctive character. Issued in 1966, before the creation of a vast body of EU case law on competition, it introduced many of the fundamental concepts and guiding principles of EU competition law. Especially its emphasis on market integration and the Court's treatment of vertical agreements through a purportedly "formalist" approach remain both influential and controversial to this day. The release of the dossier de procédure sheds light on the thought processes that led to this judgment. The Court's choice to stick with the "object" analysis when dealing with vertical restraints harmful to market integration was by no means unavoidable. The parties and the intervening governments followed an intricate litigation strategy, informed by robust argumentation and a wealth of evidence based on economic data and comparative law, which was never analysed in its entirety by the Court or the subsequent literature. The dossier helps contextualise the Court's choice to disregard this line of argumentation and to underline the centrality of the single market imperative for the application of competition law. At the same time, it provides a valuable insight into how the various actors involved in the dispute (not just the parties and the Court but also personally the lawyers, and the representatives of the States) perceived their role and interacted with each other during those early, formative days of EU competition law.


Author(s): Ochs, Paul | Abstract: Justification for efficacy testing is provided under the present FIFRA, and the PR notice 70-15 requirements. In addition, the Pure Food and Drug Laws, the Delaney Amendment, and other laws effect the requirements of registration of all economic poisons. Basic preliminary registration information such as toxicological data, chemistry data, must be provided on all chemicals proposed as economic poisons. Once the basic chemical and toxicological properties have been determined, the applicant must consider basic efficacy requirements. Efficacy requirements should consider the effects of particle size and shape, taste and odor, impurities, diluents, stickers and solvents, volatility, mode of action, and other factors such as age, sex, species, characteristics and ambient temperatures. Specific studies, however, will vary with the intended use of the product and the target species involved. Field testing is required for all proposed products under actual field situations. These tests logically follow appropriate laboratory tests. The risk-benefit ratio is defined as a ratio of hazards to nontarget organisms as compared to the benefits resulting from the product's use. At present, this ratio has not been made a part of the registration procedure but has been used in adverse action.


A method that enlarges the pool of potential internal standards for axially viewed inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry has been developed and evaluated. This method is based upon the visualization of the similarity of matrix-induced behavior among emission lines by principal component analysis according to the procedure suggested by Grotti et al. (J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2003, 18, 274). For a certain analytical line, more choices of internal standards are provided from composite spectral lines created by combining real spectral lines in such a way as to integrate their characteristic behaviors. The method was applied in the determination of As, Sb and Se in solutions that modelled plant and food sample digests, to compensate for the matrix effect due to the presence of nitric or hydrochloric acids as well as a variety of matrix elements including aluminium, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, sulfur, and zinc. Under robust plasma conditions, the matrix-induced errors, which averaged between 8 and 23%, were decreased to an average of between 2 and 5% by the composite internal standards procedure. The methodology was validated by the accurate analysis of two certificated reference materials (DORM-2 and DOLT-3).


Context: Uncompressed Images contain redundancy of image data which can be reduced by image compression in order to store or transmit image data in an economic way. There are many techniques being used for this purpose but the rapid growth in digital media requires more research to make more efficient use of resources. Objectives: In this study we implement Polynomial curve fitting using 1st and 2nd curve orders with non-overlapping 4x4 and 8x8 block sizes. We investigate a selective quantization where each parameter is assigned a priority. The 1st parameter is assigned high priority compared to the other parameters. At the end Huffman coding is applied. Three standard grayscale images of LENA, PEPPER and BOAT are used in our experiment. Methods: We did a literature review, where we selected articles from known libraries i.e. IEEE, ACM Digital Library, ScienceDirect and SpringerLink etc. We have also performed two experiments, one experiment with 1st curve order using 4x4 and 8x8 block sizes and second experiment with 2nd curve order using same block sizes. Results: A comparison using 4x4 and 8x8 block sizes at 1st and 2nd curve orders shows that there is a large difference in compression ratio for the same value of Mean Square Error. Using 4x4 block size gives better quality of an image as compare to 8x8 block size at same curve order but less compression. JPEG gives higher value of PSNR at low and high compression. Conclusions: A selective quantization is good idea to use to get better subjective quality of an image. A comparison shows that to get good compression ratio, 8x8 block size at 1st curve order should be used but for good objective and subjective quality of an image 4x4 block size at 2nd order should be used. JPEG involves a lot of research and it outperforms in PSNR and CR as compare to our proposed scheme at low and high compression ratio. Our proposed scheme gives comparable objective quality (PSNR) of an image at high compression ratio as compare to the previous curve fitting techniques implemented by Salah and Ameer but we are unable to achieve subjective quality of an image.


We investigate oligopolistic competition between U.S. and Chinese apple exporters in the ASEAN market using strategic trade theory and the NEIO literature. We also analyze competition in the U.S. and Chinese domestic markets. U.S. supplies higher quality apples to ASEAN than China, resulting in product differentiation. The results show that U.S. exporters had a higher markup than Chinese exporters through the 1990s; however, as the share of Chinese apples expanded, the U.S. markup declined and the Chinese markup increased dramatically. Competitive pricing prevails both in the U.S. and Chinese domestic markets.


Introduction Engagement of junior doctors in patient safety initiatives is high on the national agenda, but there is a lack of studies evaluating patient safety attitudes among junior doctors. Methods The Junior Doctor–Patient Safety Attitudes and Climate Questionnaire is a multidimensional scale created using items from already-validated scales and inclusion of new items based on further review. It consists of three subscales: 'knowledge and training' (10 items), 'attitudes to patient safety' (15 items) and 'perception of workplace safety climate' (15 items). This was disseminated to foundation trainees, general practice trainees and hospital core and speciality trainees via the Deanery distribution lists and responses were collected anonymously. Results A total of 527 complete responses were collected; although self-declared knowledge in patient safety concepts was high, there was less declared understanding of a 'high reliability organisation' (74% no/unsure) and the concept of active failures/latent conditions (60% no/unsure). The greatest agreement was demonstrated for the statement 'Even the most experienced and competent doctors make errors' (p<0.01). However, more senior trainees and surgical trainees (vs medical trainees) demonstrated greater agreement with 'Medical error is a sign of incompetence' (p<0.01). More junior trainees demonstrated greater agreement with 'Management is more interested in meeting performance targets than focusing on patient safety issues' (p<0.01). Conclusions This study demonstrates subtle differences in attitudes to patient safety among junior doctors of different grades and specialities. These should be taken into account when designing interventions to improve patient safety education and culture among junior doctors.


To coop with urbanization issues and the economic need for expansion, the city of Jakarta is planning to reclaim more land in the Jakarta Bay. More land could discharge the inner city's over-population, enhance its economic growth and solve a lot of environmental and health problems the city is facing. However, the reclamation activities of some islands have barely started and already the developers are facing difficulties in finding sufficient quantities of sand fill material. When addressing the problem of sand scarcity in the case of Jakarta where, an excess of waste production, an inadequate solid waste management system and a lack of dumping ground pose a major problem, it is hard not to think of the use of waste as alternative fill material; the concept of "work with work". This paper evaluates the possibilities of how waste could replace or complement sand within the land reclamation projects of Jakarta considering the governmental, social, environmental and economic context of the city. The research results identify types of waste that could be used, ways or methods of using those types of waste and implementation conditions for the city of Jakarta.


This paper describes properties and behavior of magnetic reconnection and flux transfer events (FTEs) on the dayside magnetopause using the global hybrid‐Vlasov code Vlasiator. We investigate two simulation runs with and without a sunward (positive) Bx component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) when the IMF is southward. The runs are two‐dimensional in real space in the noon‐midnight meridional (polar) plane and three‐dimensional in velocity space. Solar wind input parameters are identical in the two simulations with the exception that the IMF is purely southward in one but tilted 45° toward the Sun in the other. In the purely southward case (i.e., without Bx) the magnitude of the magnetosheath magnetic field component tangential to the magnetopause is larger than in the run with a sunward tilt. This is because the shock normal is perpendicular to the IMF at the equatorial plane, whereas in the other run the shock configuration is oblique and a smaller fraction of the total IMF strength is compressed at the shock crossing. Hence, the measured average and maximum reconnection rate are larger in the purely southward run. The run with tilted IMF also exhibits a north‐south asymmetry in the tangential magnetic field caused by the different angle between the IMF and the bow shock normal north and south of the equator. Greater north‐south asymmetries are seen in the FTE occurrence rate, size, and velocity as well; FTEs moving toward the Southern Hemisphere are larger in size and observed less frequently than FTEs in the Northern Hemisphere.


Carpets from Islamic lands have been treasured for centuries on nearly every continent on earth. Prized by European monarchs and traded as far afield as Tibet and the Americas, these woven and knotted masterpieces are both distinguished works of art and revealing utilitarian objects that offer a rare glimpse of life in the Islamic world. "Carpets from Islamic Lands" features more than forty fine classical carpets held in the al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, along with several important pre-Islamic carpet fragments. Friedrich Spuhler describes this spectacular collection in the context of the history of Islamic art, recounting the carpets fascinating stories and celebrating their intricate designs and masterful craftsmanship. Including pictures of many carpets never before reproduced in print, and a few that may have been lost forever following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, this richly illustrated volume is essential reading for modern admirers of oriental carpets, and a treasure in its own right.


Patients suffering from Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are at higher risk of osteoporosis due to lower bone mineral density. Risk factors of osteoporosis are divided into unmodifiable, namely, age, gender, genetic factors, as well as modifiable, including diet, level of physical activity, and the use of stimulants. Coffee and tea contain numerous compounds affecting bone metabolism. Certain substances such as antioxidants may protect bones; other substances may increase bone resorption. Nevertheless, the influence of coffee and tea on the development and course of inflammatory bowel diseases is contradictory.


A rapid, selective, robust and sensitive analytical assay method, operating in a short time frame with acceptable levels of precision, linear range and the accuracy necessary for successful Mur ligases inhibitors discovery, was developed.
An LC-MS/MS analytical procedure was designed for the determination of a MurD ligase reaction product (UMAG). The special focus of this work was on UDP-N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine:D-glutamate ligase (MurD) activity. The assay method is especially valuable as an orthogonal (secondary) assay for the primary high throughput fluorescent-based assay screening of potential Mur ligase inhibitors. The LC-MS/MS assay is fully compatible with the components from the primary fluorescent-based assay and enables the analysis of the same samples by both methodologies. The presented LC-MS/MS assay procedure is used for the evaluation of the false positive hits (molecules) from the primary, fluorescence based, high throughput screening assay experiments. This is important for the elimination of false positive hits from the prohibitively expensive and time-consuming investigation process.
Method development describes the evaluation and optimization of the various stages of sample preparation, chromatographic separation, MS/MS determination and quantification. An enzyme reaction is performed in a 96-well plate. The quenched reaction mixture samples were spiked with an internal standard (phenacetin). The permeate was injected onto the U(H)PLC-MS/MS triple quadrupole system after sample ultrafiltration. Chromatographic separation was achieved on the ACQUITY UPLCTM HSS T3 column (100 x 2.1 mm i.d., 1.8 µm particle size) using an ammonium format buffer at pH 2.8 and acetonitrile as eluent. Elution initiated with an isocratic-hold for 1.1 min, followed by a two-step linear gradient of up to 3 min, giving a total run time of 5 min including equilibration. The flow rate was kept at a constant 0.4 mL/min.
UMAG quantitative analysis was performed by positive electrospray ionization, followed by tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS). The analytical assay quantifies UMAG in a linear range from 0.25 to 20 µM using 70 µL of samples. Validation results demonstrated that UMAG concentrations can be accurately and precisely determined in samples from the primary assay.
Evaluation of inhibitory activities of compounds measured by both the fluorescence and the LC-MS/MS method demonstrated that the values were in a very good agreement. This analytical method can be used to screen a compound library at a defined concentration of each compound to obtain the percentage of inhibition, or with a series of compound concentrations to obtain inhibition potency of a compound (IC50). The selected Lek compounds no. 1 and 2 from the virtual screening campaign were presented, tested and further investigated due to the expression of significant MurD ligase inhibitory action acquired by primary high throughput tests.
This assay has been developed for MurD, but during development, chromatographic and MS/MS conditions for UM and UMA were studied and defined as well. Therefore, this analytical assay method can easily be applied to other Mur ligases (i.e. MurC, MurE) enzyme activity monitoring in the process of bacteria cell wall peptidoglycan formation. This method enables the identification of many different Mur ligase inhibitors in a continued search for new Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria antibiotics.


Introduction: Of the 10–15% of the population labelled as penicillin allergic, ≤10% are truly allergic. We examined the safety, effi cacy and post-testing utility of strategies to de-label clinically diagnosed penicillin allergy.

Methods: Records of skin testing (ST) and oral challenges (OC) performed between June 2008–June 2012 were reviewed. Intradermal ST was performed with PPL/MDM (DAP, Diater, Spain), benzylpenicillin, fl ucloxacillin, amoxycillin, cephazolin and ceftriaxone. OC with penicillin VK was done if ST negative or selectively positive with follow-up OC to other beta-lactams. Telephone follow-up aimed to determine patient perception of post-testing recommendations and antibiotic exposure.

Results: 48/294 (16.3%) patients tested had a positive ST to ≥1 ST determinant. 16/48 (33.3%) had a positive reaction to either benzylpenicillin or PPL/MDM but not both. 17/48 (35%) patients were ST positive to a single beta-lactam determinant with negative tests to benzylpenicillin, PPL and MDM. 2/237 (0.8%) patients who underwent penicillin VK challenge had mild positive reactions despite negative ST (NPV 99.1%). To-date 247/294 (84%) of penicillin allergy labelled patients have been recommended to tolerate ≥1 beta-lactam antibiotic with some OCs still pending. 143/294 (48.6%) of patients were contacted a median of 21 months following testing of which 49/143 (34.3%) had tolerated a complete course of a beta-lactam antibiotic. Overall 16/16 (100%) of ST positive versus 61/117 (52%) of ST negative patients contacted were following specifi c post-testing recommendations (p < 0.001), and this discrepancy was largely driven by reservation by the patient and/or their GP.

Conclusions: ST/OC is a safe and effi cacious way of de-labelling patients with a clinical history of penicillin allergy. Use of multiple ST determinants maintains a high NPV and identifi es those with a selective beta lactam allergy who may benefi t from further OC to clarify their tolerance of other betalactams. Imperfect adherence to post-testing recommendations suggests a need for better reporting and follow-up communication with the patient and their primary physician.


The free electron behavior in InN is studied on the basis of decoupled bulk and surface accumulation electron densities in InN films measured by contactless optical Hall effect. It is shown that the variation in the bulk electron density with film thickness does not follow the models of free electrons generated by dislocation-associated nitrogen vacancies. This finding, further supported by transmission electron microscopy results, indicates the existence of a different thickness-dependent doping mechanism. Furthermore, we observe a noticeable dependence of the surface electron density on the bulk density, which can be exploited for tuning the surface charge in future InN based devices.


The calculation of ion-ion interactions in water is a problem of long standing importance. Modelling these interactions is a prerequisite to explaining Hofmeister (specific ion) effects. We here generalize our solvation model of ions to calculate the free energy of two ions in water as a function of separation. The same procedure has previously been applied to calculate ion interactions with the air-water interface successfully. The Conductor like Screening Model (COSMO) is used. This treats the ions on a quantum mechanical level and calculates numerically the electrostatic response of the surrounding solvent. Estimates of the change in the cavity formation energy and the change in the ion-water dispersion energy as the ions approach are included separately. The calculated interaction potentials are too attractive and this is a significant issue. However, they do reproduce the affinity of similarly sized ions for each other, which is a crucial property of these potentials. They are also oscillatory, another important property. We normalize the potentials to reduce the over-attraction, and good correlation with experimental values is achieved. We identify the driving contributions to this like-prefers-like behaviour. We then put forward a plausible hypothesis for the over-attraction of the potentials. An agreeable feature of our approach is that it does not rely on salt specific parameters deliberately adjusted to reproduce experimental values.


The purpose of brain mapping is to advance the
understanding of the relationship between structure and function in the human brain. Several techniques---with different advantages and
disadvantages---exist for recording neural activity. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has a high spatial resolution, but low temporal resolution. It also suffers from a low-signal-to-noise ratio in event-related experimental designs, which are commonly used to investigate neuronal brain activity. On the other hand, the high temporal resolution of electroencephalography (EEG) recordings allows to capture provoked event-related potentials. Though, 3D maps derived by EEG source reconstruction methods have a low spatial resolution, they provide complementary information about the location of neuronal activity. There is a strong interest in combining data from both modalities to gain a deeper knowledge of brain functioning through advanced statistical modeling.

In this thesis, a new Bayesian method is proposed for enhancing fMRI activation detection by the use of EEG-based spatial prior information in stimulus based experimental paradigms. This method builds upon a newly developed mere fMRI activation detection method. In general, activation detection corresponds to stimulus predictor components having an effect on the fMRI signal trajectory in a voxelwise linear model. We model and analyze stimulus influence by a spatial Bayesian variable selection scheme, and extend existing high-dimensional regression methods by incorporating prior information on binary selection indicators via a latent probit regression. For mere fMRI activation detection, the predictor consists of a spatially-varying intercept only. For EEG-enhanced schemes, an EEG effect is added, which is either chosen to be spatially-varying or constant. Spatially-varying effects are regularized by different Markov random field priors.

Statistical inference in resulting high-dimensional hierarchical models becomes rather challenging from a modeling perspective as well as with regard to numerical issues. In this thesis, inference is based on a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach relying on global updates of effect maps. Additionally, a faster algorithm is developed based on single-site updates to circumvent the computationally intensive, high-dimensional, sparse Cholesky decompositions.

The proposed algorithms are examined in both simulation studies and real-world applications. Performance is evaluated in terms of convergency properties, the ability to produce interpretable results, and the sensitivity and specificity of corresponding activation classification rules. The main question is whether the use of EEG information can increase the power of fMRI models to detect activated voxels.

In summary, the new algorithms show a substantial increase in sensitivity compared to existing fMRI activation detection methods like classical SPM. Carefully selected EEG-prior information additionally increases sensitivity in activation regions that have been distorted by a low signal-to-noise ratio.


OBJECTIVE
To determine opioid-prescribing patterns and rate of three types of errors, discrepancies, and variation from ideal practice.

DESIGN
Retrospective review of opioid prescriptions processed at an outpatient pharmacy.

SETTING
Tertiary institutional medical center.

PATIENTS
We examined 510 consecutive opioid medication prescriptions for adult patients processed at an institutional outpatient pharmacy in June 2016 for patient, provider, and prescription characteristics.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)
We analyzed prescriptions for deviation from best practice guidelines, lack of two patient identifiers, and noncompliance with Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) rules.

RESULTS
Mean patient age (standard deviation) was 47.5 years (17.4). The most commonly prescribed opioid was oxycodone (71 percent), usually not combined with acetaminophen. Practitioners prescribed tablet formulation to 92 percent of the sample, averaging 57 (47) pills. We identified at least one error on 42 percent of prescriptions. Among all prescriptions, 9 percent deviated from best practice guidelines, 21 percent failed to include two patient identifiers and 41 percent were noncompliant with DEA rules. Errors occurred in 89 percent of handwritten prescriptions, 0 percent of electronic health record (EHR) computer-generated prescriptions, and 12 percent of non-EHR computer-generated prescriptions. Interrater reliability by κ was 0.993.

CONCLUSIONS
Inconsistencies in opioid prescribing remain common. Handwritten prescriptions continue to demonstrate higher associations of errors, discrepancies, and variation from ideal practice and government regulations. All computer-generated prescriptions adhered to best practice guidelines and contained two patient identifiers, and all EHR prescriptions were fully compliant with DEA rules.


Husserl and Transcendental Intersubjectivity analyzes the transcendental relevance of intersubjectivity, and argues that an intersubjective transformation of transcendental philosophy can already be found in phenomenology, especially in Husserl. Husserl eventually came to believe that an analysis of transcendental intersubjectivity was a conditio sine qua non for a phenomenological philosophy. Drawing on both published and unpublished manuscripts, Dan Zahavi examines Husserl's reasons for this conviction and delivers a detailed analysis of his radical and complex concept of intersubjectivity, showing that precisely his reflections on transcendental intersubjectivity are capable of clarifying the core-concepts of phenomenology, thus making possible a new understanding of Husserl's philosophy. Against this background the book compares his view with the approaches to intersubjectivity found in Heidegger, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty, and it then attempts to establish to what extent the phenomenological approach can contribute to the current discussion of intersubjectivity. This is achieved through a systematic confrontation with the language-pragmatical positions of Apel and Habermas.


With increased demand for composite materials in the aerospace sector there is a requirement for the development of manufacturing processes that enable larger and more complex geometries, whilst ensuring that the functionality and specific properties of the component are maintained. To achieve this, methods such as thermal roll forming are being considered. This method is relatively new to composite forming in the aerospace field, and as such there are currently issues with the formation of part defects during manufacture. Previous work has shown that precise control of the force applied to the composite surface during forming has the potential to prevent the formation of wrinkle defects. In this paper the development of various control strategies that can robustly adapt to different complex geometries are presented and compared within simulated and small scale experimental environments, on varying surface profiles. Results have found that traditional PID control can be utilized, although its robustness under varying conditions reduces performance in situations that are far from the tuned scenario. This causes the PID controller to struggle with geometries containing surfaces with high frequency surface variations. To enable more robust control an H∞ based controller was therefore developed for the thermal roll forming process. Simulated results show that while the individual implementation of both controllers were successful in achieving the desired response, the H∞ based controller was able to perform better across a wider range of desired surface profiles.


OBJECTIVE
To identify primary empirical research related specifically to feelings of disgust associated with malodorous chronic cutaneous wounds.

METHOD
A rapid review of the literature using the key words disgust; wounds; malodour and psychosocial.

RESULTS
A total of 163 papers were retrieved with seven being included for the final review. Themes emanating from the review were malodour, health-care professionals coping with malodour and disgust. Malodour is a concern to patients, which can sometimes go unreported by nursing staff; although the reasons for this remain unclear. The coping mechanisms developed by nurses in response to 'disgusting' wounds requires further exploration in order for a fuller understanding of these mechanisms to be achieved. This review has identified that both health-care professionals and patients can become distressed at wound odours, yet there is little evidence that is available to guide people as to how to manage these feelings.

CONCLUSION
Hard-to-heal or chronic cutaneous wounds, such as leg ulcers and diabetic foot ulcers, are an increasing global health-care issue. While some research has been undertaken to explore the psychological impact of living with a fungating carcinoma; much less has been written about the management and mitigation of feelings of disgust for patients and families living with a malodorous wound or how health-care professionals can effectively provide psychosocial care.


Abstract. A study of the walkability of a Swiss town required finding suitable representations of multivariate geographical da-ta. The goal was to represent multiple indices of walkability concurrently and visualizing the data along the street network it relates to. Different indices of pedestrian friendliness were assessed for short street sections and then mapped to an overlaid grid. Basic and composite glyphs were designed using square- or triangle-areas to display one to four index values concurrently within the grid structure. Color was used to indicate different indices. Implement-ing visualizations for different combinations of index sets, we find that single values can be emphasized or de-emphasized by selecting the color scheme accordingly and that different color selections either allow perceiving sin-gle values or overall trends over the evaluated area. Values for up to four indices can be displayed in combination within the resulting geovisualizations and the underlying gridded road network references the data to its real world locations.


The need for novel approaches to treat infectious diseases is obvious and urgent. This situation has renewed interest in the use of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to treat infectious diseases. During the last 5 years, radioimmunotherapy (RIT), a modality developed for cancer treatment, has been successfully adapted for the treatment of experimental fungal (C. neoformans and H. capsulatum), bacterial (S. pneumoniae and B. anthracis), and viral (HIV-1) infections. RIT produced none or only transient hematological toxicity in experimental animals. Investigation of radiobiological mechanisms of RIT of infections showed that microbial cells are killed by both "direct-hit" and "cross-fire" radiation. mAbs radiolabeled with either alpha- or beta-emitters stimulated apoptosis-like cell death, whereas only mAbs radiolabeled with alpha-emitter (213)Bi also decreased the metabolic activity of microbial cells. The success of this approach in laboratory studies, combined with earlier nuclear medicine experience in preclinical and clinical studies using radiolabeled organism-specific antibodies for imaging of infections, provides encouragement for the feasibility of therapeutically targeting microbes with labeled antibodies. We envision that first the organism-specific mAbs will be radiolabeled with imaging radionuclides such as (99m)Tc or (111)In to localize the sites of infection with single-photon emission computed tomography, followed by RIT with (188)Re- or (90)Y-labeled mAb, respectively. Also, immuno-position emission tomogrpahy might be used to image infection before treatment if such positron-emitting radionuclides as (86)Y (matching pair for (90)Y) or (124)I (matching pair for (131)I) are available. It might be possible to create a so-called "pan-antibody" that would recognize an antigen shared by a particular class of human pathogens such as fungi, for example. The availability of such antibodies would eliminate the necessity of having antibodies specific for each particular microorganism and would enormously enhance the development of RIT of infectious diseases.


In this paper, two 3D CFD models of a load sensing proportional valve are contrasted. The models were developed with two different software, Simerics PumpLinx® and ANSYS Fluent®. In both cases the mesh was dynamically modified based on the fluid forces acting on the local compensator. In the former, a specific template for valves was used, in the latter a user-defined function was implemented. The models were validated in terms of flow rate and pressure drop for different positions of the main spool by means of specific tests. Two configurations were tested: with the local compensator blocked and free to regulate. The study has brought to evidence the reliability of the CFD models in evaluating the steady-state characteristics of valves with complex geometry.


Background Thioredoxin 80 (Trx80) is an 80 amino acid natural cleavage product of Trx, produced primarily by monocytes. Trx80 induces differentiation of human monocytes into a novel cell type, named Trx80-activated-monocytes (TAMs). Principal Findings In this investigation we present evidence for a role of TAMs in the control of intracellular bacterial infections. As model pathogens we have chosen Listeria monocytogenes and Brucella abortus which replicate in the cytosol and the endoplasmic reticulum respectively. Our data indicate that TAMs efficiently inhibit intracellular growth of both L. monocytogenes and B. abortus. Further analysis shows that Trx80 activation prevents the escape of GFP-tagged L. monocytogenes into the cytosol, and induces accumulation of the bacteria within the lysosomes. Inhibition of the lysosomal activity by chloroquine treatment resulted in higher replication of bacteria in TAMs compared to that observed in control cells 24 h post-infection, indicating that TAMs kill bacteria by preventing their escape from the endosomal compartments, which progress into a highly degradative phagolysosome. Significance Our results show that Trx80 potentiates the bactericidal activities of professional phagocytes, and contributes to the first line of defense against intracellular bacteria.


On the basis of the analysis of statistical data provided by Information Technology and Communication Department under the Ministry of the Interior as well as statistical and sampled data provided by Department of Statistics the article deals with prevalence and personal features of unemployed and not studying offenders contingent in Lithuania after restoration of independence. Also the review of general situation of inoccupation with mandatory studies and job, which influences criminal behaviour of unoccupied persons, is performed. However, offenders, not occupied with mandatory studies, make the minority part among unemployed and not stu- dying ones. Persons not occupied with any labour activity are in the majority. Consequently while making the analysis of prevalence of these offenders and their main social features the comparison with unemployed offenders contingent was performed. The analysis has indicated a quick leap of comparative part of unoccupied offenders in 1990-1995 due to increased number of children abandoning comprehensive school and especially due to decline in the state labour market after restoration of independence. Though the situation in these fields has stabilized there were no marked changes of unemployed and not studying suspected persons (offenders) in the general criminality registered in 1996-2002. While performing the analysis it was ascertained that in 1990-2005 the major part, on average 58%, of defined suspected persons (offenders) were unemployed and not studying persons. This criminal structure is similar to the general criminal structure of the country: crimes to property, especially thefts, prevail; violent crimes make about 35%, comparative part of crimes related to narcotic and psychoactive drugs is increasing, criminals to public order form a similar part as in the general structure. Notwithstanding the main social features of unemployed and not studying offenders contingent differ from social features of other members of the society who are not occupied with any beneficial activities, in some cases they differ even from the persons performing general criminal acts. They commit a crime intoxicated with alcohol, narcotic or psychoactive drugs more often than other defined suspected persons (offenders), and they more often repeat an offence. Male dominate here (about 90%) but it does not correspond to the prevalence percentage by sex among all unoccupied persons where parts are quite even. Two fifths of unemployed and not studying suspected persons (offenders) are in the age under 25 years while about 70% of unemployed are older than 30 years. Unoccupied offenders are even less prepared for labour market and have lower qualification that unemployed in general. The majority part is formed by citizens of the Republic of Lithuanian but more than two thirds of defined offenders without citizenship of the country have never worked or studied.


This paper reflects on research conducted by the Edinburgh based network CORE: Creative Research into the Environment, which explores a series of multidisciplinary perspectives on the relationship between 'morphology and mythology'. Part of an ongoing project entitled Environmental Dialogues, the research investigates an extensive context described here as a 'Northern Field', stretching from Greenland, Iceland and Scotland's Western and Northern Isles, with a particular focus on the cultural position of the Outer Hebrides and Orkney. The Northern Field identifies with island cultures located within energy infrastructures, which deploy space at a large scale, with long established gas and oil fields, alongside emergent industries of wind, wave and tidal energy production. These can be seen as morphological structures set in a cultural landscape where mythological perspectives, histories and present day narratives intersect these large-scale infrastructures. The paper provides an overview of the research, in particular how disciplines such as art, landscape planning, anthropology, writing and poetry use creative methods alongside scientific and technological research, to capture a cultural response to the context of these extensive territories, which are often beyond perceptible grasp.


AbstractIn the run-up to the handover in Hong Kong in 1997 there was much debate about its future identity. Many "experts" and politicians put forward views that purported to be representative of Hong Kong people. One linguistic feature in this debate was the use of the pronoun we when referring to the entire community. This paper reports a survey which examined the use of this "generic" we and other first person plural pronouns in political comment in the South China Morning Post both before and after the handover. Generally, it was found that generic we was a common feature of such writing and appeared to be the default interpretation. There was no evidence that the amount of "claiming to speak for the community" had decreased after the handover. The shifting of the reference of first person plural pronouns within articles was rare. One unexpected finding was the frequency with which generic we appeared to be anaphoric in nature, referring back to an explicit introductory noun phrase.


AIM
Schizophrenia is a disorder with different outcomes. Besides the positive and negative symptoms, cognitive impairment is an important core feature of schizophrenia and often pre-dates the disorder. Cognition has consistently been related to outcome in schizophrenia. Given this finding and the fact that diagnosing and treating schizophrenia as early as possible has better outcome chances, the current study investigated the hypothesis that cognitive performance is associated with two seemingly opposite outcomes: clinical remission and forced hospitalization three years after first assessment.

METHODS
Subjects in the current study were schizophrenia patients not in an active psychosis during cognitive testing (N = 321). The results of the cognitive tests were used as predictor variables for the status of remission or the occurrence of a forced hospitalization in the three years following the cognitive testing. The cognitive tests included were WAIS-III subtests (Digit symbol, Information, Arithmetic, Block Design), Benton Facial Recognition task, Hinting task and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning task. Besides these cognitive predictors, several relevant covariates (gender, age, education, number of psychotic episodes, duration of illness and amphetamine, cannabis or cocaine intoxication) were analyzed. Two multinomial logistic regression and analyses were conducted with the cognitive tests as independent variables and remission and forced hospitalization as dependent variables in separate models.

RESULTS
The results showed that better performance on the verbal tasks (WAIS-III arithmetic score (b=0.17) and the WAIS-III information score (b=0.22)) and less psychotic episodes (b=-0.64) was associated with remission status. Worse performance on the memory task (b=-0.20) and more psychotic episodes (b=0,85) was related to forced hospitalization.

CONCLUSIONS
This three-year longitudinal study showed that higher verbal IQ is a protective factor and poor memory and higher number of psychotic episodes are risk factors of the outcome of schizophrenia. This suggests that future research on prediction tools for the outcome of schizophrenia should include assessment of verbal IQ and verbal memory.


In general, a guest dopant is doped into a single host matrix for white-light emission with two complementary colors. In this work, however, we have fabricated a white organic light-emitting diode (WOLED) based on dual partial dye doping in which a guest dopant is partially doped into two different host emitters; namely, orange-red emitting 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(p-dimethylaminos-tyryl)-4H-pyran (DCM) is partially doped into both blue-emitting 4, 4'-bis(2,2'-diphenylvinyl)-1,1'-biphenyl (DPVBi) and green-emitting Tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq3). We demonstrate that dual partial dye doping allows us to finely tune the Commission Internationale d'Eclairage (CIE) chromaticity coordinates to the equienergy white point (x = 0.33, y = 0.33). In addition, it enhances device performance further, compared to WOLEDs based on DCM partially doped into a single host matrix (either DPVBi or Alq3). Moreover, the dual partial doping scheme is shown to provide a way of suppressing the self-quenching effect (singlet-singlet annihilation). For a systematic study, we have implemented a comprehensive numerical model and performed simulations of the OLED structure, providing a clear understanding with regard to the underlying physics of OLEDs. We also carry out an investigation of the effects of key design parameters such as the doped layer position and thickness and dye.


Holistic simulation approaches are often required to assess human impacts on a river-estuary-coastal system, due to the intrinsically linked processes of contrasting spatial scales. In this paper, a Semi-implicit Cross-scale Hydroscience Integrated System Model (SCHISM) is applied in quantifying the impact of a proposed hydraulic engineering project on the estuarine hydrodynamics. The project involves channel dredging and land expansion that traverse several spatial scales on an ocean-estuary-river-tributary axis. SCHISM is suitable for this undertaking due to its flexible horizontal and vertical grid design and, more importantly, its efficient high-order implicit schemes applied in both the momentum and transport calculations. These techniques and their advantages are briefly described along with the model setup. The model features a mixed horizontal grid with quadrangles following the shipping channels and triangles resolving complex geometries elsewhere. The grid resolution ranges from ~6.3 km in the coastal ocean to 15 m in the project area. Even with this kind of extreme scale contrast, the baroclinic model still runs stably and accurately at a time step of 2 min, courtesy of the implicit schemes. We highlight that the implicit transport solver alone reduces the total computational cost by 82%, as compared to its explicit counterpart. The base model is shown to be well calibrated, then it is applied in simulating the proposed project scenario. The project-induced modifications on salinity intrusion, gravitational circulation, and transient events are quantified and analyzed.


Thin films of vanadium oxide were grown on vanadium metal surfaces (i) in air at ambient conditions, (ii) in 5 mM H2SO4 (aq), pH 3, (iii) by thermal oxidation at low oxygen pressure (10−5 mbar) at temperatures between 350 and 550 °C and (iv) at near‐atmospheric oxygen pressure (750 mbar) at 500 °C. The oxide films were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X‐Ray diffraction (XRD) and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) and nuclear reaction analysis (NRA). The lithium intercalation properties were studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The results show that the oxide films formed in air at room temperature (RT), in acidic aqueous solution, and at low oxygen pressure at elevated temperatures are composed of V2O3. In air and in aqueous solution at RT, the oxide films are ultra‐thin and hydroxylated. At 500 °C, nearly atmospheric oxygen pressure is required to form crystalline V2O5 films. The oxide films grown at pO2 = 750 mbar for 5 min are about 260‐nm thick, and consist of a 115‐nm outer layer of crystalline V2O5. The inner oxide is mainly composed of VO2. For all high temperature oxidations, the oxygen diffusion from the oxide film into the metal matrix was considerable. The oxygen saturation of the metal at 450 °C was found, by XPS, to be 27 at.% at the oxide/metal interface. The well‐crystallized V2O5 film, formed by oxidation for 5 min at 500 °C and 750 mbar O2, was shown to have good lithium intercalation properties and is a promising candidate as electrode material in lithium batteries. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The Central Atlantic Ocean opened during the Early Jurassic and represents the oldest portion of the Atlantic Ocean. Although the American margin has been well studied, the onshore evolution of its African counterpart is poorly understood. We investigated the evolution of a c. 1300 km transect across the Reguibat Shield (Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria) in the northern West African Craton using low-temperature thermochronology. Fourteen samples were dated using apatite fission-track analysis. Nine of these samples were also dated using (U–Th–Sm)/He analysis. Fission-track ages range from 118 ± 10 to 497 ± 61 Ma, with mean track lengths between 11.2 ± 0.4 and 12.5 ± 0.2 µm. (U–Th–Sm)/He single-grain ages range from 32 ± 3 to 396 ± 32 Ma. Through forward and inverse thermal modelling, we demonstrate that the craton underwent kilometre-scale exhumation between the Early–Middle Jurassic and the Late Cretaceous. Based on our new results, published data on NW Africa and data from the conjugate eastern North American passive margin, we show that this post-rift Early–Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous exhumation affected both margins to a similar areal extent and simultaneously. Transient mantle dynamic support is suggested to account for the major erosional phase recorded on both margins. Supplementary material: The method for thermal modelling, the thermal modelling for all samples and the relationship between apatite chemistry and (U–Th)/He ages are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3770918


Insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling (IIS) promotes growth and energy storage but also shortens life span, whereas signaling by the Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway lengthens life span. One mechanism by which IIS decreases life span is by inhibition of the activity of the transcription factor Foxo. Increased Foxo activity is associated with tolerance to stress, such as oxidative stress, and oxidative stress is associated with stimulation of the JNK pathway, a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade. Wang et al. provide evidence in Drosophila that JNK mediates its life span-lengthening effect by increasing the activity of Foxo and thereby antagonizing the IIS pathway. First, the long-lived phenotype of flies heterozygous for the JNK pathway negative regulator, puc (which encodes a JNK-specific MAPK phosphatase), was reversed when the flies were also heterozygous for dfoxo. Genetic interactions were also noted in the fly eye for dfoxo and hep, which encodes a JNK kinase, and for dfoxo and bsk, which encodes Drosophila JNK. Evidence for direct antagonism of IIS was provided by analysis of fat body cells overexpressing the insulin receptor InR with or without coexpression of an activated form of Hep. Overexpression of InR produces overgrowth of these cells, which have no detectable nuclear dFoxo, whereas coexpression of activated Hep results in suppression of overgrowth and the appearance of dFoxo in the nucleus. Activation of the JNK pathway also stimulated expression of dFoxo target genes, including the Drosophila homolog of eIF4E binding protein, an inhibitor of translation. JNK also influences life span by activity in the insulin-producing cells (IPCs) in the fly brain. JNK activity was high in the IPCs, and activation of the JNK pathway in genetically altered flies (puc heterozygotes or flies overexpressing activated Hep) inhibited expression of dilp2, the gene encoding Drosophila insulin-like peptide 2, and this inhibition required dFoxo. Thus, JNK signaling exerts two effects that contribute to life span: In individual cells, JNK antagonizes the IIS pathway, and in the IPCs, JNK antagonizes the expression of insulin-like peptide, thereby affecting life span at an organismal level. M. C. Wang, D. Bohmann, H. Jasper, JNK extends life span and limits growth by antagonizing cellular and organism-wide responses to insulin signaling. Cell 121, 115-125 (2005). [PubMed]


The selection of the optimal feature of EEG signals is important for the discrimination of mental tasks in brain-computer interface (BCI) research. This research presents a new technique for feature extraction of EEG signals sampled from subject executing left and right hand motor imagery (MI) using Hilbert- Huang Entropy (HHE). In our method, the raw signal is analysed with an elliptical band-pass filter and Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT). The marginal spectra of beta and mu bands are the interesting features calculated from the Hilbert-Huang spectrum of the selected Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMF) of the filtered EEG signal. The Shannon entropy (SE) is then utilized within the framework of the HHT algorithm. The formed feature vector calculated by the SE transform is utilized to train a support vector machine (SVM) classifier for classification. The performance of the new method is compared to the HHT algorithm, which indicates the HHE algorithm is promising for BCI classification.


Compared with supervised learning for feature selection, it is much more difficult to select the discriminative features in unsupervised learning due to the lack of label information. Traditional unsupervised feature selection algorithms usually select the features which best preserve the data distribution, e.g., manifold structure, of the whole feature set. Under the assumption that the class label of input data can be predicted by a linear classifier, we incorporate discriminative analysis and l2,1-norm minimization into a joint framework for unsupervised feature selection. Different from existing unsupervised feature selection algorithms, our algorithm selects the most discriminative feature subset from the whole feature set in batch mode. Extensive experiment on different data types demonstrates the effectiveness of our algorithm.


The effect of bi-functional coatings consisting of Zr and phosphate (P) on the electrochemical performance of Li1.0Ni0.8Co0.15Mn0.05O2 (NCM) has been investigated. The presence of various types of Zr and P compounds such as oxides (ZrO2 and Li2ZrO3) and phosphates (Zr2P2O9, ZrP2O7 and LiZr2(PO4)3) in the coating was confirmed by experiments as well as density functional theory (DFT) calculations. When the NCM samples were coated with the Zr/P hybrid material, the cycle retention and the amount of removed Li residuals (LiOH, Li2CO3) were enhanced by the synergistic effect from Zr and P. The NCM sample coated with a Zr/P layer with a Zr/P ratio of 1 : 1 exhibited an increase in the initial capacity (209.3 mA h g-1) compared to the pristine sample (207.4 mA h g-1) at 0.1C, owing to the formation of the coating layer. The capacity retention of the Zr/P coated sample (92.4% at the 50th cycle) was also improved compared to that of the pristine NCM sample (90.6% at the 50th cycle). Moreover, the amount of Li residuals in the Zr/P coated NCM sample was greatly reduced from 3693 ppm (pristine NCM) to 2525 ppm (Zr/P = 5 : 5).


This paper analyzes the consequences of the findings from research into self-reported well being or happiness for taxation. It primarily considers two findings: that happiness depends on status as well as income, and that individuals may adapt to disability, exhibiting relatively small losses in happiness from disabilities. In each case, it examines how adding these concerns to standard tax models changes the results and then compares the empirical findings of the happiness literature to see whether they provide the type of data needed to parameterize the models. In both cases, the theoretical models ask for different types of data than the happiness studies emphasize. The paper also looks at Robert Frank's arguments for a progressive consumption tax based on the findings of the happiness research. It finds that these claims are not supported by the current findings.


Background : Dermatomycosis often occurs in tropical countries. Many studies from tropical countries have reported high prevalence of dermatomycosis among elementary school children. Despite being a tropical country, prevalence of dermatomycosis among elementary school children in Indonesia is still unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and characteristics of dermatomycosis among elementary school children in Jatinangor, Sumedang, West Java in September–November 2012. Methods : This study used a cross-sectional descriptive survey method. The 328 children from five elementary schools in Jatinangor were included in the study using multistage sampling technique. Medical history and physical examination was performed to all subjects. Subjects who had skin lesion suspected for dermatomycosis were examined with direct microscopic examination using 10% solutions of potassium hydroxide (KOH). Data were presented as frequent analysis distribution using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0. Results : Of 328 children (174 males, 154 females; aged 5–14 years), 35 (10.6%) had lesions suggestive of dermatomycosis but only 5 children (1.5%) were positive for dermatomycosis. Males are more prevalent females, patients were in ≥10 years age group. Four cases were Pityriasis versicolor, while one was diagnosed with tinea facialis. Conclusions : Dermatomycosis among elementary school children in Jatinangor had a low prevalence, with only 4 cases of Pityriasis versicolor and one tinea facialis case. [AMJ.2015;2(1):268–75]


Sedimentation on carbonate platforms is commonly found to lag relative sea-level change, particularly when platforms reestablish themselves after emersion. Models of platform sedimentation usually reproduce this lag with the help of special lag parameters. A cellular automaton is used here to model the way that platforms are colonized by carbonate-producing organisms. This model shows that lag is a natural result of colonization and is considerably more complex than allowed for by other sedimentation models. The model predicts that there are two types of platform (one in shallow water, the other in deeper water) which are cross-coupled dynamical attractors.


This book provides an evaluation of the Gateshead Community Care Scheme which was devised as an alternative to residential and hospital care for frail elderly people. An important feature of the scheme was the decentralization of control of resources to individual social workers acting as care managers, with defined caseloads and expenditure limits to ensure accountability. The initial social care scheme was subsequently extended to provide both health and social care to clients from a large general practice based in a health centre. The social care team was enlarged to include a nurse care manager and part-time doctor and physiotherapist.

 The study examines the operation of care management in both settings, the use of devolved budgets and services developed, the outcomes for clients and carers and the costs of care. Admissions to residential care were reduced and the elderly people who received the scheme's support experienced a better quality of care and greater well-being when compared with elderly people receiving the usual range of services. This was achieved at no greater cost. The characteristics of those for whom the scheme was most appropriate are described.

 In addition, the pattern of development of the scheme as it was incorporated into the mainstream of the Social Services and after the implementation of the NHS and Community Care Act are examined. Final, the implications for the development of care management are considered.

 Link to Ashgate Publishing


Cognitive training approaches in the treatment of pediatric psychopathology rely on the identification of specific aberrant cognitive processes that could be targeted for rectification via training. Such processes include threat-related attention and interpretation, working memory, and emotion recognition, among others. A selective review is given of mental processes that have been identified as potential targets for psychological treatment and the technologies that could be harnessed for such therapeutic targeting. Implementation of cognitive training procedures in the treatment of children, adolescents, and adults is described, and their clinical efficacy is evaluated. Recent technologies harnessed for the implementation of cognitive training protocols, such as eye-tracking, virtual reality, and neuromodulation, are described and their potential applications in novel therapeutic procedures and in improvement of extant cognitive training protocols are discussed.


This essay examines the ambition to taxonomize law and the different methods a legal taxonomer might employ. Three possibilities emerge. The first is a formal taxonomy that classifies legal materials according to rules of order and clarity. Formal taxonomy is primarily conventional and has no normative implications for judicial decision-making. The second possibility is a function-based taxonomy that classifies laws according to their social functions. Function-based taxonomy can influence legal decision-making indirectly, as a gatekeeping mechanism, but it does not provide decisional standards for courts. Its objective is to assist in analysis and criticism of law by providing an overview of the body of legal doctrine. The third possibility is a reason-based taxonomy that classifies legal rules and decisions according to the moral principles or "legal principles" thought to justify them. Reason-based taxonomy of this type offers courts a set of high-level decisional rules drawn from legal data. Its objective is to guide courts in deciding new cases and evaluating precedents. A predominantly formal taxonomy facilitates legal analysis and communication. A functional taxonomy can assist those who make and apply law by providing a purposive overview of the field. Reason-based taxonomy may be useful to lawmakers but is unhelpful when offered as a guide to adjudication of disputes.


The basin evolution of the Panafrican belts in Namibia was controlled by major rift systems comprising the Kaoko-West Congolian and Damara Branches with their associated parallel rift zones. Rifting along the Kaoko Branch caused continental spreading, while the Damara Branch formed the terrestrial Otjiwarongo and Windhoek Rift Zones, separated by the Usakos Horst, in which the rift related coarse clastics (Etusis Formation) and associated basinal sediments (Khan Formation) were deposited. Thermal subsidence along the Otjiwarongo Rift Zone produced an oceanic basin with thinned continental crust. In the Windhoek Rift Zone, terrestrial conditions prevailed and the newly deposited rift sequences were subjected to erosion. Succeeding the primary rifting was the Chuos Formation glacial/marine event, which produced thick deposits along the northern and western margins of the Windhoek Rift Zone. After the glaciation, a shelf carbonate unit was deposited in the slow subsiding Otjiwarongo Rift Zone. In the Windhoek Rift Zone, however, northeast trending faulting along the Okahandja Lineament produced the submerged Okawakuejawa rift unit in which the Adler dolomite and Quelle calcareous turbidites were deposited. The Okawakuejawa rift unit also divided the Windhoek Rift Zone into a northern Usakos Horst and southern Uitdraai Block. Renewed tectonism and uplift produced rifts splaying from the Okahandja Lineament northward to trend parallel to the Abbabis-Welwitchia Lineament. On the Usakos Horst, basaltic volcanism was associated with the rifting, while those on the Uitdraai block was more fissure like, non fault-related extrusions. The graben floors were submerged while the scarp shoulders were still areal as water laid and arid, non-reworked successions were deposited on them respectively. Further south in the Windhoek Rift Zone, continental separation caused the cessation of the Omusema volcanism and thermal subsidence of the entire Windhoek Rift Zone with dolomite platforms being formed on the Usakos Horst and Uitdraai block terranes. Beneath the platform edges, continuing subsidence created peri-platforms and below the Usakos Horst influx of clastic material produced the Tinkas Formation comprising the alternating dolomite and pelite sequence of the Kudulecke Member and dolomite/pelite turbiditic flows and slump deposits, in incised canyons, of the Jacobs Member. On the Uitdraai block, the Flachen quartzites were deposited onto the platform dolomite, while the Lievental Member dolomitic turbidites were deposited on the slopes. Continuing subsidence caused the north and eastward transgression of the pelitic turbidites of the Fahlwater Formation, which eventually covered the entire Windhoek Rift Zone area.

Rifting of a Kibaran-aged continent produced a spreading Kaoko Branch with a subsidiary splayed Damara Branch in which the Rift Zones developed at different rates. The northern Otjiwarongo Rift Zone produced a submarine basin underlain by continental crust, while the southerly Windhoek Rift Zone stayed terrestrial. In the Windhoek Rift Zone, rejuvenation along the Okahandja Lineament lead to renewed rifting ending in continental spreading and thermal subsidence forming a passive continental margin.