A simple, effective procedure for the preparation of 4-nitroalkanoates 6–9 by the Michael reaction of nitroalkanes 2–5 with the acrylate 1 is described. The primary nitro adduct 6 undergoes isomerization to hydroxamic acid 10 while heated in boiling nitromethane. Consecutive reactions of the latter compound lead to the formation of N-hydroxysuccinimide 11 and its N-ethoxy derivative 12. The spontaneous Nef reaction of the mother 4-nitrobutanoic acid 15 gives N-hydroxysuccinimide 14. The analogous reaction of secondary nitroalkanoic acids 16 and 17 provides 4-oxoalkanoic acids 18 and 19, respectively. Intramolecular participation by the carboxylic acid group in the Nef reaction is proposed.


In major depression, remission rate in response to monoaminergic antidepressant is around 50%. The lack of strong synergies between classical antidepressants and psychotherapy may be due to the molecular effects of classical antidepressants. They modulate synapses but they do not substantially influence synaptogenesis. They also increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). However, for activity-dependent plasticity, BDNF release has to work in concert with activation of synaptogenesis. There has been considerable excitement about ketamine's antidepressant effect. Ketamine leads to fast changes in synaptic function and plasticity that go well beyond effects of classical antidepressants. As a result, ketamine may turn out to have the capacity to considerably enhance the effects of psychotherapy. Such enhancing effects may become an important clinical indication for ketamine since its purely pharmacological effect is transient. This editorial outlines some mechanistic hypotheses, how Behavioral Activation, Trauma-Focused Psychotherapies and Humanistic Psychotherapy may specifically prolong ketamine's antidepressant effects.


Tertiary literacy instruction and assessment were introduced into two first year biology subjects as part of a collaboration between Biological Sciences and Learning Development staff at the University of Wollongong. In both subjects, the project focussed on scientific report assessment items based on aspects of the practical curriculum. The project involved production and use of a web site giving instruction in report writing and general guidance on scientific writing, marking schemes using explicit criteria including literacy based criteria, a peer marking tutorial, and marking and feedback using the schemes. The results from assessments in the second subject, which included the biology cohort but also a new cohort from another faculty, indicated improved literacy in those students who had received instruction in the first subject. Moreover, longitudinal data suggests that this benefit was translated into higher pass rates and greater retention rates for the students in these classes compared to others in the Faculty. While it is impossible to make a causal link between these pass and retention rates and the literacy instruction, the quantitative results and qualitative observations indicate the value of such an approach.


Aigi operates in his poetics with a latent transnationalism and translingual techniques. The relevant topic of his poems is not the ambivalence of cultural, national and linguistic allegiance, but rather the poetic implementation of linguistic hybridization. References to the Chuvash language as well as to the Chuvash cultural and spiritual heritage are but occasional in his texts, remaining in subtitles or dedications, as several examples show. Innovative instability is manifested in the significant occurrence of the border as a semantic dominant, or as a metaphor of hieroglyphics and extreme types of articulation (scream). Aigi's radical transnational and translingual approach conceptualizes not (only) the author's cultural biography, but, first of all, the borders and limits of (any) language.


Through a formal analysis, this study clarifies how the trustee's sense of guilt over the abuse of the trustor's trust and the trustor's tolerance of the trustee's abuse of trust may play roles in attaining a cooperative solution to a social dilemma between two rational actors. The juxtaposition of rationality and emotion also provides a unique insight into the process of socialization. Modifying the situation considered by Becker in his Rotten-Kid Theorem, the study applies game-theoretic tools to an analysis of the social dilemma in the income transfer from a parent to a child under the assumption of conditional altruism on the part of the parent. The study derives many concrete, substantive hypotheses, which are empirically testable, regarding the conditions for attaining success in socializing the problem child, and it also discusses the role of the rational choice theory in explaining a socialization process by integrating emotions into the rational choice framework.


Online sharing platforms host a vast amount of multimedia content generated by their own users. Such content is typically not uniformly annotated and can not be straightforwardly indexed. Therefore, making it accessible to other users poses a real challenge which is not specific of online sharing platforms. In general, content annotation is a common problem in all kinds of information systems. In this thesis, we focus on this problem and propose methods for helping users to annotate the resources they create in a more comprehensive and uniform way. Specifically, we work with tagging systems and propose methods for recommending tags to the content creators during the annotation process. To this end, we exploit information gathered from previous resource annotations in the same sharing platform, the so called folksonomy. Tag recommendation is evaluated using several methodologies, with and without the intervention of users, and in the context of large-scale tagging systems. We focus on the case of tag recommendation for sound sharing platforms. Besides studying the performance of several methods in this scenario, we analyse the impact of one of our proposed methods on the tagging system of a real-world and large-scale sound sharing site. As an outcome of this thesis, one of the proposed tag recommendation methods is now being daily used by hundreds of users in this sound sharing site. In addition, we explore a new perspective for tag recommendation which, besides taking advantage of information from the folksonomy, employs a sound-specific ontology to guide users during the annotation process. Overall, this thesis contributes to the advancement of the state of the art in tagging systems and folksonomy-based tag recommendation, and explores interesting directions for future research. Even though our research is motivated by the particular challenges of sound sharing platforms and mainly carried out in that context, we believe our methodologies can be easily generalised and thus be of use to other information sharing platforms.


CONTEXT
Although there has been enormous interest in continuous quality improvement (CQI) as a measure to improve health care, this enthusiasm is based largely on its apparent success in business rather than formal evaluations in health care.

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether a managed care organization can increase delivery of eight clinical preventive services by using CQI.

DESIGN
Primary care clinics were randomly assigned to improve delivery of preventive services with CQI (intervention group) or to provide usual care (control group).

INTERVENTION
Through leadership support, training, consulting, and networking, each intervention clinic was assisted to use CQI multidisciplinary teams to develop and implement systems for delivery of preventive services.

SETTING
44 primary care clinics in greater Minneapolis-St. Paul.

PATIENTS
Patients 19 years of age and older completed surveys at baseline (n = 6830) and at follow-up (n = 6431). Medical chart audits were completed on 4777 patients at baseline and 4546 patients at follow-up.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The proportion of patients who were up-to-date (according to chart audit) and the proportion of patients who were offered a service if not up-to-date (according to patient report) for 8 preventive services.

RESULTS
Compared with the control group, based on the proportion of patients who were up-to-date, use of only one preventive service--pneumococcal vaccine--increased significantly in the intervention group (17.2% absolute increase from baseline to follow-up compared with a 0.3% absolute increase in the control group, P = 0.003). Similarly, based on patient report of being offered a service if not up-to-date, delivery of only one preventive service--cholesterol testing--significantly increased in the intervention group compared with the control group (4.6% increase vs. 0.4% absolute decrease in the control group; P = 0.006).

CONCLUSION
In this trial, CQI methods did not result in clinically important increases in preventive service delivery rates.


The European Union has adopted policies to "green" its public purchasing to promote environmental sustainability. With over nineteen percent of GDP in the EU spent on government procurement, the European Commission (EC) recognizes the potential impact of sustainable public procurement on the environment and the economy. This paper discusses EC central policy directives policy on government procurement of eco-friendly products through its "Green Product Program" (GPP), which seeks to foster a market for sustainable products through government buying power. Despite these efforts, green procurement in the EU has had limited success, perhaps given that the EC's procurement directives are primarily voluntary and due to differing priorities among EU countries, which can lead to wide variations in uptake of sustainable procurement policies. Further, even for countries that favor green procurement, the existing procurement directives leave unanswered the question of to what extent agencies may make purchasing decisions based on full lifecycle analysis or other environment-friendly preferences for low-carbon production methods.Changes are underway, however, that will likely give EU Member States greater latitude to take these environmental factors into account. First, the EU's emerging voluntary 'lifecycle product footprint' methodology, although not yet required in procurement, may help agencies assess the GHG impact of the products they procure, at least where vendors voluntarily disclose product 'carbon footprints.' Second, the European Commission's efforts too overhaul its general procurement directives will give EU countries more leeway to account for upstream environmental impacts and "process and production methods" (PPMs). These steps will enable the EU to influence the market for green products by encouraging a shift towards upstream, supply chain carbon accounting.


[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Private foundations lost more than 20% of their assets during the economic crisis, according to the Foundation Center (see Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates, available at tinyurl.com/2vhk93e). At the same time, the demand for charitable services--and foundation dollars to support those services--increased significantly. The combination of these dynamics prompted many private foundations to consider new strategies to do more with less. Even today, as endowments slowly recover, foundations are increasingly pursuing ways to address societal needs while protecting their balance sheets. The IRS and Treasury Department issued proposed regulations in 2012 (REG-144267-11) to make it easier for private foundations to do just that. The new guidance is intended to reduce transaction costs associated with program-related investments (PRIs), a type of charitable disbursement that enables foundations to make a positive impact m a financially savvy way Specifically, PRIs are investments made primarily to further the foundation's mission; the potential for financial gain must not be a primary driver of the decision to make the PRI (see "Capital With a Conscience," JofA, July 2008, page 54). Consequently, PRIs count toward foundations' mandatory annual payout requirement, just as traditional grants do. (For more on required distributable amounts, see "Advising Private Foundations," JofA, April 2008, page 36.) However, private foundations expect PRI recipients, unlike grant recipients, to repay the investment, possibly with interest. Once the money is repaid, foundations recycle the funds to other charitable projects, multiplying the impact of each philanthropic dollar. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The proposed regulations include nine new examples of permissible PRIs, doubling the number of examples that foundations can use to guide their PRI efforts. The new examples are more diverse in structure, location, and purpose. This issuance marks the first time in 40 years that the IRS has updated the PRI rules. While proposed regulations are generally not authoritative guidance, the IRS explicitly states that taxpayers may rely on these proposed regulations. PRIs: A PRIMER Under Sec. 4944(c) and associated existing regulations, a PRI must primarily further one of the charitable purposes of Sec. 170(c)(2)(B) (religious, charitable, scientific, literary, educational, etc.) and may not be used for a political activity prohibited for exempt organizations under Sec. 170(c)(2)(D) (attempting to influence legislation or participating or intervening in a political campaign). It must not have as a significant purpose the production of income or appreciation of property (Regs. Sec. 53.4944-3(a)(1)). An investment is made primarily to accomplish a charitable purpose under Sec. 170(c)(2)(B) if it significantly furthers the accomplishment of the foundation's exempt activities and would not have been made but for its relation to the foundation's exempt activities (Regs. Sec. 53.4944-3(a)(2)(i)). Therefore, an investment that qualifies as a PRI for one private foundation may not qualify for another, depending on the mission of each. In determining whether a significant purpose of an investment is the production of income or the appreciation of property, a relevant consideration is whether a traditional investor would make the same investment on the same terms (Regs. Sec. 53.4944-3(a)(2)(iii)). The structure of a PRI is a function of project needs, prevailing market conditions, and the recipient's ability to generate sufficient cash flows with which to repay the foundation's investment. Most commonly, PRIs are created as below-market-rate loans to public charities. However, the regulations specify that the PRI recipient does not have to be a not-for-profit organization; a PRI in a for-profit business enterprise is permissible as long as the foundation makes the investment primarily to further its own mission. …


The flow of groundwater in mangrove forests is very important to the mangrove trees and organisms that live within the soil. Groundwater flow is responsible for preventing salinity of the water around the mangrove roots from reaching lethal levels. Further the flow of nutrients between the swamp and creeks is important to the nutrient budget of the swamps.

Groundwater flow in mangrove swamps is complicated by the presence of abundant animal burrows. These have the effect of greatly increasing the hydraulic conductivity of the soil. However, using conventional methods, it is difficult to determine the bulk hydraulic conductivity of the soil when the effect of the burrows is taken into account. In this work, a simple method is described for determining the hydraulic conductivity of mangrove sediment, including the effect of macropores such as crab burrows. The method uses the existing animal burrows as piezometers. Experiments to measure the hydraulic conductivity of the sediment were carried out in a variety of mangrove forests. It was found that hydraulic conductivity varied from around 1 m/day to 10 m/day, which is at least 10 times greater than would be expected if there were no burrows.

In order to check the validity of the method, conventional piezometers were used to determine the free water table level in an area of mangroves fringing a creek. From these measurements, hydraulic conductivity was determined independently and found to be consistent with the new methodology.

Tidal groundwater in a mangrove swamp can return to the mangrove creek by one of two mechanisms: (a) it can either flow through the swamp soil due to the water table difference between the creek and the groundwater in the swamp; or (b) it can flow via tidal flushing of animal burrows. The second section of this thesis compares the magnitude of these two mechanisms for different regions of a mangrove swamp. Direct groundwater flow rates resulting from water stored in the sediment as a consequence of infiltration, especially during and after tidal inundation, were calculated for every square meter in the surface of a mangrove forest from piezometer data. Flow rates of water due to burrow flushing were determined based on published surveys, by estimating the burrow volume and the percentage of the burrow water that is flushed at each tidal inundation. Although direct groundwater flux was found to decrease further away from the creek compared to close to the creek, it was also found to have a similar range as burrow flushing flow. Specifically, direct groundwater flow ranged from 0.004 to 0.04 m³/(m² day), whilst burrow flushing flux ranged from 0.01 to 0.04 m³/(m² day). Considering the errors involved in the experiments and calculations, these ranges can be considered as being the same and none of the two processes can be considered as negligible compared to the other.

The final section of the thesis is the development of a simple analytical model that was used to calculate the groundwater flow to the creek. Data from piezometers were used in the model calculation. It was found that the model results agreed well with, experimentally determined calculations of groundwater fluxes. Fluxes ranged from 0.007 to 0.026 m³/m² day with the lowest fluxes being recorded at the end of the neap tide period. This model is easily adaptable to most mangrove geometries.


In this paper, we address the problem of global transmit power minimization in a self-configuring network where radio devices are subject to operate at a minimum signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) level. We model the network as a parallel Gaussian interference channel and we introduce a fully decentralized algorithm (based on trial and error) able to statistically achieve a configuration where the performance demands are met. Contrary to existing solutions, our algorithm requires only local information and can learn stable and efficient working points by using only one bit feedback. We model the network under two different game theoretical frameworks: normal form and satisfaction form. We show that the converging points correspond to equilibrium points, namely Nash and satisfaction equilibrium. Similarly, we provide sufficient conditions for the algorithm to converge in both formulations. Moreover, we provide analytical results to estimate the algorithm's performance, as a function of the network parameters. Finally, numerical results are provided to validate our theoretical conclusions.


Purpose: The objectives of this study are to examine whether a lack of transparency is a common corporate governance feature of listed entities ("MLEs") in the small European state of Malta and, if so, to assess the possible implications of such a stance. Design/Approach/Methodology: In order to achieve such research objectives, a predominantly qualitative mixed methodology was adopted. This involved carrying out thirteen semi-structured interviews with MLE and audit firm representatives, these being supported by an examination of the corporate governance statements of MLEs for the 2015-2017 periods. Findings: Results show a general lack of transparency in corporate governance reporting, with a common MLE tendency to comply only at a superficial level with the principles of good corporate governance and thus to often fail to sustain an appropriate level of transparency and governance structures. Practical Implications: It is recomended to increase company and shareholder awareness so as to help towards further improving current attitudes. Originality/Value: The study is particularly envisaged to contribute towards encouraging stakeholders in small-state contexts to reassess their current perspectives towards corporate transparency.


Abstract Our objective was to evaluate longitudinal changes in Microsoft Kinect measured upper extremity reachable workspace relative surface area (RSA) versus the revised Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R), ALSFRS-R upper extremity sub-scale and Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) in a cohort of patients diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Ten patients diagnosed with ALS (ages 52–76 years, ALSFRS-R: 8–41 at entry) were tested using single 3D depth sensor, Microsoft Kinect, to measure reachable workspace RSA across five visits spanning one year. Changes in RSA, ALSFRS-R, ALSFRS-R upper extremity sub-scale, and FVC were assessed using a linear mixed model. Results showed that upper lateral quadrant RSA declined significantly in one year by approximately 19% (p <0.01) while all other quadrants and total RSA did not change significantly in this time-period. Simultaneously, ALSFRS-R upper extremity sub-scale worsened significantly by 25% (p <0.01). In conclusion, upper extremity reachable workspace RSA as a novel ALS outcome measure is capable of objectively quantifying declines in upper extremity ability over time in patients with ALS with more granularity than other common outcome measures. RSA may serve as a clinical endpoint for the evaluation of upper extremity targeted therapeutics.


Discourse markers (DMs) are words or phrases speakers employ to coordinate what they want to say when, to whom and how during conversation. The purpose of this study was to establish (i) what types of DMs occur in the language of young Afrikaans-speaking children; (ii) what development, if any, takes place in DM use from the age of 4 years to 6 years; and (iii) how, if at all, the use of DMs by children with specific language impairment (SLI) differs from that of typically develping (TD) children. The participants were three Afrikaans-speaking groups: 15 TD 6-year-olds, 15 6-year-olds with SLI, and 15 TD 4-year-olds matched on mean length of utterance with the SLI group. A 30-minute spontaneous language sample was obtained from each participant. The number of occurrences of DMs (tokens) and the number of different DMs (types) used during these 30 minutes were tallied for each participant individually and for each of the three groups. It was found that maar 'but', en 'and', ja 'yes', and dan 'then' were some of the most frequently occurring DMs in the three groups. The SLI group used DMs that also occurred in the language of the TD groups, but the SLI group also used DMs which were not used by the TD groups at all. In terms of number of different DMs used, the SLI group functioned at a level between the two TD groups: They used more and a wider range of markers than the 4-year-olds but fewer and a smaller range of markers than their 6-year-old peers. It appears then that the use of DMs shows development between the ages of 4 and 6 years and that the use of DMs is delayed in children with SLI. Appropriate use of DMs can improve listeners' understanding of what is said; as such, it is recommended that speech-language therapists make DMs a focus point during therapy delivery to children with language impairment.


Alluvial stratigraphic records are notoriously incomplete. All stratigraphic sections within sedimentary basins experience varying episodes of erosion and geomorphic stasis during their accumulation. This has detrimental effects on the completeness of paleoclimatic and paleobiologic records. Here we evaluate the resultant stratigraphic incompleteness using a physical experiment with self-organized vertical scales of topography and lateral scales of geomorphic stasis. First, we document how stratigraphic completeness improves as the temporal discretization interval coarsens, and show that the primary cause of the missing time shifts from stasis to erosion as the discretization is coarsened. Second, we demonstrate that the debilitating effect of finer temporal resolution can be predictably offset by compositing records across a wider area, and present a new two-dimensional formulation of stratigraphic completeness. These findings imply systematic shifts in taphonomic preservation, and by extension, the quality of paleobiologic and paleoclimatic proxy records.


Background Adverse events (AEs) and no-harm incidents are common and of great concern in healthcare. A common method for identification of AEs is retrospective record review (RRR) using predefined triggers. This method has been used frequently in inpatient care, but AEs in home healthcare have not been explored to the same extent. The aim of this study was to develop a trigger tool (TT) for the identification of both AEs and no-harm incidents affecting adult patients admitted to home healthcare in Sweden, and to describe the methodology used for this development. Methods The TT was developed and validated in a stepwise manner, in collaboration with experts with different skills, using (1) literature review and interviews, (2) a five-round modified Delphi process, and (3) two-stage RRRs. Ten trained teams from different sites in Sweden reviewed 600 randomly selected records. Results In all, triggers were found 4031 times in 518 (86.3%) records, with a mean of 6.7 (median 4, range 1–54) triggers per record with triggers. The positive predictive values (PPVs) for AEs and no-harm incidents were 25.4% and 16.3%, respectively, resulting in a PPV of 41.7% (range 0.0%–96.1% per trigger) for the total TT when using 38 triggers. The most common triggers were unplanned contact with physician and/or registered nurse, moderate/severe pain, moderate/severe worry, anxiety, suffering, existential pain and/or psychological pain. AEs were identified in 37.7% of the patients and no-harm incidents in 29.5%. Conclusion This study shows that adapted triggers with definitions and decision support, developed to identify AEs and no-harm incidents that affect patients admitted to home healthcare, may be a valid method for safety and quality improvement work in home healthcare.


Background A care bundle is a group of evidence based interventions which if consistently delivered should improve outcomes. Published work (Thorax 2012) has demonstrated the impact of a COPD discharge bundle on hospital readmission rates. There is no published information on the use of bundles to address in-hospital mortality for COPD. Methods In April 2011 a care bundle for acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) was introduced at both acute hospital sites in our Trust. The bundle content was printed on an adhesive sticker which was placed in the case notes. It consisted of a 7 point acute care section, completed on admission, and a 10 point discharge section completed prior to discharge. Multidisciplinary training and intranet guidance was provided to staff. Bundle use and compliance with each element was assessed quarterly through audit of 50 consecutive admissions. Hospital readmission rates and mortality were also reviewed. Results Audit was undertaken in October 2011, January 2012 and April 2012. Bundle stickers were reliably placed in the medical notes (>80%). Delivery of all 7 admission bundle elements was high in each audit (>75%), but compliance with the timings required fell during the ongoing audit (56%; 24%; 26%). Compliance was higher in patients admitted through A&E compared to those admitted directly to MAU Compliance with all 10 discharge bundle elements initially improved but was not sustained (26%; 74%; 35%). Site specific comparison indicated that discharge bundle delivery was better with a hospital based respiratory specialist nursing "outreach" service, than with a community based "inreach" service. Overall compliance with all 17 bundle elements fell during the year (24%; 26%; 5%). Readmission rates compared to the previous financial year fell from 14.9% to 12.8%. Mortality rates also fell (figure). Abstract P290 Figure 1 Conclusion Despite the lack of full compliance with the bundle, it was well used and improved outcomes were seen in terms of mortality and readmissions. It was felt that the bundle acted as a focus for improving knowledge and delivery of COPD care. Regular training and encouragement of staff will be required to sustain compliance with use of the bundle.


The interaction between humans and canines has been linked to a variety of benefits including reductions in ADHD symptoms in children, depression symptoms in nursing home patients, and PTSD symptoms in veterans returning from war. Although the inclusion of therapy dogs on college campuses has increased over the last few years, little evidence exists demonstrating the effect of canine interaction in these settings. The current study examined the effects of college student's interactions with therapy dogs during an exam period. Fifty-six students interacted with therapy dogs before or after completing measures of sustained attention, mind wandering, perceived stress, cognitive test anxiety, and state anxiety. Interacting with the therapy dogs reduced state anxiety and resulted in lower perceived stress but did not alter sustained attention task performance or mind wandering. The results suggest that interaction with therapy dogs may help reduce perception of stress and anxiety but may not alter the cognitive functions measured in the current study. Due to the levels of stress that college students experience during exam periods, on-campus therapy dog programs may provide a low, cost effective intervention that universities could implement to benefit their students.


We consider the estimation of a vector state based on m measurements that can be potentially manipulated by an adversary. The attacker is assumed to have limited resources and can only manipulate up to l of the m measurements. However, it can the compromise measurements arbitrarily. The problem is formulated as a minimax optimization, where one seeks to construct an optimal estimator that minimizes the "worst-case" error against all possible manipulations by the attacker and all possible sensor noises. We show that if the system is not observable after removing 2l sensors, then the worst-case error is infinite, regardless of the estimation strategy. If the system remains observable after removing arbitrary set of 2l sensor, we prove that the optimal state estimation can be computed by solving a semidefinite programming problem. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed state estimator.


Corrective advertising can be problematic because it undermines responses both to other products advertised by the corrected firm and to products advertised by second-party advertisers. However, a positive reputation insulates second-party firms from these carryover effects, provided that this reputation is based on an endorsement from an independent regulator. Furthermore, firm responses that include an explanation for the misleading claim prove to be effective in avoiding the negative side effects of correction. These findings add to the correction literature by (1) showing that this form of regulation can have much broader side effects than demonstrated previously, (2) identifying distrust as the mechanism by which these effects occur, and (3) suggesting strategies to protect firms from the negative side effects of correction. The findings also support the defensive consumer distrust model and help define the scope of this model.


The use of a saturable absorber as a passive mode locker in a solid-state laser can introduce a tendency for Q-switched mode-locked operation. We have investigated the transition between the regimes of cw mode locking and Q-switched mode locking. Experimental data from Nd:YLF lasers in the picosecond domain and soliton mode-locked Nd:glass lasers in the femtosecond domain, both passively mode locked with semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors, were compared with predictions from an analytical model. The observed stability limits for the picosecond lasers agree well with a previously described model, while for soliton mode-locked femtosecond lasers we have developed an extended theory that takes into account nonlinear soliton-shaping effects and gain filtering. © 1999 Optical Society of America [S0740-3224(99)01001-2] OCIS codes: 140.3580, 140.4050, 140.3540, 140.7090.


In this book different authors investigates the range of the migration experience in Africa. Because of the variety and complexity of the reasons which surround and underpin why African populations are so mobile, this volume adopts an eclectic approach which illustrates the diversity of theoretical positions, as well as methodological and analytical trends. Examples of the great breadth and richness of empirical insights into human migrations in the contemporary african context are also given.


This paper aimed to develop eco-friendly wall tiles from green color waste glass and local clay in Thailand. Owing to containing high fluxing agent, green glass cullet had been selected to develop wall tiles. It can reduce the sintering temperature of ceramic bodies. In addition, the green color of waste glass can promote the new texture of ceramic wall tiles. All materials used in this study consisted of green glass cullet (GGC), local ball clay (LBC), and local white clay (LWC). They were dried, milled, and sieved through a 50 mesh (297 micrometers) screen. Mixture formulations of materials had been conducted by using a tri-axial diagram. The rectangular specimens with dimension 50x100x7 mm were prepared by uniaxial pressing. They were all fired at 950oC with soaking for 1 h. Bending strength and water absorption of specimens were tested and compared with a Thai Industrial Standard (TIS 2508-2555). The results revealed that the formula contained 60% GGC, 30% LBC, and 10% LWC can achieve TIS 2508-2555. In addition, Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Diffraction technique were employed to characterize the microstructure of specimens. This can be summarized that utilizing waste glass and combining with local clay can develop eco-friendly fired clay wall tiles with light greenish brown


Today's mobile devices are likely to store various kinds of personal information, making it important to authenticate mobile device users. Since various types of mobile devices now have cameras, there has been growing interest in authentication based on images of the areas surrounding the eye due to the case of combing with iris and periocular from an image. We propose a method for authenticating mobile device users that uses AdaBoost to derive a fusion score from iris and periocular authentication scores. The use of AdaBoost provides better performance than the use of the weighted sum of the two authentication scores.


Integrating data from multiple experiments is common practice in systems neuroscience but it requires inter-experimental variability to be negligible compared to the biological signal of interest. This requirement is rarely fulfilled; systematic changes between experiments can drastically affect the outcome of complex analysis pipelines. Modern machine learning approaches designed to adapt models across multiple data domains offer flexible ways of removing inter-experimental variability where classical statistical methods often fail. While applications of these methods have been mostly limited to single-cell genomics, in this work, we develop a theoretical framework for domain adaptation in systems neuroscience. We implement this in an adversarial optimization scheme that removes inter-experimental variability while preserving the biological signal. We compare our method to previous approaches on a large-scale dataset of two-photon imaging recordings of retinal bipolar cell responses to visual stimuli. This dataset provides a unique benchmark as it contains biological signal from well-defined cell types that is obscured by large inter-experimental variability. In a supervised setting, we compare the generalization performance of cell type classifiers across experiments, which we validate with anatomical cell type distributions from electron microscopy data. In an unsupervised setting, we remove inter-experimental variability from data which can then be fed into arbitrary downstream analyses. In both settings, we find that our method achieves the best trade-off between removing inter-experimental variability and preserving biological signal. Thus, we offer a flexible approach to remove inter-experimental variability and integrate datasets across experiments in systems neuroscience. Code available at https://github.com/eulerlab/rave.


Since being introduced to graphics in the 1980s, Monte Carlo sampling and integration has become the cornerstone of most modern rendering algorithms. Originally introduced to combat the effect of aliasing when estimating pixels values, Monte Carlo has since become a more general tool for solving complex, multi-dimensional integration problems in rendering. In this context, MC integration involves sampling a function at various stochastically placed points to approximate an integral, e.g. the radiance through a pixel integrated across the multi-dimensional space of possible light transport paths. Unfortunately, this estimation is error-prone, and the visual manifestation of this error depends critically on the properties of the integrand, placement of the stochastic sample points used, and the type of problem (integration vs. reconstruction) that is being solved with these samples. We describe how errors present in rendered images may be analyzed as a function of the spectral (Fourier domain) statistics of the underlying sampling patterns fed to the renderer. Fourier analysis, along with the Nyquist theorem, has long been used in graphics to motivate more intelligent sampling strategies which try to minimize errors due to noise and aliasing in the pixel reconstruction problem. Only more recently, however, has the community started to apply these same Fourier tools to analyze error in the Monte Carlo integration problem. Loosely speaking, in the context of rendering a 2D image, these two problems are concerned with errors introduced across pixels (reconstruction) vs. the errors introduced within any individual pixel (integration). In this course, we focus on the latter, and survey the recent developments and insights that Fourier analyses have provided about the magnitude and convergence rate of Monte Carlo integration error. We provide a historical perspective of Monte Carlo in graphics, review the necessary mathematical background, summarize the most recent developments, discuss the practical implications of these analyzes on the design of Monte Carlo rendering algorithms, and identify important remaining research problems that can propel the field forward.


Detailed reactor design calculations have been performed for a 10 MW swimming pool type Pakistan Research Reactor-l (P ARR-I) utilizing low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel and a 2' kW tank in pool type Pakistan Research Reactor-2 (P ARR-2) utilizing highly enriched( uranium (HEU) fuel. These calculations were aimed at: enhancing power level of P ARR-. from 9 to 10 MW, demonstrating inherent safety of P ARR-2, developing mathematical models for thermal hydraulic and accident analysis of P ARR-2 and their experimental validation, developing computer code for natural convection cooling of P ARR-l and it experimental validation, improving modeling procedures and validating methodology ant computer codes by experimental measurements.

Standard computer codes WIMS-D/4 and CITATION were employed to calculate con excess reactivity, reactivity loads due to temperatures, xenon and samarium, neutron fluxes power distribution and power peaking factors, reactivity feedback coefficients, control roc worth and shutdown margin, reactivity worth of fuel element and reflector. etc. The analytical predictions were validated by experimental measurements and. the agreement is found to b generally good.

The steady state thermal hydraulic analysis of P ARR-I and P ARR-2 was carried to compute coolant velocity, pressure drop, saturation temperature, temperature distribution in the core heat fluxes at Onset of Nucleate Boiling (ONB), Onset of Flow Instability (OFI) and Departure from Nucleate Boiling (DNB). Computer code DP and PARET were used for the analysis of forced convection cooling of PARR -1 core whereas a computer code FREECOM was developed for the analysis of natural convection cooling. Thermal hydraulic analysis 0 PARR-2 was carried out using standard correlations. The calculated core parameters, for the natural convection cooling, were validated by making experimental measurements on but the reactors and comparing analytical predictions with available experimental data for simile reactors. Good agreement was observed between theoretical and experimental values.

Computer code PARET was employed to investigate the transient response PARR-l core t several accident situations like uncontrolled withdrawal of control rods. flooding of bear tube, movement of core against thermal column and removal of an inpile experiment. The. reactivity limits imposed by clad melting temperature were also determined. In all of these transients, time histories of reactor power, energy release, peak fuel, clad and coolant temperatures were calculated. On the other hand, mathematical models were developed for the accident analysis of P ARR-2. The theoretical predictions for P ARR-2 were validated b) conducting reactivity insertion experiments. Reactivities of different magnitudes and durations were inserted into the core and transients were allowed to be terminated by intrinsic reactor behaviour without an external control or operators intervention. An external agreement was observed between analytical and experimental values.

The radiological consequence analysis of P ARR-I was also performed. Fission produce inventory of some important radioisotopes was calculated using standard computer code KORIGEN. The environmental impacts in case of design basis loss of coolant accident (LOCA) resulting in core melt down and release of fission product from reactor core to the containment building and eventually to atmosphere, after passing through various retention barriers, were analyzed. The atmospheric dispersion was modeled using a conservative, approach outlined in USNRC Regulatory Guide. The consequences were estimated in term of internal and external radiation doses to the workers and surrounding population. These dose estimates were then compared with the recommended dose limits given in 1 OCFRI 00 to determine the boundaries of exclusion and low population zones.

The isotopic composition and decay characteristics of an irradiated fuel element of PARR-were studied. Computer code KORIGEN was used to calculate the concentrations of uranium and plutonium isotopes, radioactivity, decay heat and spontaneous fission neutron source as function of operating cycle, fuel burnup and cooling time. The amount of fissile plutonium produced during irradiation and its contribution to total fissions occurring in the system was assessed. The contribution of gamma and alpha+beta to the total decay heat as a function ( cooling time was calculated. Similarly, the contribution of light elements, actinides an fission products to total activity and decay heat as a function of cooling time was also studied.

The fission product decay heat was calculated by KORIGEN and compared with the obtained from ANS 5.1 standard curves and other widely used semi-empirical correlations order to see how their predictions vary from each .other. The correlations used include Bors Wheeler formula or Way-Wigner type function, Casta-nedelik formula, SOTRAN code formula, Petterson-Schlitz Formula and EI-Wakil's Formula.

Based on the preceding analyses, following conclusion are drawn:

The PARR-I can safely be upgraded to IO MW without compromising the safety of the reactor;

The P ARR-2 is an inherently safe reactor and can be licensed to operate without an operator on the console desk. It is therefore considered suitable for commissioning in densely populated areas;

The model developed for the steady state thermal hydraulic and accident analysis of P ARR-2 are quit adequate;

The theoretical predictions of FREECON are in good agreement with experimental measurements.

Good agreement between the anal:1ical and experimental values has validated the methodology and computer codes


Regional location factors, with measures of regional accessibility foremost among them, exert a strong influence on urban property markets. While accessibility represents an important regional-scale factor, more local influences such as proximity to urban highway links may also positively or negatively influence the desirability of a location. In this paper, we use a cross-section of home sales in Hennepin County, Minnesota from the years 2001 through 2004, along with a set of disaggregate regional accessibility measures, to estimate the value of access to employment and resident workers. We also estimate the (dis)amenity effects of locations near major freeway links that have recently undergone, or were scheduled to undergo (as of the time period covered by the home sales), major construction to add capacity. The richness of the home sales data set allows us to control for a number of structural attributes, as well as some site characteristics, while additional neighborhood characteristics (such as income levels and local educational quality) are added from supplemental data sources. Empirical results indicate that households highly value employment access, while access to other resident workers (i.e. competition for jobs) is considered a disamenity. Proximity to local highway access points is positively associated with sale price, while proximity to the highway link itself is negatively associated with price. The paper concludes with some implications for research and practice of the concept and measurement of the relationship between location and land value.


Many intelligence scandals in the news today seem unprecedented from Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, to British and U.S. intelligence agencies monitoring activities of their citizens. They seem new largely because, traditionally, intelligence agencies on both sides of the Atlantic were excessively secretive about their past activities: even the names "GCHQ" and "NSA" were airbrushed from declassified records, and thus missing from major historical works and scholarship on on post-war international relations. The resulting secrecy about British and U.S. intelligence has led to misunderstandings and conspiracy theories in societies about them. Newly opened secret records now reveal the long history of many subjects seen in today's news-cycle: Anglo-American intelligence cooperation, interference by countries in foreign elections, disinformation, and the use and abuse of intelligence by governments. Newly declassified records also add to our understanding of major chapters of international history, like Britain's post-war end of empire. Without overcoming our historical amnesia disorder about U.S. and British intelligence, citizens, scholars and policy-makers cannot hope to understand the proper context for what secret agencies are doing today.


Dynamic generalized linear mixed models for longitudinal data combine the generalized linear mixed model and the dynamic generalized linear model dealing with the case that both unit- and time-specific parameters are allowed. We base statistical inference on posterior mode estimation thus avoiding numerical integrations in high dimensions or Monte Carlo simulations which are necessary for posterior mean estimation in a fully Bayesian analysis. This results in a Fisher scoring algorithm with backfitting steps in each scoring iteration, since estimating equations of the unobserved effects mutually contain each other effect. Algorithms for estimation of random effects and dynamic effects can be used in each backfitting step due to the additive definition of the model. Estimation of unknown hyperparameters is done by an EM-type algorithm where posterior modes and curvatures resulting from the Fisher scoring algorithm are substituted for posterior means and covariances. We apply the model to multicategorical business test data.


Study objectives: To determine whether integrating post-abortion services in hospital settings in China will increase the contraceptive use and decrease repeat abortion rates.
Study design: Three-arms cluster randomised controlled trial in which the unit of randomisation is hospital.
Participants: Women seeking induced abortion within 12 weeks of gestation age.
Sites: Ninety hospitals from 30 provinces in China will be randomised to the three arms of the study stratified by province. In each province, eligible hospitals will be matched on the characteristics of abortion departments, especially the volume of abortions in the 2 months in the situation survey.
Length of follow up: Six months.
Intervention: Multiple interventions that aim to increase the use of more effective contraceptive methods, improve user adherence to reduce the unintended pregnancies and repeat induced abortions.
Data collection: Data will be collected at four time points, one at baseline(month 0 at the time of enrolment) and twice during intervention (1st 3rd and 6th month after enrolment, respectively).
Primary outcome: Unintended pregnancies or repeated induced abortions; immediate contraceptive uptake and the use of modern effective contraceptive methods.


Abstract Two decades after the 'third wave of democratization', extensive violence continues to follow elections in sub-Saharan Africa. Whereas national processes connected to pre-election violence have received increased scholarly attention, little is known of local dynamics of violence after elections. This article examines the 2011 Nigerian post-election violence with regard to the ways in which national electoral processes interweave with local social and political disputes. The most affected state, Kaduna State, has a history of violent local relations connected to which group should control politics and the state. It is argued that electoral polarisation aggravated national ethno-religious divisions that corresponded to the dividing line of the conflict in Kaduna. A rapid escalation of violence was facilitated by local social networks nurtured by ethno-religious grievances.


The status quo of the pre-2014 period with respect to musical sampling was that any taking of the whole or a portion of a sound recording (embodying musical compositions and musical performances) might run against the economic – and, in the Continental European droit d'auteur/Urheberrecht systems, the moral – rights of the respective rightholders (authors, performers and/or sound recording producers). The sampler might excuse himself from liability if the unauthorised use can fit into the frames of any limitation or exception, including the fair use doctrine under the laws of United States. Limitations and exceptions cannot provide any shelter for samplers with respect to moral rights. Both U.S. and German practice have continuously applied such potential excuses tightly. In one of the most important sampling decisions ever, the Sixth Circuit has noted in its bright line rule that the prior authorization is a prerequisite to any lawful sampling ("get a license or do not sample"). Similarly, the Sixth Circuit also refused to apply the exception of de minimis for sampling cases in this ruling.

In the most important German 'sampling' ruling, the German Federal Supreme Court (hereinafter: BGH) similarly excluded the applicability of the concept of de minimis, when it found that the sound recording producers' rights are infringed by the taking of even the smallest of sound samples. Further, it has been declared as a bright-line rule that the sampler cannot apply the concept of "free use" ("freie Benutzung") of the German Copyright Act, in a case where he could have been able to record the taken segment individually.

Such a limited approach may be dangerous. Sampling has become a fundamental element of modern music industry, especially for hip-hop and electronic musicians. If all samples would require prior authorization, it could chill musical self-expression – an important part of the modern "pop-culture". Not to mention that a bright-line rule, like the one in Bridgeport, would lead to a de facto monopoly of copyrights, and/or of the rights of sound recording producers, which should not be the ultimate goal of any copyright regime. Naturally, the exact opposite of this argument, namely, that all samplings are to be treated lawfully, is similarly false, and neither will this paper take such a position.

This article aims to introduce the post-2014 U.S. and German sampling rulings. According to the chronologic order, the paper starts with the American cases (Part I), followed by the German rulings (Part II). Part III provides for a critical analysis of the latest developments, and discusses the possible outcomes of the pending Pelham ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union.


The novelty of this study is the addition of an ultrathin layer of nanostructured hydroxyapatite (HA) on oxygen plasma modified poly(lactic–co–glycolic) (PLGA) membranes (PO2) in order to evaluate the efficiency of this novel material in bone regeneration. Methods: Two groups of regenerative membranes were prepared: PLGA (control) and PLGA/PO2/HA (experimental). These membranes were subjected to cell cultures and then used to cover bone defects prepared on the skulls of eight experimental rabbits. Results: Cell morphology and adhesion of the osteoblasts to the membranes showed that the osteoblasts bound to PLGA were smaller and with a lower number of adhered cells than the osteoblasts bound to the PLGA/PO2/HA membrane (p < 0.05). The PLGA/PO2/HA membrane had a higher percentage of viable cells bound than the control membrane (p < 0.05). Both micro-CT and histological evaluation confirmed that PLGA/PO2/HA membranes enhance bone regeneration. A statistically significant difference in the percentage of osteoid area in relation to the total area between both groups was found. Conclusions: The incorporation of nanometric layers of nanostructured HA into PLGA membranes modified with PO2 might be considered for the regeneration of bone defects. PLGA/PO2/HA membranes promote higher osteosynthetic activity, new bone formation, and mineralisation than the PLGA control group.


The cellular and molecular mechanisms by which adrenomedullin (AM) blockade suppresses tumor neovessels are not well defined. Herein, we show that AM blockade using anti-AM and anti-AM receptors antibodies targets vascular endothelial cells (ECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), and induces regression of unstable nascent tumor neovessels. The underlying mechanism involved, and shown in vitro and in vivo in mice, is the disruption of the molecular engagement of the endothelial cell-specific junctional molecules vascular endothelial-cadherin (VE-cadherin)/β-catenin complex. AM blockade increases endothelial cell permeability by inhibiting cell-cell contacts predominantly through disruption of VE-cadherin/β-catenin/Akt signalling pathway, thereby leading to vascular collapse and regression of tumor neovessels. At a molecular level, we show that AM blockade induces tyrosine phosphorylation of VE-cadherin at a critical tyrosine, Tyr731, which is sufficient to prevent the binding of β-catenin to the cytoplasmic tail of VE-cadherin leading to the inhibition of cell barrier function. Furthermore, we demonstrate activation of Src kinase by phosphorylation on Tyr416, supporting a role of Src to phosphorylate Tyr731-VE-cadherin. In this model, Src inhibition impairs αAM and αAMR-induced Tyr731-VE-cadherin phosphorylation in a dose-dependent manner, indicating that Tyr731-VE-cadherin phosphorylation state is dependent on Src activation. We found that AM blockade induces β-catenin phosphorylation on Ser33/Ser37/Thr41 sites in both ECs and VSMCs both in vitro and in vivo in mice. These data suggest that AM blockade selectively induces regression of unstable tumor neovessels, through disruption of VE-cadherin signalling. Targeting AM system may present a novel therapeutic target to selectively disrupt assembly and induce regression of nascent tumor neovessels, without affecting normal stabilized vasculature.


Jerusalem is well known as a visual city: many of her historical sites have long been instantly recognizable icons, and her landscape is imbued with symbolic meaning. This imagery has frequently been alluded to in music, including the core repertory of Shirei Eretz Israel. Nevertheless, less attention has been given to Jerusalem's equally unique soundscape. Since Biblical times, the city of Jerusalem has formed a stage for symbolic musical acts, which bring together music, place and identity, and reflect contemporary sociopolitical realities.

Part of a wider project exploring the multifaceted relationship between music making and symbolic spaces in historical and contemporary Jerusalem, this paper will focus on three musical snapshots, drawn from fieldwork conducted between 2005-7.

First, I will discuss the program of musical events sponsored by the Municipality during the celebrations marking 40 years of Jerusalem's reunification, several of which used the monuments of the city as performance spaces, literally overlaying music over the Jerusalem landscape. Second, I will discuss music and space in religious processions held by Jewish and Christian groups in the Old City, which seek to evoke historical precedents within contemporary practices. Third, I will discuss a small choir of elderly Russian immigrants, who seek through music to express their identity as newly arrived Jerusalemites.

Via these contrasting examples, I will suggest that considering musical performance as a spatial phenomenon helps build a sound-orientated map of Jerusalem, which sometimes markedly contrasts with the familiar visual topoi of the city. As such, this approach offers an alternative inroad into questions of music, culture and history in today's diverse Jerusalem.


"Jane Austen and the Civilized Woman: Moral Development and Gender" examines Austen's juvenilia as well as her six completed novels, and explores the interconnections among theories of (Western) civilization and gender, such as those discussed in the long-eighteenth century and in recent times. Critics have more often than not perceived Austen as the archetypal author of civil society and romance, concluding that her attention to propriety and courtship impairs her heroines' moral independence and establishes them as "proper ladies". The present study argues that this interpretation rests on a post-modern concept of the individual as a self-sufficient entity – an ideal inherent in the Enlightenment project, reinforced by influential psychoanalytic studies and associated primarily with masculinity. This thesis suggests instead that Austen's concern with moral behavior in relationships contests this ideal, and in doing so Austen participates in the debates of the late-eighteenth century and anticipates important feminist perspectives on moral agency. The thesis takes account of the way manners, moral behavior and gender were integrated in the philosophical thought of the long-eighteenth century as part of a collective consciousness that was referred to as "civilization". The Scottish philosophers engaged extensively with the progress of civilization, discussing human behavioral life at different economic stages. Their work paved the way for the twentieth-century German sociologist Norbert Elias and his account of a theory of Western civilization. Drawing on these writings, the present study takes as its starting point the idea of an embedded, relational subjectivity that emerges thanks to and in constant exchange with communities of other selves. Elias's investigations, in particular, allow us to read Austen's female protagonists as being immersed in a civilizing process which presupposes that not absolute independence, but rather the balance between an "I" and a "we" identity within the individual is the condition upon which the progress of Western civilization depends. The present work reads Austen's simultaneous emphasis on a thinking and a relational subject as a shift from the selfeffacing "proper lady" to a socially-informed and socially-involved civilized woman.


We present a compact integrated fiber laser with more than 200 mW of output power. It combines polarized fiber output with very narrow linewidth of less than 2 kHz. The coherence length of the laser is measured to be longer than 5 km. The laser features high mode stability of less than /spl plusmn/10 MHz over hours. The relative intensity noise (RIN) spectrum is dominated by a peak at the relaxation oscillation frequency and is shot-noise limited otherwise. The RIN peak at 1 MHz is reduced to /spl sim/-130 dB/Hz by integrating a negative feedback circuit. In addition to thermal wavelength tuning, the laser frequency can be modulated at a bandwidth of up to 10 kHz via the piezoelectric effect.


In the last five years there has been a flurry of work on information extraction from clinical documents, that is, on algorithms capable of extracting, from the informal and unstructured texts that are generated during everyday clinical practice, mentions of concepts relevant to such practice. Many of these research works are about methods based on supervised learning, that is, methods for training an information extraction system from manually annotated examples. While a lot of work has been devoted to devising learning methods that generate more and more accurate information extractors, no work has been devoted to investigating the effect of the quality of training data on the learning process for the clinical domain. Low quality in training data often derives from the fact that the person who has annotated the data is different from the one against whose judgment the automatically annotated data must be evaluated. In this article, we test the impact of such data quality issues on the accuracy of information extraction systems as applied to the clinical domain. We do this by comparing the accuracy deriving from training data annotated by the authoritative coder (i.e., the one who has also annotated the test data and by whose judgment we must abide) with the accuracy deriving from training data annotated by a different coder, equally expert in the subject matter. The results indicate that, although the disagreement between the two coders (as measured on the training set) is substantial, the difference is (surprisingly enough) not always statistically significant. While the dataset used in the present work originated in a clinical context, the issues we study in this work are of more general interest.


The Faculty of Medicine, with all its specializations, is a very challenging choice for the high school graduates. The admittance exam is difficult, but it is just the beginning because, after this stage, the young students in the 1st year of study find themselves in front of an even more difficult situation – the lectures and the practical stages have often a high and dense level of scientific information, hard to be understood and learned, and the academic requirements are much more demanding than those in high school. That is why the percentage of students who obtain poor results in the first session of examinations is usually increased and can lead to serious consequences, such as abandoning studies. This situation is a challenge for the students, who are not prepared for the new demands and the new learning style, as well as for the teachers, who are interested to facilitate as much as possible this transition period and to help the students to understand better the scientific notions and to learn with pleasure. In order to reach these objectives, the solution is to use new didactic methods and tools, like the PowerPoint presentations, the online resources and the interactive lectures, based on questions, answers and discussions. Another tool, whose potential is briefly investigated in the present paper, is the using of videos, eventually uploaded online, on YouTube. We developed such videos as didactic materials for the Medical Informatics and Biostatistics practical stages, in order to explain theoretical concepts (databases and statistics) and practical procedures (how to perform different operations in Access and Excel); the videos are based on live demonstrations, combined with oral explanations and static images and are uploaded in the academic network, being available at any moment for the students. A comparative study showed that the marks obtained at the practical exam by the students who use these resources are better than the marks obtained at the same exam by the students in the previous generations, who didn't have access to them. Also we asked 60 students from the 1st year of study, Faculty of Dental Medicine, through a questionnaire, about their opinions regarding the utility and the attractiveness of this teaching resource, as well as its role in simplifying the learning process, and their answers were generally favourable. These preliminary results encourage us to continue with this project and to extend it, but also to evaluate it permanently, in order to detect its limits.


Proteins have long been recognized as important compounds in the biogeochemical cycles of terrestrial ecosystems. They can, for example, provide a source of nitrogen for plants and soil microorganisms following proteolysis and ammonification. Extracellular enzymes liberated in soil are essential catalysts in the mobilization of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur from macromolecular organic matter. Proteins are also implicated in new environmental topics, such as soil carbon storage, horizontal transmission of spongiform encephalopathies and potential negative effects of insecticidal toxins released from transgenic plants.


We present an approach to utilize large amounts of web data for learning CNNs. Specifically inspired by curriculum learning, we present a two-step approach for CNN training. First, we use easy images to train an initial visual representation. We then use this initial CNN and adapt it to harder, more realistic images by leveraging the structure of data and categories. We demonstrate that our two-stage CNN outperforms a fine-tuned CNN trained on ImageNet on Pascal VOC 2012. We also demonstrate the strength of webly supervised learning by localizing objects in web images and training a R-CNN style [19] detector. It achieves the best performance on VOC 2007 where no VOC training data is used. Finally, we show our approach is quite robust to noise and performs comparably even when we use image search results from March 2013 (pre-CNN image search era).


Abstract In this article, we investigate questions like What is your name again?, which presuppose that the answer was already made common-ground knowledge in the past (Sauerland 2006). We call this a remind-me presupposition. While repetitive particles can trigger a remind-me presupposition in German and English, Japanese uses a specialized particle kke to bring about such a presupposition. We argue for an account of remind-me presuppositions based on syntactic decomposition of the question speech-act into an imperative part and a make-it-known part. On this account, the repetitive particles take scope between the two parts of the decomposed question speech-act. The proposal correctly predicts how both particles interact syntactically with the periphery of the clause in slightly different ways. The interaction with polar questions corroborates our proposal that the decomposed question speech-act parts are syntactically projected parts of the question structure. Our data therefore corroborate a syntactic representation of aspects of speech-acts.


Reproductive wastage is a major cause of production loss in dairy animals. Fertilization failure and embryonic death are suggested to be the main causes of reproductive loss. The dairy industry in Malaysia is hampered by poor reproductive performance which is manifested by repeat breeding and lengthened calving interval. Whether this is due to fertilization failure or embryonic death has never been determined. This study is belief to be the first in the tropics in trying to quantify reasons for reproductive inefficiency in crossbred cows in the tropical environment and attempts to relates the influence of the hot ambient tropical temperature and humidity to embryonic mortality.
In this study reproductive inefficiency is caused by fertilization failure (9%), luteal insufficiency at insemination (10%), embryonic mortality (53%) and foetal
deaths (8%). Embryonic mortality is the major caused of reproductive inefficiency. BED contributed to 73% of all embryonic mortalities with 62% of these taking place from Day 8-21 of the gestation period. Fertilization rate of 81% is achievable in the tropics. Treatment with exogenous progesterone do not increased pregnancy rate neither does keeping early pregnant animal under stallfeeding, but both factors had a positive association in contributing to embryonic mortality. Poor reproductive performance in this study in not due to fertilization failure but due to embryonic mortality. This study has challenged the traditionally accepted reason of poor heat detection being the main reason for poor reproductive performance (due to fertilization failure) in the Sahiwal Friesian cows.


Abstract This article introduces a cartography tool to help social workers work with and support family caregivers. This tool aims to determine (1) which caregivers are likely to need additional support during bereavement and (2) what resources the caregiver has that care teams can rely on for decision-making and planning. The purpose of this article is to present a preliminary assessment of the cartography based on the feedback collected from potential users regarding the tool's content and usage.


This paper seeks to elucidate the Philippine technocracy's rise into the power elite as well as its fall from position during the martial law period (1972- 1986). It aims to bring in the insights of the technocrats concerning their role in President Ferdinand E. Marcos's authoritarian regime and their views of the nature of the politics, which facilitated as well as impeded the economic decision-making process. The paper argues that the technocracy's technical expertise and shared development vision with the leadership and the country's major donors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, provided their power base.This was, however, continually challenged by the other economic power blocs which consisted mainly of factions within the technocracy, the Marcos cronies, and that of the First Lady Mrs. Imelda Marcos. For as long as the technocracy could access the needed IMF/World Bank loans for the country, the leadership gave it substantive bargaining leverage. This, however, would deteriorate with the country's economic and political instability as brought about by failed technocratic policies and worldwide economic recession in 1981 and the burgeoning antidictatorship movement spawned further by the 1983 assassination of ex-Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. The technocracy's loss of power was further aggravated by Marcos's failing health giving more clout to Mrs. Marcos's power bloc. What contributed to the technocracy's ultimate demise was their alienation from the general public as brought about by their vast differing perceptions of the causes of corruption, underdevelopment, and human rights abuses of the regime. Keywords: Philippine technocracy, economic decision making, Ferdinand E. Marcos, IMF/World Bank, antidictatorship movement


Abstract An experimental study of low-pressure, natural convection critical heat flux (CHF) has been carried out with full-scale fuel pins, simulating typical Training, Research, Isotopes, and General Atomics (TRIGA) reactor conditions. The test section is an annular upwardly flowing channel formed by a round tube and a simulated fuel pin heater rod with a chopped-cosine power profile, located in the center of the tube. Experiments were performed under the following conditions: inlet water subcooling varying from 10 to 70 K, pressure varying from 110 to 200 kPa, and natural circulation mass flux up to 400 kg/m2·s. CHF was observed, and associated data have been compared with selected CHF correlations. It has been found that the CHF increases as the pressure or mass flux increases, but does not significantly depend on the inlet subcooling. Among the numerous presented CHF data and correlations, few data exist, and no specific correlations have been developed for TRIGA reactor conditions. Because of the lack of specific correlation, the correlations of Bernath, El-Genk et al., Mishima and Ishii, and Block and Wallis have been used to estimate the TRIGA CHF outside of their intended ranges of applicability. These correlations are evaluated against the current experimental data.


A numerical and experimental investigation in to the role of gasoline surrogates and their reduced chemical kinetic mechanisms in spark ignition (SI) engine knocking has been carried out. In order to predict autoignition of gasoline in a spark ignition engine three reduced chemical kinetic mechanisms have been coupled with quasi-dimensional thermodynamic modelling approach. The modelling was supported by measurements of the knocking tendencies of three fuels of very different compositions yet an equivalent Research Octane Number (RON) of 90 (ULG90, PRF90 and 71.5% by volume toluene blended with n-heptane) as well as iso-octane. The experimental knock onsets provided a benchmark for the chemical kinetic predictions of autoignition and also highlighted the limitations of characterisation of the knock resistance of a gasoline in terms of the Research and Motoring octane numbers and the role of these parameters in surrogate formulation. Two approaches used to optimise the surrogate composition have been discussed and possible surrogates for ULG90 have been formulated and numerically studied. A discussion has also been made on the various surrogates from the literature which have been tested in shock tube and rapid compression machines for their autoignition times and are a source of chemical kinetic mechanism validation. The differences in the knock onsets of the tested fuels have been explained by modelling their reactivity using semi-detailed chemical kinetics. Through this work, the weaknesses and challenges of autoignition modelling in SI engines through gasoline surrogate chemical kinetics have been highlighted. Adequacy of a surrogate in simulating the autoignition behaviour of gasoline has also been investigated as it is more important for the surrogate to have the same reactivity as the gasoline at all engine relevant p − T conditions than having the same RON and Motored Octane Number (MON).


When China opened its borders to travelers and its economy to international trade, businesses all over the world took note. With well over one billion people, it represented a huge potential marketplace for goods and services. Huge as it is, however, China is not a monolithic culture. Though deeply rooted in native traditions, its contemporary marketplace is eclectic, combining Chinese regional styles with elements borrowed from foreign cultures. Most of all, it is evolving at a remarkable pace. To succeed in that dynamic emerging market, smart businesses need to understand its driving influences-especially its urban youth. Authors Lianne Yu, Cynthia Chan, and Christopher Ireland bring their collective experience and perspective to this thoughtful, beautifully illustrated analysis of the world's fastest-growing market. Focusing on four fundamental aspects of the consumer Chinese lifestyle-food, style, home life, and mobility-they show how Chinese culture is speedily developing into a radically new form. Anyone who is interested in expanding his or her business in China should not miss this analysis.


Colletotrichum gloeosporioides [(Penz.) Penz. & Sacc] causes anthracnose in various tropical crops, including mango ( Mangifera indica L.). In Puerto Rico, estimated losses in mango fruits are as high as 75%. Intensive chemical applications used to control this disease have resulted in fungicide resistance and potential environmental pollution. An alternative control could be inducing resistance in mango with hypovirulent isolates of C. gloeosporioides . Hypovirulent (HV) mutants were obtained by conidial mutagenesis using ultraviolet light. Mycelial plugs (4 mm) of HV mutants were used to inoculate the surface of detached mango fruits, either 24 or 120 h previous to the virulent isolate inoculation. Fruits were kept in humid chambers (i.e., 100% RH). Lesion size was measured eight and 14 days after inoculation with the virulent isolate. Mango seedlings were inoculated with the HV mutants, as described above, 120 h prior to the virulent isolate inoculation and kept under shade-house conditions. Lesion size was measured four and 10 days after inoculation with the virulent isolate. Fourteen days after inoculation, three HV mutants reduced lesion size in detached fruits by 50%. Locally induced resistance (in situ) was observed in middle leaves of mango seedlings. All three HV mutants tested reduced lesion development in middle leaves of mango seedlings 10 days after inoculation. Hypovirulent isolates HV-49 and HV-165 induced systemic resistance to the upper leaves of the plant. The HV mutants appeared to inhibit pathogen development by activating defense mechanisms in mango fruits and seedlings.


Purpose
Much research into outcomes of doctoral learning focuses on employability, or the dearth of academic employment in relation to doctoral graduate expectations, emphasising precarity of academic future work. This new work begins with and moves beyond employment issues, highlighting professional practice and personal knowledge development and impact.

Design/methodology/approach
Much doctoral education research focuses on the academic identities of postgraduates, their change and alignment to the work and experience of being a doctoral student and beyond, in academic or other jobs. This longitudinal work explores professional and social impact from doctoral research and transformational changes experienced and reported by graduates in two projects. Based on narrative interviewing turned into case studies, it asks fundamental questions about the purpose and impact of postgraduate knowledge.

Findings
Respondents emphasised change in their sense of personal, academic and professional identity; immediate impact on professional practice leading to job change, status, changes in practices and longer-term impacts of further influences on professional practice, some international in reach.

Research limitations/implications
This small-scale study has widespread implications for understanding the impact of postgraduate knowledge on professional practice and personal development.

Practical implications
The work could influence doctoral student intentions and the focus of doctoral programmes.

Social implications
Postgraduate knowledge is seen as crucial in theorised and practical contributions to social development.

Originality/value
This longitudinal work generates new knowledge, answering questions: What is the purpose of postgraduate knowledge? Who benefits from results? What is the impact from the research? How are outcomes put into professional practice? It found significant developments in professional practice and personal development.


When is an individual likely to be accepted or rejected by a group? This research investigates responses towards prospective group members depending on how they compare to the group in terms of their perceived morality or competence. Because morality is of particular importance to groups, we hypothesized that the perceived morality of prospective group members has more impact on the group's tendency to accept versus reject them than their competence. Across three experiments, employing self-report, psychophysiological and behavioural measures, results supported this hypothesis: Immoral (vs. incompetent) individuals were perceived as more different from the group and were more likely to be rejected. Additionally, the rejection of prospective group members with perceived inferior morality (but not those with inferior competence) was mediated by the group threat they imply. Inclusion success thus seems to be mainly contingent upon how a group evaluates the individual's morality relative to the group's standards.


Introduction: There are few studies that associate anemia with complementary feeding practices in cities of the provinces of Peru. Objective: To determine the characteristics of complementary feeding practices, sociodemographic characteristics and their association with anemia in children between 6 and 12 months of age from Cusco-Peru between August – December, 2017. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional and analytical study based on the data from 360 mothers and children was carried out. The complementary feeding practices were evaluated through a semi-structured questionnaire, and their association with the variable of interest "anemia" was calculated. The crude (cPR) and adjusted (aPR) prevalence ratios were estimated using linear and generalized Poisson regression models and log link function, with their respective 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI). P-values <0.05 were considered significant. Results: The prevalence of anemia was 68,3 %. Associated factors were: living in poverty (aPR 1.27, p= 0.002), receiving an inadequate daily diversity of foods (aPR 1.13, p= 0.038); receiving an inadequate daily amount of food (aPR 1.15, p= 0.036) and supplementation with porridge (aPR 1.51, p= 0.002). Iron supplementation (aPR 0.33, p <0.001) was a protective factor. Conclusions: Living in poverty has been associated with anemia as well as some complementary feeding practices. These findings could be modified through proper follow-up in home visits and appropriate assignment of personnel for this activity.


Enzymatic oxidative polymerization of a new para-imine functionalized phenol derivative, 4-(4-hydroxybenzylideneamino)benzoic acid (HBBA), using horseradish peroxidase enzyme and hydrogen peroxide oxidizer has been investigated in an equivolume mixture of an organic solvent (acetone, methanol, ethanol, dimethylformamide, 1,4-dioxane, and tetrahydrofuran) and phosphate buffer (pH = 5.0, 6.0, 6.8, 7.0, 7.2, 8.0, and 9.0) at different temperatures under air for 24 h. The resulting oligomer, oligo(4-(4-hydroxybenzylideneamino)benzoic acid) [oligo(HBBA)], was characterized using ultraviolet–visible, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), cyclic voltammetry, size exclusion chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analyses. Polymerization involved carbon dioxide and hydrogen elimination from the monomer, and terminal units of the oligomer structure consisted of phenolic hydroxyl (–OH) groups at the ends. The polymer is mainly composed of a mixture of phenylene and oxyphenylene units according to 1H NMR and FT-IR analyses. Effects of solvent system, temperature and buffer pH on the polymerization have been investigated in respect to the yield and molecular weight (Mn) of the product. The best condition in terms of the highest molecular weight (Mn = 3000 g/mol, DP ~ 15) was achieved in an equivolume mixture of 1,4-dioxane/pH 5.0 phosphate buffer condition at 35°C. Electrochemical characterization of oligo(HBBA) was investigated at different scan rates. The resulting oligomer has also shown relatively high thermal stability according to thermogravimetric analysis. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Digital video broadcasting (DVB-C2) and other modern communication standards increase diversity by means of a symbol-level interleaver that spans over several codewords. De-interleaving at the receiver requires a large memory, which has a significant impact on the implementation cost. In this paper, we propose a technique that reduces the de-interleaver memory size. By quantizing log-likelihood ratios with bit-specific quantizers and compressing the quantized output, we can significantly reduce the memory size with a negligible increase in computational complexity. Both the quantizer and compressor are designed via a GMI-based maximization procedure. For a typical DVB-C2 scenario, numerical results show that the proposed solution enables a memory saving up to 30%.


Although the application of radiotherapy techniques reduced normal lung tissue of exposure for patients with non-small cell lung cancer, Radioactive Pneumonia (RP) and Pulmonary Fibrosis (RF) are still frequently occurred in the processes of lung cancer radiotherapy. Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) plays a crucial role in the process of lung injury during RP in lung cancer patients. However, the relationships between PAI-1 and lung injury have not well understood, yet. In this study, we investigated the role of PAI-1 in the progression of RP and PF in patients with lung cancer, who have undergone radiotherapy. A total of 126 lung cancer patients and 62 healthy volunteers were recruited to analyse the changes of PAI-1 serum levels. We showed that PAI-1 serum levels were down-regulated in patients with lung cancer compared to healthy volunteers. Outcomes demonstrated that PAI-1 was up-regulated in lung cancer patients after radiotherapy. Patients with RP presented higher serum levels of PAI-1 were positively correlated with degree of RP and PF for patients who undergone radiotherapy. We also showed that serum levels of PAI-1 were down-regulated after recovery of radioactive lung injury in lung cancer patients. Outcomes indicated that PAI-1 gene expression levels were up-regulated in lung fibroblasts in patients with radioactive lung injury compared to healthy controls. In conclusion, these findings indicate that serum levels of PAI-1 were associated with radioactive lung injury-induced PR and PF in lung cancer patients, who undergone radiotherapy.


The introduction of an 'internal' or 'managed' market mechanism into the National Health Service required fundamental structural reorganisation, involving the separation of purchaser and provider functions. While a degree of structural change has occurred among the emergent purchasing organisations subsequent to the initial reforms, there is a lack of corresponding evidence of ongoing structural change in acute provider units. Despite the existence of a direct relationship between organisational structure and strategy, the extent of change in the organisational structure of hospitals is questionable. Indeed at the macro level current acute hospital structures, that is NHS Trusts, are remarkably similar to 'pre-reform' structures, despite the unsuitability of these structures for the market orientation required by the internal market. Such prevalence arguably reflects the marginal effect that current managerial structures have had on those delivering services and the predominance of the medical hierarchies. Specifically, those responsible for the marketing of hospital services in current structures are not directly linked to those who deliver the service, in spite of the introduction of clinical directorate structures. Part of a broader study of the market behaviour of acute NHS Trusts in Scotland, this paper explores the organisational avenues open to health care providers to overcome this separation in the pursuit of market-led service delivery and concomitant market orientation.


Neural networks have advanced the state-of-theart in natural language processing (Wu et al., 2019; Joulin et al., 2017). Their performance has made their use ubiquitous, but their lack of interpretability has been a long-standing issue (Li et al., 2016). Attention-based models offer a way to improve performance without sacrificing interpretability. Attention mechanisms were first introduced for machine translation (Bahdanau et al., 2014; Luong et al., 2015), and have since been extended to text classification (Yang et al., 2016), natural language inference (Chen et al., 2016) and language modeling (Salton et al., 2017). Self-attention and transformer architectures (Vaswani et al., 2017) are now the state of the art in language understanding (Devlin et al., 2018), extractive summarization (Liu, 2019), semantic role labeling (Strubell et al., 2018) and machine translation for low-resource languages (Rikters, 2018; Rikters et al., 2018). In this short survey, we first explain attention mechanisms and compare their interpretability in machine translation and text classification. Then, we explore self-attention and highlight the limits of its interpretability. Finally, we provide alternatives and challenges from the literature to attention for model interpretability, and outline suggestions for future work.


There is a plethora of research articles describing the deep semantics of JavaScript. Nevertheless, such articles are often difficult to grasp for readers not familiar with formal semantics. In this report, we propose a digest of the semantics of JavaScript centered around security concerns. This document proposes an overview of the JavaScript language and the misleading semantic points in its design. The first part of the document describes the main characteristics of the language itself. The second part presents how those characteristics can lead to problems. It finishes by showing some coding patterns to avoid certain traps and presents some ECMAScript 5 new features.


— Electroencephalography (EEG) is an exceptional technique in order to study human behavior via neurocognitive processes. EEG can be utilized in different domains to study the neurocognitive processes behind human-machine interactions. Furthermore, remote ship operations are an innovative approach in the maritime industry to improve the efficiency of operations. However, in the Shore Control Center (SCC), human-machine interactions are challenging and highly important in order to implement successful remote ship operations. In this respect, human operators are key components of the SCCs; performance and efficiency of their interactions directly affect remote monitoring and remote controls. Hence, the present study introduces the EEG EPOC Flex in order to objectively investigate human interactions. The current paper focuses on operator's stress in different levels of workload within the SCC. In effect, EEG will facilitate investigating human factor issues that may affect operators' interactions in the SCC. The result of this study can help SCC designers to design an efficient environment for SCC operators.


This thesis has demonstrated how reminiscence can have an adaptive value for mental health in later life. The first aim of this thesis was to study the relationship between reminiscence and mental health. In a sample of older adults with mild to moderate depressive symptomatology, it has been shown that people reminisce more often for positive reminiscence when confronted with critical life events, that problem-solving reminiscence mediates the relation between critical life events and anxiety, and that mental resources (i.e., meaning in life and mastery) mediate the relation of negative reminiscence with distress. These results support the premise that it is useful to focus not only on how reminiscence is related to mental health, but also on the contextual factors of reminiscence. Therefore, we advise including both types of factors to examine the role of reminiscence in adaptation or evaluating life-review based interventions. The second aim of this thesis was to evaluate the (cost) effectiveness of an early intervention that integrates life-review and narrative therapy ("The stories we live by") for older adults with mild to moderate depressive symptomatology. It has been demonstrated this method is effective as an early intervention for depressed older adults, that life-review is effective under ecologically valid conditions and that better outcomes are achieved at higher costs. The third aim of this thesis was to study possible mechanisms of life-review. Results suggest that life-review is effective for a broad cross-section of older adults. It seems that participants with higher levels of depressive symptoms, neuroticism and bitterness revival are also capable of developing alternative stories on their lives that are more positive, meaningful and empowering. Life-review appears to achieve its effectiveness in the following ways: by discouraging bitterness revival and boredom reduction reminiscence, by strengthening mastery and positive thoughts, and by stimulating group processes as learning to disclose oneself, finding recognition, learning from others and realizing that others have problems too. Counsellors who facilitate life-review interventions should be very familiar with the mediating processes that influence its effects and it is recommended that they are specifically trained to promote these processes.


In this work we present the first steps towards a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-based biomimetic sensor array for the detection of small organic molecules via the heat-transfer method (HTM). HTM relies on the change in thermal resistance upon binding of the target molecule to the MIP-type receptor. A flow-through sensor cell was developed, which is segmented into four quadrants with a volume of 2.5 μL each, allowing four measurements to be done simultaneously on a single substrate. Verification measurements were conducted, in which all quadrants received a uniform treatment and all four channels exhibited a similar response. Subsequently, measurements were performed in quadrants, which were functionalized with different MIP particles. Each of these quadrants was exposed to the same buffer solution, spiked with different molecules, according to the MIP under analysis. With the flow cell design we could discriminate between similar small organic molecules and observed no significant cross-selectivity. Therefore, the MIP array sensor platform with HTM as a readout technique, has the potential to become a low-cost analysis tool for bioanalytical applications.


Abstract Text comprehension is understood as a social and cultural phenomenon in which it is possible to identify the developmental phases, that is ontogenesis, from the aspect of communicating entity. The age-receptive value, as well as the age-receptive variability of text, is reflected in the texts for children. Works of folk or authorial provenance anticipate the mental dispositions of a child subject. Developing the understanding by children is resulting from formal and content criteria. Understanding – like speech – grows. The supreme level of text comprehension is the improvisation of larger narrative formations: Compared with the primary contact with the text in the form of rhymes, the form is released and the epic breadth of expression increases. The child as authorial subject produces a text that is characterized by such variability of expression values which is contained in the child´s current mental model reached through conventions and receptive experience. The study will demonstrate the expressive value of text using examples of creative writing of children. Methodologically, it relies on the semantic communication model of text and the expressive value of text.


Scandinavian research in systems development can be grouped into three major traditions, based on quite different ideologies and theories: The systems theoretical school, the socio-technical school and the critical school. The differences among these schools are closely related to the historical and social contexts in which they developed. External political, economic and cultural factors have strongly influenced research in this field. In particular, the basic theoretical differences among the schools reflect their different interpretations of the relationship between capital and labour.


We present an algorithm able to represent with a high accuracy any kind of stable cavity, even when many static or dynamical defects are present, like misalignments, curvature errors, surface irregularities, substrate inhomogeneities... We first present the theory, giving ideas on its validity domain, and a discussion of its accuracy in terms of a RMS phase error, which is found to be negligible compared to the phase noise due to roughness of optical surfaces. Then we show that the well-known features of ideal resonant cavities are found by the algorithm with a good accuracy. This tool can help for designing laser cavities, mode cleaners, or passive Fabry-Perot standards ; as an example, some results are presented concerning the design of a very long cavity planned for interferometric purposes.


Does financial aid increase college attendance and completion? Selection bias and the high implicit tax rates imposed by overlapping aid programs make this question difficult to answer. This paper reports initial findings from a randomized evaluation of a large privately-funded scholarship program for applicants to Nebraska's public colleges and universities. Our research design answers the challenges of aid evaluation with random assignment of aid offers and a strong first stage for aid received: randomly assigned aid offers increased aid received markedly. This in turn appears to have boosted enrollment and persistence, while also shifting many applicants from two- to four-year schools. Awards offered to nonwhite applicants, to those with relatively low academic achievement, and to applicants who targeted less-selective four-year programs (as measured by admissions rates) generated the largest gains in enrollment and persistence, while effects were much smaller for applicants predicted to have stronger post-secondary outcomes in the absence of treatment. Thus, awards enabled groups with historically-low college attendance to 'level up,' largely equalizing enrollment and persistence rates with traditionally college-bound peers, particularly at four-year programs. Awards offered to prospective community college students had little effect on college enrollment or the type of college attended.