Introduction Major abdominal surgery leads to a postoperative systemic inflammatory response, making it difficult to discriminate patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome from those with a beginning postoperative infectious complication. At present, physicians have to rely on their clinical experience to differentiate between the two. Pancreatic stone protein (PSP) and pancreatitis-associated protein (PAP), both secretory proteins produced by the pancreas, are dramatically increased during pancreatic disease and have been shown to act as acute-phase proteins. Increased levels of PSP have been detected in polytrauma patients developing sepsis and PSP has shown a high diagnostic accuracy in discriminating the severity of peritonitis and in predicting death in intensive care unit patients. However, the prognostic value of PSP/PAP for infectious complications among patients undergoing major abdominal surgery is unknown. Methods and analysis 160 patients undergoing major abdominal surgery will be recruited preoperatively. On the day before surgery, baseline blood values are attained. Following surgery, daily blood samples for measuring regular inflammatory markers (c-reactive protein, procalcitonin, interleukin-6, tumour necrosis factor-α and leucocyte counts) and PSP/PAP will be acquired. PSP/PAP will be measured using a validated ELISA developed in our research laboratory. Patient's discharge marks the end of his/her trial participation. Complication grade including mortality and occurrence of infectious postoperative complications according to validated diagnostic criteria will be correlated with PSP/PAP values. Total intensive care unit days and total length of stay will be recorded as further outcome parameters. Ethics and dissemination The PSP trial is a prospective monocentric cohort study evaluating the prognostic value of PSP and PAP for postoperative infectious complications. In addition, a comparison with established inflammatory markers in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery will be performed to help evaluate the role of these proteins in predicting and diagnosing infectious and other postoperative complications. Institution ethics board approval ID KEKZH-Nr. STV 11-2009. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01258179.


The chapter concerns the usages of a digital camera and digital photographs as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) methods in interaction between aphasic and non-challenged speakers. It focuses on the way in which a universal tool (the 'ubi-tech' method) can contribute to the fluency of spontaneous everyday interactions. The video-recorded conversation is analysed with conversation analytical methods. We highlight the way in which sharing photographs on the display of a digital camera affects the organisation of social activity through bringing in additional semiotic resources that empower the person with aphasia. The digital camera and photos also assist in manifesting the epistemic status of a knowing participant who otherwise tends to be limited by communicative constraints.


In 1863, the Nawab Sikandar Begum, a Muslim woman and hereditary ruler of the princely state of Bhopal in colonial India, traveled to Mecca with a retinue of a thousand people. On returning, she wrote this witty, acerbic account of her journey. In it, we glimpse a process by which notions of the self could be redefined against a Muslim "other" in the colonial environment. Sikandar Begum emerges as a genuinely complex individual, crafting an image of herself as an effective administrator, a loyal subject, and a good Muslim. Siobhan Lambert-Hurley's critical introduction and afterword make this edition a comprehensive resource on travel writing by South Asian Muslim women, colonialism, and world history.


Criticism of Chaucer's characters in Troilus and Criseyde has been profoundly marked by a controversy over the nature of Chaucer's approach to poetics. On the one hand, there are those critics who approach Chaucer from the modern standpoint, seeking to find in him affinities with nineteenth-century imitative realism. On the other hand, there are those critics who approach Chaucer from a classical standpoint, emphasizing the fixed nature of his poetic and its didactic quality. Members of the first group often ignore the controlling system of theological value which so often surrounds and informs Chaucer's characters, while the second group overemphasizes that system to the extent that Chaucer is construed as having shunned the depiction of any subjective feeling in characterization. It seems to me, however, that Chaucer's characters, although controlled by a strong theological framework, also evince psychological states of joy, grief, and willing. In fact, the theological tradition out of which Chaucer writes allows--even directly facilitates--the depiction of subjective feeling in characterization.


Abstract Purpose: We propose and test a new leadership model. Our model is an extension of the leaderplex model which proposes that leader cognitive and social complexities are linked with leader effectiveness indirectly, in a mediation scheme, through behavioral complexity. We enhance the leader-plex model with a leader's degree of managerial discretion as the moderator of the links in this mediation format. Methodology: We test our model with a moderated mediation approach (Baron-Kenny four-step procedure and Preacher-Hayes bootstrapping methods). Findings: We use results of interviews with top leaders in Poland and demonstrate that a leader's managerial discretion is a moderator affecting the mediation scheme assumed in the leaderplex model. Limitations: The sample size is only 29 leaders. To preserve the respondents' anonymity, their opinions were evaluated by only one researcher who interviewed them directly. The results may be country specific (Poland). Originality: We define new boundary conditions for the leaderplex model by showing importance of a leader's real position (managerial discretion) in an organization. Specifically, we show that the nature of the relationships between the variables of interest will change when a leader operates in one physical environment (e.g., high managerial discretion) rather than another (e.g., low managerial discretion).


In 1986, concerned that wealthy parents were sheltering some of their income from taxes by giving some portion of their securities portfolios to their children, Congress enacted the "kiddie tax," which taxes a child's passive income at the child's parents' tax rate. By doing so, Congress intended to reduce tax-motivated income-shifting. Since its passage, however, there has been little serious consideration of whether the kiddie tax successfully prevents the targeted income-shifting.This Article reexamines the kiddie tax and concludes that it is both over- and underbroad. The kiddie tax subjects all of a child's passive income, not just income resulting from tax-motivated income-shifting, to her parents' higher tax rates, which distorts children's saving and investing decisions. At the same time, the kiddie tax does nothing to prevent the transfer of appreciated property to children, itself a significant means of income-shifting. The Article concludes that, in order to more effectively prevent income-shifting while at the same time reducing its distortions on non-abusive decisions, the kiddie tax needs to grow up. A grown-up kiddie tax would apply only to income a child earned on assets received as a gift at her parents' rate; all other income would be taxable to a child at her own rate. At the same time, the kiddie tax would be triggered based on when a child received the asset, not when she realized income. By replacing the current kiddie tax with the grown-up kiddie tax, the tax law will have better tools to police against income-shifting.


The geological record of volcanic eruptions suggests that scientists are some way from being able to forecast eruptions at many of the world9s volcanoes. There are three reasons for this. First, continuing geological discoveries show that our knowledge is incomplete. Second, knowledge is limited about why, how, and when volcanic unrest turns into eruptions, and over what timescales. Third, there are imbalances between the studies of past eruptions, and the geophysical techniques and observations on modern events, versus the information needed or demanded by society. Scientists do not yet know whether there are other, presently unknown, factors that are important in controlling eruptions, or if there is an inherent unknowability about some volcanic systems.


Recent protests against the exclusion of Chinese scientists from an international conference held in the United States only scratch the surface of the formal and informal system of controls now in place to limit the access of foreign visitors to knowledge production at US research sites. American officials have enforced these controls with increasing rigor since 9/11 in response to charges of illicit data acquisition, notably by Chinese nationals. The "deemed export" rule is a particularly controversial instrument that officials have invoked to the detriment of scientific openness. It chips away at the freedom to do basic and applied unclassified research with foreign students, imposing tight restrictions on mundane research practices of knowledge sharing. An analysis of official documents, as well as interviews with research engineers and managers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, lays bare the concerns in academia over the impact of these tighter rules on the educational enterprise. It is impossible to stop all leaks of sensitive information abroad. Security lies in selectively building high walls around particularly sensitive knowledge in a climate of openness.


The Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Tracking Survey of Young Adults finds that between November 2010 and November 2011, an estimated 13.7 million young adults ages 19-25 stayed on or joined their parents' health plans, including 6.6 million who likely would not have been able to do so prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act. The findings of the survey underscore the need for policymakers to implement the remaining coverage expansions in the law. Nearly two of five young adults ages 19-29 were without health insurance for all or part of 2011, with young adults in low- and moderate-income households the most at risk. The lack of insurance had significant health and financial implications for young adults: 60 percent said they did not get needed health care because of cost and half reported problems paying medical bills or said they were paying off medical debt over time.


The paper looks at an analysis of the tendency of changes in the fuel structure of electricity generation and thus resulting changes in carbon dioxide emissions. Forecasts drawn up by various institutions and organizations were selected for the analysis. Firstly, on the basis of statistical data contained in (IEA 2017a, IEA 2008) and with the use of Kay's indicators, the impact of changes in energy intensity of the national income and energy mix on changes in carbon dioxide emissions per capita in 2006–2015 for the OECD countries and Poland were analyzed. A small effect of changes was found in the fuel mix in this period of time on the emissions. The main impact was due to changes in the energy intensity of the national income and changes in the national income per capita. Next, selected fuel scenarios for the period up to 2050 (60) were discussed – WEC, IEA, EIA, BP, Shell, with a focus on the WEC scenarios. These have been developed for various assumptions with regard to the pace of economic development, population growth, and developments of the political situation and the situation on the fuel market. For this reason, it is difficult to assess the reliability thereof. The subject of the discussion was mainly the data on the fuel structure of electricity generation and energy intensity of national income and changes in carbon dioxide emissions. The final part of the paper offers a general analysis of forecasts drawn up for Poland. These are quite diverse, with some of them being developed as part of drawing up the Energy Policy for Poland until 2050, and some covering the period up to 2035. An observation has been made that some forecasts render results similar to those characteristic of the WEC Hard Rock scenario. keywords: energy scenarios up to 2060, Fuel structure of electricity generation, changes in carbon dioxide emissions, energy scenarios for Poland


The outer-arc islands of western Sumatra rise during great megathrust earthquakes, due to large slip on the underlying megathrust. In contrast, the islands subsided up to a few centimeters during the recent tsunamigenic earthquake of October 2010, due to slip far updip, near the trench. Coral microatolls on one of the islands recorded a much larger subsidence, at least 35 cm, during an event in approximately A.D. 1314. We calculate a suite of slip models, slightly deeper and/or larger than the 2010 event, that are consistent with this large amount of subsidence. Sea level records from older coral microatolls suggest that these events occur at least once every millennium, but likely far less frequently than their great downdip neighbors. The revelation that shallow slip events are important contributors to the seismic cycle of the Mentawai segment further complicates our understanding of this subduction megathrust and our assessment of the region's exposure to seismic and tsunami hazards.


Background:  Economies aim to grow over time, which usually implies the need for increased energy availability. Governments can use their procurement of energy to increase benefits in their economies via certain policy tools. One such tool is local content requirements (LCRs), where the purchase of goods prescribes that a certain value has to be sourced locally. The argument for this tool is that spending is localised and manufacturing, as well as job creation, can be stimulated because industry will need to establish in the host economy. However, this practice is distortionary in effect and does not create a fair playing ground for global trade. Furthermore, if the local content definition is weak, or open to manipulation, the goals of such a policy may not be achieved at all. Aim:  The objective of this study was to determine how LCRs would ultimately impact on the overall procurement programme. Setting:  This study took place as South Africa commenced with large scale development of the renewable energy sector. This was largely achieved via the State run Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). Method:  This study utilised opinion-based surveys to look into the LCRs of South Africa's REIPPPP and measure the impact of this policy on the renewable energy sector in general. The mixed method approach was utilised to analyse qualitative and quantitative data and this was then triangulated with an international peer group to arrive at certain conclusions. The Delphi Technique was then employed to achieve population consensus on the findings. Results and conclusion:  It was found that, in order to implement a policy such as local content without any negative welfare effects, the host economy had to show certain pre-existing conditions. Because South Africa does not hold all supportive pre-conditions, the impact and effect of LCRs have not been optimal, and it has not been found to be a sustainable mechanism to continue using indefinitely. The pricing of renewable energy was also found to be higher due to local content and such pricing is passed on to the energy consumer. The welfare created for South Africa, which should be in a trade-off for the creation of jobs and manufacturing, is therefore diminished and coupled with unsustainability and potential manipulation of the system, the country does not seem to be benefitting as it should be from this specific application of a local content policy.


The extent to which noise pollution affects amphibian acoustic mating systems is unknown. If mating calls are generally masked by traffic noise, it could potentially have a serious impact on threatened amphibian populations, unless acclimation or adaptation mitigates the effect. Blanchard's cricket frog ( Acris blanchardi ) is abundant in high-noise areas and is known for adaptive changes in call traits on a regional scale. We measured the degradation of call bouts recorded from five different cricket frog habitats at several distances. In addition, traffic noise was recorded and played back concurrently with the call bouts at a range of different amplitudes. Call bouts from different habitats were degraded to different extents by distance and noise level, however no clear pattern emerged based on either dominant frequency or habitat. Impact of traffic noise on A. blanchardi populations will be variable, but negative since it does degrade call fidelity at all observed frequencies.


Power consumption is a crucial characteristic of modern hardware, both for mobile, battery-driven devices and for high-end servers. Servers are increasingly highlyintegrated in modern data centers and the power density per unit area is rising. This also induces higher heat densities. Costs for electricity supply and for necessary cooling equipment are not insignificant anymore. Higher clock speeds and growing demand for always-on services will intensify this problem even more. Methods to account and limit power consumption on the applicationor task-level for standalone hosts have been successfully adopted. However, those methods lack support for distributed systems. This thesis introduces a transparent energy accounting scheme for distributed systems. The well-known abstraction of resource containers representing resource principals in a system is extended to global resource containers to allow accounting of energy dissipation across system boundaries. With this extension, energy consumed for the accomplishment of a certain task within a server cluster can be accounted to a resource container globally. When a server is working on behalf of a client, the server is bound to that client's resource container only until its work for this client is completed. Server and client processes do not have to reside on the same host for this scheme. Information is sent piggyback with normal IPv6 network traffic, transparently for the applications. This way it is possible to accurately account energy consumption to its originator, even if this originator does not exist on the same host. Limiting global resource containers and using them for priority models or thermal management of computer clusters is achievable as well and presented in this work. As a prototype implementation a modified Linux kernel running on Intel Pentium 4 CPUs is presented and tested with several experiments that prove its effectiveness.


Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a highly prevalent neurodegenerative disease that affects millions of people globally and remains without definitive treatment. There have been many recent advances in cell-based therapy to replace lost neural circuitry and provide chronic biological sources of therapeutic agents to disease-affected brain regions. Early neural transplantation studies highlighted the challenges of immune rejection, graft integration, and the need for renewable, autologous graft sources. Neurotrophic factors (NTFs) offer a potential class of cytoprotective agents that may complement dopa‐ mine (DA) replacement and cell-based therapies in PD. In fact, chronic NTF delivery may be an integral goal of cell transplantation in PD, with ideal grafts consisting of autologous drug (e.g., DA, NTF)-producing cells capable of integration and function in the host brain. This chapter outlines the past and recent preclinical and clinical advances in cell-based and NTF therapies as promising and integrated approaches for the treatment of PD.


The value of rational choice theory for the social sciences has long been contested. It is argued here that, in the debate over its role, it is necessary to distinguish between claims that people maximise manifest payoffs, and claims that people maximise their utility. The former version has been falsified. The latter is unfalsifiable, because utility cannot be observed. In principle, utility maximisation can be adapted to fit any form of behaviour, including the behaviour of non-human organisms. Allegedly 'inconsistent' behaviour is also impossible to establish without qualification. This utility-maximising version of rational choice theory has the character of a universal 'explanation' that can be made to 'fit' any set of events. This is a sign of weakness rather than strength. In its excessive quest for generality, utility-maximising rational choice theory fails to focus on the historically and geographically specific features of socio-economic systems. As long as such theory is confined to ahistorical generalities, then it will remain highly limited in dealing with the real world. Instead we have to consider the real social and psychological determinants of human behaviour.


Jinyan (Actinidia eriantha × A. chinensis) is one of the gold-fleshed kiwifruit cultivars currently being promoted in south China. However, its fruit dry matter is usually less than 16%, which seriously affects fruit quality including taste and flavor. This causes a financial loss to growers: not only are the prices paid for the fruit low because of their bad reputation for quality, but some orchards have been removed. Improvement of fruit quality is essential. In this study, a method is described for squeezing and twisting flowering shoots before flowering and removing the distal vegetative parts of flowering shoots after fruit set. The effects on fruit quality were determined. The dry matter of fruit was increased by 6.6%. Fruit size also increased as did the chlorophyll a content and the chlorophyll:carotenoid ratio. The significantly increased fruit dry matter, resulting in significant increases in fruit soluble solids concentrations (P < 0.01), thereby possibly improving fruit taste. Fruit weight, fruit length, and carotenoid and ascorbic acid concentrations were significantly enhanced in comparison with controls (P < 0.01), increasing by 20%, 7%, 12%, and 19%, respectively. However, there was no significant difference in soluble sugar concentrations, titratable acid concentrations, and the reduced chlorophyll b concentrations. This research provides a practical method to increase fruit dry matter, and hence a way to allow fruit quality to reach commercial requirements for cultivars such as Jinyan, which under previous management systems had significant shortcomings in fruit flavor and taste.


About a month before the 2014 election, the United States Supreme Court issued a series of four extraordinary orders in election law cases. Without any explanation, the Court: stayed a district court order which would have required Ohio to restore extra days of early voting; stayed a Fourth Circuit order (partially reversing a district court) which would have restored same day voter registration and the counting of certain provisional ballots in North Carolina; vacated a Seventh Circuit stay of a district court order barring Wisconsin from implementing its new strict voter identification law; and refused to vacate a Fifth Circuit stay of a district court order which would have barred Texas from continuing to use its new strict voter identification law. The district court, after a trial on the merits, had declared Texas's law unconstitutional and in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The orders appeared contradictory, for example by allowing strict voter identification requirements to be used on Election Day 2014 in Texas but not Wisconsin. But the apparent common thread was the Supreme Court's application of "the Purcell principle:" the idea that courts should not issue orders which change election rules in the period just before the election. This idea has appeared in earlier Supreme Court cases, most prominently in Purcell v. Gonzalez, a 2006 short per curiam case in which the Court vacated a Ninth Circuit injunction which had temporarily blocked use of Arizona's strict new voter identification law. In this symposium Article, I argue the Supreme Court should rein in the Purcell principle. Certainly the potential for voter confusion and electoral chaos raise a strong public interest argument against last minute changes in election rules. But under normal Supreme Court remedial standards for considering stays and injunctions, the effect of a court order on the public interest is only one factor to consider. Although the precise test the Court uses in these emergency situations is somewhat fluid and uncertain, there is no doubt that ordinarily the Court considers the likelihood of success on the merits and relative hardship to the parties as two crucial factors in deciding whether to grant or vacate a stay or impose an injunction. By making the Purcell principle paramount, the Court runs the risk of issuing orders which can disenfranchise voters or impose significant burdens on election administrators for no good reason. Had the Court applied all the ordinary appropriate factors for emergency relief to the four 2014 election cases, in addition to special concerns attendant in election cases, there is a strong argument it would have reached a different decision in at least the Texas case and potentially in the North Carolina case.Part I of this Article explains the tests the Court applies in considering emergency stays and related orders, arguing that the Purcell principle should properly be understood not as a stand-alone rule but instead as relevant to one of the factors (the public interest) the Court usually considers. Part II applies the proper standards to the four 2014 emergency election cases considered by the Supreme Court, arguing that the Court got it wrong in at least the Texas case and possibly in the North Carolina case. Part III briefly argues that, regardless of whether the Supreme Court agrees with this call to rein in the Purcell principle, the Court should issue opinions, even weeks or months after the Court acts in an emergency elections case, explaining its reasoning. Such opinions would provide valuable guidance to lower courts considering election cases and help legitimize the Court's actions by making them more transparent. It also might discipline the Justices to decide controversial cases more consistently.


This paper examines the behaviour of daily asset price movements in Australian bond, share and foreign exchange markets over the period 1987 to 1996, and addresses four questions concerning volatility and international market linkages. First, is there evidence of a trend increase in volatility in Australian financial markets? Second, have Australia's financial markets become more responsive to developments in counterpart foreign markets, and if so, what are the predominant foreign influences? Third, have international influences been more or less important than domestic cross-market influences? Fourth, is there evidence of directionality and other asymmetries in Australian financial market volatility? The paper finds no compelling evidence to suggest the presence of a trend increase in volatility over the period. Evidence does exist, however, of quite significant cross-country 'contagion' or 'spillover' effects on Australia's bond and equity markets. For both of these markets, the predominant foreign market influence appears to be the US. Australian bond and share market volatility is found to be higher in bear markets than in bull markets, and higher following a market fall than a market rise. Evidence supporting the presence of asymmetries in the correlation of volatilities across markets is also documented.


The mechanics and dynamics of subduction have been studied using 2-D finite element analysis. Two finite element formulations have been employed; one formulation for Newtonian viscous flow and one formulation for linear elasticity and viscoelasticity. Quadratic isoparametric quadrilateral and triangular elements are used for both formulations. Models of flow in the mantle driven by oblique subduction produce an asymmetric depression of the surface above the slab. The width and depth of this depression are dependent on the value of the viscosity of the lower mantle, the length and mechanical strength of the slab. Analysis of the flow patterns suggests that the viscosity contrast at the 670 km sesmic discontinuity is likely to be of the order x 10. The stress regime at an island arc margin with a subducting slab dipping at 45 has been modelled using an elastic-viscoelastic rheology. The body forces of the slab produce an asymmetric depression of the surface above the slab which generates horizontal deviatoric compression in the plates. Unlocking the thrust zone between the subducting and overriding plates eliminates the shear stress in the fault plane resulting in regional horizontal tension in both plates, uplift of the leading edge of the overriding plate and depression of the subducting plate. The regional tension is interpreted as the source of the plate driving forces of slab pull and trench suction. Local horizontal compression in the arc-forearc region produced by the surface depression exceeds the regional tension and this may be the source of lateral variation in stress that is ob- served across the strike of convergent margins. It may also be the source of backarc compression for low angle slabs at Chilean type margins. Depression of the surface provides partial compensation of the slab body forces. Thus the downdip force is reduced and the resulting stress regime in the slab is controlled by the isostatic upthrust at the trench and the viscosity contrast at 670 km depth. A low pressure zone above and high pressure zone below the slab may act against the body forces which rotate the slab towards vertical subduction. Anomalous pressures in the mantle are created and sustained by continuous subduction and rollback, and may behave in a self-regulating mechanism. A low viscosity zone in the mantle wedge above the slab leads to the development of double seismic zones as suggested by Sleep (1979).


ARFR is a generally generation-transcending principle for everything living, ranging from culture to biology. It is an old Norse word believed to have its origin in Latin or Greek. It means Arv in Danish – inheritance in English. The project explores how we are affected by and entangled with the stories that come before us in social-spiritual-material-magical ways. In the words of feminist thinker Karen Barad:

To address the past (and future), to speak with ghosts, is not to entertain or reconstruct some narrative of the way it was, but to respond, to be responsible, to take responsibility for that which we inherit (from the past and the future), for the entangled relationalities of inheritance that 'we' are, to acknowledge and be responsive to the noncontemporaneity of the present, to put oneself at risk, to risk oneself (which is never one or self), to open oneself up to indeterminacy in moving towards what is to-come.

(Karen Barad "Quantum Entanglements and Hauntological Relations of Inheritance: Dis/continuities, SpaceTime Enfoldings, and Justice-to-Come" in Derrida Today 3.2 [2010]: 240–268)


This paper discusses issues concerning the augmentation of thesaurus relationships, in light of new application possibilities for retrieval. We first discuss a case study that explored the retrieval potential of an augmented set of thesaurus relationships by specialising standard relationships into richer subtypes, in particular hierarchical geographical containment and the associative relationship. We then locate this work in a broader context by reviewing various attempts to build taxonomies of thesaurus relationships, and conclude by discussing the feasibility of hierarchically augmenting the core set of thesaurus relationships, particularly the associative relationship. We discuss the possibility of enriching the specification and semantics of Related Term (RT relationships), while maintaining compatibility with traditional thesauri via a limited hierarchical extension of the associative (and hierarchical) relationships. This would be facilitated by distinguishing the type of term from the (sub)type of relationship and explicitly specifying semantic categories for terms following a faceted approach. We first illustrate how hierarchical spatial relationships can be used to provide more flexible retrieval for queries incorporating place names in applications employing online gazetteers and geographical thesauri. We then employ a set of experimental scenarios to investigate key issues affecting use of the associative (RT) thesaurus relationships in semantic distance measures. Previous work has noted the potential of RTs in thesaurus search aids but also the problem of uncontrolled expansion of query term sets. Results presented in this paper suggest the potential for taking account of the hierarchical context of an RT link and specialisations of the RT relationship.


This report describes a series of studies investigating the usefulness of a range of strategies in attempting to change drivers' attitudes towards speeding, and a selection of other driving violations. The first study showed that measurable attitude change could be achieved by having recipients think seriously about the content of an anti-speeding message containing strong arguments. A further study showed that the inclusion of information about the prevalence of the speeding in the general population increased the effectiveness of the anti-speeding message, whether the information given was accurate or not. A third study developed previous research using Ajzen's (1985) theory of planned behaviour, by applying an extended version of the model to intentions to commit lane-discipline violations. Together with the earlier work, the results of this study suggested several constructs which could usefully be featured in anti-speeding interventions. In the fourth study. research videos featuring each of those constructs were developed and tested. Results showed that at least two of the four videos made were successful in eliciting measureable attitude change. (A


In Latin American multicultural societies, citizenship is defined by a normative status that allocates community status rights. Citizenship in multicultural societies is therefore determined by legal dynamics that delimitate who receives citizenship status and who is excluded from it. According to this framework, those who have citizenship rights are considered equal under the law. However, it can be argued that constitutional statements that determine notions of equality do so at a rhetorical level. Considering this point, one can question whether laws that provide rights to citizens with cultural differences are in fact effective if certain groups cannot fully exercise them. The substantive point that is being argued here is that although certain rights are formally granted to every citizen, pragmatically speaking, it is often the case that certain members of society are not able to exercise these rights. The point that will therefore be argued in this article is that while legal and political rights are formally granted to minority groups, administrative and social conditions make such rights unattainable to the very groups that these rights were designed to help.


Fundamental reform of water law, introduced to South Africa through the enactment of the National Water Act of 1998, has major implications for monitoring water resources and information management. Previously, water resources management was highly centralized and largely supply driven. The new legislation is intended to promote equity, sustainability and economic efficiency, partly through devolved management. Monitoring, previously intended to support the development and operation of the national water infrastructure, now focuses on compliance with resource quality objectives, management targets and water use licence conditions at national, regional (catchment) and local levels. A new phase of management practice is envisaged in which water resource monitoring will require much greater attention to the interaction between the status of water resources, the effects of human activities and the response of management to the results of the monitoring process. Such integrated monitoring will need to cover the traditional fields of surface and groundwater quantity and quality, but will also include an increasing focus on the air and land phases of the hydrological cycle and the various human impacts. These new initiatives will require fresh approaches to appropriate governance for the crosscutting management of information. The Act provides for greater coordination, and various models to achieve this are emerging at local and regional level. Various partnerships and an action-learning approach are seen as essential elements of integrating different disciplines, institutions and business processes.


Water is the most abundant element on earth, covering 70% of its surface and amount to about - about 1.4 thousand million cubic kilometer. Water is also one of the natural resources vital to the lives of everyday life - the day or for other purposes such as agriculture and industry. Therefore the presence of water in the community needs to be nurtured and preserved for staight life. The needs clean water from time to time increased rapidly, resulting in meeting the needs of both water quality and in sufficient quantity in a variety of purposes are faced with huge problems that have not been able to fulfill the needs of clean water. Therefore, the required water treatment is one of purification. Efforts can be made with the addition of purification and filtration agent. In experiments testing the performance of filter press equipment with water and the addition of CaCO3. From the results of experiment I, gained the most optimum plate frame license plate frame is the one with the percent weight of sediment 0.77% and water content of the vaporing 0,32%. From the results of experiment II, the optimum deposition results obtained at 30 seconds of sampling with a percent weight of sediment 0,72% and water content of the vaporing 0,37%. From the results of experiment III, the precipitate obtained optimum results on stirring for 40 seconds with a percent weight of sediment 0,67% and water content of the vaporing 0,92%. Of the three trials can be concluded that the longer the retrieval time and stirring time, the more it will increase the percent weight sediment and water content is vaporing. This is because the functions of filter press equipment running well.
Keywords: Water, Filtrate, Time Sampling, Time Stir, Weight Sediment, Water Content of the Vaporing


Massive phytoplankton blooms develop at the Arctic ice edge, sometimes extending far under the pack ice. An extensive culturing effort was conducted before and during a phytoplankton bloom in Baffin Bay between April and July 2016. Different isolation strategies were applied, including flow cytometry cell sorting, manual single cell pipetting and serial dilution. Although all three techniques yielded the most common organisms, each technique retrieved specific taxa, highlighting the importance of using several methods to maximize the number and diversity of isolated strains. More than 1,000 cultures were obtained, characterized by 18S rRNA sequencing and optical microscopy and de-replicated to a subset of 276 strains presented in this work. Strains grouped into 57 genotypes defined by 100% 18S rRNA sequence similarity. These genotypes spread across five divisions: Heterokontophyta, Chlorophyta, Cryptophyta, Haptophyta and Dinophyta. Diatoms were the most abundant group (193 strains), mostly represented by the genera Chaetoceros and Attheya. The genera Rhodomonas and Pyramimonas were the most abundant non-diatom nanoplankton strains, while Micromonas polaris dominated the picoplankton. Diversity at the class level was higher during the peak of the bloom. Potentially new species were isolated, in particular within the genera Navicula, Nitzschia, Coscinodiscus, Thalassiosira, Pyramimonas, Mantoniella and Isochrysis. Submitted to: Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene Date: May 17, 2019


Over the past decade, and particularly since the September11 terrorist attacks, the Muslim community in the United States has experienced an increased level of social and religious scrutiny. This unfortunate incident has fundamentally changed the way the American society views Muslims, especially Muslim women who wear the veil or hijab in public. Muslim women have experienced various instances of discrimination including people trying to remove their hijab, and/or name calling. A unique aspect of Muslim women in the US is that they not only confront the stigma of gender, race, ethnicity and religion, but that which is attached to Islamic dress as well. Despite some of these problems, however, the experiences of Muslim women in the United States remains one of the least researched topics in sociology. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the social and familial factors that affect Muslim women's decision to wear the hijab and how their families react to their decision to wear the hijab. I specifically argue that the process through Muslim women in America come to wear the hijab is multi-faceted and involves both social and familial factors. I also argue that these women encounter both supportive and unsupportive attitudes from their families over their decision to wear the hijab. With Muslim women as such visible symbols of Muslim American society, it is imperative that they become active in the Muslim society as well as in the mainstream American society in order to improve the public impression of Muslim women as meek, uneducated and confined to their homes. This thesis also discusses the reaction of their families to their hijab. Future research is needed to study how these women negotiate their everyday lives while wearing the hijab outside their homes.


Introduction Improved physiologic status can be seen as a surrogate measure of improved outcome and a field-friendly prognostic model such as the Mainz Emergency Evaluation Score (MEES) could quantify the effect on physiological response. We aim to examine the dynamic physiological profile as measured by this score on patients managed by physician-manned helicopter emergency medical services and how this profile was related to on-scene time expenditure and critical care interventions. Materials and methods Data including patient characteristics, physiological data, and description of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions were prospectively collected over two 14-day periods, summer and winter, at six participating Norwegian bases. The MEES score was utilized to examine the difference between a score measured at first patient contact (MEES 1) and end-of-care (MEES 2), (MEES 2–MEES 1=[INCREMENT]MEES). Results A total of 240 primary missions with patient-on-scene form the basis of the study. In total, 43% were considered severely ill or injured, of whom 59% were medical patients. Twenty-nine percent were severely deranged physiologically. The most common advanced procedure performed was advanced airway management (15%), followed by defibrillation (8.8%). Using [INCREMENT]MEES as an indicator, 1% deteriorated under care, whereas 66% remained unchanged and 33% showed an improvement in their physiological status. With increasing on-scene time, fewer patients deteriorated and a greater proportion of patients improved. Conclusion Restoring deranged physiology remains a mantra for all critical care practitioners. We have shown that this is also possible in the prehospital context, even when prolonging on-scene time, and after initiating advanced procedures.


Nanomaterials-based diagnostics have tremendous advantages over other conventional diagnostic systems in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and portability owing to the unique intrinsic properties of nanomaterials. Thus, there is a substantial need to develop and employ a broad spectrum of nanomaterials for biological and diagnostic applications. In this review, we focus on nanomaterials-assisted disease diagnosis utilizing different techniques such as photoluminescence, colorimetry, fluorescence, electrochemistry, microarray methods, surface plasmon resonance, and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. In these techniques, different nanomaterials, including but not limited to gold and silver materials, metal oxides, and semiconductors, were employed according to their all-purpose chemical and physical properties. As the new properties of nanomaterials are discovered, their contributions to nanobiotechnology applications are vastly increased. In this review, the features of the selected nanobiomaterials, biological tag-modified nanomaterials, and their outstanding applications for the detection of specific biotargets have been summarized according to the latest studies. Nanomaterials contribute to the fields of photo/chemotherapy and biomedical imaging in particular, since all the biological events happen within this size range and beneficiary roles of nanoparticles (NPs) are countless in biomedical applications due to their unique physical and chemical properties. However, due to the necessity of specificity and selectivity, there is a clear ambition to study bioconjugation of NPs to increase the efficiency of the targeted biological applications. Thus, the combination of the specificity and the intrinsic properties of biohybrid NPs facilitate diagnostic and therapeutic applications.


Ontology plays an important role in the enhancement performance of systems, addressing issues such as knowledge sharing, knowledge aggregation as well as information
retrieval and question answering. This paper presents the AGROVOC Concept Server
Workbench (ACSW) for multilingual ontological concept construction and maintenance. The ACSW is a web 2.0 based application consisting of two main functionalities that are user management and ontological knowledge management (i.e. concept, scheme, relationship, export, search, validate and consistency check) in order to maintain the knowledge acquisition
life-cycle in food and agriculture domain. Knowledge is stored in the form of multilingual concept hierarchy and also kept in the OWL format in order to exchange between machines and to do reasoning. This workbench uses Protege API as an OWL framework. Moreover the Ontology Game conceptual framework is also presented in order to acquire ontology terms
more pleasant.


A new species of suckermouth armored catfish, Pseudancistrus kwinti, is described from the Coppename River, Suriname. It can be diagnosed from all other described Pseudancistrus by the following combination of characters: dentary papillae absent, mid-dorsal plate row complete, coloration mottled or with bars, hypertrophied odontodes along edge of snout, and weakly evertible cheek plates. It is only known from the Coppename River drainage within the Central Suriname Nature Reserve, a United Nations World Heritage Site, and one of the most pristine environments remaining on the planet. Mining, increased fishing pressure, and tourism threaten to change the region.


Land-use change causes undesirable effects such as biodiversity decline, altered community structure and reduced ecosystem services. Changes in species composition and disrupted trophic interactions between pests and their natural enemies may also result causing decreased ecosystem services. We studied the effects of forest habitat transformation on the community structure of ants, which include major biological control agents. We focused on four types of land use around Harapan Forest (Harapan) and Bukit Duabelas Nation- al Park (BDNP), Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia: forest, jungle rubber, rubber plan- tations and oil palm plantations. Four replicate patches of each land-use type were sampled, with plot sizes of 50 x 50 m at each of the 32 sites. Ants were collected by hand in combination with tuna and sugar baiting on three strata i.e. leaf litter, soil and tree. We found 104 ant species in total. Surprisingly, ant spe- cies richness per plot was not significantly different among land-use types, both in Harapan and BDNP. However, few ant species were shared among different land-use types. Forest and jungle rubber communities are relatively similar to each other (but still different), and distinct from communities in oil palm and rubber plantations. We conclude that conversion of remnant forested habitats to plantations would result in a net loss of ant species, even though ant species richness in plantations and forested habitats are similar.


Abstract The importance of understanding biotic patterns in managed tropical landscapes is increasingly recognised. Bangladesh is a country with a long human land-use history and constitutes almost a blind spot in vegetation science on the landscape scale. Here, we analyse patterns and drivers of plant species richness and community composition along a land-use intensity gradient in a forest landscape including tea gardens, tree plantations and nature reserves (Satchari Reserved Forest) based on multivariate approaches and variation partitioning. We find richness as well as composition of tree and understory species to directly relate to a disturbance gradient that reflects protection status and elevation. This is astonishing, as the range in elevation (70 m) is small. Topography and protection remain significant drivers of biodiversity after correcting for human disturbances. While tree and non-tree species richness were positively correlated, they differ considerably in their relation to other environmental or disturbance variables as well as in the spatial richness pattern. The disturbance regime particularly structures tree species richness and composition in protected areas. We conclude by highlighting the importance of explicitly integrating human–biosphere interactions in any nature protection strategy for the study region.


PURPOSE
To assess the correlation between quantitative measures of contour variability and physician's qualitative measure for clinical usefulness of auto-segmentation in prostate cancer radiotherapy Methods: Our study was based on three serial CT images (one planning and two under-treatment image sets) for each of five prostate cancer patients. On each CT image, bladder, prostate and rectum were manually contoured by three experienced physicians. Deformable image registration (ITK Demons) was used to register each of the under-treatment CT images to the planning CT image. The resultant displacement vector fields were used to automatically segment planning CT organs by deformably mapping manual contours on the treatment CT's to the planning CT. For qualitative assessment of automatic and manual contours, trial was conducted with four radiation oncology residents. Each resident was shown sets of randomly chosen manual or automatic bladder, prostate and rectum contours overlaid on the planning CT image in Pinnacle (Philips TPS) using a total of hundred-thirty-five contours. Residents were asked to accept/reject contour based on its clinical usability. Quantitatively, surface distances and DICE coefficient were computed between inter-observer manual contours (manual/manual) and between each automatic and its corresponding manual contour (auto/manual).

RESULTS
No statistically significant differences were found in mean surface distances between manual/manual and auto/manual contours for bladder and rectum while manual/manual contour distances were significantly smaller for prostate. The distribution of DICE values between manual/manual and auto/manual contours were also similar. Qualitatively, acceptance rates for manual contours were significantly higher than that for automatic contours.

CONCLUSION
No correspondence was found between qualitative and quantitative measure for manual and automatic contours for rectum and bladder while the two measures appear to be related for prostate. This study suggests that using quantitative measures for evaluating auto-segmentation without a qualitative calibration might not always be predictive of its clinical usefulness.(Supported by NIH P01CA166602) This work was supported by NIH Grant P01 CA 166602 E. Weiss and J. Williamson have grants from Varian medical systems and Philips Radiation Oncology Systems.


A charitable sale housed in the Paris showrooms of Christie's displayed works created by European artists. These were painted over or on the backs of specially commissioned carved house shutters typical of the Zafimaniry region of Madagascar. The present article considers and contrasts the two types of creativity juxtaposed at the Christie's sale. The European work stresses the artist's individual originality and social isolation from the everyday lives of those who come to admire or buy the works. The process of the art's production ends abruptly at the moment of exhibition and sale. In contrast, the work of the Malagasy carvers is contained within a general concern of continuing the life and growth of their families. Their art intends to harden and beautify the houses that represent the continuation of the families' life. There is no disconnection between the carver and those who will see and use the shutters similar to that of the European artists, and there is no clear beginning or end to the process of creation similar to the point of exhibition and sale. The Malagasy carvers do not want to be different from their predecessors; they want to continue the work and lives of those they are in contact with.


The application of argumentation theories and techniques in multi-agent systems has become a prolific area of research. Argumentation allows agents to harmonise two types of disagreement situations: internal, when the acquisition of new information (e.g., about the environment or about other agents) produces incoherences in the agents' mental state; and external, when agents that have different positions about a topic engage in a discussion. The focus of this paper is on the latter type of disagreement situations. In those settings, agents must be able to generate, select and send arguments to other agents that will evaluate them in their turn. An efficient way for agents to manage these argumentation abilities is by using case-based reasoning, which has been successfully applied to argumentation from its earliest beginnings. This reasoning methodology also allows agents to learn from their experiences and therefore, to improve their argumentation skills. This paper analyses the advantages of applying case-based reasoning to manage arguments in multi-agent systems dialogues, identifies open issues and proposes new ideas to tackle them.


From the Proceedings of the 1986 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Association, Hydrology Section - Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science and the Arizona Hydrological Society - April 19, 1986, Glendale Community College, Glendale, Arizona


Background Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) could lead to inter-individual differences in treatment outcomes. Purpose A recent study1 reported several novel SNPs involved in cytarabine cytotoxicity using a whole-genome approach, which were associated with clinical outcomes in a paediatric AML population. However their association with effectiveness and toxicity remain undetermined in adults. Material and methods The six SNPs with clinical significance in the Gamazon study1 (Table 1) were evaluated in 109 adult patients at initial diagnosis with AML using a mass spectrometry–based multiplex genotyping assay (Sequenom). All patients were treated with idarubicin plus cytarabine. Genotypes were grouped as dichotomous variables (dominant/recessive model). Efficacy was evaluated comparing complete remission (CR) vs. partial remission or resistance. Toxicities were grouped as binary variables (grade: 0–1 vs. grade: 2–4, Who scale). Haematological toxicity was measured with the time to neutropenia/thrombocytopenia recovery since first day of chemotherapy. Variables were assessed using χ2 and Mann–Whitney U tests. Results The median age of patients was 53 years (17–78 years). Among the baseline characteristics analysed (age, gender, haemoglobin, leukocyte, platelet and peripheral or BM blasts count) there was significant difference in genotype distributions regarding age (wild allele carriers of rs9883101 were older, p = 0.02) and gender (men had a higher proportion of variant alleles for rs6550826 and rs7729269, p = 0.003 and 0.006; and wild allele for rs2897047, p = 0.005). Toxicities were more frequent with variant alleles of several SNPs (table), but they were not associated with the CR rates. Conclusion We obtained new associations of these novel polymorphisms with toxicity, not previously studied in adult AML patients, but not in effectiveness. These SNPs could be useful biomarkers in clinical practice.Abstract PKP-005 Table 1 Toxicity %: Wild-variant allele (P) SNP Cardiac Hepatic Skin G3–4 Thrombocytopenia recovery (days) Neutropenia recovery (days) rs12036333 GG/GA:32.7- AA:57.5 (0.004) rs10758713 GG:51.9-GA/AA:73.3% (0.043) GG/GA:34.0-AA:68.0 (0.029) rs9883101 AA:28.4-AC/ CC:38.6 (0.036) rs6550826 CC:28.2-CG/ GG:38.9 (0.027) IRX2:rs2897047 CC/CT:52.0-TT:88.9% (0.04) CC/CT:32.9-TT:51.1 (0.015) MCC:rs7729269 TT:8.2-TC/CC:22.9% (0.031) TT:16.4-TC/CC:39.6% (0.003) TT/TC:35.9-CC:16.3 (0.029) Reference Gamazon ER, Lamba JK, Pounds S, et al. Comprehensive genetic analysis of cytarabine sensitivity in a cell-based model identifies polymorphisms associated with outcome in AML patients. Blood 2013;121(21):4366–76 No conflict of interest.


The impact of ever-increasing numbers of online courses on the demographic composition of classes has meant that the notions of diversity, multiculturality and globalization are now key aspects of curriculum planning. With the internationalization and globalization of education, and faced with rising needs for an increasingly educated and more adequately trained workforce, universities are offering more flexible programs, assisted by new educational and communications technologies. Faced with this diversity of populations and needs, many instructors are becoming aware of the importance of addressing the notions of multiculturality and interculturality in the design of online however this raises many questions. For example, how do we integrate and address this multicultural dimension in a distance education course aimed at students who live in diverse cultural environments? How do the challenges of intercultural communication in an online environment affect online teaching and learning? What are the characteristics of an online course that is inclusive of all types of diversity, and what are the guiding principles for designing such courses? We will attempt to answer some of these questions by first exploring the concepts of culture and learning cultures. This will help us to characterize the impact on online learning of particular cultural dimensions. We will then present and discuss different online instructional design models that are culturally inclusive, and conclude with the description of a mediated instructional training module on the management of the cultural dimension of online teaching and learning. This module is mainly addressed to teachers and designers of online courses.


With Programming ASP.NET 3.5, you'll quickly learn to create state-of-the-art applications using Microsoft's popular web development technology and Visual Studio 2008. This updated bestseller provides comprehensive and easy-to-understand information to help you use several .NET 3.5 technologies for faster development and better web application performance-including ASP.NET AJAX for interactive user interfaces, LINQ for data access, and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) for web services.Programming ASP.NET 3.5 includes examples and sample code that let you explore development with ASP.NET in more depth. With this book, you will:Learn about AJAX and ASP.NET server controls included with Visual Studio 2008 Discover how to use the DataSource and data-bound controls in ADO.NET Use the new LINQ API and learn how to make use of it within ASP.NET pages Create a uniform look and feel throughout your application with Master Pages Use navigation controls to build site maps, menus, and breadcrumbs quickly and easily Build and use various web services with WCF Detect errors during development and handle them in your production code Learn how to configure and deploy your websiteWritten by Microsoft technology experts Jesse Liberty, Dan Hurwitz, and Dan Maharry, Programming ASP.NET 3.5 is the best book for learning how to build dynamic, interactive web applications using Microsoft's latest technologies.


The so-called '3He-crisis' has motivated the neutron detector community to undertake an intense R&D programme in order to develop technologies alternative to standard 3He tubes and suitable for neutron detection systems in future spallation sources such as the European spallation source (ESS). Boron-based GEM (gas electron multiplier) detectors are a promising '3He-free' technology for thermal neutron detection in neutron scattering experiments. In this paper the evolution of boron-based GEM detectors from planar to 3D converters with an application in diffraction measurements is presented. The use of 3D converters coupled with GEMs allows for an optimization of the detector performances. Three different detectors were used for diffraction measurements on the INES instrument at the ISIS spallation source. The performances of the GEM-detectors are compared with those of conventional 3He tubes installed on the INES instrument. The conceptual detector with the 3D converter used in this paper reached a count rate per unit area of about 25% relative to the currently installed 3He tube. Its timing resolution is similar and the signal-to-background ratio (S/B) is 2 times lower.


FG nucleoporins (Nups) are the class of proteins that both generate the permeability barrier and mediate selective transport through the nuclear pore complex (NPC). The FG Nup family has 11 members in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and the study of mutants lacking different FG domains has been instrumental in testing transport models. To continue analyzing the distinct functional roles of FG Nups in vivo, additional robust genetic tools are required. Here, we describe a novel collection of S. cerevisiae mutant strains in which the FG domains of different groups of Nups are absent (Δ) in the greatest number documented to date. Using this plasmid-based ΔFG strategy, we find that a GLFG domain-only pore is sufficient for viability. The resulting extensive plasmid and strain resources are available to the scientific community for future in-depth in vivo studies of NPC transport.


Objective: The prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) varies with latitude: it increases with distance from the equator in both hemispheres. To seek evidence on whether solar radiation is a protective factor for MS, this study investigated whether skin cancer, as an indicator of solar radiation, is less common in people with MS than in others. Design: Analysis of a database of linked hospital records and death certificates. Setting: The Oxford Region of the National Health Service, England. Subjects: A cohort comprising all people in the database with MS, and comparison cohorts of people with other diseases. Results: Skin cancer was significantly less common in people with MS than in the main comparison cohort (rate ratio 0.49; 95% confidence interval 0.24 to 0.91). There was no general deficit of cancer in the MS cohort, and no deficit of skin cancer in cohorts of people with other autoimmune or neurological diseases. Conclusion: The findings support the hypothesis that solar radiation may have a protective influence on the development of MS.


Statistical tests carry with them a number of assumptions that must be checked. Failing to do so and to report the results of such preliminary analyses introduce a potential threat to the internal validity of a study and to our ability as consumers to put faith in study findings. This article systematically examines the reporting of checks on assumptions in two major journals of second-language (L2) research (Language Learning and Second Language Research) over a span of six years (2012–2017 inclusive). Using synthetic techniques, each study in the sample (K = 107) was coded for whether or not the assumptions associated with five statistical tests were reported: independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, multiple regression, and chi-square. In doing so, two coding standards ('stringent' and 'lenient') were adopted to arrive at a more comprehensive picture of researchers' practices and to reflect the different types of checks required by quantitative analyses. The lenient standard was coded as being met if one or more of the assumptions for a given analytical technique was reported; the stringent standard, by contrast, was recorded as met if all assumptions were reported and checked. Overall, 17% and 24% of the sample were found to have met the stringent and lenient standards, respectively. The study also addresses differences in the checking and reporting of assumptions across the five statistical procedures we examined. Despite overall weak reporting, we note several improvements taking place over time. Suggestions for improving data analytic and reporting practices in the field are discussed as well as implications for researcher training (see Loewen et al., 2014; Plonsky, 2014).


Web annotation is a Web 2.0 technology that allows learners to work collaboratively on web pages or electronic documents. This study explored the use of Web annotation as an online discussion tool by comparing it to a traditional threaded discussion forum. Ten graduate students participated in the study. Participants had access to both a Web annotation tool and a threaded forum when having discussion on a given topic and were free to use either tool or both to post their comments. A case study method was adopted. The analysis of participant posts and participant survey responses showed that both the threaded forum and the Web annotation tool successfully supported interactions and knowledge construction during the online discussion. The Web annotation tool had advantages in locating specific information on the websites and making content-specific discussions, and the discussion forum was more suitable for posting summarized comments. While participants were more likely to offer alternative or complementary views in the discussion forum, self-reflection was the major type of knowledge construction behavior when participants used the Web annotation tool.


Purpose: The aims of this research was to demonstrate what IQNet SR10 certification of a Social Responsibility management system means to companies. From the wide range of existing certifications, we identified the added value of having the IQNet SR10 standard by showing a specific company's situation before and after certification. Design/methodology/approach: We used an exploratory study of items of Social Responsibility management system certification (IQNet SR10) to develop a qualitative questionnaire. The questionnaire was then administered to the company under study to determine the added value to companies of holding this certification. Findings and originality/value: The study describes how social responsibility (SR) management system certification benefits a company, what way of doing things it identifies in a company, and what effort is required to maintain the certification. It also highlights a way of managing companies that is focused on their survival, as management systems must provide economic, social and environmental added value for companies to have a future in an internationalised world that requires credentials to prove it. Research limitations/implications: The main limitation of this study is that it is based on the results of just one company, because few companies currently have this certification. To continue with this area of research in the future, we hope to obtain information about IQNet SR10 certification from other companies. Practical implications: The study demonstrates the need for certifications in the field of Social Responsibility in today's business world, to be in line with the normal dynamics of economy activity in different sectors, and for companies of assorted sizes to enjoy an added value that makes them more competitive. Social implications: The study identifies a new business management system, in line with the necessary Social Responsibility of companies today. This system must be integrated into business models to facilitate current business dynamics at international level, with appropriate certifications that show companies' good economic, social and environmental behaviour. Originality/value: The study identifies a business management system that continuously organises and improves the performances of a company in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility, through audited certification that enhances the competitivity of companies that hold the international standard. The study also demonstrates the need for a management system to integrate into business models.


C Carroll

Dr C Carroll, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK; email@example.com

Can interventions improve outcomes for family caregivers of patients with stroke?

Studies selected evaluated interventions intended primarily for family carers (⩾18 y of age) of patients with stroke. Exclusion criteria were interventions of education or information-giving only and studies assessing cost-effectiveness only. Outcomes included caregiver wellbeing and coping skills.

Medline, PreMedline, and EMBASE/Excerpta Medica to 2006; AMED, ASSIA, BNI, C2-SPECTR, Cochrane Library , CINAHL, IBSS, PsycINFO, Social Science Citation Index, and Science Citation Index to 2005; grey and unpublished literature to 2005; and reference lists were searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs). …


The subject of his new work is the everyday and the fleeting relationship we have with our surrounding environment. Inspiration came whilst driving looking for locations to use for his work. The momentary glimpses of scenes by the roadside and the subliminal views seen through the veil of hedges, instead of being the backdrop, became the subject. His new body of work also extends this idea from the road into his domestic environment and locations found on local walks.

Seamus employs two approaches to depicting the peripheral and the half-seen. One is pictorial and represents the conscious mind, where the subject that caught his eye is re-visited, composed and recorded in crisp detail. The other approach attempts to capture images that pass the edge of our field of vision subconsciously every day. These are photographed from a moving car without composing through the viewfinder. Both strategies are informed by painting and to varying degrees engage with abstract forms. Nicolson takes the medium of photography away from documentary concerns and uses it as means to transform the everyday and the banal into something otherworldly that conceals from the viewer as much as it reveals.


International agreements highlight the centrality of agricultural biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides to human well-being, but provide little guidance on how to integrate agrobiodiversity within workable national regimes of governance. Complicating this picture further, it is not species richness per se that underwrites the resilience and productivity of agroecosystems but the functional relationships between organisms and ecosystem components at a variety of scales. Like many others, Australia's national strategy for biodiversity conservation acknowledges the importance of functional biodiversity but, in reality, focuses most attention on the protection of `wild' biodiversity from unsympathetic land use. In constructing a workable regime of governance for agricultural biodiversity, Australian governments have been particularly concerned to maintain and extend the neoliberal project of market rule. Biodiversity loss is defined as an outcome of market failure best addressed through various types of market reform. However, new tensions have been created between the totalizing logic of market rule and the spatio-temporal variability and specificity of biodiversity management. Despite the positive emphasis of Australian agri-environmental policy on planning and capacity building, declining terms of trade for agricultural produce are likely to make it very difficult for the majority of landholders to actively manage biological resources for which there are no direct and immediate productivity benefits.


Is it true that Christianity is being marginalised by the secular media, at the expense of Islam? Are the mass media Islamophobic? Is atheism on the rise in media coverage? Media Portrayals of Religion and the Secular Sacred explores such questions and argues that television and newspapers remain key sources of popular information about religion. They are particularly significant at a time when religious participation in Europe is declining yet the public visibility and influence of religions seems to be increasing. Based on extensive research conducted on British mainstream media coverage of religion, the book is set in the context of wider debates about the sociology of religion and media representation. This book opens by laying out the key issues in global perspective. Using research conducted in the 1980s and 2008-10, the authors examine British media coverage and representation of religion and contemporary secular beliefs and values, and consider what has changed in the last 25 years. Exploring the portrayal of Christianity and public life, Islam and religious diversity, atheism and secularism, and popular beliefs and practices, several media events are also examined in detail: the Papal visit to the UK in 2010 and the ban of the controversial Dutch MP, Geert Wilders, in 2009. Questions arise about the media image of Christianity, how atheist and secularist demands on freedom of speech and equality are treated, and whether the media is anti-Islamic. Religion is shown to be deeply embedded in the language and images of the media, and present in all types of media coverage from news and documentaries to entertainment, sports reporting and advertising. A final chapter engages British findings with wider global debates about religion and media.


This paper works on assumption that Freud's general account of scienceas the empirically based pursuit of objective truth (objective, in part, insofar as it is not driven, at least not significantly, by human wishes)is reasonable and fair. Though it recognizes, as does Freud, that science cannot be a view from nowhere and void of normative investment, it assumes, with Freud, that conventionalist, subjectivist, and perspectivist notions of science that do not allow for any possibility of truth, independent of human design are wrongheaded. It assumes that science works in some measure at objective knowledge of the world in which humans live. The question it pursues is narrower: Is Freudian psychoanalysis answerable to the same objective criticisms to which Freud holds other sciences or is it a Weltanschauung? In doing so, the focus is on the clinical dimension of psychoanalysis, for that is widely regarded the most scientifically salvageable aspect of psychoanalysis.


As progress in AI continues to advance, it is important to know how advanced systems will make choices and in what ways they may fail. Machines can already outsmart humans in some domains, and understanding how to safely build ones which may have capabilities at or above the human level is of particular concern. One might suspect that artificially generally intelligent (AGI) and artificially superintelligent (ASI) will be systems that humans cannot reliably outsmart. As a challenge to this assumption, this paper presents the Achilles Heel hypothesis which states that even a potentially superintelligent system may nonetheless have stable decision-theoretic delusions which cause them to make irrational decisions in adversarial settings. In a survey of key dilemmas and paradoxes from the decision theory literature, a number of these potential Achilles Heels are discussed in context of this hypothesis. Several novel contributions are made toward understanding the ways in which these weaknesses might be implanted into a system.


Deep Gaussian processes (DGPs) are multilayer hierarchical generalisations of Gaussian processes (GPs) and are formally equivalent to neural networks with multiple, infinitely wide hidden layers. DGPs are nonparametric probabilistic models and as such are arguably more flexible, have a greater capacity to generalise, and provide better calibrated uncertainty estimates than alternative deep models. This paper develops a new approximate Bayesian learning scheme that enables DGPs to be applied to a range of medium to large scale regression problems for the first time. The new method uses an approximate Expectation Propagation procedure and a novel and efficient extension of the probabilistic backpropagation algorithm for learning. We evaluate the new method for non-linear regression on eleven real-world datasets, showing that it always outperforms GP regression and is almost always better than state-of-the-art deterministic and sampling-based approximate inference methods for Bayesian neural networks. As a by-product, this work provides a comprehensive analysis of six approximate Bayesian methods for training neural networks.


The fundamental laws of physics are very simple. The world about us is very complex. Living things are very complex indeed. This complexity has led some thinkers to suggest that living things are not the outcome of physical law but instead, the creation of a designer. Here I examine how complexity is produced naturally in fluids.


An attempt is made to illuminate the characteristics of Korean high-rise apartment plans built after the 1990s in Seoul. Unlike the typical slab block plans of the past century, these plans were accommodated in a super-highrise building which normally integrates some portion of commercial areas on the lower floors. Thus, they are much different from the pre-1990s plans, so needs to have different strategy to adapt to the Korean dwellers' domestic requirements. This study reveals the topological patterns that appear in these new plans, and tries to relate these patterns to the old configuration patterns of the slab-type apartment houses. From the analysis, it was found that some important Korean dwellers' characteristics are still preserved, but at the same time, some unprecedented patterns were beginning to be absorbed into the spatial arrangement. At the end, suggestions are made on how this emerging trend of super-high rise can be better understood and evolved to enhance the living quality in a new multi-unit setting.


In Elkins v. Superior Court 163 P.3d 160 (Cal. 2007), California's Supreme Court asked the Judicial Council to form a task force to make recommendations to increase "access to justice" in family court because it was concerned about rules, policies, and procedures that put self-represented litigants at an unfair disadvantage in parentage and dissolution cases. Neither the task force's report in 2010 nor the legislation that the report inspired the same year addresses children's due process rights, even though children ordinarily have no access to justice. This article shows that due process sometimes requires the trial court to appoint counsel for children to obtain the information the court needs to address children's interests. This article also explains why trial courts should not construe the new Elkins laws to impose new and unique restrictions on children's lawyers, and proposes new legislation and court rules to clarify children's due process rights and minors' counsel's ethical duties when custody is at issue in family court.


Introduction: Cervical cancer is the most frequent cancer among women in Senegal. However, there are few data concerning the HPV types
inducing neoplasia and cervical cancers and their prevalence, in the general population of Senegal
Aims: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of HPV infection in Senegalese women aged from 18 years and older.
Materials and methods: A study was performed on 498 cervix samples collected from healthy women aged 18 and older in Dakar. 438 other
samples were collected from three other regions, Thies, Saint Louis and Louga. The samples were screened for 21 HPV genotypes using an HPV
type-specific E7 PCR bead-based multiplex genotyping assay (TS-MPG) which is a laboratory-developed method for the detection of HPV.
Results: The prevalence for pHR/HR-HPV in the region of Dakar was 20.68%. HPV 52 (3.21%) was the most prevalent HPV type, followed by HPV
16 (3.01%) and HPV 31 (3.01%). In the regions of Thies, Louga and Saint Louis, the prevalence for pHR/HR-HPV was 29.19%, 23.15% and 20%,
respectively
Conclusion: The study revealed the specificity of the HR-HPV prevalence in Dakar and other regions of Senegal. The patterns differ from the one
observed in the other regions of the world and rise the issue of the development of vaccination program in the country. Such a program should take
into account the real HPV prevalence for an effective protection of HPV-associated diseases.


Malaysian writers of Indian origin writing in English have carved a tradition of their own in the Malaysian literary realm. The Indian diaspora in Malaysian Literature in English plays a dual-role. One is the Indian writer
who is part of the diaspora himself and the other is the Indian characters that they portray in their writings. Both roles are equally significant in the contribution towards the development of literature in English in Malaysia
and in its depiction of the social, political, economical, spiritual and cultural life of the Indian in Malaysia. The surge of writings in English by Malaysian Indians this millennium inevitably documents the Indian experience in
Malaysia and establishes the evolving status of the Indian as a citizen of this land called home. Six novels by three Malaysian authors of Indian origin are used as a basis for texts analysis in this study of which five were
published in the 21st century. The point of departure for this study is K.S.Maniam's article "The New Diaspora"1
which calls for the 'internationalization' of Malaysian literature in English by writers of an up-coming community, The New Diaspora, for wider acceptance, greater recognition and broader and higher consumption globally. The diaspora is seen as a temporary transitional phase that is initially bound by ethnicity and eventually transforms and transcends ethnic, racial, regional and national boundaries to become
global citizens. Taking on a socio-political approach to literary study, this study explores novels in English by Malaysian writers of Indian origin to locate the Indian diaspora, to identify the temporary transitional phase of the diaspora and to trace the transcendent transformation that supports 'internationalization' of communal literatures which consequently encourages and promotes global consumption.


IZA DP No. 14756 SEPTEMBER 2021 Gene-Environment Effects on Female Fertility* Fertility has a strong biological component generally ignored by economists. Using the UK Biobank, we analyze the extent to which genes, proxied by polygenic scores, and the environment, proxied by early exposure to the contraceptive pill diffusion, affect age at first sexual intercourse, age at first birth, completed family size, and childlessness. Both genes and environment exert substantial influences on all outcomes. The anticipation of sexual debut and the postponement of motherhood led by the diffusion of the pill are magnified by gene-environment interactions, while the decline in family size and the rise in childlessness associated with female emancipation are attenuated by gene-environment effects. The nature-nurture interplay becomes stronger in more egalitarian environments that empower women, allowing genes to express themselves more fully. These conclusions are confirmed by heterogenous effects across the distributions of genetic susceptibilities and exposure to environmental risks, sister fixed effects models, mother-daughter comparisons, and counterfactual simulations. JEL Classification: D10, I14, I15, J01, J13, J16


We question previous research assuming that privatizing firm performance generally benefits from decreasing state ownership and the passage of time, both of which purportedly align principal-agent incentives promoting organizational decision-making that increases shareholder value. When state ownership shifts from majority and controlling to minority and non-controlling the performance impact may be positive in the short-run, particularly where there is instability in the local investment policy environment. Consistent with this proposition, we develop and test hypotheses derived from a minority and non-controlling or "residual" state ownership framework, grounded in credible privatization and institutional theory. We propose that: 1) residual state ownership positively affects shareholder returns after strategic decisions by privatizing firms because it signals state support for managerial initiatives; 2) the passage of time since initial privatization negatively affects shareholder returns after strategic decisions by privatizing firms because initial undertakings in support of the privatizing firm are reversed; and 3) home-country investment policy stability moderates these two effects –greater stability obviates the need for residual state ownership and slows policy reversals over time. We find empirical support for our residual state ownership framework in event study analyses of cumulative abnormal returns ("CARs") associated with 196 major investments announced from 1986-2001 by 15 privatizing telecoms from around the world. CARs are positive at 5-25% state ownership levels but turn negative at higher state ownership levels. CARs turn sharply negative within 1-2 years from initial privatization dates. Increasing policy stability diminishes positive ownership and negative time effects on CARs. Results confirm the potential supporting role that residual state ownership can play in enhancing strategic decision-making and financial performance by privatizing firms, particularly where there is instability in the home-country investment policy environment.


In the present work, second law analysis has been used for a steady-state cross flow microchannel heat exchanger (MCHX). This type of heat exchangers has been known for its higher heat transfer coefficient and higher area per volume ratio. Therefore, broad range studies are being carried out to optimize its performance and minimize its inefficiencies. In the current study, entropy generation and exergy loss have been employed to investigate a multiport serpentine slab MCHX with ethylene glycol-water and air as the working fluids. Conservation of energy and the increase in entropy principles were used to create a mathematical model that uses different parameters such as heat capacity rate ratio, fluids inlet temperatures, effectiveness and pressure drop for obtaining entropy generation. Results were found on the basis of the behaviour of the dimensionless entropy generation number with the key parameters. A good agreement between the predicted and the measured results was found.


Analyzing social network data helps sociologists understand the behaviors of individuals and groups as well as the relationships between them. With additional ontology information, the semantics behind the network structure can be further explored. Unfortunately, creating network visualizations with these datasets for presentation can inadvertently expose the private and sensitive information of individuals that reside in the data. To deal with this problem, we generalize conventional data anonymization models (originally designed for relational data) and formally apply them in the context of privacy preserving ontological network visualization. We use these models to identify the privacy leaks that exist in a visualization, provide graph modification actions that remove and/or perceptually minimize the effect of the identified leaks, and discuss strategies for what types of privacy actions to choose depending on the context of the leaks. We implement an ontological visualization interface with associated privacy preserving operations, and demonstrate with two case studies using real-world datasets to show that our approach can identify and solve potential privacy issues while balancing overall graph readability and utility.


Roberto Ago, the International Law Commission's second Special Rapporteur on the topic of state responsibility for internationally wrongful acts, defined self-defence as a faculte of a state to use force in response to an act of another state through which a breach of the principal obligation under Article 2(4) Charter is committed. On this basis, he then inserted a provision in Chapter V to Part One of the Draft Articles on State Responsibility expressing self-defence as a specific factual circumstance precluding the wrongfulness of the use of force which constitutes a response to state aggression. This conception of self-defence, although misunderstood from the onset, remained in the backdrop of the study of the law of state responsibility for a considerable period. It was only dismantled during the reign of the last Special Rapporteur on the topic of state responsibility, James Crawford. The last Rapporteur, at the onset, submitted that it is not the function of the Draft Articles to specify the content of the primary rules, including that referred to in Article 51 Charter. He then redefined the function of the circumstance of self-defence as that of precluding the wrongfulness of non-performance of certain obligations other than the general prohibition insofar as such non-performance is connected with the exercise of the right under Article 51 Charter. This contribution first scrutinises this paradigmatic shift and finds it to be symptomatic of the conviction on the part of Crawford that the notion of self-defence could also encompass the use of force against speculative threats of state origin as well as actual threats that emanate from individuals or groups which are disconnected from the organisation of any state. It then uses this finding as a springboard towards the examination of the controversy surrounding the notion of self-defence under international law. In that connection, it first outlines the findings of the World Court on the requirements of armed attack and attribution and describes the points of criticism which those findings have elicited. Next, it argues that state practice is unable to settle the controversy concerning the scope of the concept of self-defence and that the question whether or not valid invocation of Article 51 Charter must be preceded by a state's breach of the general prohibition can be conclusively answered only as part of efforts geared to devising an explanatory account of self-defence which accurately translates its normative origins and which preserves its logical relations with the other, more ordinary but fundamental legal concepts. The study's conclusion is that respect for such criteria demands that the notion of self-defence under international law be defined in line with Ago's proposition, i.e. in terms of a de facto situation, recognised by a secondary rule, whereby the principal obligation under the primary rule contained in Article 2(4) Charter is pushed into abeyance to the detriment of a state which conducts itself in breach of that very same obligation in respect of another state; or, correlatively, in terms of a factual circumstance precluding the wrongfulness of the use of force which constitutes a riposte to an unlawful armed attack of another state.


Traditional treatments see agricultural practices as inimical to many environmental attributes in rural areas. In the policy arena, farmers and environmentalists often clash over land-use practices, crop monoculture, animal wastes, and the application of chemicals – the residues of which are said to contaminate the environment and threaten human well-being. The existence of agricultural abundance in the OECD countries provides an opportunity to rethink old beliefs and attitudes, as well as to reformulate traditional policy approaches to agriculture-environment interactions. This requires seeing agriculture as a land-management activity, with production of food and fibre taking a secondary role. Economic incentives and property rights issues will require reconsideration.


Abstract Since the creation of the European Community, the Gaullist movement has never been united over the question of European integration. De Gaulle's intergovernmental vision of the European project has largely been the dominant discourse. At times however, this narrative has been questioned—on the one hand by more supranational notions of European integration; and on the other by a more pro-sovereignty Eurosceptic discourse. Subsequently, in its various modern-day guises the Gaullist movement has faced a series of major internal divisions with regard to its position on 'Europe'. This uncertainty has also manifested itself at the highest level as demonstrated by the changing discourse advocated by former French presidents Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy. This paper analyses the internal tensions over the European issue within the Gaullist movement at elite level. It determines that despite Chirac's and Sarkozy's attempts to unite the party throughout their presidencies the Gaullist movement is far from having moved towards a united European stance. Accordingly, the authors identify that over the past three decades, it is possible to identify three distinct, and at times conflicting, Gaullist stances on European integration with which the party's elites have vacillated, namely Euro-Federalism, Euro-Pragmatism and Euro-Populism.


Democratic theorists have long argued that states can create more resilient democracies through education. Educational investments are thought to produce more economic equality and instill in citizens greater capacity and responsibility to participate in politics. Using a geographic regression discontinuity design and township-level data from Antebellum New York State, we examine whether state funding for common schools led to higher voter turnout as well as higher earnings and lower inequality. Our estimates support the view that a participatory democratic culture emerged not only because of initial favorable endowments but also because of subsequent government decisions to fund education. New York townships that received more school funding later had higher median earnings, lower earnings inequality, and higher levels of voter turnout. Our findings support the view that maintaining democracy requires active investments by the state, something that has important implications for other places and other times—including today.


Music is associated to colors since ancient years. Different mappings between attributes of sound and images allow the efficient conversion between the two types of media. The proposed method for converting images to music using the concept of chromaticism provides the area of computer music with a parameterized environment for audio-visual presentations. The auditory display of colour images may bring the different ways that a listener perceives a musical piece (because of colour transitions) to light. A design template for chromatic synthesis is described. A short example, based on a graphical digital icon, demonstrates the preliminary results.


The purpose of this study was to analyze the performance of Integrated Fixed Film Activate Sludge system in Amol industrial wastewater treatment plant to treat the food industrial wastewater. The capacity was 1700 cubic meters per day that includes physical and biological treatment, disinfection, sludge thickening, digestion and dewatering. The wastewater quality parameters were analyzed during winter 2010 and spring 2011. Using data, COD removal efficiency and kinetic coefficient such as yield coefficient (Y), half saturation coefficient (Ks), maximum substrate utilization rate (k) and endogenous decay coefficient (kd) were calculated and results indicated that except Ks other coefficient were in the range that was normally reported for conventional activated sludge. Under existing conditions at the wastewater treatment plant, COD removal efficiency range was between 98 to 99 percent. By using kinetic coefficient obtained in this study, effluent COD was estimated and sensitivity analysis was performed. The results showed that there is a direct relationship between the variation of kd and Ks with effluent substrate concentration, while the relationship between k and effluent substrate is reverse. Finally the effect of increasing sludge retention time (SRT) on COD removal efficiency was also investigated.


At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Latin American leaders – particularly from South America – collectively raised ethical questions about the foundations and practices of liberal peacebuilding. Embracing the idea of democracy as central to peace, these leaders have delinked democracy from the free market ideology and have developed their own models of regional economic cooperation, conflict management and dialogue. This article identifies the main discrepancies between the Latin American discourses and policies and the liberal interpretation of peacebuilding. It contends that the Latin American model provides alternatives to the hegemonic peacebuilding discourse.