The catechol-O-methyltranferase (COMT) is one of the main enzymes that metabolise dopamine in the brain. The Val158Met polymorphism in the COMT gene (rs4680) causes a trimodal distribution of high (Val/Val), intermediate (Val/Met) and low (Met/Met) enzyme activity. We tested whether the Val158Met polymorphism is a modifier of the age at onset (AAO) in Parkinson's disease (PD). The rs4680 was genotyped in a total of 16 609 subjects from five independent cohorts of European and North American origin (5886 patients with PD and 10 723 healthy controls). The multivariate analysis for comparing PD and control groups was based on a stepwise logistic regression, with gender, age and cohort origin included in the initial model. The multivariate analysis of the AAO was a mixed linear model, with COMT genotype and gender considered as fixed effects and cohort and cohort-gender interaction as random effects. COMT genotype was coded as a quantitative variable, assuming a codominant genetic effect. The distribution of the COMT polymorphism was not significantly different in patients and controls (p=0.22). The Val allele had a significant effect on the AAO with a younger AAO in patients with the Val/Val (57.1±13.9, p=0.03) than the Val/Met (57.4±13.9) and the Met/Met genotypes (58.3±13.5). The difference was greater in men (1.9 years between Val/Val and Met/Met, p=0.007) than in women (0.2 years, p=0.81). Thus, the Val158Met COMT polymorphism is not associated with PD in the Caucasian population but acts as a modifier of the AAO in PD with a sexual dimorphism: the Val allele is associated with a younger AAO in men with idiopathic PD.


The Communist Party of Saudi Arabia was a pro-Soviet Marxist-Leninist party that existed from 1975 until the early 1990s. Its roots lay in the labor movement of the 1950s in the oil-producing Eastern Province. The history of this province is a hitherto almost unknown aspect of modern Saudi history, Arab Marxism, and the broader Cold War. The Saudi Communist Party helped to launch an uprising in 1979 in the Eastern Province and was particularly active in propagating its ideas throughout the 1980s as the Soviet Union and Saudi Arabia fought a proxy war in Afghanistan. Despite opposing the monarchy's use of Islam as a tool of legitimacy and a propaganda instrument against Communism in the Cold War, the party called for a common front with Islamic groups opposed to the monarchy at home. After the dissolution of the party in 1991, former party members became key actors in the reformist petitions of 1990–1991, 2003, and 2011. This article is based on fieldwork in Saudi Arabia, interviews with veteran leftists from the region, and hitherto unexamined primary sources in Arabic, German, and English, including party publications and archival sources.


Objective: Plant-inferred bioactive particles have been utilized to turn away or treat tumor for a considerable length of time. As of late plant blends were found to have significantly more grounded exercises than utilizing plant alone. In this study, we evaluated the anticancer impacts of DPSUU III which contains a mix of plant concentrates of Beta vulgaris, Syzygium cumini, Limonia acidissima. Material and Methods: After extraction from these plants, DPSUU III was granulated and powder was extricated with 80% ethanol, dried by rotating evaporator under vacuum and put away until utilize. DPSUU III was offered orally to mice at single measurements of 1000mg/kg/day alongside vehicle control and creatures were seen amid the initial 12 hr for any change in side effects of mobility, posture, amount of sustenance utilization and for mortality after MCF-7 cells were infused into mammary cushion of C57BL6 mice to create strong breast tumours. Then DPSUU III treated gathering was contrasted with the doxorubicin (Dox)treated gathering. Results: The breast disease development was altogether stifled in mice treated with DPSUU III without loss of body weight and any symptoms while Dox-treated mice showed huge body weight reduction with little measure of toxicities. An expansion in life expectancy (ILS% = 62.80%) was seen in the DPSUU III controlled gathering, contrasted with the tumor control bunch. DPSUU III shows hostile to proliferative movement against MCF-7 breast tumor cells through actuating G0/G1 cell cycle capture. DPSUU III hinders the declaration of cyclin D1, CDK4, CDK2 and prompts p21. Conclusion: DPSUU III could be a potential chemo preventive supplement to breast tumor patients.


Big cities have mostly failed in their efforts to reform public schools. This book shows why - and offers a framework for achieving future success. Fullan and Boyle, internationally renowned thinkers on school change, demonstrate that while the educational challenges of big cities can be overwhelming, they are not insurmountable. They identify six essential "push" and "pull" actions that can enable big school systems to improve student achievement. Leaders need to push to challenge the status quo, convey a high sense of urgency, and have the courage needed to intervene. But they need to also pull together to create a commonly owned strategy, develop a professional power of capital, and attend to sustainability. Examining three major cities - New York, Toronto, and London - through the decade of 2002-2012, this book weaves case studies with careful analysis and recommendations to hone in on which policies and strategies generate quality implementation that in turn raise the bar for all students and reduce the gap for the disadvantaged. Big-City School Reforms offers invaluable advice to those leading the next phase of school reform in cities around the world.


'Can organic farming feed the world?' is a question that is generally posed as a put-down by those people who are against organic farming, and is used as part of a defense of conventional agriculture. It is hardly ever raised by people who are seriously contemplating the subject and rarely by someone prepared to even briefly consider that feeding the world whether by organic or conventional methods has hardly anything to do with agriculture and is mainly to do with finance and power.


Tillage is declining in wheat production systems in the Great Plains. Our objective was to determine if a tillage × cultivar interaction occurred for grain yield, protein concentration, kernel weight, and test weight for hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L. emend. Thell.) in a wheat-fallow monoculture. We also wanted to know if seeding rate × cultivar and tillage × seeding rate × cultivar interactions occurred for these grain traits. The cultivars AC Minto, Amidon, Bergen, Grandin, and Norm were seeded at 123, 247, and 371 live kernels m -2 in conventional-till (CONT), reduced-till (RT), and notill (NT) systems in a randomized complete block with a split split-plot arrangement in southwestern North Dakota during 1995-1998. Tillage X cultivar, seeding rate × cultivar, and tillage X seeding rate × cultivar interactions did not occur for any grain trait (P > 0.05). Grain yield, protein concentration, kernel weight, and test weight were unaffected by tillage system. A positive quadratic response in grain yield occurred as the seeding rate was increased. Grain test weight increased from 577 to 586 g m -3 as the seeding rate increased from 123 to 371 kernels m -2 , but grain protein concentration and kernel weight were unaffected. Grain yield ranged from 2473 to 3063 kg ha -1 , crude protein from 141 to 154 g kg -1 , kernel weight from 30 to 32 g (1000 kernels) -1 , and test weight from 572 to 590 g m -3 among the five cultivars. Results of this study suggest that cultivar recommendations under CONT can be extended to RT and NT systems in a wheat-fallow monoculture.


In this study, we proposed to synthesize thermally stable, soluble and conjugated Schiff base polymer (SbP). For this reason, a specific molecule namely 4,4"-thiodiphenol which has sulfur and oxygen bridge in its structure was used to synthesize bi-functional monomers. Bi-functional amino and carbonyl monomers namely 4,4"-[thio-bis(4,1-phenyleneoxy)] dianiline (DIA) and 4,4"-[thiobis(4,1-phenyleneoxy)]dibenzaldehyde (DIB) were prepared from the elimination reaction of 4,4"-thiodiphenol with 4-iodonitrobenzene and 4-iodobenzaldehyde, respectively. The structures of products were confirmed by elemental analysis, FTIR, 1 H NMR and 13 C NMR techniques. The molecular weight distribution parameters of SbP were determined by size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The synthesized SbP was characterized by solubility tests, TG-DTA and DSC. Also, conductivity values of SbP and SbP-iodine complex were determined from their solid conductivity measurements. The conductivity measurements of doped and undoped SbP were carried out by Keithley 2400 electrometer at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, which were calculated via fourpoint probe technique. When iodine was used as a doping agent, the conductivity of SbP was observed to be increased. Optical band gap (E g ) of SbP was also calculated by using UV-Vis spectroscopy. It should be stressed that SbP was a semiconductor which had a potential in electronic and optoelectronic applications, with fairly low band gap. SbP was found to be thermally stable up to 300℃. The char of SbP was observed 29.86% at 1000℃.


Piscirickettsia salmonis was isolated from cell culture using differential centrifugation and purified on a 30% Percol gradient. The purity of the preparation was assessed by transmission electron microscopy and phage-like particles were found to be associated with some of the P. salmonis isolates examined. This is believed to be the first report of a phage associated with rickettsia from fish.


Equations for calculation of the crossing point determination error and the signal width error in level-crossing experiments are generalized when the normalized second-order factorial moment of the fluorescence obtained is measured. To minimize the magnitude of these errors we study the behavior of these values on varying the magnetic field sweep interval, the counting time, and the mean fluorescence intensity.


Imagery has been defined as "using all the senses to re-create or create an experience in the mind". Imagery has both a cognitive and motivational function. The cognitive function of imagery is the use of mental imagery to experience specific sports skills and to plan strategies in advance for competitions. The motivational function of imagery is the use of imagery to experience goal attainment, effective coping and arousal management requirements. The mental practice literature provides evidence that imagery is an effective cognitive process for enhancing learning and performance of motor skills. The main aim of this study was to correlate the usage of imagery and sports performance among basketball players. Data was collected from 101 basketball players during a match among universities, using Imagery and Sports Performance questionnaire. One way ANOVA showed significant differences on the level of Imagery Usage among categories of basketball players, F (3, 101) = 17.877, p<.01. Pearson correlation was used to determine the relationship between imagery and sports performance. The results indicated a positive correlation between internal imagery and sports performance, (r = 0.63; p<0.01), and external imagery and sports performance, (r = 0.77; p<0.01). Sports psychologists, sports counselors and coaches should use the present findings to recommend imagery to enhance athletes' performance.


What is critical urban theory? While this phrase is often used in a descriptive sense, to characterize the tradition of post‐1968 leftist or radical urban studies, I argue that it also has determinate social–theoretical content. To this end, building on the work of several Frankfurt School social philosophers, this paper interprets critical theory with reference to four, mutually interconnected elements—its theoretical character; its reflexivity; its critique of instrumental reason; and its emphasis on the disjuncture between the actual and the possible. On this basis, a brief concluding section considers the status of urban questions within critical social theory. In the early 21st century, I argue, each of the four key elements within critical social theory requires sustained engagement with contemporary patterns of capitalist urbanization. Under conditions of increasingly generalized, worldwide urbanization, the project of critical social theory and that of critical urban theory have been intertwined as never before.


Context-aware Systems (CASs) are becoming increasingly popular and can be found in the areas of wearable computing, mobile computing, robotics, adaptive and intelligent user interfaces. Sensors are the corner stone of context capturing however, sensed context data are commonly prone to imperfection due to the technical limitations of sensors, their availability, dysfunction, and highly dynamic nature of environment. Consequently, sensed context data might be imprecise, erroneous, conflicting, or simply missing. To limit the impact of context imperfection on the behavior of a context-aware system, a notion of Quality of Context (QoC) is used to measure quality of any information that is used as context information. Adaptation is performed only if the context data used in the decision-making has an appropriate quality level. This paper reports an analytical review for state of the art quality of context in context-aware systems and points to future research directions.


This paper contributes to the current debate on responses to the financial crisis and the role of law in paving a way out of recession, by highlighting the persistence of market-centred theories that defined the state-market relationship before the crisis. The paper begins by discussing the concept of regulation itself and discusses the extent to which the 'credit crunch' has shaken belief in modern capitalism. The paper then offers a discussion on the relationship of deregulation to financial crisis, arguing that there is a direct link between the receding reach of the state and market instability, drawing analogies with previous instances of market failure, like the Great Depression. On the basis of this connection, a theoretical portrayal of perceptions of the role of law in modern capitalism is attempted, where the main message is that dominant, modern perceptions of the state-market relationship allow a role for regulation but still do not recognise the state as the legitimate author of such regulation, showing a preference for market-led solutions. The paper then tests these findings against state actions in response to the 'credit crunch' and concludes by offering the suggestion that while the current financial crisis has shown the limitations of modern capitalism, and while it is possible that a fundamental rethink of the role of the state in the market may take place as a consequence, this rethink has yet to materialise in policy proclamations and government aspirations on a global scale.
"This financial system is no more! It has ceased to be! 'It's expired and gone to meet its maker! 'It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'it to the tax payer's perch it'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Its metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'It's off the twig! It's kicked the bucket, it's shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-FINANCIAL SYSTEM!!"
(Willem Buiter, 26 November 2008)


Targeting messenger RNA (mRNA) transcripts to the appropriate subcellular location provides a mechanism for optimizing production of a particular protein at the right place and the right time. Zipcode binding protein 1 (ZBP1) binds to the "zipcode" sequence in the β-actin mRNA transcript, promoting its translocation to sites of actin polymerization, such as growth cones or the leading edge of migrating fibroblasts. Hüttelmaier et al. found that, in differentiated NG108-15 neuroblastoma cells, ZBP1 labeled with green fluorescent protein colocalized with β-actin mRNA in the nucleus as well as at the leading edge, along neurites, and in filopodia. ZBP1 inhibited translation of β-actin in rabbit reticulocyte lysates and, in cells, ZBP1 knockdown with siRNA enhanced translation of a reporter containing the β-actin 3′ region in a manner that depended on the presence of the zipcode sequence. Sequence analysis indicated that ZBP1 contained a possible SH3-binding motif that might function as a Src tyrosine kinase docking site. Indeed, Src phosphorylated ZBP1 on Tyr 396 both in vitro and in cells. Increased Src activity promoted translation of a zipcode-containing reporter, and analysis of nonphosphorylatable or phosphorylation-mimicking mutants indicated that ZBP1 phosphorylation decreased its association with β-actin mRNA. FRET analysis indicated that Src associated with ZBP1 in growth cones and near filopodia. ZBP1 knockdown interfered with neurite outgrowth; this could be rescued by phosphorylatable ZBP1 but not by the nonphosphorylatable mutant. Thus, the authors conclude that ZBP1 not only regulates β-actin localization but also prevents its premature translation until reaching an appropriate locale and undergoing phosphorylation by Src. Dahm and Kiebler provide context in a News and Views article. S. Hüttelmaier, D. Zenklusen, M. Lederer, J. Dictenberg, M. Lorenz, X. Meng, G. J. Bassell, J. Condeelis, R. H. Singer, Spatial regulation of β-actin translation by Src-dependent phosphorylation by ZBP1. Nature 438, 512-515 (2005). [PubMed] R. Dahm, M. Kiebler, Silenced mRNA on the move. Nature 438, 432-435 (2005). [PubMed]


All instruments with detectors are prone to saturation effects at high
concentration, and mass spectrometers are no exception. The very high
sensitivity of mass spectrometry makes the onset of saturation occur at lower
concentrations than other methods, and in cases where the analyte of interest
is very reactive, concentrations at which saturation can be problematic may be
necessary in order to ensure decomposition is mitigated. Indications that
saturation is occurring are provided, and some data processing strategies are
outlined, followed by a range of detuning strategies that may be employed to
reduce saturation effects in the context of electrospray ionization mass
spectrometry (ESI-MS), including lowering voltages on detector or capillary,
increasing cone gas flow rates, or adjusting the probe position. A combination
of strategies generally allows researchers to make the best possible
compromises when studying compounds at relatively high concentration.


Abstract To support early design and design under risk, it is necessary to have methodologies to process the various forms of uncertainties. Three independent dimensions of uncertainty are identified in the paper as certainty of analysis (epistemic uncertainty), random variability (stochastic variability and design indecision) and type of variable. The type of variable is further categorized into six scales that are broadly grouped into quantitative and qualitative. Common engineering modelling tools used for design do not operate well on combinations of random variables, qualitative variables and imperfect knowledge. The hypothesis of this paper is that a modelling system could be developed to accommodate the multiple types of uncertainty that can exist during engineering design. This is worth doing as accommodating design uncertainty is an important part of risk management in engineering. The paper then proceeds to describe the way in which the design for system integrity (DSI) methodology meets these objectives. DSI may be used to create models with uncertain variables (including textual and non-ordered), given subjective and imperfect knowledge (including uncertain opinion). Consequently, DSI supports risk management in engineering design.


This essay pays tribute to William Van Alstyne, one of our foremost constitutional scholars, by applying the methods of textual interpretation he laid out in a classic essay, "Interpreting This Constitution: On the Unhelpful Contribution of Special Theories of Judicial Review." I make use of the graphical methods Van Alstyne has applied to the general study of the First Amendment to examine the Supreme Court's recent decisions in the context of the Free Exercise Clause, in particular the landmark case of "Employment Division v. Smith". The application of Van Alstyne's use of the burden of proof as an interpretive tool and the results of the application of the graphic analysis, I argue, suggest that "Smith" is a gravely flawed decision, inconsistent both with precedent and with sophisticated textual analysis of the sort that much of Van Alstyne's own distinguished scholarship holds before us as a model of principled and neutral constitutional application.


One of the main challenges for the realization of a working fusion power plant is an increased detailed understanding of kinetic phenomena in toroidal plasmas. The tokamak is a toroidal, magnetically confined plasma device and is currently the main line towards a power plant. The spatial and temporal scales in a tokamak plasma are extreme and the only tractable path for quantitative studies is to rely on computer simulations. Present day simulation codes can resolve only some of these scales. Nevertheless they still require the largest high performance computing (HPC) resources available in the world. In combination with the increase of computational performance, it is therefore necessary to improve the numerical algorithms used in the simulations.In this thesis we have developed new numerical methods designed for Monte Carlo simulation of plasma kinetic diffusion. Examples are simulation of fast-ion thermalization and radio-frequency heating. The aim has been to reduce the statistical random noise in particle codes, produced by a finite number of particles (or markers). Traditionally the statistical noise is improved by increasing the number of particles (N) or by simulating the perturbation of the distribution (with particles) from a known distribution function. This is the well known δf method. In this thesis we have developed a new type of δf method, which minimizes the number of particles used in a simulation. The computational speedup of the new method is substantial. In this thesis, we have further benchmarked quasi-Monte Carlo techniques that improve the convergence rate from N−1/2 to N−1 for some cases.In Monte Carlo simulations, error appears also from the time step discretization. Based on the mathematics of operator splitting, a new scheme for the pitch-angle scattering diffusion process has been developed that outperforms the standard methods. Finally this thesis also presents a new code, SELFO-light, for self-consistent simulations of ion cyclotron resonance heating, suitable for routine calculations, which couples a one dimensional Fokker-Planck model with the finite element wave solver LION.


Evidences from the literature have revealed that the cultural value that predominates among individuals in a society exercises an influence on their attitude, intention and behavior including those that are channeled towards entrepreneurial activities. Thus, an in-depth knowledge of the differing cultural orientation among these individuals based on their demographical or other personal characteristics can serve as a basis of understanding their entrepreneurial behavior in addition to providing a means of promoting an entrepreneurial driven cultural value. This study examined the influence of demographic characteristics: gender, marital status, age group on the tendency of university study to exhibit entrepreneurship cultural values. Three cultural predictors: perceived appropriateness, perceived consistence and perceived effectiveness were highlighted as important entrepreneurial cultural values which can be used to predict an entrepreneurial inclined intention/behavior. Furthermore, the results from the 255 copies of close ended and structured questionnaires that were considered usable for statistical analysis indicates that while no significant difference was uncovered in the constructs of appropriateness, consistence and effectiveness according to the gender group of the respondents, a statistically significant difference was however uncovered among them according to their marital status in that those students who are single have the tendency to exhibit a higher perception of entrepreneurial appropriateness. In addition, it was uncovered that those students who are between the age range of 26 and 36 are significantly higher in these three cultural predictors as compared to their younger counterparts who are within the ranges of 15-25 years, 37-47 years old, and 48 years old and above. On the basis of these findings, it was recommended that while disseminating information to foster entrepreneurial cultural change, efforts should be made to employ a segmentation strategy which will allow more concentration on the individuals who were highlighted as having less perception of entrepreneurial cultural values.


Problem Statement: Faculty members working in the education faculties of universities are expected to show teacher behaviors. In articles on this subject, some research on teacher behavior can be found. Some articles on this subject exist in the literature in foreign countries. These studies show that faculty members teaching in universities do not effectively use the teaching-learning method and techniques in the classroom. This research is necessary to resolve this issue and create solutions. Purpose of the Study: The present study seeks answers to the questions "According to university students, how frequently do faculty members display the behavior envisaged in the course plan?" and "What are the opinions and values of students in this regard?" Method: This study used the questionnaire technique of quantitative research and the technique of soliciting written opinion of qualitative research. Descriptive data analysis was conducted on qualitative data. Scores were determined by three experts. Finding and Results: Students stated that a large majority of faculty members attending courses in education do not give effect to activities envisaged in the course plan in class environments. They stress that this state of affairs makes them lose interest and fosters a negative attitude about such courses and faculty members. Students reported that they have positive feelings for other faculty members who are engaged in activities specified in the course plan and so will take them as their models.Conclusion and Recommendations: A significant majority of students want faculty members to display affection in education environments. A faculty member is expected, in this context, not to despise, degrade, and insult students; not to take sides, to behave fairly, and act in a disciplined and serious manner; to give feedback, reinforcement, and hints; and to engage in efforts in class environments to actively involve students. Meanwhile, many studies have shown that feedback, correction, reinforcement, and student participation enhances student performance and achievement. It can also be said that stimulants of this kind influence the affective domain of students, subsequently leading students to develop positive and desired feelings. However, students stressed that they cannot see many of these characteristics in faculty members attending other education courses and they develop negative attitude to these courses and their teachers. Key words: Education, values, student, process.


Social networking sites are now used as a standard newsgathering tool by journalists. As well as helping the reporter to find sources, they also offer an accessible supply of quotes and pictures. As a result they are particularly useful in the reporting of personal tragedy where bereaved relatives and friends may be unwilling to speak to the media. This trend could be interpreted as a form of virtual or digital doorstepping, which like the traditional method, has connotations of intrusion. Using data collected from questionnaires and interviews mostly with journalists of five years or less experience, this paper explores journalists' attitudes to using these sites in reporting personal traumatic events, the manner in which they use them and the ethical issues that arise from their use. In particular it will examine whether journalists consider them to be more or less intrusive than traditional approaches and whether they use these sites to limit contact with the bereaved, thus avoiding some of the ethical and stress-related concerns present in reporting personal tragedy. In conclusion, it will attempt to assess the benefits and harms of a probable, increased usage of social networking sites in the intrusive reporting process.


Terrorist crimes acquire their terrorist status by virtue of their attacks on the constitutional settlement. Extra-constitutional means are used to secure political objectives. The other constitutional challenge prompted by terrorism is that it prompts the polity to consider what of value needs protecting. This goes not merely to the material safety of their citizens, but also to the ideals which underlie and justify institutional power within any constitutional polity. Terrorism provokes, thereby, deep processes of constitutional self-identification where polities consider what constitutions are for and whether this should be revisited. The United States and European Union responses to 11 September reveal, therefore, radically different visions of Human Freedom and Political Community: each of which provokes its own possibilities and problems. In the United States a vision of freedom as political citizenship has emerged. It involves the right of all US citizens to participate as equals in a collective public space with the structures integral to the protection and constitution of this public space becoming increasingly sacralised. This has led to a regeneration of political debate within the United States, but also to concerns about civil liberties, increasing mistrust of the political activities of foreigners, and increasing use of long-arm jurisdiction. The central vision of freedom developed by the European Union conceives of it as the enjoyment of a particular standard and style of life. This is a socio-economic concept concerned with the entitlements individuals enjoy in their everyday lives, and with protection of those communities and processes that give rise to these individuals. The processes of marginalisation emerging within the European Union centre far more around the socio-economic risk that an individual poses to a way of life: in a many ways a more pervasive and problematic form of boundary-drawing than categorising individuals according to the political risk they pose.


Evacuation models have been playing an important function in the transition process from prescriptive fire safety codes to performance-based ones over the last three decades. In fact, such models became also useful tools in different tasks within fire safety engineering field, such as fire risks assessment and fire investigation. However, there are some difficulties in this process when using these models. For instance, during the evacuation modeling analysis, a common problem faced by fire safety engineers concerns the number of simulations which needs to be performed. In other terms, which fire designs (i.e., scenarios) should be investigated using the evacuation models? This type of question becomes more complex when specific issues such as the optimal positioning of exits within an arbitrarily structure needs to be addressed.

In the other hand, numerical optimisation techniques have been applied to a range of different fields such as structural analysis. These techniques have shown to be a powerful tool for designers, saving their time and consequently reducing costs during the process.

For this reason, the emphasis, throughout this study, is to develop a methodology that enables the optimisation of fire safety analysis of structural designs. In other words, the current research was primarily intended to demonstrate and develop this combination of fire engineering tools and techniques such as the Design of Experiments (DoE) and numerical optimisation techniques. For this purpose, a Computational Fire Engineering (CFE) tool combined with Numerical Optimisation Techniques and associated statistical methods (i.e., Design of Experiments (DoE) and Response Surface Models (RSM)) are used. The study is focused on evacuation modelling; nevertheless the methodology proposed here could equally be applied to CFD-based fire simulation tools. While the approach that has been developed is intended to be generally applicable, the techniques have been explored and demonstrated using the buildingEXODUS computational package. This fire engineering simulation tool is used worldwide, to improve the fire safety in building designs.

This study therefore intended, besides to develop a numerical methodology to allow the efficient optimisation of fire safety aspects of structural designs, to understand how the core variables impact the evacuation efficiency.

For instance, a common problem faced by fire safety engineers, in the field of evacuation analysis, is the optimal positioning of exits within an arbitrarily complex structure. This problem is usually addressed through time consuming and expensive trial and error. While a solution is usually found, to this problem, it is seldom the optimal solution, resulting in a compromise in building performance and safety.

The methodology explored in this thesis, as applied to CFE, was initially based around a relatively small set of physical variables. This approach evolved and was subsequently expanded to include more complex behavioural, procedural and environmental parameters. The methodology has also been further developed and applied to evacuation simulation.

This integrated approach is intended to help fire safety engineers and designers to develop optimal designs (i.e., safe designs) in an optimised manner. In reality, this was the motivation of this study: to introduce numerical optimisation techniques and associated concepts, well known within the operational research field, as an approach for a more efficient and systematic procedure when developing and/or improving fire safety designs.

Post comparisons between the outputs obtained, using these different DoE techniques, have been also performed in order to analyze which technique is most suitable for the optimisation of structural designs.

This thesis describes a number of analyses (of a variety of structural designs) that have been used to evaluate the application of optimisation techniques into the CFE context. This included the use of the buildingEXODUS simulation tool, as mentioned previously, followed by the application of a variety of optimisation techniques (both gradient and non-gradient based numerical optimisation techniques) as well as different types of DoE (such as Latin Hypercube, Central Composite Design (CCD) and also a Random approach) in order to improve the designs according to a number of different variables. These variables have initially included physical modifications to the geometry.

The proposed methodological approach developed in this thesis is demonstrated on a variety of practical problems. These problems are represented by 4 case studies which vary from complexity to the nature of the variables. These case studies involved both types of problems, namely: unconstrained and constrained.

The results obtained have shown to be satisfactory, i.e., global minima and local minima closest to the global minima region were found. For all the cases, a gradient-based algorithm (i.e., the Fletcher-Reeves numerical optimisation technique) and non gradient-based algorithm (i.e., the Particle Swarm Optimisation numerical optimisation technique) were used to find the optimal solution. And as mentioned before, different DoE techniques were also applied.

Important issues within building fire safety design were found and discussed in this thesis. For example, it was shown that the positioning of the exits can have a stronger impact on the design evacuation time rather than the exits' widths for some scenarios. Furthermore, the level of life safety for buildings should also consider the exits' locations within enclosures.

The analysis revealed that this methodology seems to be a very powerful tool for evacuation modelling analysis.

This systematic methodology to efficiently optimise evacuation safety aspects of structural designs should be also extended to more complex designs, such as larger enclosures and open spaces.

This methodology is also intended to be applied to problems found in the field of fire simulation, such as: the sizing and positioning of smoke extraction vents and the modelling of cable fires.


Worldwide, about 3% of the population is infected with HCV, and chronic infection is associated with a risk of serious progressive liver disease. The recent introduction of direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) has considerably improved the treatment of chronic HCV infection, and most patients are now cured without major side effects.1 However, subgroups of patients difficult-to-treat and requiring additional therapeutic approaches will probably emerge. Furthermore, DAAs are very expensive, limiting their use in some countries.1 Thus, in the absence of prophylactic vaccines, improvements to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying virus assembly, maturation and secretion from the cell are required, to facilitate the development of new treatment options.

In patients, HCV particles circulate as hybrid particles, known as lipoviroparticles (LVPs), combining components of both HCV and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL).2 LVPs have a low density (<1.06 g/mL) and are highly infectious. Their maturation and release are tightly associated with VLDL synthesis, leading to cholesterol and triglyceride export from hepatocytes. Similar characteristics have been described for viruses produced in cell culture (HCVcc) by human Huh7.5 hepatoma cells.2

LVPs are rich in triacylglycerol and total cholesterol. They contain the viral RNA, capsid protein, envelope glycoproteins and apolipoproteins. They carry highly variable amounts of lipids and are therefore highly heterogeneous in size and density. LVPs have been shown to associate with apolipoprotein B and apolipoprotein E (ApoE).3 ApoE is a soluble and exchangeable apolipoprotein. It plays a critical role in VLDL assembly and is also involved in cellular lipid transport.2

The importance of ApoE for the life cycle of HCV has been confirmed by studies showing ApoE to be required for LVP production4 ,5 HCV infectivity being associated with the presence of ApoE in …


A major drawback of reinforcement learning (RL) is the slow learning rate. We are interested in speeding up RL. We first approached this problem with transfer learning where we have two domains. We developed a method to transfer knowledge from a completely trained RL domain to a partially trained related domain (where we want to speed up learning) and this helped increase the learning rate sufficiently. While trying to come up with a theoretical justification we found that our method of transfer of knowledge was actually scaling the Q-values, which was the main reason for the effects seen. We then scaled the Q-values with an appropriate scalar value in the RL domain after partial learning and saw similar results. Empirical results in a variety of grid worlds and a multi-agent block loading domain that is exceptionally difficult to solve using standard reinforcement learning algorithms show significant speedups in learning using scaling.


We consider the problem of partitioning a sequence of n real numbers into p intervals such that the cost of the most expensive interval, measured with a cost function f is minimized. This problem is of importance for the scheduling of jobs both in parallel and pipelined environments. We develop a straightforward and practical dynamic programming algorithm that solves this problem in time O(p(n-p)), which is an improvement of a factor of log p compared to the previous best algorithm. A number of variants of the problem are also considered. >


Introduction ~ Behrooz Morvaridi Part One: New philanthropy and social transformation Philanthropy and its critics: a history ~ Hugh Cunningham From love to money: can philanthropy ever foster social transformation? ~ Michael Edwards Does economic theory lead to a cynical view of philanthropy? ~ Samuel Cameron From philanthropy to philanthropists ~ Tom Parr Part Two: Philanthrocapitalism and the process of commodification Philanthrocapitalism, biodiversity conservation and development ~ George Holmes Philanthrocapitalism, ?pro poor? agricultural biotechnology and development ~ Sally Brooks Part Three: Philanthropy and social protection Philanthropy and the new politics of social policy ~ Ay?e Bu?ra Charity, philanthropy and development in Colombo, Sri Lanka ~ Filippo Osella, Roderick Stirrat and Tom Widger Philanthropists, civil society and international development ~ Rachel Hayman Social justice, liberalism and philanthropy: the tensions and limitations of British foundations ~ Balihar Sanghera and Kate Bradley Charity deserts and social justice: exploring variations in the distribution of charitable organisations and their resources in England ~ John Mohan


The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between Informers and the
police officers who handle them in England. Informers are specifically defined
and can be differentiated from other sources of information or informants, such
as public spirited citizens and police contacts.
This research centres around the relationship, how it starts and is maintained,
and its consequences. This is a partnership, although not necessarily equal. It is
assumed that the partnership is unique and cannot be compared with other
alliances such as the doctor and his patient. This research examines whether that
assumption is correct.
The reasons or so called motives for Informers helping the police have been
examined to determine whether these motives have any relevance to the
relationship, and if the reasons for informing affect the partnership in any way.
In particular, the study has examined the change of motives over time, the
results of which will inevitably provide management information to the police
service in their future supervision and control of Informers.
It is important to establish why some police officers become involved in the use
of Informers. This has been achieved through a separate study undertaken in the
Lincolnshire police district. Questionnaires were used to interview two groups,
those who have been actively involved, and those who have not. A comparison
has been made of their responses. The results have failed to show specific
reasons why some police officers become involved in the use of Informers,
other than their individual choice to use it as an investigative tool.
The thrust of the study has examined how far the two groups will go in terms of
breaching the criminal law and the police discipline code, in furtherance of their
relationship. It has been established that both Informers and police officers
consider it acceptable to break the law.
There is evidence that both groups use their discretion in selecting the
information that comes in their possession, and there are circumstances when
they will not act on the information they have received. A substantial number
of Informers and Handlers are prepared to commit criminal offences, or allow
the commission of offences because of their relationship.
The findings of this research have identified shortcomings in the way Informers
are managed and controlled by the police service, and recommendations have
been made in order that national Guidelines on the use of Informers can be
amended.


Development of discourse parsers to annotate the relational discourse structure of a text is crucial for many downstream tasks. However, most of the existing work focuses on English, assuming a quite large dataset. Discourse data have been annotated for Basque, but training a system on these data is challenging since the corpus is very small. In this paper, we create the first demonstrator based on RST for Basque, and we investigate the use of data in another language to improve the performance of a Basque discourse parser. More precisely, we build a monolingual system using the small set of data available and investigate the use of multilingual word embeddings to train a system for Basque using data annotated for another language. We found that our approach to building a system limited to the small set of data available for Basque allowed us to get an improvement over previous approaches making use of many data annotated in other languages. At best, we get 34.78 in F1 for the full discourse structure. More data annotation is necessary in order to improve the results obtained with these techniques. We also describe which relations match with the gold standard, in order to understand these results.


This article used focus groups to explore Puerto Rican preservice teachers' perceptions of sources of self-efficacy. The present study allowed, through a qualitative design, examination of the experiences of preservice teachers at the end of their student teaching practicum. The qualitative design and the use of the focus group technique provided insight into the main sources of their perceived self-efficacy through the self-assessment of their field experience. The beginning of the student teaching practicum provoked an intense process of emotions in which the preservice teachers needed support and guidance, particularly in aspects of planning, differentiation, and classroom management. The participants agreed that substantial feedback and guidance from cooperating teachers and university supervisors helped them being confident and increased their perceived self-efficacy by reducing the feelings of anxiety generated by the practicum.


Lipids are diverse families of biomolecules that are involved in essential structural as well as signalling roles in
biology. The analytical measurement of lipids and their identification & quantitation has become a major research area, in
particular in biomedical science as many human pathologies are associated with lipid metabolism disorders. This review
provides a brief overview over experimental workflows of lipid isolation and mass spectrometry based detection methods
robust enough to study lipid profiles in a clinical context.


Abstract Gastro-intestinal bleeding from the small bowel is a rare entity. It is difficult to determine the source of bleeding because of the unavailability of routine small bowel endoscopy. The most common reasons for bleeding from the small bowel are tumours, arteriovenous malformations and inflammatory bowel diseases. Diverticula of the small bowel are very uncommon. We present two cases of gastro-intestinal bleeding due to small bowel diverticula. Both of them were diagnosed on laparotomy. One had a short segment of small bowel, with six diverticula, which was resected. The second case had a long segment of small bowel with multiple diverticula. This patient was treated by isolating and excising the bleeding diverticulum. Haemodynamically unstable lower gastro-intestinal bleeding mandates exploratory laparotomy. Mesenteric angiography and Tc 99 labelled erythrocyte scintigraphy can detect the bleeding site. Intra-oper-ative endoscopy can be performed safely via an enterotomy and can localize the bleeding site.


This volume, a sequel to Form Miming Meaning (1999) and The Motivated Sign (2001), offers a selection of papers given at the Third International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature (Jena 2001). The studies collected here present a number of new departures. Special consideration is given to the way non-linguistic visual and auditory signs (such as gestures and bird sounds) are represented in language, and more specifically in 'signed' language, and how such signs influence semantic conceptualization. Other studies examine more closely how visual signs and representations of time and space are incorporated or reflected in literary language, in fiction as well as (experimental) poetry. A further new approach concerns intermedial iconicity, which emerges in art when its medium is changed or another medium is imitated. A more abstract, diagrammatic type of iconicity is again investigated, with reference to both language and literature: some essays focus on the device of reduplication, isomorphic tendencies in word formation and on creative iconic patterns in syntax, while others explore numerical design in Dante and geometrical patterning in Dylan Thomas. A number of theoretically-oriented papers pursue post-Peircean approaches, such as the application of reader-response theory and of systems theory to iconicity.


Globalization has become one of the most important topics within politics and economics. This new title explains some of the related terminology, summarizes the surrounding theories and examines the international organizations involved. With the proliferation of communications and the rise of the multi-national corporation, the concept of globalization is vitally important to the modern political environment. The structure of the modern economy, based on information production and diffusion, has made national boundaries largely irrelevant. A Dictionary of Globalization explains theories, philosophies and ideologies, and includes short biographies of leading activists, theorists and thinkers such as Noam Chomsky, Karl Marx and Jose Bove. Concepts, issues and terms key to the understanding of globalization also have clear and concise definitions, including democracy, civil society, non-governmental organizations and ethnicity. Cross-referenced for ease of use, this title aims to be of great benefit to anyone studying politics or sociology. It will prove essential to public and academic libraries, as well as to businesses, government departments, embassies and journalists.


In large MP3 databases, files are typically generated with different parameter settings, i.e., bit rate and sampling rates. This is of concern for MIR applications, as encoding difference can potentially confound meta-data estimation and similarity evaluation. In this paper we will discuss the influence of MP3 coding for the Mel frequency cepstral coeficients (MFCCs). The main result is that the widely used subset of the MFCCs is robust at bit rates equal or higher than 128 kbits/s, for the implementations we have investigated. However, for lower bit rates, e.g., 64 kbits/s, the implementation of the Mel filter bank becomes an issue.


The human body is constantly attacked by pathogens. Various lines of defence have evolved, among which the immune system is principal. In contrast to most pathogens, the African trypanosomes thrive freely in the blood circulation, where they escape immune destruction by antigenic variation and incessant motility. These unicellular parasites are flagellate microswimmers that also withstand the harsh mechanical forces prevailing in the bloodstream. They undergo complex developmental cycles in the bloodstream and organs of the mammalian host, as well as the disease-transmitting tsetse fly. Each life cycle stage has been shaped by evolution for manoeuvring in distinct microenvironments. Here, we introduce trypanosomes as blueprints for nature-inspired design of trypanobots, micromachines that, in the future, could explore the human body without affecting its physiology. We review cell biological and biophysical aspects of trypanosome motion. While this could provide a basis for the engineering of microbots, their actuation and control still appear more like fiction than science. Here, we discuss potentials and challenges of trypanosome-inspired microswimmer robots.


ABSTRACT Spot blotch, caused by Cochliobolus sativus, is an important disease of barley in many production areas and is best controlled through the deployment of resistant cultivars. Information on the genetics of resistance in various sources can be useful in developing effective breeding strategies. Parents of the doubled haploid mapping population Calicuchima-sib/ Bowman-BC (C/B) exhibit a differential reaction to pathotypes 1 and 2 of C. sativus. To elucidate the genetics of spot blotch resistance in this population, C/B progeny were evaluated with both pathotypes at the seedling stage in the greenhouse and at the adult plant stage in the field. At the seedling stage, progeny segregated 84 resistant to 26 susceptible based on the qualitative analysis of infection response (IR) data to pathotype 1. This fit best to a 3:1 ratio, indicating that two genes were involved in conferring resistance. Quantitative analysis of the raw IR data to pathotype 1 revealed a single quantitative trait locus (QTL) on chromosome 4(4H) explaining 14% of the phenotypic variance. Adult plant resistance to pathotype 1 was conferred by QTL on chromosome 2(2H) and chromosome 3(3H), explaining 21 and 32% of the phenotypic variation, respectively. Bowman contributed the resistance alleles on chromosome 3(3H) and chromosome 4(4H), whereas Calicuchima-sib contributed the resistance allele on chromosome 2(2H). Resistance to pathotype 2 was conferred by a single gene (designated Rcs6) on chromosome 5(1H) based on qualitative analysis of data. Rcs6 was effective at both the seedling and adult plant stages and was contributed by Calicuchima-sib. This result was corroborated in the quantitative analysis of raw IR (seedling stage) and disease severity (adult plant stage) data as a single major effect (r(2) = 0.93 and 0.88, respectively) QTL was identified on chromosome 5(1H). Progeny with resistance to both pathotypes were identified in the C/B population and may be useful in programs breeding for spot blotch resistance.


This article is motivated by the idea that development and developmental hierarchies have been constructed and embraced for centuries by scholars and policy makers and have been disseminated among ordinary people. Recent research shows that most people have constructions of development hierarchies that are similar across countries. In this article, we extend this research by examining how basic social factors influence ordinary people's beliefs about development and developmental hierarchies in six countries: Argentina, China, Egypt, Iran, Nepal, and the United States. Results show that the understanding and perception of developmental hierarchies vary by gender and education. These results are important because they show how distinct groups of people have differential access to information or ideas.


This report presents some of the data arising from a research project into graduates of the Institute of Education's innovative practice-based Master in Teaching programme, some four years on from the date of graduation of the first cohort. Using an on-line survey of all 110 graduates (of whom 35 responded) followed up with eight individual interviews, the project looked at range of issues affecting middle- and early-career teachers. These included their attitudes to CPD, management and leadership, the impact of the course on their practice, their level of motivation and burn-out, their relationships with colleagues and their continuing links with higher education. The raw data is being made available through the WLE website, and some of these other themes will be explored in more detail in later publications. This report focuses on the idea of change, looking in detail at how the teachers described change in their own practice, and the extent to which there is any evidence of there being a sustained change in practice in respect to their use of research literature or scholarship in the classroom. In addition to summaries of the survey data, lengthy quotations from transcripts of the interviews have often been selected because of the quality of insight they afford into the particular cases studied.


Mexico has a long history of dealing with austerity as a tool to achieve fiscal consolidation. During the last 40 years, the country has repeatedly implemented programs for austerity and consolidation aimed at reducing fiscal imbalances, derived, in part, from acute macroeconomic crises. Since the late eighties, it has followed a more prudent approach to managing public finances and has avoided large deficits. However, the current outlook on Mexico's fiscal performance is complicated. Mounting pressures to raise expenditure, along with major changes in its composition, and structural fragilities in fiscal revenues, have resulted in eight years of public deficits and increasing debt. Further complicating this situation, in recent years, public finances have been significantly affected by adverse external shocks in the oil market. Not surprisingly, questions are emerging about the extent to which austerity will mark the current efforts to consolidate the fiscal accounts and whether it will lead them to a sustainable trajectory. This article starts with a brief discussion around the definition of austerity and fiscal consolidation. It then puts forward a historical analysis of the fiscal austerity episodes that Mexico has experienced during the last four decades. Subsequently it identifies the effects that public spending cuts have had on investment and economic growth in Mexico. Next, it analyses the evolution of Mexico's public finances, and how the successful attempt to implement a countercyclical policy in 2008-09 was short lived as fiscal policy soon became expansionary. Finally, it explores the expenditure pressures and the unpleasant choices on fiscal matters that Mexico will very soon have to make, as resources will most likely be insufficient to meet urgent investment requirements and pressing social spending needs.


Growing awareness of the underrepresentation of women in male-dominated fields like science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), has inspired universities across the United States to examine more carefully their strategies for recruiting, retaining, and promoting women students and faculty. To do so has required assembling personnel to organize and execute data collection, analyses, and interpretation. Not surprisingly, women faculty are the primary participants in this type of work. We examine the process of creating a status of women report at Iowa State University, including what this process means for institutional responsibility for gender issues and for the careers of women who produce such reports. We also recommend ways to address the problems associated with women's unrecognized service work. We refer to such work as "institutional housekeeping" because it involves the invisible and supportive work of women to improve women's status within the institution.


The one-time pad, the mother of all encryption schemes, is well known to be information-theoretically secure, in contrast to most encryption schemes used in practice, which are at most computationally secure. In this paper, we focus on another, completely different aspect in which the one-time pad is superior to normal encryption, and which surfaces only when the receiver (not only the eavesdropper) is considered potentially dishonest, as can be the case in a larger protocol context in which encryption is used as a sub-protocol. For example, such a dishonest receiver (who is, say, coerced by the eavesdropper) can in normal encryption verifiably leak the message to the eavesdropper by revealing the secret key. While this leakage feature can provably not be avoided completely, it is more limited if the one-time pad is used. We use the constructive cryptography framework to make these statements precise.


BACKGROUND
Although intake of fruits and vegetables has been associated with a decreased risk of dementia, studies focusing on nutrients underlying this association are lacking. Our objective was to analyze the relation between plasma carotenoids and the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in French elderly community dwellers.

METHODS
The study population consisted of 1,092 nondemented older participants, from the Three-City-Bordeaux cohort followed for up to 10 years (range: 1.8-10.8 years, median: 9.5 years). Dementia and AD were diagnosed by a committee of neurologists. The concentration of plasma carotenoids (beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-cryptoxanthin) was determined at baseline. Longitudinal analyses of the association between each plasma carotenoid, either crude or expressed as a ratio to plasma lipids (total cholesterol + triglycerides), and the risk of dementia or AD were performed by multivariate Cox models.

RESULTS
During follow-up, 199 dementia cases, including 132 AD, occurred. After adjustment for sociodemographic data, diet quality, and clinical variables, including baseline cognitive performances, only higher lutein concentration, considered as a function of plasma lipids, was consistently significantly associated with a decreased risk of all-cause dementia and AD (hazard ratio = 0.808, 95% confidence interval = 0.671-0.973, p = .024 and hazard ratio = 0.759, 95% confidence interval = 0.600-0.960, p = .021, respectively for +1 SD).

CONCLUSION
This large cohort of older participants suggests that maintaining higher concentrations of lutein in respect to plasma lipids may moderately decrease the risk of dementia and AD.


This essay focuses on the month of Ramadan and its end celebration, 'Id al-Fitr, the Festival of Breaking the Fast, in the Ottoman Arab provinces in the second half of the nineteenth century. What was the effect of new technologies and urbanization on these Muslim practices in their relationship to politics and the new public spaces? Building on recent scholarship, Mestyan argues that these were reconstituted as part of symbolic politics and served as a test period for using new technologies to synchronize collective action. He explores this process by historicizing the relationship between power and sound during Ramadan.


Abstract. A three-dimensional (3-D) shape measurement system that can simultaneously achieve 3-D shape acquisition, reconstruction, and display at 30 frames per second (fps) with 480,000 measurement points per frame is presented. The entire processing pipeline was realized on a graphics processing unit (GPU) without the need of substantial central processing unit (CPU) power, making it achievable on a portable device, namely a laptop computer. Furthermore, the system is extremely inexpensive compared with similar state-of-art systems, making it possible to be accessed by the general public. Specifically, advanced GPU techniques such as multipass rendering and offscreen rendering were used in conjunction with direct memory access to achieve the aforementioned performance. The developed system, implementation details, and experimental results to verify the performance of the proposed technique are presented.


Regional, seasonal, and interannual variations of freshwater inputs, biogeochemical transformations, and pelagic-benthic interactions were examined in the Patuxent River estuary. Monthly rates of net biogeochemical production (or consumption) and physical transport of carbon, oxygen, and nutrients were calculated for 6 estuarine regions using data-constrained salt- and water- balance computations (box model) with hydrologic and water quality data. Assuming fixed stoi- chiometry for O2, carbon, and silicate, we derived estimates of particulate organic carbon (POC) sink- ing and net diatom growth. Our results indicate that nutrients delivered from the watershed to the estuary during winter and spring supported >100% of the spring phytoplankton bloom. The spring bloom, which subsequently sinks across the pycnocline to the bottom layer, was decomposed in May-September to support 50 to 90% of annual bottom-layer NH4 + , PO4 3- , and silicate regeneration. Sinking POC from surface waters accounted for 50 to 100% of bottom-layer respiration in the middle estuary, with deficits partially compensated by organic carbon delivered in landward flowing bottom water. Lateral transport of POC to the central channel from adjacent shallow waters was required to meet bottom water respiratory demands. Bottom-layer regeneration and subsequent upward trans- port of nutrients were sufficient to support 70 to 80% of summer rates of net organic production in surface layers. Pelagic and benthic processes were most tightly linked in the middle estuary, which is highly productive and does not interact strongly with adjacent waters. Elevated nutrient inputs to the estuary associated with high freshwater flow enhanced chlorophyll a, net O2 production, and net DIN uptake in surface layers; however, muted effects of flow on bottom-layer processes suggest that much of the increased organic production in surface layers during high flow is transported to seaward regions.


Real-time activity monitoring is becoming one of the most significant technologies on construction sites because it can be applied to a variety of management problems, such as productivity formula and safety monitoring. However, current monitoring technologies are limited to recognizing postures in an ideal environment rather than dealing with the ambient occlusion and people-intensive situations on real construction sites. Therefore, this study develops a low-cost, non-intrusion and portable tool system in order to trace and track construction activities on complex and crowed construction sites. This system is composed of wireless sensors and a smart algorithm. Each sensor consists of an inertial measurement unit, a communication sensor (bluetooth low energy sensor) and several environmental sensors, which broadcasts the identification, acceleration, palstance and environmental measurements at a constant frequency. Since the dimension of the sensor is only 20 x 15 x 2 mm, it can be easily attached or screwed on to the hand tools as well as integrated with power tools. When a laptop or cell phone receives from these sensors, the construction activities are derived by the artificial intelligence algorithm in a timely manner, providing an visual posture monitoring as well as an automatic record of project progress. In the end, practical experiments of a concrete vibrator and a hammer prove the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed IMU-based tool tracing and tracking


This article analyzes the decision of the Delaware Supreme Court in Brehm v. Eisner. The author first discusses the different approaches taken by the court of chancery and the supreme court. Next, the author highlights the reasons advanced by the supreme court for permitting the plaintiffs to file an amended complaint. Finally, the author argues that this case represents an admonishment that lucrative executive compensation packages must be given appropriate consideration by boards of directors, and that shareholders bear some responsibility in encouraging appropriate corporate governance.


Abstract A strain of Haloarcula hispanica isolated from Tuzkoy salt mine, Turkey exhibited extracellular lipolytic activity. Important parameters such as carbon sources and salt concentration for lipase production were investigated. Optimal conditions for the enzyme production from Haloarcula hispanica 2TK2 were determined. It was observed that the lipolytic activity of Haloarcula hispanica was stimulated by some of the carbon sources. The high lipase acitivity values were obtained in the presence of 2% (v/v) walnut oil (6.16 U/ml), 1% (v/v) fish oil (5.07 U/ml), 1% (v/v) olive oil (4.52 U/ml) and 1% (w/v) stearic acid (4.88 U/ml) at 4M NaCl concentration. Lipase was partially purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and ultrafiltration. Optimal temperature and pH values were determined as 45°C and 8.0, respectively. Lipase activity decreased with the increasing salt concentration, but 85% activity of the enzyme was maintained at 5M NaCl concentration. The enzyme preserved 41% of its relative activity at 90°C. The partially purified lipase maintained its activity in the presence of surfactants such as Triton X-100 and SDS. Therefore, the lipase which is an extremozyme may have potential applications especially in detergent industry.


This article investigates the relationship between knowledge management (KM), innovation and firm performance of smaller firms (less than 100 employees), based on a panel of more than 400 Dutch firms. Regression analyses explain the variations in sales turnover growth from various measures of KM strategies. We distinguish between KM input, throughput and output (or innovation) strategies. We find that KM input strategies related to knowledge acquisition are positively related to sales turnover growth. In contrast, we do not find a relation between KM throughput and KM output (innovation) measures and firm performance. The results emphasize the importance of both knowledge absorption and knowledge creation to the success of innovative efforts in small firms. This is an updated version of Scales-paper N200322.


The stability of a machining process is directly affected by the dynamic response between the tool and the workpiece. However, as the tool moves along the path, the dynamic stiffness of the machine tool changes. To determine the position-dependent dynamic stiffness accurately, a computationally efficient methodology based on a complex virtual model is presented. The virtual model is assembled using Finite Element Method and is effectively reduced via Component Mode Synthesis and transformation to a State-Space Multi-Input-Multi-Output system. Combination of these techniques allows time-efficient response simulations with significantly less computational effort than the conventional full Finite Element models. Furthermore, they describe the behaviour of the complex structure more accurately opposed to the commonly used models based on a simple 1 Degree-of-Freedom systems. The reduced model is used to simulate dynamic response of the structure to a cutting force during operation. A response is measured on an existing machine to modify the virtual model by incorporating fuzzy parameters, such as damping. The stability regions are calculated for variable positions, resulting in position-dependent lobe diagrams. The presented approach can be used to create a map of stable zones to predict and prevent unstable behaviour during operation.


Millimeter wave (mmWave) technology is one of the main pillars of the next generation Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and 5G mobile networks. The main reason lies in the quantum leap of capacity it provides with respect to wireless networks operating in the sub-6-GHz band. Nevertheless, efficient and reliable communication in the mmWave band demands novel techniques to tackle all the barriers associated with wireless propagation in this band. For example, material penetration and diffraction in the mmWave band are much weaker than the ones experienced in the sub-6-GHz band. As a result, wireless propagation in the mmWave band has a quasi-optical behavior in which the Line-of-sight component contributes to the majority of the received signal power. For these reasons, mmWave devices rely on either horn antennas or electronically steerable phased antenna arrays to establish directional beams and focus the energy towards a specific direction in space. Although directional communication compensates for the high power attenuation, it creates a new problem that is uncharted for wireless networks operating in the sub-6-GHz band. It makes mmWave wireless links susceptible to blockage, human mobility, and device rotation. Solving these issues requires developing algorithms to quickly find alternative paths for communication upon link interruption.

The IEEE 802.11ad protocol is the first WLAN standard that supports wireless networking in the unlicensed 60 GHz band. IEEE 802.11ad tackles the aforementioned problems by introducing new mechanisms at the medium access control (MAC) and physical (PHY) layers such as beamforming training and beam tracking, hybrid channel access scheme, relay operation mode, multi-band operation, etc. The performance of 60 GHz networks is the result of the interaction of all layers of the protocol stack with the wireless medium. To understand this interaction, it is fundamental to consider 60 GHz networks as a whole. Nevertheless, real-world experimentation with mmWave communication is not always feasible due to the significant amount of resources required and its associated costs. For these reasons, we develop in this thesis a high fidelity system-level model to simulate the IEEE 802.11ad standard. This allows us to study large-scale wireless networks operating in the 60 GHz band, taking into account all of the essential features supported by the standard. We investigate the networking aspects of various mmWave wireless network deployments and provide solutions to boost their performance. Additionally, since most of the mmWave devices are anticipated to adopt the carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance as the primary channel access scheme, we propose two frame-aggregation policies that significantly improve network throughput and reduce end-to-end delay.

To complement our insights from the simulations, we analyze in-depth the performance of Commercial off-the-shelf devices that implement the full 802.11ad protocol stack. Fortunately, a growing number of 60 GHz devices supporting the IEEE 802.11ad standard have become recently available. However, the standard does not specify implementation-dependent characteristics that have a significant impact on device performance. For example, this includes the periodicity of beamforming training, which directly affects ongoing communication and performance under mobility. Also, the placement of the 60 GHz antenna in the device plays a fundamental role regarding self-shadowing, which in turn affects how the device shall be deployed to maximize coverage and improve spatial reuse. Understanding such implementation-dependent issues is crucial to correctly draw the aforementioned system-level insights. In this thesis, we characterize and compare commercial 60 GHz devices which are widely used for research purposes. Particularly, we look at different networking aspects, including spatial sharing, beam patterns synthesis, frame aggregation, and the interactions between carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) protocols within dense network settings. In summary, we find significant discrepancies in terms of behavior and performance between these devices and what theory suggests. Additionally, achieving a gigabit of throughput and maintaining low-latency require adopting cross-layer solutions operating between the MAC layer and the transport layer.

The firmware running on these devices provide some experimental capabilities based on the operation of the IEEE 802.11ad protocol. These capabilities include reporting the Channel State Information (CSI) per antenna element for the connected antenna array. This CSI information contains valuable information about the spatial environment. Additionally, this information is sensitive to any minor changes in the environment. This inspires us to build a collaborative scheme consisting of spatially distributed APs that sense the environment and pinpoint the location of an obstacle without involving the end users.

In this thesis, we first delve into the operation of the IEEE 802.11ad protocol and analyze its performance both in simulations and practice. Second, we propose a set of solutions and recommendations to boost its efficiency. Finally, we extend its scope beyond typical wireless communication and utilize it to build a passive localization system.


Abstract The regeneration abilities of crinoids not only are important to understanding crinoid ecology, but also can serve as the basis for assessing the pressure exerted on crinoids by predators both in the Recent and in the geologic past. This is especially true of regenerating arms, because arm loss, and subsequent regeneration, is thought to result from interactions with predators, primarily fish. However, the commonly used regeneration-based proxy for predation pressure (proportion of individuals with regenerating arms) does not provide a measure of the rate at which those events occurred. Here we present a method for reconstructing the arm-loss rate per individual, a more direct proxy of predation pressure. This metric accounts for differences in arm length, arm number, and branching pattern, features highly variable among taxa, among environments, and through geologic time. Normalizing for those characters permits the transformation of observed proportions of regenerating arms to rates that can be compared across samples of morphologically distinct crinoids. Applying this method to a Recent crinoid (Cenometra bella) reveals that this shallow-water comatulid loses arms at a rate of about once every ten days. The same approach reveals that Mississippian shallow-water crinoids (Rhodocrinites kirbyi) experienced arm loss much less frequently, approximately once every 36 days, suggesting that predation pressure on crinoids today is greater than it was in the Mississippian.


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The observation of Remote Space Objects (RSOs) that are on LEO, or even re-entry of RSOs with optical means is interesting for several reasons: 1) optical telescopes, even moderate in aperture, are sensitive enough to catch RSOs in the cm range, 2) high angular precision can be achieved, 3) use of filters, or broad band spectroscopy, allows some access to the materials and physical quantities related to the RSOs, or, alternatively, photometry can give some information on quantities such as the spin, and 4) optical telescopes can be cheap, at least relatively compared to radar and lidar facilities. However, optical telescopes have a moderate field of view, especially when one wants to go to large apertures. Designing a telescope with a very large field of view, even 10° (which is small compared to a radar beam), can be difficult, expensive, and leads to very large focal plane area, and non-ideal response function. Though the problem for the illumination by the Sun cannot be resolved for optical telescopes, they can be used as a complement to large radar facilities, as they can be spread around the Earth. We propose a method, called the MetaTelescope, which uses a set of several moderate apertures, moderate field of view instruments, which is able to survey a very wide field of view for objects in non-geostationary orbits, especially LEO. With a dozen telescopes with a fov of the order of 2-3 degrees, areas as wide as 800 sq. deg. can be surveyed thanks to the MetaTelescope. In addition, as soon as an object is detected, it can be followed and studied with high precision. The system can be cheap and made robust. It is easily expandable, duplicable, with low maintenance. As it can be robotized, a network of MetaTelescopes can be deployed in remote locations, even with no local support, providing a round of the Earth surveillance and tracking network. Along the night, access to GEO, and surveillance of NEOs can be achieved.


This study investigated the effect of selected macroeconomic variables on market capitalization in Nigeria. The study adopted Nigerian stock market capitalization as the dependent variable, while macroeconomic variables such as gross domestic product, interest rate, inflation and exchange rate were used as the independent variables. Time series secondary data on the study variables were obtained for evaluation from the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin and the Nigerian Stock Exchange fact book for the period 2001 to 2018. The study employed descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis based on E-views 10 computer software as the techniques for analysis. The results showed that gross domestic product has significant positive effect on market capitalization; exchange rate has significant negative effect on market capitalization; while interest rate and inflation have insignificant negative association with market capitalization in Nigeria. The study concluded that increasing national output in the economy of Nigeria would ultimately lead to an increase in market capitalization, which is good for developing economy like Nigeria, as it is likely to enhance economic growth and foster rapid development. Based on the findings, the study recommended that the regulatory authorities should formulate policies that would increase national output as it was established that gross domestic product has positive impact on market capitalization. Also, Government should put in place monetary and fiscal policies that would bring about stability in interest, inflation and exchange rates.


Much has been written about Gen X, Y and Google generation students in the higher education sector. Student-centred approaches, new pedagogies, a focus on quality management, information and learning commons initiatives all evidence greater attention to the generational needs of the Google Generation. New technologies and applications have also been harnessed to meet students in their 'own space'.
Traditional library systems are being enhanced to include Web 2.0 functionality. Universities and their libraries are establishing a presence in social network sites (eg Facebook, YouTube).
The paper analyses these trends, takes stock of these initiatives in the university library environment and questions the strategy and planning behind them. Are we responding in an ad hoc manner, is a presence required in all environments, do students want us in their space and how do we best allocate our energies and resources?
The paper also examines the marketing industry to understand how the commercial sector has approached these issues.
Experience at Victoria University (VU) as a development partner in implementing the Encore overlay for the Innovative Interfaces library management system will be reported. VU's presence in Second Life will be examined to understand the resources required, benefits sought and lessons learnt. A partnership with Teaching & Learning for a project to develop a Virtual Learning Commons will also be examined. In a university with 60% of students studying part-time, the Virtual Learning Commons project complements VU's recent initiatives to establish physical Learning Commons facilities across multiple campuses. In addition social network sites have been utilised to support the Student Rovers who provide peer support in the Commons.
The paper draws on a blend of theory, industry trends and project experience in a large multi-sector university to reach conclusions and make recommendations for the sector at large.


OBJECTIVE
To estimate the impact of deductibles on the initiation and continuation of psychotherapy for depression.

DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING
Data from health care encounters and claims from Group Health Cooperative, a large integrated health care system in Washington State, was merged with information from a centralized behavioral health triage call center to conduct study analyses.

STUDY DESIGN
A retrospective observational design using a hierarchical logistic regression model was used to estimate initiation and continuation probabilities for use of psychotherapy, adjusting for key sociodemographic/economic factors and prior use of behavioral health services relevant to individual decisions to seek mental health care.

DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS
Analyses were based on merged datasets on patient enrollment, insurance benefits, use of mental health and general medical services and information collected by a triage specialist at a centralized behavioral health call center.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
Among individuals with unmet deductibles between $100 and $500, we found a statistically significant lower likelihood of making an initial visit, but there was no statistically significant effect on making an initial or subsequent visit among individuals that had met their deductible.

CONCLUSIONS
Unmet deductibles appear to influence the likelihood of initiating psychotherapy for treating depression.


A set of rust detecting system for reinforced concrete was designed based on the electromagnetic pulsed eddy current (EPEC). The EPEC detecting test on the reinforced concrete specimens with different reinforcement diameters was performed. The finite element (FE) model was established. The results of the reinforcement position experiment show the Hall voltage peak value (HVPV) of the same lift-off value positively correlates with the reinforcement's diameter, and the HVPV declines fast with the increase of the lift-off value. The rust experiments results show that with the same lift-off value, the HVPV increases with the increase of the horizontal distance from the Hall sensor to the reinforcement in the specimen. When the Hall sensor is at the same position, the HVPV increases with the increase of the diameter of the reinforcement in the concrete. The Hall voltage (HV), the HVPV, and the time of pulse rising (TOPR) of the same specimen are greater in the rust-free point than in the rusted points. And the results of the numerical simulation verify the validity of the conclusions of the physical experiments. Our above study shows that the detecting method can locate the reinforcement in the concrete accurately and ascertain its diameter effectively. Furthermore, the detecting method can identify the rust region of the reinforcement swiftly and evaluate the rust degree rapidly.


Background: Nurses are in contact with the elderly at different levels of care. However, observations show that relational gaps exist resulting in negative elderly patients' outcomes. This study aimed at exploring the attitude of nurses towards the care of the elderly in two selected hospitals (University College Hospital and Ring Road State hospital) in Ibadan, Oyo state. Methods: The study was a descriptive survey. Questionnaire was administered to randomly selected and consented 130 nurses in the two selected hospitals and was retrieved immediately after being completed. The questionnaires had five sections. Section A covered socio-demographic data. Section B, C and D consisted of questions which explored respondents' attitude towards the care of elderly; staffing ratio and care of the elderly; factors influencing care of the elderly and Section E questions were on knowledge of aging process. The completed questionnaire was coded and analyzed using frequencies and percentages Result: This study shows that 73.0% of the respondents agreed that elderly are difficult to care for. Over 80% agreed that effective care of the elderly requires special training. Also, more than 90% believed hospitals should have special wards (geriatric ward) for effective care of the elderly. Respondents showed positive attitude towards the care of the elderly and good knowledge of aging process. Conclusion: Effective care of the elderly requires special training, provision of geriatric ward, adequate staffing to reduce stress and improve quality care. There is need for continuing education on quality care to improve nursing practice in the care of the elderly.


Optimal understanding of biodiversity threats must consider the effects of population size and habitat quality on population viability. I examined the effects and relative importance of these factors for the performance of two endangered hemiparasitic plants, Melampyrum cristatum and M. arvense in Finland. I surveyed 18 M. cristatum and 14 M. arvense populations. Both habitat quality and population size influenced the performance of M. cristatum. By contrast, the performance of M. arvense was determined by habitat quality, but not influenced by population size. Habitat quality was improved in managed M. cristatum populations, which translated into greater hemiparasite performance in these populations. Degradation of suitable habitats has likely decreased the performance of the two endangered hemiparasites, resulting in reduced population sizes. The results highlight the importance of considering simultaneously population size effects and habitat quality. Habitat management seems to be the key to sustain or increase the viability of the hemiparasite populations, but the timing and intensity of management should be considered.


AIM
The aim of this study is to determine the effects of a strong dithiol antioxidant, alpha lipoic acid (ALA) on cerebral vasospasm following subarachnoid hemorrhage in a rabbit model.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Twenty-one New Zealand white rabbits were assigned to one of three groups: group 1 (control), group 2 (SAH only), group 3 (SAH+ALA). ALA was administered (100 mg/kg/day, single dose, intraperitoneally). The rabbits were sacrificed 72 hours after SAH. The basilar artery lumen areas, arterial wall thickness and endothelial apoptosis in a cross section of basilar artery were measured in all groups. The tissue MDA, SOD, GSH-Px levels were also determined.

RESULTS
The elevated tissue MDA levels after SAH were significantly reduced by ALA treatment. The reduced tissue SOD and GSH-Px levels after SAH were also elevated by ALA treatment. In the treatment group the average wall thickness and the mean percentages of apoptotic cells (apoptotic index) were reduced and the average cross-sectional areas of the basilar artery were increased statistically significantly.

CONCLUSION
ALA treatment attenuates the severity of cerebral vasospasm by its strong antioxidant, antivasospastic and antiapoptotic properties. ALA may potentially serve as agents in the prevention of cerebral vasospasm after SAH.


Recent scandals in the nonprofit sector have once again called into question the issue of nonprofit governance. Who is governing these organizations and are they doing so appropriately? Who is regulating and what law applies — federal, state, or both? The one thing that is certain is that clarity is needed. True to form, the egregious behavior of some of those serving on the boards of directors of large organizations has brought these issues back into the spotlight, raising questions for regulators and the general public about the validity of these and other organizations and the truth of their stated missions. While most assume that clear laws dictate the behavior of those entrusted with the care of charitable nonprofit organizations, some scholars question just how clear these laws are and whether overstepping by the Internal Revenue Service in this area may be causing confusion. Some believe that while nonprofit governance was once the purview of the states alone, the federal government has inappropriately preempted oversight in this area. Charitable nonprofit organizations incorporate under state law and receive tax exemption in accordance with federal law, resulting in a system that has sometimes complicated legal matters. Yet, under both state and federal law, nonprofits must function to carry out their organizational missions for the good of the public.

Recently, the Trump Foundation, the Resnick Foundation (Wonderful Company) and Goodwill Omaha, all designated as charitable nonprofit organizations by the Internal Revenue Service, have been the focus of scandal and review. Taken together, they represent many of the challenges that are at the core of the governance issue. A review of the facts in these and other situations will help clarify this issue and focus on potential resolution.

This Article begins by discussing nonprofit governance, board of director fiduciary duty, and federal, state, and common law as they pertain to nonprofit governance. It sets out different theories for whether the IRS has in fact overstepped its authority in this area by regulating nonprofit governance matters and discusses whether there should be more cooperation between the IRS and states attorneys general. It then summarizes three recent situations as examples of this current dilemma.

More specifically, this Article reviews the claim by many scholars that by regulating nonprofit governance through IRS forms 1023 and 990, the IRS has overstepped its authority; it explores the theory that the IRS has gone even farther by regulating through the private benefit doctrine. It asks if the IRS has overstepped and, if it has, whether it has done so out of necessity because state attorneys general are overworked, understaffed, and generally unable to keep up in this area. It will also ask whether, as one scholar advocates, dual oversight is not only legal but actually more effective. Further, this Article compares similarities between nonprofit and for-profit governance regulation to glean any useful lessons, and explores policy considerations surrounding these governance issues. Finally, it suggests that perhaps dual jurisdiction with established roles and mandatory information sharing may work best given the many nuances in the sector and the political nature of the offices tasked with this oversight.


Large-scale atmospheric circulations and anomalies have significant influence upon seasonal weather over many parts of the world. We examined the impact of sunspot activity and large-scale atmospheric features on regional seasonal weather, as well as implications for crop yield and agronomy. The atmospheric variables analyzed included the stratospheric quasi-biennial wind oscillation (QBO), El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and North American snow cover (NAS) on Canadian summer rainfall, regarded as a key variable for establishing grain yield. Because the study is an exploratory one, we focused on correlation coefficients between selected variables. The analy- sis is based on 55 yr of atmospheric, crop yield and climatic data for >50 weather stations over the Canadian Prairie region. Our study reveals that high (low) sunspot activity, an easterly (westerly) phase of the QBO, persistent La Nina (El Nino) conditions and heavier (lighter) than normal NAS in seasons leading up to the summer months are associated with low (high) summer rainfall.


The remarkable growth of the computing industry in the past quarter century has been the result not only of capabilities in technology, development, manufacturing, and marketing, but also of the social setting in which these abilities were exercised. This year's NCC organizers chose to emphasize these social relationships in plenary sessions, panel discussions, and a few of the printed papers. The bulk of the 120 published papers, however, continues to deal with technical matters under the broad headings of applications, architecture, data base management, technology, networking, and software techniques.


Despite the significant potential of solar thermochemical process technology for storing solar energy as solid-state solar fuel, several challenges have made its industrial application difficult. It is important to note that solar energy has a transient nature that causes instability and reduces process efficiency. Therefore, it is crucial to implement a robust control system to regulate the process temperature and tackle the shortage of incoming solar energy during cloudy weather. In our previous works, different model–based control strategies were developed namely a Proportional Integral Derivative controller (PID) with gain scheduling and adaptive Model Predictive Control (MPC). These methods were tested numerically to regulate the temperature inside a high temperature tubular solar reactor. In this work, the proposed control strategies were experimentally tested under various operation conditions. The controllers were challenged to track different setpoints (500oC, 1000oC, and 1450oC) with different amounts of gas/particles flowrates. Additionally, the flow controller was tested to regulate the reactor temperature under a cloudy weather scenario. The ultimate goal was to produced 5 kg of reduced solar fuel magnesium manganese oxide (MgMn2O4) successfully, and the controllers were able to track the required process temperature and reject disturbances despite the system's strong nonlinearity. The experimental results showed a maximum error in the temperature setpoint of less than 0.5% (6°C), and the MPC controller demonstrated superior performance in reducing the control effort and rejecting disturbances.


This paper describes a development project aimed at reducing the large number of dropouts in online degree project courses. The idea was that the introduction of group tutorials in virtual seminars, combined with extensive support materials, would reduce dropout rates. Among the students who participated, the dropout rate was reduced by 50% compared to previous courses. While the support structure was seen by all supervisors and students as an important function, there was some resistance among the supervisors towards the virtual seminars, probably due to existing tutorial cultures and organizational structures.


This thesis paper examines how handcraft (making an item by analog means using specific materials) can be a compelling rhetorical tool for graphic designers to harness. Contrasting handcraft techniques with computer graphics software "unsettles" rote graphic design practices. The meaning that lies in the physical act of making, the materials that are used and the contexts with which particular handcrafts are associated can support, as well as carry, visual rhetoric in design works. An analysis of the unconventional handcraft work produced by Stefan Sagmeister (USA), Mathias Augustyniak and Michaël Amzalag of M/M (Paris) (France), Marian Bantjes (Canada), and by this author (specifically, a design book produced in tandem with this paper) is used to demonstrate how complex meanings contained within handcrafts can be revealed and used in graphic design. The combination of handcraft and digital techniques enables designers to interweave the disparate social, physical and material qualities of the two processes into their work. In this way the work engages in disciplinary and societal discourse.