Around half of all men have sexual problems. The main complaints and prevalence are orgasmic disorders (10%), premature ejaculation (PE) (27%), and erectile difficulties (10%). These statistics do not include the sexual side effects of medications such as antidepressants. Research experiments in humans can be very time consuming or unethical. The present thesis deals with the development of an animal (rat) model that has face, predictive, and construct validity towards human sexual behavior and its disorders, and can be used to study the effects but also the side effects of psychoactive drugs on sexual behavior. Sexually trained male rats have stable low, normal or fast ejaculating behaviors. Low ejaculating rats can be used to examine orgasmic problems, while fast ejaculating rats for premature ejaculations. Normal ejaculating rats can be used to investigate side effects of medication (either stimulatory or inhibitory). The animal model provides face and predictive validity to the human situation where the inhibitory effects of SSRIs appear after chronic administration, and not after acute administration. In line with clinical experience, marked blockade of serotonin transporters (SERT) interfered with male sexual behavior, in contrast to the dopamine (DA) and noradrenaline (NA) reuptake inhibitor, bupropion. Further, other drugs that primarily increase levels of DA and NA versus serotonin (5-HT) (the 5-HT1A agonist, buspirone; the triple reuptake inhibitor, DOV216,303 and the 5-HT2C antagonist, S32006) exerted no detrimental influence or a mild stimulatory effect on sexual performance, and they are predicted to have little or no sexual side-effects in men. It is suggested that blockade of DA transporters (DAT) or NA transporters, as well as 5-HT2C receptor blockade, would be a useful avenue for the treatment of antidepressant-induced sexual inhibition. SERT knockout (SERTKO) rats have a permanent disturbance in the serotonergic system and were used to examine the effects of permanently elevated levels of 5-HT in the brain on sexual behaviors. Experiments with SERTKO rats revealed the existence of separate pools of 5-HT1A receptors with varying degree of sensitivity or desensitivity, revealing a possible mechanism underlying sexual dysfunctions. The SERTKO rat would be an interesting animal model to study modulating effects of various drugs on a perturbed serotonergic central nervous system. In addition, a novel use of the antibiotic clavulanic acid was discovered. This drug showed sexual stimulatory activity. A possible underlying mechanism is unknown, but further research on this seems very interesting. The thesis has provided important insights into male sexual function. Our research may lead to help to find new antidepressants without sexual side effects and drugs for the treatment of male sexual dysfunctions


The Western Center Academy (WCA) Charter School and Mt. San Jacinto College (MSJC) are located on the Southwestern Riverside County Multi-Species Reserve (SWRCMSR). Developed in 1992, the reserve is home to at least 8 sensitive bird, animal, and plant species. Although the reserve is protected against direct human influence, within a 100-mile circle of SWRCMSR live more than 21 million people with their indirect impact on the environment. Our goal was to determine if the reserve is protecting the species within by analyzing the genetics of those species to determine if there is a healthy amount of genetic diversity in the populations within. We collected insects at MSJC Menifee campus and in the SWRCMSR to evaluate how human impact affects the genetic diversity of insects. MSJC served as the site that was impacted by human activities and SWRCMSR served as the site that was not impacted by human activities. The School Malaise Trap Project (SMTP) selected 160 of our specimens, sequenced their genetic barcodes, and entered the data into the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD) for analysis. Using the BOLD website and a Clustal Omega tool, we compared the genetic sequences in the insects we collected to measure genetic differences in the two populations of insects. The results from the two collections seem to show that the nature reserve insect population is a younger population with genetic changes possibly acquired by gene flow from immigration. The insect population at MSJC appears to be well developed, but isolated genetically.


Title of Dissertation: THE EFFECT OF INSTRUCTIONAL CONSULTATION TEAMS ON TEACHERS' REPORTED INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES Lauren Tracy Kaiser, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Dissertation Directed by: Professor Sylvia Rosenfield, School Psychology Program A primary goal of Instructional Consultation Teams (IC Teams; Rosenfield & Gravois, 1996) is that students' problems will be prevented or resolved through the provision of services to the adults who serve them. The assumption is that teachers will improve instructional planning, delivery, management, and assessment (e.g., matching instruction to student levels) as a result of working with a colleague through a collaborative problem-solving relationship, or working in a school building in which norms of collaboration and problem-solving with a focus on instruction have been developed. The efficacy of IC Teams for improving instruction has not yet been rigorously evaluated. The current study assesses teachers' self-reported frequency of use of good instructional practices in assessment and delivery of instruction to evaluate the effect of instructional consultation services on instruction in a sample of 977 teachers. Because teachers are nested within schools, multilevel analysis was conducted to control for nonequivalence and to correctly model the error structure of the data. Elementary school teachers in 11 schools that have implemented IC Teams for two or three years were compared with teachers in 17 non-equivalent schools that have never implemented IC Teams and teachers from 17 schools with one year of implementation. Results of multilevel analyses indicate that there are no significant differences in instructional practices between schools with or without IC Teams, but that teacher characteristics, such as years of experience and grade level of instruction, do explain some of the variance in teacher practices. Implications and limitations of the study are addressed. THE EFFECT OF INSTRUCTIONAL CONSULTATION TEAMS ON TEACHERS' REPORTED INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES


Purpose of review Epilepsy is associated with autonomic dysfunction. Here, we provide an up-to-date review on measures of interictal autonomic function, focusing on heart rate variability (HRV), baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) and electrodermal activity (EDA). Recent findings Resting HRV, BRS and EDA are altered in patients with epilepsy compared with healthy controls. A larger body of work is available for HRV compared with BRS and EDA, and points to interictal HRV derangements across a wide range of epilepsies, including focal, generalized, and combined generalized and focal epilepsies. HRV alterations are most pronounced in temporal lobe epilepsy, Dravet syndrome and drug-resistant and chronic epilepsies. There are conflicting data on the effect of antiseizure medications on measures of interictal autonomic function. However, carbamazepine has been associated with decreased HRV. Epilepsy surgery and vagus nerve stimulation do not appear to have substantial impact on measures of interictal autonomic function but well designed studies are lacking. Summary Patients with epilepsy, particularly those with longstanding uncontrolled seizures, have measurable alterations of resting autonomic function. These alterations may be relevant to the increased risk of premature mortality in epilepsy, including sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, which warrants investigation in future research.


Background Health care professionals worldwide attend courses and workshops to learn evidence-based medicine (EBM), but evidence regarding the impact of these educational interventions is conflicting and of low methodologic quality and lacks generalizability. Furthermore, little is known about determinants of success. We sought to measure the effect of EBM short courses and workshops on knowledge and to identify course and learner characteristics associated with knowledge acquisition. Methods Health care professionals with varying expertise in EBM participated in an international, multicentre before–after study. The intervention consisted of short courses and workshops on EBM offered in diverse settings, formats and intensities. The primary outcome measure was the score on the Berlin Questionnaire, a validated instrument measuring EBM knowledge that the participants completed before and after the course. Results A total of 15 centres participated in the study and 420 learners from North America and Europe completed the study. The baseline score across courses was 7.49 points (range 3.97–10.42 points) out of a possible 15 points. The average increase in score was 1.40 points (95% confidence interval 0.48–2.31 points), which corresponded with an effect size of 0.44 standard deviation units. Greater improvement in scores was associated (in order of greatest to least magnitude) with active participation required of the learners, a separate statistics session, fewer topics, less teaching time, fewer learners per tutor, larger overall course size and smaller group size. Clinicians and learners involved in medical publishing improved their score more than other types of learners; administrators and public health professionals improved their score less. Learners who perceived themselves to have an advanced knowledge of EBM and had prior experience as an EBM tutor also showed greater improvement than those who did not. Interpretation EBM course organizers who wish to optimize knowledge gain should require learners to actively participate in the course and should consider focusing on a small number of topics, giving particular attention to statistical concepts.


Summary
Observations on the secretion of venom by 150 captive Vipera palaestinae indicate that snakes separately caged and properly cared for may be milked regularly for 3 years or longer, and large quantities of venom can thus be obtained. With artificial heating, the milking can be continued throughout the year. No influence of ecdysis, pregnancy, or food consumption on the yield of venom was observed. Taking into account the amounts and concentration of the venom obtained as well as the physical well being of the snakes, a period of rest of one month between milkings is suggested. Temperature was found to be one of the factors governing the venom yield. A rise in temperature increased both the amount and the concentration of venom. The freshly secreted venom is rather dilute initially, and is subsequently concentrated by the reabsorption of water.
The amount of venom injected in a single bite was estimated by allowing the vipers to strike dead mice. The amount injected was found to range from nil to 190 mg of fresh venom; in most bites less than 50 mg amounts (mean, 32 ± 3.1 mg) were injected. The mean proportionate amount injected was approximately 11% of the venom available in the glands; in most strikes less than 15% of the available venom was injected. Results obtained in the laboratory when considered in relation to the severity of viper bites in human beings suggest that the minimal lethal dose of Vipera palaestinae venom for man is approximately 75 mg.


Recommendation: Culture-directed antibiotic therapy is recommended for patients undergoing operative treatment of infected total ankle arthroplasty (TAA). Routine administration of suppressive antibiotics in patients with an ankle prosthesis in place is not warranted; however, in certain clinical circumstances, this may be of benefit. Level of Evidence: Consensus. Delegate Vote: Agree: 100%, Disagree: 0%, Abstain: 0% (Unanimous, Strongest Consensus)


The present investigation was carried out to assess the livelihood status of the fish farmers in Hamirkutsha and Kamarbari Unions of Bagmara upazilla under Rajshahi district during June to December 2006. Data were collected through the use of well structured questionnaire. Fifty farmers were included in this study who were directly involved in fish farming. Average pond size was 0.13 ha with single (64%) and multiple ownerships (36%). Most of the fishers were belonged to the age category of 31 to 40 years and average education level of 9.86 years of schooling, represented by 94% Muslims and 6% Hindus. About 54% of the farmers have tinshed house while 26, 14 and 6% of the farmers have half-building, building and kacha house, respectively. Average annual incomes of majority of fish farmers were above Tk. 75,000 per annum and 62% of the farmers used semi-pucca sanitary, 28% used pucca sanitary while only 10% used katcha sanitary. About 62% of the farmers had electricity facilities while 38% did not have and 88% of the farmers used own tube-well, while 12% of the farmers used neighbor's tube-well. Forty six percent of the farmers received health service from village doctor or kobiraj, 18% have access to upazila health complex, 14% went to district hospital, 20% consulted with MBBS doctor and 2% of the farmers do not take any treatment due to lack of money. Lack of scientific knowledge, multiple ownerships and lack of capital for fish culture were the major constraints.


BACKGROUND
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of 2-[fluorine-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET)/computed tomography (CT) during follow-up of patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Patients in complete remission or an unconfirmed complete remission after first-line therapy who received FDG-PET/CT during their follow-up were analyzed retrospectively. Confirmatory biopsy was mandatory in case of recurrence.

RESULTS
Overall, 134 patients were analyzed. Forty-two (31.3%) patients had a recurrence. The positive predictive value of FDG-PET/CT was 0.98. Single-factor analysis identified morphological residual mass [P = 0.0005, hazard ratio (HR) 3.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7-6.6] and symptoms (P < 0.0001, HR 4.9, 95% CI 2.4-9.9) as significant risk factors for relapse. By multivariate analysis, morphological residual mass was the only significant risk factor for early follow-up (<24 months) (P = 0.0019, HR 7.6, 95% CI 2.1-27.3). Advanced stage (P = 0.0426, HR 3.6, 95% CI 1.1-12.3) and the presence of symptoms (P = 0.0009, HR = 14.6, 95% CI 3.0-69.7) were found to be significant risk factors for later follow-up (>24 months).

CONCLUSIONS
Asymptomatic patients without morphological residues and an early stage of disease do not need a routine FDG-PET/CT for follow-up. Asymptomatic patients with morphological residues should receive routine follow-up FDG-PET/CT for the first 24 months. Only patients with advanced initial stage do need a routine follow-up FDG-PET/CT beyond 24 months.


Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to examine the costs to audit firms in terms of lost revenues of losing small clients due to auditor switching or client bankruptcy after issuing first-time going concern modified opinions. Design/methodology/approach - – A population of small Swedish companies receiving first-time going concern modified opinions in 2009 was examined to determine the effects two years later compared with a matched sample of financially stressed companies that had not received going concern modified opinions. Findings - – The results indicate that both auditor switching and client bankruptcy are positively related to receipt of going concern modified opinions. Furthermore, the authors find empirical evidence that auditors issuing first-time going concern modified opinions lose proportionately more fees through auditor switching and client bankruptcy than do auditors not issuing such opinions to financially stressed clients. Finally, the authors found that the going concern modified opinions issued by Big 4 firms are no more harmful to clients than are those issued by other audit firms. Research limitations/implications - – The authors recognize a limitation of this study regarding the choice of control companies. Although the authors attempted to find similarly sized and similarly financially stressed companies from the same industries as those companies in the test group, the authors may have missed other variables relevant to auditor switching or client bankruptcy. Practical implications - – A practical implication for the audit profession is the increased awareness of the fact that the financial dependence issues reported in this study extend to auditors with small client companies. Originality/value - – This is the first study to examine fees lost due to auditor switching and client bankruptcy caused by going concern modified opinions in a population of small companies. It contributes to the mixed evidence presented in previous research as to the extent to which going concern modified audit opinions are self-fulfilling prophecies.


Traceback mechanisms are a critical part of the defense against IP spoofing and DoS attacks, as well as being of forensic value to law enforcement. Currently proposed IP traceback mechanisms are inadequate to address the traceback problem for the following reasons: they require DDoS victims to gather thousands of packets to reconstruct a single attack path; they do not scale to large scale distributed DoS attacks; and they do not support incremental deployment. We propose fast Internet traceback (FIT), a new packet marking approach that significantly improves IP traceback in several dimensions: (1) victims can identify attack paths with high probability after receiving only tens of packets, a reduction of 1-3 orders of magnitude compared to previous packet marking schemes; (2) FIT performs well even in the presence of legacy routers, allowing every FIT-enabled router in path to be identified; and (3) FIT scales to large distributed attacks with thousands of attackers. Compared with previous packet marking schemes, FIT represents a step forward in performance and deployability.


For every wrong, there is a remedy; and for every remedy, there is a lesson learned. When an absent-minded driver rear ends a vehicle stopped at a red light, he or she will have to pay for the damage and will most likely be sure to keep both eyes on the road in the future. When an electronics company sells a laptop with a defective hard drive, the company will be responsible for providing the customer with a refund or a new device, and--if it wants to stay in business--note the complaint in order to prevent future defects in its product line. And when a neighbor allows a fire originating on her property to spread to the home next door, she will be responsible for the substantial repairs, thus teaching a valuable lesson in fire prevention. One way or another, an innocent party that suffers a loss at the hands of another's misgivings can rest assured that the regulatory scheme in place will ensure that the wrongdoer cleans up the mess, appreciates the error, and compensates the injured party, which in turn curbs future harmful behavior. Yet, what if the injured party is the environment, and it has fallen victim to Big Oil? On April 20, 2010, the explosion on British Petroleum's S.S. Deepwater Horizon oil rig marked the beginning of the worst marine oil spill in world history. What began as a tragic accident-resulting in the loss of eleven workers' lives and serious injury to seventeen others--rapidly morphed into a frantic effort to plug a newly-discovered oil leak that was located 5000 feet below the Gulf of Mexico's surface, and was spewing hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil into the environment each day. Between April and July 2010, an estimated 4.4 million barrels of crude oil flowed into the Gulf (1) at a rate of about five hundred thousand gallons per day, altering the Gulfs ecosystem and suffocating all forms of life in its path. Petroleum soon made its way to the southern coast of the United States, where it continued to wreak havoc on property, coastal species, and human life. Arriving first in Louisiana, massive oil pools, about a foot deep, engulfed wildlife on the shores, smothering birds at an ever-increasing rate. (2) At present, the outlook for many of the affected species remains grim. The oil spill in the Gulf has left many questions unanswered. How did this happen? What is the true extent of the damage? What deterrent effect, if any, will this spill have on industry practice in the future? And, perhaps most importantly, how will this mess be cleaned up? On October 14, 2010, the Albany Law Review hosted its annual fall symposium to explore a myriad of issues surrounding this environmental disaster. This event explored the regulations, or lack thereof, that not only allowed oil to escape into the Gulf, but to persist as an unstoppable force for months on end. In addition, it examined the future of industry regulation and the possibility of developing public and private regulatory standards to safeguard against further destruction at the hands of industry giants. PANEL ONE: OIL SPILL LIABILITY AND DAMAGES: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE The first panel of the Symposium focused on the state of the law with respect to litigation arising from oil spills, and the legislation in place before and after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The panel discussed the nature of the remedies for environmental tragedies in the United States as exclusively reactionary, as opposed to proactive, in nature, the system for recovery of natural resource damages under the current regulatory scheme, and the extent to which the legislation currently in place, and that being considered for the future, will deter similar behavior in the oil industry. Moderated by Professor Timothy Lytton, the Albert and Angela Farone Distinguished Professor of Law at Albany Law School, the first panel included presentations from the following distinguished speakers: Joan Bondareff, Of Counsel, Blank Rome. …


If a space-time with a causal relationship is viewed from an observer in space-time, the interaction between space-time and the observer has to be implemented. We describe this interaction using a pair of causal sets and its semantics or using a pair of Point and Open Logic. We here propose an artificial causal space-time called an evolutionary topological system, which is based on the changeability between logical operations (disjunction and conjunction) and logical elements (join and meet) of a causal set. The conflict resulting from the interaction is locally and temporally removed by replacing disjunction and join (or conjunction and meet), and a causal set is verified to evolve to a particular logical structure based on the simple summation. We also show this model can design an abnormal space-time feeling, such as an out-of-body experience.


After Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ratified the ILO Convention (No. 154) concerning the Promotion of Collective Bargaining and European Social Charter (revised) Lithuania as well as the states that ratified these documents was obliged to consolidate a mechanism in their laws, which would prompt the regulation of labour relations by means of collective agreements. The article discloses the legal nature of the collective agreement and analyses legal norms of Labour Code, which encourages drafting of collective agreements, i.e. norms, which entrench the optional legal regulation by means of collective agreements (when the legal regulation by statutes or other legal acts are not established) and norms, which entrench the main legal regulation by means of collective agreements (which have to be established in collective agreements in order to have legal regulation of particular labour relation). The practice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Lithuania of the application of the legal norms of the Labour Code mentioned above is analysed in this article as well. It is underlined that the process of making collective agreements is peculiar mechanism of conclusion of collective agreements in contractual law-making of employees and employers. This is the reason why collective agreements play exceptional role in the regulation of labour relations. Having analysed the case-law of the Supreme Court of Lithuania, one makes an assumption that in Lithuanian caselaw, when the provisions of the Labour Code are construed, which in a mandatory manner oblige the parties to regulate one or another issue in a collective agreement, no attention is paid to the peculiarities of the collective agreement, which are determined by the legal nature of this agreement.


Abstract. The stable water isotopes H218O and HDO are incorporated as passive tracers into the oceanic general circulation model MPI-OM, and a control simulation under present-day climate conditions is analyzed in detail. Both δ18O and δD distributions at the ocean surface and deep ocean are generally consistent with available observations on the large scale. The modelled δD-δ 18O relations in surface waters slightly deviates from the slope of the global meteoric water line in most basins, and a much steeper slope is detected in Arctic Oceans. The simulated deuterium excess of ocean surface waters shows small variations between 80° S and 55° N, and a strong decrease north of 55° N. The model is also able to capture the quasi-linear relationship between δ18O and salinity S, as well as δD and S, as seen in observational data. Both in the model results and observations, the surface δ−S relations show a steeper slope in extra-tropical regions than in tropical regions, which indicates relatively more addition of isotopically depleted water at high latitudes.


Speculative transmission has been proposed to overcome the high latency of setting up end-to-end paths through photonic networks for computer systems. However, speculative transmission has implications for the energy efficiency of the network, in particular, control circuits are more complex and power hungry and failed speculative transmissions must be repeated. Moreover, in future chip multiprocessors (CMPs) with integrated photonic network end points, a large proportion of the additional energy will be dissipated on the CMP. This paper compares the energy characteristics of scheduled and speculative chip-to-chip networks for shared memory computer systems on the scale of a rack. For this comparison, we use a novel speculative control plane which reduces energy consumption by eliminating duplicate packets from the allocation process. In addition, we consider photonic power gating to reduce processor chip energy dissipation and the energy impact of the choice between semiconductor optical amplifier and ring resonator switching technologies. We model photonic network elements using values from the published literature as well as determine the power consumption of the allocator and network adapter circuits, implemented in a commercial low leakage 45 nm CMOS process. The power dissipated on the CMP using speculative networks is shown to be roughly double that of scheduled networks at saturation load and an order of magnitude higher at low loads.


This paper introduces a new English Heritage (Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund) project The Palaeolithic Rivers of South-West
Britain (project no. 3847), and summarises the results of a first phase resource assessment. The goal of this ongoing project is
to develop a new synthesis of the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic occupation of the south-west region, focusing upon river
terrace-based archaeology and its implications for hominin landscape use. The resource assessment has reached two preliminary
conclusions. Firstly that the region's earliest Palaeolithic archaeological record is significantly richer than previously believed, and
secondly that although find locations have been added in several areas which previously had very few or no finds (e.g.West
Cornwall) the overall bias of finds to the south coast is maintained. The project has also revealed that the river terrace resource
of South-West England offers potential for geochronological dating, landscape reconstruction, and improved contextualisation of
the archaeological material. Some outreach components of the project are also summarised.


Drawing on more than a decade of fieldwork, The Logic of Governance in China develops a unified theoretical framework to explain how China's centralized political system maintains governance and how this process produces recognizable policy cycles that are obstacles to bureaucratic rationalization, professionalism, and rule of law. The book is unique for the overarching framework it develops; one that sheds light on the interconnectedness among apparently disparate phenomena such as the mobilizational state, bureaucratic muddling through, collusive behaviors, variable coupling between policymaking and implementation, inverted soft budget constraints, and collective action based on unorganized interests. An exemplary combination of theory-motivated fieldwork and empirically-informed theory development, this book offers an in-depth analysis of the institutions and mechanisms in the governance of China.


Essentially all computer graphics rendering assumes that the reflectance and texture of surfaces is a static phenomenon. Yet, there is an abundance of materials in nature whose appearance varies dramatically with time, such as cracking paint, growing grass, or ripening banana skins. In this paper, we take a significant step towards addressing this problem, investigating a new class of time-varying textures. We make three contributions. First, we describe the carefully controlled acquisition of datasets of a variety of natural processes including the growth of grass, the accumulation of snow, and the oxidation of copper. Second, we show how to adapt quilting-based methods to time-varying texture synthesis, addressing the important challenges of maintaining temporal coherence, efficient synthesis on large time-varying datasets, and reducing visual artifacts specific to time-varying textures. Finally, we show how simple procedural techniques can be used to control the evolution of the results, such as allowing for a faster growth of grass in well lit (as opposed to shadowed) areas.


This Article provides a broad-lens, synoptic perspective on war-on-terrorism questions arising within the habeas corpus jurisdiction of the federal courts. Analytically, it develops a clear framework for sorting out the tangle of jurisdictional, substantive, procedural, and scope-of-review issues that habeas cases often present. Methodologically, it champions a common law-like approach to habeas adjudication under which courts must exercise responsible judgment in adapting both statutory and constitutional language to unforeseen exigencies. The Article also takes substantive positions on a number of important issues. In the jurisdictional domain, it defends the Supreme Court's controversial decision in Rasul v. Bush, which interpreted the habeas statute as it then stood to authorize inquiry into the lawfulness of detentions at Guantanamo Bay. The Article also argues, however, that a court would overstep if it read the Constitution as mandating review of detentions of aliens in such wholly foreign locales as Afghanistan or Iraq. Scrutinizing post-Rasul legislation that eliminates habeas for alien detainees and substitutes more limited review in the D.C. Circuit, the Article argues that the resulting scheme is constitutionally valid as applied to most cases in which the D.C. Circuit can exercise review, but invalid insofar as it entirely precludes detainees in the United States or at Guantanamo Bay from challenging their detention or conditions of confinement before a civilian court. With respect to substantive rights, the Article argues that American citizens seized outside of battlefield conditions have a right not to be detained indefinitely without civilian trial. It explains why the constitutional rights of noncitizens are more limited, but argues that existing statutes should not be read to authorize aliens' detention as enemy combatants when they are seized in the United States, away from any theater of combat. Finally, the Article analyzes some of the most important procedural and scope-of-review questions likely to come before habeas courts. INTRODUCTION During wars and emergencies, Presidents claim extraordinary authority, and the exercise of executive power leads to asserted violations of constitutional rights and other legal norms. As disputes come to court, cries echo from one side that a ruling for the challengers would imperil national security and from the other that courts must hold our nation to the ideals that make its security worth preserving. In the context of war or quasi-war, separation-of-powers issues have most often come before the courts in their habeas corpus jurisdiction. The Great Writ of habeas corpus is the procedural mechanism through which courts have insisted that neither the King, the President, nor any other executive official may impose detention except as authorized by law. Where the writ runs, courts have the power and responsibility to enforce the most basic requirements of the rule of law, even in wartime. But where does the writ run? And how far do executive powers to detain expand, and do ordinary rights to freedom from restraint shrink, in times of emergency? Although grants of habeas corpus jurisdiction require the courts to decide these questions, the range of possible answers is broad and the correct answer often far from obvious. This much is evident from history, but confirmation, if needed, comes from the Supreme Court's four decisions to date in war-on-terrorism cases. In one of those decisions, Rumsfeld v. Padilla, (1) the Court's dismissal on jurisdictional grounds of a petition from a citizen seized and detained in the United States provoked four dissenters to charge that the majority had needlessly permitted technicalities to impede the vindication of rights marking "the essence of a free society." (2) The other three decisions scrutinized aspects of military detention that the Executive had claimed should not be reviewed by the courts. …


Abstract This paper focuses on the 'mainstreaming' of charities into schools. There have been growing concerns about the permeation of business and business values in education, but relatively little attention has been paid to the ways in which schools are increasingly engaged in the 'business' of fundraising for charities. Drawing on survey data from the WISERDEducation Multi-Cohort Study (WMCS), the paper outlines young people's relationship with charities. The data show that young people have a high degree of engagement with charities, in which schools play a significant part. There are likely to be many positive aspects to this engagement, inasmuch as it fosters and reflects young people's sense of collective responsibility. However, there are also issues about the extent to which this high level of involvement marginalises other approaches to promote the social good and increases the permeation of business values and business into school. The paper concludes that the current mainstreaming of charities into schools is not necessarily a self-evident 'good' and that this under-researched phenomenon deserves greater critical attention within and outwith schools.


Recently, the superimposed pilot channel estimation has attracted attention for wireless communications, where the pilot symbol sequence is superimposed on a data symbol sequence and transmitted together, and thus there is no drop in information rate. In the superimposed pilot channel estimation, the receiver correlates the received symbol sequence with the pilot symbol sequence, and obtains the channel estimate. However, the correlation between the pilot symbol sequence and the data symbol sequence deteriorates the channel estimation accuracy. In particular, the channel estimation accuracy of the superimposed pilot channel estimation scheme is significantly deteriorated in MIMO systems, because the pilot symbol power of each transmit antenna to the total transmit power of all transmit antennas becomes smaller as the number of transmit antennas increases. On the other hand, it has been well known that the SAGE algorithm is an effective method for channel estimation and data detection. This algorithm is particularly effective in MIMO systems, because the operation of this algorithm can cancel the interference from other transmit antennas. In this paper, we propose a SAGE algorithm for channel estimation and data detection using superimposed pilot channel estimation in MIMO systems. From the results of computer simulations, we show that the proposed system can achieve the good BER performances by using the SAGE algorithm with iteration.


Introduction: In surgical practice, thyroid lesions are common, observed in 4-7% of the population and affect women more commonly than men. Excising all the thyroid lesions is impracticable and associated with risk [1, 2].Therefore an effective screening test is needed to avoid unwanted surgery. The routine use of FNAC in the assessment of thyroid lesions has reduced the number of patients subjected to thyroidectomy for benign lesions. Aims and Objectives: Present study was undertaken evaluate the efficiency of FNAC in the diagnosis of clinically obvious and palpable thyroid lesions. Materials and methods: This study has both retrospective and prospective cases conducted in the department of pathology M.R Medical College Gulbarga. Cases from Basaveshwar teaching and general hospital, Govt. General Hospital, peripheral cancer centre, Gulbarga and various private laboratories, in Gulbarga were included in the study. Results: This study included 220 cases. From the 218 satisfactory cases of FNAC's of thyroid lesions maximum cases were benign lesions 201 (91.37%) malignant cases were 17 (7.73%) and 2 cases were unsatisfactory (0.9%) , with diagnostic accuracy of 97.56% sensitivity 90% and specificity 100%. Conclusion: Results of present study as well as previous various studies highlight the utility of FNAC in thyroid lesions as safe, cost effective and initial diagnostic modality avoids unwanted surgeries.


In this study of the impact of protests against Walmart (a first entrant) on Target (a second entrant) from 1998 to 2008 in U.S. geographic markets, we develop and test a theory of information spillovers from protests against corporations proposing to enter a new market. We argue that the number of protests directed against a first entrant is a noisy signal for the second entrant because such protests are likely to be dominated by protest-prone activists and so do not reflect the sentiments of the community. The second entrant is likely to discount protests against the first entrant that are led by protest-prone activists and rely instead on protests led by local, decentralized activists as indicative of a community's preferences. We argue that the second entrant differentiates between protests against the first-entrant firm and the organizational form, and discounts protests against a specific firm but not those against the form (e.g., big-box stores). Further, the second entrant is likely to rely on the reaction of the first entrant as an indication of the meaning of the protest. Finally, all of these signaling effects will be stronger in markets in which the second entrant has no experience and so lacks local knowledge. The study provides broad support for our arguments.


Last year, a 20-hectare section of Oahu Island in Hawaii was cut off from the rest of Oahu by a high-tech fence with a mesh so fine even baby mice can't get through it. Conservationists then removed all nest predators, effectively returning the land to its prehuman state some 800 years ago, when the island had no land mammals and millions of seabirds flocked here to breed undisturbed. Surveys show that the population of the point's colony of Laysan albatrosses has increased by 15%, to 400, since the fence was finished in March 2011. And the number of wedge-tailed shearwater chicks that survived and flew off tripled to 1775 in 2 years. This is good news for these oceangoing species, which, along with petrels, have been declining faster than any other category of birds.


The object of this investigation was to conduct a contrastive analysis of the following Spanish and Dutch conjunctions:.on the one hand the Spanish pair si_, as a conjunction of hypothesis or condition, and cuando, as a hypothetical/conditional or temporal conjunction, and, on the other hand, the Dutch equivalents als, wanneer, indien and the synonymous conjunctionless construction (0). On the basis of the"strong" predictive version of the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) one or more hypotheses were formulated, which served as predictors of errors likely to be made by Dutch learners of Spanish. The hypotheses were tested in an experimental investigation, involving 31 students.


In the 1992 presidential election only 50% of the voting-age population voted. Biennial congressional races are even worse with voting-age participation rates typically in the 30% range. What do these abhorrent statistics say about this nation? This is a collection of essays about public participation in politics. The ultimate goal of this text is to inspire, argue, coax, and challenge the reader to increase his or her attention to the political, and as a result become an active participant in the political process. Contents: Introduction; Political Participation in American Politics: A Critique, Christine Marie Sierra; How Elites Usurp Democracy in America, Daniel Hellinger; Immigration: The Subjectification of Political Discourse, Henry Flores; Political Messages in Nonpolitical Programming, Art Silverblatt; Sexuality and Citizenship, Shane Phelan; Why Gender Parity? The 50% Solution, Nicola Mazumdar and Jean Reith Schroedel; The 1996 Election and the Welfare State, Mack Jones; A Black-Organized Third Party?, James Jennigans; New Public Dialogues: Ecstatic Politics from the Public Culture, Nancie Caraway; Expanding Public Life at the Local Level, Christopher Freeman Adams; Notes; Bibliography; Index; Contributors.


Despite a century of study by ecologists, recovery following disturbances (succession) is not fully understood. This book provides the first global synthesis that compares plant succession in all major terrestrial biomes and after all major terrestrial disturbances. It asks critical questions such as: Does succession follow general patterns across biomes and disturbance types? Do factors that control succession differ from biome to biome? If common drivers exist, what are they? Are they abiotic or biotic, or both? The authors provide insights on broad, generalizable patterns that go beyond site-specific studies, and present discussions on factors such as varying temporal dynamics, latitudinal differences, human-caused vs. natural disturbances, and the role of invasive alien species. This book is a must-read for researchers and students in ecology, plant ecology, restoration ecology and conservation biology. It also provides a valuable framework to aid land managers attempting to manipulate successional recovery following increasingly intense and widespread human-made disturbances.


Effect of mexidol on the development of the phenomenon of the excitotoxic syndrome in vitro has been studied. Mexidol inhibits in vitro the development of glutamate-induced neurotoxicity, ascorbate-dependent (non-enzymatic) and NADPH₂-dependent (enzymatic) iron-induced lipid peroxide oxidation, is able in high concentrations to bind superoxide anion-radical, significantly increases the activity of Se-dependent glutathione peroxidase, decreases the activity of induced NO-synthase and does not impact on the activity of glutathione-SH-transferase, catalase and neuronal NO-synthase. These effects underlie the antioxidant and antihypoxic action of the drug.


Traditionally, verification methods for security protocols typically assume that the protocols are used in isolation of other protocols (i.e., there is only a single protocol using a network at a given time). However, in practice it is unrealistic to assume that a security protocol runs in isolation in an insecure network. A multi-protocol attack is an attack in which more than one protocol is involved. The verification methods for security protocols that assume a single protocol on a network will fail to verify a protocol's resistance/vulnerability to multi-protocol attacks. Further, multiple security protocols that are verified to be correct in isolation can be susceptible to multiprotocol attacks when used over the same network. However, the verification of security properties for multiple protocols existing on the same network is difficult since security properties are not compositional. This paper surveys some of the recent approaches and contributions into the verification of security properties in the context of multiple protocols being run in an insecure network and the efforts to prevent multi-protocol attacks.


Copyright © Korean Carbon Society http://carbonlett.org Abstract This study synthesized pure anatase carbon doped TiO2 photocatalysts supported on a stainless steel mesh using a sol-gel solution of 8% polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/dimethylformamide (DMF)/TiCl4. The influence of the pyrolysis temperature and holding time on the morphological characteristics, particle sizes and surface area of the prepared catalyst was investigated. The prepared catalysts were characterized by several analytical methods: high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The XRD patterns showed that the supported TiO2 nanocrystals are typically anatase, polycrystalline and body-centered tetragonal in structure. The EDS and XPS results complemented one another and confirmed the presence of carbon species in or on the TiO2 layer, and the XPS data suggested the substitution of titanium in TiO2 by carbon. Instead of using calcination, PAN pyrolysis was used to control the carbon content, and the mesoporosity was tailored by the applied temperature. The supported TiO2 nanocrystals prepared by pyrolysis at 300, 350, and 400oC for 3 h on a stainless steel mesh were actual supported carbon doped TiO2 nanocrystals. Thus, PAN/DMF/TiCl4 offers a facile, robust sol-gel related route for preparing supported carbon doped TiO2 nanocomposites.


PURPOSE
To assess the knowledge of dental decay among pregnant women and its relationship with sociodemographic characteristics and caries experience in rural India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 381 pregnant women in southern India. Variables and knowledge of dental decay were recorded using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Dental caries was recorded by a calibrated examiner as per WHO guidelines.

RESULTS
The majority of the respondents were under 30 years of age (91.6%), utilised a public health-care delivery system (57.2%), were primigravid (63%), had a pre-universtiy diploma (64.8%) and were in the 3rd trimester (63%). Overall, poor knowledge was expressed by 12% to 37% of the women. The mean (±SD) DT (decayed teeth), MT (missing teeth), FT (filled teeth) and DMFT (decayed, missing and filled teeth) were 3.08 (±2.6), 0.93 (±2.23), 0.39 (±1.14) and 4.4 (±3.56), respectively. There were no significant differences in the responses to the knowledge of caries with respect to age and trimester. Educational status, health-care delivery system and number of pregnancies had a significant association with knowledge of caries.

CONCLUSION
This study highlighted the limited knowledge of dental decay among pregnant, rural, southern Indian women. Preventive programmes for pregnant women should be designed based upon a thorough interview including an informative session on the specific risks during this period, in order to motivate the patient towards oral health and implement the needed prophylactic measures.


[From the Introduction]. The idea of good governance is becoming the latest buzz-word to cast its shadow over the operational nature of domestic and international politics. Within that shadow is the need to ensure the opportunity to participate. The fact that the 5.5 million EU citizens living in other EU Member States have been granted limited political rights is obviously a step forward but the fact that resident aliens and third-country nationals lack equivalent rights and, hence, remain excluded from both the national, local and supranational arena, represents a major challenge to the normative-based idea of good governance. The paper will address two distinct though, perhaps, interconnected issues? [this is a question that will hopefully be answered during the course of field-work immediately prior to the conference]: the issue of EU citizens and alien suffrage and the case of non-citizens and to alien suffrage. While the former looks at developments within the EU, the latter will concern itself with the case of the Turkish minority in Germany. We need to ascertain what is the factor(s) that initiates/ and or drives change?' It is the contention of this paper that one possible driving force, because of the difficulties of addressing such issues at the national political level, could be the European Union. That is not to say that reform at the European level in terms of EU Citizens voting rights, will lead to the vote being given to Third Country Nationals (at the local and European level) or indeed any non-nationals being given the right to vote at the national level, it is rather an assertion that change at the European level begins to change the nature of the political climate within which issues have to be dealt with at the national level. Of course establishing a new norm is going to generate both support and opposition.


The role of the Fc and third component of complement (C3) receptors on mouse neutrophils in the control of killing of Proteus mirabilis, opsonized in normal mouse serum (NMS) or heated immune mouse serum (HIMS), was studied. The events following incubation of neutrophils with P. mirabilis and the events associated with bacterial killing were assayed. The respiratory burst was quantified by chemiluminescence (CL). Levels of leukocyte-associated bacteria were determined after a 20-min ingestion period as a measure of phagocytosis. Bacterial killing was measured while ingestion was allowed to continue or as a discrete process when extracellular, noningested bacteria had been removed and neutrophils with intracellular bacteria were incubated in the presence of serum. Modification of these responses in the presence of three monoclonal antibodies (MAb), NIMP-R10 and M1/70, which bind to different epitopes of the mouse C3 receptor, and 2.4G2, which binds to the mouse Fc receptor, was investigated. MAb to the C3, but not to the Fc, receptors reduced CL, ingestion, and intracellular killing of NMS-opsonized P. mirabilis. MAb to the Fc receptor diminished CL to and reduced the rate of ingestion of HIMS-opsonized bacteria. The two MAb to the C3 receptor each produced a similar inhibition of ingestion and intracellular killing of HIMS-opsonized bacteria, but they only partially blocked CL. A range of MAb preparations reactive with other murine antigens did not inhibit these events, either with NMS- or HIMS-opsonized P. mirabilis. The results suggest that C3 receptors on mouse neutrophils played a predominant role in regulation of the killing of P. mirabilis. Similar results were found for Staphylococcus aureus. C3 receptors were necessary for maximal expression of all functions culminating in bacterial kill. That MAb to the C3 receptor inhibited phagocytosis of HIMS-opsonized bacteria in similar fashion to the effect of MAb to the Fc receptor and in contrast to the lack of effect of control MAb may reflect steric hindrance of the Fc receptor by MAb binding to the C3 receptor, or it may reflect that the receptors are linked in murine neutrophils as they are in human neutrophils.


I study a model where personal income is a function of two different groups of individual characteristics, called "irrelevant" and "relevant" respectively. The distinction between these two groups is that society has taken the prior decision that the influence of traits from the first group needs to be moderated by any fair redistribution mechanism while differences in income due to traits from the second group must be preserved. I present two solutions that satisfy several intuitive properties of fairness and I use these properties to characterize both of them.


This paper presents an assessment of the changes in future floods. The ranked area-average heavy daily rainfall amounts simulated by a super-high-resolution (20 km mesh) global climate model output are corrected with consideration of the effects of the topography on heavy rainfall patterns and used as a basis to model design storm hyetographs. The rainfall data are then used as the input for a nearly calibration-free parameter rainfall–runoff model to simulate floods in the future climate (2075–2099) at the Upper Thu Bon River basin in Central Vietnam. The results show that although the future mean annual rainfall will not be considerably different compared to the present-day climate (1979–2003), extreme rainfall is projected to increase vigorously, leading to a similar order of intensification of future floods. It is very likely that the flood peak with a 25-year recurrence will increase approximately 42% relative to the present-day climate. The occurrence of floods with a 10-year recurrence may exceed those with a 25-year recurrence in the present-day climate. The projection results also exhibit insignificant uncertainties caused by an artificial neural network-based bias correction model. Additionally, the presented bias correction model shows advantages over a simple climatology scaling method.


This paper provides a detailed, insider assessment of the new Iraqi security and military forces as organized under current Prime Minister Nouri al‐Maliki. It analyzes the recruitment, training and fielding of Iraqi police and regular armed forces with special attention to the volatile sectarian and ethnic allegiances – exacerbated through direct recruitment from partisan militias including the Kurdish Peshmerga, the Badr Corps and Ṣadrist groups – that obviate against a stable and reliable hierarchical chain of command. It contains a complete analysis of all current Iraqi Army divisions, their composition, leadership and deployment as well as recommendations for how all branches of the Iraqi armed forces may be restored to levels and readiness characteristic of effective national defense and security forces.


This paper analyses the impact of teacher gender towards students' test results in a blinded Math test administered to students in Catalonia (Spain). The data for this analysis are drawn from a sample of secondary school students who participated in an international blind-test known as the "Mathematical Kangaroo" in 2008. The estimation considers a two-stage procedure since participation on the test leads to the presence of sample selection. Results show a correlation between female teacher gender and student results. Moreover, students with female teachers have a higher probability of participating in the "Kangaroo" test (in this case, the effect being more marked among male students).


OBJECTIVE
To compare two widely used permanent prostate brachytherapy techniques, preplanning and intraoperative planning, based on postimplant dosimetry, toxicity and biochemical outcomes.

METHODS
Between 2003 and 2006, 665 men with localized prostate cancer were treated with permanent interstitial implantation. The first 227 consecutive men were treated with the preplanning technique, followed by 438 men treated with the intraoperative technique. Late toxicity was scored by the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v.4.0. Biochemical failure was defined as a prostate-specific antigen increase of more than 2 ng/ml above the nadir value excluding a benign bounce. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the variables associated with biochemical failure-free survival.

RESULTS
Postimplant target coverage was similar in the two groups, with a small difference in risk organ doses. Mean V100 was 96.3 vs. 96.7% (P = 0.205), D90 was 119.6 vs. 119.4% (P = 0.884), urethral D10 was 157.5 vs. 146.1% (P = 0.010), rectal V100 was 0.57 vs. 0.43 cc (P = 0.002) in the preplanning and intraoperative planning groups, respectively. Acute and late Grade 3 genitourinary and gastrointestinal toxicities were <1% for both methods. The 5-year biochemical failure-free survival rate was 95.4% for the preplanning and 94.0% for the intraoperative planning group (P = 0.776). Multivariate analysis revealed Gleason score, biopsy positive rate and V100 to be predictors of biochemical failure-free survival, while the planning technique was not significant.

CONCLUSION
This large-scale analysis of high-quality implants revealed similar postimplant dosimetry, toxicity profiles and biochemical failure-free survival for the preplanning and intraoperative planning methods.


In the UK, the Waste Management Industry has traditionally relied upon landfill for the
disposal of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). However it is now recognised that landfill
brings with it significant environmental costs and that landfill alone is not a sustainable
option for the future. But, since recent changes in EU and UK Government policy, such
as the Waste Strategy in 2000, the UK has made significant progress in reducing the
amount of MSW that goes to landfill. Major increase in kerbside recycling schemes has
been a significant factor in helping meet the Government's reduction targets. As a result
local authorities require the development of new waste treatment facilities to deal with
the growing amounts of MSW. But traditionally there has been opposition to waste
treatment sites, and the proposed waste recycling facility at Leyland is no exception.
A questionnaire was derived and local residents were interviewed to ascertain their
attitudes towards the siting of the Leyland Waste Technology Park (LWTP). As
predicted, most local residents were against the proposal- a classic case of NIMBY
('Not in My Back Yard') syndrome. But in spite of this, the majority of local residents
would still continue to recycle their household waste, knowing it would eventually end
up being treated at the proposed LWTP. This result showed that there was no clear
correlation between the public's attitudes towards recycling and their proximity to the
proposed Waste Technology Park. However, the opposition to the LWTP proposal has
confronted Lancashire County Council with a number of difficulties in it's
implementation of Lancashire's Integrated Waste Management Strategy, which is vital
in meeting various government targets, by recovering value from waste and diverting
waste away from landfill.


While arbitration was robust in colonial and early America, dispute resolution lost its footing to the court system as the United States grew into a bustling and burgeoning country. And while dispute resolution processes emerged briefly from time to time, they were dormant until the enactment of the Federal Arbitration Act and collective bargaining grew out of the labor movement. But it wasn't until 1976, when Frank Sander delivered his famous remarks at the Pound Conference, that the modern dispute resolution movement was born. By the year 2000, alternative dispute resolution had transformed from a populist rebellion against the judicial system to mainstream legal practice. Today, lawyers and retiring judges look to arbitration and mediation for a career pivot, and law schools train law students in the finer arts of dispute resolution practice as both providers and advocates. Discussions in Dispute Resolution brings together the modern dispute resolution field's most influential commentaries in its first few decades and reflects on what makes these pieces so important. This book collects 16 foundational writings, four pieces from each of the field's primary subfields--negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and public policy. Each piece has four commenters who answer the question: why is this work a foundational piece in the dispute resolution field? The purpose in asking this simple question is fourfold: to hail the field's foundational generation and their work, to bring a fresh look at these articles, to engage the articles' original authors where possible, and to challenge the articles with the benefit of hindsight. Where possible, the book gives the authors of the original pieces the opportunity either to reflect on the piece itself or to respond to the other commenters.


We present a functional response model that primarily evaluates effects of satiation in piscivore prey-size selection. The model also includes other passive processes, such as prey-size-dependent encounter rate and prey-size-dependent capture success, where capture success decreases and encounter rate increases with prey size. The model generates a wide variety of outcomes, where small, intermediate or large prey is positively selected for. These very different selectivity patterns are generated without any active prey choice included in the model. The results stress the importance of controlling for satiation and other passive processes in empirical studies on prey-size selection, especially if the aim is to test active prey choice in piscivores.


This article offers an analysis of Israel's migration policies toward Soviet Jews and argues, based on patterns it reveals, that "the compression of relations of time and space" characterizing the global era do not necessarily render the nation-state weaker, let alone idle or irrelevant. It discusses Israel's attempts to construct these potential Jewish migrants, while they were still in the Soviet Union, as its conationals, and to facilitate their arrival in Israel. Israel's migration policies and practices vis-à-vis this particular population provide a case study of the nexus connecting the nation-state, globalization, diaspora, migration, and ethnic belonging. The article shows that while during the 1970s and 1980s the patterns of Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union were less rigid and considerably defied the wishes of the Jewish nation-state, from the end of the 1980s through the 1990s, at a time of accelerating globalization, the patterns of Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union heeded the dictates of the nation-state more rigidly. The changing patterns of emigration from the USSR and immigration to Israel provide a compelling case showing that the nation-state may exert more power under global conditions than it was supposed to exert before the ascendance of hyper-globalization that is alleged to dominate the world today. This article contributes to accumulating research on "the state of the state" under global conditions, and argues that the state does not necessarily become weaker in this era—as many contend—but may even grow stronger, at least with respect to some important affairs within its sphere of governance.


Each chapter concludes with "Summary" and "Selected References." I. INTRODUCTION. 1. What Is Social Work? Social Welfare. Social Work. Distinguishing Characteristics of Social Work. Sociology and Social Work. Psychiatry and Social Work. Psychology and Social Work. Counseling and Social Work. Social Work in the World Today. 2. The Evolution of Social Welfare and Social Work in the United States. Echoes of the Past. European Roots. Beginnings in the United States. Public Assistance and Social Welfare Emerge. Services of Volunteers. Social Workers Appear. 3. Education for Social Work. Social Work Education. Council on Social Work Education. II. SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE. 4. Generalist Practice and Introductory Theory. Need for a Theoretical Framework. Introductory Inner and Outer Forces Paradigm. Additional Model Definition. The Life Cycle and the Inner and Outer Forces Model. Social Functioning. Levels of Social Functioning. A Base for Generalist Social Work Practice. 5. Social Work Practice with Individuals. Work with the Individual: A Generalist Approach. Social Casework Defined. History of Social Casework. Trends in Casework. The Practice Framework. Methods of Social Casework. Problems in Social Casework. The Casework Process. The Multi-Systems Approach. 6. Social Work Practice with Groups. Historical Developments. Group Work Defined. Group Work Models. Formation of Groups. Selection of Group Members. Preparation of Group Members. Structuring the Group. Stages of Group. Group Work Settings. 7. Social Work Practice with Communities. What Is Community Organization? Beginnings of Community Social Work. Underlying Principles in Community Organization. Community Social Work Processes. Roles of the Community Organizer. Case Summaries. 8. Administration and Research. Administration. Research. III. SOCIAL WORK SERVICES. 9. Mental Health Services. Beginnings in Mental Health. Elements of the Mental Health Network. Essential Elements of Comprehensive Mental Health. Special Problems and Issues in Mental Health. 10. Social Work in Health Care. Definition of Social Work in Health Care. The Meaning of Illness. The Role of Social Work in Health Care. The Future of Social Work in the Health Care Services. Prevention and Social Work. 11. Social Work in the Schools. The Education Delivery System: New Approaches. Problems Plaguing the Public Schools. Beginnings in School Social Work. Social Work Practice in the Schools. Social Work Using a Group Approach. School Social Work and the Community. Working with Minorities. When the System Fails. 12. Social Security and Public Welfare. Government's Responsibility for Welfare. The Social Security Act. Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Government and Public Welfare. 13. Family and Child Welfare Services. Marriage and Family Counseling. Child Welfare Services. Home Care of Children. Foster Care of Children. Adoption Services. Protective Services. Child Sexual Abuse. 14. Correctional Services. The Social Problems of Delinquency and Crime. Social Work and Corrections. Social Work Practice in Corrections. Processes and Principles. Social Services and Case Examples. 15. Services for the Aged. Older Americans Act of 1965. White House Conference on Aging, 1971. Adequate Income. Appropriate Living Arrangements. Institutional Responsiveness and a New Attitude Toward Aging. Independence and Dignity. 16. Drug Abuse and Social Work. Misused Drugs and What They Do. Extent and Cost of Drug Abuse. Programs for Control, Prevention, and Treatment. Role of Social Work in Treatment. 17. Services with Minorities. Minority Problems. Social Services. Educational Developments. 18. Social Work in Rural Areas. Beginnings in Rural Social Work. Rural Social Work Practice. Roles of the Rural Social Worker. Rural Social Service Agencies. Distance Learning for Rural Social Work. 19. Case Management. Historical Developments. Case Management Defined. Case Management Research. IV. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. 20. Social Work: A Maturing Profession. Criteria of a Profession. Historical Background. Social Work Today. 21. Social Work Prevention and Enrichment. Social Work Focus on Prevention. Problems Involved. Examples of Prevention. Implications of Prevention. Social Work Enrichment. 22. Social Work and the Future. Professional Maturation. Increase in Services. Professional Identification and Visibility. Licensing. Spirituality in Social Work Practice. Changing Continuum in Social Work Education. Development of the Role of Consultant. Status of Social Worker. Private Practice. Case Management. Advocacy Role. Improved Public Relations. Rural Social Work. Technology. Expansion of Leadership Roles. Increase in International Social Work. Prevention. Enrichment. Movement for Higher Quality. Name Index. Subject Index.


Thermodynamic parameters for the complexation process involving substituted sodium benzoates with a, 13 and 7 cyclodextrins have been determined in water and in N,N-dimethylformamide at 298.15 K. The increasing negative enthalpies of complexation in N,N-dimethylformamide moving from a to 7-cyclodextrin reflects the effects of substituting the cyclodextrin ligand as the cyclodextrin cavity size increases. Single-ion parameters of the new benzoate-cyclodextrin anions have been derived and the results show that these anions are solvated much better in water than in N,N-dimethylformamide. Thermodynamic parameters for the complexation of 1:1 monosaccharide-cyclodextrin complexes have been determined in water at 298.15 K. The data show the ability of the cyclodextrins to selectively distinguish between the aldopentoses and aldohexoses. Thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry of an isolated monosaccharide-cyclodextrin complex reveal that N,N-dimethylformamide is interacting with cyclodextrin. nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and spectrophotometric studies together with computer modelled calculations suggest the formation of exclusion type complexes. stability constants, free energies, enthalpies and entropies of complexation of the D-amino acids and D-amino acid trifluoromethanesulphonates in methanol at 298.15 K are discussed. No significant variations were found in the free energies of complexation of the amino acids as a result of an entropy-enthalpy compensation effect. The transfer enthalpy of the amino acid cations are negative implying that these cations are enthalpically more stable in methanol than water. However, no complexation in water was found between these guest species and 18-crown-6. This is attributed to an interaction between 18-crown-6 and water as reflected in the transfer enthalpy of this ligand from water to methanol. Electrochemical, spectrophotometric, nuclear magnetic resonance and calorimetric studies on the interaction of a resorcinol-based calix[4]arene with amines in non-aqueous media (chloroform and benzonitrile) are reported as a contribution to the area of calixarene chemistry involving the generation of new electrolytes, resulting from a combination of proton transfer and hydrogen bonding from the calixarene to the amine. A summary and suggestions for further work are also given.


Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized neuropathologically by an abundance of 1) neuritic plaques, which are primarily composed of a fibrillar 42-amino-acid amyloid-β peptide (Aβ), as well as 2) neurofibrillary tangles composed of aggregates of hyperphosporylated tau. Elevations in the concentrations of the Aβ42 peptide in the brain, as a result of either increased production or decreased clearance, are postulated to initiate and drive the AD pathologic process. We initially introduced a novel class of bridged aromatics referred tγ-secretase modulatoro as γ-secretase modulators that inhibited the production of the Aβ42 peptide and to a lesser degree the Aβ40 peptide while concomitantly increasing the production of the carboxyl-truncated Aβ38 and Aβ37 peptides. These modulators potently lower Aβ42 levels without inhibiting the γ-secretase–mediated proteolysis of Notch or causing accumulation of carboxyl-terminal fragments of APP. In this study, we report a large number of pharmacological studies and early assessment of toxicology characterizing a highly potent γ-secretase modulator (GSM), (S)-N-(1-(4-fluorophenyl)ethyl)-6-(6-methoxy-5-(4-methyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)pyridin-2-yl)-4-methylpyridazin-3-amine (BPN-15606). BPN-15606 displayed the ability to significantly lower Aβ42 levels in the central nervous system of rats and mice at doses as low as 5–10 mg/kg, significantly reduce Aβ neuritic plaque load in an AD transgenic mouse model, and significantly reduce levels of insoluble Aβ42 and pThr181 tau in a three-dimensional human neural cell culture model. Results from repeat-dose toxicity studies in rats and dose escalation/repeat-dose toxicity studies in nonhuman primates have designated this GSM for 28-day Investigational New Drug-enabling good laboratory practice studies and positioned it as a candidate for human clinical trials.


Mice which are genetic nonresponders to the random terpolymer of L- glutamic acid60-L-alanine30-L-tyrosine10 (GAT) not only fail to develop GAT-specific antibody responses when stimulated with soluble GAT either in vivo or in vitro, but develop GAT-specific T cells which suppress the GAT-specific plaque-forming cell response of normal nonresponder mice stimulated with GAT complexed to methylated bovine serum albumin (MBSA).Thus, both responder and nonresponder mice have T cells which recognize GAT. However, nonresponder mice can develop GAT-specific helper T cells if immunized with GAT bound to MBSA or to macrophages. The relevance of Ir gene-controlled responses is discussed.


During charging or discharging of a lithium-ion battery, lithium is extracted from one electrode and inserted into the other. This extraction-insertion reaction causes the electrodes to deform. An electrode is often composed of small active particles in a matrix. If the battery is charged at a rate faster than lithium can homogenize in an active particle by diffusion, the inhomogeneous distribution of lithium results in stresses that may cause the particle to fracture. The distributions of lithium and stress in a LiCoO2 particle are calculated. The energy release rates are then calculated for the particle containing preexisting cracks. These calculations predict the critical rate of charging and size of the particle, below which fracture is averted.


We consider two models for branched transport: the one introduced in Bernot et al. (Publ Mat 49:417-451, 2005), which makes use of
a functional defined on measures over the space of Lipschitz paths, and the path
functional model presented in Brancolini et al. (J Eur Math Soc 8:415-434, 2006), where one minimizes some suitable action functional defined
over the space of measure-valued Lipschitz curves, getting sort of a Riemannian metric on the space of probabilities, favouring atomic measures, with a cost depending on the masses of each of their atoms.
We prove that modifying the latter model according to Brasco (Ann Mat Pura Appl 189:95-125, 2010), then the two models turn out to be equivalent.


A prototype apparatus was configured and operated to evaluate the efficacy of a process that integrates the absorption of nitric oxide in an aqueous solution of ferrous ethylenediamintetraacetic acid (Fe(II)EDTA) with biological treatment and regeneration of spent scrubber water. In addition to operation of a continuous-flow, closed-loop prototype process, a series of batch reactor tests were conducted to investigate the kinetics of microbially-catalyzed reduction of the nitrosyl adduct of ferrous EDTA and microbially-catalyzed reduction of oxidized ferric EDTA. Denitrifying and strictly anaerobic biomass from a municipal wastewater treatment process was cultivated using ethanol as the primary electron donor and nitrate and ferric EDTA as electron acceptors. Following 42-days of bioreactor start-up, nitric oxide (NO) scrubbed from a counter-current absorption tower replaced nitrate. After 27 days of aclimation, an 80-day period of steady state operation was observed. During steady state operation, mean NO scrubbing efficiency of 97.9% was achieved, process water oxidation/reduction potential (ORP) remained between -75 and -140 mV (vs. Ag/AgCl ref.), and generated biogas was 91% N2, by volume. Biomass in the prototype reactor was flocculent, and traveled throughout the closed-loop process. Because of the constant recirculation of washed-out biomass and low observed biomass yield (0.0393 g VSS/g COD), mass balance showed the prototype process sludge age to be 75.9 days. During steady state operation, biomass was extracted for kinetic batch analyses. Batch reactor kinetic tests revealed that both ferric EDTA and NO reduction proceed as a result of microbially-catalyzed reactions. Microbially-catalyzed reduction of ferric EDTA proceeds according to the Monod kinetic model, while strong inhibition of the microbially-catalyzed reduction of NO•Fe(II)EDTA was observed at ethanol concentrations above 0.33 g COD/l. Based on observed population parameters, including biomass yield, endogenous decay, and substrate utilization rate, the critical mean cell retention time below which wash out of a continuously-stirred bioreactor would occur was found to be 11.7 days and 51.4 days for NO reducers and ferric EDTA reducers, respectively. Experimental results provide insight into conditions required for the successful operation of a process for the biological treatment and regeneration of spent scrubber solution from a NOX absorption process.


This study examined exercise-adherence rates and their predictors across 21 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving older adults (age ≥ 55 years). On average, participants completed 78% of their prescribed exercise bouts. Adherence tended to be greater in strength- and flexibility-exercise training programs (M = 87%) than in aerobic-exercise training programs (M = 75%). The best adherers were individuals who were fitter at baseline, had a history of a physically active lifestyle, were nonsmokers, and had higher exercise self-efficacy. Different variables predicted adherence (a) at different time points in a RCT. (b) to different types of exercise, and (c) to different aspects of the exercise prescription (i.e., frequency, intensity, and duration). The findings suggest that older adults might be more adherent to exercise prescriptions than younger adults are. There is also a need for more theory-based research to examine predictors of adherence to various aspects of the exercise prescription.


Over the last two and a half years we have been demonstrating a new methodology for the design of rotorcraft flight control systems (FCS) to meet handling qualities requirements. This method is based on multicriterion optimization as implemented in the optimization package CONSOL-OPTCAD (C-O). This package has been developed at the Institute for Systems Research (ISR) at the University of Maryland at College Park. This design methodology has been applied to the design of a FCS for the UH-60A helicopter in hover having the ADOCS control structure. The controller parameters have been optimized to meet the ADS-33C specifications. Furthermore, using this approach, an optimal (minimum control energy) controller has been obtained and trade-off studies have been performed.


Equilibrium Propagation (EP) is a biologically inspired learning algorithm for convergent recurrent neural networks, i.e. RNNs that are fed by a static input x and settle to a steady state. Training convergent RNNs consists in adjusting the weights until the steady state of output neurons coincides with a target y. Convergent RNNs can also be trained with the more conventional Backpropagation Through Time (BPTT) algorithm. In its original formulation EP was described in the case of real-time neuronal dynamics, which is computationally costly. In this work, we introduce a discrete-time version of EP with simplified equations and with reduced simulation time, bringing EP closer to practical machine learning tasks. We first prove theoretically, as well as numerically that the neural and weight updates of EP, computed by forward-time dynamics, are step-by-step equal to the ones obtained by BPTT, with gradients computed backward in time. The equality is strict when the transition function of the dynamics derives from a primitive function and the steady state is maintained long enough. We then show for more standard discrete-time neural network dynamics that the same property is approximately respected and we subsequently demonstrate training with EP with equivalent performance to BPTT. In particular, we define the first convolutional architecture trained with EP achieving ~ 1% test error on MNIST, which is the lowest error reported with EP. These results can guide the development of deep neural networks trained with EP.


In this national survey, we assessed how COVID-19 and physical distancing measures affected parent and child well-being. BACKGROUND: As the coronavirus disease pandemic spread across the United States and protective measures to mitigate its impact were enacted, parents and children experienced widespread disruptions in daily life. Our objective with this national survey was to determine how the pandemic and mitigation efforts affected the physical and emotional well-being of parents and children in the United States through early June 2020. METHODS: In June 2020, we conducted a national survey of parents with children age <18 to measure changes in health status, insurance status, food security, use of public food assistance resources, child care, and use of health care services since the pandemic began. RESULTS: Since March 2020, 27% of parents reported worsening mental health for themselves, and 14% reported worsening behavioral health for their children. The proportion of families with moderate or severe food insecurity increased from 6% before March 2020 to 8% after, employer-sponsored insurance coverage of children decreased from 63% to 60%, and 24% of parents reported a loss of regular child care. Worsening mental health for parents occurred alongside worsening behavioral health for children in nearly 1 in 10 families, among whom 48% reported loss of regular child care, 16% reported change in insurance status, and 11% reported worsening food security. CONCLUSIONS: The coronavirus disease pandemic has had a substantial tandem impact on parents and children in the United States. As policy makers consider additional measures to mitigate the health and economic effects of the pandemic, they should consider the unique needs of families with children.


Abstract.
 The improvement in grain yield of wheat throughout Australia through both breeding and management has been impressive. Averaged across all farms, there has been an approximate doubling of yield per unit area since ∼1940. This has occurred across a broad range of environments with different rainfall patterns. Interestingly, the gain in the driest years (9 kg ha–1 year–1 or 0.81% year–1) has been proportionally greater than in the most favourable years (13.2 kg ha–1 year–1 or 0.61% per year) when expressed as yield relative to 2012. These data from all farms suggest that further yield progress is likely, and evidence is presented that improved management practices alone could double this rate of progress. The yield increases achieved have been without any known compromise in grain quality or disease resistance. As expected, improvements have come from both changed management and from better genetics, as well as from the synergy between them. Yield improvements due to changed management have been dramatic and are easiest to quantify, whereas those from breeding have been important but more subtle. The management practices responsible have largely been driven by advances in mechanisation that enable direct seeding, more timely and flexible sowing and nutrient management, and improved weed and pest control, many of which have been facilitated by improved crop sequences with grain legumes and oilseeds that improve water- and nutrient-use efficiency. Most of the yield improvements from breeding in Australia have come from conventional breeding approaches where selection is almost solely for grain yield (together with grain quality and disease resistance). Improvements have primarily been through increased harvest index (HI), although aboveground biomass has also been important. We discuss future opportunities to further increase Australian rainfed wheat yields. An important one is earlier planting, which increases resource capture. This will require knowledge of the genes regulating phenological development so that flowering still occurs at the optimum time; appropriate modifications to sowing arrangements and nutrient management will also be required. To improve yield potential, we propose a focus on physiological traits that increase biomass and HI and suggest that there may be more scope to improve biomass than HI. In addition, there are likely to be important opportunities to combine novel management practices with new breeding traits to capture the synergy possible from variety × management interactions. Finally, we comment on research aimed at adapting agriculture to climate change.


Feeding cattle in intensified settings allows cow-calf producers to decrease their reliance on grazed forage and utilize alternative feedstuffs. During times of intense management, diet type may alter energy utilization. Fourteen pregnant MARC III heifers (405 ± 44 kg BW) were used in a 180 d experiment to determine effects of diet type on nutrient and energy utilization. Heifers were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatments, a forage diet (FOR; 2.10 Mcal metabolizable energy [ME]/kg; 95.75% forage) or a concentrate diet (CONC; 2.94 Mcal ME/kg; 71% concentrate), and individually fed to meet maintenance energy requirements (0.135 Mcal ME/kg BW0.75). The CONC diet contained dry-rolled corn, corn stalks (10.16 cm grind size), soybean meal, corn silage (approximately 45% corn grain; stored in a plastic bag), dicalcium phosphate, urea, and a premix pellet; FOR contained alfalfa hay (harvested at mid-bloom), corn silage, dicalcium phosphate and a premix pellet. Measurements of energy intake and digestibility were measured over a 4-d period on d 116, 172 and 235 of gestation. Using portable headbox calorimeters, measurements of O2, CO2, and CH4 gases were collected over a period of 24 h. Data were analyzed in a completely randomized design with diet as fixed effect. Dry matter and organic matter digestibility were greater for CONC than FOR (P < 0.01). Intake of gross energy (GE) and digestible energy (DE) were greater for FOR (P < 0.01), but by design, ME intake was not different between treatments (P = 0.26). Energy lost as methane (% of GE intake) was not different between treatments (P = 0.49). The ratio of ME to DE was greater for CONC (86.8 vs 82.8; P = 0.01) than FOR. Heat production relative to ME was not different between treatments (P = 0.85). Maternal tissue energy did not differ and was 1.2 Mcal/d for CONC and 0.9 Mcal/d for FOR (P = 0.73). Greater nitrogen (N) consumption was observed for FOR (192.2 g/d) than CONC (134.0 g/d; P < 0.01), and retained N was greater for FOR than CONC (P < 0.01) on d 116 and 235 of gestation. Neither concentrate-based or forage-based diets affected body condition score (P = 0.26). Heifers fed concentrate-based diets retained more energy in part because they had larger calves, but this energy was not recovered in maternal tissue.


The problem of massive fluid injection into a pre-existing fracture has many applications in petroleum industry including underground liquid waste disposal (e.g., hydraulic fracturing wastewater, supercritical CO2) and waterflooding to increase the hydrocarbon recovery from a reservoir. Understanding the conditions leading to the reactivation of pre-existing fractures and ensuing propagation is critical for a successful injection project design, and it may also help to mitigate potential environmental hazards, such as contamination of underground aquifers and induced seismicity. Extensive analytical and numerical studies are carried out to quantify the transient pressurization and breakdown of a pre-existing fracture due to a fluid injection in the context of unconventional hydraulic fracturing when the fluid diffusion can vary over wide range of scales from 1-D to 2-D or 3-D. We establish the range of the problem parameters and injection time when the fluid pressure is approximately uniform along the crack. The pressure uniformity assumption allows for a simpler and more accurate solution method (based on the Green's function approach). As the fracture is pressurized, the condition for the onset of propagation (the breakdown condition) is eventually reached. We quantify how the breakdown depends upon the problem parameters, such as fluid and rock properties, the in-situ stress, and the fluid injection rate. The poroelastic effects on the transient pressurization and initiation of the fracture in a critically over-pressured reservoir (i.e., when the initial reservoir pore pressure p0 is approximately equal to the minimum confining stress σ0) are also investigated. We show that the poroelastic effects will substantially delay the breakdown time compared to the non-poroelastic case when the fracture breakdown occurs at later stages of injection characterized by large-scale (2D) pore pressure perturbation in the reservoir. Finally, we extend the analysis to the transient pressurization of multiple fractures. The results of this study are transportable to the production well test analysis of a fractured well. The history of the transient pressurization prior to breakdown can also be used to provide the initial conditions for the fracture propagation problem.


Abstract. Here we describe the design and testing of PRIZE (PRinted fluidIZed bed gEnerator), a compact fluidized bed aerosol generator manufactured using stereolithography (SLA) printing. Dispersing small quantities of powdered materials – due to either rarity or expense – is challenging due to a lack of small, low-cost dry aerosol generators. With this as motivation, we designed and built a generator that uses a mineral dust or other dry powder sample mixed with bronze beads that sit atop a porous screen. A particle-free airflow is introduced, dispersing the sample as airborne particles. Total particle number concentrations and size distributions were measured during different stages of the assembling process to show that the SLA 3-D printed generator did not generate particles until the mineral dust sample was introduced. Time-series measurements with Arizona Test Dust (ATD) showed stable total particle number concentrations of 10–150 cm−3, depending on the sample mass, from the sub- to super-micrometer size range. Additional tests with collected soil dust samples are also presented. PRIZE is simple to assemble, easy to clean, inexpensive and deployable for laboratory and field studies that require dry particle generation.


Attacks on humans by predators occur worldwide. This paper analyzes several documented and reported attacks in the available literature and discusses the causes and consequences of this type of human-wildlife conflict. We make a characterization of types of attacks and discuss a possible biased report of accidents between developed countries and exotic places with increased ecotourism activities. Finally, we propose a set of major suggestions to minimize both accidents and conflicts with predatory wildlife. We provide here a thorough comprehensive discussion on the following main topics: a) why predators attack humans, b) why accidents are apparently increasing and c) how to better report those accidents in order to make them available for proper study by the scientific community. The need to reduce the number of attacks and conflicts with wildlife is crucial for the safety of populations living close to protected areas, predator conservation and, sustained and safe development of ecotourism.


This thesis studies the way in which travel literature (recits de voyages) influenced the thought and writing of Pierre Bayle, in particular in his Dictionnaire Historique et Critique. We study this work in detail, showing the different uses he makes there of travel literature, and the way in which he very carefully selects the examples which best suit his arguments. Each area of the world is exploited in a specific way - for example the Far East is quoted almost exclusively in support of arguments on persecution and tolerance, whereas the Middle East provides material on a greater variety of topics. Bayle gives information about other nations, which he sometimes criticises and ridicules, but more often he uses recits to attack Europe and European prejudices. We also analyse Bayle's other works, throughout which we note a certain evolution in both his awareness and exploitation of travel literature. In the early works of the 1680s he draws on recits in a fairly limited way - they provide him with a certain number of ideas and arguments, which, however, he does not develop to any great extent. As his writing progresses, though, we see him introducing travel literature more and more, and exploiting fully its considerable potential. Finally, we place Bayle's use of travel literature in context by comparing him with other seventeenth-century writers, studying the frequency with which journals of the time reviewed recits and by looking at lists of recits published during this period. This enables us to show that not only is he quite different from other writers in the extent of his debt to travel literature, but also that his use of this literature reflects faithfully the number and type of recits available.


CADLens is a tangible input device with haptic feedback for navigating three dimensional Computer-Aided Design (CAD) environments. CADLens is intended to provide more intuitive controls with a low barrier of entry for first time or less experienced CAD users. Navigation in the CAD environment is possible through manipulating the physical controller with guidance provided through haptic force feedback. In CAD environments, a common viewport used by designers is the perspective viewport camera - CADLens represents the virtual camera position through its synchronized physical form which the user can move, zoom, and rotate. We conducted a study with 10 users in which participants were asked to complete navigation tasks using a model of a building. Users were able to successfully complete the navigation tasks and through contextual interviews provided feedback for system improvements.


Nearly a century ago, famed educator John Dewey said that ""if we teach today's students as we taught yesterday's, we rob them of tomorrow."" That wisdom resonates more strongly than ever today, and that maxim underlies this insightful look at the present and future of education in the digital age. As Darrell West makes clear, today's educational institutions must reinvent themselves to engage students successfully and provide them with the skills needed to compete in an increasingly global, technological, and online world. Otherwise the American education system will continue to fall woefully short in its mission to prepare the population to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing world. West examines new models of education made possible by enhanced information technology, new approaches that will make public education in the post-industrial age more relevant, efficient, and ultimately more productive. Innovative pilot programs are popping up all over the nation, experimenting with different forms of organization and delivery systems. Digital Schools surveys this promising new landscape, examining in particular personalized learning; real time student assessment; ways to enhance teacher evaluation; the untapped potential of distance learning; and the ways in which technology can improve the effectiveness of special education and foreign language instruction. West illustrates the potential contributions of blogs, wikis, social media, and video games and augmented reality in K-12 and higher education. Technology by itself will not remake education. But if today's schools combine increased digitization with needed improvements in organization, operations, and culture, we can overcome current barriers, produce better results, and improve the manner in which schools function. And we can get back to teaching for tomorrow, rather than for yesterday.


PageRank is a fundamental graph algorithm to evaluate the importance of vertices in a graph. In this paper, we present an efficient parallel PageRank design based on an edge-centric scatter-gather model. To overcome the poor locality of PageRank and optimize the memory performance, we develop a fast and efficient partitioning technique. We first partition all the vertices into non-overlapping vertex sets such that the data of each vertex set can fit in the cache; then we sort the outgoing edges of each vertex set based on the destination vertices to minimize random memory writes. The partitioning technique significantly reduces random accesses to main memory and improves the sustained memory bandwidth by 3×. It also enables efficient parallel execution on multicore platforms; we use distinct cores to execute the computations of distinct vertex sets in parallel to achieve speedup. We implement our design on a 16-core Intel Xeon processor and use various large-scale real-life and synthetic datasets for evaluation. Compared with the PageRank Pipeline Benchmark, our design achieves 12× to 19× speedup for all the datasets.


GEORGIEV, St., St. STAMATOV and M. DESHEV, 2008. Requirements to sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) cultivars breeding for mechanized harvesting. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 14: 616-620 In 2004-2006, a cultivar trial was carried out with 22 Bulgarian sesame lines with indehiscent capsules, tested for 17 morphological and biological indexes such as components of seed production and suitability for mechanical harvesting. It was found that seed yield had a significant positive correlation only with the total number of capsules in a plant and duration of vegetation period. The indexes of stem height, lower and middle stem thickness, number, length and height of branches and capsules on them, related to the suitability of sesame plants for mechanical harvesting, did not correlate directly with the number of capsules per plant and did not affect the formation of seed yield. The higher the stem, the longer the branches, and the larger the number of empty capsules on the top and the total biomass of the plants, while the number of branches and height at first branch from soil surface decreased. This combination of stem indexes did not completely satisfy the requirements and parameters of the mechanized harvesting model without losses. Combining these contradictory requirements in the breeding of highly productive sesame cultivars with indehiscent capsules adapted to mechanize harvesting, can be achieved with reasonable compromise and balance by optimizing plant height and related indexes at the expense of increasing the number of branches and capsules on them.