Abstract : This report examines the relationship between service-oriented architectures (SOAs) and quality attributes. Because software architecture is the bridge between mission/business goals and a software-intensive system, and quality attribute requirements drive software architecture design, it is important to understand how SOAs support these requirements. This report gives a short introduction to SOAs and outlines some of the main business goals that may lead an organization to choose an SOA to design and implement a system. The report outlines a set of quality attributes that may be derived from an organization's business goals and examines how those attributes relate to an SOA. In addition, the report describes how the SOA impacts those attributes and how choosing an SOA can help an organization achieve its business goals.


Statistically based experimental designs were used to construct a mixed-culture community for maximizing the chemical oxygen demand (COD) degradation of pulping effluents by the use of six different strains, i.e., Agrobacterium sp., Bacillus sp., Enterobacter cloacae, Gordonia, Pseudomonas stutzeri, and Pseudomonas putida. Significant effects of single and mixed strains on COD degradation were quantified first by applying a fractional factorial design (FFD) of experiments, and four strains were selected as the main driving factors in the process of biodegradation of effluents. Then the Steepest Ascent method was employed to approach the experimental design space, followed by an application of response surface methodology to further optimize the proportion of cell concentration for different strains in pulping effluent. A quadratic model was found to fit COD removal efficiency. Response surface analysis revealed that the optimum levels of the tested variables for the degradation of COD, and optimized cells concentrations (OD600) of four strains in mixed-culture community were 0.35 Agrobacterium sp., 0.38 Bacillus sp., 0.43 Gordonia sp., and 0.38 P. putid., respectively. In a confirmatory experiment, three test runs were performed by using the optimized conditions, and a COD removal efficiency of (65.3 ± 0.5)% was observed, which was in agreement with the prediction.


At stake in this study is the patient's credibility. The Cartesian philosophical standpoint, which holds sway in western thinking, questions with scepticism whether the reported symptoms are "real." Do they reside in the body, or are they mentally concocted. However, from the caring perspective any symptom must be both listened and attended to in its own right, not just scrutinized as evidence for an accurate diagnosis. In cognitively and emotionally complex high-tech units caregivers are juggling a precarious handful of cards. Technical tasks take precedence or have more urgency than caring behaviour. Assuming an irremediable tension between object–subject and care–cure in nursing is futile dualism. By addressing the essence of technology—the non-neutral and highly visual technology—this paper aims to find, from a philosophical point of view, a more comprehensive understanding for the dominance visualism and technification within intensive care. Screens give us access to vital signs. Screens record numbers and lines that relate to a graph and afford superfine spiked "readings." However, the most relevant vital signs may be missing.


Abstract Nuclear war is clearly a global catastrophic risk, but it is not an existential risk as is sometimes carelessly claimed. Unfortunately, the consequence and likelihood components of the risk of nuclear war are both highly uncertain. In particular, for nuclear wars that include targeting of multiple cities, nuclear winter may result in more fatalities across the globe than the better-understood effects of blast, prompt radiation, and fallout. Electromagnetic pulse effects, which could range from minor electrical disturbances to the complete collapse of the electric grid, are similarly highly uncertain. Nuclear war likelihood assessments are largely based on intuition, and they span the spectrum from zero to certainty. Notwithstanding these profound uncertainties, we must manage the risk of nuclear war with the knowledge we have. Benefit-cost analysis and other structured analytic methods applied to evaluate risk mitigation measures must acknowledge that we often do not even know whether many proposed approaches (e.g., reducing nuclear arsenals) will have a net positive or negative effect. Multidisciplinary studies are needed to better understand the consequences and likelihood of nuclear war and the complex relationship between these two components of risk, and to predict both the direction and magnitude of risk mitigation approaches.


Young driver safety is a high priority in New Zealandrs 10 year road safety strategy, Safer Journeys. A target has been set to reduce the rate of fatalities among young people in New Zealand from 21 per 100,000 to a level closer to Australiars 13 per 100,000 (2008 figures). Under this strategy a number of changes have already been implemented: the licensing age was raised to 16 and the licensing test toughened, a zero alcohol limit for under 20-year olds was introduced in 2011, and policing has been targeted to ensure more young people are driving within their licence conditions. Education and advertising initiatives have also been developed to support these changes, and to encourage more parental involvement and safer vehicle choices. The effects of these legislative, enforcement and education interventions have been monitored and evaluated through changes in road crash patterns, audience reactions to the advertising messages, licence offences committed by young drivers, and surveys of driver knowledge and attitudes. Since the changes have been made, the number of drink-driving offences by teenagers decreased by more than 50 per cent, reported crashes involving young drivers decreased by one-third, and some parents have shown an increased intention to remain part of their teenagersr driving supervision beyond the restricted test. The relationships between these interventions and the results achieved so far will be discussed in this paper.


Tea is one of the world's most widely and frequently consumed beverages. What is more, tea is a drink that, unlike many others, is purported to have a number of health benefits as well. However, to date, there has been surprisingly little published research concerning the crossmodal associations that people have with tea beverages, specifically regarding tea's distinctive hue. In two experiments, we assessed the beverage colors that Chinese tea drinkers associate with different types of tea tasted while blindfolded. The results revealed that the color names that came to our naive assessors' minds typically did not match the color names by which the tea is defined (e.g., red or green), or the actual color of the tea that they had just tasted. As such, the tea drinkers' expectations very often were different from the actual color of the beverage that they happened to taste.

Practical Applications

Tea is often defined by a color name, and the extent to which that name matches the tea drinker's experience is investigated in the present study. Our results provide evidence concerning the crossmodal flavor–color correspondences that may exist for tea. These findings will be of interest to those sensory scientists who are interested in the flavor–color associations of beverages. Considering the global popularity, the purported health benefits and the emergence of high-end tea markets, the findings of the present study are intriguing enough to call for further research on the multisensory marketing of tea in order to align tea drinkers' expectations with their experiences. These findings also have implications for the international marketing of tea, especially for those who are interested in breaking into the Chinese tea market and potentially for those who are interested in promoting Chinese tea in new markets.


This case study draws on the Politwoops case and brings up the question whether politicians' statements on a publicly accessible platform should be treated their private conversations and permanently deleted if the author requires so. This situation is compared with ineffective deletion of non-politicians' personal data. The key question is who and why should have the right to have data deleted from mixed private/public platforms.


Abstract Qatar has high increasing electrical energy demand, from less than 50MW 1954 to 5,250MW in 2010. Electrical energy generating was only 1,500MW in 1995, 4,535MW in 2009, and soon will be 9,000MW. The expected additional capacity needed by 2016 is 5,500MW with high average emission CO2 of 32 tons/capita/year. Qatar has strong solar energy potential, (2070–2250)kWH/m2yr, which could takes place to fulfill the future need energy balance towards Qatar Vision 2030. The mean hourly, daily, monthly and yearly solar irradiation data measured on ground and by satellite collected for several cities such as: Doha, Dukhan, Al-Khor, Ruwais, Abu-Samra, Al-Utoriyah, and Rodhat Al-Faras have been investigated. The measured data on ground is compared with the satellite's data. This preliminary investigation and data analysis could be good preliminary design for "Qatar Solar Atlas". The electrical energy consumption breakdown by sectors: residential, commercial, government, industrial, and the total consumption through (2007–2009) are studied. The residential sector is the highest consumption 35 % while the industrial sector uses less. Residential villa consumes three times residential flat. This sector needs energy auditing to save energy in A/C and lighting energy. The objective of this research is to assist and lead the authority and government to the energy roadmap, energy footprint, Qatar solar atlas, and energy policy to secure energy future with minimizing energy demand and presenting the solar energy potential. In this research the energy demand and energy forecasting for the nearest future to achieve Qatar Vision 2030 are presented. The energy required to be installed is addressed with emphasize on the solar energy potential with gradually application using mature and proven solar technology. Several scenarios to present Qatar forecasting electrical power demand to 2024 as base case, low and high expected values is presented. The peak expected load through 2022 world football club is considered.


In this study, we apply the morphosyntactic 4-M model developed by Myers-Scotton and Jake (2000a, b) to data from Kabuverdianu or Cape Verdean Creole Portuguese (CVC) which has been less strongly restructured than so-called prototypical creoles.1 We focus on nominal plural marking where CVC presents similar morphosyntactic configurations as Brazilian Vernacular Portuguese (BVP) and the Portuguese spoken by the "Tongas". Previous accounts of CVC and BVP nominal plural marking mention the occurrence of (at least) one inflectional marker per NP. We argue that the reduction of inflectional plural marking in CVC constitutes a case of overall loss of morphosyntactic complexity which is due to CVC having arisen through substantial reduction and restructuring during creolisation and to having shallow time-depth of existence in comparison to older languages, e.g., its lexifier Portuguese. We also argue that 4-M theory may constitute a useful diagnostic tool for the prediction of the configurations of complexity vs. simplification in cases of language reduction.


Bundles of dormant wood were submerged in water (45˚C for 45 min or 50˚C for 15 min), or were wrapped in moist cloth, placed inside zip-locked bags and submerged for 3—6 h or treated with one of three GRAS chemicals or untreated (two bundles per treatment). Scion wood was grafted onto 'M9' rootstocks then planted in a randomised order, with growth assessed after 16 weeks. Two of the GRAS treatments and submersion at 45˚C for either 45 min or 3 h in a bag did not significantly affect viability compared with the untreated control (83—95% viable). Submersion at 50˚C for 15 min reduced viability significantly (70%). Scions did not survive exposure to 50˚C for 3—5 h in bags (P<0.001).  No significant differences in mean scion shoot length were observed between the untreated wood (107 cm) and that submerged in 45˚C water for 45 min, 3 h in a bag, or GRAS-treated. Wood treated at 45˚C for 5—6 h in a bag or at 50˚C for 15 min had significantly shorter shoots (54—75 cm, P<0.001). Dormant 'Fuji' wood remained viable after treatments known to eliminate pathogens from wood.


A base-isolated building can have a small horizontal eccentricity between the center of mass of the superstructure and the center of rigidity of the supporting bearings. The structure can be modeled as a rigid block with tributary masses supported on massless rubber bearings placed at a constant elevation below the center of mass. Perturbation methods are implemented to find the dynamic characteristics for both the detuned and the perfectly tuned cases. The Green's functions for the displacement response of the system are derived for the undamped and the damped conditions. The response spectrum modal superposition method is used in estimating the maximum acceleration. A simple method, accounting for the effect of closely spaced modes, is proposed for combining modal maxima and results in an approximate single-degree-of-freedom solution. The approximate solution may be used for the preliminary design of a base-isolated structure. Numerical results for a base-isolated building subjected to the vertical component of the El Centro earthquake of 1940 were carried out for comparison with analytical results. It is shown that the effect of rocking coupling on the vertical seismic response of base-isolated structures can generally be neglected because of the combined effects of the time lag between the maximum translational and rotational responses and the influence of damping in the isolation system.


This master thesis was carried out during the spring semester of 2014 at Department of Marine Technology in Norwegian University of Science and Technology. It was a continuous work of the master project during autumn semester 2013. The tasks of this thesis were given by Aker Solutions Umbilicals. The background of this thesis is that the dynamic IPC umbilical was delivered by Aker Solutions in Africa. In this thesis the central concerns were to perform bending fatigue analyses of the umbilical cross section and to propose strategies to calculate the fatigue life given the histogram of curvatures with corresponding frequencies of occurrence. Furthermore, parameter studies including meant tension, tension frequency, bending frequency and lay angle were carried out to find the critical parameter with respect to the fatigue life of the umbilical. This topic is important within the field of oil and gas because umbilicals are always exposed to dynamic(cyclic) loading, and inspection after installation is impossible. Finite element software USAP was utilized to perform bending fatigue analyses. The developed model in USAP was applied in order to obtain the force-time relationship and moment-force relationship. Then, the strategy of fatigue life calculation was proposed based on the results from finite element analyses and Miner's rule. The necessary input data were from Aker Solutions Umbilicals. The overall conclusion is that the model made in USAP is capable of performing bending fatigue analysis taking friction between PVC profile and the other components into account for simple cases. Mean tension and lay angle are critical parameters for the fatigue performance of copper conductors in the umbilical cross section. The results achieved were in agreement with the accepted knowledge. However, more studies are needed in the future on parameter study of lay angle, because there exists some monotonous relation between the lay angle and the stress in a certain small interval of the lay angle, but non monotonous relation in large interval. The sequence of loadings is also required to be studied in the future. Further, the validity of these findings should be verified through full scale tests.


Light from 'point sources' such as supernovae is observed with a beam width of the order of the sources' size – typically less than 1 au. Such a beam probes matter and curvature distributions that are very different from coarse-grained representations in N-body simulations or perturbation theory, which are smoothed on scales much larger than 1 au. The beam typically travels through unclustered dark matter and hydrogen with a mean density much less than the cosmic mean, and through dark matter haloes and hydrogen clouds. Using N-body simulations, as well as a Press–Schechter approach, we quantify the density probability distribution as a function of beam width and show that, even for Gpc-length beams of 500 kpc diameter, most lines of sight are significantly underdense. From this we argue that modelling the probability distribution for au-diameter beams is absolutely critical. Standard analyses predict a huge variance for such tiny beam sizes, and non-linear corrections appear to be non-trivial. It is not even clear whether underdense regions lead to dimming or brightening of sources, owing to the uncertainty in modelling the expansion rate which we show is the dominant contribution. By considering different reasonable approximations which yield very different cosmologies, we argue that modelling ultra-narrow beams accurately remains a critical problem for precision cosmology. This could appear as a discordance between angular diameter and luminosity distances when comparing supernova observations to baryon acoustic oscillations or cosmic microwave background distances.


Trigger points are discrete, focal, hyperirritable spots located in a taut band of skeletal muscle. They produce pain locally and in a referred pattern and often accompany chronic musculoskeletal disorders. Acute trauma or repetitive microtrauma may lead to the development of stress on muscle fibers and the formation of trigger points. Patients may have regional, persistent pain resulting in a decreased range of motion in the affected muscles. These include muscles used to maintain body posture, such as those in the neck, shoulders, and pelvic girdle. Trigger points may also manifest as tension headache, tinnitus, temporomandibular joint pain, decreased range of motion in the legs, and low back pain. Palpation of a hypersensitive bundle or nodule of muscle fiber of harder than normal consistency is the physical finding typically associated with a trigger point. Palpation of the trigger point will elicit pain directly over the affected area and/or cause radiation of pain toward a zone of reference and a local twitch response. Various modalities, such as the Spray and Stretch technique, ultrasonography, manipulative therapy and injection, are used to inactivate trigger points. Trigger-point injection has been shown to be one of the most effective treatment modalities to inactivate trigger points and provide prompt relief of symptoms.


Homicide followed by the suicide of the offender is a well-known phenomenon. In most cases, it takes place in the context of the so-called "family tragedies." A recent series of such family tragedies in Switzerland prompted an intensive debate in the media and the Swiss government concerning the Swiss Weapon Law, in particular the requirement to keep personal army weapons at home. The present study of Homicide-Suicide cases in Switzerland, thus focuses on the role played by guns, especially military weapons, in such crimes. We investigated retrospectively 75 cases of Homicide-Suicide, comprising 172 individuals and spanning a period of 23 years in western and central Switzerland. Our results show that if guns were used in 76% of the cases, army weapons were the cause of death in 25% of the total. In 28% of the deaths caused by a gunshot, the exact type of the gun and its origin could not be determined. Thus, the majority of Homicide-Suicide cases in Switzerland involve the use of guns. The exact percentage of cases were military weapons were involved could not be defined. In our opinion, a stricter weapons law, restricting access to firearms, would be a factor of prevention of Homicide- Suicide cases in Switzerland.


Representative food consumption data for children are collected in KiESEL, the German nutrition survey for children aged 6 months up to five years conducted by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). The data gained will update the consumption data for German children and will fill a data gap that existed for the age group of 5-year-old children. It will provide an actual and comprehensive data basis that will be used for exposure assessment, as part of risk assessment of Germany's youngest consumers. In the years 2014 to 2017, around 1,000 children will participate in the context of the KiESEL module of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS). During home visits, survey staff conducts a questionnaire-based interview, measures the children's height and weight and explains the weighing records for the family and the child care workers. The data will be used for risk assessments of the BfR and provided to national and international partners such as the World Health Organization. This article describes the background and objectives of the study as well as its methodology and survey instruments.


Chocolate calms the mind, yet excites the senses. Chocolate also unites cultures. Chocolat (2000), a movie about a small town French chocolate shop, made millions internationally. Starring actors contributed partly to the film's success but the film also drew salivating viewers worldwide to the multiple applications of chocolate. With its stimulant properties, chocolate generally makes people feel good. Chocolate may also inspire creativity. For example, every day biologists can use chocolate's fortunate property of appearing in different shapes, sizes, and compositions to help students understand basic principles of evolution. Few students have visited the Galapagos to see Darwin's finches, but nearly all have sampled a variety of chocolate bars. Using chocolate as a "model organism" can make understanding key elements of evolution more palatable to the student. Chocolate represents an ideal model for exploration because it comes in many variations, some of which make good choices for describing evolutionary history and some of which change too much to be useful. In addition, a little Web research produces a timeline for the debut of different candies (Figure 1) that can lend insight into the construction of evolutionary trees. Figure 1. abridged history of the chocolate bar and candies. * 1890 George A. Bayle Jr., of St. Louis, Missouri, packages peanut butter in barrels and sells it for six cents a pound. * 1900 Milton S. Hershey of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, introduces the first Hershey's[R] Milk chocolate bar. * 1903 George Washington carver researches uses for peanuts. Peanut butter introduction to the world occurs a year later at the Universal Exposition in St. Louis. * 1920 Baby Ruth[R] candy bar is first sold, named for President Grover Cleveland's daughter. * 1928 Hershey introduced peanut butter cups later named after Harry Burnett (H.B.) Reese, a former dairy employee. * 1930 M & M/Mars introduces the SNICKERS[R] Bar, named for a favorite horse owned by the Mars family. One candy bar costs a nickel. * 1941 M & M'S[R] Plain Chocolate Candies (later M & M'S[R] milk chocolate Candies) introduced. * 1954 M & M'S[R] Peanut Candies introduced. * 1978 REESE'S PIECES candy is introduced. * 1982 REESE'S PIECES candy makes its big screen debut as "E.T.'s" favorite candy in the movie E.T., The Extra Terrestrial. * 1981 A European favorite since 1974, SKITTLES[R] Bite Size Candies are introduced in the U.S. by M & M/MARS. * 2001 SNICKERS[R] Cruncher premiers. * 2002 SNICKERS[R] with Almond Bars replace Mars Bar. * 2004 M & M'S[R] and chocolate bar merge into M-Azing[R] Crunchy and Peanut Butter versions. Sources: National Confectioners Association (http://www.candyusa.org/ Classroom/timeline.asp), http://www.peanutbutterlovers.com/history/, MM. All candies are registered trademarks. Teaching Evolution The theory of evolution (for bold words, see Figure 2, Glossary) is unfortunately and undeservingly fraught with controversy (Scott & Branch, 2003; Langen, 2004); most of it political (Weis, 2001). Despite its acceptance by the scientific community as the theory that explains how organisms change through time, innumerable debates flourish about when, where, or even why to teach evolution (NAS, 1998; Bybee, 2002). Still, even after one is undeniably convinced of the merits of teaching evolution, the practicality of such a task can be daunting and pose its own unique challenges (Bybee, 2001). Communicating such a monumentally critical theory as evolution may take on its own sense of arduousness, especially when sharing such ideas with newly-minted undergraduates or high school students who may or may not have experienced a progressive biology curriculum (Bybee, 2001; Langen, 2004). …


The Funding Statement for this article [1] states that the study received funding from the Smoking Research Foundation, which according to [2] has received financial support from the tobacco industry. In light of this issue the PLOS ONE article [1] does not comply with the journal's policy on Funding from Tobacco Companies [3] which was implemented in 2010. Therefore, the PLOS ONE Editors issue this Expression of Concern. We regret that this concern was not identified and addressed prior to the article's [1] publication.


This paper examines the patterns of land use in Australia, tracing the transition from pre-European settlement through to the twenty first century. A critical examination of the concepts of modernism and tradition reveals the shifting prevalence of these movements throughout history, and the resulting struggle between them. By focusing on the area which formerly comprised Rouse Hill Farm in Sydney's northwest, this paper reveals the factors which drove European progress and which now challenge this notion.


Behavioural and interpersonal skills most often cited as essential for successful knowledge management (acquisition). Unfortunately, little is known about the roles played by leadership in the process of knowledge acquisition. A survey of 227 persons who are, or have been engaged in knowledge acquisition activities was undertaken to investigate the relationship between different leadership style dimensions and a number of knowledge acquisition attributes. Results indicate that the leadership styles that involve human interaction and encourage participative decision‐making processes are positively related to the skills and traits that are essential for knowledge management.


There is limited research on the use of the bass guitar in music therapy. This study explored the use of the bass guitar as a clinical instrument from a music-centered perspective in clinical work with individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders and emotional challenges. Data were collected from filming individual music therapy sessions with three participants. Each participant had four sessions of music therapy. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Five themes which reflect the interventions and social processes within music-centered work with the bass were identified: following the client's lead, grounding, client and therapist as rhythm section, client and therapist as soloist and accompanist, and co-creative thematic development. These themes provided structure for further examining the role of the bass within clinical interventions. Clinical descriptions of musical interactions, with audio excerpts, are included to show how the bass guitar was used within improvisational interventions within each theme, as well as to provide context for clinical techniques and roles within the music. Understanding the role of the bass and its aesthetic qualities within the musical process can contribute to providing effective interventions, supporting the role of the client, and facilitating further development in music when working within these themes.


Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy (FCMD) is one of the congenital muscular dystrophies, showing central nervous system (CNS) and ocular lesions, in addition to muscular dystrophy. It is included in α -dystroglycanopathy, an entity of muscular dystrophies caused by reduced glycosylation of α -dystroglycan ( α -DG). Studies of ocular lesions are not so many, compared with those of the muscle and CNS. Clinical ocular manifestations are myopia, strabismus, retinal detachment, and so on. Since the retina has a structure partly resembling the cerebral cortex, pathological findings similar to those found in the brain have been reported. The major observation considered to be involved in the pathogenesis of retinal lesions is abnormalities in the internal limiting membrane formed by Müller cells, which is corresponding to the glia limitans formed by astrocytes in the brain. Fukutin, responsible for FCMD, and α -DG are expressed in Müller cells. Moreover, fukutin may be involved in synaptic functions of retinal neurons through the glycosylation of α -DG. In this chapter, ocular lesions of fetal and child FCMD patients are presented, especially focusing on pathological findings of the retina, and functions of fukutin are discussed.


Trainers and developers of school leaders across the globe are currently searching for models of best practice leadership development programmes. Are there generic features and principles of design underpinning such programmes? This article argues that corroborative evidence of what works in leadership training and development – to influence principals' knowledge, skills, values and behaviours – is now emerging. It describes a model of best practice in Hong Kong called Blue Skies, founded on and derived from a body of international research-based evidence from successful principal leadership programmes, together with evaluation evidence from another recent Hong Kong leadership programme. First, however, the policy background to leadership preparation in Hong Kong since 1990 is outlined. This is followed by an explanation of the structure for school leader training and development established by the Hong Kong Government since 2000. It is argued that with the structure in place, attention has been able to shift to the design principles of effective leadership programmes that maximize leader learning. Designs based on research evidence of what works emphasize, inter alia, learning linked to real school contexts, substantial involvement of trained and experienced principals as mentors, flexibility to meet diverse needs, multiple opportunities for reflection, and cohort bonding and networking – all of which form the platform for Blue Skies.


We study the behavior of untrained neural networks whose weights and biases are randomly distributed using mean field theory. We show the existence of depth scales that naturally limit the maximum depth of signal propagation through these random networks. Our main practical result is to show that random networks may be trained precisely when information can travel through them. Thus, the depth scales that we identify provide bounds on how deep a network may be trained for a specific choice of hyperparameters. As a corollary to this, we argue that in networks at the edge of chaos, one of these depth scales diverges. Thus arbitrarily deep networks may be trained only sufficiently close to criticality. We show that the presence of dropout destroys the order-to-chaos critical point and therefore strongly limits the maximum trainable depth for random networks. Finally, we develop a mean field theory for backpropagation and we show that the ordered and chaotic phases correspond to regions of vanishing and exploding gradient respectively.


Hardly a day goes by without some media reference by teachers, parents and the general community at large, to disruptive behaviour in schools. This reported increase in disruptive behaviour has been attributed to a number of factors. The main one, it is argued, is a marked breakdown in student-teacher relationships in many western countries. Teachers have been de-skilled by social changes
... so profound, so rapid, and so extensive [which] have taken place in education that we have a veritable education revolution in these times. Few people realise as well as our teachers the reason for the changes which all of us are experiencing in all phases of life. The teachers recognise they are due primarily to the transition from an autocratic to a democratic society (Dreikurs 1955, quoted by Balson, 1993, p. vi).
According to Balson (1993), disruptive behaviour reflects the inability of teachers to adapt to this post-war transition. Traditionally the lines of authority between teachers and students were very clear. Students were punished, sometimes severely, for their inappropriate behaviour. School principals had, and in some cases still have, the legal authority to use corporal punishment towards their students. Balson suggests that the problem facing teachers is not of their own making. It reflects the loss of the traditional authoritarian status, which reaffirmed their right to control the behaviour of students.
[This change] places the teachers of today in a dire predicament because the traditional methods, the only ones they know, no longer work and new ones are not known. This creates confusion in both children and adults (Balson, 1993, p. vii).
Rationale and methodology
One of the key requirements for securing a classroom in which on-task learning can take place is an absence of misbehaviour, and a great deal of energy is expended in securing this state of affairs.
During my early teaching experience, I had been able to secure a happy and productive relationship with my students without a specific discipline plan. When appointed as a senior teacher, I was expected to demonstrate competence in my own class as well as sharing responsibility for discipline throughout the school. The Assertive Discipline (AD) style [see Canter, 1976] adopted in the school conflicted with my teaching philosophy and prior experience. Moreover, it appeared to have only limited success in the school as a whole, suggesting that a behaviour control strategy might not be effective in the longer term. I subsequently transferred to a school with a more cooperative approach to behaviour management, more in keeping with my natural style.
These experiences led me to seek explanations for my preferences by exploring the principles and relative effectiveness of different behaviour management models. I therefore conducted the literature review which follows. This stressed the importance of social skills, the necessity to structure the learning experience of students to take this into account and to examine the curriculum, ethos and teaching style within my classroom in this context.
Group work was a common feature of my teaching, but the literature has alerted me to the need to structure this more formally to ensure that each individual achieves academic and social targets within the group, and is not simply allowed to 'coast' in the shade of his/her more able or more confident peers. I therefore implemented a short programme of structured social skilling and cooperative learning activities in my classroom, to examine the practical implications of social skilling in a cooperative learning environment.
The assumption underlying this action research is that its value lies in the extent to which it supports my practical judgement and increases my capacity to reflect systematically upon the complex situations which I confront in my teaching life (Elliott, 1 98 1).
Chapter 2 of this paper examines some theories of student behaviour and three approaches to behaviour management: the interventionist, the non-interventionist and the interactionist models. The key elements and the implications of each approach for classroom teachers and the students in their care are considered in turn.
Chapter 3 discusses social skills and the ways in which they may be developed and explores cooperative learning strategies which may be used in classrooms to enhance and develop social skills which have already been encountered by most of the students in their family and school relationships.
Chapter 4 reports a case-study which seeks to explore the structured introduction of cooperative learning as part of a social skilling strategy with a Grade 5/6 class. Data were collected over a six-week period to illustrate the process that has been implemented.
Chapter 5 concludes that, despite the brevity of the study, there was some evidence that students became more socially aware and more skilled, as demonstrated by collaboration between wider groups of students and more on-task behaviour. This may be partly due to the consistency between the cooperative learning activities and the interactionist classroom style.


ABSTRACT Business intelligence (BI) technologies have received much attention from both academics and practitioners, and the emerging field of business analytics (BA) is beginning to generate academic research. However, the impact of BI and the relative importance of BA on corporate performance management (CPM) have not yet been investigated. To address this gap, we modeled a CPM framework based on the Integrative model of IT business value and on information processing theory. Data were collected from a global survey of senior managers in 337 companies. Findings suggest that the more effective the BI implementation, the more effective the CPM-related planning and analytic practices. BI effectiveness is strongly related to BA, planning and to measurement. In contrast, BA effectiveness is strongly related to planning but less so to measurement. The study suggests that although both BI and BA contribute to corporate management practices, the information needs are different based on the level of uncertainty versus ambiguity characteristic of the management practice.


In February 1998 the New Zealand Government distributed the draft code of social and family responsibility as a public discussion document. The code addressed eleven social issues and called for public responses to the document. In assuming the document constitutes political communication we have used discourse analysis to examine its rhetoric in terms of practical ideologies. Focussing on subject positioning, discourses and warranting devices we identify the constraints of economic rationalist discourse in constructing notions of social and family responsibility. We conclude that the code relies on individualised constructions of social problems and their solutions. Early in 1998 the National/New Zealand First coalition government printed 1.4 million copies of a booklet Toward a Code of Social and Family; Responsibility: Public Discussion Document, February 1998. A copy was delivered to every home in the country. The booklet purported to stimulate public discussion on eleven issues including welfare, health, education and employment. Readers were invited to discuss these matters and forward written responses to the Department of Social Welfare. The response rate of 6.7% yielded an impressive (by the standards of most social scientists) 94,303 responses, limited analysis of which is provided in a 125 summary document available on the web (www.dsw.govt.nz/comms/ publications.htm). Not all reaction to the code took place through the official channels. The day public submissions closed was marked by protests involving a wide range of community groups (Alley, 1998). The protesters accused the government of a fiscally driven attack aimed at beneficiaries and other already marginalised groups. Weeks prior to the closure of public submissions social scientists had attacked the code, and a group of psychotherapists criticised the code for the effects it was likely to have on those who were already victims and/or marginalised in some way. The debate and controversy surrounding the code included two main critiques, one concerned with the content of the code, and the other with the `consultation process' in which it claimed to engage. In relation to the code's content, community groups and individuals expressed alarm at the extent to which the document focussed on those receiving welfare support. It was suggested that "the code will create two tiers of law or regulation in New Zealand - one for workers and one for those receiving state support" (Shaw cited in Mathews, 1998, p. 7). Concern about the code's lack of attention to bicultural and multicultural issues was also expressed. Thickpenny (1998), spokesperson for the New Zealand Psychological Society, commented that the document ignored Treaty implications and multicultures within New Zealand. In addition, "the Code is blatantly directed at individuals and families when the issues raised are essentially government driven" (p. 25). It appears clear that a number of commentators (for example, Boston, Dalziel & St John, 1999) saw the notion of `social' responsibility presented in the code as minimising government responsibility and reducing the `social' to individual and parental responsibility. Indeed, Boston (1998) suggests the code is misnamed as seven of the eleven expectations are parental responsibilities. Reservations about the process of consultation were also expressed, with Thickpenny (1998) suggesting that the techniques for collecting and analysing responses were flawed in both research design and methodology. Visiting deputy-director of the London-based Institute of Public Policy Research, Anna Coote (cited in Mathews, 1998) criticised the process, suggesting that "the Government has earned 0 out of 10 for the way it has carried out consultation for the code" (p. 7). We share the concerns of these commentators in relation to the content of the code and the process of `consultation'. But as social psychologists, we are more concerned with the effects of the code in making the practical ideologies supporting economic rationalist conceptions of `the social', `the individual', `the family' and `responsibility' more widely accessible and legitimate within the New Zealand sociopolitical context. …


OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the clinical management of type 2 diabetes in the Eeyou Istchee communities of northern Quebec.

STUDY DESIGN
Retrospective quality assurance audit.

METHODS
Patients with diabetes were identified using the Cree Diabetes Information System. Charts of eligible patients were audited for healthcare visits, glycemic control, blood pressure, lipid profile, pharmacological treatment and complications for the 2006 calendar year. Analyses were performed to assess the association of disease duration, age, target glycemic and blood pressure control with diabetes complications.

RESULTS
Half of the patients (49.7%) achieved target HbA1c, 53.6% had a blood pressure of ≤130/80 and 58.7% had an LDL of ≤2.5 mmol/L. The proportion of patients meeting all 3 targets was low at 17.1%. The mean number of diabetes-related clinic visits was high, with an average of 3.9 visits to a physician and an average of 8.7 visits to a registered nurse. Of patients with a documented diabetic complication, 39.4% of patients were not being managed with an ACE/ARB and 48.2% of patients were not prescribed a statin.

CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest a possible treatment gap for risk factors and complications management. To circumvent further increases in diabetes-related complications, emphasis should be placed on improved healthcare worker training, greater use of clinical management and patient education tools and improved communication during the diabetes-related clinical visits. Development of a culturally appropriate multidisciplinary approach towards improved understanding of diabetes and multifactorial risk management for diabetic patients is essential for the prevention of diabetic complications.


The growth of outsourcing in apparel manufacturing has raised concerns about increasingly exploitative working conditions. Given the failure of existing enforcement mechanisms, we need to look to alternate institutional structures to address the global challenge of declining labor standards. This paper examines the case of Better Factories Cambodia (BFC), a public–private partnership (PPP) that has effectively protected workers' rights through collaboration between the Government of Cambodia, the International Labour Organization, and multi‐national apparel firms. Prior to the BFC, none of these actors was able to independently draw up and enforce stronger standards through effective monitoring. In collaboration, however, this mix of private, state, and inter‐governmental organizations have been able to achieve the twin goals of stronger labor protections and effective enforcement by building on each partner's distinct organizational strengths. While this case may have broader relevance, its successes are tempered by dependence on a single industry and on buyers' preferences for inspected production sites. Further, similar partnerships may not emerge without strong state intervention to demonstrate their positive outcomes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


R esearch was aimed to determine nitrogen balance, microbial protein synthesis, and blood metabolites of male Bali cattle fattening fed ration with different protein level in smallholder farms North Central Timor, Province of East Timor Tenggara, Indonesia. The cattle used were 18 heads aged 2 to 2.5 years with initial body weight of 229.86±12.46 kg. The cattle were randomly divided into three treatment groups. The T 0 group was given feed the same as traditional fattening cattle practices by farmers , T 1 group fed ration contain ing 12% crude protein ( CP) and 72% total digestible nutrients (TDN ), and T 2 group fed ration contain ing 15% CP and 72% TDN . C attle were fed individually for 90 days and drinking water ad libitum . The data were analyzed by analysis of variance. Results of research indicated the nitrogen balance, and blood urea nitrogen between T 1 and T 2 were relatively similar, but those were higher (P<0.05) than T 0 . In contrast, microbial proteins synthesis, and blood glucose at 0, 4, and 6 hours before and after feeding were relatively similar between the groups. Blood glucose of T 2 at 2 hours after intake were higher (P <0.05) than T 0 , but was not different with T 1 . It can be concluded, that the fattening male Bali cattle fed r ation containing 12 % CP and 72% TDN improve d the nitrogen balance and blood metabolites, but it was no positive effect on the microbial proteins and N synthesis.


This Article assesses the possibilities for collaborative law (CL) to promote problem-solving negotiation and analyzes the operation and effect of the CL disqualification agreement (DA), which CL leaders hold as essential to the process. In CL, the lawyers and clients agree to negotiate from the outset of the case using a problem-solving approach. Under CL theory, the process creates a metaphorical "container" by using a DA disqualifying both lawyers from representing their clients if either party chooses to proceed in litigation. This Article argues that much CL theory and practice is valuable, including protocols of early commitment to negotiation, interest-based joint problem-solving, collaboration with professionals in other disciplines, and intentional development of a new legal culture through activities of local practice groups. Although the DA is undoubtedly helpful in many cases, it also can invite abuse by inappropriately or excessively pressuring some parties to settle when it would be in their interest to litigate. It is unclear whether the DAs violate rules of professional conduct governing withdrawal of attorneys. This Article encourages courts and ethics committees to permit people to use them unless and until there is evidence that they produce a significant risk of serious harm. The Article also urges CL practitioners to experiment with "cooperative negotiation," i.e., using CL techniques without the DAs. CL groups should cooperate with empirical researchers to determine how much the benefits of CL are caused by these agreements as compared with other aspects of the process.


Title of dissertation: DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF COMMUNICATION SCHEMES VIA POLAR CODING Talha Cihad Gulcu Doctor of Philosophy, 2015 Dissertation directed by: Professor Alexander Barg Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Institute for System Research Polar codes, introduced by Arikan in 2009, gave the first solution to the problem of designing explicit coding schemes that attain Shannon capacity of several basic models of communication channels. This discovery made it possible to attain theoretical limits of communication in a number of other problems of data compression and multi-user communication as well as provided new perspectives on extremal configurations of some discrete-time random walks. This thesis is devoted to the design of communication protocols for several basic information-theoretic problems as well to the problem of efficient construction of polar codes. In the first part we consider the problem of optimizing the amount of data transmitted between two terminals performing interactive computation of a function. Informationtheoretic limits for one model of interactive computation were found in recent literature. We consider the distributed source coding problem that arises in the analysis of this model, designing a polar coding scheme that serves the basis for the distributed computation. As a result, it becomes possible to attain the smallest possible rate of data exchange between the terminals using an explicit protocol of encoding and data exchange that supports reliable computation of the function by both parties. We also extend our considerations to a multi-terminal variation of this problem. Secondly, we turn to the problem of communication between two parties over a link observed by an adversary, known as the "wiretap channel." Explicit capacity-achieving schemes for various models of the wiretap channel have received significant attention in recent literature. In this work, we address the general model of the channel, removing the constraints on the channels adopted in the earlier works. We show that secrecy capacity of the wiretap channel under a "strong secrecy constraint" can be achieved using an explicit scheme based on polar codes. We also extend our construction to the case of the broadcast channel with confidential messages due to Csiszar and Korner, achieving the entire capacity region of this communication model. In the last part of the thesis we consider the problem of efficient construction of polar codes. While Arikan's scheme is explicit, his original proposal suffers from high construction complexity which grows exponentially with the number of evolution steps. An approximation procedure for binary-input channels was proposed and analyzed in the literature. Here we propose and study a construction algorithm for polar codes with arbitrarily-sized input alphabets. We establish a complexity estimate of the algorithm and derive an estimate of the approximation error that ensues from its use. The approximation error reduces the gap to the recently established lower bound for this type of algorithms. The validity of the proposed algorithm is supported by experimental results. DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF COMMUNICATION SCHEMES VIA POLAR CODING by Talha Cihad Gulcu Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2015 Advisory Committee: Professor Alexander Barg, Chair/Advisor Professor Prakash Narayan Professor Anthony Ephremides Professor Behtash Babadi Professor Leonid Koralov c © Copyright by Talha Cihad Gulcu 2015


Purpose: To develop and validate a technique to determine the integral depth dose (IDD) from the measured profiles and peak doses of proton pencil beam spots (PPBS). Methods and Materials: The IDDs of 72.5, 146.4 and 221.8 MeV energy PPBS were determined by area integration of their planar dose distributions at different depths. The transverse lateral profiles of the PPBS at selected depths in water were measured by using small volume ion chambers using a beam scanning system. The peak spot dose, D0, was determined by different experimental methods using ion chamber and diode. The extent of anisotropy in spot dose distribution was determined by comparing profiles from film dosimetry along different angles with the principal axes. The IDD was calculated by integrating the measured lateral profiles and the corresponding D0. The IDDs were also measured using PTW Bragg peak chamber (BPC), designed for this purpose, and were compared with the calculated values. Results: The spot dose distributions were found to be isotropic. The magnitude of difference in the calculated and BPC measured IDDs was found to be as much as 15.7% for the lower energy spots, and decreased with increase in beam energy. This difference is mainly due to the size limitation of the BPC. The contribution from the tail region of profiles increases with decrease in beam energy, and the BPC chamber size is not large enough to account for the contribution of these long tails. Correction factors for the BPC size effect on the measured IDD were determined from our calculation. Conclusion: The technique of area integration of profile is found to be useful for determining the IDD values of PPBS, which are important input parameters for beam modeling in the treatment planning system, with reasonable accuracy. Conflict of Interest Statement: Research sponsored by Varian Medical Systems.


Objective: The inclusion of popular reading titles among academic and health sciences libraries is heavily discussed in the library literature. A popular reading collection containing health sciences related leisure reading titles was created in July of 2011. Our health sciences library set out to determine how the new collection was utilized through the analysis of the books' circulation statistics and a review of the collection's cost-to-benefit ratio.

Methods: Circulation statistics will be analyzed in multiple areas to determine the role that this book type has within the overall collection. Areas of discussion will include the time of year for most frequent checkout of the books, the total number of checkouts of the books over the life of the collection, the total cost of the collection, and a review of the titles with the most checkouts and renewals to date.

Results/Conclusion:
The analysis of this data will represent a quantitative and comprehensive look at the value of popular reading collection to the patrons of our health sciences library. Popular reading books are of high value to the patrons at our library and come at a low cost to our collections budget. The library looks to continue and expand upon this collection in order to continue to serve our patrons in this nontraditional way.


As Patient Experience Journal has continued to contribute to the expanding patient experience conversation, we too recognize this has been a significant year of progress for the patient experience movement. This progress has emerged in a number of ways in research, practice and programs that reveal a comprehensive and integrated approach is now more than ever a central consideration in a commitment to experience. This idea of interwoven efforts, begins to frame an image – a patchwork of clear, critical and comprehensive pieces that while operating distinctly each have value, yet when bringing them together have an exponential opportunity to impact healthcare. The case here in raising the imagery of a patchwork is to acknowledge both the chaos and beauty of healthcare, recognize the individuality of various efforts and their power in coming together and to make the case that under this umbrella of experience we can create powerful alignment and purposeful grounding for focused action in moving forward. The idea that experience is the soft stuff of healthcare must come to an end for as intricate and challenging as the science of healthcare is, there may be no more complex opportunity than that of tackling the human experience in healthcare overall.


Abstract: This paper discusses how the capitalist media industry has been structurally transformed in the age of digital communications. It takes an approach that is grounded in the Marxian critique of the political economy of the media. It draws a distinction between media capital, media-oriented capital, media infrastructure capital and media-external capital as the forms of capital in the media industry. The article identifies four capital strategies that media capital tends to use in order to try to maximise profits: a) The substitution of "old" by "new" media technology, b) the introduction of new transmission channels for "old" media products, c) the definition of new property rights for media sectors and networks, d) the reduction of production and transaction costs. The drive to profit maximization is at the heart of the capitalist media industry's structural transformation. This work also discusses the tendency to the universalization of the media system in the digital age and the economic contradictions arising from it. It identifies activity fields of the media industry's structural transformation and shows how the concentration of the capitalist media markets is an essential, contradictory and inherent feature of the capitalist media system and its structural transformation. The paper identifies six causes of why capital seeks to employ capital strategies that result in the media industry's structural transformation. They include market saturation, overaccumulation, the tendency of the profit rate to fall, capital-concentration, competition pressure, and advertising. The paper finally discusses the role of the state as an agent of capital in general and media capital in particular. It discusses the role of the state in privatisations, neoliberal deregulation, the formation of national competitive states, and various benefits that the state provides for media capital. This contribution shows that capital and capitalism are the main structural transformers of the media and communications system. For understanding these transformations, we need an approach that is grounded in Marx's critique of the political economy. Translation from German: Christian Fuchs and Marisol Sandoval


As the technology is advances the reduced size of hardware gives rise to an additive 1/f baseband noise. This additive 1/f noise is a system noise generated due to miniaturization of hardware and affects the lower frequencies. Though 1/f noise does not show much effect in wide band channels because of its nature to affect only certain frequencies, 1/f noise becomes a prominent in OFDM communication systems where narrow band channels are used. in this thesis, I study the effects of 1/f noise on the OFDM systems and implement algorithms for estimation and suppression of the noise using Kalman filter. Suppression of the noise is achieved by subtracting the estimated noise from the received noise. I show that the performance of the system is considerably improved by applying the 1/f noise suppression.


The economic analysis of civil procedure can be enriched by a more thorough consideration of the productive functions of civil adjudication. The previous literature has recognized that civil adjudication does have products – conventionally described as dispute resolution services, plus precedents for future cases – but otherwise has tended to treat civil litigation as a tax on productive activity, or, worse yet, as unproductive or counter-productive rent-seeking activity. While all of those perspectives can have their uses in certain contexts, they are all incomplete, because none captures an essential function of civil litigation within the legal system, which is learning, meaning the production of new knowledge or information, and not merely the exchange or revelation of pre-existing knowledge or information. Adding this perspective profoundly changes the economic analysis of civil litigation, which cannot thereafter be treated merely as a zero-sum (or negative-sum) game of strategic posturing and bargaining. A more thorough consideration of the information-production function of civil adjudication presents a difficult and daunting task, because it requires more searching consideration of an obvious fact that has been recognized but not fully developed in the previous literature, which is that procedural law and substantive law act as both complements and substitutes for one another. This means that a full economic analysis of procedural law necessarily must account for its interactions with the substantive law that is sought to be enforced, which is inherently a complex undertaking. That approach also cuts against the usual instincts of analysts in all fields, which is to carve up the subject of study into more easily digestible parts for examination. Therefore, the primary objective of this paper is to show why it is essential to consider the substance-procedure interaction in order to arrive at useful results. The implications are profound, because the substance-procedure interaction exposes the information-production function that lies at the heart of the civil adjudicative process: because neither parties nor tribunals nor the legal system can "know" anything until the point of definitive adjudication, the adjudicative process itself functions creatively and productively, much like the price system in open markets. Moreover, as adjudication is a substitute for as well as a complement to substantive law (or ex ante contracting), decisions to defer (or not defer) information production into the adjudicative stage themselves are productive decisions of economic moment. Therefore, the tradeoff between ex ante investment (as through contractual provisions, rules of substantive law, or parties' decisions regarding their primary conduct) and ex post investment in adjudicative fact-finding is in no sense neglectable in the economic analysis of procedural law, but rather may be the single most important question to be examined. In developing that thesis, this paper draws upon the insights of the Austrian economists, most notably Mises and Hayek. However, this is not a special "Austrian" perspective only, but a completely general point: once it is recognized that civil litigation creates a product in the form of new knowledge, then decisions to invest in litigation (versus its alternatives) must be treated not merely as "rent-seeking," but also as embodying some element of innovation, and thus are analogous to other investments in new knowledge, such as research and development, or exploration for natural resources. Because the incentives affecting such investment decisions necessarily will affect the supply and price of new knowledge, then the rules of civil adjudication, no less than those of any other legal regulatory structure, will affect welfare through their effects on the creation and production of new information through litigation, or its alternatives.


Costs today play a disproportionate role in many civil litigation decisions in Canada because of the inherent unpredictability built into the current overly complex costs system. Canada's civil litigation system utilizes a fee shifting regime whereby an unsuccessful litigant must pay a proportion of the successful litigant's legal fees. This costs system is designed to regulate litigation behaviour by deterring unmeritorious cases, by indemnifying successful litigants, by fostering efficient lawyer behaviour, by promoting settlement of disputes, and by ensuring access to the civil litigation system so that the cost of litigating is not out of reach for litigants. In today's economy, however, the system is trying to do too much, and with too much at stake. The original system was put in place at a time when litigation costs were very often in reasonable proportion to the amount in dispute. Presently, the cost to litigate can quickly eclipse the value of what is at stake in the dispute. A summary judgment motion, for example, may cost upwards of the cost of a family vehicle for the average Canadian. In the minds of litigants and lawyers, unpredictable issues of legal costs often replace issues of substance at the heart of a litigated dispute. While the cost of civil litigation to an individual litigant has certainly increased over time, the increase is not due solely to the cost a litigant pays his or her own lawyer. An increase in the overall cost of litigation thus means an additional increase in costs the loser in a case must pay to the successful litigant, as well as to the loser's own lawyer. If the loser is an average, middle-income earning Canadian litigating a standard contract or injury dispute, such a loss can be economically impossible to bear. Litigation costs through fee shifting have thus become a fundamental driving force in the Canadian civil litigation. Courts in Canada exercise wide discretion in assessing costs through fee shifting and costs awards have become unpredictable as a result. This has led to an inability of litigants to ex ante predict their exposure to adverse cost awards. Risk averse litigants, especially those middle income Canadians with some financial exposure such as a house to lose, tend to shy away from the civil litigation system. This is how concern for costs can often eclipse the substantive rights being asserted in a particular case. Everyday litigants who are non-corporate individuals whose litigation costs are not covered by insurance cannot easily defray the financial burden of an adverse cost award. They are most likely to have cost concerns weigh heavily in the decision to advance a claim at all. However, should costs be driving litigation results? Should costs be driving access to the civil litigation system, particularly for the everyday litigants in Canada who have a house or modest savings to potentially lose? Part I of this Article details how Canada's fee shifting costs regime operates in a fashion to create a complex and unpredictable litigation dynamic. The Article explains the myriad of variables informing how legal costs are calculated in Canada and how lawyers, clients, and courts have difficulty in estimating financial exposure to such costs. In addition to the fee shifting system, the amount a litigant must pay her own lawyer plus Canada's pre-trial settlement cost incentives also play large roles in how costs affect litigation decision-making in Canada. Part II of the Article attempts to define the everyday Canadian litigant who is most negatively affected by the current costs system because of an inability to internalize a negative costs award. The everyday litigant is in the most precarious position of potential litigants because costs drive a myriad of access to justice concerns for that group. Part III critically evaluates the costs landscape in Canada and concludes that costs, not the substantive legal claims of the litigants, are disproportionately driving the civil litigation system in Canada for everyday Canadian litigants. In short, costs have subsumed the substance of much Canadian litigation. This leads to not only over-deterrence of litigation in the name of settlement but to concerns about the ability of average Canadians to access the civil justice system for. Part IV evaluates possible fee regime models with an eye to informing modifications to Canada's fee system. It recommends that Canada's fee regime be reformed to allow for a hybrid, two-track approach. As a default, courts should adopt a one-sided pro-plaintiff fee shifting system as long as the defendant in litigation is able to somehow defray adverse cost awards through assets or insurance. If both plaintiff and defendant are litigants who cannot reasonably defray the cost of costs, a more American-style costs system of no fee shifting should govern. Settlement incentives should not be based on actual costs to litigate but instead should be a 10% uplift on final damages awarded at trial or settled. Part V concludes.


A new concept utilizing multiple fuel injectors was proven effective at reducing heat transfer losses by directing spray plumes further away from the combustion chamber walls. In this concept, two injectors are mounted close to the rim of the piston bowl and point in opposite directions to generate swirling in-cylinder bulk motion. Moreover, a new flat-bowl piston design was also proposed in combination with the multiple fuel injectors for even larger improvements in thermal efficiency. However, all tests were performed at low-to-medium load conditions with no significant EGR. Modern engine concepts, such as the double compression-expansion engine (DCEE), have demonstrated higher thermal efficiency when operated at high-load conditions with a large amount of EGR for NOx control. Thus, this study aims to assess the effectiveness of the multiple-fuel-injector system under such conditions. In this study, a number of 3-D CFD simulations are performed using the RANS technique in CONVERGE. The computational domain is based on the modified Volvo D13 engine geometry that is used as a combustor unit of the DCEE. The results of this study show that the injection strategies used previously with the multiple-fuel-injector concept perform poorly at high-load conditions due to inadequate mixing. Moreover, the flat-bowl piston design proposed previously does not seem to improve heat transfer losses at these conditions. Thus, several alternative piston bowl designs are investigated, some of which are shown to reduce heat losses and improve mixing. Finally, a number of perspective strategies are recommended to be implemented with the multiple-fuel-injector concept for efficiency maximization.


Simulation algorithm implementations are usually evaluated by experimental performance analysis. To conduct such studies is a challenging and time-consuming task, as various impact factors have to be controlled and the resulting algorithm performance needs to be analyzed. This problem is aggravated when it comes to comparing many alternative implementations for a multitude of benchmark model setups. We present an architecture that supports the automated execution of performance evaluation experiments on several levels. Desirable benchmark model properties are motivated, and the quasi-steady state property of such models is exploited for simulation end time calibration, a simple technique to save computational effort in simulator performance comparisons. The overall mechanism is quite flexible and can be easily adapted to the various requirements that different kinds of performance studies impose. It is able to speed up performance experiments significantly, which is shown by a simple performance study.


Background Acute otitis media (AOM) is a common self-limiting infection where antibiotics confer limited benefit. Other treatments, such as anti-inflammatory agents have been proposed as an alternative to antibiotics, but no high-quality clinical trials have tested this.
Objective To identify current AOM management practices among Indonesian clinicians. We also required this information for our proposed corticosteroids clinical trial for AOM.
Methods This cross-sectional study surveyed a convenience sample of general practitioners (GPs), pediatricians, and Ear-Nose-Throat (ENT) specialists in Jakarta, Depok, and Bekasi. We addressed their current AOM management practices and willingness to participate in a future trial on corticosteroids.
Results We distributed 2,694 questionnaires through conferences, primary care/hospital visits, and by mail-list group. Of 492 questionnaires received (response rate 18%), 352 were from eligible clinicians. Most clinicians diagnosed AOM by using an otoscope (64-91%). Tympanometry was used by a quarter of ENT specialists. Amoxicillin-clavulanate was the most common antibiotic for AOM, prescribed by pediatricians and ENT specialists, whilst most GPs prescribed amoxicillin. Clinical scenarios indicated most ENT specialists (88%) would prescribe antibiotics and most pediatricians (54%) would choose expectant observation by withholding antibiotics for mild AOM. Almost half of clinicians would consider using corticosteroids in a trial.
Conclusion Most clinicians would prescribe antibiotics for mild AOM. However, slightly over half of pediatricians would solely choose expectant observation. Adequate numbers of potential participating clinicians, who would consider using corticosteroids, make our proposed corticosteroids trial for AOM feasible. We found gaps between clinical practice and evidence requiring further investigation to improve AOM management in Indonesia.


Particulate Matter (PM) emissions reduction is an imminent challenge for Direct Injection Spark Ignition (DISI) engine designers due to the introduction of Particulate Number (PN) standards in the proposed Euro 6 emissions legislation aimed at delivering the next phase of air quality improvements. An understanding of how the formation of combustion derived nanoparticulates in engines is affected by the engine operating temperature is important for air quality improvement and will influence future engine design and control strategies. This investigation has examined the effect on combustion and PM formation when reducing the engine operating temperature to -7°C. A DISI single-cylinder optical research engine was modified to simulate a range of operating temperatures down to the proposed -7°C. A high-speed 9 kHz optical investigation of the in-cylinder combustion and fuel spray along with incylinder pressure measurements was completed with the engine motored and fired at 1500 rpm during homogeneous and stoichiometric combustion conditions. Results show striking differences between the flame growth structures at various operating conditions with the notable presence of significant fuel-rich regions which are understood to be prominent areas of PM formation. Measured engine performance parameters such as Indicated Mean Effective Pressure (IMEP) and Mass Fraction Burned (MFB) times correlated with the observed differences in combustion characteristics and flame growth speed. Flash boiling of the fuel spray was present in the fully heated engine case and significantly reduced the penetration of the spray plume and the likelihood of piston crown and cylinder liner impingement. A clear link was shown between operating temperature, engine performance and in-cylinder combustion parameters which contribute to the formation of PM. Copyright © 2013 SAE International.


Supervision is a core prerequisite for the registration and ongoing education and professional development of various levels of mental health care workers in a South African context. There is, however, a dearth of South African literature that pertains to the supervision of such workers. It would appear that the dominant form of supervision of practice is dyadic, but such supervision is resource intense. This study explores a structured model of peer group supervision (PGS model) as a possible alternative to individual supervision. As the PGS model is in a preliminary, developmental phase, this research is also an exploratory investigation. The main aim of this study was to explore how a group of experienced, voluntary lay counsellors, working under the auspices of a national, non-governmental mental health agency utilised and evaluated the PGS model. Four peer group sessions were held with the group of ten lay counsellors, in their usual site of practice. A focus group discussion was then held, followed by the participants completing a semi-structured questionnaire. The intention of this research design was that the participants' perspectives be given priority in this investigation. The concurrent collection and analysis of data was achieved by employing a qualitative, interpretive grounded theory methodology (Addison, 1989). The findings considered the way in which the group utilised the PGS model, and examined the participants' experiences. The group of lay counsellors were enthusiastic about the potential for the PGS model to offer them a forum to collaboratively discuss and assist each other with their casework. The findings were then integrated with the literature pertaining to peer group supervision, as well as ideas from a variety of sources that discuss the construction of optimal learning encounters. The findings were then discussed from a perspective of situated cognition and the notions of local knowledge and communities of practice were used to propose a deeper understanding of the experiences of the group This research undertaking resulted in the participants making some recommendations for the adaptation of the PGS model. Further recommendations for both the application of the PGS model and for research into supervisory practice are made.


Every teenager is expected to have social maturity in order to grow as expected by the environment and can live in society as mature. Social maturity is an important factor in determining the success of the youth to face the next period. Social maturity is the social behavior of individuals who owned or disclosed in accordance with their level of social development. This research is a qualitative description and purpose of this research is to provide a picture or describe the state of the object or issue without intent to make conclusions and generalizations. The subjects in this study amounted to 2 people. Validity of data using a triangulation technique that checks the validity of data that uses something other than the data for checking purposes or for purposes of comparison data. Data analysis method used is descriptive analysis is to provide a picture, a description based on existing data and the aim is to simplify the data into a form that is easier to read and interpret.
Our results indicated the existence of social immaturity on the subject myself. This is because the subject is less interaction with his friends and subjects are also often leave things be their responsibility. Subjects still be selfish, so a sense of social subjects are also less and less subject to control herself when facing the problem. The subject is also still not able to accept his situation, but in everyday life the subject has a pretty good self-reliance. Social immaturity is influenced by the factor of emotional maturity in which the subject is still unable to control his emotions when you're facing a problem which can not be thinking rationally.


Abstract Early faunas with Watsonella crosbyi with or without Aldanella spp. have been equated with the Siberian Tommotian Stage (uppermost Terreneuvian) and used to define a proposed Cambrian Stage 2 base. Much earlier Terreneuvian occurrences are now shown by recovery of these micromolluscs below the I' carbon excursion in the Siberian 'Nemakit-Daldynian' Stage and comparable δ13C excursions in the middle Meishucunian (China) and middle Chapel Island Formation (Avalonia). This δ13C excursion, a reliable Stage 2 marker, lies in a c. 10 Ma interval in the Cambrian Radiation in which long-ranged small shelly fossil taxa provide limited biostratigraphic resolution.


Emerging evidence suggests that unregulated Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling promotes tumor survival signals, thus favoring tumor progression. Here, the mechanism underlying TLR4 overexpression in papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC) mainly harboring the BRAFV600E mutation was studied. TLR4 was overexpressed in PTC compared with nonneoplastic thyroid tissue. Moreover, paired clinical specimens of primary PTC and its lymph node metastasis showed a significant upregulation of TLR4 levels in the metastatic tissues. In agreement, conditional BRAFV600E expression in normal rat thyroid cells and mouse thyroid tissue upregulated TLR4 expression levels. Furthermore, functional TLR4 expression was demonstrated in PTC cells by increased NF-κB transcriptional activity in response to the exogenous TLR4-agonist lipopolysaccharide. Of note, The Cancer Genome Atlas data analysis revealed that BRAFV600E-positive tumors with high TLR4 expression were associated with shorter disease-free survival. Transcriptomic data analysis indicated a positive correlation between TLR4 expression levels and MAPK/ERK signaling activation. Consistently, chemical blockade of MAPK/ERK signaling abrogated BRAFV600E-induced TLR4 expression. A detailed study of the TLR4 promoter revealed a critical MAPK/ERK–sensitive Ets-binding site involved in BRAFV600E responsiveness. Subsequent investigation revealed that the Ets-binding factor ETS1 is critical for BRAFV600E-induced MAPK/ERK signaling-dependent TLR4 gene expression. Together, these data indicate that functional TLR4 overexpression in PTCs is a consequence of thyroid tumor-oncogenic driver dysregulation of MAPK/ERK/ETS1 signaling. Implications: Considering the participation of aberrant NF-κB signaling activation in the promotion of thyroid tumor growth and the association of high TLR4 expression with more aggressive tumors, this study suggests a prooncogenic potential of TLR4 downstream signaling in thyroid tumorigenesis. Mol Cancer Res; 16(5); 833–45. ©2018 AACR.


We study the light scattering profile of a subwavelength layered gold–dielectric–gold nanosphere, which unveils exciting ultrasharp scattering–switching signatures based on high spectral proximity of the scattering resonance and cloaking states. Analytical expressions are derived for polarizability, resonance/cloaking conditions, and for scattering cross section of this layered metal–dielectric–metal (MDM) nanosphere, under the quasi-static limit. Our analysis allows one to thoroughly investigate its spectral response, over the entire parametric space of its dimensions and the incident light wavelength. Especially, the scattering spectra reveal multiple Fano-type, ultrasharp spectral profiles with high tunability, in terms of abrupt scattering–switching wavelengths and cloaking bandwidth, when absorption losses in the metallic layers are neglected in the analysis. Upon inclusion of bulk metallic losses along with enhanced electron surface scattering effects, these sharp spectral signatures are found to get severely faded in a realistic layered MDM nanosphere. The results obtained analytically, in each case, are found to be in excellent agreement with the numerical ones calculated based on Mie theory. We demonstrate that the ultrasharp scattering signatures of a pragmatic MDM nanosphere can be revived by introducing semiconductor gain inclusions in the middle dielectric layer, mitigating losses in the metallic layers.


Folded concave penalization methods have been shown to enjoy the strong oracle property for high-dimensional sparse estimation. However, a folded concave penalization problem usually has multiple local solutions and the oracle property is established only for one of the unknown local solutions. A challenging fundamental issue still remains that it is not clear whether the local optimum computed by a given optimization algorithm possesses those nice theoretical properties. To close this important theoretical gap in over a decade, we provide a unified theory to show explicitly how to obtain the oracle solution via the local linear approximation algorithm. For a folded concave penalized estimation problem, we show that as long as the problem is localizable and the oracle estimator is well behaved, we can obtain the oracle estimator by using the one-step local linear approximation. In addition, once the oracle estimator is obtained, the local linear approximation algorithm converges, namely it produces the same estimator in the next iteration. The general theory is demonstrated by using four classical sparse estimation problems, i.e., sparse linear regression, sparse logistic regression, sparse precision matrix estimation and sparse quantile regression.


We weaken the assumption of summable variations in a paper by Verbitskiy [On factors of $g$ -measures. Indag. Math. (N.S.) 22 (2011), 315–329] to a weaker condition, Berbee's condition, in order for a one-block factor (a single-site renormalization) of the full shift space on finitely many symbols to have a $g$ -measure with a continuous $g$ -function. But we also prove by means of a counterexample that this condition is (within constants) optimal. The counterexample is based on the second of our main results, where we prove that there is a critical inverse temperature in a one-sided long-range Ising model which is at most eight times the critical inverse temperature for the (two-sided) Ising model with long-range interactions.


The aim of this work is to use ultrasonic shot peening, a mechanical surface treatment derived from conventional shot peening, in order to increase the fatigue life of TiAl alloys. The goal of this treatment is to generate compressive superficial residual stresses which are aimed to enhance fatigue crack initiation and growth resistance. For this purpose, different ultrasonic shot peening tests have been carried out on Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb samples in order to optimise treatment conditions. The first results reveal that it is possible to generate very high stress levels (»1000 MPa) beneath the surface, far much higher than the tensile yield stress of the material which is in the range 350-600 MPa. Such a phenomenon was also observed in ultrasonic shot peened iron or stainless steel and seems to be associated to the creation of a new homogeneous and nanometric structure below the surface of the alloy [1, 2]. In the light of these encouraging results, the shot peening treatment was optimised in terms of residual stresses profile and surface quality. The influence of different parameters of shot peening like the treatment time, the shot diameter as well as the specimen-sonotrode distance were studied. S-N curves were realised on polished specimens as well as on shot peened samples in order to study the effect of the treatment on the fatigue life of this intermetallic alloy.


Objective—Assessment of thrombus inflammation in vivo could provide new insights into deep vein thrombosis (DVT) resolution. Here, we develop and evaluate 2 integrated fluorescence molecular-structural imaging strategies to quantify DVT-related inflammation and architecture and to assess the effect of thrombus inflammation on subsequent DVT resolution in vivo. Methods and Results—Murine DVT were created with topical 5% FeCl3 application to thigh or jugular veins (n=35). On day 3, mice received macrophage and matrix metalloproteinase activity fluorescence imaging agents. On day 4, integrated assessment of DVT inflammation and architecture was performed using confocal fluorescence intravital microscopy. Day 4 analyses showed robust relationships among in vivo thrombus macrophages, matrix metalloproteinase activity, and fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran deposition (r>0.70; P<0.01). In a serial 2–time point study, mice with DVT underwent intravital microscopy at day 4 and day 6. Analyses revealed that the intensity of thrombus inflammation at day 4 predicted the magnitude of DVT resolution at day 6 (P<0.05). In a second approach, noninvasive fluorescence molecular tomography-computed tomography was used and detected macrophages within jugular DVT (P<0.05 versus sham controls). Conclusion—Integrated fluorescence molecular-structural imaging demonstrates that the DVT-induced inflammatory response can be readily assessed in vivo and can inform the magnitude of thrombus resolution.


Objective In China, adult children have traditionally provided support for their aged parents. This model of care is increasingly challenged by the decline of the extended family. Recently, China's decades-long one-child policy has eased. We examine the association of family size and composition with family support for nonagenarians and centenarians. Methods Data were obtained through a questionnaire survey of 619 nonagenarians and centenarians in Dujiangyan and were analyzed by chi-square tests, Student t tests, and multivariate logistic regression models. Results This study revealed that an increased number of offspring might provide financial support for older people, but this does not necessarily translate into physical and emotional care. Conclusion It is clear that although alternative sources of support for older people are increasingly needed, in China the family will continue to play an important role in supporting older people.


By the beginning of the twenty-first century, many observers had come to believe that U.S. corporate law should, and does, embrace a "shareholder primacy" rule that requires corporate directors to maximize shareholder wealth as measured by share price. This Essay argues that such a view is mistaken.As a positive matter, U.S. corporate law and practice does not require directors to maximize "shareholder value" but instead grants them a wide range of discretion, constrained only at the margin by market forces, to sacrifice shareholder wealth in order to benefit other constituencies and the firm itself. Although recent "reforms" designed to promote greater shareholder power have begun to limit this discretion, U.S. corporate governance remains director-centric.As a normative matter, several lines of theory have emerged in modern corporate scholarship that independently explain why director governance of public firms is desirable from shareholders' own perspective. These theories suggest that if we want to protect the interests of shareholders as a class over time—rather than the interest of a single shareholder in today's stock price—conventional shareholder primacy thinking is counterproductive. The Essay reviews five of these lines of theory and explores why each gives us reason to believe that shareholder primacy rules in public companies in fact disadvantage shareholders. It concludes that shareholder primacy thinking in its conventional form is on the brink of intellectual collapse, and will be replaced by more sophisticated and nuanced theories of corporate structure and purpose.


A theory is developed for the scattering of a fundamental-mode laser beam by a homogeneous sphere located in the beam passage. The expression for the incident laser beam is obtained by using the complex-source-point method, and the light-field distributions inside and outside the sphere are given. The formulas for the energies scattered and absorbed by the sphere and for the radiation pressure exerted on the sphere are derived, and their qualitative features are discussed. Results of numerical calculation of the radiation pressure and their physical interpretations are presented. All the analytical formalism is generalized for immediate treatment of the scattering of higher-order Hermite–Gaussian-mode laser beams by a homogeneous sphere.


In recent years there has been a paradigm shift in radiobiology, to one which includes non-targeted effects, such as the bystander effect and genomic instability. The bystander effect has been defined as effects seen in cells that although never exposed to radiation, display similar effects to those that have, due to some form of communication with directly hit cells. This investigation aims to further the current understanding of this effect using three different models, cell lines, primary explant cultures and whole animals. Multiple cell lines were used to determine the relative importance of bystander signal production versus the response in the exposed cell line. In the case of responding cell lines, the signal generated from the cells exposed to direct radiation determined the magnitude of the response in the bystander cell. A primary tissue culture model, in conjunction with a cell line reporter system was used to investigate the bystander effect generated by epithelial tissue in-vitro. Apoptosis related protein expression was determined over a range of doses for both direct radiation and bystander signal exposure. The signal generated from tissue cultured in-vitro induced protein expression changes in the exposed tissue and a reduction in cell survival. To further examine signal production in tissue, mice on an antioxidant diet were used for both in-vitro and in-vivo exposures using the tissue culture / reporter cell line system to measure effects. While there were significant differences between normal and anti-oxidant mice, the most interesting result of this study was in the differences between in-vitro and in-vivo exposure, and the male and female mice. These results indicate that while much valuable information about the bystander effect may be gained from various types of in-vitro models, it is important that more in-vivo models are developed, while they are ultimately more complex, they are also a more accurate reflection of the true nature of this phenomenon.


A Mach-Zehnder interferometer made with shallow rib waveguides is studied experimentally and using simulations. The rib-height giving single-mode guidance is found as function of core thickness and polarization. Devices have been made using shallow rib waveguides (5 nm rib height) in silicon nitride. The sensitivity and the limit of detection (LOD) is studied experimentally regarding the length of the sensing window and for two cover media: water with hydrochloric acid (HCl) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). For HCl-solution, which is the standard method for testing Mach-Zehnder interferometers, the measured sensitivity and LOD was 13000 π rad/RIU and 1.1x10^-7 π RIU, respectively, for a 2 cm long sensing window. This is comparable to the best results reported previously. With PDMS as the cover medium, the temperature of the device was increased in order to measure the sensitivity. This is a new approach that makes it possible to measure the sensitivity with a solid cover medium which has a relatively high temperature coefficient for the refractive index. Measured sensitivity and LOD was 15200 π rad/RIU and 1.3x10^-7 π RIU, respectively, again for a 2 cm long sensing window. Measured sensitivities agreed with simulations and increased linearly with sensing length as expected. However, the LOD showed a minimum for 2 cm sensing length. This was mainly due to increased noise for 3 cm sensing length, both for HCl-solution and PDMS. With higher sensitivity and similar LOD for PDMS compared to HCl-solution, it is concluded that using the temperature dependence of PDMS is a good alternative for testing Mach-Zehnder interferometers.


The distribution and zonation of planktonic foraminifera and ostracods during the Late Coniacian – Early Maastrichtian succession in Israel was studied in detail from six surface sections. The combination of contemporaneous biozones led to a more accurate age determination of the local ostracod zones, according to the Tethyan planktonic foraminiferal zonation. The configuration of the biozones of both taxa presents more datum lines for stratigraphic correlation of the Senonian strata of Israel. Three new ostracod species were described from Campanian sediments: Cytherelloidea zinensis, Loxoconcha hebraica and Cristaeleberis ordinata.


Terrorism and insecurity pose significant global concern and Nigeria has been bedevilled by Boko Haram – a terrorist group deemed one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world. While the Nigerian government have adopted concerted counterterrorism approaches to tackle terrorism, very limited success seems to have been achieved and the synthesis of community perspectives of government interventions appears lacking. This study makes an original and significant contribution by adopting a systematic review approach to synthesise existing studies on community perspective on the drivers of involvement in terrorism and on Nigerian government's responses. Six databases were searched, and 21 studies met the review criteria. Informed by thematic analysis principles and the conceptual framework of synthesis, the study finds a sense of disconnect between the government approach to counterterrorism and community perspectives. The study recommends a context-specific community informed response to insecurity towards improving existing counterterrorism measures.


Significance Studies using experimental models have indicated that multiple sclerosis (MS)-like disease can be triggered in the gut following interactions of brain autoimmune T lymphocytes with local microbiota. Here we studied the gut microbiota from monozygotic human twin pairs discordant for multiple sclerosis. When we transferred human-derived microbiota into transgenic mice expressing a myelin autoantigen-specific T cell receptor, we found that gut microbiota from multiple sclerosis-affected twins induced CNS-specific autoimmunity at a higher incidence than microbiota from healthy co-twins. Our results offer functional evidence that human microbiome components contribute to CNS-specific autoimmunity. There is emerging evidence that the commensal microbiota has a role in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), a putative autoimmune disease of the CNS. Here, we compared the gut microbial composition of 34 monozygotic twin pairs discordant for MS. While there were no major differences in the overall microbial profiles, we found a significant increase in some taxa such as Akkermansia in untreated MS twins. Furthermore, most notably, when transplanted to a transgenic mouse model of spontaneous brain autoimmunity, MS twin-derived microbiota induced a significantly higher incidence of autoimmunity than the healthy twin-derived microbiota. The microbial profiles of the colonized mice showed a high intraindividual and remarkable temporal stability with several differences, including Sutterella, an organism shown to induce a protective immunoregulatory profile in vitro. Immune cells from mouse recipients of MS-twin samples produced less IL-10 than immune cells from mice colonized with healthy-twin samples. IL-10 may have a regulatory role in spontaneous CNS autoimmunity, as neutralization of the cytokine in mice colonized with healthy-twin fecal samples increased disease incidence. These findings provide evidence that MS-derived microbiota contain factors that precipitate an MS-like autoimmune disease in a transgenic mouse model. They hence encourage the detailed search for protective and pathogenic microbial components in human MS.