ABSTRACT Calcareous and sandy deposits from the basal members of the Enmakaj and Pil'hikaj formations in coastal exposures along the De Long Strait in central Chukotka, Arctic far-eastern Russia, have yielded two assemblages of fossil fish comprising heterostracan plate fragments, turiniid and other thelodont scales, acanthodian scales and a partial tooth, typical of the Old Red Sandstone facies. Exceptional are acanthothoracid placoderm platelets characteristic of marine facies. In addition a sarcopterygian fragment have been found in Member 1 of the Enmakaj Formation. Some scale surfaces show an unusual, scoured preservation. A Lochkovian age, and most probably basal Lochkovian, is supported for the Enmakaj assemblage, and a somewhat later Lochkovian age is supposed for the Pil'hikaj assemblage. The palaeobiogeographic affinities of these assemblages based on the heterostracans and thelodonts are with other Lochkovian occurrences in Arctic regions such as Severnaya Zemlya, Spitsbergen and the northern and north-eastern Old Red Sandstone Continent in general.


We investigate the non-equilibrium dynamics of the transverse field quantum Ising chain evolving from an inhomogeneous initial state given by joining two macroscopically different semi-infinite chains. We obtain integral expressions for all two-point correlation functions of the Jordan-Wigner Majorana fermions at any time and for any value of the transverse field. Using this result, we compute analytically the profiles of various physical observables in the space-time scaling limit and show that they can be obtained from a hydrodynamic picture based on ballistically propagating quasiparticles. Going beyond the hydrodynamic limit, we analyze the approach to the non-equilibrium steady state and find that the leading late time corrections display a lattice effect. We also study the fine structure of the propagating fronts which are found to be described by the Airy kernel and its derivatives. Near the front we observe the phenomenon of energy back-flow where the energy locally flows from the colder to the hotter region.


Abstract. The first hydrographic data from the Arctic Ocean, the section from the Laptev Sea to the passage between Greenland and Svalbard obtained by Nansen on his drift with Fram 1893–1896, aptly illustrate the main features of Arctic Ocean oceanography and indicate possible processes active in transforming the water masses in the Arctic Ocean. Many, perhaps most, processes were identified already by Nansen, who put his mark on almost all subsequent research in the Arctic. Here we shall revisit some key questions and follow how our understanding has evolved from the early 20th century to present. What questions, if any, can now be regarded as solved and which remain still open? Five different but connected topics will be discussed: (1) The low salinity surface layer and the storage and export of freshwater. (2) The vertical heat transfer from the Atlantic water to sea ice and to the atmosphere. (3) The circulation and mixing of the two Atlantic inflow branches. (4) The formation and circulation of deep and bottom waters in the Arctic Ocean. (5) The exchanges through Fram Strait. Foci will be on the potential effects of increased freshwater input and reduced sea ice export on the freshwater storage and residence time in the Arctic Ocean, on the deep waters of the Makarov Basin, and on the circulation and relative importance of the two inflows, over the Barents Sea and through Fram Strait, for the distribution of heat in the intermediate layers of the Arctic Ocean.


[1] The Heliospheric Imager (HI) instruments on board the STEREO spacecraft are used to analyze the solar wind during August and September 2007. We show how HI can be used to image the streamer belt and, in particular, the variability of the slow solar wind which originates inside and in the vicinity of the streamer belt. Intermittent mass flows are observed in HI difference images, streaming out along the extension of helmet streamers. These flows can appear very differently in images: plasma distributed on twisted flux ropes, V-shaped structures, or "blobs." The variety of these transient features may highlight the richness of phenomena that could occur near helmet streamers: emergence of flux ropes, reconnection of magnetic field lines at the tip of helmet streamers, or disconnection of open magnetic field lines. The plasma released with these transient events forms part of the solar wind in the higher corona; HI observations show that these transients are frequently entrained by corotating interaction regions (CIRs), leading to the formation of larger, brighter plasma structures in HI images. This entrainment is used to estimate the trajectory of these plasma ejecta. In doing so, we demonstrate that successive transients can be entrained by the same CIR in the high corona if they emanate from the same corotating source. Some parts of the streamers are more effective sources of transients than others. Surprisingly, evidence is given for the outflow of a recurring twisted magnetic structure, suggesting that the emergence of flux ropes can be recurrent.


Milkfish is one of famous fish with highly nutrition contents. They are easily found in the market, and its price is relatively cheap. Milkfish just like other animals, has never free from the threat of various parasites. The fishes are also known to be vulnerable to parasite infection. Several worms species of fishes often inhabit a single body of fish. Therefore, in this study the inventory of parasite was done in milkfish. The examination was begun by measuring the fish total length and its weight, and then observed all the parasites found and inventoried. The examination also performed on the digestive tract by dissecting the fish. The whole organ observed and stored in a petridish containing a physiological saline solution. And then thy were observed by using a microscope. The results showed that were 6 types digenea 1 (5 species), Nematodes 1 (20 species), Procamallanus (3 species), Anisakis (4 species), Dichelyne (1 species), and Rhabdochona (1 species) with a parasitic worm intensity by 32 . Highest intensity in fish Nematodes 1 by 20 and the lowest in fish Dichelyne , and Rhabdochona by 1 with a prevalence of parasitic worms by 40% . Highest parasite prevalence of digenea 1 by 12% and the lowest was 1 Nematodes, Dichelyne, Rhabdochona by 4% . Keyword: inventory, parasite worms, milkfish


Background Preventing HIV infections in female spouses of HIV-infected men is limited by low HIV testing rates among these women who are at an increasingly high risk for HIV acquisition. We explored the effect of conditional cash transfer (CCT) on HIV-infected men for spouse testing and HIV status disclosure to their spouses. Methods Using medical charts we identified all eligible HIV-infected married men receiving care at the PIMS HIV clinic, Islamabad. Selection criteria for CCT were sexually active married men receiving care >6 months including at least two counselling sessions whose spouses had never been tested for HIV (HIV status unknown). CCT was cash given to cover travel/accommodation (US$14 for out-town and US$ 5 for in-town) costs for bringing the spouse to the HIV clinic for testing. All study participants underwent a brief study questionnaire looking at patient demographics, visit history, factors influencing spouse testing, barriers to care and self-disclosure. The CCT acceptance rate was 90% among HIV-infected men. Outcome of interest was spouse testing and status disclosure to spouse at 6 months post CCT. Results Of the 230 married men, 138 men (60%) had spouses' never tested/unknown status. Baseline disclosure of HIV status to wife was 29%, and median duration of receiving care was 14.3 months. From these 138 men we were able to contact and enrol 94 (68%) men for CCT; 53 (56%) brought their spouses for HIV testing within 4 months; 19 (20%) self-reported getting their wives tested elsewhere, and only 22 (24%) did not comply with the CCT conditionality. CCT improved disclosure of HIV status from baseline 29% to 62% (p <0.05). Factors associated with spouse testing were men <50 years, high ART compliance score, and prior self-disclosure of status to one family member (p <0.05). Conclusions Even within the context of a socially conservative society CCT can significantly improve HIV testing rates for female spouses and self-disclosure of HIV status by HIV-infected men. Using CCT for timely prevention of HIV infection in wives and children of HIV positive men reduces risk and can be an effective strategy to overcome socio-cultural and financial barriers. Further studies are needed to explore cost-effectiveness of this approach in preventing new infections.


A prototype module for an International Linear Collider (ILC) detector was built, installed, and tested between 2006 and 2009 at CERN and Fermilab as part of the CALICE test beam program, in order to study the possibilities of extending energy sampling behind a hadronic calorimeter and to study the possibilities of providing muon tracking. The ``tail catcher/muon tracker'' (TCMT) is composed of 320 extruded scintillator strips (dimensions 1000 × 50 × 5 mm3) packaged in 16 one-meter square planes interleaved between steel plates. The scintillator strips were read out with wavelength shifting fibers and silicon photomultipliers. The planes were arranged with alternating horizontal and vertical strip orientations. Data were collected for muons and pions in the energy range 6 GeV to 80 GeV. Utilizing data taken in 2006, this paper describes the design and construction of the TCMT, performance characteristics, and a beam-based evaluation of the ability of the TCMT to improve hadronic energy resolution in a prototype ILC detector. For a typical configuration of an ILC detector with a coil situated outside a calorimeter system with a thickness of 5.5 nuclear interaction lengths, a TCMT would improve relative energy resolution by 6-16% for pions between 20 and 80 GeV.


A gap in Canadian food environment research concerning Winnipeg's food swamps is addressed using geographical assessment of socio-demographic factors. Food swamp locations were identified using (1) a composite index of socioeconomic deprivation, (2) restaurant accessibility (Euclidean distance to nearest restaurant), and (3) restaurant clustering across 5740 Dissemination Blocks (DBs) in Winnipeg. Restaurants included fast food (FFR), sit-down (SDR) and coffee shop establishments combined (ALL). DBs with high deprivation levels, close restaurant access, and signi0 cant clustering of restaurants were identi0 ed as food swamps. Significant differences in restaurant access were observed between low and high socioeconomic deprivation levels, where the most socioeconomically deprived populations in Winnipeg had easier access to highly clustered restaurants. A total 3.74 km2 of Winnipeg was designated as food swamps (ALL), impacting 10,053 (1.6%) people. We conclude that a breadth of policies is required to address food security in Winnipeg, as ~65% of the food swamps coincide with food deserts or food mirages observed by Wiebe et al. (2016).


MRL/Mp(-)+/+ mice produce antinuclear antibodies and develop a spontaneous autoimmune syndrome with lupus-like nephritis. We obtained a panel of seven histone-reactive IgG mAb from a single MRL/Mp(-)+/+ mouse. These antibodies do not react significantly with DNA or individual histones, but bind strongly to the histone H2A-H2B dimer and even more strongly to the H2A-H2B-DNA complex. These antibodies also bind to whole nuclei when tested by immunofluorescence, indicating that they recognize an epitope accessible in chromatin. The V region sequences of these antibodies have been determined. The H chain third complementarity-determining regions of these antibodies are similar to those found in anti-DNA antibodies even though the antibodies in our panel do not react with DNA in the absence of histones, suggesting that DNA is part of the subnucleosome epitope. Several of these antibodies are clonally related, supporting the hypothesis that the activation of these clones is Ag-driven. Analysis of the sequences of these antibodies indicates that they derive from autoreactive B cells that were clonally expanded and whose V region genes have undergone numerous somatic mutations.


Recently, intense pulsed light (IPL), also referred to as flash lamp annealing, has gained interest among materials scientists as a highly effective photonic technology for structural reformation and/or chemical modification of various nanomaterials. Split-second exposure of IPL on advanced materials of various compositions, including ceramics, metals, and carbon, and various structures, including nanoparticles, nanowires, and thin films, resulted in dramatic changes in the morphologies and chemical functional groups of the materials. Compared to conventional thermal heating and established photonic technologies such as lasers, IPL technologies have considerable advantages, such as facile equipment set-up, surface-selective treatment, large treatment area, short process times ranging from milliseconds to a few seconds, and roll-to-roll process compatibility. In this review, recent advances in the structural development and/or chemical modifications of various nanomaterials by IPL irradiation will be highlighted.


Thi s paper is an adaptation of a longer report commissioned by the UK Data Service. The longer report contributes to on-going support for the Big Data Network – a programme funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The longer report can be found at doi:10.7207/twr16-02 . This paper discusses requirements for preserving transactional data and the accompanying challenges facing the companies and institutions who aim to re-use these data for analysis or research. It presents a range of use cases – examples of transactional data – in order to describe the characteristics and difficulties of these 'big' data for long-term access. Based on the overarching trends discerned in these use cases, the paper will define the challenges facing the preservation of these data early in the curation lifecycle. It will point to potential solutions within current legal and ethical frameworks, but will focus on positioning the problem of re-using these data from a preservation perspective. In some contexts, these data could be fiscal in nature, deriving from business 'transactions'. This paper, however, considers transactional data more broadly, addressing any data generated through interactions with a database system. Administrative data, for instance, is one important form of transactional data collected primarily for operational purposes, not for research. Examples of administrative data include information collected by government departments and other organisations when delivering a service (e.g. tax, health, or education) and can entail significant legal and ethical challenges for re-use. Transactional data, whether created by interactions between government database systems and citizens or by automatic sensors or machines, hold potential for future developments in academic research and consumer analytics. Re-use of reliable transactional data in research has the power to improve services and investments by organisations in many different sectors. Ultimately, however, these data will only lead to new discoveries and insights if they are effectively curated and preserved to ensure appropriate reproducibility. This paper explores challenges to this undertaking and approaches to ensuring long-term access.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To explore the topic of moral distress in nurses related to witnessing futile care.

DATA SOURCES
Literature related to moral distress and futility; analysis of narratives written by 108 nurses attending one of two national continuing education courses on end-of-life care regarding their experiences in the area.

DATA SYNTHESIS
Nurses were invited to share a clinical situation in which they experienced moral distress related to a patient receiving care that they considered futile. Nurses described clinical situations across care settings, with the most common conflict being that aggressive care denies palliative care. Conflicts regarding code status, life support, and nutrition also were common. Patients with cancer were involved quite often, second only to geriatric patients and patients with dementia. The instances created strong emotional responses from nurses, including feeling the need for patient advocacy and that futile care was violent and cruel. Important spiritual and religious factors were cited as influencing the clinical experiences.

CONCLUSIONS
Instances of futile care evoke strong emotional responses from nurses, and nurses require support in dealing with their distress.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
The ethical dilemma of futile care is complex. Additional research and support are needed for patients, families, and nurses.


Bellow evokes all the rich colour and exotic customs of a highly imaginary Africa in this comic novel about a middle-aged American millionaire who, seeking a new, more rewarding life, descends upon an African tribe. Henderson's awesome feats of strength and his unbridled passion for life earns him the admiration of the tribe - but it is his gift for making rain that turns him from mere hero into messiah. A hilarious, often ribald story, "Henderson the Rain King" is also a profound look at the forces that drive a man through life.


Background and Aims: High-risk behaviors endanger the health and well-being of individuals. Therefore, it is important to recognize its effective factors. Therefore this study aimed to explain student - teachers high-risk behaviors based on academic identity and academic motivation. Methods: The research method was a descriptive-correlation, and the statistical population consists of all male student – teachers (n=500) at Farhangian University of Sabzevar in 2016-2017 and 220 students were selected using available sampling method and using the Cochran formula. Academic identity status questionnaire, academic motivation scale and Iranian youth high-risk behaviors scale were used for data gathering. Data analysis was performed using the multiple regression analysis (stepwise) and software SPSS version 16. Results: The results showed that there is a significant negative relationship between academic identity achievement with smoking and sex and followering academic identity with sex (p>0.05). There is a significant negative relatioship between internal motivation with smoking and sex (p>0.01). Stepwise regression analysis showed academic identity achievement and academic identity follower predict Smoking and sex components . Also, intrinsic motivation predict smoking and sex components of high-risk behaviors. Conclusions: Academic identity and academic motivation are predictors of high-risk behaviors in students.


Studies on percutaneous penetration are needed to assess the hazards after unintended occupational skin exposures to industrial products as well as the efficacy after intended consumer exposure to topically applied medicinal or cosmetic products. During recent decades, a number of methods have been developed to replace methods involving experimental animals. The results obtained from these methods are decided not only by the chemical or product tested, but to a significant degree also by the experimental set-up and decisions made by the investigator during the planning phase. The present MiniReview discusses some of the existing and well-known experimental in vitro and in vivo methods for studies of percutaneous penetration together with some more recent and promising methods. After this, some considerations and recommendations about advantages and limitations of the different methods and their relevance for the prediction of percutaneous penetration are given. Which method to prefer will depend on the product to be tested and the question asked. Regulatory guidelines exist for studies on percutaneous penetration, but researchers as well as regulatory bodies need to pay specific attention to the vehicles and solvents used in donor and sampling fluids so that it reflects in-use conditions as closely as possible. Based on available experimental data, mathematical models have been developed to aid predictions of skin penetration. The authors question the general use of the present mathematical models in hazard assessment, as they seem to ignore outliers among chemicals as well as the heterogeneity of skin barrier properties and skin conditions within the exposed populations.


Kampung chicken is Indonesian native chicken that potential to be developed as commercial chicken.  The large-scale breeders less interest to breed kampung chicken because it has slow growth to reach slaughter weight than commercial meat type. Therefore, kampung chicken's performance need to be improved by crossing with commercial meat type that has fast growth. This research purposed to observed the effect performance of first generation (F1) from commercial meat type crossing with kampung and their reciprocal.  Research conducted performance of crossing chicken in age 0-12 weeks age. T test used for knowing difference body weight mean, body weight gain, feed consumption, and feed convertion rate.  The result of this research were not significant between KB cock with BK cock and KB hen with BK hen on body weight, body weight gain, feed consumption, and feed convertion rate. Whereas mortality percentage BK chicken was higher than KB chicken althought less of mortality.  KB and BK cocks had better performance than hens. Reciprocal crossing between kampung chicken and commercial meat type had performance better than kampung chicken, so crossing had been increased genetic quality of kampung chicken.


In a context of scarce financial and human resources, the allocation of conservation efforts needs to be optimized. Our analysis attempts to draw conclusions on the integration of regional and local conservation assessments, specifically, with regard to the acquisition of fine-scale data to complement the regional assessment. This study undertaken in Reunion Island (Indian Ocean) assessed how biodiversity surrogates targeted at a regional scale represented other biodiversity surrogates at a local scale. Biodiversity surrogates at both scales consisted of species, habitats and processes. Habitats and processes at regional scale were defined using a coarser scale of thematic resolution than at local scale. The surrogacy was tested in terms of incidental representation of local-scale features in the regional assessments, and correlation of irreplaceability values between scales. Near-minimum sets and irreplaceability values were generated using MARXAN software. Our results revealed that conservation targets for processes at local scale were never met incidentally, while threatened species and fragmented habitats were also usually under-represented. More specifically, requiring only 12% of the local planning domain, the application of species as surrogates at regional scale was the least effective option at representing biodiversity features at local scale. In contrast, habitats at a coarse scale of thematic resolution achieved a significant proportion of conservation targets incidentally (67%) and their irreplaceability values were well correlated with the irreplaceability values of surrogates at local scale. The results highlighted that all three types of biodiversity surrogates are complementary for assessing overall biodiversity. Because of the cost of data acquisition, we recommended that the most efficient strategy to develop nested regional/local conservation plans is to apply habitats and processes at a coarse scale of thematic resolution at regional scale, and threatened species and degraded habitats at local scale, with their fine-scale mapping limited to highly transformed areas.


Context The value of animal reintroduction as a conservation tool is debated. This is largely because the limited quantity of research that has been conducted on animal reintroductions has shown varying degrees of success in establishing new populations. The reasons why some reintroductions are successful, whereas others are not, are often not clear. Aims The present research aims to determine whether reptile reintroduction into restored mine pits is a potential management technique for managing and conserving reptile populations within a mined landscape. Methods Twelve Napoleon's skinks were trapped then fitted with 0.9-g transmitters. Half were reintroduced into 5-year-old restored mine pits and the other half into unmined forest. Bodyweights, movement patterns and macro-habitat selection were recorded weekly during November and then monthly until March. Key results Skinks reintroduced into restored sites quickly moved into unmined forest. Both groups of skinks moved large distances, but those reintroduced into restored sites travelled further than did control skinks and took longer to reduce their distances travelled, showing possible stress as a result of release into unsuitable habitat. Eventually, almost all skinks found suitable habitat in unmined forest and settled into these areas while continuing to gain weight. Conclusions Reintroduction was an ineffective technique for facilitating colonisation of restored minesites by Napoleon's skink. Lack of suitable micro-habitats within restoration areas, such as ground logs and coarse, woody debris piles, is likely limiting the use of these areas by Napoleon's skinks and is likely to be the cause of their failure to remain or settle in restored sites after reintroduction. Implications Determining the habitat requirements of skinks and replicating this in restoration sites would seem the more appropriate management option than is reintroduction, and this may be the case for other reptiles and habitat specialists.


We develop a novel method for the identification of mistuned blisks. The method relies on forced response measurements in a certain target frequency band. Modal stiffness deviations and an overall structural damping coefficient are obtained using a least-squares fit, fully consistent with a component-mode-based reduced-order model. To achieve a high frequency resolution in a very short test, we carry out rapid frequency sweeps and use a noise-robust, wavelet-based estimation of the steady-state response. The forcing is eliminated from the equations governing the mistuning parameters, and it is identified separately to reconstruct the forced response if requested. We first validate the method numerically, and then apply it experimentally to a compressor blisk with an alternating (B-A) mistuning pattern. While most previous works on mistuning identification are limited to the lowest 1-2 mode families, we assess the method for the seventh (1C) and eighth (3T) mode family. Measured and reconstructed frequency responses are in good to very good agreement. We conclude that the developed method is useful to obtain high-quality estimates of mistuning parameters, which can then be used for vibration prediction.


ABSTRACT This paper conceptualises the way physical and digital spaces associated with festivals are being harnessed to create new spaces of consumption. It focuses on the ways local food businesses leverage opportunities in the tourist-historic city of Cambridge. Data from a survey of 28 food producers (in 2014) followed by 35 in-depth interviews at the EAT Cambridge food festival (in 2015) are used to explain how local producers overcome the challenges of physical peripherality and why they use social media to help support them challenges restrictive political and economic structures. We present a new conceptual framework which suggests the development of place through food festivals in heritage cities can be understood by pulling together the concepts of 'event leveraging', 'liminoid spaces' (physical and digital) and modes of 'creative resistance' which helps the survival of small producers against inner city gentrification and economically enforced peripherality.


A user who wants to get knowledge from a relational database that needs to know about structured query languages and database schema. Mostly users are not know to those things, so searching knowledge from relational databases is difficult to them. Where a keyword query input is a simple search model that can be issued by writing a list of keywords values, keyword search that place provide a solution of the problem. Because a keyword input query can be interpreted variously, a large number of outputs are returned. And indexing helps to easily retrieved answers and with the help of indexing we measure the performance of the CPU, execution time and Disk memory consumed. Index Terms- Relational databases, Keyword search, Indexing, Ranking method. I INTRODUCTION


We have studied the equilibration dynamics of liquid water and alcohols following a local deposition of energy using time-resolved femtosecond mid-infrared pump−probe spectroscopy. The equilibration dynamics is monitored via the spectral response of the OH-stretch vibration. It is found that the equilibration leads to complicated changes of the absorption band of the OH-stretch vibration including a shift of the absorption band and a decrease of the absorption cross section. Interestingly, these spectral changes do not occur simultaneously, which indicates that they are associated with the equilibration dynamics of different low-frequency modes. For water, we find an equilibration time constant of 0.55 ± 0.05 ps. We observe that the equilibration time strongly increases going from water to alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, and propanol which means that water molecules can adapt much faster to a local deposition of energy than other hydrogen-bonding liquids.


This thesis describes a study into the optical properties of nano-structured metallic films. Structures are produced by electrochemically depositing metal through a self-assembled template of polymer micro-spheres. This versatile technique allows nano-structured surface made from almost any metal to be produced quickly and cheaply. Geometries ranging from array of shallow dishes, to sharp metallic spikes and encapsulated spherical cavities can all be produced on the same sample. This thesis presents an in-depth study into the properties delocalised and localised surface plasmon polaritons. These plasmons can be tuned in energy by controlling the sample geometry and angle of the incident light. The coupling between these two types of plasmon is also investigated and theories are put forward to understand the observed results. These findings could prove useful in the design of plasmon guiding and computing devices. With an understanding into the plasmonic properties of the metallic nanostructures, research is undertaken to explore how the associate local electric field couples to molecules adsorbed onto a samples surface. A strong correlation between surface plasmons and enhanced Raman scattering is found, leading the observation of the beaming of the Raman scattered light. The nano-structured substrates are also shown to have excellent reproducibility as well as enhancement of the Raman signals, leading to applications such as high sensitivity molecular sensors. Finally, the interaction between organic semiconductor molecules and surface plasmons is explored. A strong interaction between the different states is found and plasmon enhanced fluorescence is also observed. These studies open the way for greater control over the exciton states, which have potential for the use in novel laser systems.


ABSTRACT Organisational research positions design as complex and open-ended. We contribute to research on design and the organisation of competition by conceptualising design as redesign and as a collective 'thing' consisting of an interconnected and dynamically evolving set of new design issues and matters of concern that blur actors' professional roles. Our approach builds on actor-network theory using an ethnographic study to follow architects' design work in a commercial case of a dialogue-based architectural competition. Building scales and design concepts were translated and inscribed into different forms of design visualisations and circulated amongst the client, the architect office, and the workshop during the encounter between the team of architects and the jury. As circulating references, design visualisations retain and transform the design and give rise to new contradictory design issues during the actors' verbal dialogue.


Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is a group of chemicals that are toxic, undergo long-range transport and accumulate in biota. Due to their persistency the distribution and recirculation in the environment often continues for a long period of time. Thereby they appear virtually everywhere within the biosphere, and poses a toxic stress to living organisms. In this thesis, attempts are made to contribute to the understanding of factors that influence the distribution of POPs with focus on processes in the marine environment. The bioavailability and the spatial distribution are central topics for the environmental risk management of POPs. In order to study these topics, various field studies were undertaken. To determine the bioavailable fraction of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) the aqueous dissolved phase were sampled and analysed. In the same samples, we also measured how much of these POPs were associated with suspended particles. Different models, which predicted the phase distribution of these POPs, were then evaluated. It was found that important water characteristics, which influenced the solid-water phase distribution of POPs, were particulate organic matter (POM), particulate soot (PSC), and dissolved organic matter (DOM). The bioavailable dissolved POP-phase in the water was lower when these sorbing phases were present. Furthermore, sediments were sampled and the spatial distribution of the POPs was examined. The results showed that the concentration of PCDD/Fs, and PCNs were better described using PSC- than using POM-content of the sediment. In parallel with these field studies, we synthesized knowledge of the processes affecting the distribution of POPs in a multimedia mass balance model. This model predicted concentrations of PCDD/Fs throughout our study area, the Grenlandsfjords in Norway, within factors of ten. This makes the model capable to validate the effect of suitable remedial actions in order to decrease the exposure of these POPs to biota in the Grenlandsfjords which was the aim of the project. Also, to evaluate the influence of eutrophication on the marine occurrence PCB data from the US Musselwatch and Benthic Surveillance Programs are examined in this thesis. The dry weight based concentrations of PCB in bivalves were found to correlate positively to the organic matter content of nearby sediments, and organic matter based concentrations of PCB in sediments were negatively correlated to the organic matter content of the sediment.


The hydrophobic effect and hydrogen bonding interactions have long been considered to be the dominant forces in protein folding. However, the contribution of hydrogen bonds to stabilizing proteins has been difficult to clarify. As the intramolecular hydrogen bonds are formed in place of hydrogen bonds with solvent during folding, measures of stability fail to give a significant change in free energy. Previous studies on hydrogen bonding interactions have shown that they are only marginally important. Three long-range side chain-main chain hydrogen bonds have been found in the alpha subunit of tryptophan synthase (αTS), a (βα) 8 TIM barrel protein. These long-range noncovalent interactions connect either the N-terminus of one β-strand with the C-terminus of the succeeding and anti-parallel α-helix (F19-D46 and I97-D124) or the N-terminus of an α-helix with the C-terminus of the succeeding β-strand (A103-D130). By analogy, these interactions are designated as βα- or αβ-hairpin clamps. Surprisingly, the removal of any one of these clamp interactions, by replacement of the aspartic acid with alanine, results in significantly decreased thermodynamic stability for the native state and a substantial loss of secondary structure. When compared to several other side chain-side chain and short-range side chain-main chain interactions in αTS, these hairpin clamps clearly play a unique role in the structure and stability of αTS. The generality of these observations for βα-hairpin clamps in TIM barrel proteins was tested by experimental analysis of the clamps in a pair of homologous indole-3-glycerol phosphate synthase (IGPS) TIM barrels of low sequence identity. The results suggest that only the subset of conserved βα-hairpin clamps with hydrogen bond length less than 2.80 A make substantive contributions to stability and/or structure. Those clamps with longer hydrogen bonds make modest contributions to stability and structure, similar to other types of side chain-main chain or side chain-side chain hydrogen bonds. The role of these clamps in defining the structures of the super-family of TIM barrel proteins was examined by a survey of 71 TIM barrel proteins from the structural database. Conserved features of βα-hairpin clamps are consistent with a 4-fold symmetry, with a predominance of main chain amide hydrogen bond donors near the N-terminus of the odd-number β-strands and side chain hydrogen bond acceptors in the loops between the subsequent α-helices and even-numbered β-strands. In this configuration, the clamps provide an N-terminal cap to odd-number β- strands in the β-barrel. Taken together, these findings suggest that βα-hairpin clamps are a vestigial signature of the fundamental βαβ building block for the (βα)8 motif and an integral part of the basic TIM barrel architecture. The relative paucity of βα-hairpin clamps remaining in TIM barrel structures and their variable contributions to stability imply that other determinants for structure and stability of the barrel have evolved to…


Abstract The primary objective of this study was to characterise the edaphic conditions of forest areas in the Pieniny National Park (PNP), and to describe the dependencies between properties of forest soils and types of forest plant communities. The "Soil Trophic Index" (SIGg) for mountainous areas was applied. The evaluation of the trophism for 74 forest monitoring employed the soil trophic index for mountainous areas SIGg or SIGgo. Plant communities in the forest monitoring areas were classified according to the Braun-Blanquet's phytosociological method. Soils of PNP present in the forest monitoring areas were mostly classified as eutrophic brown soils (72.9%), rendzinas (10.8%), brown rendzinas (5.41%), and rubble initial soils (5.41%). Pararendzinas, dystrophic brown soils, and gley soils were less common (total below 5.5%). In the forest monitoring areas of PNP, eutrophic soils predominate over mesotrophic soils. High SIGg index of the soils is caused by high values of acidity and nitrogen content. The Carpathian beech forest Dentario glandulosae-Fagetum and thermophilic beech forest Carici albae-Fagetum associations are characterised by high naturalness and compatibility of theoretical habitats. The soils of the Carpathian fir forest Dentario glandulosae-Fagetum abietetosum subcommunity is characterised by a higher share of silt and clay particles and lower acidity as compared to the Carpathian beech forest Dentario glandulosae-Fagetum typicum subcommunity. The soils of the forest monitoring areas in PNP stand out in terms of their fertility against forest soils in other mountainous areas in Poland.


This paper describes REAP, a software-hardware approach that enables high performance sparse linear algebra computations on a cooperative CPU-FPGA platform. REAP carefully separates the task of organizing the matrix elements from the computation phase. It uses the CPU to provide a first-pass re-organization of the matrix elements, allowing the FPGA to focus on the computation. We introduce a new intermediate representation that allows the CPU to communicate the sparse data and the scheduling decisions to the FPGA. The computation is optimized on the FPGA for effective resource utilization with pipelining. REAP improves the performance of Sparse General Matrix Multiplication (SpGEMM) and Sparse Cholesky Factorization by 3.2X and 1.85X compared to widely used sparse libraries for them on the CPU, respectively.


Activist teachers are increasingly organizing within and beyond their unions to respond to political trends toward austerity and the privatization of public education (Hursh, 2004; Quinn & Carl, 2015; Ravitch, 2010, 2013). Teacher-led grassroots groups often strive to partner in meaningful ways with parents and communities (Weiner, 2012), but simultaneously overlook how deeply embedded community histories shape the community and policy context (Crenshaw, 2011; Delgado & Stefancic, 2012; Gadsden, 1994), and teachers' organizing and professional practices (Maton, 2016). The enhanced recent visibility of race-inflected social activism (#BlackLivesMatter, 2016) raises significant questions about how politically active teachers understand and engage with issues of racial justice. This dissertation asks: When politically active teachers come together in an inquiry group to discuss structural racism, how do they engage in individual and collective learning processes? And, how do they perceive the shape, form and effect of their learning? Methodologically, the study draws from participatory (CochranSmith & Lytle, 2009; McIntyre, 2008) and race feminist (Delgado-Bernal, 1998; Smith, 1987) qualitative research traditions. The study examines the work of an inquiry group composed of nine racially and gender diverse participant who are active members of a change-seeking union caucus. Data sources include inquiry group meetings, interviews, field notes and written texts. The dissertation builds a new theory for understanding the nature, form and function of teachers' collaborative learning about racial justice. This study defines collaborative learning as the collective and social search for knowledge and transformation, and shows that it is composed of four interconnected and mutually reliant components: learning, pedagogy, relationships, and diffusion. Furthermore, the study finds that inquiry-based collaboration among politically active teachers, on projects where the goal is to build a common mission, vision and project, and where there is diversity in race, gender and a range of experiences with prejudice and discrimination, holds great potential for triggering teacher learning and addressing social justice issues within and beyond activist organizations and schools. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Education First Advisor Vivian L. Gadsden This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1887


This paper briefly recounts how computational design has surfaced in the architectural discourse during the recent decades, developing into what is now called parametric design. In this context, the authors argue against Parametricism, an avante garde movement which is limited to the issues of style and aesthetic fitness, whilst an approach that uses parametric modelling, simulation and visualization in an iterative way to generate design solutions for complexities of contemporary design problems is favoured. Following a discussion supported by representative examples from current practice, a possible organizational structure more appropriate to take advantage of digital tools to increase design performance is suggested.


The Linked Open Data project provides a new publishing paradigm for creating machine readable and structured data on the Web. Currently, the significant presence of data sets describing scholarly publications in the Linked Data cloud underpins the importance of Linked Data for the scientific community and for the open access movement. However, these semantically rich datasets need to be exploited and linked with real time applications. In the project we report on this. We have exploited numerous scholarly datasets and have created semantic links to papers in an online journal, particularly Journal of Universal Computer Science (J.UCS). The J. UCS plays an important part in the computer science publishing community and provides a number of innovative features and datasets to its web users. However, the legacy HTML format in which these features are made available makes it difficult for machines to understand and query. Keeping in mind the impressive benefits of the Linked Open Data project, this paper presents an approach to convert J.UCS legacy HTML data from its current form to machine understandable format (RDF). It also interlinks this data with other important Linked Data resources. The approach developed has successfully disambiguated and interlinked J.UCS authors and publications datasets with DBpedia, DBLP, CiteULike and faceted DBLP. Additionally, triplified and interlinked datasets are made available to the scientific and semantic web community for downloading and posing SPARQL queries. This semantically linked dataset can further be used by researchers and semantic agents to identify semantic associations, to build inferencing systems, and to extract useful knowledge.


Some supernovae, such as pair-instability supernovae, are predicted to have a duration of more than a year in the observer frame. To constrain the rates of supernovae lasting for more than a year, we conducted a long-term deep transient survey using Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) on the 8.2 m Subaru telescope. HSC is a wide-field (a 1.75 deg2 field-of-view) camera and it can efficiently conduct transient surveys. We observed the same 1.75 deg2 field repeatedly using the g-, r-, i-, and z-band filters with the typical depth of 26 mag for four seasons (from late 2016 to early 2020). Using these data, we searched for transients lasting for more than a year. Two supernovae were detected in two continuous seasons, one supernova was detected in three continuous seasons, but no transients lasted for all four seasons searched. The discovery rate of supernovae lasting for more than a year with the typical limiting magnitudes of 26 mag is constrained to be . All the long-lasting supernovae we found are likely Type IIn supernovae and our results indicate that about 40% of Type IIn supernovae have long-lasting light curves. No plausible pair-instability supernova candidates lasting for more than a year are discovered. By comparing the survey results and survey simulations, we constrain the luminous pair-instability supernova rate up to z ≃ 3 is of the order of 100 Gpc−3 yr−1 at most, which is 0.01–0.1% of the core-collapse supernova rate.


Market is not only the result of the behaviour of agents, as we can find other forms of contact and communication. Many of them are determined by proximity conditions in some kind of space: in this paper we pay a particular attention to relational space, that is the space determined by the relationships between individuals. The paper starts from a brief account on theoretical and empirical literature on social networks. Social networks represent people and their relationships as networks, in which individuals are nodes and the relationships between them are ties. In particular, graph theory is used in literature in order to demonstrate some properties of social networks summarised in the concept of Small Worlds. The concept may be used to explain how some phenomena involving relations among agents have effects on multiple different geographical scales, involving both the local and the global scale. The empirical section of the paper is introduced by a brief summary of simulation techniques in social science and economics as a way to investigate complexity. The model investigates the dynamics of a population of firms (potential innovators) and consumers interacting in a space defined as a social network. Consumers are represented in the model in order to create a competitive environment pushing enterprises into innovative process (we refer to Schumpeter's definition): from interaction between consumers and firms innovation emerges as a relational good.


This paper presents a novel method to reproduce in real time the opening and closing gestures of a human hand, animating a three-dimensional model of it. In other works, this result can be achieved by mapping a set of significant points of a real hand on the corresponding points of the model to animate. We propose an alternative way to produce the same effect without mapping points, but using a level-based estimation of the degree of opening of the hand. The experiments have been executed using Microsoft KinectTM, but the method would work on any other Kinect-like devices (as defined herein). The results obtained are particularly encouraging and demonstrate real-time performance of the system.


2D supramolecular self-assembly has emerged as a powerful tool in nanoscience for bottom-up fabrication of well-defined and long-range ordered two-dimensional (2D) molecular nanostructures at surfaces. Following an overview of the principles of this distinctive self-assembly process, this review focuses on recent strategies developed to go beyond surface nanopatterning and to provide functional surfaces. With an emphasis on the chemical engineering of the molecular building blocks constituting the adlayer, we show that besides supported nanoporous networks, a more promising approach lies in the upstanding 3D functional building blocks mounted on the substrate. We highlight the opportunities offered by graphene, a substrate for which non-covalent functionalization by supramolecular self-assembly represents a way to either control its electronic properties or provide a new functionality. Finally, future perspectives are addressed.


Technological advances in information and communication technologies have led to the emergence of e-learning systems that can be used effectively as a teaching and learning approach.  For emerging markets, e-learning is of special relevance, as it can provide access to education at a relatively low cost compared with traditional settings as there is no associated travel or housing costs. Additionally, internet access in emerging markets has increased steadily in the recent years. This paper discusses the importance of e-learning as a teaching and learning approach and its relevance in emerging markets. The paper presents some findings from four sections of a Faculty Certificate of Online Training (FCOT) program conducted by GlobalNxt University. The learners consist of faculty from India (n=20), South Africa (n=19) and Malaysia (n=9), which are representative of countries in the emerging markets. The paper examines the implications of the findings, and concludes with possible directions for the future of e-learning as a teaching and learning approach in emerging markets.


The development of future energy technology relies deeply on the design of cheap, sustainable and efficient systems for energy conversion and storage. As for the widespread oxygen electrode reactions, exploiting high efficiency and stable catalysts to boost both oxygen reduction (ORR) and evolution reactions (OER) seems to be a paramount mission. Here, we report a nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon material with cobalt oxide nanoparticles encapsulated in the graphitic layers via a facile one-pot synthesis. Strikingly, the as-fabricated Co–N/C 800 affords a low reversible overvoltage of 0.96 V between ORR and OER, surpassing 270, 390 and 460 mV in potential over 20 wt% Pt/C, RuO2 and IrO2, which makes it a high performance non-precious metal bicatalyst for reversible oxygen electrode reactions.


Turnover concepts in state‐of‐the‐art global vegetation models (GVMs) account for various processes, but are often highly simplified and may not include an adequate representation of the dominant processes that shape vegetation carbon turnover rates in real forest ecosystems at a large spatial scale. Here, we evaluate vegetation carbon turnover processes in GVMs participating in the Inter‐Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI‐MIP, including HYBRID4, JeDi, JULES, LPJml, ORCHIDEE, SDGVM, and VISIT) using estimates of vegetation carbon turnover rate (k) derived from a combination of remote sensing based products of biomass and net primary production (NPP). We find that current model limitations lead to considerable biases in the simulated biomass and in k (severe underestimations by all models except JeDi and VISIT compared to observation‐based average k), likely contributing to underestimation of positive feedbacks of the northern forest carbon balance to climate change caused by changes in forest mortality. A need for improved turnover concepts related to frost damage, drought, and insect outbreaks to better reproduce observation‐based spatial patterns in k is identified. As direct frost damage effects on mortality are usually not accounted for in these GVMs, simulated relationships between k and winter length in boreal forests are not consistent between different regions and strongly biased compared to the observation‐based relationships. Some models show a response of k to drought in temperate forests as a result of impacts of water availability on NPP, growth efficiency or carbon balance dependent mortality as well as soil or litter moisture effects on leaf turnover or fire. However, further direct drought effects such as carbon starvation (only in HYBRID4) or hydraulic failure are usually not taken into account by the investigated GVMs. While they are considered dominant large‐scale mortality agents, mortality mechanisms related to insects and pathogens are not explicitly treated in these models.


The possible protective effect of Mycofix against the toxic effect of T-2 toxin in growing broiler chickens was investigated in two age stages; the first and second ages, ranged from 1-21 and 22-42 days, respectively. The experiment was consisted of 4 dietary treatments: treatment 1: control; treatment 2: 2.5g Mycofix/kg feed; treatment 3: 8 ppm T-2 toxin alone; treatment 4: 8 ppm T-2 toxin plus Mycofix 2.5g Mycofix /kg feed. T-2 toxin alone significantly (p<0.05) decreased body weight gain, feed consumption and increased feed: gain ratio. Broiler chick performance was more sensitive to T-2 toxin during the first three weeks of age (initial stage of the experiment) than the other 3 weeks of age. When 2.5g Mycofix /kg were added to the diet, it protects broiler chicks against the adverse effect of T-2 toxin on BW gain, feed consumption, and feed: gain ratio. The oral lesion induced by T-2 toxin alone in the first three weeks and the more severe lesions in the following 4-6 weeks were counteracted by Mycofix at both stages of experiment. A significant ((p<0.05) increase in the relative weight of gizzard, pancreas in the initial experimental stage was noticed while a significant increase was reported in the relative weights of bursa, thymus, and spleen in the final stage of the experiment. Mycofix was found to be effective in ameliorating the negative effect of T-2 toxin on these organs. The results of the present trail indicate that Mycofix is capable of counteracting the adverse effects of T-2 toxin on performance, oral lesions, and relative weight of internal organs based on the enzymatic inactivation of the 12, 13-epoxide ring of T-2 toxin.


The Yemeni Jewish remnants have triggered so much interest on the part of so many western governments and humanitarian organizations, to an extent that is quite rare. The story of the Yemeni Jewish remnants is distinct from that of their brethren who emigrated to Israel during Operation Magic Carpet (1949-51). Before and during Operation Magic Carpet, Yemeni Jews came on their own in overwhelming numbers, many of them on foot, undeterred by the prospects of the trials and tribulations which they knew would await them in the course of their travels. In contrast, the Yemeni Jewish remnants displayed a strong hesitation, if not reluctance, to leave Yemen. Thus, since Operation Magic Carpet and until 1962 - the year of the coup d'etat eliminating the autocratic Imamic regime in Yemen and the closing of the Yemeni gates for Jewish emigration - only some four hundred Yemeni Jews heeded the call to emigrate to Israel. It is for this reason that the book is subtitled Carpet Without Magic. A 'red carpet' was indeed spread before the Yemeni Jewish remnants, but the 'magic' was no longer there.


The low signal-to-noise ratio typically found in biomedical images often leads experts to disagree about the underlying ground-truth segmentation. While existing approaches for multiple annotations try to resolve conflicting annotations, we instead focus on efficiently using pixels of disagreement to estimate areas of high uncertainty in the data and exploit this information for semi-supervised segmentation.Pseudo-labelling approaches, which utilise unlabelled data by trying to match their own predictions, need to distinguish reliable from unreliable predictions. We propose to identify unreliable pseudo-labels from the output of a separate network that is trained to predict the uncertainty in the data based on conflicting annotations from different annotators.Compared to other uncertainty estimation techniques like MC-Dropout or ensembling approaches, our approach has the two key advantages that its estimates stem directly from the data and that it is computationally more efficient. Using two public datasets, we show the effectiveness of our approach.


Background: Risk factor modification can reduce clinical events and premature death in people with established cardiovascular disease (CVD) as well as in those who are at high cardiovascular risk due to one or more risk factors. Obesity, a common nutritional disorder in industrialized countries is associated with an increased mortality and morbidity of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Objective This study evaluated the CV risk factors in obesity and significance of obesity as a risk factor for acute coronary and cerebrovascular conditions which occur frequently in our society. Method: Cardiovascular risk assessment was carried out in 250 subjects, 125 obese and 125 non-obese   using the following methods: Framingham risk score, Gamma glutamy1 transferase, (GGT), CK-MB,  very high single risk factor (VHSRF) and more than 3 high risk factors (>3HRF) Results With the different methods used for the assessment, percentage of individual at high risk tended to be higher in obese individual than in non obese, only Framingham Risk score method shows significant difference in risk percentage (P 0.05) whereas there were significant differences between the mean value of total cholesterol, LDL, VLDL, triglyceride, CK-MB and CRP (P<0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, hypertension happens to be the most predominant cardiovascular risk factor observed among obese assessed. Obesity is a serious risk factor for cardiovascular disease because most cardiovascular disease risk factors assessed were  more predominant in obese  than in normal subjects  therefore reduction in weight of an individual is very important to reduce cardiovascular disease.


Different surface modification techniques such as coating, radiation graft
polymerization and plasma polymerization are used to modify the structural characteristics and
chemical properties of different types of membranes. In general, these techniques involve more
steps during the fabrication line of membranes increasing their cost and changing the physical
structure of their surface (e.g. change of the pore shape reducing its size or even closing it). In
this study we propose the use of surface modifying macromolecules (SMMs) that can migrate to the
air/membrane interface during its fabrication changing its surface chemistry while leaving its bulk
properties intact. The SMMs were synthesized by a two-step solution polymerization method and
characterized by different techniques analyzing their fluorine content, molecular weights,
polydispersity, glass transition temperature, etc.
Composite hydrophobic/hydrophilic polymeric membranes of different structures (i.e. porous, dense,
flat sheet and hollow fiber membranes) and different characteristics were prepared. Attempts are
made to fabricate SMMs modified electrospun nanofibrous membranes. During membrane formation, the
SMMs migrate to the air/membrane interface because of their low Gibbs free energy compared to the
host hydrophilic polymer. Following this method, modified membranes can be prepared in only one
step instead of two (i.e. membrane fabrication and then modification) employing a polymer solution
containing the host hydrophilic polymer and the SMMs. Based on different SMMs characterization
techniques such as X-ray photoelectron microscopy (XPS), water contact angle measurements and
scanning electron microscopy (SEM)+energy dispersion spectrometry (EDS), it was confirmed that the
surface of the SMM electrospun modified nanofibrous membranes was enriched with fluorine groups.


Egyptians often say that bread is life; most eat this staple multiple times a day, many relying on the cheap bread subsidized by the government. In Staple Security, Jessica Barnes explores the process of sourcing domestic and foreign wheat for the production of bread and its consumption across urban and rural settings. She traces the anxiety that pervades Egyptian society surrounding the possibility that the nation could run out of wheat or that people might not have enough good bread to eat, and the daily efforts to ensure that this does not happen. With rich ethnographic detail, she takes us into the worlds of cultivating wheat, trading grain, and baking, buying, and eating bread. Linking global flows of grain and a national bread subsidy program with everyday household practices, Barnes theorizes the nexus between food and security, drawing attention to staples and the lengths to which people go to secure their consistent availability and quality.


Mode-division multiplexing systems employ multi-input multi-output (MIMO) equalization to compensate for chromatic dispersion (CD), modal dispersion (MD) and modal crosstalk. The computational complexity of MIMO equalization depends on the number of modes and on the group delay (GD) spread arising from CD and MD. Assuming the strong-coupling regime, in which the total system length far exceeds the correlation length of modal fields, we quantify the GD spread arising from MD, showing that it can be reduced significantly by mode coupling. We evaluate the computational complexity of various MIMO single-carrier equalizers, considering separate or combined equalization of CD and MD, in the time or frequency domain. We present numerical examples for the optimally designed graded-index depressed-cladding fibers supporting D=6, 12, 20 or 30 modes in two polarizations. Assuming a 2000-km system length, a 1-km correlation length, and a combined CD+MD frequency-domain equalizer, the complexity (in complex multiplications per two-dimensional symbol) is a factor 1.4, 1.7, 2.2, 2.8 times higher for D=6, 12, 20, 30 than for polarization-multiplexed systems in standard single-mode fiber (D=2).


Purpose Recent evidence supports the role of reduced cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure in the pathogenesis of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). We investigated the association of variants in two candidate genes that are important in CSF production, aquaporin 1 (AQP1) and solute carrier family 4, sodium bicarbonate transporter, member 10 (SLC4A10), with POAG in the Caucasian population. Methods POAG subjects (n=382) met the criteria of glaucomatous optic neuropathy with consistent visual field loss. Intraocular pressure was not used as an inclusion criterion. Control subjects (n=363) did not meet any of the inclusion criteria and had no family history of glaucoma. Eleven tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for AQP1 and SLC4A10 were genotyped in the POAG and control subjects, using allelic discrimination assays. Genotype frequencies were compared between the POAG and control subjects, using logistic regression adjusted for gender. Results There was no statistically significant difference in genotype frequencies between POAG and control subjects for any of the tested SNPs in AQP1 and SLC4A10 (p>0.05). Conclusions There was no association between common sequence variants in the AQP1 or SLC4A10 genes and POAG in the Caucasian population. This is the first study to investigate the association between these two candidate genes and increased risk for POAG.


The recent success of deep learning applications has coincided with those widely available powerful computational resources for training sophisticated machine learning models with huge datasets. Nonetheless, training large models such as convolutional neural networks using model parallelism (as opposed to data parallelism) is challenging because the complex nature of communication between model shards makes it difficult to partition the computation efficiently across multiple machines with an acceptable trade-off. This paper presents SplitBrain, a high performance distributed deep learning framework supporting hybrid data and model parallelism. Specifically, SplitBrain provides layer-specific partitioning that co-locates compute intensive convolutional layers while sharding memory demanding layers. A novel scalable group communication is proposed to further improve the training throughput with reduced communication overhead. The results show that SplitBrain can achieve nearly linear speedup while saving up to 67\% of memory consumption for data and model parallel VGG over CIFAR-10.


OBJECTIVE: In hospital, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) increases the morbidity and mortality in patients with acute medical illness. DVT prophylaxis is well known to be effective in preventing venous thromoembolism (VTE). However, its use remains suboptimal. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of quality improvement project on adherence with VTE prophylaxis guidelines and on the incidence of hospital-acquired VTEs in medical patients. METHODS: The study was conducted at Saudi Aramco Medical Services Organization from June 2008 to August 2009. Quality improvement strategies included education of physicians, the development of a protocol, and weekly monitoring of compliance with the recommendations for VTE prophylaxis as included in the multidisciplinary rounds. A feedback was provided whenever a deviation from the protocol occurs. RESULTS: During the study period, a total of 560 general internal medicine patients met the criteria for VTE prophylaxis. Of those, 513 (91%) patients actually received the recommended VTE prophylaxis. The weekly compliance rate in the initial stage of the intervention was 63% (14 of 22) and increased to an overall rate of 100% (39 of 39) (P = 0.002). Hospital-acquired DVT rate was 0.8 per 1000 discharges in the preintervention period and 0.5 per 1000 discharges in the postintervention period, P = 0.51. However, there was a significant increase in the time-free period of the VTE and we had 11 months with no single DVT. CONCLUSION: In this study, the use of multiple interventions increased VTE prophylaxis compliance rate.


This article is based on the results of comparative research into the appearance and integration of Chinese medicine (often limited to acupuncture in Europe) into French and Italian medical contexts during the twentieth century. The relationship between Chinese and conventional medicine and attempts at complementarity are studied, using as a starting-point a vast number of interviews with medical practitioners, observations of training sessions in the field, the study of the archives of the major French and Italian associations and schools of acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and a qualitative analysis of questionnaires distributed in training institutions. The motivations of French and Italian acupuncturists are also analysed, as are their representations of Chinese medicine. Particular attention is paid to a comparison between the French and Italian situations.


Purpose - The purpose of this study is to team broadly accepted general management concepts with the specific situation of corporate real estate, and suggest a holistic configurations framework for CREM that takes into account the highly diverse context parameters.Design/methodology/approach - Based on general management concepts and research on CREM issues a CRE management model – the 'CREM map' - is suggested that guides a study on which parameters drive CREM and how they are integrated. A qualitative approach is used that collects data from large European corporates. Analyses are performed through computer-assisted qualitative data analysis (QDA).Findings - Multiple parameters form heterogeneous context constellations that make it necessary to individually configure a CREM system. While some 'general principles' regarding CREM objectives, strategy, organization, and control systems can be identified as 'best practices', the key finding is that a holistic concept for CREM needs to be guided by 'best fit'-considerations, resulting in at least several, context-specific designs of CREM concepts.Practical implications - The CREM-map and CREM principles provide orientation in the process of design, implementation, and running of the CRE management system and its alignment to corporates' context and business needs. Connected line diagrams illustrate how 'best fit' concepts can look like.Originality/value - First study that takes a holistic view on the organization of the CREM function regarding its alignment with the business strategy and including why different designs are chosen. This can assist to improve the performance of CREM, and sets the stage for further research on CREM configurations.


For millennia Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas have had spiritual relationships with their lands and the beings on them. Today, a variety of political, social and environmental factors are redefining many Indigenous groups' land-based sustenance practices and livelihoods. Through these changes and new developments, however, scholars have found cultural continuity. My doctoral research describes the land ethos of the residents of the Mayan community of Xuilub (Yucatan), Mexico, and explains how it is understood and put into practice by its members. This project, informed by postcolonial theory, Indigenous geographies, and Indigenous knowledges (IKs) research, is part of a broader attempt to decolonize colonial histories and understandings about Indigenous peoples and their relationships with their territories. Through experiential learning and interviews over five trips to the area from 2014-2016, I have come to understand the Mayan land ethos as "being part of the land." I argue that this land ethos is guided by the cultural precept of 'responsibility-based thinking.' This ethos reflects a non-hierarchical view of the place of humans within a larger society (or Circle) of all beings on the land, and speaks to the importance of ceremony, offerings, and reciprocal relationships. Furthermore, this worldview is not static, but is well suited to integrating new knowledges and innovations and adapting to changing social and environmental conditions, and is strongly connected to cultural identity and place. The Maya land ethos can be described as a spiritually informed way of seeing the world that informs and mediates personal and collective conduct by instilling in an individual and, by extension, a community, a sense of duty or responsibility to be part of the land, rather than a sense of having rights to or on it.
This dissertation contributes to broader scholarly efforts to achieve deeper understandings of IKs, from a more Indigenous-centred research approach (and research questions), with the ultimate goal of expanding the disciplinary perspectives of postcolonial scholarship and Indigenous geographies. Such a responsibility-based mindset has the potential to enhance current mainstream (rights-based) environmental policy frameworks.


The Angolan campaign of 1987- '88 came as the culmination of a long and bitter war between South Africa and Swapo. Although South Africa's underlying intention was to limit Swapo's guerilla war to the territory of Ovambo, this could only succeed if the Angolan rebel movement Unita could continue covering the southeastern part of Angola. It was, therefore, in South Africa's interest to prevent Unita from being removed from the equation by the massive MPLA offensive of late winter and spring 1987. This was the basic reason for the county's intervention with Operation Moduler. The operation was, however, run with excessive operational control from Pretoria. Instead of allowing the officers on the ground a classic Liddell Hartian indirect approach by marching northwards west of the Cuito river to cut the advancing MPLA forces from their logistical hinterland and dislocating their offensive by attacking them from behind, Pretoria forced them into a direct head-on approach east of the river. The reason was to keep the South African involvement secret or, at the very least  'plausibly deniable' - a naive expectation. This did indeed result in a spectacular South African tactical victory at the Lomba River, where the MPLA offensive was decisively beaten back. But thereafter the South African forces were forced into a series of frontal attacks on increasingly well prepared MPLA defensive positions, including three final attacks on well fortified positions at Tumpo, which were beaten back, resulting in a subsequent stalemate. The stalemate was then brilliantly broken by Cuban forces, who marched to the southwestern Namibian border, threatening to cut the South Africans off at Tumpo, or alternatively to invade Namibia. The campaign is analysed in the light of military theory, especially the ideas of Clausewitz and Liddell Hart. The conclusion is that the MPLA lost badly, that South Africa reached its strategic objectives but did badly operationally, and that Cuba came out of the affair with flying colours.


The tremendous popularity of wireless technologies during the last decade has created a considerable expansion of wireless networks both in size and use. This fact, together with a great variety of mobile devices and numerous di®erent services that are becoming increasingly resourcedemanding, have attracted the attention of many researchers into the area of radio resource planning and optimization. Due to network complexity, these tasks require intelligent, automated approaches that are able to deal with many factors in order to enable design of high capacity networks with a high service quality at the lowest possible cost. This is a perfect application of optimization theory. In this thesis, mathematical optimization is considered as the main approach to designing and improving the performance of wireless networks such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) and ad hoc networks. Due to different underlying access technologies, the optimization goals, design parameters and system limitations vary by network type. Therefore, the goals of the presented work are to identify a relevant optimization problem for each type of network, to model the problem and to apply the optimization approach in order to facilitate wireless network planning and improve radio resource utilization. The optimization problems addressed in this thesis, in the context of UMTS networks, focus on minimizing the total amount of pilot power which, from the modeling point of view, is not just an amount of power consumed by a certain type of control signal, but also an indicator of the interference level in the network and means of controlling cell coverage. The presented models and algorithms enable °exible coverage planning and optimization of pilot power and radio base station antenna confiration in large networks. For WLANs, in the First part of the study, the access point placement and the channel assignment problems are considered jointly to maximize net user throughput and minimize co- and adjacent channel interference and contention. The second part of the study addresses the contention issue and involves, among the other decisions, optimization of access point transmit power. Due to the dynamic and infrastructureless nature of ad hoc networks, static resource planning is less suitable for this type of network. Two algorithmic frameworks which enable dynamic topology control for power-efficient broadcasting in stationary and mobile networks are presented. In both frameworks, the performance of the presented algorithms is studied by simulations.


South African Christians are not only surrounded by violence, but actively participate in acts of violence, therefore contributing to the unacceptably high levels of anxiety and counterviolence across the country. Christian churches – both the institutions and their individual members – are accomplices to the current chaotic state of affairs in South Africa. Simply accepting and adapting to the standards and values of the society in which the church operates erases the signs and characteristics of the alternative community that Christians are supposed to be. Being no different from the rest of society deprives the churches of their power and influence on society. The churches are caught up in a number of crises, causing them to be sidetracked from serious issues that need urgent attention. This calls for amelioration, which focuses not so much on creeds, but on deeds. Faith is supposed to change people and their behaviour. Challenging the way people behave, calling upon them to live without compromise and emphasising the need for introspection regarding the use of violence could bring creative transformation to both the church and society. To this end, this paper aimed to focus attention on the fact that the Christian churches in South Africa are not living up to their calling and, through its examination of the problem at hand, sound a call for introspection and action.


The Michelin Tire Company requires its tires to be very uniform in order to provide a smooth, quiet ride. The design of the appropriate manufacturing technique leads to a problem in harmonic analysis, and to the problem of the design of a statistical experiment to accurately measure the harmonic components contributing to a measured force on the tire. Optimal designs were developed, as well as a number of useful Monte Carlo methods. MATLAB codes of the tests are provided.


The case for stronger EU-wide cooperation on migration policy is overwhelming. However, recent developments have been very disappointing, and the lack of tangible progress on addressing current issues has contributed to a backlash from voters. Formulating a pan-EU policy to deal with future challenges is essential, but will remain very difficult. However, while decisive steps continue to look unlikely, incremental efforts already under way could bear fruit in the long run.


Abstract The "AHRC Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism in Britain" (EFB) project ran over two years, from 2008 to 2009. The network addressed the question "To what extent have Evangelicals in Britain been Fundamentalist?". This article develops one of the project papers. Drawing on my doctoral research, I explore the relationship between Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism through an ethnographic perspective on how two contrasting evangelical congregations did biblical hermeneutics. The congregational hermeneutics approach addresses the mix of hermeneutical discourses, practices, and artefacts within the churches and I show that congregational hermeneutics are revealing for questions of evangelical identity. I maintain that the language of 'fundamentalising tendencies' is to be preferred to more static conceptions, which are not well suited for describing dissonant tendencies within congregations. The study supports the view that fundamentalising tendencies are not identical with Evangelicalism and shows that implicit hermeneutical traditions can be found in such churches with the potential to shape broader congregational traditions.


BACKGROUND--Although oesophagitis is the most common diagnosis made at upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, data on the longterm outcome of affected patients are sparse. AIMS--This study assessed the level of reflux symptoms, quality of life, drug consumption, and complications in patients at least 10 years after diagnosis of oesophagitis at one centre. PATIENTS--One hundred and fifty two patients with typical reflux symptoms and a first time diagnosis by endoscopy of grade I-III oesophagitis between 1981 and 1984, were followed up using a postal questionnaire and telephone interview. RESULTS--Eighteen of 152 patients had died, 33 failed to respond, and 101 replied (mean follow up 11 years, range 121-160 months). Over 70% of patients still had heartburn at least daily (32%) or weekly (19%) or required daily acid suppression treatment (20%). Two patients (2%) had developed oesophageal strictures and one had Barrett's oesophagus. Two of eight quality of life scores (physical function and social function) measured by the Short Form-36 were significantly lower than Northern Ireland population scores. CONCLUSION--Nearly three quarters of patients previously diagnosed as having oesophagitis still had significant morbidity related to gastro-oesophageal reflux disease more than 10 years after diagnosis. Some quality of life scores were significantly lower than those of the general population.


Background literature review, methodology, results, and analysis are presented for a novel approach to approximating wind pressure on tall buildings for the application of generative design exploration and optimisation. The predictions are approximations of time-averaged computational fluid dynamics (CFD) data with the aim of maintaining simulation accuracy but with improved speed. This is achieved through the use of a back-propagation artificial neural network (ANN) with vertex-based shape features as input and pressure as output. The training set consists of 600 procedurally generated tall building models, and the test set of 10 real building models; for all models in both sets, a feature vector is calculated for every vertex. Over the test set, mean absolute errors against the basis CFD are 1.99–4.44% (σ:2. 10–5.09%) with an on-line process time of 14.72–809.98s (0.028s/sample). Studies are also included on feature sensitivity, training set size, and comparison of CFD against prediction times. Results indicate that prediction time is only dependent on the number of test model vertices, and is therefore invariant to basis CFD time.


Amber is fossilized resin that was excreted by conifers or angiosperms. Plant and animal remains which got caught inside of these ancient resin flows are called 'inclusions' and are often preserved with high fidelity. Amber deposits which are remarkably rich in inclusions mainly occur in Cretaceous and Cenozoic sediments. The Eocene Baltic amber is a prominent example which constitutes the largest amber deposit worldwide and is famous for its plenitude of inclusions that mainly comprise arthropod taxa.
This thesis, however, focuses on plant inclusions from Baltic amber, which are rare, and less studied than the arthropod inclusions. Despite their rareness, plant inclusions are significant for the reconstruction of the palaeoecosystem from which the amber derives, the so-called 'Baltic amber forest'. Up to now, knowledge about the 'Baltic amber forest' is mainly based on historic descriptions of plant inclusions from the 19th century and on the interpretation of animal inclusions. Contradictory pictures of the 'Baltic amber forest' exist, ranging from tropical lowland rainforests with neighbouring subtropical to temperate mountain forests to steppe forests and pure, dense conifer stands that only intermingled with angiosperm trees along their margins. The topography of the Baltic amber source area is mainly interpreted as mountainous, but also theories about a plain landscape exist. Further debates are related to the age of Baltic amber, as well as the locality of its source forests and its botanical origin. These questions were summarized as 'Baltic amber mysteries'.
The primary focus of this thesis is to achieve a new picture of the 'Baltic amber forest' by predominantly using plant inclusions. Amber inclusions from museum and private collections were used to revise described historic specimens and to identify undescribed plant taxa from Baltic amber. Identified plant taxa were then compared to their fossil and extant analogues. This comparison served to reconstruct the potential palaeoecology of plant taxa, as well as their habitat preferences and palaeoclimatic requirements. With this information, plant diversity, habitat types and their structure were reconstructed, thus synthesising a new picture of the 'Baltic amber forest'.
In this thesis, ten conifer genera were identified from Baltic amber: Calocedrus, Quasisequoia and Taxodium (Cupressaceae), Cupressospermum (Geinitziaceae), Abies, Cathaya, Nothotsuga, Pseudolarix and Pinus (Pinaceae), and Sciadopitys (Sciadopityaceae). The diversity of Cupressaceae is actually higher, since three morphological complexes of Cupressaceous twig fragments and pollen cones were also classified. The majority of all identified conifers has not been verified from Baltic amber before; thus, new candidates for a Baltic amber source plant should be restudied. In addition, newly discovered or revised angiosperm inclusions confirm the presence of Poaceae, Cyperaceae (Rhynchospora), Roridulaceae, Myricaceae (Comptonia), Viscaceae (six species of Arceuthobium), Ericaceae (Cassiope or Calluna), and Fagaceae (quercoid and castaneoid taxa) in the 'Baltic amber forest'. The named conifers and angiosperms allowed the reconstruction of several habitat types with their respective plant communities from the Baltic amber source area: coastal lowland swamps under brackish-water influence, raised bog habitats, non-brackish inundated back swamps and riparian forests, non-inundated mixed-mesophytic angiosperm-conifer forests with both open habitat patches (such as meadows) and canopy gaps. Moreover, different life forms could be reconstructed, such as parasitic (dwarf mistletoes, Arceuthobium) and carnivorous (Roridulaceae) plants. Previous studies about ferns, bryophytes, liverworts, fungi and lichens from Baltic amber were also considered in the interpretation of the microhabitats of the 'Baltic amber forest'. They indicated complex and highly diverse communities with epiphytic, terrestrial, saprophytic and parasitic components.
From a palaeobotanical perspective, there is neither evidence of a (sub)tropical 'Baltic amber forest', nor of an altitudinal stratification of the source area. This is supported by previous geological studies of the Baltic amber deposit, which suggest a local amber formation and deposition in the Baltic region during the late Eocene. No orogenic events took place in the Baltic region, precluding the presence of mountains in the Baltic amber source area. Comparisons of the Baltic amber flora with fossil assemblages from the central European Palaeogene showed clear differences to (sub)tropical fossil floras. Instead the Baltic amber flora indicates a warm-temperate palaeoclimate with affinities to the extant warm-temperate to temperate floras of East Asia and North America.
The thorough analyses of available plant inclusions from Baltic amber reveal a heterogeneous mosaic-like landscape of the Baltic amber source area in a coastal setting. This heterogeneity allowed the existence of diverse animal and plant taxa with different habitat preferences in close proximity to each other.


We compare a variety of methods for estimating the gas/ice depth offset ( 1depth) at EPICA Dome C (EDC, East Antarctica). (1) Purely based on modelling efforts, 1depth can be estimated combining a firn densification with an ice flow model. (2) The diffusive column height can be estimated fromδ15N and converted to1depth using an ice flow model and assumptions about past average firn density and thickness of the convective zone. (3) Ice and gas synchronisation of the EDC ice core to the GRIP, EDML and TALDICE ice cores shifts the ice/gas offset problem into higher accumulation ice cores where it can be more accurately evaluated. (4) Finally, the bipolar seesaw hypothesis allows us to synchronise the ice isotopic record with the gas CH4 record, the later being taken as a proxy of Greenland temperature. The general agreement of method 4 with methods 2 and 3 confirms that the bipolar seesaw antiphase happened during the last 140 kyr. Applying method 4 to the deeper section of the EDC core confirms that the ice flow is complex and can help to improve our reconstruction of the thinning function and thus, of the EDC age scale. We confirm that method 1 overestimates the glacial 1depth at EDC and we suggest that it is due to an overestimation of the glacial lock-in depth (LID) by the firn densification model. In contrast, we find that method 1 very likely underestimates1depth during Termination II, due either to an underestimated thinning function or to an underestimated LID. Finally, method 2 gives estimates within a few metres of methods 3 and 4 during the last deglacial warming, suggesting that the convective zone at Dome C cannot have been very large at this time, if it existed at all.


Abstract. Using the wave model SWAN (simulating waves nearshore), high waves on the southwestern Atlantic generated by extra-tropical cyclones are simulated from 2000 to 2010, and their impact on the Rio Grande do Sul (RS) coast is studied. The modeled waves are compared with buoy data and good agreement is found. The six extreme events in the period that presented significant wave heights above 5 m, on a particular point of interest, are investigated in detail. It is found that the cyclogenetic pattern between the latitudes 31.5 and 34° S is the most favorable for developing high waves. Hovmoller diagrams for deep water show that the region between the south of Rio Grande do Sul up to a latitude of 31.5° S is the most energetic during a cyclone's passage, although the event of May 2008 indicates that the location of this region can vary, depending on the cyclone's displacement. On the other hand, the Hovmoller diagrams for shallow water show that the different shoreface morphologies were responsible for focusing or dissipating the waves' energy; the regions found are in agreement with the observations of erosion and progradation regions. It can be concluded that some of the urban areas of the beaches of Hermenegildo, Cidreira, Pinhal, Tramandai, Imbe and Torres have been more exposed during the extreme wave events on the Rio Grande do Sul coast, and are more vulnerable to this natural hazard.


Positive youth development (PYD) programs assist youth in acquiring the skills, attitudes, and values that are critical in coping with various risk factors in their communities. The purpose of this paper is to highlight strategies that sport psychology consultants can use to support PYD programs and develop collaboration and consistency of delivery among community youth serving agencies that use sport and physical activity-based experiences to promote positive youth development. In particular, the role of sport psychology consultants within sport and physical activity programs that serve as a catalyst for community youth development (CYD) is examined. Barriers to collaboration among community-based organizations are identified and strategies to overcome these obstacles are proposed. Sport psychology consultants are in a unique position to support PYD and CYD in the athletes and communities they serve.


A method has been developed to compute the response of cylindrically layered viscoelastic systems using the direct global matrix approach (DGM). The numerical stability of the method allows us to model multilayered shells that have viscoelastic layers for damping and compliant coatings for decoupling. In this presentation, the method is applied to a cylindrical shell having external fluid loading and a viscoelastic layer of damping material sandwiched between two solid layers. The model can be excited by ring forces, point forces, and a point source in the fluid. Parameter studies are presented to investigate the effect of the viscoelastic damping layer on the various wave types (flexural, membrane compression, and membrane shear). [Work supported by ONR.]


© 2015 selection and editorial matter, Theodora-Ismene Gizelis and Louise Olsson. All rights reserved. This volume explores the implementation of key gender policies in international peace and security, following the adoption of UN Security Council resolution 1325 in October 2000, the first thematic resolution on Women, Peace and Security. How should we understand women's participation in peace processes and in peace operations? And what forms of gendered security dynamics are present in armed conflict and international interventions? These questions represent central themes of protection and participation that the international community has to address in order to implement UNSCR 1325. Thus far, the implementation has often employed varying approaches related to gender mainstreaming, a third theme of the resolution. Yet, there is a dearth of systematic data which until recently has restricted the ability of researchers to evaluate the progress in implementation and impact of UNSCR 1325. By engaging with both empirics and critical theory, the authors of this edited volume make important contributions to the gender, peace and security agenda. They identify some of the problems of implementing UNSC 1325 and offer a sobering assessment of progress of implementation and insights into how to advance our understanding through systematic research. Many of the chapters are focused on operational aspects of UNSCR 1325, but all also engage with the theoretical underpinnings of UNSCR 1325 to bring forth central debates on more fundamental challenges to the development of knowledge in the fields of gender, peace and security. This book will be of much interest to students of gender studies, peace and conflict studies, security studies and IR in general.


There is a substantial literature that now exists on public policy analysis which recognises
a variety of issues surrounding implementation. Studies of the actions of public policy
service deliverers or what Lipsky (1980) calls street level bureaucrats (SLBs), reveals
numerous examples where they misinterpret or contest the conceived purpose of policies
formulated at the central level and, therefore, fail to deliver policy in a manner consistent
with the ideals of core policymakers. In the case of Saudi Arabia however, little is known
about the factors that contribute to the implementation of public policy there or the degree
of political autonomy experienced by Saudi SLBs at the implementation stage. The
purpose of this study is to address this lacuna by exploring the nature of power and
autonomy in the Saudi political system through a case study of public education policy.
The research examines the way in which such policy is implemented by secondary schools
principals and education managers (SLBs) in three different local education authorities
across Saudi Arabia, namely in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam cities, and examined the
variable degree of devolved power or political autonomy experienced by these SLBs in the
implementation process. The research was drawn from semi-structured interviews
conducted with secondary school principals and various managers of education at the local
level, as well as with senior officials in the Saudi Ministry of Education (MoE). The issues
that emerged were mainly related to key aspects of power relationships between different
bureaucratic tiers of the MoE and education policy process within the policy formulation,
implementation and monitoring stages. The key finding of the research indicates that SLBs
have a considerable degree of discretionary power in the implementation process, leading
to variation not only between the central policy formulation stage and the local
implementation level but also across the 3 regions. This is explained by the nature of the
Saudi governance structure and, more particularly, the education policy itself, which lacks
clear objectives, instructions, rules, procedures and mechanisms for monitoring and
feedback. These findings challenged the existing literature on the Saudi State that explains
the authoritarian, top-down nature of the Saudi political system which assumes policy
made by the centre is closely translated further down the policy-chain at the policy
implementation stage by SLBs.


Traditional single image super-resolution (SISR) methods that focus on solving single and uniform degradation (i.e., bicubic down-sampling), typically suffer from poor performance when applied into real-world low-resolution (LR) images due to the complicated realistic degradations. The key to solving this more challenging real image super-resolution (RealSR) problem lies in learning feature representations that are both informative and content-aware. In this paper, we propose a Omni-frequency Region-adaptive Network (OR-Net) to address both challenges, here we call features of all low, middle and high frequencies omni-frequency features. Specifically, we start from the frequency perspective and design a Frequency Decomposition (FD) module to separate different frequency components to comprehensively compensate the information lost for real LR image. Then, considering the different regions of real LR image have different frequency information lost, we further design a Region-adaptive Frequency Aggregation (RFA) module by leveraging dynamic convolution and spatial attention to adaptively restore frequency components for different regions. The extensive experiments endorse the high-efficient, effective, and scenario-agnostic nature of our OR-Net for RealSR.