We
present the first application of machine learning on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for predicting and rationalizing carbon-fluorine (C–F)
bond dissociation energies to aid in their efficient treatment and removal. Using
a variety of machine learning algorithms (including Random Forest, Least
Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator Regression, and Feed-forward Neural
Networks), we were able to obtain extremely accurate predictions for C–F bond dissociation energies (with
deviations less than 0.70 kcal/mol) that are within chemical accuracy of
the PFAS reference data. In addition, we show that our machine learning
approach is extremely efficient (requiring less than 10 minutes to train the
data and less than a second to predict the C–F bond dissociation energy of a
new compound) and only needs knowledge
of the simple chemical connectivity in a PFAS structure to yield reliable
results – without recourse to a computationally expensive quantum
mechanical calculation or a three-dimensional structure. Finally, we present an
unsupervised machine learning algorithm that can automatically classify and
rationalize chemical trends in PFAS structures that would otherwise have been
difficult to humanly visualize/process manually. Collectively, these studies (1)
comprise the first application
of machine learning techniques for PFAS structures to predict/rationalize C–F bond dissociation energies and (2) show immense
promise for assisting experimentalists in the targeted defluorination of
specific bonds in PFAS structures (or other unknown environmental contaminants)
of increasing complexity.


This research contextualises, evaluates and critically examines specific methodologies for integrated/mixed-ability dance that pertain to re-framing the dancer. Integrated/mixed-ability dance is committed to inclusive practice thereby changing the old order of aesthetics in favour of a new approach. It is this innovative work that this study has documented. The body (in dance) is understood as a complex phenomenon that engages with issues of consciousness, perception and temporality. The synthesis of philosophy (most specifically phenomenology), structuralist theory (with reference to Althusser and
Foucault) and creative practice (with specific reference to the work of two contrasting integrated/mixed-ability practitioners), evolves an ideology and aesthetic for integrated/mixed-ability dance that will determine the extent to which - changing the beauty aesthetic in dance can be achieved.
The core enquiry is based upon the critical evaluation of the integration of disabled and non-disabled dancers within the practices of Adam Benjamin and Alito Alessi. Their overlapping but divergent methodologies stress issues of embodiment and identity and make a plea for different forms of thinking about how the body is represented in dance. I argue that within integrated/mixed-ability dance, improvisation is an effective learning tool wherein bodily activity is conceptualised as multi-dimensional, inter-modal activity that pertains to ethical and social facilitation.
The critical reflective practice and cross-evaluation (from a phenomenological perspective) presents research findings that provide subjective (experiential) and philosophical evidence that contributes to the field of integrated/mixed-ability dance and the wider scholarship of Western contemporary dance. My thesis concludes that: Benjamin and Alessi's methodologies amount to a phenomenological understanding of the dancers' experiences that is significant for evolving integration. I argue that is achieved through perceptual processes and provides effective understanding of the embodied structure of experiences (consciousness) in the space. Concurrently, critical and philosophical analysis presents substantial evidence for the role of sensori-motor (body schema) activity and for the re-conceptualisation of body image. That argument highlights the complexity of the relation between body schema, body image and habit, and pertains to both aesthetic and ethical considerations.


This thesis analyses the response of aggregate and sectoral stock returns to monetary policy announcements and inflation in the United Kingdom. Given the unique monetary policy framework, the monetary policymaking process and inflation target of the United Kingdom are different from other countries in many aspects, investigating the UK case could add international evidence to the current literature. This thesis contains three main parts: (i) monetary policy and stock returns, examining the impact of monetary policy announcements on stock returns and stock market volatility under different monetary policy regimes, especially before and after the independence of the Bank of England in 1997; (ii) inflation and stock returns, investigating the issues whether common stocks are a hedge against inflation in short, medium and long-term and under different inflationary economies and regimes; (iii) corporate financing mix and inflation exposure, testing how corporate financing mix affects the exposure of common stocks to inflation. The results suggest that monetary policy announcements negatively affect stock returns and significantly impact stock market volatility. The responses of stock returns and stock market volatility vary before and after May 1997, when the Bank of England gained independence, which suggests that a change in the monetary policymaking process tends to affect the responses of stock markets. The research also uncovers the fact that the UK stock market fails to hedge against inflation in short and medium-term, but provides a good hedge against inflation in long-term. Different inflationary economies or regimes also affect the relationship between inflation and stock returns. In addition, this thesis finds support for the nominal contracting effect suggesting that firms with higher debtors gain while firms with higher creditors lose from higher-than-expected inflation. The empirical mixture of the results found in the relationship between inflation and stock returns is likely to be explained by the nominal contracting hypothesis.


This paper concerns the optimisation of casing grooves and the important influence of stall inception mechanism on groove performance. Installing casing grooves is a well known technique for improving the stable operating range of a compressor, but the wide-spread use of grooves is restricted by the loss of efficiency and flow capacity. In this paper, laboratory tests are used to examine the conditions under which casing treatment can be used to greatest effect. The use of a single casing groove was investigated in a recently published companion paper. The current work extends this to multiple-groove treatments and considers their performance in relation to stall inception mechanisms. Here it is shown that the stall margin gain from multiple grooves is less than the sum of the gains if the grooves were used individually. By contrast, the loss of efficiency is additive as the number of grooves increases. It is then shown that casing grooves give the greatest stall margin improvement when used in a compressor which exhibits spike-type stall inception, while modal activity before stall can dramatically reduce the effectiveness of the grooves. This finding highlights the importance of being able to predict the stall inception mechanism which might occur in a given compressor before and after grooves are added. Some published prediction techniques are therefore examined, but found wanting. Lastly, it is shown that casing grooves can, in some cases, be used to remove rotor blades and produce a more efficient, stable and light-weight rotor. © 2010 by ASME.


The attitude towards foreign direct investment (FDI) has changed considerably over the last two decades as many governments around the globe have liberalized their FDI regulations since the early 1980.s and are now actively providing generous investment incentives to attract inward FDI (UNCTAD, 2003). The rationale for these policies often stems from the expectation of FDI spillovers (Caves 1974, Cantwell 1991a, Dunning, 1992), which embodies the fact that foreign .firms own technological advantages. Such as technological know-how, marketing and managerial skills, international experience, and reputation .which can be transmitted to domestic host country firms, raising their productivity level (Blomstrom and Kokko, 1998). Generally, spillovers are said to take place when the entry and presence of MNC.s a¢ liates leads to productivity or efficiency benefits in the domestic firms and the multinational corporations (MNCs) are not able to internalize the full value of these benefits (Blomstrom and Kokko, 1998). Such spillovers may occur either in the foreign affiliates own industry or in other industries .among the affiliates suppliers or customers. Intra-industry spillovers may materialize through three main channels. First, there are "demonstration-related spillovers", when the foreign firms after entering the market demonstrate their advanced technologies to domestic firms which may afterwards adapt and imitate them. Second, there are "competition-related spillovers", when the increase in competition that occurs as a result of foreign entry forces domestic firms to introduce new technology and/or work harder. And third, there are "worker mobility-related spillovers", when domestic workers trained by or working in MNCs. affiliates may decide to leave and join an existing or open up a new domestic firm, taking with them some or all of the firms specific knowledge. A large amount of literature has developed over the last two decades on the concept of intra-industry spillovers effects. Too often, existing studies have merely offered a partial description of these effects, since each of them was concerned with analyzing only one means of the effects. Moreover, they have treated the mechanism by which the technology is transferred as a black box. Our study offers a more complete picture of FDI intra-industry spillovers by distinguishing these effects according to their diverse channels. It hypothesizes that the size and the extent of spillovers depend largely upon the mechanisms by which they occur, since the amount and the nature of the technology diffused differ to a great extent according to the way it is transmitted. In addition, domestic technological characteristics such as domestic absorptive capacity and regional proximity are also taken into account in our study along with spillover channels, so as to allow for more detailed analysis of spillover effects. The aim of this thesis is thus to focus in detail on the role of FDI channels as well as domestic absorptive capacity and regional dimension in determining the magnitude and the extent of possible intra-industry spillover benefits from FDI. Unlike existing studies, it calls upon a detailed analysis of these effects according to the mechanisms by which they occur. It argues that the size and the extent of spillover benefits depend largely upon the interaction between the mechanisms by which they occur and the technological levels of domestic firms. In addition, geographical proximity between foreign and domestic firms is an important element in determining the size and the extent of spillover effects; spillovers are more likely to occur between neighbors than other more distant firms. On the basis of these hypotheses, this thesis proposes some components for a research agenda on FDI spillover effects, on both the theoretical and the empirical levels. Relatedly, we develop an evolutionary model of intra-industry spillovers embodying the above hypotheses and we test our theoretical finding against empirical evidence for Switzerland using both qualitative and quantitative analyses .to the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to explore the Swiss case. For the qualitative analysis, we held interviews with managers of foreign and domestic firms of diverse industries from manufacturing and services/construction, operating in Switzerland; while for the quantitative analysis, we made different regression estimations to assess the size and the extent of intra-industry spillovers. Our regression analysis makes use of a thorough measure of domestic absorptive capacity in which the learning and investment efforts of domestic firms come with their existing technological capacities; argument disregarded by most existing empirical studies. Our simulation and empirical results seem to confirm our hypotheses, in which high and mid technology firms benefit a lot from, respectively, competition and demonstration effects, while low technology firms unable to benefit from foreign affiliates via demonstration effects alone, manage to reap this benefit via the recruitment of MNCs. human capital, in that this channel provides some assistance which can help them to imitate successfully the foreign knowledge. Our results also demonstrate that the geographical dimension matters for intra-industry spillovers. Furthermore, the regression results show that only domestic firms which largely invest in the absorptive capacity benefit from spillovers, resulting mostly from the technology transfer.


Many organisms exhibit rhythmic behavior and activity that corresponds to a daily cycle. The circadian clock is influenced by environmental factors that include both light (photic) and nonphotic stimuli (such as food and locomotor activity) (see Van Gelder). Cheng et al. created mice deficient in dexras1, which encodes a guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) that can also act as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for heterotrimeric G protein α subunits of the Gi/o family. Analysis of the behavior patterns of the mice, along with various ex vivo assays of neurons of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), indicated that Dexras1 plays a key role in transmitting photic information through activation of glutamate receptors of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) type and nonphotic information through the neuropeptide y (NPY) pathway. Phosphorylation of ERK1 and ERK2 (extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases 1 and 2) in response to light entrainment was diminished in dexras1—/—mice. Light activates glutaminergic neurons in the retina, which synapse onto NMDA-expressing neurons of the SCN. NMDA-induced phase shifts in isolated SCN neuron firing were diminished, and in neurons from wild-type animals, these phase shifts were blocked by pharmacologic inhibition of ERK signaling. Pertussis toxin, which blocks Gα signaling, did not affect NMDA-induced phase shifts in either wild-type or dexras1—/— mice. Thus, Dexras1 participates in a G protein-independent signaling pathway, involving NMDA receptor and ERK activation, to allow input from photic signals to the circadian clock. On the nonphotic input side, Dexras1 appears to provide a negative input, such that dexras1—/—mice exhibit altered circadian behavior patterns after nonphotic stimulation that does not cause a similar alteration in circadian patterns in wild-type mice. In slice preparations, SCN neurons from dexras1—/—mice were more responsive to NPY signaling, with NPY inhibiting NMDA-induced phase shifts at lower doses than in wild-type mice. NPY receptors couple to Gi/o proteins, and preparations from the dexras1—/—mice were indistinguishable from wild-type in the effect of NPY on NMDA-induced phase shifts. Thus, Dexras1 appears to provide an inhibitory signal through a Gi/o-dependent mechanism to the NPY pathway for nonphotic signaling to the circadian clock. R. N. Van Gelder, Resetting the clock: Dexras1 defines a path. Neuron 43, 603-604 (2004). [Online Journal] H. Y. Cheng, K. Obrietan, S. W. Cain, B. Y. Lee, P. V. Agostino, N. A. Joza, M. E. Harrington, M. R. Ralph, J. M. Penninger, Dexras1 potentiates photic and suppresses nonphotic responses of the circadian clock. Neuron 43, 715-728 (2004). [Online Journal]


Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the most important chronic comorbidities in the general population, resulting in tremendous societal cost.1 It is responsible for an annual death toll of 4 000 000 throughout 28 European Union (EU) member states, of which 700 000 occur at an age younger than 65 years.2 Despite significant efforts to identify novel biomarkers, genome-wide-associated studies and conventional imaging modalities, the challenge of developing effective screening tools has still to be tackled in a sufficiently resourceful manner.1

Wider availability of diagnostic machinery, as well as their partial support by guidelines, has made some procedures such as adenosine stress cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) very popular.3 ,4 With thoughtful application, adenosine stress CMR can offer clinically relevant prognostic information and affect subsequent therapeutic decisions. However, when used to screen for CAD, stress CMR is a questionable practice. If you consider that the effects of negative stress CMR perfusion on rates of long-term major adverse cardiovascular events are very similar to those accomplished by treadmill testing, the cost-efficiency of the former is debateable.3

If we were to try to screen the EU population for high-risk cases—theoretically and effectively covering 1.6 million people expected to have acute coronary syndrome (ACS) during the next year—and if this were to be undertaken by five CMR centres per 28 EU member states, each performing 10 …


Currently there is a critical need to increase oil and gas recovery from existing and new reservoirs. In addition, the ever-increasing need to sequester CO2 in the subsurface places further emphasis on accurate imaging methods to validate CO2 injection strategies. Two obstacles to increased efficiency are (1) a thorough understanding of the geologic complexity and fluid distribution and (2) the scaling relationships between fine scale/point measurements and larger scale/volumetric measurements. Although initially expensive, borehole methods may offer a cost-effective solution when integrated into a drilling and development program. New technology such as fiber-optic sensors emplaced during drilling and completion, microhole drilling, and other advances in sensors will make borehole technology much more cost effective when used over the long run. If deployed in a multicomponent and time-lapse fashion, seismic methods also offer the ability to define contrasts in properties, detecting subtle changes in prop...


The aim of the designers of PARADISE is to create a program which should become to language teachers and students what the word processor currently is to whoever writes.Language teachers can use it as a tool which enables them to prepare CALL-materials on the basis of texts of their own choosing. This the program provides for in a highly user-friendly way. The program allows language students to independently explore foreign language texts. The morphological analysis performed by the program supports this on the grammatical level and opens the way to its electronic dictionaries.Any text in ASCII format can serve as input. No prior editing or codifying is needed. The program analyses the text on the morphological level. Modules supporting English, French and Dutch are available. The analysis adds linguistic labels to each word in the text specifying its lexeme, word class and grammatical form. A huge amount of words in a text are ambiguous on the morphological level. In these cases the various possible lexemes are specified on the label. The data on the labels are used as a means to make a selection out of the words in the text. The user can ask for words of any word class, in any form, to be selected. He is given the choice between avoiding ambiguous forms or disambiguating them manually. The words selected are meant to serve as the basis for various kinds of grammatical or lexical exercises.The teacher is given a wide range of options in order to specify what a specific exercise should look like. Help may be given in various forms, feedback may be added to be displayed in specific situations.The exercises can be presented to the students on an autonomously functioning floppy disk, on paper or from within the main program. The latter allows for the integration of audio, e.g. for dictation purposes.The general idea behind PARADISE closely resembles that behind its precursor, ADAM & EVE. However, PARADISE recognises 98% of words in a newspaper article, on the basis of its internal word list containing about 50,000 lexemes and their associated word formation rules. Adam & Eve selects words on the basis of lexical frequency lists, containing about 20,000 words. PARADISE also handles ambiguity in an elegant way ADAM & EVE can not. The frequency lists in Adam & Eve can be expanded by the user, but this is not an easy task. PARADISE can easily be 'taughť new words. PARADISE allows for more kinds of exercises to be prepared and leaves the teacher full control over the process, while ADAM & EVE automatically generates a set of predefined exercises, some of which may prove to be useless. It is concluded that PARADISE is a highly useful tool for language teaching purposes.


Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder affecting more than 50 million people globally. An epileptic seizure acts like a temporary shock to the neuronal system, disrupting normal electrical activity in the brain. Epilepsy is frequently diagnosed with electroencephalograms (EEGs). Current methods study only the time-varying spectra and coherence but do not directly model changes in extreme behavior, neglecting the fact that neuronal oscillations exhibit non-Gaussian heavy-tailed probability distributions. To overcome this limitation, we propose a new approach to characterize brain connectivity based on the joint tail (i.e., extreme) behavior of the EEGs. Our proposed method, the conditional extremal dependence for brain connectivity (Conex–Connect), is a pioneering approach that links the association between extreme values of higher oscillations at a reference channel with the other brain network channels. Using the Conex–Connect method, we discover changes in the extremal dependence driven by the activity at the foci of the epileptic seizure. Our model-based approach reveals that, pre-seizure, the dependence is notably stable for all channels when conditioning on extreme values of the focal seizure area. By contrast, the dependence between channels is weaker during the seizure, and dependence patterns are more "chaotic". Using the Conex-Connect method, we identified the high-frequency oscillations as the most relevant features explaining the conditional extremal dependence of brain connectivity.


The Bluestriped Snapper, Lutjanus kasmira (Forsskål, 1775), was intentionally introduced to the island of O'ahu between 1955 and 1961. It quickly spread throughout the Hawaiian Islands and became highly abundant in reef slope and spur and groove habitats. Here, we investigated the distribution of L. kasmira on shallow and mesophotic reefs of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) using fish survey data collected from 2007 to 2016. L. kasmira was recorded at all islands or atolls of NWHI except for Gardner Pinnacles, Maro Reef, and Laysan Island—the middle region of the NWHI. It was most abundant at French Frigate Shoals and Nihoa at the southern end of the NWHI. On mesophotic reefs, L. kasmira was not observed at any locations north of French Frigate Shoals, except for one individual at Lisianski Island at an upper mesophotic depth. Small-bodied individuals were found more frequently at greater depths. L. kasmira was often observed along with Mulloidichthys vanicolensis (Valenciennes, 1831), Chromis acares Randall and Swerdloff, 1973, and Naso hexacanthus (Bleeker, 1855) on shallow-water reefs. The present study indicates the potential effects of habitat types and water temperature in the vertical and horizontal distribution of L. kasmira in the NWHI and the possibility of differential utilization of resources by adults and juveniles.


While the United States is now an international leader in the fight against genocide and human rights abuses, it only recently ratified the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide– forty years after the convention's unanimous adoption by the UN General Assembly. Korey provides a description of the long struggle for ratification of the Genocide Convention, detailing decades of work by a committee of fifty-two nongovernmental organizations lobbying the Senate and the American Bar Association, the treaty's key opponent. Despite the public support for the United Nations and human rights by the United States, failure to ratify the Genocide Convention stemmed primarily from the fear that international covenants were threats to U.S. sovereignty. The United States finally overcame this fear with the ratification of the Genocide Convention in 1988, which opened the door for U.S. leadership.


Recent growth in high-speed traffic, due to increased commercialism and modernisation, has driven the conventional ballasted track to its limit. The design of railway tracks has not significantly evolved for hundreds of years. Most attention has been paid to the superstructures, and less consideration was given to the substructure. Researchers have indicated that the major portion of maintenance budget is spent on the substructure. The development of a high-speed railway demands a more stable, durable and longitudinally homogenous substructure with higher strength, higher rigidity, and reduced strain. Track deterioration is directly influenced by the applied pressure distribution combined with high frequency, the entire track modulus, and the type of ballast material used. In this context, high-speed traffic increases the need to improve ballasted tracks structurally. The reinforcement of railway tracks has proven to be advantageous, but each specific reinforcement technique comes with its respective benefits. In this research two common materials, bitumen and rubber geocell, are combined to form a new reinforcing geocomposite where the weakness of one material is compensated by the strength of the other. Bitumen, being a visco-elastic material, has proven to have vibrational damping properties and can also consolidate ballast owing to its highly adhesive nature. Geocell confines the ballast and helps to increase shear strength, bending resistance, tensile strength and bearing capacity by allowing more excellent load distribution and improved frictional characteristics. Current codes are non-scientific, and a proper understanding of the phenomenon at the wheel-rail interface is needed. Using theories derived from contact mechanics, a load-time graph was plotted so that the load from different train speeds that acts on the ballast at each time step could be obtained for a range of different track profiles. A finite element model was set up to understand the change in mechanics of the model when speed was raised, and a parametric study was conducted to verify if components can be changed to account for higher speeds. The results were then used to perform a Discrete Element Analysis on the ballast since extremely high-frequency cyclic loading experimental tests are very limited. Ballast was modelled by agglomerating spheres to mimic the behaviour of breakage. The geocell was a clump of small spheres, while bitumen was modelled as visco-elastic spheres and settlement was observed for each reinforcement scheme. Experimental tests were also performed on a single geocell to check the damping ratio and the increase in bearing capacity. A small cyclic compressive test using a tensile machine was performed to check the optimum geometry of geocells and the increase in lateral confinement. A large box test was also performed in order to validate DEM results and to check the benefits of implementing the reinforcement. It was concluded that bitumen decreased settlement but did not contribute in reducing the lateral vibration or lateral load. Geocell served to enhance the properties of ballast by deducing the lateral force but settlement was much significant since interlocking between ballast was reduced. While geocell amplified the settlement and movement of ballast, bitumen decreased the damping properties of ballast.


The tubes in the U-bend region of a recirculating type of nuclear steam generator are subjected to cross-flow of a two-phase mixture of steam and water. There is a concern that these tubes may experience flow-induced vibration, including the damaging effects of fluidelastic instability. This two-part series of papers presents the results of flow-induced vibration experiments performed by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) using the Multi-Span U-Bend test rig. The tube bundle is made of 22 U-bend tubes of 12.7 mm (0.5 in) diameter, arranged in a rotated triangular configuration with a pitch-to-diameter ratio of 1.5. The test rig was equipped with variable clearance flat bar supports at two different locations to investigate a variety of tube and flat-bar support configurations. The primary purpose of the overall project was to study the occurrence of In Plane (or streamwise) fluidelastic instability in a U-tube bundle with flat-bar tube supports with clearances or preloads. Initially, the test rig was configured for tests in airflow using an industrial air blower. Then tests with two-phase Refrigerant (R-134a) were performed. Part I of this two-part series describes the test rig, experimental setup and some of the challenges encountered, and the results of experiments with air flows. Part II will present results of tests using refrigerant two-phase flows.


MicA is a small non-coding RNA that regulates ompA mRNA translation in Escherichia coli. MicA has an inhibitory function, base pairing to the translation initiation region of target mRNAs through short sequences of complementarity, blocking their ribosome-binding sites. The MicA structure contains two stem loops, which impede its interaction with target mRNAs, and it is thought that the RNA chaperone protein Hfq, known to be involved in MicA regulation of ompA, may structurally remodel MicA to reveal the ompA-binding site for cognate pairing. To further characterize these interactions, we undertook biochemical and biophysical studies using native MicA and a 'stabilized' version, modified to mimic the conformational state of MicA where the ompA-binding site is exposed. Our data corroborate two proposed roles for Hfq: first, to bring both MicA and ompA into close proximity, and second, to restructure MicA to allow exposure of the ompA-binding site for pairing, thereby demonstrating the RNA chaperone function of Hfq. Additionally, at accumulated MicA levels, we identified a Mg(2+)-dependent self-association that occludes the ompA-recognition region. We discuss the potential contribution of an Mg(2+)-mediated conformational switch of MicA for the regulation of MicA function.


Providing an overview of Japanese media theory from the 1910s to the present, this volume introduces English-language readers to Japan's rich body of theoretical and conceptual work on media for the first time. The essays address a wide range of topics, including the work of foundational Japanese thinkers; Japanese theories of mediation and the philosophy of media; the connections between early Japanese television and consumer culture; and architecture's intersection with communications theory. Tracing the theoretical frameworks and paradigms that stem from Japan's media ecology, the contributors decenter Eurocentric media theory and demonstrate the value of the Japanese context to reassessing the parameters and definition of media theory itself. Taken together, these interdisciplinary essays expand media theory to encompass philosophy, feminist critique, literary theory, marketing discourse, and art; provide a counterbalance to the persisting universalist impulse of media studies; and emphasize the need to consider media theory situationally.

Contributors. Yuriko Furuhata, Aaron Gerow, Mark Hansen, Marilyn Ivy, Takeshi Kadobayashi, Keisuke Kitano, Akihiro Kitada, Thomas Looser, Anne McKnight, Ryoko Misono, Akira Mizuta Lippit, Fabian Schafer, Marc Steinberg, Tomiko Yoda, Alexander Zahlten


Extracted from text ... 55 SA Pharmaceutical Journal - August 2006
MANAGEMENT
Many kinds of interferences or disturbances
can confuse, distort or block a message
and create a communication barrier or
obstacle. Although these barriers normally do
not completely shut off communication, they
affect the quality of communication.
Communication barriers can generally be
divided into the following categories1:
? Physical barriers
? Physiological barriers
? Psychological barriers
? Perceptual barriers
? Semantic barriers
? Intercultural barriers
These barriers can be thought of as filters, that
is, the message leaves the sender, goes
through these "filters", and is then heard by the
receiver. These filters, ..


Deep learning represents the state of the art in many machine learning and computer vision problem. The core of this technology is the analog neural network (ANN) composed of multiple convolution and pooling layers. Unfortunately, such system demands massive computational power thus consuming a lot of energy and therefore causing negative effect to the environment. On one hand, human brain is known to be much more energy efficient, so the spiking neural network (SNN) was created to replicate the brain activity in order to improve the energy efficiency of current deep learning model. On the other hand, the event-based domain based on neuromorphic sensor like event camera made huge progress since last few years and become more and more popular. The data signal flow in spiking neural network is a perfect fit for the output of event camera. Therefore, in this article we built a system based on the combination of event camera and SNN for the real-time hand gesture recognition. We also give an analysis to prove the energy efficiency of this technology compared to the ANN counterpart.


This title has been revised, with Internet links offering opportunities to hear the language spoken by a native speaker. Grammar is clearly explained, and puzzles provide plenty of practice. This title is part of a series providing a thorough grounding in useful, basic foreign language skills.


Free will is described in terms of the useful properties that it could confer, explaining why it might have been selected for over the course of evolution. These are: exterior unpredictability; interior rationality; and social accountability. A process is described that might bring it about when deployed in a suitable social context. It is suggested that this process could itself be of an evolutionary nature – that free will might "evolve" in the brain during development. This mental evolution effectively separates the internal and external contexts, whilst retaining the coherency between individual's public accounts of their actions. This is supported by the properties of evolutionary algorithms and possesses the three desired properties. Some objections to the possibility of free will are dealt with by pointing out the prima facie evidence and showing how an assumption that everything must be either deterministic or random can result from an unsupported assumption of universalism.


With the description of the 2012 election as the "most tweeted' political event in US history in mind, considering the relative media invisibility of so-called "third party' presidential candidates in the US election process, and utilizing an understanding of re-tweeting as conversational practice, the purpose of this paper is to examine the use of Twitter by the main "third party' US presidential candidates in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election in order to better understand (1) the volume of tweets produced by the candidates; (2) the level of interaction by followers in the form of re-tweeting; and, (3), the subject/content of the tweets most re-tweeted by followers. The ultimate goal of the paper is to generate a broader picture of how Twitter was utilized by minority party candidates, as well as identifying the issues which led followers (and their respective followers) to engage in the "conversational' act of re-tweeting.


How religious practices are reproduced has become a major theoretical issue. This work examines data on Nuaulu ritual performances collected over a 30 year period, comparing different categories of event in terms of frequency and periodicity. It seeks to identify the influencing factors and the consequences for continuity.


Countries rich in natural resources constitute both growth losers and growth winners. We claim that the main reason for these diverging experiences is differences in the quality of institutions. More natural resources push aggregate income down, when institutions are grabber friendly, while more resources raise income, when institutions are producer friendly. We test this theory building on Sachs and Warner's inßuential works on the resource curse. Our main hypothesis: that institutions are decisive for the resource curse, is conÞrmed. Our results are in sharp contrast to the claim by Sachs and Warner that institutions do not play a role.


This paper provides an overview of a highly flexible program for work-based learning developed in one university in North West England. The paper demonstrates how pedagogic practices originally developed in the U.S. crossed the Atlantic and enabled the creation of a distinct program – Work Based and Integrative Studies (WBIS) – in response to the requirements of students, businesses and policymakers, incorporating many developments in learning theory and pedagogic practices. WBIS is a robust, academically rigorous program that offers a precise alignment of the learning needs of individuals within a coherent curriculum of accredited academic study. An academic microculture has developed to facilitate the program that is transdisciplinary, focused upon student learning and entrepreneurial. Having developed from U.S. practices, the program is now at the point at which there is the possibility of transference to other European nations. Keywords: work-based learning, experiential learning, nonformal and informal learning


Abstract This review considers Jacopo Galimberti's Individuals Against Individualism: Art Collectives in Western Europe (1956–1969), 2017, and Marco Deseriis's Improper Names: Collective Pseudonyms from the Luddites to Anonymous, 2017 and the theories of collectivity that inform them (multitude, inoperative community, and transindividuality). While Galimberti looks at how collaborative practices model new strategies for collective action, and Deseriis examines forms that allow multiple actions and ideologies to flow through them, they authors share a desire to move beyond representation to model, enact, and realize real change in the world. Taken together, these two books afford us the opportunity to evaluate the critique of cultural and political representation at the heart of these theories of collectivity and assess the limits of analogies between aesthetic and political forms.


The thesis has looked at the application of competition law of the European Union to sport. The main objective of the thesis is to understand whether the European institutions have adopted a sport-specific approach when applying competition law,
and to identify problems connected to it.
Sport presents a number of characteristics that differentiates it from any other industry. It is an area where private and public interests arise and demand protection. These range from private economic interests, to the protection of cultural aspects, health and well-being, and employment.
The European Union has moved from an approach according to which sporting rules were not falling under EU law, to one where any sporting rule is capable of having economic effects and could therefore be assessed. In parallel, Sport Governing Bodies have stopped rejecting the intrusion of EU institutions in sport, and have accepted that the role of the authorities could be channelled to guarantee an area of autonomy. The thesis provides an original contribution to the body of knowledge in assessing the intensity of the economic analysis adopted by the EU institutions when examining conduct of Sports Governing Bodies. This aspect is particularly connected to the
specific characteristics of sport, and of the sporting market.
The research suggests to adopt a system of governance that is more collaborative and inclusive, and that is capable of representing the needs and protect the interest of all the industry stakeholders. This would require a greater involvement of the stakeholders in the rule setting and enforcement procedure, in order to channel the expertise of Governing Bodies and restrict the tendency to abuse of their regulatory powers.


Above-ground cosmic-ray neutron measurements provide an opportunity to infer soil moisture at the sub-kilometer scale. Initial efforts to assimilate those measurements have shown promise. This study expands such analysis by investigating (1) how the information from aboveground cosmic-ray neutrons can constrain the soil moisture at distinct depths simulated by a land surface model, and (2) how changes in data availability (in terms of retrieval frequency) impact the dynamics of simulated soil moisture profiles. We employ ensemble data assimilation techniques in a "nearly-identical twin" experiment applied at semi-arid shrubland, rainfed agricultural field, and mixed forest biomes in the USA. The performance of the Noah land surface model is compared with and without assimilation of observations at hourly intervals, as well as every 2 days. Synthetic observations of aboveground cosmic-ray neutrons better constrain the soil moisture simulated by Noah in root-zone soil layers (0–100cm), despite the limited measurement depth of the sensor (estimated to be 12–20cm). The ability of Noah to reproduce a "true" soil moisture profile is remarkably good, regardless of the frequency of observations at the semi-arid site. However, soil moisture profiles are better constrained when assimilating synthetic cosmic-ray neutron observations hourly rather than every 2 days at the cropland and mixed forest sites. This indicates potential benefits for hydrometeorological modeling when soil moisture measurements are available at a relatively high frequency. Moreover, differences in summertime meteorological forcing between the semi-arid site and the other two sites may indicate a possible controlling factor to soil moisture dynamics in addition to differences in soil and vegetation properties.


The aim of the study is to test the Extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM2) for electronic mail (e-mail) acceptance in a Turkish iron and steel company and to investigate the moderation effects of Espoused National Cultural Values (ENCV) (i.e. Individualism/Collectivism (IC), Masculinity/Femininity (MF), Uncertainty Avoidence (UA) and Power Distance (PD)) between Subjective Norm (SN) and e-mail Usage Intention (UI). In addition, the direct effect of power distance on e-mail usage intention was investigated. The research included 286 white-collared partricipants. The Statistical Package and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) programmes were used for statistical analysis. In the result of the study, the Perceived Ease Of Use (PEOU) and subjective norm were found as determinants of e-mail usage intention, PEOU was found as a strong determinant of Perceived Usefulness (PU) and power distance had a negative direct effect on e-mail usage intention but moderated positively the relation between subjective norm and e-mail usage intention.


Using rich data linking federal cases from arrest through sentencing, we assess the contribution of prosecutors' initial charging decisions to large observed black-white disparities in sentence length. Pre-charge characteristics, including arrest offense and criminal history, can explain about 80% of these disparities, but substantial gaps remain across the distribution. On average, blacks receive almost 10% longer sentences than comparable whites arrested for the same crimes. At least half this gap can be explained by initial charging choices, particularly the filing of charges carrying mandatory minimum sentences. Prosecutors are, ceteris paribus, almost twice as likely to file such charges against blacks.


The Synoptic Gospels depict (1) Jesus demanding that people be silent about his identity, and (2) people disobeying Jesus and spreading the word about him. Since the gospels rarely portray Jesus failing at his intentions, this pattern demands some explanation. Wrede argued that with the motif of the Messianic Secret Mark tried to account for the fact that Jesus had not actually been known as "messiah" or "son of God" during his life. But the references to people disobeying Jesus are singularly ill-suited to address such a discrepancy, since they portray many people proclaiming Jesus' identity—precisely what, ex hypothesi, was not taking place. A satisfactory explanation for the motif of the Messianic Secret must explain both the fact that Jesus tries to silence others and that he fails. The gospel material was taking shape at a time when Jewish rights could be endangered by any hint of Jewish nationalism. Some Jews even turned over potential revolutionaries, lest nationalistic ambitions endanger their communities. A story about a charismatic Galilean who assembled a following and called himself (or even let himself be called) by royal titles would have sounded like a tale of recklessness. To many Jews in Palestine or the Diaspora, it would have appeared that the Jerusalem authorities did precisely the right thing by handing Jesus over before the Romans had to intervene. It was not possible or desirable for Christians to deny altogether that Jesus had been declared Messiah by some. But since this might make Jesus appear reckless, they claimed that he had tried to keep his identity a secret; it was others who spread the word about him. Such a motif—attempted secrecy which fails—absolves Jesus, while acknowledging that during Jesus' lifetime bold claims were in fact made.


Developing practical, effective, and legally sustainable policies to separate firearms from people at risk of violence or suicide represents a potentially important, but challenging public health opportunity for gun violence prevention in the United States. In 1999, Connecticut became the first state to pass a law that allows police to preemptively remove firearms from persons deemed at risk of causing serious injury to others or self. The statute, C.G.S. § 29-38c, authorizes time-limited gun removal (for up to one year) under a civil court "risk warrant" process based on probable cause, even if the person of concern has no record of a gun-disqualifying mental health or criminal adjudication. Two other states — Indiana and California — have enacted similar risk-based gun removal laws, and other jurisdictions are considering them, but there has been little empirical study of how and whether these legal tools work. This article presents the results of a systematic research study on the characteristics, implementation, and outcomes of 762 gun removals conducted under Connecticut's risk-warrant law during the period 1999-2013. The study found that the law was invoked to separate guns most often from men (92 percent) who were judged to be at risk of self-harm, but had no criminal record in the preceding year. By matching risk-warrant cases to official death records, the research revealed that 21 of these individuals (3 percent) eventually completed suicide, 6 with guns and 15 by other means; this equates to a suicide rate approximately 40 times higher than that of the general adult population of Connecticut. However, even more suicides would have occurred if guns had not been removed from these individuals. We applied population-level data on the specific fatality rates associated with various methods of intentional self-injury to estimate that 142 (19 percent) of the gun removal subjects had attempted suicide, of which 121 survived. We calculated the number (within a range) of additional fatalities that would have occurred if these individuals had retained their guns and attempted suicide with a firearm instead of using some less lethal method. In this manner, we estimated that approximately 10 to 20 gun seizures were carried out for every 1 suicide averted. These data can help policymakers by framing what is in the balance between risk and rights in the implementation of preemptive gun removal schemes. Ideally, such laws should be carefully tailored to target those few individuals who pose a clear and present risk of harm to themselves or others but who are not otherwise restricted from purchasing or possessing guns. The exercise of state authority to remove guns from private citizens under such risk-based regimes must be checked by appropriate due-process protections commensurate with abridging a constitutional right, including the opportunity for timely restoration of gun rights when risk recedes.


Cryptorchidism is a condition in which one or both testicles fail to descend to its normal position in the scrotum. The testicle may reside in the retroperineum, in the internal inguinal ring, in the inguinal canal, or even at the external ring. The exact cause is unknown but several risk factors have been linked to this condition such as premature birth, low birth weight, family history, Down syndrome, alcohol use, and cigarette smoking. Undescended testis occurs in approximately 30% of preterm infants and 1-3% of term infants. Diagnosis is made during examination at birth or shortly thereafter, and timely recognition and management of this condition prevents adverse consequences. The goal of treatment is to relocate the undescended testicle to its proper location in the scrotum. Treatment before 1 year of age lowers the risk of complications such as infertility, testicular cancer, inguinal hernia, and testicular torsion. Treatment can be hormonal, surgical or a combination of both. Hormones such as hCG can sometimes induce descent of the testicle; however, surgery is the preferred option. Orchiopexy is the surgical procedure to free an undescended testicle and implant it in the scrotum.

Phimosis is the inability to retract the foreskin covering the glans of the penis. It may appear as a tight ring of the foreskin around the tip of the penis preventing full retraction. Phimosis can be physiologic or pathologic. Physiologic phimosis is seen in children born with tight foreskin at birth and separation occurs naturally overtime while pathologic phimosis is caused by scarring, infection or inflammation. A tight foreskin can interfere with the passage of urine as seen as ballooning of the foreskin during urination. This can lead to inflammation of the penis called balanitis or inflammation of the penis and foreskin called balanoposthitis. Physiologic phimosis does not require intervention and will resolve with daily gentle retraction while pathologic phimosis is treated with topical steroid cream or circumcision.

Here we present the case of a young male with an undescended right testicle and phimosis. The right testicle was located in the right inguinal area and was brought down into the scrotum. Circumcision was also done to resolve the phimosis.


In this paper, we provide for the first time a detailed description of the breeding ecology of the Masked Laughingthrush Garrulax perspicillatus. Our findings indicate that this species is a cooperative breeder with retained offspring. Flocks of Masked Laughingthrushes occurred in winter; these split into smaller breeding groups during the spring. The size of breeding groups varied from three to six individuals (mean = 3.8 individuals, n = 26). Clutches were initiated between early March and early August. Clutch size averaged 3.3 eggs and ranged from two to five (n = 18). The incubation period lasted on average 13.2 days (n = 9) and chicks left the nest after 12 days (n = 23). Breeding groups produce 2–3 broods per year (n = 2). 82.8% of 58 breeding attempts resulted in fledged offspring. Helpers were observed participating in nest-building, incubation and provisioning. The size of breeding groups was significantly related to both the overall frequency of feeding trips to the nest and brood size at fledging, with a higher frequency of feeding trips and more fledglings for larger groups. Hence, both breeders and helpers may potentially derive fitness benefits from helping at the nest.


HPC application developers, including OpenMP-based application developers, have stepped forward to endeavor the future design trends of exa-scale machines, such as, increased number of threads/cores, heterogeneous architectures, multiple levels of memories, and so forth; and, they have initiated procedures to address application level challenges, such as, data-driven scalability issues, energy consumption requirements, data availability needs, and so forth. Despite the existence of manual performance tuning solutions, users still deem it to be an intricate process. This paper proposes a scalability aware autotuning framework (SCALE-EA) that automatically identifies an efficient number of threads for OpenMP parallel regions using a Firefly Algorithm (FA) and a newly designed Modeling Assisted Firefly Algorithm (MAFA). MAFA of SCALE-EA was implemented in two approaches: Modeling Assisted Firefly Algorithm with Random Forest Modeling support (MAFA-RFM) and Modeling Assisted Firefly Algorithm with Linear Regression Modeling support (MAFA-LRM). The modeling and prediction algorithms of the proposed MAFA of SCALE-EA were based on the execution time and the hardware performance events of code regions of OpenMP applications. Experiments were conducted on two machines, namely, a Haswell based machine and an AMD Opteron based 48 core machine. The experimental results of the MAFA of SCALE-EA manifested the energy efficiencies of 31.21 to 77.3 percentage and the search time efficiencies of 5.53 to 32.56 percentage for candidate OpenMP applications such as CoMD, Arraybench, Taskbench, and Syncbench.


In this article I explore the intersections of children's human rights, social policy, and qualitative inquiry from a social work perspective. First, I consider the relationship between human rights work and social work. Second, I argue that children add complexity to the human rights debate. In doing so, I briefly examine the conflict between children's rights as developed in the United States and that of the United Nation's Convention on the Rights of the Child. Third, I turn to a specific qualitative research project in which a team of researchers conducted an in-depth study of the prosecution of child sexual abuse in one U.S. jurisdiction. I argue that the findings from this study illustrate how qualitative inquiry can reveal conflicting and often hidden value trade-offs that must be addressed when enacting and enforcing children's human rights. This study demonstrates what qualitative inquiry has to offer policy advocates who seek to promote children's human rights.


OBJECTIVE
The RELIEF investigation was a 48-week, multicenter, international study comprising 2 phases. Results from the first phase, a 24-week open-label cohort study that evaluated the safety and efficacy of leflunomide, as well as predisposing factors to treatment response, are reported here.

METHODS
Patients received leflunomide 100 mg once daily for 3 days, followed by 20 mg once daily thereafter. All adverse events were documented. Efficacy variables were the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) response criteria using the Disease Activity Score (DAS 28) responder rate and the response rate according to American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. At Week 24, baseline data were analyzed to determine predictive factors for treatment response.

RESULTS
A total of 969 patients were entered in the trial. No adverse events that have not previously been seen with leflunomide were reported. Among 968 evaluable patients, 673 (69.6%) completed 24 weeks of treatment and were responders according to DAS 28 response rate, and 587 (60.6%) completed 24 weeks of treatment and were responders according to ACR 20%. Thus, there was a high correlation between the EULAR and ACR criteria in determining treatment response. In addition, 240 (24.8%) patients had a low DAS 28 (< or = 3.2) and 123 (12.7%) patients fulfilled the disease remission criteria (DAS 28 < 2.6) at the end of the study.

CONCLUSION
This study demonstrates that leflunomide is well tolerated, with a safety profile similar to that seen previously in Phase III studies, and confirms the efficacy of leflunomide across a range of patient categories.


The Western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis is an important economical pest of crops throughout the world. Entomopathogenic fungi are the most promising alternative to chemical pesticides. However, larval stages of F. occidentalis are often considered to be refractory to fungal infection as compared to the adults; hence, screening of 10 isolates of Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschnikoff) Sorokin and 8 of Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin showed that M. anisopliae isolates ICIPE 7, ICIPE 20, ICIPE 69 and ICIPE 665 had the shortest LT50 value. In dose-response mortality, ICIPE 69, ICIPE 7 and ICIPE 20 had the lowest LC50 values. ICIPE 69 produced significantly more conidia than the other two isolates on WFT larvae. ITS sequence comparison indicated the presence of a restriction site SfoI on ICIPE69, which could be due to the difference in geographical origin. These results coupled with previous studies on its virulence and field efficacy to other thrips species make M. anisopliae isolate ICIPE 69 a suitable candidate for development as fungal biopesticide for thrips management.Chitinase genes are crucial for fungal activity; however their use the genotyping and characterizing virulence of ICIPE M. anisopliae isolates which have shown difference in virulence on various arthropod pests suggests that chitinase genes might not be appropriate, there is need to target other functions such as conidiation.Metarhizium anisopliae isolate ICIPE 69, is compatible with abamectin and imidacloprid were highly compatible with M. anisopliae; thiamethoxam was compatible, whereas Neem and L-cyhalothrin, spiromesifen, carbendazim, probineb, copper-hydroxide were toxic to the fungus. The association of M. anisopliae ICIPE 69 with imidacloprid or thiamethoxam did not affect its virulence. Results of this study suggest their integration in IPM strategy in pest control.The intra and inter specific effects of host-plant; French bean, Phaseolus vulgaris L. var. Alexandria, Julia and Samantha and Snow pea Pisum sativum L. on the virulence of M. anisopliae on F. occidentalis was assessed. There were significant differences in mortality between host-plants. The comparison of LT50 values showed that thrips were more susceptible when reared on Alexandria. Results suggest that intra-specific and inter-specific host-plant effects need to be taken into consideration when developing a biopesticide.In autoinoculation experiment, thrips acquired more conidia in the fungus-treated semiochemical-baited device than in the device without semiochemical. The overall thrips mortality was also higher in the fungus-treated semiochemical-baited device as compared to the device without the semiochemical. However, conidial viability was considerably reduced in the device with semiochemical. Thrips density per plant was significantly reduced in both treatments as compared to the control. These results demonstrate the prospects of autoinoculation device strategy for dissemination of M. anisopliae in the control of thrips, particularly in screenhouses.The study of the effect of sublethal doses of M. anisopliae on tospovirus acquisition and transmission by thrips showed that: although there was no significant effect of M. anisopliae infection on tospovirus titer in adult thrips, virus transmission was significantly reduced by fungal infection and this is probably due to reduction in feeding punctures. Application of M. anisopliae even at sublethal can contribute in the reduction of tospovirus transmission.


The objective of this paper is to evaluate the potential of a Bayesian inversion algorithm using microwave multisensor data for the retrieval of surface rainfall rate and cloud parameters. The retrieval scheme is based on the maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) method, extended for the use of both spaceborne passive and active microwave data. The MAP technique for precipitation profiling is also proposed to approach the problem of the radar-swath synthetic broadening; that is, the capability to exploit the combined information also where only radiometric data are available. In order to show an application to airborne data, two case studies are selected within the Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA-COARE). They refer to a stratiform storm region and an intense squall line of two mesoscale convective systems, which occurred over the ocean on February 20 and 22, 1993, respectively. The estimated rainfall rates and columnar hydrometeor contents derived from the proposed algorithms are compared to each other and to radar estimates based on reflectivity-rainrate (Z-R) relationships. Results in terms of reflectivity profiles and upwelling brightness temperatures, reconstructed from the estimated cloud structures, are also discussed. A database of combined measurements acquired at nadir during various TOGA-COARE flights, is used for applying the radar-swath synthetic broadening technique in the case of an along-track radar-failure countermeasure. A simulated test of the latter technique is performed using the case studies of February 20 and 22, 1993.


In severe acute pancreatitis
(SAP) inflammatory processes foster necrosis, cellular lysis and liberation
of vasoactive substances associated with multiple organ failure. The effects of
vacuum-assisted closure and Drotrecogin alpha on inflammatory cytokines were
evaluated in SAP patients with infected necrosis. Methods: Forty-six patients
were included in three groups: Group 1, necrosectomy and abdominal cavity
washing; Group 2, necrosectomy plus vacuum-assisted closure (VAC), and Group 3, necrossectomy
plus VAC plus Drotrecogin alpha. Immunoreactive IL-32, TNF-α, IL-6, TGF-β and
IL-2 cytokines were quantified with ELISA method. Results: IL-32 was significantly
increased in all patients, predominantly the non-survivor of Group 3 (p 0.0001). Group 2 maintained
increased IL-32 levels throughout. Peak TNF-α was
observed in non-survivors of Groups 1 and 2, with a frank tendency to decrease
in Group 3. The IL-6 was increased, sustained throughout the study, peaking at
the onset in non-survivors. At the end IL-6 tended to diminish, predominantly
in survivors. TNF-α and IL-6 were significantly increased on hospitalization, with a maximum peak in
non-survivors of all groups. Initial values of TGF-β were significantly increased in
survivors of the three groups, and were significantly diminished in
non-survivors; affecting pancreas regeneration and favoring systemic
inflammation, with possible multiple-organ repercussions. IL-2 levels were
elevated, predominantly in non-survivors of Group 1. There was positive
correlation between the increase IL-32 and TNF-α, and negative correlation between
the increase in TNF-α and
decrease in TGF-β; and, a tendency for negative correlation between the
IL-2 increased and TGF-β levels. Conclusion: We found a generalized, sustained
inflammatory state that fosters a torpid outcome in SAP patients.


The process of eutrophication has been recognized as a central problem in tropical reservoir environmental quality and sustainability, and some effects such as the mass development of macrophytes or algae, the occurrence of undesired species (e.g. cyanobacteria) and the emissions of methane as a greenhouse gas have been registered. Re-oligotrophication must be integrated into any reservoir and river basin management to minimize the environmental impact of dams. Up to now, only a little experience exists about eutrophication management of reservoirs, especially in the tropical zone, and nutrient cycling processes such as export from the watershed, remobilisation from the sediments and turn-over in the food web must be a focus of interest. Investigations were carried out in the semi-arid region of northeastern Brazil in the Itaparica reservoir, located in the Sao Francisco River, one of the largest rivers of South America. The potential for re-oligotrophication is evaluated in relation to the main contamination pathways such as export from the watershed (caatinga biome), land use in the watershed (irrigation agriculture), aquaculture in the reservoir, inflow by the Sao Francisco River, mineralization of inundated soils and vegetation, and leaching of the periodically desiccated littoral sediments. The critical export rate from the watershed is a useful tool to evaluate this contamination pathway. Concerning aquaculture, carrying capacity limits have been developed.


As the United States grew into an empire in the late nineteenth century, notions like "sea power" derived not only from fleets, bases, and decisive battles but also from a scientific effort to understand and master the ocean environment. Beginning in the early nineteenth century and concluding in the first years of the twentieth, Jason W. Smith tells the story of the rise of the U.S. Navy and the emergence of American ocean empire through its struggle to control nature. In vividly told sketches of exploration, naval officers, war, and, most significantly, the ocean environment, Smith draws together insights from environmental, maritime, military, and naval history, and the history of science and cartography, placing the U.S. Navy's scientific efforts within a broader cultural context. By recasting and deepening our understanding of the U.S. Navy and the United States at sea, Smith brings to the fore the overlooked work of naval hydrographers, surveyors, and cartographers. In the nautical chart's soundings, names, symbols, and embedded narratives, Smith recounts the largely untold story of a young nation looking to extend its power over the boundless sea.


Recently, there has been a decline in the consumption of indigenous vegetables in Papua New Guinea, with an increasing consumer preference for imported foods such as tinned meats, rice, flour, and tinned fish; particularly in middle-to-high income households in urban communities. This study into the challenges and opportunities for indigenous vegetable consumption in Papua New Guinea found that factors relating to increasing urbanisation and land pressure such as: physical access to land to grow or collect indigenous vegetables, cultural perceptions, loss of knowledge in growing and cooking indigenous vegetables, changes in life style, introduction of new vegetables, and the loss of natural habitats containing wild food resources were all contributors to the decline in cultivation and consumption. However, the study also found a rise in consumption of indigenous vegetables among low income urban families, and identified several opportunity points for the promotion of indigenous vegetables such as; potential health benefits, cheaper prices, availability, and association with custom and tradition. Practices associated with ethnic food are at the core of indigenous cultures and are considered to be the most resilient of all habits in an acculturation context, and could prove to be an important aspect in fostering an emotional connection with indigenous vegetables for consumers.


Context. The evolution of stars born with a convective core is highly dependent on the efficiency and extent of near core mixing processes, which effectively increases both the core mass and main-sequence lifetime. These mixing processes remain poorly constrained and therefore result in large uncertainties in the stellar structure and evolution models of such stars.
 Aims. We investigate to what extent gravity-mode period spacings in slowly pulsating B-type stars observed by the Kepler mission can be used to constrain both the shape and extent of convective core overshoot and additional mixing in the radiative envelope.
 Methods. We compute grids of 1D stellar structure and evolution models for two different shapes of convective core overshooting and three shapes of radiative envelope mixing. The models in these grids are compared to a set of benchmark models to evaluate their capability of mimicking the dipole prograde g-modes of the benchmark models.
 Results. Through our model comparisons we find that at a central hydrogen content of Xc = 0.5, dipole prograde g-modes in the period range 0.8−3 d are capable of differentiating between step and exponential diffusive overshooting. This ability disappears towards the terminal age main sequence at X
 c = 0.1. Furthermore, the g-modes behave the same for the three different shapes of radiative envelope mixing considered. However, a constant envelope mixing requires a diffusion coefficient near the convective core five times higher than chemical mixing from internal gravity waves to obtain a surface nitrogen excess of ~ 0.5 dex within the main-sequence lifetime.
 Conclusions. Within the estimated frequency errors of the Kepler mission, the ability of g-modes to distinguish between step and exponential diffusive overshooting depends on the evolutionary stage. Combining information from the average period spacing and observed surface abundances, notably nitrogen, could potentially be used to constrain the shape of mixing in the radiative envelope of massive stars.


OBJECT
Ilioinguinal neuralgia is one cause of chronic groin pain following inguinal hernia repair, and it affects approximately 10% of patients. Selective ilioinguinal neurectomy is one proposed treatment option for carefully selected patients. The goal of this study was to determine the long-term outcome of patients who underwent selective ilioinguinal neurectomy for chronic post-hernia pain.

METHODS
The authors retrospectively reviewed the clinical assessment, surgical treatment, and long-term outcome in 26 patients with ilioinguinal neuralgia who underwent selective ilioinguinal neurectomy performed by the senior author (K.J.B.) at Oregon Health & Science University between 1998 and 2008. Data were collected from patient charts and a follow-up telephone questionnaire.

RESULTS
Twenty-six patients (14 men and 12 women) had a clinical diagnosis of ilioinguinal neuralgia based on a history of radiating neuropathic groin, medial thigh, and genitalia pain. One patient had bilateral disease (therefore there were 27 surgical cases). A selective nerve block was performed in 21 (81%) of 26 patients and was positive in 20 (77%) of the 26. In all but 2 patients, pain onset followed abdominal surgery (for hernia repair in 18 patients), and was immediate in 16 (67%) of 24 patients. The mean patient age was 48.7 years, and the mean duration of pain prior to neurosurgical consultation was 3.9 years. Surgery was performed after induction of local or general anesthesia in 17 and 10 cases, respectively. The ilioinguinal nerve was identified in 25 cases, and the genitofemoral nerve in 2, either entrapped in mesh, scar, or with obvious neuroma (22 of 27 cases). The identified nerve was doubly ligated, cut, and buried in muscle at its most proximal point. At the 2-week follow-up evaluations, 14 (74%) of 19 patients noted definite pain improvement. Nineteen (73%) of the 26 patients were contacted by telephone and agreed to participate in completing long-term follow-up questionnaires. The mean follow-up duration was 34.78 months. Return of pain was reported by 13 (68%) of 19 patients. Using a verbal numerical rating scale (0-10), pain was completely relieved in 27.8%, better in 38.9%, no better in 16.7%, and worse in 16.7% of patients.

CONCLUSIONS
Ilioinguinal neurectomy is an effective and appropriate treatment for selected patients with iatrogenic ilioinguinal neuralgia following abdominal surgery. Although a high proportion of patients reported some long-term recurrence of pain, complete or partial pain relief was achieved in 66.7% of the patients observed.


Abstract In this Opinion Note, Mohd Hisham Mohd Kamal examines neutral humanitarian action during armed conflicts from an Islamic perspective. By analyzing the Qur'an and the Sunnah, he finds that it is permissible to recognize a neutral third party. Moreover, Mohd Hisham Mohd Kamal considers siyasah al-Shar'iyyah and maqasid al-Shari'ah and finds that neutrality leads to the protection of lives and dignity and is thus compatible with the two concepts. He concludes that neutrality is permissible from the Islamic perspective.


This paper deals with the development of novel procedures for the design of fixed-ended and pin-ended equal-leg angle columns with short-to-intermediate lengths, i.e., those buckling in flexural-torsional modes. Initially, numerical results concerning the buckling and post-buckling behavior of the above angle columns are presented, (i) highlighting the main differences between the fixed-ended and pin-ended column responses, and (ii) evidencing the need for specific design procedures. Then, the paper gathers a large column ultimate strength data bank that includes (i) experimental values, collected from the available literature, and (ii) numerical values, obtained from ABAQUS shell finite element analyses. The set of experimental results collected comprises 41 fixed-ended and 35 pin-ended columns, and the numerical results obtained concern 92 fixed-ended and 64 pin-ended columns − various cross-section dimensions, lengths and yield stresses are considered. Next, after reviewing the available methods to estimate the ultimate strength of angle columns, the paper develops new design approaches for fixedended and pin-ended columns, based on the Direct Strength Method (DSM) − the mechanical reasoning behind the procedures proposed, which include the use of genuine flexural-torsional strength curves, is also provided. Finally, the paper closes with the assessment of the ultimate strength predictions yielded by the proposed DSM design procedures, through their comparison with the assembled experimental and numerical failure loads − it is shown that both the quality and reliability of these predictions are very good and slightly higher than those exhibited by all the available design methods for angle columns.


Many therapists embrace an integrative perspective in their practice. The aim of this study is to explore what motivates therapists' development towards integration. To answer this question, 15 integrative therapists' autobiographic narratives published in Goldfried (2005) were analyzed using grounded theory analytic procedures. The analysis resulted in the description of six motivational categories: Empiricism, Scientific Attitude, Therapeutic Humility, Perceived Inefficacy, Need to Comprehend, and Striving for Congruence. These categories are discussed in relation to previous studies on therapist development and theoretical orientation choice. Generally, the results support the idea that therapists develop their own personal therapeutic approaches which not only reflect recent research findings and demands of the therapeutic situation, but also their own personal needs and desires.


In his famous autobiography, historian and scholar Henry Adams recounted his teaching experiences at Harvard University during the 1870s. Dissatisfied with the lecture method, Adams experimented with different ways to teach. One technique that he adopted was an experiment with primary sources. "Since no textbooks existed, the professor refused to profess," Adams explained, "knowing no more than his students, and the students read what they pleased and compared their results." Each student was to read a primary source-contemporary letters, tracts, decrees, court cases outline the content, bring the outline to class, and share his findings. From the disparate parts, an organic whole would emerge. In typical Adams fashion, he denigrated the experiment and pronounced his seven years as an instructor at Harvard a failure (Adams 1918, 302-3).


Abstract. Cartographers often face the task of depicting multivariate data on a single map. As spatial data gets ever more voluminous, and in particular, complex (multifarious), this challenge will have to be overcome with increasing regularity. Many solutions have been implemented in answer to situations like this: choropleths with trivariate colour or texture schemes, or point symbols in the form of star plots, ray glyphs or more naturalistically, Chernoff Faces (all of which could be sized proportional to a further variable).Point symbols with a naturalistic basis have a mimetic appearance that makes for unambiguous communication of data. Chernoff faces in particular work so well due to their resemblance to, and human ability in reading, human faces. Importantly, facial features are easily linked with data through manipulation of their size, position or orientation (e.g. small to large nose; frowny to smily mouth).Computer-generated fractals offer further potential solutions to the multivariate challenge in the naturalistic category. Examples such as the Barnsley fern leaf exhibit the fractal property of self-similar geometry over multiple spatial scales to create a realistic fern appearance. Fundamentally, the fern figure is under full control of a few numerical parameters that are simple to link with underlying attribute data. If these fractal glyphs are plotted as points on a map then we have a novel and potentially rich basis for multivariate mapping to address the big data challenge.We can generate a Barnsley fern leaf fractal using the Iterated Function System (IFS), driven by parameters for geometric operators: displacement, rotation and scaling (Table 1). Each of these transforms can be linked with a variable, which is the basis for multivariate representation. Figure 1 illustrates how the appearance of the Barnsley fern is affected by scaling, overall orientation and angle of fern frond. In Table 1, cells 2a and d are used for scaling, 2b for orientation and 3d / 4d for frond angle. Our demonstrating example is based on "natural cities" (and within them, "natural streets" that define the city outline, Figure 2a), which have been calculated through the head/tail breaks method (Jiang, 2013) to capture a size-based emergent organic hierarchy. For natural streets, street network junction points have been triangulated, and triangular edges divided into two groups, those longer than the mean edge length (the "head") and those shorter (the "tail"). This process is recursively applied to the head, each time adding a tier to the street size hierarchy. Natural cities are calculated through a similar process, but on the basis of mean settlement area. In Figure 2b, natural city parameters have been used on the top 11 New Zealand cities in the following way: scaling has been linked to number of breaks (this is the ht-index, which indicates how complex the city network form is - Jiang and Yin, 2014), angle of fronds to percentage size of head and overall orientation to North (pointing right) and South Islands (left). Rigorous testing needs to take place to measure the effect of fractal multivariate symbols compared with conventional cartographic means of representing the same data (which may include separate variable maps and the multivariate conventions listed above). Usability of fractally enhanced maps can be assessed along efficiency (how long it takes to perform a specific map task), effectiveness (how correct that task was performed) and satisfaction (covering ease, engagement and enjoyment of the map user in performing the map-based tasks).Beyond multivariate mapping, these fractal glyphs are being investigated as one of the building blocks in generating data-based artworks (through the use of convolutional neural networks for style transfer – Moore and Jiang, 2017). This symbolisation based on self-similar graphics is an extension of a fractally-oriented vision for cartography (Jiang, 2018). It also addresses a part of the current cartography and Big Data agenda addressing spatial Big Data representation using artworks (Robinson et al, 2017).


The biodiversity of native species is diminishing in many regions as natural habitats are being replaced by human settlements and agriculture. Top predators, such as large raptors, are especially sensitive to habitat change, and they present flagship species due to the interest in them by the public. By protecting the raptors' habitats we also protect other species that reside within these habitats. A large population of Short-toed Eagles (Circaetus gallicus, hereafter StE) were studied in the Judea region of Israel across a 1,175 km2 study site during the 2006–2008 breeding seasons, in order to determine whether the different types of habitat affect the number of successful breeding pairs. During the three-year study, we recorded 288 breeding attempts by StE pairs in 156 different nests located mainly on trees. Of the successful StE pairs, 76.9% bred in natural habitats while fewer pairs than expected bred in agricultural areas and human settlements. The mean number of successful StE pairs was positively related to the proportion of natural habitat types and negatively related to the proportion of human settlements and agriculture. Compared to successful pairs breeding in grids with a low density of StE, grids with higher breeding densities of successful pairs comprised more natural habitat types and less agricultural land and human settlement. Even though the population of StE in Israel is large, its future may be at risk as natural habitats are increasingly being destroyed and replaced by human settlements and agriculture. Conservation programs are therefore needed in order to protect as much natural habitat types as possible prior to urban planning and realisation.


Particularly intense lightning discharges can produce transient luminous events above thunderclouds, termed sprites, elves and jets. These short lived optical emissions in the mesosphere can reach from the tops of thunderclouds up to the ionosphere; they provide direct evidence of coupling from the lower atmosphere to the upper atmosphere. Sprites are arguably the most dramatic recent discovery in solar-terrestrial physics. Shortly after the first ground based video recordings of sprites, observations on board the Space Shuttle detected sprites and elves occurring all around the world. These reports led to detailed sprite observations in North America, South America, Australia, Japan, and Europe. Subsequently, sprites were detected from other space platforms such as the International Space Station and the ROCSAT satellite. During the past 15 years, more than 200 contributions on sprites have been published in the scientific literature to document this rapidly evolving new research area. The need for international information exchange was quickly recognized, and sprite sessions became a permanent feature with a constantly growing number of contributions in the scientific communities of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the International Union of Radio Science (URSI), the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) and the European Geosciences Union EGU).


Purpose: The aim of this paper is to explain why construction groups facing opportunities for product system innovations, such as green buildings, may choose to integrate construction and property development, taking on facilities management (FM) for a limited period.

Design/methodology/approach: Conceptual analysis based on prior literature and illustrated by a single case of integration.

Findings: For product system innovations, an in-house developer should be more able to reduce uncertainty than independent developers, due to unobservable long-term technological quality for customers, because the property becomes associated with lower risk after having been owned and operated. Alternatives such as building certification systems support incremental innovations, warranties suffer from double moral hazard in the long run and risk allocation in public–private partnership projects often fails to encourage system innovations. Integration allows the contractor to work continuously with innovative projects, developing new capabilities, which allow the firm to signal proficiency to the market, employees and the investment community.

Research limitations/implications: The phenomenon is new, and further empirical surveys are needed to confirm the hypothetical conclusions drawn here.

Practical implications: The value of close collaboration between those who develop innovative green building technologies and facilities managers is outlined.

Originality/value: The relation between the scope of corporate activities in construction groups, technological innovations and FM has not been studied before.


In a field experiment where the presence or absence of piscivorous pike (Esox lucius) in ponds was manipulated, the morphology of crucian carp (Carassius carassius) diverged, such that individuals became deeper bodied in pond sections with pike. A laboratory experiment confirmed that the presence of this predator induced a change in body morphology in the carp. Estimation of prey vulnerability to predation by pike, a gape-limited predator, revealed that this increase in body depth resulted in crucian carp reaching a size that provided refuge from predation. However, this change in morphology incurs a cost through an increase in drag when the carp are swimming. Because crucian carp are limited by resources in the absence of piscivores and by the substantial cost of the defensive morph in their presence, phenotypic plasticity should be the optimal strategy for this species.


Margaret Cavendish's 1668 edition of Observations upon Experimental Philosophy, presented here in a 2001 edition, holds a unique position in early modern philosophy. Cavendish rejects the Aristotelianism which was taught in the universities in the seventeenth century, and the picture of nature as a grand machine which was propounded by Hobbes, Descartes and members of the Royal Society of London, such as Boyle. She also rejects the views of nature which make reference to immaterial spirits. Instead she develops an original system of organicist materialism, and draws on the doctrines of ancient Stoicism to attack the tenets of seventeenth-century mechanical philosophy. Her treatise is a document of major importance in the history of women's contributions to philosophy and science.


But there is a hole in the bottom of the bag. It is the imagination which cannot be fathomed. It is through this bole we escape. William Carlos Williams, Paterson, Book V Although one cannot outright accuse Beckett's narrators of living in the anthropomorphic world described in Robbe-Grillet's essay from 1958 "Nature, Humanism, Tragedy" it seems nevertheless that they have not been able to free themselves from the need to anthropomorphize their surroundings. However, since the only "other" in their world is language, they anthropomorphize it to such an extent that they expect language to be able to meet all their needs. Language becomes desire and must establish their identity and relationship with the world. To the extent that language becomes psychology, the Three Novels narrators do commit the same pathetic fallacy that anthropomorphic writers do. Robbe-Grillet argues that these writers saw in the natural world surrounding their hero/protagonist a vast reflection chamber in which nothing could happen that were not immediately appropriated and made to mirror and answer the hero's human needs. If for whatever reason the surroundings were adverse to the hero's desires a sense of universal meaninglessness ensued. In other words, the text became tragic. The narrators of the Three Novels move from rage (Moran wanted to rage up through the rock with his bare bones) and violence (both Molloy and Moran commit murders) to the Unnamable's unceasing tears. In between those emotions they display frustration, cynicism, indifference, hopelessness--all with a great deal of tenacity. Robbe-Grillet in the above mentioned essay defines tragedy as "an attempt to recover the distance which exists between man and things as a new value.(1) Even though hardship (the ongoing losing of limbs) and alienation are taken for granted by the narrators one comes to read Three Novels as being dependent on the in Robbe-Grillet's view--false assumption of a romantic, Hegelian world which in design and purposefulness exactly matches the human mind, caught in its romantic aspirations of meaning and human centricity. It is true that the narrators of the Three Novels do not outright blame either God or circumstance for their plight nor do they complain about their solitude and alienation from the rest of the world. In other words, the narrators are not behaving as tragic figures who capriciously have been cut off from meaning and understanding by some cruel fate. Yet it is also true that precisely because of their reactions of scorn, violence, cynicism and impotence they remain caught within the model of a romantic universe governed by reason and justice. Their presupposition is of a world ruled by causal connections and of the expectation of an ultimate justice. Language occupies the exalted position that Man had held since the Renaissance secularized the world and the narrators have organized reality according to linguistic relationships and verbal propositions of logic. The narrators of the Three Novels assume the existence of a metaphysical pact with language which stipulates that the syntactic and semantic components of language must both circumscribe and give structure and meaning to human life. In this assumption they are informed by a humanistic tradition which expects that life shall have a purpose, even though that purpose may be tragic. It is the very question with which the Unnamable starts out his quest that give away his teleological expectations: "Where now? Who now? When now? Unquestioning. I, say I, unbelieving. Questions, hypotheses, call them that."(2) Although the narrators of the Three Novels do not blame anyone for their difficulties they do make constant reference to their circumstances and to their ever growing physical disabilities. The protagonists of the Three Novels "seem to be falling to bits" as Beckett himself remarked in an interview with Israel Shenker: At the end of my work there is nothing but dust--the nameable. …


This thesis brings ecocriticism to Shakespearean performance through an examination of
adapted performance worlds. Studying cinematic and theatrical productions of Shakespeare's
King Lear and The Tempest, it develops a strategy of ecopoetic analysis: a critical approach to
the creation of worlds in the process of adapting a play for performance. This work developed
out of my own environmentalism and experience in performing Shakespeare's works. My goal
is to develop a critical strategy for examining performance that utilises the tools of ecological
criticism and furthers the fields of performance studies and ecocriticism.
Ecocriticism modifies the scientific analyses performed by ecologists for looking at
works of art. Beginning with the principal that everything is connected to everything else,
ecocritics focus on the interactions between elements of a work, the interactions between the
work and the world at large, and between the work and its audience. I examine the cultural
context of a work, other landmark works with which it engages intertextually, and the reactions
of original audience members, especially journalistic and academic reviewers, in order to
ascertain how an individual production adapts a Shakespearean play to a new environment.
I found in my analyses that Shakespeare's works are particularly fertile ground for an
ecopoetic analysis. Directors, in their efforts to keep his work relevant to a modern audience,
frequently adapt and alter the worlds of Shakespeare's plays in their productions. My ecopoetic
approach to these productions reveals the ways in which the performances engage their audience,
providing a better understanding of how to increase participatory spectatorship. I also found that
this approach reveals underlying engagements between individual productions and the culture
out of which they grew, and that the construction of performance environments is tied to cultural
conceptions of the natural world. Finally, I discovered that Shakespeare's works are an
international language for performance, with adapters around the world experimenting with his
plays in order to further the effectiveness of theatrical and cinematic production. As such, they
are a logical place in which to formulate a new method of performance criticism, one which
engages the world of the performance, the context of the production, and the audience that
experiences the performance world.
This thesis confronts numerous difficulties, including the fact that ecocriticism does not
provide a critical apparatus as such, but is a politically-inspired way of viewing works. As such,
I develop a more rigourous method of analysis, applying the tools of ecological science
(interconnectedness, ecosystems, and adaptation), and the ethos of a modified phenomenology of
performance criticism, to the worlds of performances. The crucial confrontation in my work is
between nature and culture. I argue that the two are mutually constructing, and that performance
occupies a place in which the two meet and interact and is thus the ideal ecosystem in which to
investigate the interactions between culture and nature. Our world is endangered, the effects of
global climate change and pollution are potentially catastrophic for us all. The issues that we
face, the relationship between our human culture and our natural world, are dramatised in the
works that I examine. The ecopoetic model of analysis that I develop can be applied to a greater
variety of performance works, and this critical methodology is paramount for understanding the
world and our place within it.


This article brings together two views of organisations: resource-based theories (RBT) and social network analysis (SNA). Resource-based theories stress the importance of tangible assets, as well as less tangible ones, in the competitive advantage and success of organisations. However, they provide little insight into how resources are brought together by an organisation to generate core competencies that provide a source of differentiation that cannot easily be reproduced or substituted. In contrast SNA provides insight into the complexity of organisations and the interaction between the people within them, taking account of uncertainty and complexity. However, neither perspective gives significant insight into how organisations evolve over time, and how their competitive position is sustained or eroded. Our view is that integrating these two perspectives gives deeper insight into the basis of competitive advantage, and how it can evolve over time. 'Complementary resource combinations' (CRCs), bundles of related resources, can provide a basis for differentiation but only when these are embedded in a complex web of social interactions specific to the organisation. The 'socially-complex resource combinations' (SRCs) enable competitive advantage that is not readily reproduced or substituted, and which evolves over time in an uncertain and complex way. They are the basis of distinctive organisational competencies that enable the organisation to be a player in the marketplace, and in some cases to sustain competitive advantage. To understand how competitive advantage can be sustained, it is necessary to understand how these SRCs evolve over time, based on the interactions in social networks. To do this, we use Bayesian networks and topic maps, making hidden social relationships tangible. We use dynamic agents to observe local and global behaviours to model the SRCs. In this, we use the concept of 'agencies' that are networks of individual agents and which can solve problems and adapt in ways that are too complex for individual agents. The article outlines how this approach can be used to model complex social networks over time, recognising uncertainty and complexity, hence giving the ability to predict changes that will occur in the SRCs.


Upper Silesia belongs to one of the most industrialized regions in Poland. In the last decade the industry has undergone significant changes in terms of the ownership structure, the number of employed individuals, as well as production profiles. Consequently, liquidation and restructuring processes are being implemented. The mentioned changes, which are taking place on a large scale, have contributed to the degradation of the region. As a result, the following questions need to be addressed: altering real property use, redeveloping post industrial land, protecting and sustaining those areas and buildings, which may qualify as cultural heritage. This paper concerns restructurization, rehabilitation, revitalisation and recultivation of post industrial land (brownfield sites). The directions of changes in Upper Silesia's post industrial land have been examined in the context of the regions characteristics. The results of the conducted analyses indicate a shift from heavy industry use to retail, office, residential, trade-expo, tourist, recreation uses as well as modern industrial use. Based on the conducted case studies an attempt has been made to identify the influence the above mentioned changes have had on the local real estate markets.


In this thesis a comparison between a predictive site survey and two passive site surveys is performed, to see if only a predictive survey is enough to estimate a well-functioning wireless network. Some fundamental facts and techniques that are involved in wireless networks are presented and also the method of how the site surveys were planned and performed. The outcome is compiled in diagrams. The difference between a predictive and a passive site survey is analyzed, and shows if the prediction is trustworthy or needs to be verified.